The First Love Anthology: A collection of novellas

by Amy Sparling

  My favorite job here is restocking. Once a week we get a load of boxes that need to be unpacked on the shelves. It’s quiet, and easy, and I don’t have to deal with anyone.

  But today is Tuesday, so I’m stuck working the diner.

  By noon, I’ve already made twelve pots of coffee. And this is an industrial-sized coffee maker that holds twenty cups at once, so I think the people of this town should maybe chill with their caffeine intake.

  Luckily, my mom’s best friend Betty is here waitressing today, so I get to chill behind the bar and refill drinks and make milkshakes. I don’t mind waitressing, but it’s awkward now anytime one of my friends from school comes in. They always ask about Risha. They ask about why we’re no longer hanging out every day like we did for our entire lives. They ask if she’s still mad. Or worse—they lean in and whisper secretively, asking if I’m secretly dating Jake.

  Our door opens with a little jingle around two in the afternoon. I glance lazily over there, not really caring who’s coming inside as long as it’s not Risha, but then a shock of wavy dark brown hair gets my attention.

  Looks like two people passing through have decided to come in for some food. It’s a guy, around my age, and an older lady who looks like his mom because she has the same nose and eyes.

  I exhale slowly and tell myself to play it cool. Just because this guy is totally gorgeous in every way, from his messy but sexy hair, to his sharp jawline and thick shoulders, and that little vein running down his forearm that’s totally hot—wait, what was I saying?

  Oh yeah. No need to drool over some guy who will be gone soon.

  But I do wish the guys at my school were that hot. Maybe then I’d get over the fact that I’ve known them my whole life.

  Betty greets them and offers to take them to a table, but the woman asks if they can sit at the bar instead. I stand a little straighter. Looks like I’ll get to serve some stranger eye candy.

  I smile warmly as the woman walks up, her son trailing behind her.

  “Good afternoon,” I say in my cheery waitress voice. “What can I get you to drink?”

  “I know it’s late, but do you have any coffee?” the woman asks.

  I snort. She would fit in well here. “Yes, ma’am, we have a fresh pot.”

  When I shift my attention to her son, he turns away, scratching his forehead while he looks down at the floor. “Coke,” he says quickly, then he takes a seat on a barstool and looks off to the right.

  Weird. If he wasn’t a total stranger, I’d think maybe he was avoiding me.

  I bring them drinks and the woman orders the famous BLT after I tell her it’s totally amazing, and then the guy once again looks away from me as he orders a cheeseburger. It’s like he doesn’t want to make eye contact with anyone. Like he’s ashamed or something, which is weird, because he’s totally freaking hot. It’s not like he has a huge hairy mole on his chin and that makes him avoid people. He is like a picture perfect example of a hot teenage guy.

  I bring them their food and then leave them alone. The lady seems nice enough, but her son is weird.

  When they’re finished eating, I bring the check to the lady and I don’t bother looking at the guy. The way he avoids eye contact now has me wondering if there’s something wrong with me. Like maybe I should check my chin for the sudden appearance of an ugly mole.

  “How was it?” I ask her.

  Her eyes go wide. “Oh my God, dear. It was delicious! The best BLT ever.”

  “I know, right?” I gush. “It’s our cook, Julian. I don’t know what magic he does to the bacon but it’s amazing. I can never cook it like that at home.”

  “I’ll definitely have another one tomorrow,” she says.

  My eyebrows shoot up. “Tomorrow?”

  She nods. “I love this town. It’s so cute, and the woods stretch on for miles. It’s isolated, you know?”

  “Yeah…” I say. “We’re pretty isolated.”

  “I saw that motel over there,” she says, pointing toward the door where Mr. Parson’s five room motel sits on the other side of the road. That place is ancient and mainly a home for exhausted truckers passing by or old men whose wives get mad and kick them out for the weekend.

  The lady leans in. “Is there anything nicer nearby?”

  I laugh. “Not really,” I say. “But my parents have a house they rent out on Airbnb. Sometimes hikers will come stay for a weekend.”

  “That sounds perfect,” she says. “I mean, we’re trying to get a home, a more permanent place to live, but we need something right now.” She holds out her hand. “I’m Mary.”

  “I’m Shelby,” I say. “Nice to meet you. But I don’t understand… you want to live here?”

  She chuckles. “Yes, we do! We’re tired of the big city life.” She glances toward her son, who is giving her an annoyed expression like he wishes she’d shut up. Maybe he’s just a jerk, I realize.

  Then Mary says, “This is my son, J—um, Clay.”

  “Hi,” I say, smiling warmly even though he’s now glaring at his mom. I hate when guys treat their parents like crap.

  Clay’s gaze slowly slides to mine and he nods slightly. “Hello.”

  Now that he’s being kind of a jerk, his hotness isn’t really that remarkable anymore.

  “My mom is in the other room,” I say, turning back to Mary. “I can have her come talk to you about the room?”

  “Perfect,” she says. “I can already tell we’re going to love living here.”

  I glance at Clay, who is watching me with a weird fascinated look now. “You’re really going stay?” I ask.

  Clay’s mom nods eagerly. “I love it here. Best BLT in the world. Why, is there something wrong with Spockle?”

  I shake my head quickly. “No, ma’am, it’s just weird. People pass through town all the time, but no one ever comes to stay.”

  Mary chuckles. “Guess we’ll be the first.”

  Chapter 2

  My mom is overly excited when I tell her there’s a lady here who wants to rent a room for the night.

  She takes off the gloves she’d been using to package her homemade brownies into individual bags for sale, and then she claps them together. “This is wonderful! We really need the money. Maybe she’ll stay a few days.”

  “That’s the weird thing,” I say. “She said they are moving here. Like, to Spockle.”

  Mom’s green eyes light up like I’ve just told her the best news. She puts a hand to her chest. “How many people is it?”

  “I think just her and her son.”

  She nods. “Okay. Let’s see what I can do.”

  Then she walks into the diner and introduces herself to Mary. I pretend to be busy behind the counter, refilling the sugar and napkin holders, but really, I’m listening to their conversation.

  “So are you planning on staying a while?” Mom says.

  “We’re hoping to stay for good. Are there any houses for sale here?”

  “I don’t believe so,” Mom says. “But there are a few places where you could buy land and build your own house.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Mary says. “I’d love to do that. We could customize everything, right, Clay?”

  “Sure,” he says, but he doesn’t seem very enthused.

  “So, Jane,” Mary says to my mom. “I know you have a rental house for Airbnb, but is there any chance you could rent it to us for a few months?”

  Mom practically explodes with excitement. “Yes, yes, of course! Now, it’s a three bedroom, sixteen hundred square feet. Would that be okay?”

  “It’s perfect,” Mary says.

  Mom bites her bottom lip. “Would…five hundred a month be okay?”

  Mary looks at her son and they both laugh. “Are you serious?” Mary says. “That’s, like, nothing. We can pay more.”

  Mom shakes her head. “No, no, I couldn’t ask more than that. It’s the going rate around here.”

  “Wow,” Mary says. “Back in—” Clay widens his eyes an
d she catches herself. “In the city, the rent was much higher than that.”

  “Isn’t that crazy?” Mom says, seemingly unaffected by how weird our new visitors are. “But here everything is cheap. That’s because the jobs don’t pay much, either. I tell you what,” Mom says. “If you’re finished eating, I could show you the house now?”

  “That’d be wonderful,” Mary says, beaming. She drops a twenty dollar bill on the counter and then they leave. I watch them walk outside, talking to my mom the whole time, and then I stare at the enormous tip she left me. Twenty bucks? That’s never happened in all the years I’ve been working here.

  I slide it into my pocket and think about running outside to ask her if she made a mistake and didn’t mean to leave so much. But that would be just as awkward as accepting the tip, so I decide to find a way to bring it up later.

  I’m still in a weird daze as I get back to work, my eyes flitting toward the barstool where Clay was sitting. People don’t just move from a big city to our little nothing town. That just doesn’t happen, like ever.

  The last time it did happen was to Jonathan Fray, who got in trouble with drugs in Chicago, so his parents made him spend a year with his grandparents here in town. He was a total ass and everyone hated him and he left after a few months.

  It’s just so weird that a guy and his mom would move here like that. I wonder if they’re hiding something. Clay did seem extra weird. And now he’s going to be living in my parent’s rental house.

  The one right next door to me.

  ♥ ♥ ♥

  It’s just after seven in the evening when I finally get home after work. Normally I leave much earlier, but Betty’s kid got sick so I decided to take over for her. As I pull my old Jeep into our driveway, I see the moving truck next door, and I can’t believe I actually forgot about our new neighbors for a few hours.

  It’s a small moving truck, one that doesn’t seem big enough for two people’s stuff. Clay carries a big box down the loading ramp, the box blocking his face from my view. I sit in my Jeep and watch him take it inside. Then his mom comes out and takes a few lumpy bags out of the back of the truck. She grins at me as she walks by and I wave at her.

  Clay looks over at me, then goes back into the truck to get another box. What is his deal? Like seriously? I’ve been nothing but nice to him and all he does is act like I’m some loser he hates. I may not be some gorgeous model like he is, but I’m not exactly a leper. I’m normal. I have nice hair, and a good tan from spending so much time outside. People usually think Risha is prettier than I am, but she’s not here right now.

  He has no reason to judge me or act like I’m a loser.

  I decide to make him believe that. While my parents are watching TV in the living room, gushing over how excited they are that Mary signed a six month lease, I head into the kitchen and use Mom’s famous brownie recipe to make a batch of brownies.

  When they are cooled, I cut them into squares and wrap them up on a plate.

  “I made brownies for our new neighbors,” I tell my parents.

  “What a great idea!” Mom says. “You are such a sweetheart.”

  Now I just need to make Clay believe that, too. I’m suddenly nervous as I walk next door. This house used to belong to my aunt and uncle who lived here until they had their baby and then they decided to move to Houston and live the city life. My parents bought their house from them and now it just kind of sits here until someone rents it out for a weekend. The gross part of owning a weekend rental is when couples want some romantic getaway in the woods and they rent it and spend all their time inside, no doubt having sex in every room.

  I knock on the side of the door because the front door is open. “Hello?” I call out.

  Clay appears from the hallway. He watches me through the screen door for a second, and then I guess he realizes he can’t just ignore me, so he walks up and opens the door.

  “I made you and your mom some brownies,” I say, putting on a smile, which isn’t hard because he’s so hot it makes me want to giggle like an idiot.

  “Um, thanks,” Clay says, reaching for the plate I hand him. He eyes me the whole time, as if he thinks I’m about to stab him or something. I decide I don’t want to just turn around and leave. I want to make him realize I’m a fun, nice person. Not someone needs to stare at like a weirdo.

  “Are you going to school here next year?” I say. He lifts an eyebrow. “Or are you in college, or something?” I laugh this awkward laugh. “I don’t know how old you are.”

  “I’m eighteen,” he says after a moment. “Graduated.”

  “Cool.” I nod. “I’ll be a senior next year. You’re lucky you don’t have to go to Spockle High. It’s so lame.”

  “Is it just a one room building like from the old days?”

  I roll my eyes. “It’s not that bad… but it’s pretty small.”

  He steps backward, his lips twisting into something that could be called a smile. “Do you want to come inside? My mom’s in the shower but I’m sure she’ll want to thank you for the brownies.”

  “Sure.”

  I’m in.

  I’m starting to win him over. Now maybe he won’t look at me like I’ve grown an extra head.

  “So, I heard your mom say the internet is included in the rent, but I can’t find any Wi-Fi connections,” he says, leading me into the living room. “Do you know how to fix that?”

  I laugh. “Oh man… oh… wow…”

  “What?” he says, his eyebrows pulling together.

  I shake my head, unable to stop laughing. “That’s…hilarious. We don’t have Wi-Fi.”

  Now he really stares at me like I’m crazy. I explain, “There’s no high-speed connections out here. We just have dial-up internet. You know…super slow.”

  His eyes widen. “You’re kidding.”

  I shake my head. He runs a hand down his face, and then studies me like he’s seeing me in a new light. “Do you use your cell phone as a hotspot or something?”

  I snort. “Some people do, yeah. But I don’t have a phone.”

  He stares at me for a very long time. “That’s a joke?” he says finally.

  I shake my head. “No joke. We have a landline in the house, so I use that.”

  “You’re a senior in high school and you don’t have a phone.”

  I shrug. “Don’t really need one.”

  Something weird happens. He smiles.

  Like a real smile. His shoulders seem to loosen and all of a sudden, it’s like he’s this different person. “That’s actually pretty cool,” he says, moving to sit on the couch. “I think I will do the same thing and just stay off the internet while I’m here.”

  “It’s really only good for shopping,” I say, sitting next to him. “I use Amazon for like, everything, since the mall is so far away. That’s pretty much all we use it for.”

  He grins at me. “That’s awesome.”

  I don’t know what I did, what kind of test I passed in his mind, but whatever it is, he’s now opening up to me. He’s no longer staring at me like he wishes I’d leave. He’s being… cool.

  “So,” he says, inhaling. “Want to watch a movie?” He nods toward the television which is sitting on the floor next to a small TV stand and a box with wires and a DVD player in it. “You know, after I get this stuff hooked up?”

  The way he’s looking at me sends a nervous shiver down my spine. He is so gorgeous. Like, too gorgeous to be living here.

  “That would be fun,” I say, sliding off the couch. “Let me help you set up the TV.”

  Chapter 3

  Clay has a ton of DVDs of movies I haven’t seen. Pretty much every film that’s been released in the last few years. It’s like a movie paradise. He watches me with a cute smile on his face as I go through the boxes in his living room, trying to pick a movie to watch.

  “I didn’t even know they remade this one,” I say, holding up a Blu-ray copy of Beauty and the Beast. “Is that Hermione?”

 
; “Yeah,” Clay says with a snort. “That’s my mom’s movie. I am not a fan of girly stuff like that.”

  I roll my eyes and put it back. When Mary gets out of the shower, she seems surprised but in a good way when she sees me.

  “Hi, Shelby,” she says as she twists the towel over her wet hair. She’s wearing Hello Kitty pajamas that make her look younger. Actually, she seems really young in comparison to my parents.

  “What are you two doing?”

  “Trying to find a movie to watch,” Clay says. “Shelby hasn’t seen anything that’s been released in the last decade.”

  “Not true,” I say, giving him a playful glare. “I just don’t see many movies at all. I actually have a life.”

  He laughs and throws a couch pillow at me before turning back to his mom. “Shelby brought us brownies.”

  “Ooh!” she says, eyeing the plate of them on the counter. “They look amazing. I’ll have one for breakfast tomorrow. Right now, I just want to go to sleep.”

  “It’s only eight,” Clay says, checking the time on his phone, which he slides back into his pocket. The thing is big and thin and sleek. Only a few people in my school have phones like that.

  “I know, honey, but I’m exhausted,” Mary says. “It wears you out driving that big truck all day.”

  “Well, goodnight,” he says to her.

  She kisses the top of his head and then gives me a warm smile. “Have fun! Goodnight, Shelby.”

  “Goodnight,” I say. Once she’s gone, I turn to Clay. “How long did ya’ll have to drive?”

  “All night and all day,” he says, sinking back into the couch. “I tried to drive but she wouldn’t let me because of the insurance. You have to be twenty-five to rent one of those moving trucks.”

  I want to ask where he came from, but I’m pretty sure he won’t tell me the answer, and things are going well between us right now so I don’t want to ruin it. I hold up the Avengers DVD. “What about this one?”