I groaned as I mourned the loss of yet another paycheck. I would be expected to pay for these shoes, just like the first time it had happened with Mrs. Kuguar.
“Hey!” a male voiced cried out, and I looked up to see a guy walking toward me, only wearing one shoe.
It was embarrassing enough on its own, having your dog take someone’s shoe. But it didn’t end there. Of course, it didn’t. The shoe belonged to none other than Chase Saunders, hottie extraordinaire.
Chase had graduated this past spring, only one year ahead of me. He was gorgeous, popular, and had a gaggle of girls in love with him. It was no wonder, really, the dude was perfect.
As he got closer, I could see his blond hair stuck to his forehead, a result of running after me, no doubt. His smile was as dazzling as always. A perfect smile, the result of years in braces. That’s right, I remembered.
And his eyes.
They were light blue, like the ocean, and I stared at them like an idiot as he got closer. When he stopped in front of me, I realized I still hadn’t said hi. Was there a time limit on stuff like that? Like, if you didn’t say some kind of greeting within a certain number of minutes after spotting someone, did that mean you should skip it altogether?
“Is this your shoe?” I blurted.
Nice one, Nicole.
He smiled and looked down at his feet. One foot had the partner to the shoe I held in my hand. The other one only had a white sock covering it. Chase wiggled his toes, and I could see the movement beneath the fabric.
“You guys are fast. I almost lost you back there,” Chase said, and I looked up. He was still smiling.
“Yeah, sorry about that. Meatball loves to run. I try to take her out at least a couple times a week to get all of her energy out, but it never seems to be enough.”
“Wait. Your dog’s name is Meatball?” A corner of his mouth lifted in the most beautiful half smile.
I nodded. “I was eight when we got her. With all that curly, brown hair, I thought she looked like a meatball. Plus, I think that’s what we had for dinner that night. Call it a name of convenience.”
He chuckled, his eyes bright. “If it makes you feel better,” he started as he leaned in and lowered his voice. “I have a white German shepherd named Snowball.” Knowing this detail of Chase’s life made my stomach flutter.
“You’re kidding!”
“Nope.” Chase shook his head slowly. “Bet you can’t guess what time of year we got her.”
I lifted my finger to my lips, pretending to think hard on his question. All the while, I fought a smile. It was weird. It almost felt like flirting.
With Chase Saunders.
“She was a Christmas present,” he answered.
“Very original. Maybe parents shouldn’t let their kids be in charge of naming pets.”
“No?” He bent down and started scratching behind Meatball’s ears. She made happy sounds, and for the first time in history, I felt jealous of my dog. Chase looked up. “I think Meatball suits her.”
I snorted. “I don’t know about that. I think Brat would be more appropriate, especially after her behavior today.” It was then I realized I was still holding Chase’s shoe. I stuck it out toward him awkwardly.
“It’s okay, she doesn’t know better. She just saw an awesome toy.” An awesome, expensive toy, is what he meant. Chase grabbed the shoe from me as he stood back up, then tipped his head toward town. “Should we head back?”
“Probably.” Meatball acted like the perfect pet as we walked side-by-side. She didn’t tug on her leash or get distracted by scurrying creatures. “How did she get your shoe anyway?” I asked.
“I was going for a run and felt something in my sock. I thought I could stop and get it out before continuing on. As soon as I got my sock back on, your dog was snatching my shoe and running off.”
I looked back to his feet. He still only wore the one shoe. Like it was completely natural to walk down the street like that. He was so confident—so carefree.
“I’m so sorry. I’ll pay for it.”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. It was time to get a new pair anyway.” It was a lie. I’d seen the tread on the bottom. Even with bite-marks, I could tell they were practically brand-new, but it was nice of him to pretend otherwise.
“I’m Chase, by the way.”
He was introducing himself, even though we’d been going to the same schools for as long as I could remember. We’d both grown up in Marlowe Junction, but ran in different circles. Him, with the popular jocks, and me with… well, myself until recently.
I sighed, not because I was surprised he didn’t know who I was, that was the story of my life. My feelings weren’t hurt, not really. I was used to being overlooked.
No, it was a sigh of resignation, because now I would have to say something like “I know,” and he then he would respond with an equally eloquent, “You do?”
I didn’t want to do that.
I was having fun flirting with Chase, even knowing it wouldn’t go any further than this one afternoon. I didn’t want to ruin it. What could a little fib hurt? Especially since he’d be going off to college any day now. I turned my head to meet his gaze. “Nicole.”
The corner of his mouth lifted again, and dang it if it didn’t do weird things to the beating of my heart. “It’s nice to meet you. Are you here for school?”
I assumed he meant college since UC Boulder was so close to Marlowe Junction.
“Yep. Totally.” It wasn’t not true. I was here, and I went to Rosemark.
“Cool.”
We didn’t talk much as we got closer to town, but the silence wasn’t uncomfortable either. It felt natural, and I hated how giddy that made me feel. Is that what that couple felt as they walked down the sidewalk?
Soon we hit Main Street, and I spotted my bright red Mustang, parked parallel to the curb. “Well, this is me.” I pointed to my car and was thankful I hadn’t put my parking pass on my rearview mirror yet.
“Well, I guess I’ll see you around, Nicole.”
In the next couple of weeks before school started? Unlikely, and yet I still played along. “Okay.”
I opened the passenger door, and Meatball happily hopped inside. Smiling, I got into the driver’s seat. All the while, Chase stood on the sidewalk watching me. His running shorts had pockets, and both hands we shoved into them, like a little kid, giving him boyish charm. I gave a little wave as I started the engine and drove off.
I couldn’t help but notice Chase was still standing on the sidewalk, facing me, as I turned off of Main and made my way toward Mountain Creek Drive.
That brief interaction was probably the most thrilling thing to happen to me all summer, and it only lasted fifteen minutes. What was wrong with me?
And more importantly, what was wrong with my life?
Chapter Two
There were many times I wished I had siblings. A brother, a sister. I didn’t care which. I would have been happy with either. Or both. Or a couple of both.
Even at seventeen, I secretly wished my parents would get pregnant or adopt a child.
It was lonely being alone. My parents were always working, and I never seemed to find someone to click with the way they always did on TV. I had no Willow to my Buffy, no Dawson to my Joey. And without any cousins my age, I grew up surrounded by adults. I didn’t know how to talk to people my age. Amy was the closest thing I had to a best friend, and we hadn’t really started talking until after the Homecoming fiasco the previous year.
It started out as us sitting together during lunch, neither one of us saying much. Before long, she was inviting me to come to her house after school, and I was inviting her to the movies on the weekends.
We ended up spending a lot of time together last year, and the first time she introduced me to her mom as her best friend, I was shocked—in a good way. It took me a little longer to get used to the word. Now, I had no hesitations.
As my best friend, she was the first, and only, person
to hear about what happened to me that afternoon. I went upstairs to my room and picked up the cordless phone my parents had given me last Christmas. With it, came my own number. No more waiting for Dad to get off the internet or trying to get Mom to hurry up her phone conversations with my grandma.
I dialed Amy’s number and waited for someone to pick up. She, unfortunately, still only had one line at her house. It was always super awkward having to talk to her parents who picked up the phone nine times out of ten.
“Hello?” Her mom’s voice greeted me through the receiver.
“Hi, Mrs. Ferrera. Is Amy home?”
“Is this Nicole?”
“Yes, ma’am,” I answered.
“How is your summer going?” Amy’s mom asked. She was nice enough, but I never understood why she wanted to talk to me every time I called. Certainly, she had more important things to worry about than the boring lives of teenagers.
“It’s good.”
“I’m so glad to hear that.” Even over the phone, I could tell she was smiling. We talked for a couple of minutes before she finally said, “I’ll go grab Amy.”
I paced back and forth in my room waiting for Amy to get on the line. I couldn’t wait to tell her about what happened.
“Nicole?” she said shortly after her mom had set the phone down.
“The one and only.”
“Let me get to the other room.” I heard the distant chatter of a television and a slam of a door. “I’m on the back porch, so my mom won’t eavesdrop. What’s up?”
“You are never going to believe what happened today!” I squealed.
She laughed into the receiver. “You’re right. I wouldn’t know where to begin.”
“I talked to Chase Saunders!”
There was a beat a silence before Amy spoke again. “At work?”
“No, downtown Marlowe Junction.”
I gave her a rundown of what happened. When I was done, I was met with silence again.
“Amy?”
“Sorry, that just seems so… weird. Like, how did he know who you were? No offense, Nicole, but we aren’t exactly the kind of people who make it onto Chase’s radar.”
I sighed. “Yeah, well, he didn’t know who I was.”
It was silent for several seconds before Amy spoke. “What does that even mean?”
“He introduced himself, and I kinda pretended I was going to college here?” I scrunched my face up as I admitted lying to Chase.
Amy laughed again.
“It’s not that funny!”
“Of course, it is. What happens when he finds out you’re one year younger than him and used to go to the same high school?”
I flopped down onto my bed. “Please just be happy I got to flirt with the hottest guy to ever grace the halls of Rosemark.”
“I am, but aren’t you a little offended he didn’t know who you were?”
“Considering I don’t plan on seeing him again, I’m not too worried about it. We didn’t exchange numbers, and he’ll be off at school soon. It was fun.”
“Um… Nicole?” Amy’s voice was hesitant. “You do know Chase is going to UC Boulder, right?”
Actually, I didn’t know that. And more importantly, why did Amy? I was tempted to ask, but the conversation already felt so awkward with my mention of him.
Besides, it wasn’t like I’d ever see him around town. High school and college circles didn’t run together. “So?” I said, trying to sound like that tidbit of information didn’t catch me completely off-guard.
“What if he bumps into you again? What are you going to say?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we’ll have another round of introductions.”
“Guys like Chase are so clueless.” I could see her point. We had been in school together forever. We’d been in the same class for crying out loud.
“Are you ready for school?” I asked, changing the subject.
“I guess.” Her voice was suddenly flat. All trace of humor gone.
“Nervous?”
“I still don’t know how I’m supposed to act, you know? Winning Homecoming queen last year really messed with my head. I mean, of course, it was fun to win and have the spotlight for a short time. But everyone knows Erin was supposed to win. And all the drama of everyone else kind of overshadowed it. I feel in limbo.”
I knew how she felt.
I hadn’t won Homecoming queen or Prom queen. I hadn’t even had a date to either dance. My parents indulged me in so many ways, but that didn’t give me a boost on the social ladder at school. I was still off the radar.
In that, Amy and I were the same. Those quiet girls who were just there. How many times had I been called Nikki? Even after twelve years together, some people still couldn’t get my name right. It’s Nicole, thank you very much, I wanted to say to them all (but never managed to).
“Just one more year, Amy. We’re going to have an awesome senior year. After that, we’re out of here.”
“I hope so.”
“I know so. By the way, we still need to get together before school starts. I’ve been so busy with work, I feel like we haven’t hung out at all.”
I had the best job working at Blockbuster. Not difficult, and lots of free rentals. The only downside had been all the extra hours since one of our employees left. The manager was still trying to find a replacement. He’d been going through a stack of applications and had several interviews the previous week. I hoped he picked someone soon.
“Sounds great. Maybe Friday?” Her voice sounded slightly more cheerful.
“Miracle of miracles, I have the day off!”
We made plans for that day, including a special trip to the mall for the perfect first day of school outfits.
We were just getting into a discussion about the upcoming Lord of the Rings movie when her mother came in and told her to get off the phone.
When we hung up, I started thinking about Chase again. Orlando Bloom dressed as a hot elf was a welcome distraction, but without Amy to keep it going, my brain went back to another blond guy. It had been so incredible to talk with him.
Unfortunately, Amy had a point when she asked about whether or not I was offended. I wasn’t then, and I still wasn’t now—not really. If anything, I was embarrassed.
But maybe it was time to get mad.
I should be angry that Mr. Too-Cool-For-School didn’t know my name.
I should have enough self-respect to expect people to call me by my actual name.
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Also by Kayla Tirrell
River Valley Lost & Found:
All The Things We Lost
All The Things We Found
All The Things We Were
Varsity Girlfriends:
Courtside Crush
Disastrous Dates:
Disastrous Dates: The Complete Series
Mountain Creek Drive:
Chasing Love
Carnival Wishes
Collection of Sweet Shorts:
Home For Christmas
The Art of Taking Chances
Children’s Chapter Book:
Help! My Parents Are Zombies!
Mountain Creek Drive
Sweet Young Adult Series with a touch of 2000’s nostalgia
River Valley Lost & Found
Sweet Young Adult/New Adult series
Disastrous Dates
Sweet, Funny, College Romance
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Courtside Crush: Varsity Girlfriends Book One Page 18