Karma Bites (8 page)

Head high, I walk, much more slowly this time until I reach him and up close, annoying is gone and he’s sexy again.

“Have a nice trip?” he asks with a smirk.

My cheeks burn which is getting really old. I need to do something about this blushing thing. “Ha, ha. Very funny.”

Caleb shrugs and I memorize the way his shoulders rise and fall. “I thought it was.”

I try to act like it doesn’t bother me that I’m a complete idiot. “Hey, I’m the one with the comedy hour, remember? Stop trying to be funny.” Hmm, pretty good
.
I’m proud of myself considering most of the time, it’s hard to talk in complete sentences around him.

“You definitely provide the entertainment.”

I reach out and smack his arm, surprising myself. Wow. When did I become so good with boys? “Whatever.”

He turns and starts walking through the woods. I file in beside him, running different sentences through my head like crazy, vetoing all the really lame ones. Okay, so maybe I’m not good with boys yet, but I’m working on it.

Pretty soon the sound of our feet shuffling through the leaves starts echoing so loudly I fear I might go insane. I say the first thing that pops into my head. “What’s your last class? You always seem to get home early and today, you beat me down here.”

He shrugs again. It’s like his trademark or something.

“Open period.”

There’s more to it than that. The only people who have open periods are those who have enough credits to graduate without them. Usually that’s saved for the honor roll kids who took extra credits during the first few years. No offense to Caleb, but he doesn’t strike me as the type. My tongue is begging me to ask, but I don’t. Didn’t need a secret decoder ring to figure out the topic is closed for him.

I wrack my brain for something else to say a little disappointed he took the wind out of my sails, when I remember what I had wanted to tell him the other day. “I got a job! Tonight’s my first night.” Gabe pops into my head.
Oh, and this really cute guy might come and see me!
Somehow, I didn’t think Caleb would care about that and for some reason; I don’t want him to know anyway.

Caleb turns and squints as if confused. “You sound happy ‘bout that.”

“Um, hello? Of course I’m happy about it. I’ll be making money, get to prove to my mom that…” Umm, I need to hit a dead end of that one, “that I can handle it. This is a
big
deal for me. For Mom, too. This is a good thing, Caleb.”
Caleb. Caleb.
His name feels good on my tongue.

He laughs. “If you say so. Hope you didn’t do this because of what I said, though.”

“No.” I’m pretty sure it’s not cool to lie to your dream guy, but I’m trying to save face. He’s looking a little sick to his stomach that I might do something he said. A little bit of my excitement cracks. I thought he’d understand. “Things are different for me. Like I told you…my mom, she’s totally overprotective. This is for, like, freedom or something.” I shrug. “Maybe it’s kind of stupid, but…”

Caleb stops walking and grabs my hand.
Engage overreaction.
My whole body tingles. It’s like I feel him everywhere.

“Hey, I didn’t mean that you’re stupid. It’s pretty cool you got a job.” He pulls his hand away and starts walking.

Hello? That’s it?
A guy can’t just grab a girl’s hand and walk away. Not when she has a secret crush on him. And what’s with the whole walking away thing anyway? How can he say something like that and pretend it didn’t happen? And guys say girls are hard to understand? Yeah, right.

Or maybe I’m just upset because I miss his touch. The feel of his warm hand snaked around mine. How it spread up my arm and throughout my body. I bite my cheeks. I just held Caleb freakin’ Evan’s hand!

“What are you smiling at?” His voice sounds a little gruff.

Oops.
Looks like I didn’t bit my cheeks hard enough. “I…don’t…know?” Nice. Real creative, Abbs
.

He chuckles.

Well, at least I make him laugh. That’s a good thing, right?

We’re almost through the woods by now, which means our walk is almost over. I really want to slow my pace, but the last thing I want is to risk being late for my first day of work.

“So, where ya working?”

Oh! He started the conversation for the first time today. This is looking up. “Sampson’s Diner. I’m bussing tables. I went to that tree after I got it so I could tell you, but you never showed. Then, I ran into this guy--” I stop dead when I realize what I just did. Great. He’s going to think I’m a stalker or something!

Caleb stops walking too. The lines of his face are hard as he scowls at me. “You what?”

Oh no!
He does think I’m a stalker! “I just…I didn’t mean to be all weird or anything. I wanted to tell you about the job since we’d talked about my proving I didn’t need a babysitter and all that. Sorry if--” I cut off. Sorry if what? I didn’t know what to say.

Caleb gives me another one of his confused looks. “Huh? I don’t mind you telling me about the job, Kitten.” He shakes his head like he’s irritated by his own words, but I’m in too much of a trance because he called me Kitten again.

“I’m just curious about who you saw in the woods, that’s all. It’s usually pretty lonely around here.” He’s looking around like he expects someone else to be there.

I kind of forget about the name thing and wonder why he’s lonely. Is he not close with his dad? “Um, some guy named Gabe. He’s new in town and we ran into each other. He’s pretty cool though. He walked me home.”

We reach the stop sign where I’d stopped with Gabe and Caleb both on the days they walked me home. I stop again. Going any closer risks Mom seeing him. I’d never live it down if mom gave one of them a vampire lecture or something. I clap my hands together. “Well, thanks for walking me home.”
Could I be any lamer?

He ignores me and asks, “How are you getting to work?” He’s looking around like he’s expecting something.

“My mom’s car.”

Caleb nods his head. “Good. Be careful, okay? I’m not sure if Cavanaugh and her shadows will give you a hard time again and…” he spaces off for a second, obviously running over the words in his head. “There’s just weird shit. You never know, so yeah…be careful.”

My pulse flutters. I want to jump up and down screaming,
he likes me, he likes me!
He must, right? In some way at least, if he’s worried. “I will.” I turn to walk away, but Caleb grabs my hand again.

“Meet me here in the morning around 7:30 and I’ll walk you to school.”

Aaaand, here’s the heart attack I’ve feared lately. He wants to walk me to school? I nod yes, not trusting my voice. It isn’t until he walks away that I really think about what he said. I turn and watch him go. See that back of his head as he shakes it and runs a hand through his hair. All I can think about is Caleb is coming completely out of his way to meet me, only to have to turn around and backtrack to walk me to school.

Sigh.

***

I ride a Caleb high for the first three hours of my shift. I see his face while I wipe down tables, remember his laugh when a male customer laughs and when someone grabs my wrist as I walk by, I immediately think of the feel of his warm, calloused hand. Rough hands are hot. Who would have thought?

And then he walks in. Not Caleb, but Gabe, and it’s pretty strange, because his smile kind of pushes Caleb’s to the background. They’re playing tug-o-war inside me, fighting for control of my thoughts.

I guess that’s what happens with a girl suddenly gets the attention of two boys. Lucky me! I think…

My lips stretch into a smile when I see he’s wearing the same coat from the other day. Can he smell me on it the way I smelled him? Probably not since I only wore it for a few minutes. My heart jumps a little when he sits in the empty booth beside the one I’m cleaning, while saying a little thanks to God that I talked Mom out of driving me to work and drinking coffee in the diner until I get off.

“Hey,” he says and I’m embarrassed to admit it makes me tingly.

“Hey.”

“Having a good first day at work?”

I set a cup into the dish bin. “Oh yeah. Especially all the dirty dishes.” My hands never stop clearing the table while I talk to him, not willing to risk getting in trouble my first day at work. Which is a bummer, because I want nothing more than to give him my complete attention. “Are you liking Karma so far?” It is a totally lame question because who could enjoy this town?

“Yeah, except I’m pretty bored. It’s hard not knowing many people. I’ve looked forward to seeing you.”

I drop a plate and it makes a loud clanking sound. Go me. Not. How does he say things like that without a hint of shyness? I decide to give it a try because this is the new me, right? “I’m happy to see you, too.” I glance around the room and see Liz Sampson watching us. Disappointment buries its claws inside me. Great. My job is already screwing up my newfound social life. “I can’t really talk though. I don’t want to get in trouble.” It wasn’t as if the restaurant was busy or anything. Besides Gabe there were only three other tables occupied.

Gabe’s gaze shifts behind me. I don’t have to look to know he spotted Liz too. He watches her for a minute before looking back at me. “I understand. What time do you get off? Maybe we can hang-out.”

My pulse rate sky-rockets. Oh. My. God. Is he asking me on a date? No. Dates take plans right? Obviously I have no experience here.
Shut up, shut up, shut up!
I’m even annoying myself right now. Thankfully he can’t hear what’s going on in my head. “I…”
Can’t…

Excitement drains out of me like all the old people in here drain Liz Sampson’s coffee pot. I can’t go out with him after work unless I want Mom out scouring the streets with a vamp-killing tools. I’d be the only girl in the world whose mom stakes the boy on their first date. “I’m sorry, but I can’t. Lots of homework to do.”

Gabe looks behind me again. Did I upset him? Does he think I don’t want to hang-out?

“Abby.” Liz calls from the kitchen door. “When you’re done with that table, I want you to spend the rest of the night in back getting caught up on the dishes.”

“Excuse me. Can I get my check?” One of the customers asks Liz.

I hurry with the rest of the dishes realizing the job I was really excited about might actually put a cramp in my blooming social life. Who would have thought? “I have to go. Um, I’m really glad you came in.”

Gabe nods at me, but doesn’t reply. I sigh as I pick up the dish bin and head to the kitchen. It’s really weird how the kitchen is set up because the dishwasher is in the back. I will have to haul all the dishes from the font of the kitchen before I can wash them. I take a couple bins back before the cook, Richard, waddles up to me. I bite back a smile. He’s a tiny guy with a big butt and equally large feet.

“We’re slow tonight. Nothing to cook so I’m going to head up front and visit for a while. Yell if you need anything.”

O-kay. My first night of work and I’m shoved in the back all by myself. Nice.

I hear the door close and it’s eerily quiet back here. I’m wishing someone would have told me how incredibly boring freedom could be. With a sigh I start in on the overwhelming mound of dishes, wondering if they didn’t wash any all-day just so I’d have to do them all tonight. I’m humming a little, wondering if Gabe is still out front or if I chased him away. I didn’t tell him I wished I could hangout with him. I should have told him that.

A breeze skates over my skin, interrupting my thoughts. A chill runs the length of my spine. Slowly, I’m not quite sure why, but I turn to the door and jump. “Oh my God! Gabe, what are you doing back here?”