Emerge (6 page)

             
“
Jenna,
I think you’re beautiful and
well…can we go out sometime?
I would
             
love to get to know you.
” 

             
My answer came
out before I could even think it over. 

             
“Yeah.”
 

             
He smiled…oh
,
that smile.  All of my stress and worry about him and that girl and that baby
was gone in an instant
and what he felt about me was confirmed in that conversat
ion and in that smile.  We sat
star
ing at each other for who knows how long and then made our way into the theater.  We practiced and went through the plays as if we had a packed house.  Some people still didn’t know their lines and I still
sucked at mine but it was going to be ok.
The deal was, you participate in the play,
you
get an
‘
A
’
.

             
After class was over, I gathered my bag and my sweater and made my way towards the doors to catch the bus, and a hand intertwined with mine and a wave of heat crept up my bod
y starting with the hand that was
held so dearly. 

             
“Didn’t we forget something?”
h
e asked. 

             
I could think of tons of things that we didn’t do that I wanted to do with him or to him,
but I said
,
“We did?”

             
He smiled
and said
,
“Yeah, I didn’t get your phone number.” 

             
“O
h” I smiled and tried not to let on what I was really thinking about. 

             
Would they even let me talk on the phone?  Would I have any privacy?  What if he calls and they answer and give him a hard time? 
I put those thoughts on the backburner and took a pen from my bag. 

             
“
Here.
” I turned his hand over to write my number on it and he stopped me.

             
“No, I have to go to wor
k tonight and it will wear off.
Write it on my notebook.
  Here”

             
He handed me a blue
spiral bound notebook.
I did as he asked and then questioned him.

             
“You work at night?” 

             
He nodded and said
,
“Yeah, my brother and I live in an apartment
together and so I have to work”

             
I nodded and said
,
“
I understand.
Well, I have to catch the bus, so I will see you tomorrow, ok?” 

             
I was having a hard time letting go of his hand. Our fingertips were still touching as we walked away and he said
,
“Ok, tomorrow.” 

             
I made myself face forward and not look back as I walked away but hoped that he had glanced back. 

             
I made it home but there was no one there.  A note was left on the window of the backdoor that was now sported duct tape instead of glass. 
Jenna, we are going to visit your Aunt Catherine for a few days.  We left food in the fridge. 
That was it.  No “I love you” or “Kiss my butt” or anything. Aunt Catherine lived in
Las Vegas
so it was about 8 hours away.  It was actually a relief now.  Ever since that trip where they lost all of their money my Mom was being a Mom.  Well, she was being a Mom to May and that’s all I cared about.  I walked into the house and was glad for the silence.  I could wait out his call knowing I was free to talk to him without prying eyes or ears. 

             
So
, then I played that game where you pretend you’re not waiting for someone to call
.  I cleaned, I did
homework, I read, I showered and
made dinner.  And by the time I was elbow deep in dish water, the phone rang.
I ran with the dish rag still drying my hands to the ringing.
  I checked the caller id
and it was a local number that I didn’t know. 
 

             
I answered, giving the caller my best suave
,
“Hello”. 

             
“Hey
,
” the baritone voice answered
.
“It’s me. I’m sorry.  I hope it’s not too late to call.”

I was so excited that I had twisted that poor dish rag until it wouldn’t twist any more. 

             
“No, it’s fine.  I stay up pretty late.” I giggled. 
God, I’m
l
osing it.  Why was I giggling?
Nothing was funny.

             
“Oh
,
good.
  I’m on my lunch break
,
”
h
e said, sounding relieved. 

             
“Oh, well shouldn’t you be eating?
I mean…I’m glad you called but I don’t want you not to eat.” 

             
He laughed into the phone.  “No, I don’t eat when I’m here.  It’s too late to eat. It makes me tired.” 

             
Poor guy, it was obvious to me why he was looking so tired the other day.  He was exhausted from going to school all day and then working all night. 

             
“That makes sense
,
” I said, not knowing what else to say. 

             
“So
, what are you doing tonight?”
h
e
asked
. He sounded like he’d never done this before.
 

             
“Well, I did some homework and cleaned up and did some laundry.”

             
He laughed again.  “Yeah, I probably should do laundry
too
.”

             
I replied, “Well, if I don’t do it then no one does. But I’ve done it for years, so it’s no biggie.”

             
He paused a little too long. “You don’t live with your parents?”

             
“Yeah, I do, but I kinda have to take care of myself.”

             
“Oh…”  He sounded…Worried? Concerned? 

             
“So, how long do you work every day?” 

He explained and
the rest of
our first conversation
was easy and familiar.

             
I didn’t realize how long we had talked and then he
let out an enormously long breath and said “I don’t want to, but I have to go back to work. I will see you tomorrow, ok?” 

             
“Um, yeah, ok.”  I didn’t want to hang up. 

             
“Ok, well, bye.”

             
“Yeah, ok, bye.” 

             
I hung up first.  He needed to get back to work and I didn’t want to be the reason he got in trouble.

             
I know it was just a phone conversation, but I felt like I knew some things about him that no one else did…Like we had secrets.  I put the phone back where it belonged and danced the
twirly
ballet of a girl who had just talked to the boy she adored.  I
was no ballerina, but I twirled and twirled
.

Chapter 7

             
I
woke up the next morning in the greatest mood
.  I was still by myself in the house and I got up and took the time to make myself a
grape
Pop Tart in the toaster. 
High class breakfast.
  I dressed in a pair of ratty jeans and a black and white striped Henley and my black garage sale Mary Jane
’
s. 
I braided my hair over the side of my face even though I swore I would wear it down every day because he said it looked pretty. 
Who am I kidding?
  I hardly ever wore my hair down.  I wore my usual minimum make-up and glided to the bus stop.  Nothing in the world could bring me down from this. 
Nothing.

             
The day went by and as I made my way
,
in a haze
,
through the halls between third and fourth periods, I saw him walking down the hall.  I pretended to look straight ahead, determined not to be that girl that came unglued at the very sight of him.  But in my peripheral I spotted
him
and he had spotted me.  He d
idn’t say anything as he passed;
the hallways were two
‘
moos
’
away from a cattle drive in between classes.  Instead, he reached out his finger and ran it down my arm as slowly as he could while never missing a beat.  I gasped as that simple touch caused pins and needles to crawl up my arm and spread through my body.  I turned my head quickly around to verify what had just happened and he was glancing back at me too. 
He was smiling the smile of “Ha! I got you to blush!”
It was true and that small gest
ure and the heat that proceeded lasted me through until the coveted sixth period arrived. 

             
Leaving fifth period in and of itself caused my blush to come to full attention.  I turned and situated my
messenger bag across my chest and began to walk towards my destination.  As I crossed campus and passed by the English building someone took pace with me and then I knew who it was.
I pursed my lips together to keep from smiling like a serial killer clown.
 

             
Fingertips teased and taunted min
e, playing my fingertips like the keys of a
piano.  Then he nudged my shoulder with his, trying to get my attention.  Little did he know that he had my attention every single second and his playful gesture caused
warm tingles to spread up my arm and throughout my
body
.
  I looked over at him and he had a different smile.  It was a new smile.  It was a smile that conveyed my thoughts to a T.  We had a secret that no one else knew.  And I had a secre
t of my own…I wasn’t willing to admit it in words, but it was there nonetheless
.
The thought itself shocked me like a bolt of lightning.
  It was too fast and it didn’t make s
ense and I hardly knew what loving someone
was. I chastised myself for being a fool.  But I knew what love wasn’t
and I knew how love didn’t act and things that love didn’t do
and I knew how his very presence made me feel. 

             
We reached the theater and he held the theater doors open for me. I smiled bashfully at his gesture and as I walked in
he placed his hand on the small of my back and caressed it gently, testing out the waters.  I turned slightly and looked at him over my shoulder as the door closed and slightly nodded giving my permission.  As we walked towards the class, who were all perched in various positions on the stage, I caught Anna’s eye and knew by the way she was covering her smile with her hand that she knew what was going on.  We walked, Carlos still behind me up the small stairs towards the stage and plopped down next to each other.  I’m sure Mr. Escobar was talking about something really interesting, but what it was I knew not.  I caught the end of his pep talk and heard how we were ready and it was going to be great.  We were to spend the rest of the class studying our lines and after that we could do what we wanted to do. 

             
When I got up Carlos was talking to that Wimbledon head bobbing guy and I made my way into the audience seats towards the middle on stage left
.  Students had made small groups all around studying their lines, or pretending to.  And that is exactly what I was doing.  As I entered the row to take a seat
,
my shoes made a ridiculous noise as they were sticking with every step.
Theaters are always sticky.
I decided on the third seat in as to not bring any more attention to me and my sticky steps.  I pulled out my script and wrapped it around the outside of my trusty paperback.  The wolf-man’s mate had been kidnapped and I needed to know more.  About ten minutes later the seat next to me was pushed down by a hand with cinnamon skin and he sat down slowly, like he was gauging whether or not he was welcome.  I put my head back against the seat and turned towards him and smiled, hoping that would give him the answer he needed.