3 Days (2 page)

“Fine, have it your way!” said Mrs. Qualls as she stomped off toward the main entrance of the school.

“Oh, CRAP!” Blaine chirped as his eyes got wide and met mine. We both looked like a couple of owls at that moment, knowing full well what would happen if he didn’t get out of there before security came. One moment later, there was a sickeningly loud cracking sound as the smaller branch Blaine was clinging to gave way. I watched in horror as he slid down the side of the tree, waiting for another “crack” that might be the breaking of a bone.

“I’m okay,” he squeaked from the ground, and I watched as he hobbled across the courtyard to his pickup.

Chapter 3

That night, I decided to delay my parents’ knowledge of my reprimand at school. It was bad enough being isolated in detention all afternoon, but having to listen to my parents’ lecture about responsibility was even worse. Blaine’s mom didn’t work, so, during most of the week, I would eat dinner over at his house. After all, a fifteen year old can only handle so many nights of pizza and coke. So, after dropping off my backpack in the kitchen, I started down the sidewalk to Blaine’s.

As I turned up into his driveway, I saw a blue Pinto parked in front of Blaine’s house.
Jared’s here. This should be an interesting night.

Jared had been Blaine’s best friend since elementary school when they both got busted for stopping up the sinks in the boys’ bathroom during recess. What I had witnessed in the last two years of hanging around Jared was that he was somewhat of a quiet type, except when he was with Blaine. The two of them together was like unleashing the guys from
Jackass
along with the guys from
MythBusters
into the suburbs of the Midwest. Every task was turned into a theatrical affair, completed by a comedic injury of some sorts. But when Jared and Blaine were separated, he was very reserved and considerate of others. I knew this because we were partnered up for a project last year in biology, and when Blaine didn’t stop by my house to distract him, he took the project very seriously.

Bracing myself for an evening of bodily function jokes and simultaneous drooling over Meagan Fox, I rang the doorbell. Luckily, Blaine’s mom, Dianne, answered the door.

“Kara!” she chimed. “Your mom said you would be here for dinner, but I was beginning to think you changed your mind. Come on in, sweetie,” she said, stepping aside to let me pass.

The Lassers’ house was a split level, and I only had to head down a few steps to get to the family room. Of course, I didn’t have to ask where the guys were, I could hear them cheering at the game on TV.

“Hey, guys,” I mumbled before plopping onto the couch in the space between both guys. Blaine didn’t take his eyes off the screen, but Jared made an effort to be hospitable. “Hey, Kara,” he replied. He was still avoiding eye contact. A few weeks ago, I had gone to use the bathroom at Blaine’s house, and Jared had forgotten to lock the door behind him. I walked in on him for a brief second and, without going into detail, things had been a little awkward between us since. Who could blame him? I was surprised he was willing to sit in the same room with me at all.

“What’s the score?” I asked, not really caring, while grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bowl on the table. I had never really been into sports, but Blaine liked to talk trash about other teams, and I found it entertaining.

“Seven to three, Miami,” he growled, eyes glued to the screen. Blaine hated the Heat with a passion, and with them beating his favorite team, he was on the warpath.

I watched him tentatively as he glared in the glow of the big screen. His jaw clenched in irrational hatred, the tendons in his neck tensing and popping with each bad call from the ref. The way he shouted through his teeth when his team was so close to getting a rebound. Admiring Blaine any other day sent my heart into a fluttery mess, but when he was angry, it stirred a desire in me that made my skin prickle with goose bumps and my face flush. I had always felt a desire for Blaine, but could never figure out a way to act on it. He was always changing his mood. Hot one minute, cold the next. Sweet and caring one day, to flirtatious “buddy” the next. I could never tell when it would be a good time to act on my feelings, so I retreated to the easiest path of just being friends and not complicating things.

Blaine and I are just friends.
I would tell myself again and again.
We can be nothing more.

“DINNER!” I heard Dianne shout from the kitchen. And that was all it took for the testosterone in the room to roam onward.
Man eat. Man eat food.

After dinner, I called my mom to let her know that I was going to be at Blaine’s a little longer. My friend, Crystal, was going to stop by and hang out with the three of us. It wasn’t uncommon for large groups to spend late nights at Blaine’s house. His parents preferred to have him and his friends at the house for odd hours of the night rather than them being out cruising the main streets of town. I guess it was their subtle way of making sure we weren’t drinking or doing drugs. It was fine with me. Dianne was an amazing cook.

Crystal arrived just as the three of us had decided what we were going to do when she got there. The guys thought it would be hilarious to play “sardines.” A strange twist on “hide-and-seek” where one person hides and everyone else is the “seeker.” When someone finds the hiding person, they squeeze into the same hiding spot until the last person is left looking for several people smashed into a tiny hiding place. I tried to fight the decision when Crystal showed up and agreed it would be fun. I could see she noticed that Jared was hoping to play and, based on her recently developed crush, it may have swayed her decision.

We started out easy. Blaine would hide because he knew what spaces in the house and yard were large enough to hold everyone. I was the one to find him almost every single time and, I have to admit, I spent most of the night hoping nobody would find us. This past spot was exceptionally small, and we were pushed up against one another, face to face.
His breath smells SO good,
I thought.

It really did. I was a little surprised because when the rest of us were choking down Altoids before the game, he declined the offer. But right now, we were practically touching noses. I turned my head to the side a little, just so he didn’t feel smothered. In hindsight, this wasn’t the best plan for someone trying so hard to stay “just friends” with a guy. I could feel the heat of his breath on my ear, moving my hair at the nape of my neck, back and forth, with every inhale and exhale. My heart was all over the place, and it was so quiet in the tiny closet we were in, I was sure he would hear it going wild. Trying my best to control my breathing, which was about to speed up any moment, I thought it would be best to strike up a conversation. “So,” I whispered near his ear, “who do you think will find us first?”

He must have been holding his breath while I was talking, because he blew out a heavy breath before his reply. “Um, huh. Well, Jared, probably. Because Crystal doesn’t know my house very well,” he breathed.

I started to giggle. “I can’t imagine being able to get Jared in here with us. The room left in this closet could hardly hold a small bird,” I breathed, trying as hard as I could not to laugh loudly out of nerves.

I could tell Blaine was amused. He was probably picturing Jared in the closet with us at that very moment (Jared was a little…husky) because he started to laugh at an audible volume. I felt myself panic. I didn’t want anyone to interrupt this intimate time between me and Blaine. Without thinking, I clamped my hand over Blaine’s mouth. “Shhh…” I breathed.

Watching his eyes go wide with delight, I couldn’t help but notice how warm his lips were. And they were on my hand. Imagining how soft and warm they would feel on my own lips.
No. Drop your hand, you idiot. Blaine is just your friend.
I lowered my hand, slowly, keeping it between us, my palm facing my chest. When I looked away, I felt his hand clasp around mine. He brought the back of my hand to his lips and brushed them lightly, side to side.
Oh, my, GOD! What is he doing?
With his other hand, he cupped the side of my face, lacing his fingers through my hair.
This doesn’t feel like a friend thing to do,
my mind was screaming. My heart raced four times faster now, and my breathing was noticeably quick. There was no hiding the way his touch was affecting me. I felt my face burn as he grazed his thumb across my cheek. He didn’t have to pull me closer, the closet was small enough, but letting go of my hand, he pressed his hand into the small of my back, applying enough pressure for me to get the idea that he was attempting to pull me in. My skin burned with desire over every inch that he touched me. And then his eyes locked with mine. With a look of determination and intent burning inside the deep pools of brown, he tipped my chin back just enough for our lips to meet. I was frozen. I couldn’t move. I felt my knees get weak, like they might collapse, but thankfully the closet was too small for my body to bend. If I was going to fall, it would be into Blaine. I had never been kissed before, but secretly, I had always hoped Blaine would be my first. As he pressed his lips into mine, my mind went to another place.

I was in the woods, camping. At least, that is how it appeared. I saw a tent off in the distance. Jared was there, wading through the creek, gathering water in a canteen. Just as I began to wonder why Jared was in my daydream, Blaine sneaked up behind me and wrapped his arms around me. He was locking my hands around a crossbow, showing me how to prep it for a shot. I turned my head to the left and saw some other people I didn’t recognize pitching their tent in the distance. Two medium-sized black dogs ran toward us from out of the creek as Jared followed suit.
What the hell?!

And then I was back in the closet, kissing Blaine with a passion I didn’t know I had in me. We were pressed so tightly to one another that I couldn’t tell where his body ended and mine began. It was then that he broke the connection, pushing away, both of us panting like we had just ran a mile.

He looked at me, almost in horror, and screeched, “What the hell was that?!”
Guess we aren’t whispering now.

Still in shock, I flustered for a reply, “Sorry…I just thought…er…well, you pulled me…well…you pulled me in!” My frustration was growing, mostly because the kiss left me tongue tied to the point of a talking stupor. But also because he made me feel like an idiot for letting him kiss me.

“No…I mean…yes, but...I saw...” His frustration was just as apparent. He began raking his hands through his hair again, something he would tend to do when nervous.

What could he have seen, the daydream? It couldn’t have been as simple as that. It was so real. Surely, he didn’t see what I was thinking, that’d be impossible. “Yeah…I…saw something…so weird.”

Before we had a chance to compare stories the closet door flung open. “FINALLY!” Crystal huffed, “We have been looking for you guys everywhere!”

I looked at Crystal, then Jared. I could only imagine what Blaine and I looked like after our make-out session in the closet. Jared’s eyes were wide, as if he knew exactly what was going on. When Crystal’s mouth turned to a devilish grin, I felt my face burn red hot. Without making eye contact with Blaine, I leaped out of the closet, gave a rushed, “I have to get home,” and bolted for the door. All I wanted at that moment was to bury my face in my pillow and disappear.

Chapter 4

After a night filled with vivid dreams and tossing as well as turning, I welcomed the Saturday morning sunrise. Lying in bed, I couldn’t stop thinking about the night before. I had my first kiss, and it was with my good friend, Blaine. I should have been excited, giddy even. But something just kept weighing on me, the daydream. Or at least that was what I would call it. It didn’t make any sense that Blaine would have known what I was seeing. Yet the scene kept playing through my mind, like a movie, over and over. Something didn’t add up. Who were the other people in my dream? I had never met them before. And why would Jared be in one of my dreams too? He didn’t look happy, following the dogs out of the creek. There was one other question that was left unanswered. Could I make the daydream happen again? Well, I was most definitely willing to try it out.

I rolled toward my nightstand to check the time, 6:34 am. Although my dad was away at a teacher’s convention at the lake, my mom most likely would not be awake yet. She valued sleeping in on Saturday mornings when my dad, the early riser, was out of town. She would be in bed until around 10 am, my best guess. Swiping my cell off the table, I powered it on. Last night I had shut it off, knowing that Crystal would have called wanting the “dirt” on what happened before they found us last night. Not being in the mood to explain any part of it, I just thought it would be easy to shut off my phone and let her create whatever naughty fantasy she saw fit in her mind.

The screen on my cell lit up, showing that I had five missed calls.
Crystal.
I fully expected they were all from her. To my surprise, one of the calls was from Blaine. He had left a voicemail, so I listened…

“
Kara. Listen. You ran out before we could talk. I don’t want you to think I am a douche bag since I didn’t get a chance to tell you I was sorry for freaking out on you. I haven’t been able to concentrate on anything else since you left. Please call me back, or just come over as soon as you get this. Don’t worry, I will be awake. Later.”
Blaine’s voice rang in my ears for a good 30 seconds. He had reacted poorly last night. That was true. But I hadn’t been the model of manners either. I played the message again for no reason other than to hear his voice again, and then I jumped out of bed.

I pulled on a cream-colored cardigan over my blue bohemian dress I had pushed to the back of the closet. Knowing it was supposed to be warm outside, I pulled my long, strawberry-blonde hair up into a loose bun and secured it with a comb. Never being one to wear loads of makeup, I felt it necessary to “pretty it up” with some mascara and lip gloss before taping a note to the refrigerator for my mother.