“Well, it’s late, so I won’t keep you.”
“Love you, Mom.”
“Love you too, Ally.”
After I ended the call, Jonathan raised a brow. “That was close.”
“Oh, she’d be totally cool with this.” I started laughing before I could finish. She so would not be okay with it.
“How’s she doing?”
“Okay, I guess.”
“And Diane?”
“I guess things aren’t so bad.” I told him about Katelyn and carpooling.
“Maybe you should have just transferred to Plum.”
“No way. I don’t want to change schools. And I wouldn’t want to go to the same school as Caroline.”
“Why not?” he asked.
Because she’s beautiful and I am not. “It would just be weird,” I said.
“I guess it would be crazy to transfer now, when you may have to change schools again in January.”
I didn’t say anything.
“Sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to bring that up.”
“Let’s just pretend my mother isn’t going to yank me out of North Carolina in a few months.”
“Maybe she isn’t.”
“Good.”
“No,” he said. “Maybe she really won’t.”
“So how’s b-ball,” I said firmly.
He got the message. “Great. How’s soccer?”
“Better. I’m glad I did it.”
“Do I get to come to a game?”
I had no idea what to say. “Sure. If you want.” I doubted I could even focus on the game with him there. “But nobody can come to the first one. I have enough to worry about.”
“Cool,” he said. “I’ll plan on the second one.”
He wouldn’t really come. Would he? He had better things to do.
Three teachers busted me for daydreaming on Wednesday. I felt like a total idiot. After each class, I went up and apologized. I know, total suck-up move, but I couldn’t have my teachers mad at me the first week of school. When I carefully explained that I’d run out of my prescription antihistamine and had taken one of my Dad’s, they all nodded in sympathy. Allergies were the universal language in the Southeast.
Diane picked me up after she’d already run Caroline home. I started thinking about Jonathan again, and the next thing I knew, we were home. I was starting to think I had a problem. Could I be addicted to the guy? I hated having crushes, but I couldn’t seem to nip this one in the bud.
“Oh, Ally,” Diane said as we walked into the house. “You might be interested in this. I’m doing a project with polymer clay. I taped a few shows on how to do it, and I bought plenty of supplies. Do you want to make something with me?”
Okay, polymer clay is bright and happy. MC’s oldest sister makes jewelry for her all the time that I love. Polymer clay actually sounded like something I would be willing to spend time with Diane to do.
“Look in the bag,” she said, on her way down the hall. “I got forty different colors.”
I walked over to the counter, and saw the receipt at the top of the bag. She’d spent two hundred and twenty-seven dollars on clay. I was going to end up in plumbing school if she kept this up.
Diane came back in. “So what do you think?”
“It looks like fun,” I told her, careful to keep the bitterness from my tone. “But I’ve got loads of homework. Maybe next time.”
“Okay,” Diane said, barely sparing me a glance as she walked over to the counter and started sorting through her purchases.
Caroline and I settled in on the sofas downstairs and cranked through our homework. We had the television on in the background, reruns of That Seventies Show. If those guys weren’t a reason to study and go to college, I don’t know what was.
We watched prime time TV together and then both crawled off to bed. Caroline said her thighs were burning from all the cheering. I told her no way were they worse than mine.
When I got over to Jonathan’s at midnight, he wasn’t out yet. I petted the dogs and climbed onto the swing. By now, I had the hand of steadying it so it wouldn’t creak so much.
He finally slipped out the door thirty minutes later. “Sorry,” he said in a low voice. “I had a paper that was kicking my butt.”
“That sucks,” I said. I’d always thought of public school as lightweight. “What was it in?”
“AP American Government.”
“You’re taking an Advanced Placement class as a freshman?”
“Yeah. Just that one. It’s a long story, but my dad found out about this internship thing at the courthouse next summer. To qualify, I’d have to have this class.”
“What would you do at the courthouse?”
“I’m not really sure.” He handed me a blanket and rushed off to get the cot.
When he got back, he said, “Dad’s just real psyched about it. And it does sound interesting.”
“Is the class hard?”
“Nah. It’s just going to be a lot of work.”
I didn’t think I’d want to go into politics or anything. I tried to picture myself as a lawyer or a judge, and the image just didn’t come.
“Do you get credit for the internship?” I asked.
He didn’t answer and when I leaned up to get a good look at him, he was sound asleep.
He looked even more like his little brother when he was sleeping peacefully. I brought my head back down on my pillow and stared up at the stars until I drifted off.
Thursday night, my whole body ached. Four straight days of soccer practice had almost done me in. To be honest, sleeping on that crappy swing probably wasn’t helping either. But I wasn’t trading that for anything.
Jonathan and I were actually friends. We talked to each other. About important stuff. This morning, we’d been finishing each other’s sentences as we scrambled to put away the cot and blankets. I had high hopes that he saw me as more than a friend. I had caught him looking at me kind of funny. Besides, Liam and Caroline were a hot item now, so if he’d been interested in her…Just maybe he wasn’t anymore.
Despite the fact that my legs hurt with every step I took, I made my way over to Jonathan’s when everyone had gone to sleep.
I caught myself grinning whenever I thought about him. Basically, I had it bad. If he didn’t like me back, I was going to be devastated.
I crossed the dark yard to see my three boys, well the two dogs and Jonathan, chilling on the swing. As usual, he’d set up the cot.
“Hey,” he whispered.
“Hey,” I whispered back. Tonight felt different f
or some reason. Special.
He got up and I sat on the swing. We’d long ago stopped arguing over it. He sat on the cot which was pulled so close to the swing, it was practically one big bed. “I missed you today,” he said so softly I had to strain to hear it.
“You did?”
“Yes.” Then, he did something unbelievable. He reached out and touched my cheek. Then, he leaned in and touched his lips to mine.
Oh God! I had been waiting for this for fourteen years, and it was finally here. My first real kiss. And it was wonderful. I put my hands on his shoulders and tried to kiss him back, but a loud squeak pierced the air.
We both froze.
“The swing,” he whispered.
We sat there for a moment with our arms around each other waiting for his parents.
They didn’t come.
“Try getting up really slowly,” he suggested, “and sitting on the cot with me.”
“Okay.”
I climbed off the swing without any more trouble. Except that when I stood up, so did Mojo and Buddy. They started jumping around and bumping into the cot and getting all excited.
“No, Mojo.”
“Sit,” Jonathan ordered.
The dogs ignored us. They decided it was time to play and headed across the yard. Then they started barking.
Crap!
Jonathan blanched. “Get back on the swing.”
I scrambled to obey. I didn’t see any alternative.
Jonathan climbed on the cot and stretched out. “Buddy,” he whispered. “Here boy.”
The dogs, seeing that we’d returned to bed, decided to call it a night. They piled in with me, the swing creaking as they did so.
“Stupid dogs,” Jonathan muttered.
“They’re like chaperones or something,” I said trying not to laugh.
Jonathan reached out and took my hand in his. “Tomorrow morning,” he said. “I’m kissing you.”
Elated, I answered, “You’d better.”
We fell asleep holding hands.
When I woke up, the dogs were going ballistic, and Jonathan was muttering something about, “Leave the joggers alone, Buddy.”