Southern Attraction (4 page)

             
“Okey dokey, see ya later,” Mick responded. 

             
“
Okey dokey
!  I can’t believe I’m living with a redneck, dirt farmer,” she said as she rolled her eyes.  Heather glanced at the alarm, “Crap, I’m going to be late”, she said as she grabbed her purse and ran out the door.  The door slammed behind her as she ran to the car.  She looked around for Mick, but didn’t see him anywhere. 
I guess he’ll realize I’m gone when he doesn’t hear from me,
she thought.

             
As Heather drove down the narrow gravel road she looked for the right road to take to get her to the school.  She saw Mick with a belt whipping his cow.  “Now I’m seen everything,”
she said as she laughed.

             
As Heather approached the school, a green ford truck ran right in front of her.  She paused for a second after giving him the finger. 
I can’t believe these idiots
, she thought.  She pulled into the parking space closer to the front of the school, and she looked over to the green pickup truck. 

             
A scruffy looking guy with long hair climbed out of the truck.  “You need to watch where your going.  This
aint
New York, this is my town,” he said very hatefully with a smirk on his face.  “No, you need to watch where you are going, you hick.  You’re the one who ran in front of me,” Heather replied as she pointed her finger at him.  Heather was a little tougher than she looked.  She wasn’t going to let some corn fed hillbilly talk to her like that. 

             
“How do you know I’m from New York anyway?” she asked. 

             
“That is for me to know and you to find out,” he replied as he turned away from her. 

             
Heather wasn’t used to people treating her this way, especially boys.  She was the most popular girl in the whole school at Manhattan High School.  Now she was in a place that was oblivious to the fact that she wore an eighteen hundred dollar Armani jacket and  Louboutin boots. 
How can anyone not care about fashion
, she thought.  Fashion is what made her so popular.  Everyone in Manhattan wanted what she had.  She was the envy of all the girls at her school.  Now she felt like she was an outsider looking in through a dark stained glass and no one could see her.

             
Heather collected her thoughts and walked into the school.  She tried to act like she was calm and confident, so no one would see how scared she really was.  She wanted everyone to see a girl who was poised and full of confidence instead of a little girl lost in a crowd.  She held her head high with her shoulder held back and with a self important sashay.  Girls gave her a dirty look while a couple of guys looked her up and down. 
Now I’ve entered a cattle auction
, she thought as she passed by.

             
As she walked toward her first class at the end of the hall, she examined everything.  She observed what the girls were wearing, what type of purses they had, and how they fixed their hair.  She liked standing out, but not at the expense of everyone’s joke.  She knew that she had to fit in to some degree in order to make friends.

             
At last she came to her classroom and looked in to observe the ambiance.  To her surprise only one chair was left open toward the back of the room.  She took her seat as she noticed Jake, the same guy that was at Sally’s diner, sitting in the seat next to hers.  She glanced at him and then up to the teacher as the teacher began to call roll.  When Ms. Weston came to her name, everyone turned to look at her as she said, “Present.” 

             
“Everyone I want you to make Heather feel welcome.  She is from out of town and she’ll need your help getting accustomed to everything here,” Ms. Weston said.

             
Jake gave a slight smile trying to act as if he wasn’t interested, but Heather could tell he liked her.  When the teacher finished roll calling, Heather made an attempt to talk to him. 

             
“Hi, I’m Heather,” she said as she held out her hand. 

             
“So,” he replied as he turned his head to snub her.  With a small “huh,” she looked down at her new book trying to act as if she wasn’t embarrassed. 
I can’t believe that insolent jerk
, she thought. 

             
Heather could see Jake looking at her several times and she couldn’t figure out why.  She was confused now more than ever.  She thought he liked her, but now he made her a public spectacle by refusing her friendly gesture. 
I’ll show him one day
, she thought as she tried to focus on what the teacher was saying.  All she could think about was conjuring up ways to get back at Jake for snubbing her. 
I was popular once, and I’ll be popular again.  Then, I’ll show him
, she thought.  She caught herself looking toward Jake several times while she daydreamed of ways to injure his pride.

             
Finally, class was over and she hurried out of the room as fast as she could.  As she walked down the hall, she felt like someone was following her.  She turned around and there he was. 

             
“Do you have a problem?” she asked. 

             
“Only one and it’s you,” he replied.               

             
“Why don’t you just leave me alone you jerk,” she said. Heather could feel tears forming in her eyes.   

             
“Jerk, is that the best you got?” he asked.  Before she knew it, she reared back her hand to slap him.  Jake caught her hand. 

             
“You almost got me,” he said as he smiled at her. 

             
“Why don’t you just tell me what you want?” she cried. 

             
Jake could see that he was really getting to her, even though he was joking with her.  “Heather.  Look, I was just playing with you.  I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings,” he said. 

             
Heather was speechless and couldn’t say anything.  She turned and walked away.  She was praying that this day would be over soon, and she could go home and never return.  Jake stood in the hall watching as she walked away.

             
Momentarily, she reached her second period class and there the scruffy looking redneck that tried to run her over, was sitting at the back of the class. 
Oh no, I’m not sitting anywhere near him.  I’m not letting anyone else make me a laughing stock today
, she thought.  She walked toward the front of the class, and as she sat down a girl came up to her. 

             
“I’m sorry these are assigned seats.  You’ll have to ask Mrs. Brice where you are sitting,” she said. 

             
“Great,” she said sarcastically. 

             
“Hello, I’m Heather,” she said as she came closer to the teacher desk. 

             
“Hello Heather.  I’m Mrs. Brice.  I am glad you will be in my class this year and if there is anything I can do for you, just let me know,” the teacher said. 

             
“Thanks.  Where will I be sitting?” she asked. 

             
“Heather, you’ll be sitting toward the back in front of  Shawn.  He is on the last row with the blue jean shirt on,” Mrs. Brice said. 

             
Heather turned to look for this boy named Shawn, when she saw the guy that tried to run her over. 
You have got to be kidding me
, she thought as she slowly walked toward him.  She sat down trying to act as if she didn’t know who he was. 

             
“So you’re Heather,” he said. 

             
She turned around in her seat and replied, “Yes and you’re Shawn.  The same guy that tried to hit me this morning.” 

             
Shawn replied, “Yep, that’s me.” 

             
Heather was amazed at how hard it was to read these country boys.  Jake was acting mean to her, but then tried to say he was kidding.  Now this boy, Shawn, was trying to be friendly but with sarcasm.  She didn’t know what to think and now she was growing tired of trying.  She couldn’t deny both were attractive, but both had injured her pride in some way. She didn’t take things like that lightly.

             
Jake had brown curly hair, brown eyes and a little more muscular than Shawn.  Shawn had long sandy blonde hair and eyes as green as an emerald.  Shawn was the opposite of Jake.  Jake had a five o’clock shadow, and his jeans had holes everywhere except in the seat area.  Heather could tell that Jake spent some time grooming himself in the mirror, because his hair was more tidy and well placed.  Shawn didn’t have to try much, because he was just effortlessly fine.  She usually wasn’t attracted to that sort of fellow, which felt strange to her.

             
As Heather tried to listen to Mrs. Brice, Shawn did things to try to annoy her.  He kicked the back of her chair several times, so she wouldn’t mistake it for an accident.  Then, he knocked her pencil off her desk as he reached forward with his book.  Heather tried hard to ignore him, but it was very difficult.  He wouldn’t stop. She tried not to pay attention to his pranks. 

             
Finally, she felt something hit her in the back of her head.  She reached back and pulled out a spit ball from her hair.  Shawn had rolled up a piece of paper and threw it at her.  When she turned around to make sure it was Shawn, she saw a devious smile on his face.  With her eyebrow raised, she picked up the piece of paper and threw it as hard as she could into his face.  Heather was never good at throwing, especially any type of balls.  The paper ball hit him right in his eyes and his eyes, teared up instantly. 

             
“I’m so sorry, are you all right?” she asked with shock in her voice. 

             
“Are you crazy, you -----?”  Shawn caught his words before he was able to let out a curse word.  By this point Mrs. Brice was headed toward them.

             
“Heather, did I see you throw something at Shawn?” Mrs. Brice asked. 

             
“Yes, but I…..”  Shawn interrupted Heather before she had a chance to finish her sentence. 

             
“Mrs. Brice it is my fault.  We were goofing off, and she just happened to throw back a paper wad that I threw at her,” Shawn said.

             
“So you both were throwing things in my class?  Heather, I don’t put up with horse play in my room, and Shawn, you know better.  Both of you need to go to Mr. Thomas’s office right now,” Mrs. Brice said. 

             
“Yes, Mrs. Brice,” Heather replied. 

             
Heather left the classroom as quickly as possible, while Shawn gathered his jacket and slowly left the room.  Shawn was more laid back and didn’t worry about getting into trouble, because no one ever dared to bother him before.  He thought Heather was quite different than the other girls at the school.  She wasn’t afraid of what boys could do to her if she fought back.  Shawn liked that spunkiness about her.  He thought she was beautiful.  He figured that she thought she was too good to ever  give him the time of day, especially after seeing the car she drove.  Something changed that day in him when he followed her to the principal’s office.  He liked the feeling he had when he was with her. 

             
Right before Heather opened the door to the office, Shawn stopped her.                “Wait, I want to talk to you,” he said. 

             
“Why? So you can be mean to me some more?” she asked. 

             
“No, I just want to talk.  Do you want to go out to my truck and talk?” he asked. 

             
“We can’t go outside, we have to go to Mr. Thomas’s office,” she replied.                “We can go in a few minutes.  Mrs. Brice will not know that we didn’t go straight to his office.  She’s still in the classroom.  Please, for just a minute,” Shawn urged. 

             
Heather couldn’t deny the feeling she had when she looked into his piercing green eyes. 

             
“Come on, I wont bite ya,” Shawn urged.

             
“All right, for just a minute,” she replied.  Shawn grasped her hand and pulled her a little closer to him as they walked toward the exit.  He looked around to make sure no one else was watching them, and Heather followed him as he walked toward the truck.  Shawn opened the passenger side of the truck.

             
“I’m not getting into your truck,” Heather said.

             
“Come on before anyone sees us,” Shawn urged.

             
Heather looked around and then jumped in, afraid she would get into trouble if anyone saw them.  Shawn walked around and jumped in through the driver’s side.