by Amanda Abram
I threw back my head and laughed. “You're so full of yourself.”
He grinned as he snaked an arm around my waist, resting the palm of his hand on the small of my back and pulling me in close.
My laughing abruptly stopped as soon as we slowly began to move. Jase's somewhat arrogant grin melted into a sincere smile as our eyes met and my breathing became shallow. Jase was attractive. I had always been aware of that fact, ever since we were little kids, but I had to admit that up close he was even better and I suddenly began to notice little things about his appearance that I had never taken notice of before.
On the bridge of his nose was a light scattering of freckles that were barely noticeable. Above his left eyebrow was a chicken pox scar that was almost identical to my own, which was appropriate, considering he was the one who infected me with chicken pox when we were in elementary school. And his smile, while being able to make an entire room of girls faint from the sheer beauty of it, was a bit crooked. It was hard to notice, but if you were paying close enough attention, it almost looked like a smirk even when it wasn't.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked, a curious look on his face.
“What?” I had been aware of the fact I was staring at him, but for some silly reason I didn't think he would notice. “Um, well...I was just asking myself why it is that everyone here is staring at us.”
It was true. As I said it, I noticed that everyone dancing around us, and even some people eating at their tables, were sneaking glances over at us.
He glanced around to see what I was talking about. “I think I can explain that.”
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah.” He returned his gaze to mine. “Look around, Lex. Not one person in this entire restaurant is younger than our parents.”
“So?”
“So, we are reminding them of what it was like to be young and in love. They think it's sweet, and that's why they're looking at us.”
I was surprised at his explanation. I thought he was going to say it was because I had toilet paper stuck to the bottom of my shoe or something. Regardless, I glanced down real quick just to make sure I didn't.
“But we're not in love,” I whispered.
“I was a member of the drama club, remember? And you must just have been born a natural actor, because right now I think everyone in this restaurant believes we're childhood sweethearts.”
I couldn't help but chuckle. “I think you're reading too much into it, Jase.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” he said with a slight shrug. “Either way, I think we're convincing enough. Don't you?”
I thought about it for a moment. “I guess,” I finally answered, with a shrug of my own.
We fell silent as Jase proceeded to stare off into space over my shoulder. Cocking my head to one side, I asked, “What are you thinking about?”
His gaze flickered back onto me and the corner of his mouth twitched. “I was just thinking about whether or not I should confess something to you.”
I held my breath. A confession? About what? I was instantly intrigued so I gave him an emphatic nod of my head. “Please do!”
“I don't know. You don't seem too interested.” He was being sarcastic, of course.
“Confess! Confess! Confess!” I began to chant, figuring that even if he had already decided not to confess, he would eventually have to give in and do it anyway, just to get me to shut up.
He promptly brought a up his index finger and placed it gently against my lips to stop them from moving. “Okay,” he said, sighing heavily. “Earlier you brought up the topic of why I hate Jeffrey so much.”
My eyes widened in surprise. That had not been the confession I had been expecting. “Uh-huh,” I said, urging him to continue.
“The truth is, there's a long list of reasons why I do, but the one at the top of the list is the fact he stole you away from me.”
Forgetting for a moment that we were still dancing, I missed a step. “Huh?” was all I could say.
“Growing up, you were the best friend I had. Besides Trish, I mean, but she was my sister so I never really counted her as an actual friend, especially since I hated her most of the time. You meant the world to me. I even liked you more than I liked our dog Spiky, and Spiky was a kick ass dog.”
“Spiky was awesome,” I agreed.
“Seriously, he was.” Glancing once again over my shoulder as we continued our slow dance, he went on. “When Jeffrey moved in across the street, it was like he took my place overnight. Suddenly you and Trish wanted to do everything with him, and nothing with me. It was like you suddenly forgot I existed. And it hurt. A lot.”
My brain was going into confession overload. I always wondered why Jase hated Jeffrey, but I always just assumed perhaps Jase felt threatened by the fact Jeffrey was just as good looking and popular as he was, and therefore they had some sort of macho competition thing going on. I certainly never considered their feud could have had anything to do with me.
“And I have to admit when Trish told me you two had broken up, I was elated. I'd been waiting nearly three years to hear that.”
My jaw, I noticed then, was hanging open in surprise. I wondered how long it had been like that. For a moment, I couldn't decide whether or not to be angry that he was admitting that my pain and suffering had made him super happy. When I couldn't come to any sort of decision on the matter, all I said was, “Why?”
“Because. Even though you and I hadn't really spoken to one another for a few years and we were no longer friends so to speak, I still cared about you. And I saw your breakup with Jeffrey as being the best possible thing that could happen to you. So I was happy.”
That instantly made the decision for me. How could I be angry at him after that? Especially when he had the cutest ashamed look on his face as he spoke.
“Oh, Jase.” I stopped dancing and leaned in, wrapping both my arms tightly around him in a hug. “I never forgot you existed, trust me. How could I forget my first crush?”
Oh God. I could not believe I had just said that out loud. I don't think Jase could believe it either, because I felt him freeze suddenly in my embrace. I, on the other hand, was unable to freeze, due to the fact my face was suddenly burning with embarrassment.
My childhood crush on Jase was a fact I'd been planning on taking to the grave with me. So much for that.
Pulling away slightly to look at me, Jase was grinning. “You had a crush on me?”
I decided to play it cool. It was the only thing I could do to avoid embarrassing myself even further. “Well, yeah. I'd just started realizing I liked boys, and you were a boy and you were cute, so...yeah. I had a crush on you.”
His grin widened as I spoke. “Little Lexi Turner had a crush on me? When?”
I shrugged. “I dunno. From, like, when I was nine to pretty much the day I started dating Jeffrey.”
He blinked at me in surprise. “Six years? You had a crush on me for six years?”
Huh. Had it really been that long? It certainly hadn't felt like it at the time. “It's not like it was a huge crush or anything. I mean, I wasn't obsessed with you. I just thought you were the coolest boy in the entire world, that's all.”
“Wow. I never had a clue,” he said with a furrowed brow.
“Of course you didn't. Boys are oblivious to stuff like that.” I paused as I realized the music had stopped. “I think our dance is over.”
“What?” he asked, confused. But then he must have noticed the lack of music and the other dancers returning to their tables and realized what I meant. “Oh, yeah. What do you say I pay for our food and we get out of here?”
“I'd say it’s the best idea I've heard all day.”
We managed to get Pierre's attention and he brought us the check, which we promptly paid and then headed out.
“So now where to?” I asked when we arrived at his car.
He unlocked the passenger door and opened it for me. He then rested his arm across the top of it and stared off
into space for a moment before answering.
“Honestly, my original plan for tonight was dinner and a movie. But now I'm thinking that's incredibly lame and unoriginal. Besides, going to the movies is so impersonal.”
“Agreed,” I said with a nod. “So then what do you suggest we do instead?”
He thought about it for a moment. “My parents are out with some old friends tonight and said they probably won't be back until after midnight, and Trish is at that party being thrown for the drama club. What do you say we just head back to my place? We could throw in a movie we've both seen a million times and talk all the way through it.”
I smiled. “I would like that very much.”
He returned my smile. “Great. It's settled then.”
I climbed into the passenger seat and he gently closed the door. I still wasn't used to this kind of treatment. It wasn't like I needed it, but it also wasn't like I hated it either.
He joined me inside the car, put his key in the ignition and the Mustang suddenly roared to life.
“And who knows?” he added as he began to pull out of the parking space. “If we're lucky, maybe we'll be able to find something around the house to have for dessert.”
Suddenly, this date had the potential of becoming the best date ever.
Chapter Twenty-Two
“So where is this dessert you promised me?” I asked immediately after setting foot into the Holloway house less than twenty minutes later.
Jase smirked. “Really, Lex? I haven't even closed the front door yet.”
I reached out and shut the door myself. “There. Door closed. Now, where's the dessert?”
He shook his head and chuckled. “You have a problem.”
“Yeah, I know. I was promised dessert by my fake boyfriend and now he's holding out on me. I would definitely call that a problem.”
“No, I meant you have a mental problem,” he said, poking at my forehead.
I swatted his hand away. “Jase, all I've had to eat tonight is a salad. You do not want to get on my bad side right now.”
He took a step back. “Message received, loud and clear. Let's go.”
I followed him to the kitchen, where we searched in vain for anything that looked like it was full of sugar and empty calories. But there were no pies. No cakes. No cookies. They didn't even have any ice cream in the freezer.
With a pout, I folded my arms across my chest. “There's nothing here. You're just a big tease.”
“Calm down.” He began opening up cupboards. “What if we were to bake something ourselves? We could make cookies or something.”
I stared at him, my mouth agape. “Who do I look like, Betty Crocker? Besides, I don't bake on a first date.”
Jase threw his hands up in defeat. “I wish you would have told me that sooner. I would have never bothered asking you out.”
“Well, if you had told me you were only asking me out because you thought I would bake with you, I never would have said yes. I'm not that kind of girl.”
“So then where does that leave us?” he asked. He opened up the refrigerator once again, moving stuff around on the shelves in attempt to investigate more thoroughly.
I gave him a shrug. “Dessertless, I guess.”
“Wait, what do we have here?” He straightened up and turned around, holding up a flat package in his hand to show me. “Break and bake cookies, just like the ones you used to like to eat raw.”
I gasped out of sheer delight. Clapping my hands together I said, “Can I eat them raw?”
“That depends. Do you want salmonella poisoning? How about E. Coli?”
“Why do you always have to be such a downer?” I asked, scrunching up my nose. “Now what are you waiting for? Break those things apart and bake them already.”
“Good things come to those who wait.” He pressed a few buttons on the oven to start preheating it. “You of all people should know that. I mean, you've waited for years to date me, and finally, here we are.”
I groaned as my face met the palm of my hand. “You're never going to let me forget this, are you?”
“How could I possibly do that?”
“Jase, it was just a silly schoolgirl crush! I was nine years old, for crying out loud.”
“Not to mention ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen and fourteen years old as well,” he pointed out with a grin, causing me to groan even louder.
“I'm over you now, don't worry,” I grumbled as I started taking the squares of cookie dough out of the package.
“I wasn't worried.”
I turned around to look at him, but he wasn't looking at me. Instead, he appeared to be in search of a baking sheet. As soon as he found one, the phone rang.
“I'll be right back,” he said, handing the baking sheet to me. “Do not eat the raw cookie dough while I'm gone.”
“I would never,” I lied.
As soon as he was out of the room, I meticulously began placing each block of cookie dough on the sheet. However, only ten out of the twelve fit comfortably on it, which left two that would not get to go into the oven. And there was no way I was going to let them go to waste, so after quickly glancing behind me to make sure Jase was nowhere in sight, I slowly began to bring one of them up to my mouth.
I probably should have done it a little faster, because just as the cookie dough was about to graze my lips, someone grabbed me from behind and took a firm hold on my wrist, preventing me from bringing my hand closer to my mouth.
“I thought I told you not to eat the cookie dough,” a playful, yet stern voice said into my ear.
“You did,” I said, trying to remove my wrist from Jase's grasp, but to no avail. “And I ignored you.”
“Raw cookie dough is bad for you.”
“And sneaking up behind me and preventing me from eating it is bad for you. Now let go of my wrist, please.”
“No.”
“You're being a bad boyfriend.”
“No, I'm being a good boyfriend, by stopping you from making yourself sick.”
“I hate you and I'm officially dumping you.”
I could hear Jase chuckling behind me as he loosened his grip from my wrist.
“I pity the fool who dares to date you for real,” he said, then released me.
Turning around to face him, I stared up at him with an evil grin. “I'm going to do it.” Slowly I began raising my hand back up toward my mouth.
“Don't do it, Turner.”
“I'm gonna,” I said in a sing-song voice, bringing the cookie dough closer.
“No, you're not.”
“Stop me,” I challenged him. And I was just about to pop the square into my mouth when Jase reached out with lightning speed and knocked it out of my hand.
“You suck,” I hissed.
“Thanks, sweetie.” He took the baking sheet and put it into the oven, setting the timer for fifteen minutes.
“Okay,” he said, “so what do you want to do while we wait?”
I thought about it for a moment and glanced down at myself. “For starters, I'd like to go change. This dress is driving me nuts.”
“I can imagine,” he said. “It's a good thing you keep a spare set of clothes here, huh?”
“Yep,” I agreed. “Why don't you go turn on the TV? I'll be back down in a second.”
“Sure,” he said with a nod and we parted ways.
Growing up, Trish and I had so many sleepovers that we decided it only made sense to keep clothes at each other's houses. I was never more happy about that decision than I was at that moment. I wanted out of that dress so bad.
I quickly changed into a pair of jeans and an old T-shirt that had Mickey Mouse on it and which felt a little snug. I guess maybe it was time to update my spare wardrobe. I had no doubt in my mind that Jase would pick on me for the shirt, but I didn't care. It would still be better than wearing the dress.
On my way back down the hallway, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye that I hadn't noticed on my way to Trish's room
before and I stopped dead in my tracks.
The door to Jase's bedroom was ajar, open just enough that if I were to move closer, I'd be able to peek through the gap and catch a glimpse of where the second most popular boy in school slept every night, and got dressed every morning. I could think of a few dozen girls at school who would have killed to be standing in my shoes right now. I could also think of a few dozen other girls who had probably already been inside his room, not just standing outside of it looking in like some kind of creepy stalker.
My curiosity got the best of me and I cautiously inched closer to the doorway. I didn't care to see the inside of his bedroom for the same reason other girls would. I'd been over to this house hundreds of times since Jase and I stopped hanging out, and all of those hundreds of times his bedroom door was shut tightly, probably even locked. Every time. It was so weird for me at first, because I'd practically grown up in that room, and I had taken the shut door extremely personal. Like he had wanted to literally shut me out of his life.
I tried to glance into the room, but the door wasn't open nearly enough to see anything. And anyway, the lights were turned off so it was pitch black in there. I reached out and touched the door, briefly contemplating just opening it up all the way and turning on the light, but that would have been as good as breaking and entering, so I decided at the last minute not to.
“Can I help you?”
I jumped at the sudden sound of Jase's voice behind me and removed my hand from the door to clamp it over my mouth. “Jase! Um, I was just—”
“Preparing to snoop?” He arched an eyebrow but I could tell from the expression on his face and the tone of his voice that he was amused. His gaze flickered downward and with a snort he added, “Nice shirt. How old are you again?”
I ignored his comment. “No, I wasn't going to snoop.” I shook my head back and forth furiously, my face burning with shame. “I swear. I was just curious to see what your bedroom looks like these days.”