Last Train Home (18 page)

I stood
with my arms folded, thinking.

“Fine,” I agreed a m
oment later.             

“Awesome. 
How ‘bout Friday after school?  Then we can get our project done.”

“Okay,” I
said, the reservation heavy in my voice.

“
You seem nervous.”

“Well,
yeah, I kinda am,” I admitted.

He walked over and put his arm around me and gave me
a playful squeeze.

“There’s no need to be worried.  I’ll keep
you safe, Boston,” he laughed.

I wiggled out of hi
s grasp and just glared at him.

“You’d better,” I said and then we turned back and finis
hed the second coat of paint. 

An hour later, we were done.  We put down our rollers and stood admiring our handy work.

“I love it!” I said excitedly, totally forgetting about our little spat earlier.  I was too ecstatic at how awesome my room looked to be bothered by our little difference of opinion.

“It does look good,” Jesse
agreed as he began cleaning up.

“Now I need to run to Wichita and get a bedspread and st
uff to match,” I said excitedly, already envisioning a funky patterned blanket to go with my unorthodox paint color choice.

“I really appreciate you helping me,” I said as
we gathered the paint supplies.

“No problem.  Glad to help,” he said and then he looked up at me with a big smile on h
is face.

“Why are you looki
ng at me like that?” I asked. 

He finished putting the lid back on the paint can and then walked over to me
.  I always forgot how tall Jesse was until he was standing close to me, which wasn’t very often.  I couldn’t tear myself from his gaze though as he raised his hand up and touched my hair, his fingers brushing lightly over my cheek.  I was frozen for a moment and I found myself getting lost in his gray eyes.  I’d never really looked at them before, but now that I was, the color reminded me of Boston Harbor on a foggy morning.  My breath began to quicken then at the closeness of him and I found myself drifting towards him, wanting to be closer to him.  Then an image of Alex flashed in my mind and I quickly shook my head and stepped back, leaving my hair to fall back onto my cheek and his arm to drop limply to his side. 

“What are you doi
ng?” I snapped at him, my mouth transforming into a stern line.  He stared at me for a second, obvious confusion on his face before lowering his eyes.

“I was just trying to get the paint out of your hair,” he sai
d dejectedly, and then turned around to walk back to the paint supplies he’d been cleaning up.

“Oh,” I whispered
, reaching up and touching the strand of hair Jesse had just held.  Sure enough, it was wet with paint and when I pulled my fingers away, they were stained with it too. “I’m sorry, Jesse.  I didn’t know.  I thought…”  My voice was soft and I didn’t quite know what to do and I felt like an idiot for overreacting.  “You…you surprised me,” I stuttered, not knowing what else to say.

“Yeah, I can see that,” he said quietly with h
is back still turned to me.

I went over beside him and we gathered everything up, but he still wouldn’t look at me.  I’d obviously humiliated him by
my self-absorbed reaction. 

We took the paint brushes and trays and went outside to wash them off with the hose.  We hardly sp
oke a word to each other and I felt like a complete moron for thinking Jesse was trying to make a move on me.  If only I could press rewind and go back and laugh it off instead of allowing it turn into the drama it clearly had.

“I think I’m gonna head home now,” he said after we’d put everything away in the garage.  They were practically the only words he’d said to me in the last fifteen minutes and he didn’t sound happy. 

“Yeah, it’s getting kinda late.”

“I’ll see you on Monday,” he said and turne
d to walk over to his Wagoneer.

“Okay,” I said and watched him as he walked away, but then I called out him. “Jesse!” He stopped halfway to his car and turned and looked at me.  His dark brown hair was blowing in the wind and his eyes, which were usually shining, looked dull and I felt doubly bad about what
had happened earlier. “Thanks again for your help!”

He managed a forced smile and waved before he got in the Jeep.  It roared to life and pulled out of the driveway.  I watched until he disappeared.

Chapter Sixteen

I’d
hoped things wouldn’t be weird between Jesse and me on Monday morning.  I hadn’t spoken to him since he left my house on Saturday.  I couldn’t get the look on his face as he walked to his Jeep that day out of my mind.  Jesse was my friend and I had embarrassed him and I felt like a total jerk. 

I hadn’t seen Alex since the party either.  He knew I’d be busy painting on Saturday and on Sunday he told me
he had to go to Wichita with his parents for dinner at his aunt and uncle’s house, but I missed him and was anxious to see him. 

The weekend had been a bust, especially after the incident with Jesse.  I’d spent Sunday reading the rest of
Animal Farm
, even though it wasn’t due for another week.  Ever since we’d painted my room, I didn’t want to leave it.  The blue-purple walls were warm and friendly and I loved how it had turned out.  My mom and grandma, who had both been skeptical of the color choice, seemed to really like it after seeing the finished product too.  I didn’t think they were faking their approval either. I would’ve been able to tell if they were lying. 

Even though I’d barely left my room since painting it, I had to on Monday morning to go to school, which was fine with me.  I wanted to see Alex and I wanted to test the waters between Jesse and me.  Hopefully he’d forgotten about my ridiculous reaction and things would be cool between us.  I wondered if he was still going to take me to the shooting range on Friday.

When my alarm went off, I rolled out of bed and took a quick shower.  I looked through my closet and chose a cute white sundress with a matching cardigan.  I decided to change things up with my hair a bit too.  Instead of leaving it long and straight like always, I used my curling iron to create loose ringlets in my thick, dark hair.  I put on my make-up and after a quick bowl of Lucky Charms, I got in my Jetta and headed to school. 

When I pulled into the parking lot, I saw Alex’s Altima was already there, but Jesse’s Wagoneer was noticeably missing.  I grabbed my bag out of the backseat and headed inside.  I made my way past the old maroon lockers, which were such eyesores.  Thankfully I was finally becoming numb to their presence and hardly noticed them anymore. 

The hallways were already crowded with students and I looked around for Alex as I walked towards my locker.  I didn’t see him, and a flood of disappointment washed over me.  But then, a moment later, I felt a pair of hands slide around my waist and I felt the disappointment vanish.  Those hands could only belong to Alex. 

“Hey,
beautiful,” his deep voice whispered in my ear.  His breath was warm and sweet against my cheek and I felt my lips start to tingle wanting to kiss him.  He spun me around and I was leaning against the locker as he held my hands. 

“Hey,” I said
quietly.

“You look…amazing today,” he said as he continued to stare at me.  He reached up and touched my hair, gently tugging on a curl and letting it go so it bounced back into place.  I blushed and looked up at him. “I love the hair,” he said touching it again. “Just when I think you can’t get any hotter, you show up looking like this.”

He began to gently run his finger over my exposed collar bone and I felt shivers shoot up my entire body.  He leaned in and kissed me softly on the lips and then pulled back.

“I don’t think I can hang out with you today,” he said.

“Why?”

“I don’t think I can keep my hands off you looking like this,” he said with a sly smile and then turned and started to walk away. “See
ya later, Riley.”

“Hey!” I called out to him. “You can’t ditch me!”

He kept walking though and I waited patiently for him to turn around, which I knew he eventually would.  I didn’t have to wait long and a moment later, he was coming back to me.

“I was only playing,” he said
, taking my hand as we began walking. “You do look incredibly hot today though.”

“You don’t look so bad yourself,” I said
, admiring how good he looked in his jeans and plaid button up shirt.  He’d rolled the sleeves up to his elbows and I thought he looked rugged and masculine.

“Yeah…I think we’re definitely the hottest couple in this school.”

I laughed as we walked to my first period class.

“Did you miss me this weekend?” he asked.

“Of course.  Did you miss me?”

“More than you can know,” he said
, stopping us in our tracks as he pulled me to him and began an assault on my lips.  I started laughing and pushed him away.

“Hey!  Watch the PDA,
” I said playfully, but he kept kissing me.  I finally managed to push him away as I laughed. “I gotta go.  I’ll see you at lunch,” I said and turned to walk into my class, but giving him one more kiss before I left.  I heard him sigh and then he smiled at me.

“You’re
killin’ me, Riley!” he called out as I walked away.  I turned and shot him a flirtatious wave and he called out again. “Killin’ me!”

It felt good knowing I had the power today and it put a smile on my face.  I was still smiling when I turned into my classroom just as the warning bell rang, but the smile soon faded when I looked towards Jesse’s desk and saw it was empty.  I walked down the aisle towards my seat and hoped he wasn’t absent.  I sat down and waited for class to start, my foot tapping along with the second hand on the clock.  I watched the door as the familiar faces of my Constitution classmates shuffled in, but none of the faces belonged to Jesse.  I looked up at the clock and saw there was only a minute left till class
began and I was starting to think he wasn’t going to show up.  I reached into my bag and pulled out my cell phone, debating whether or not I should text him to make sure he was okay.  Before I could decide though, the bell rang and Mr. Barry stood up and began lecturing.  I looked at the door once more, hoping Jesse would walk in, but after a few more minutes passed, I concluded I probably wouldn’t be seeing Jesse today.  But then, much to my relief, Jesse came rushing through the door, causing Mr. Barry’s head to turn in annoyance.  He waved apologetically towards the teacher and then hurried to his seat.  He seemed flustered and he didn’t even look in my direction as he sat down.  It was obvious he hadn’t forgotten about Saturday.  He always acknowledged me, but today it was as if I didn’t exist.  I sighed and turned my head forward and focused on Mr. Barry, who was standing in front of the class with his usual tweed coat, and I couldn’t help but notice his mustache looked exceptionally bushy today.

Mr. Barry told us we’d be going to the media center to work on our projects.  I was happy I’d have the chance to talk to Jesse, but I was nervous too.  I’d made such an ass of myself on Saturday and I still shuddered when I thought of the look on his face when I’d jumped away from him like he was a disease. 

We all started gathering our things and followed Mr. Barry into the hallway.  Jesse walked a few feet ahead of me and I quickened my step until I was beside him. 

“Hey,” I said, trying to sound casual.

“Hey, Riley,” he said, looking over to me quickly and then turned his head forward again.

“I was afraid you were absent today.”

“I had a little car trouble this morning.”

“
That sucks.  I’m sorry.”

“
It’s fine,” he said and we were quiet until we got to the media center, which was really just a library and computer lab. 

Jesse and I walked to a table in the back.  I draped my bag on the back of a chair
and then sat down.  He sat next to me and pulled out a notebook and his textbook.  He began flipping through it silently.  The tension between us was killing me. 

“Jesse?” I said quietly and he raised his gray eyes to meet mine, but didn’t say anything. “I’m sorry about Saturday.”

“It’s fine,” he said as he looked back to his book.

“I totally overreacted.  I don’t know what my deal was,” I whispered, desperate for him to look at me with the warm smile he usually did.

“You’re worrying way too much about this,” he said and I thought I saw him give me a partial smile.

“I just want to make sure everything’s cool between us.”

“It is.”

“But…there’s been this…this weird vibe between us since it happened,” I stuttered.

He looked up at me again and I saw his smile fade, but he didn’t look mad.  He looked like he was thinking about what to say.

“Yeah, there has been,” he finally admitted.

“You just surprised me and I overreacted.  I’m sorry,” I said, looking at him pleadingly and we were quiet for a few moments before he responded.

“It’s okay.  I can see how you might’ve misconstrued what happened.  I should’ve just told you
you had paint in your hair.”  He smiled at me finally with the warm smile I was used to and I thought things might be okay between us.  “And I think I’m over the fact that you jumped back like I had the plague when I touched you.  I didn’t know I was so repulsive.”  He was laughing, but I knew there was truth to his statement.

“No!” I exclaimed in an excited whisper. “I didn’t think that.  I promise.  You just surprised me.  I swear…”

He laughed again and then rested his hand gently on top of mine in a nonverbal way of telling me to shut up.

“R
elax.  I was only kidding.”

I smiled at him and then gestured to our hands.

“See, I don’t find you repulsive.  I didn’t pull back this time.”

“You’ve restored my self-esteem,” he said
, removing his hand and then looking back to his book.

“So everything’s good between us, right?”  He looked at me and nodded. “And you’re still taking me to the shooting range on Friday?”

“I wouldn’t miss that for the world.”

“Awesome,” I said as relief washed over me.

“Now, let’s get to work,” Jesse said as he stood up and headed over to the reference section of library.

****

Surprisingly, we’d gotten a lot done on our project during class.  I was still waiting to see if mine and Jesse’s little trip to the shooting range would change my views on guns at all though.  Our difference of opinion was helping to shape our project into something interesting though. 

I was relieved that everything was straight between Jesse and me.  While I was happy with the group of friends I’d made since moving to
Carver, besides Alex, I’d clicked the most with Jesse and I hated the thought of things being awkward between us.  Holly, Laura, and Mandy were fun, and Brandon was cool, albeit only tolerable at times, but there was something different about the connection I had with Jesse. 

The rest of the morning went by qu
ickly and soon it was lunch, my favorite time of the day.  I hadn’t seen Alex since I left him before first hour and when I saw him waiting for me outside of the cafeteria, I felt a huge smile spread across my face.  I quickened my pace to meet him.

He leaned in and kissed me sweetly before taking my hand and leading me to our usual spot at my lunch table.  No one was there yet, so Alex and I sat down alone, which I honestly didn’t mind.  I began eating my lunch while he gently stroked by back, causing a shower of goosebumps.  Then his hand crawled up my back beneath my hair and tickled the base of neck.

“You’re awfully handsy today,” I laughed.

“I warned you this morning,” he whispered in my ear and then paused before adding. “How ‘bout we go to my house after school.  My parents won’t be home till later.”

I turned my head to meet his eyes and they looked serious.

My gaze was ripped away from his before I could respond though when I heard my friends joining us.  The still skeptical Holly and Laura said their obligatory hellos and Mandy gave her usual
exuberant greeting to Alex.  A few minutes later we were joined by Jesse and Brandon.  Even though neither of them had ever said it, I could tell Jesse and Alex weren’t exactly fond of each other.  Brandon didn’t seem like a big fan of Alex’s either, but they politely ignored each other for my sake.

“So
, Riley,” Mandy said excitedly a few minutes later. “Did Jesse tell you?”

“
Tell me what?”

“We’re going to H
omecoming.”

“Who?
  You and Jesse?”

“Yeah!”

“No, he didn’t tell me,” I said and I looked over to Jesse.  He just shrugged his shoulders innocently.

“Yeah, I finally convinced everyone we need to go.  I mean, we are seniors after all.  It’s our last
Homecoming.  We have to go.”

“She
’s very persuasive,” Jesse said and Mandy shot him a glare.

“Anyway…” Mandy said before continuing. “I’m going with Jesse and Brandon’s taking Holly…”

“I’m
so
lucky,” Holly said sarcastically, cutting Mandy off.  Again, Mandy shot a glare across the table.

“You know it
, baby,” Brandon said smoothly, draping his arm around Holly’s shoulder.  She just rolled her eyes and pushed him away.

“What about you
, Laura?” I asked.