“Alex, Alex, hey wait up” he came running up to me still in his muddy, sweaty gear, and if I still didn’t have that crushing feeling inside of me because of a certain green eyed someone, I may actually have swooned at the sight of him. He really was a gorgeous guy. Any girl would be lucky to have him.
“Hey, great game. Congrats on the win. You’re really good.” I say with a big genuine smile on my face, I think it’s impossible to not smile at him.
“Yeah I know, but really though that was my best game in a while. I think you’re my good luck charm. I may just have to keep you.” He says cheekily to me and winks. I roll my eyes at him and laugh a little.
“Go get showered and changed you’re all sweaty, I’m starving, hurry up!”
“Yes sir!” He laughs and salutes then runs off to the locker room to get ready. Apparently it’s tradition after every game that they go for pizza, so that now includes me, according to Amber anyway.
I go with the girls to drive to Joe’s pizza place. It’s one of the restaurants that Aunt Sara pointed out to me. It has the best pizza ever, well that’s just what Rachel says so I can’t be sure until I’ve tried it; but I really am hungry so I hope it is good. Food is also my comfort, and right now although I’m happy with how my first day has gone, I’m still a bit bothered by Logan kissing Tara. I know I have no logical reason to be bothered by it. I just am. I can’t actually believe this is still only day one of my new school life. Apart from the Logan and Tara episode its gone so well.
“So ...... You work fast then?” Rachel says with a friendly smile.
“Huh? Fast at what?” I think I must have zoned out and missed some of the conversation. I totally have no idea what they are talking about. Amber and Caroline both giggle and Caroline nods and tugs at the huge jacket still wrapped around my shoulders and I catch on to what they’re saying.
“What? Chris? No, it’s not like that. I was cold. He was just being friendly. Besides, I met him like less than twenty-four hours ago. And I’m really not in the right mental place for a boyfriend.”
“Uh huh, does Chris realise that?” Caroline says with a small smile. And maybe a look of pity in her eyes? I’ve not mentioned my parents at all today; but it’s a small town, I wonder if people already know about them.
“Yeah of course he does. We only met this morning.” I hope so anyway? Maybe I should watch how I am around him. I don’t want to give him the wrong impression.
Amber parks her bright red jeep, and we all get out. I get the sensation again that I had in the cafeteria as soon as I get out the car, and start looking around. It really does feel like someone is watching me. My eyes land on Logan stood by a black truck. I still really want to talk to him, and I need to get the image of him kissing Tara out of my head. Maybe talking to him will do that. I’m not usually this forward talking to hot guys I’ve just met but there’s just something about him. I'm drawn to him like a magnet.
Pulling Chris’s jacket tighter around myself to block out the cold I tell the girls I’ll meet them in a few minutes, and start making my way over to him. I don’t even feel like I’m walking. I feel like I’m being pulled directly to him. I can’t take my eyes of him, but he doesn’t seem to be looking anywhere else but at me either. I come to a stand a few feet in front of him. I feel a little awkward now. I don’t actually know what to say and he is just staring at me. It makes me nervous. Maybe this was a bad idea.
“Hey, I just wanted to say good game. I was going to tell you at half time, but you rushed off.” I say quietly.
“Yeah, well I didn’t have much to say at half time, and the game would have been better if certain people kept their head on the game like I told them to.” he says with an edge to his voice. He just keeps staring at me, although now I’m closer, I’m not too sure it’s me he is looking at, it’s more Chris’s jacket. Was other people not meant to wear them or something? I don’t really know what else to say. He seems to not be in a very good mood.
“Logan, you didn’t need to wait for me out here silly” I hear Tara purr, as she walks up behind me straight to Logan and puts her hand on his arm and starts stroking it as if he were a pet. I really don’t like this girl. She looks at me then as if noticing me for the first time, even though I was here before she was.
“Can I help you? We’re late for a date.” She says with a smirk and I notice she tightens her hold on Logan’s arm. Logan’s jaw twitches like he’s about to say something but doesn’t.
A date ok, so that answers my earlier question of if they are dating.
When no body else says anything, Tara pulls on Logan’s arm in the direction of the pizza place and he follows her. I’m just standing there feeling like I’ve done something wrong, but can’t work out what. When I start to walk off toward Ambers car, as I can see the girls still haven’t gone in yet, Logan turns around to look at me one last time and frowns.
“Nice jacket.”
Nice jacket ? What the hell is that supposed to mean.
We all go into Joe’s and ask for a table big enough for us and the boys, when we are seated I can see that I have a direct line of sight to where Tara and Logan are sat. Great. There are other people at the table though, so maybe she was lying when she said it was a date. Or maybe not. He did kiss her. He doesn’t look very interested in what she’s saying however, and pretty much turns his back on her to talk to the guys on the other side of him. I’m not sure why but that makes me smirk a little and I get a little bubble of happiness inside.
“Hey, what so funny?” Chris whispers in my ear. I didn’t even realise they had come in. There’s an empty seat next to me so he sits there, with yet another smile on his face. Surely his jaw must ache from all that smiling.
“Oh nothing much, just thinking.” I reply trying to remind myself that I have to watch my friendly flirty side tonight with him.
“You ready to try the best pizza in the state? Wanna share?”
“Um... I think I’m gonna share with Amber. Thanks though.” Sharing food is definitely date like, so that’s a big no no.
We all just talk about random stuff while we eat and Jack tells us some stories. He is actually quite funny, I have to hold back tears at one point from laughing so hard. I keep noticing however that Logan is paying more attention to our table than he is his own and he seems to be looking right at me every few minutes. I can’t help but stare back though. It’s like our eyes are magnets and they just keep being drawn together.
Unfortunately I’m not the only one to notice. Tara does too and now has a sour scowl on her face, and its directed straight at me.
Chris offers me a lift home as we are walking to the cars afterwards and after a couple of times of me saying no because Amber was taking me, he finally gives in. I hand him back his jacket, but as he goes to take it from me he pulls my arm instead so my body comes up flush with him. He just looks down at me, wraps his arms around me and plants a small kiss on my cheek. Before I have time to react though I hear a dog growling that distracts me and makes me pull quickly away. Are there wild dogs here? I’m gonna have to ask Aunt Sara. Can’t be too careful.
I politely and gently push out of his hold and he lets me go easily with a wink.
“Goodnight beautiful” I smile back him, it’s hard not too.
“Good night Chris. Thanks for the jacket.”
“Any time.”
I turn around to go get in Ambers car and my eyes lock again with Logan’s. He is stood alone by his truck and he looks furious. I give him a nod of my head and a small wave to say goodnight, but he just gets in his truck slams the door and speeds off.
Guess his date didn’t go to well.
Chapter four
Analysing
I do miss my old house and my old room, but I can’t really complain about my new one. Aunt Sara really has a beautiful home and I am settling in well. I still have things to unpack to make my room my own; all I really unpacked when I got here was clothes and toiletries. Just the things I neede
d.
I have a large room with a large double bed. The walls are just painted cream for now, but I like it. It makes it look bright. I have a small walk in wardrobe. Which is fine with me as I don’t have that many clothes. I get my own bathroom with a bath and a shower over, but the best thing about my room is the view. I have double doors that lead to a tiny balcony. Just big enough for me to sit with a book and read. It’s small but I love it. It looks out right over the forest and in the morning the first thing I see is the mountains. It’s just so beautiful. I don’t mind not having a beach and surf to hear when I get this view.
After Amber dropped me off, I said good night to aunt Sara and came straight to my room. I got a blanket off my bed and went to sit out on my balcony. I was still bothered by Logan. I just couldn’t seem to get him out of my head. The first time we talked in biology this morning, he was so nice, and I literally felt sparks when we touched. And he had asked me about the game. It didn’t seem like he would talk to me the way he did if he had a girlfriend. Is that what Tara was? I really hoped not. I couldn’t see me getting along with her at all. At the start of the game he seemed pleased that I was there. I was far away but I’m certain he was smiling at me. Then since half time everything just went down hill. What happened? I didn’t speak to him so there’s no way I could have done something wrong. Was there?
Arrgghh! What’s wrong with me? I’m trying to analyse every conversation with him; not that there are that many but this is just not like me. I don’t get caught up over boys. Especially one I only met this morning. But why does he seem to have the same problem as me. Every time I see him, he is already looking at me. Maybe he’s just annoyed that I think I’m good enough to talk to him. I mean he is the quarterback. The golden boy of the school, and I’m a no body. The new girl. Yeah maybe that’s what it is. Maybe I embarrassed him by being there when Tara showed up.
“Get a grip Alex, this is not you.” I say out loud to myself.
I am good enough and if he thinks otherwise then that’s his problem. I’m just going to avoid him from now on. I made some new good friends today and I think they have the potential to be great friends. So I’m just going to concentrate on them and on my school work.
I lay down for a little bit just looking at the stars through the clouds, and I start to get a tingling down my spine. I look around, but everything down below me is pitch black. I can’t see a thing. I have the feeling again that I’m being watched, but it’s not exactly a bad feeling. It’s nice tingles not creepy.
I look around some more and I hear the trees and bushes rustle. Just the wind I tell my self. There’s no one down there. I stare where I thought the noise came from and the clouds start to move from in front of the moon.
“What is that?” I say to no one in particular, from the light of the moon I swear I can see something black moving around on the ground by the trees that lead to the forest. Maybe there really are wild dogs around these parts and that’s what it is. I start to get goosebumps down my arms. I pull the blanket tighter around me and head back in doors. Just as I’m locking the doors, I hear a low howl. It somehow sounds sad and it makes my heart ache.
I get changed into my pjs and I get into bed determined that tomorrow will still be a good day. I’ll be able to ignore Logan all day.
However with him being the last thing I thought about before I went to sleep, he was all I dreamed about. Logan and howling wild dogs. At least it was a break from my usual dreams.
◆◆◆
I can smell the coffee from my room, I can feel it calling my bones to get up and out of bed. I trudge down stairs still in my pjs.
“I’m just doing some eggs and bacon, want some?”
Aunt Sara asks, she’s dressed again in paint splattered clothes.
“Yes please. That sounds great. Coffee is what I really need though.” She looks at me and frowns.
“You didn’t sleep well? ” I shrug.
“Just weird dreams is all, hey are there wild dogs in this area? I thought I heard some growling out side Joe’s pizza, and then last night I think I heard howling?”
I pour the sugar in my coffee and take a big gulp, even though it’s still too hot to drink. I can’t wait to get it in my body.
“No there’s no wild dogs, but there are wolves though. They’re harmless, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone being attacked in all the years I’ve been living here. So they’re not dangerous. Don’t worry. They don’t usually get that close to town though. You were by Joe’s when you heard growling?” I nod and start getting plates ready for our breakfast. She just shrugs.
“Probably just following a rabbit or something into town. I wouldn’t worry about it. You're safe here. So how was your first day at school really? I’m guessing you made friends already as you were out at Joe’s. He makes the best pizza, but any troubles or anything?”
Troubles .... Yeah there’s this insanely hot guy, who I can’t get out of my head, who keeps staring at me but seems annoyed with me each time I try to talk to him.
Then there’s the other really hot guy who I actually think likes me a little too much, and then there’s the bitch from hell, who after the looks I was getting from her last night might have it out for me! Not bad for a days work really!!
“Troubles? No, no troubles. All good.” I lie.
Getting out of the truck as we pull into the school car park, I say good bye to my aunt and start making my way in to school. My eyes seem to instantly land on Logan with out even trying to find him. He’s already looking at me. He looks way too attractive today, in faded slim fit jeans and a black tight fitted tee, that just seems to amplify his arm muscles. Trying really hard I finally manage to tear my gaze away from his, I am determined to stick to my decision to ignore him and just stay away from him. I haven’t done anything wrong, so he has no reason to be angry with me.
Walking towards my locker Chris and Jack are walking towards me. Chris immediately stops his conversation to smile at me and starts walking a little faster to reach me, leaving Jack mid sentence.
“Good morning beautiful” he says with his trademark wink. I have to say though it does make me go a little gooey when he does it. I am only human after all.
“I have a name you know, Alex.....remember?” I say jokingly. I don’t really mind that much but I don’t want to get into anything with a guy right now and I think pet names this early in our friendship may mean a little more to him than they do to me.
“I remember. So I saw you pull up with your aunt again this morning. You know I can teach you how to drive if you want. I taught my cousin, I’m a good teacher.”
“Oh no, I can already drive, I have my license, but the truck is a stick shift though not automatic so I’m just not sure I want to drive it first without having a practice to get used to the gears. You know away from other humans.” I say part truthfully.
I really am trying to keep Logan out of my head but I can’t help but keep comparing the two of them; Chris and Logan. I’m just so different around each of them. They are both hot guys so why do I find it so hard to just be around Logan, let alone have a conversation with him.
“So do you want me to?”
“Huh?” I must have zoned out and not heard what he said.
“I said, my car’s not automatic so I can still teach you, if you want?” He says casually like it’s no big deal but I get the feeling he’s really wanting me to say yes. I do really just need to get back to driving, and I do want to learn how to drive a stick and aunt Sara doesn’t have time to show me. It is really nice of him to offer. It would be rude to say no.
“Yeah that would be great. Thank you.”
I give him a big smile and reach my hands up to his shoulder so I can pull myself up to give him a peck on his cheek. He looks surprised that I just did that. To be honest I’m a bit surprised my self.
Suddenly someone bumps into us hard; Chris’s arms automatically go around me to stop me from falling on my ass.
“
Hey man, what’s the issue? You could have hurt her!” He squares up to a pair of green eyes, and pushes me behind him protectively. He doesn’t seem to be the tiniest bit intimidated that Logan is bigger than him. Not by much granted, but he is still bigger. At his words Logan get’s a furious look in his eyes.
“Hurt her, I would never hurt her, you are my issue, and you’re in my way. Move.”
What was the matter with him. He could do serious damage to something or someone with his temper and he was strong, maybe he was on steroids or something. I just couldn’t understand his mood swings.
River Falls: The Wolves Page 4