Abby Road (49 page)
As everyone else around her was listening to the principal, Tess played with a strand of her hair, nonchalantly glancing down the row. She could only see the guy’s right leg now. He was wearing khakis—pretty casual for the first day of school. Most teachers tried to make a good impression at the beginning of the year. Just as she was about to slyly lean forward to check out what he was wearing on top, the guy stood up. Tess gasped, wondering what he was doing. Did he realize she was checking him out and was giving her a better look?
It was only then that she realized Walker was talking to him, or
about
him, introducing the new members of the faculty.
“I’d like you all to meet,” Walker said in his dry voice, “our new head football coach.”
A-ha! I was right.
Tess inwardly congratulated herself.
He probably was a quarterback once upon a time. But where? Why does he look so familiar?
“We’re very excited to have him aboard as a last-minute team member,” Walker continued. “He was the assistant coach at his last school, which went all the way to State.”
The other teachers were murmuring in approval.
Tess vaguely remembered something about the previous football coach stepping down in the middle of July, right before summer training camp, but she didn’t follow the sports program much. Although now—and she couldn’t help looking across the room at him—maybe she might start attending the football games and not skipping out after halftime when her choir was finished.
“So please,” Walker went on, “join me in giving a warm welcome to Jack Marshall.”
While everyone was giving the new coach a round of applause, Tess felt all the blood drain from her face.
“He’s gorgeous, don’t you think?” Mac said, jabbing an elbow into Tess’s ribs. “And look at his hands; they’re huge. Tess, why are you wringing the front of your shirt?”
“I’m . . .” But Tess didn’t know how to finish. She was staring at Jack Marshall—the boy she’d met the summer she was fifteen. The boy who was her first
real
kiss. The boy who swore he would meet her that last night in August but never showed up. Jack Marshall: the very first boy to break her heart.
Table of Contents
chapter 1 - a day in the life
chapter 2 - help!
chapter 3 - day tripper!
chapter 4 - act naturally
chapter 5 - do you want to know a secret?
chapter 6 - here comes the sun
chapter 7 - it's getting better
chapter 8 - if i fell
chapter 9 - across the universe
chapter 10 - the fool on the hill
chapter 11 - and your bird can sing
chapter 12 - i'll follow the sun
chapter 13 - act naturally
chapter 14 - don't pass me by
chapter 15 - all together now
chapter 16 - eight days a week
chapter 17 - with a little help from my friends
chapter 18 - maxwell's silver hammer
chapter 19 - oh! darling
chapter 20 - i'm looking through you
chapter 21 - long tall sally
chapter 22 - twist and shout
chapter 23 - i should have known better
chapter 24 - ticket to ride
chapter 25 - baby's in black
chapter 26 - nowhere man
chapter 27 - fixing a hole
chapter 28 - she's leaving home
chapter 29 - all you need is love
chapter 30 - free as a bird
chapter 31 - golden slumbers
chapter 32 - carry that weight
chapter 33 - the long and winding road
chapter 34 - ob-la-di, ob-la-da