Authors: C. E. Starkweather
I blushed (I had to learn how to stop doing that) and walked to his desk. I stood there as he stared at me thoughtfully. I shifted uncomfortably. "Is there something you wanted?"
He smiled a brilliant white smile. "Jadia," he said. "That's an interesting name. May I ask where it came from?"
Trying not to be distracted by his gorgeousness and his intoxicating cologne, I replied, "I'm named after my mom's parents. James and Lydia. They died in a car crash when she was 18." He frowned. "Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. Well, it's a beautiful name. It suits you well." I'm sure my face turned purple at his compliment. Had this gorgeous teacher just implied that I was beautiful?
"Thanks," I replied. "Was that all?"
"Hmm?" He asked, still staring at me thoughtfully. It was hard not to get lost in his eyes. They were such a sexy dark shade of brown. I had the sudden urge to run my fingers through his hair. What was wrong with me? He suddenly snapped back to attention. "Yes, that's all. You can go. I'll see you tomorrow."
The rest of the morning went by in a blur. I received a lot of compliments on my appearance but truth be told, I was getting tired of people acting like I had been some kind of ugly leper before. By the time lunch came, all I really wanted was to be left alone. Carly had other plans though.
"Come on Jay, lets go sit with Alex. You know he likes you." I shook my head. "No way Carly, I don't want to come off as desperate. Besides, I thought you hated him. And don't you want to sit with Jason?" Jason was Carly's boyfriend of two years. He was a good guy, if a little boring.
Her excited smile faltered a little bit at the mention of Jason, and I wondered if there was trouble in paradise. I doubted it though. If there was, she would have told me. We told each other everything.
"No, Jason doesn't have lunch this period. And I don't hate Alex, I just want you to be careful."
"Honestly Carly, I don't really feel like talking to anyone. Can we just sit by ourselves today?" She sighed. "Fine, but tomorrow you're going to sit with him." We found a table in the corner. "So," Carly said with a devious smile on her face, "did you have Mr. Hayes? Jesus Christ is he gorgeous."
I tried to act nonchalant. "Yeah, he's pretty cute I guess." Carly looked at me like I was crazy.
"You guess? He's like the sexiest man I've ever seen, next to Channing Tatum." I laughed. Carly still held on to her fantasy that Channing Tatum would leave Jenna Dewan and end up marrying her one day. "Ok, he is pretty hot, for a teacher. You wouldn't believe how Amber Lewis was flirting with him. I was so embarrassed for her. She made a total fool of herself."
"Amber Lewis is a slut," Carly muttered. Amber never missed a chance to flirt with Jason. Even in front of Carly. That girl really was a slut. Before I could agree, I heard a voice behind me say, "Hey ladies, is it ok if I sit here?" I turned around to see Alex Lipton smiling down at me. I cleared my throat nervously. "Um, yeah, of course!" I exclaimed. I really had to get my emotions under control around him.
He sat down next to me. "So Jadia, what are you doing tonight?" He asked. I looked at him, surprised. "Um, well, I don't know. I guess nothing?" God. I was such a dork. Thankfully, he didn't seem to be bothered by my awkwardness. "I wanted to know if you wanted to go to dinner with me tonight?" He asked.
I smiled. "Yeah. I'd love to."
He smiled back at me. "Great! I'll text you after school."
I couldn't believe it. I was going on my first date. And with Alex Lipton. Things just couldn't get any better.
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David Hayes could not stop thinking about that gorgeous girl in his first period class. Jadia Galvin. She was perfect. With her huge green eyes and full pouty lips, David was smitten. She had an exotic sexiness, but for some reason didn't seem to know it. Most girls who were as sexy as her walked around with an air of arrogance and superiority. She walked around like she didn't quite know what to do with herself. He thought about her legs in her short pink skirt and started to get a hard on. And those tits. He wondered if she wore a padded bra. He shook his head. Now was not the time. His next class was about to start. He wasn't usually attracted to high school girls. He wasn't a pedophile or anything. But there was something about this girl that was driving him crazy.
His third period class shuffled in unenthusiastically. They were pretty much the saddest group of kids David had ever seen. He was starting to doubt his career choice as a high school teacher.
"Did you see Jadia Galvin? She looks hot."
David's head snapped to attention.
"I'm thinking of asking her out."
David saw the kid who was talking and stifled a laugh. The kid was overweight and pimply. There was no way a girl like Jadia would ever go for him.
"Too late," a better looking kid said, slamming his books down at an empty desk. "I already asked her. She said yes." David felt a flash of jealousy. He automatically hated the arrogant little shit that was bragging about taking Jadia out. A girl like that needed a man, not a boy.
He knew one thing for sure. He had to have Jadia Galvin.
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Where the first half of the day went by in a blur, the second half couldn't end fast enough. I couldn't pay attention in any of my classes. I just kept thinking about Alex. What would I wear? How do I even act on a date? What if he wants to kiss me? Finally the end of day bell rang and I went to find Carly. I spotted her walking out of her AP physics class.
"How were the rest of your classes?" I asked.
"Awesome!" She replied. "I love all my teachers." I laughed. Only Carly would say that the first day of school was awesome because of the teachers.
"So, I need you to come help me pick out an outfit for tonight. I have no idea what to wear." I said. Carly smiled. Fashion was her forte.
"Hell yeah Jay, that'd be awesome."
Walking to my car, we talked about how I should dress and do my hair. "You should wear your hair up. You have such a nice slender neck. We'll wait until he calls you to plan your outfit. It depends on where he's taking you." Carly went on about my hair and makeup, but suddenly I was worried. What if he didn't call? I mean he said he would, but he was Alex Lipton, the hottest guy in school, and I was just plain Jadia. Thankfully, I didn't have to worry for much longer. As we got into my car, my phone buzzed. It was a text from Alex.
Pick you up at 6? I'm thinking Italian :)
"Ooh!" I squealed. "Carly look! He actually texted me!" She gave me a funny look. "Well yeah, he said he would, didn't he?" She asked. I texted Alex back with my address and told him I'd see him at 6. "I know he said he did, but I was afraid that he would realize how out of my league he is," I said.
Carly stared at me for a minute. "Jadia, I don't think you realize just how pretty you are. Even before you lost the weight, you were gorgeous. Guys have been staring at you all day. Don't sell yourself short." I smiled at her gratefully. "Thanks Carly, I needed that."
We got to my house and were greeted by my mom. "Hi girls!" She said. "How was your first day back?"
"It was good," Carly said. "Jadia has a date tonight."
I gave her a dirty look. I had wanted to be the one to ease her into the idea that her little girl was dating. To my surprise, she cried out "Oh, how exciting! It's about time! So who is this boy?"
"Mom!" I cried. "What do you mean it's about time? I thought you'd be sad that I'm growing up too fast or something."
"Honey," mom started, "you're going to be 18 next week. I've been mentally preparing for this day for a long time. Your father, on the other hand, might not be so excited. Let me work on him. You just run up and get ready." The one thing I wasn't looking forward to was my dad. Even if he was ok with me dating, I knew that he would have a million questions for Alex.
"Oh mom, please don't let him embarrass me. I really like Alex and I don't want dad to scare him away."
My mom raised her eyebrows. "Alex? As in Alex Lipton?"
One of the more embarrassing moments of my life was last year when my mom caught me writing "I <3 Alex Lipton" in my notebook when I was supposed to be doing homework.
"Yes mom, Alex Lipton. So you see why this is so important to me?" Carly laughed. She knew about my embarrassing notebook. "What are you guys up to tonight?" My mom asked.
"He's picking me up at 6. We're going to an Italian restaurant, but I'm not sure which one, so I have NO idea how to dress."
Mom chuckled. "Alright, calm down. Go find something to wear, and I'll call your father. We probably shouldn't spring this on him when he gets home."
"Thanks, mom." I kissed her on the cheek. Carly and I ran upstairs to look through my clothes. We finally decided on a black knee length skirt, black ballet flats and a cute white sleeveless top. "It's perfect," Carly declared. "It's nice, but not overly dressy. And it's long enough that Alex won't get the wrong idea."
"What idea is that, exactly?"
"Well, that you're easy. If you look skanky, he'll think that you want it."
I suddenly got very nervous. "Oh God, Carly, what if he wants to kiss me? Or more? I'm not ready!"
She laughed at me. "You're almost 18 and you're not ready for your first kiss? Come on, Jay."
"I mean, I guess I'm ready for him to kiss me, but what if he wants more? What do I do?"
She gave me a funny look. "You tell him no, that's what. You don't owe him anything. It's just a date. Don't let him pressure you into anything."
I sighed. "Yeah, I know. I'm just psyching myself out. What if he expects more than I'm willing to give?"
"Well then he's an asshole," she said simply. We looked at each other and burst out laughing. "Come on, let me do your makeup."
Two hours later, I was ready. I heard the front door shut.
Shit.
Here goes nothing.
"Hi daddy!" I said, coming down the stairs. "How was work?"
"It was work. What's this I hear about you going out tonight?" I gave him a kiss on the cheek. "He's just a boy from school. He's taking me out to dinner. He's really cute and really nice and I really like him." He smiled and ruffled my hair. "Alright princess. But I want to meet this boy before he takes my little girl out." I rolled my eyes. Little girl, really? Just then the doorbell rang. "Oh my god he's here! How do I look?"
"Like an angel," mom said. "Now lets meet this boy who has my daughter so smitten." I ran to the door and opened it. Alex stood there with flowers (oh my god he had flowers!) and looked so handsome in his blue button down shirt and khakis. I felt immediately relieved at the way I was dressed.
"Hi Alex. My parents want to meet you." I smiled apologetically.
"Hi Jadia. You look amazing. These are for you," he said, handing me the flowers. I blushed at the compliment and opened the door, inviting him inside.
"Hi Mr. Galvin. Mrs. Galvin. I'm Alex Lipton." My dad looked him up and down. I could tell he was trying to be intimidating. Please dad, don't ruin this for me, I prayed.
Luckily, mom stepped in. "Hi Alex, it's so nice to meet you."
"So Alex," dad interrupted, "What are your intentions with my daughter?"
Oh god, kill me now.
Luckily, Alex handled him like a pro. He smiled at my father. "Well, I thought I would take her to Basta tonight. If that's ok with you, Jadia?" He asked, looking at me. I smiled and nodded. Dad sized up Alex for another minute and apparently approved. He gave a quick nod and said, "Have her home no later than 10. It is a school night, you know." I breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, dad. See you guys later!" I grabbed Alex's hand and rushed out the door before my dad could say anything else.
"I'm sorry," I said as we got into his car. "My dad is just really overprotective."
"Nah, I get it. If my daughter was as pretty as you I'd never let her leave the house."
I'm glad it was dark so he couldn't see my face turn red. We made small talk on the way to the restaurant. I hoped he couldn't tell how nervous I was. Once we sat down I started to feel a little more comfortable. "So what do you want to do after we graduate?" I asked.
"I want to go to UCLA. Both of my parents went there. I'm hoping to get a football scholarship. I've always been pretty good with computers so I know I want to do something with them. What exactly I don't know. How about you?"
"I want to be a teacher. There's a couple of schools that I want to apply to, but I don't really have a favorite yet."
He smiled. "I could see you as a teacher. You're very sweet."
I blushed furiously. "Thanks. You're sweet too."
Ugh. Way to be awkward.
"Yeah?" He asked, smiling even wider. God, he was so cute. We spent the rest of dinner talking about school and our plans for the future. Surprisingly, Alex was easy to talk to and I became way more comfortable. On the drive home, he reached over and gently squeezed my hand. My heart skipped a beat. We pulled up to my house. I didn't want this night to end. I wished there had been more traffic.
"I had a really good time, Jadia" He said, staring into my eyes. He slowly leaned forward and kissed me softly on the lips. Oh, wow. He was a good kisser. Just a soft, gentle kiss. "I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay?"
"Okay," I said softly. I was on cloud nine.
I walked in my door. Both of my parents were sitting in the kitchen waiting for me.
"Oh come on. Have you guys just been waiting here the whole time?" I complained.
"Of course not," dad said. "We just sat down. So how was it?"
"Ah-mazing," I sang. "I gotta call Carly." I ran up the stairs. "Night!" I called.
I flopped on my bed and texted Carly.
So amazing. Best night ever!
My phone beeped. I glanced at it, looking for Carly's response. It was Alex.
Had a great time tonight. Meet me at your locker before 1st pd?
I almost squealed in excitement. I waited a minute so I didn't look too desperate and typed back.
Sure : ) I had a great time too.
I fell asleep smiling and thinking about Alex. This was the best night of my life.