by Debra Doxer
When Jonah didn’t reply right away, I went to Theo’s message. It was a picture of his dog taking a dump. The text said, This one’s for you. Wrinkling my nose at it, I was about to text him back something rude when I realized his dog was on my ex’s front lawn.
“Ha!” I exclaimed in the quiet hotel room. I texted back kisses and hugs. I’d call him tomorrow and ask if this fun was going to be repeated again.
The last text from Lea was also checking up on me and asking if I’d really wiped my boogers all over Jeffrey Kingston’s locker. So that was his name. He’d snitched on me, the little germ spreader, or he’d told enough people for it to get back to Lea. Oh well, I was pretty sure there was no rule against wiping bodily fluids on lockers, especially since all my clothes were on at the time.
My food came and I gave the guy with the tray a three-dollar tip. He frowned, but it was all I had on me. Then I mostly picked at my food, munching halfheartedly on a french fry or two while watching television and trying not to think too much.
Eventually I pulled out my homework, but I couldn’t concentrate. Finally around eleven, I turned everything off and went to bed. Despite thinking there was no way I could fall asleep with my thoughts spiraling, I must have dozed off eventually because the next thing I knew, sunlight was streaming into the room.
***
Theo: It’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get back up.
At first I was disoriented when I woke up. Then it all rushed back to me, why I wasn’t in my own bedroom and all that had happened yesterday.
Scrubbing my hands over my face, I grabbed my phone to call my father, but saw he’d already texted me about an hour ago.
Dad: Pack your things and meet me downstairs at 7:30.
The message wasn’t exactly warm and fuzzy after all my worrying, but most definitely typical of him. I exhaled my tension. He was okay, and if he wanted me to pack my things, that meant I could come home, or at least I assumed it did.
Jonah had texted me too. His message said, Hope you’re feeling better, and it contained a link. When I tapped on it, it took me to a music video on YouTube with a bunch of puppet cupcakes singing a kids’ song about how awful it feels to have a cold, but how great it is to get better. I smiled, realizing Jonah was the reason behind my only smile in the last twelve hours.
After a quick shower, I got dressed and was ready just in time to meet my father downstairs.
“Do you want to go to school today?” he asked as he drove away from the hotel.
“Yes. Can I sleep at home tonight?”
He reached over and patted my knee. “Yes.”
I relaxed into the seat, my relief obvious. “If I ask why it’s okay to come home, will you tell me?”
“Sure. Because I said so.”
“Ha. Ha.” I frowned at him and he shot me a tight smile.
When he slowed for a stoplight, he dug into his pocket and pulled out two keys, handing them to me. “These are your new house keys. It’s safe at home now, but I still took the extra precaution of changing the locks and installing dead bolts. We’ve given out keys over the years to cleaning people, babysitters, and neighbors. We’ve lost track of too many of them.”
I looked at him, confused. It was safe at home now? How did he know? And by the way, he’d changed all the locks anyway? I wasn’t buying it.
He turned left into the school parking lot. “Are you sure you’re up for this? You don’t look like you feel well enough to go today.”
“I’m fine,” I said, unsettled, my initial relief spoiled by the new keys digging into my hand.
“I’ll be home when you get there.” He looked and sounded almost contrite.
“Okay.” I wrapped my fingers around the door handle, but then I hesitated. “I’m worried about you.”
His eyes widened a fraction.
“You need to take of yourself because I can’t lose you too.”
Before he could respond, I pushed the door open and got out of the car. For a change I wanted my words to hang in the air between us. I wanted him to understand I meant them.
I had to hustle to get to my locker and then get to first period English on time. I made it to class just before Mr. Harris shut the door, dropping into the first empty desk I saw near the front. After pulling out my pen and notebook, I turned around and saw Jonah smiling at me from the back row. I smiled in return and faced forward before Mr. Harris could ask me to.
By the time class ended, my desk was littered with tissues and I was second-guessing my decision to come in today. My head was elsewhere, and my body wanted to be in bed beneath my comforter.
“You’re not feeling better, are you?” Jonah asked, appearing beside my desk.
I tossed my tissues into the trash and grabbed my bag up off the floor. “Maybe just a little. Thanks for the song. How did you ever find that?”
He shrugged. “I obviously have too much free time on my hands.”
Then one of those hands with all that free time pressed lightly against my lower back as we walked toward the door. It shocked me. Since when were we were touching each other so comfortably? I could count the number of times he’d touched me on one hand and still have a couple of fingers left over.
“What’s this I hear about you turning some kid’s locker into a biohazard?”
I laughed. “Who told you that?”
“Lea was talking about it at lunch yesterday. Said you sneezed all over it and threatened the kid?” His expression indicated he didn’t really believe it.
We were both headed in different directions from there, and Jonah removed his hand to stand and face me with an expression of curious amusement.
I already missed the light pressure of his fingers. “When it comes to rumors about me, the most outrageous ones are usually true. By the way, I don’t threaten. That ruins the surprise.”
Shaking his head with a bemused grin, he asked, “Lunch in the shop today?”
“Sure,” I replied, watching as he walked away and admiring the view. The air between us seemed different this morning, as if Jonah had peeled back several layers at once. I didn’t know the reason for it, but I knew I liked it.
I’d missed the assignment of a new project in history when I left early yesterday. My teacher asked me to stay after class so she could give me the materials and explain the details. I kept glancing at the clock on the wall as she spoke, watching precious minutes of my lunch period tick by.
Once she finally finished her explanation, I practically ran out of there. Then I speed-walked through the deserted halls toward the old part of the school, coming to a halt just outside the closed doors of the auto shop.
Before going in, I took a moment to catch my breath and quietly blow my nose. Anticipation kept my heart racing a little too fast.
When I pushed through the doors, I didn’t see Jonah at first, but I knew he was here because all the lights were on and a lunch tray from the cafeteria with an uneaten sandwich sat on the desk.
Then I heard the clank of metal and looked toward the car. Spotting his black Chuck Taylors sticking out from underneath the front, I called out to him.
He didn’t move so I said his name again, louder this time, but still no reaction from him. Walking over, I looked down at his feet to see one seemed to be tapping against the air in a rhythmic way. I bent down and squeezed the rubber toe of his sneaker.
He jerked and something banged loudly, followed by a grunt. He quickly slid out and pulled off a pair of headphones.
“Sorry.” I cringed. His hair was all over the place and his hands were covered in grease. “You didn’t hear me, so . . .”
Jonah squinted at me and rubbed the top of his head. “Not your fault. I gave up on you five minutes ago and decided to get some work done.” He stood and walked over to the industrial sink.
“My history teacher kept me late to go over the assignment I missed yesterday. Are you okay?”
He nodded distractedly as he washed his hands, s
crubbing them hard to remove the grease.
“I can go if I’m interrupting you.”
“What?” he asked, like it was a crazy suggestion. “You just got here, and you have to eat, right?”
“Right,” I agreed, lowering myself into a chair, watching as he grabbed some paper towels.
“I bought a decent lunch today so I wouldn’t have to steal half of yours. I didn’t want you thinking that was the only reason I asked you here.” He sat down across from me and ran both his hands through his thick hair, pushing it back off his face.
I watched, fascinated as each lock fell into the perfectly mussed style he always wore. I was jealous; if I did that to my hair, it would look like birds were nesting in it.
“So if bringing you lunch isn’t the reason, why did you ask me here?”
He grinned. “To improve the view, of course.”
I laughed softly, guessing he’d make some wisecrack when I asked.
He picked up half his sandwich, but paused before taking a bite. “Where’s your lunch?”
Oops. I had no lunch, and I didn’t realize that fact until just now. I couldn’t believe I’d practically run to lunch with no thoughts of eating. “I don’t have anything today.”
Without hesitation, he pushed his tray toward me. “I get to return the favor then.”
I eyed his plate uneasily. My stomach was off from the events of yesterday and the aspirin I took, and I still couldn’t breathe very well, so I wouldn’t have minded not eating. But he seemed so happy to share, I couldn’t turn his offer down.
Picking up the other half of his sandwich, I took a bite. “Thanks,” I said, noticing his half was nearly gone already. That boy could put food away.
“How’s your friend Theo?” he asked.
His question caught me off guard. “Okay, I think. He always says he’s okay and if he isn’t, he wouldn’t tell me anyway.” I thought of the picture of his dog he’d texted me and smiled. It was thoughtful of Jonah to ask about him.
“What?” he asked, noticing my grin.
“Oh, nothing.” I wasn’t sharing another ex story with him. I didn’t want him to think I was obsessed or something. “So, what do you do for Christmas?” I asked, since Christmas break was quickly approaching. “Do you get a tree? I’m guessing neither you nor your dad cook a big Christmas dinner.”
He shook his head. “No big dinner. No tree either. We don’t make a big deal out of the holidays. What about you?”
“Same here. My mother was Jewish, and my father is basically nothing when it comes to religion. So we never had a tree or made a big deal either. I like Christmas, though, looking at all the decorations and being off from school. I’m a big fan of Christmas break.”
He laughed. “I’m a fan of all vacations.”
At my aunt’s house during the holidays, I’d tried to stay away when everyone was exchanging gifts. To her credit, my aunt always got me something, usually a gift card to some store I’d never heard of. But family gatherings reminded me too much of the family I should have had instead of the one I found myself with.
Jonah leaned over the desk, resting his elbows on it. “What do you do for New Year’s?”
Last year, I was with my ex-boyfriend. Nearly everything last year had included him. “Oh, you know,” I said casually. “I like to party and usually end up dancing on a table somewhere.”
He sat back and smirked. “If you’re doing that again, let me know where.”
I could tell he didn’t believe me, which was very perceptive of him. “I may do something else this year.” I shrugged. “The dancing-on-tables thing gets old after a while.”
“I hear you. Also, I end up bumping my head on the ceiling.”
I giggled, picturing Jonah jumping up on a table and shaking his thang. Then I swallowed because it wasn’t so much funny as it was appealing.
We both startled when the warning bell rang.
“That was fast,” Jonah grumbled, sounding disappointed as he picked his phone up off the table and slid it into his back pocket. “So, seriously,” he said. “You don’t do anything for the holidays?”
He was standing now, looking down at me and sounding a little sad for me, which I didn’t like.
I stood too and pushed my chair back. “This year I get to spend them with my father, which is all I really wanted. What we do or don’t do doesn’t matter.”
Jonah’s eyes gentled. “Then I’m happy you’re getting what you want. Before my mother left, Christmas was pretty huge in my house. I guess I miss that sometimes.”
My chest constricted because I’d misunderstood his sadness. It wasn’t for me, it was for himself. Looking at him now, his expression was so open and honest that it gave me the courage to ask him a question. “Why did your mother leave?” My voice was quiet, as though that would lessen the impact if the question was too painful.
“She was unhappy,” he replied.
“Why?”
“I never asked her.”
He tried to sound uncaring, but the tightness around his eyes gave his true feelings away, and I had the urge to give him a hug.
“We’re a lot alike, you and me,” he said, taking a step closer. “We act strong, and usually we are strong, but sometimes we’re just pretending.”
His eyes were on mine, and the air changed as electricity crackled between us. His hand came up and the back of his fingers brushed lightly across my cheek. I held my breath, lost in his eyes and the soft sound of his voice.
“Would you like it if there was someone you didn’t have to act strong with?” he asked. “Someone you could be vulnerable with who wouldn’t judge you or ever hurt you?”
His question burrowed deep inside me, seeking out the raw places I kept hidden away. The answer was yes. Even though the thought of being vulnerable was terrifying, I wanted a person I could let my guard down with because acting so strong all the time was exhausting. But I didn’t believe someone like that existed.
The look in Jonah’s eyes was familiar. He’d looked at me that way before, as if he wanted to kiss me, but every time he hesitated and then the moment was gone. As I watched him now, there was no sign of hesitation, and everything inside me stilled, waiting and anticipating, knowing how crushed I’d be if he broke out of the moment again and pretended it never existed.
Then without saying anything more, he leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. They were warm and soft, and as gentle as the look in his eyes had been. It was a featherlight touch, but it rocked me, the warm sensation flowing all the way down to my toes.
When he leaned back, he looked as affected as I felt. It wasn’t even a kiss, really. It was more of a press, a moment of contact that shouldn’t have resonated so strongly. But it was about more than his touch. His words repeated in my head, telling me I could be vulnerable with him because he wouldn’t hurt me, and asking me to be that person for him.
Stepping back, Jonah cleared his throat but continued to watch me from beneath lowered lids. “We’ll be late if we stay here much longer.”
“Right,” I replied, shuffling my bag from one hand to the other, and feeling my cheeks redden under his increasingly heated look. “You probably just gave yourself my cold,” I said to fill the growing silence, because I was afraid to let the moment turn awkward.
“Nah, I never get sick.” He relaxed into his usual smirk, seeming to know I needed the mood to lighten a little. “Are you working this weekend?”
I nodded.
“Maybe I’ll stop by and get you into trouble.”
Tilting my head suspiciously, I asked, “What kind of trouble?”
“The slacking kind.” He winked and held the door open for me.
Jonah wanted to visit me at work? My stomach did a little flip at the thought. “So first you get me hired, and now you want to get me fired?”
“Nah, nothing that serious.” He fell into step beside me. “But if you’d rather I didn’t bother you—”
“No,” I said quickly
. At his knowing grin, I tried to sound less embarrassingly eager. “I mean, if you wanted to come by, that would be nice.” Nice? I rolled my eyes at myself.
He looked at me seriously, no more joking. “Count on it then.”
I smiled, believing if he told me I could count on it that I actually could.
After we parted ways in the hallway with a wave and a lingering look, I found myself shaking my head, trying to figure out what had just happened. It was as though whatever held Jonah back before was gone. At some point between yesterday and today, he’d decided to give in to the chemistry brewing between us, and I couldn’t help but wonder why.
Whatever it was, in changing his own mind he’d managed to change mine too, touching me in a way I hadn’t expected, and not just with his lips. His words got under my skin, coaxing my feelings out, making me want more, and making me wonder what would happen if I truly let myself fall for him.
Jonah Bryson might be a boy worth falling for.
***
Theo: Some people grumble that roses have thorns; I am grateful that thorns have roses.
“Hey, Candy.” Lea leaned against the locker beside mine before her eyes rounded and she sprang off it as if it were on fire.
“Is this the one? You know, the one you contaminated?” She scrunched her face up in disgust.
Laughing, I nodded. “I haven’t seen him since. I wonder if he got his locker changed.”
“I can’t believe you did that.” She shook her head, but she was grinning.
“Funny, that’s what he said.”
Lea giggled before her expression turned curiously sly. “I figured you were still out sick when you weren’t at lunch today. You know, the last couple of times Jonah wasn’t at lunch, you weren’t either.”
Despite telling Jonah I didn’t care what Parker thought, I found myself playing dumb with Lea. “Really? I don’t think he’s out today. He was in English class.”