by Bria Starr
“Holy crap! Is it yours?”
“Yeah, it just needs a little work.” I take out the small flashlight I’d put in my pocket and turn it on so she can see it better.
“So it runs?”
“Like a champ. Well, not exactly.” I grin. “It runs but it still needs work. I’ll be fifteen in less than two months and hopefully getting my permit.” I pause for a minute. “You know how I’m always helping Dad with all the cars we have back in the barn?” She nods her head, still checking out my new set of wheels. “Well, Mom wanted me to have a project of my own. So they got me this,” I say with pride.
“Wow, Eli,” she says, looking it over. “This is amazing.”
“The body is in excellent condition. It’s the interior that needs to be completely redone.”
“Well, sorry I can’t be much help. I don’t know the slightest thing about them.”
“You’ll be plenty of help if you come keep me company while I get all sweaty and greasy.”
“Eww. Gross.” She sticks her tongue out at me. “But I guess I have nothing else to do.”
“Sweet. You can hand me tools and stuff.”
I’ve never been fond of taking the bus to school, Mom always drove us when we lived in Kentucky, but I haven’t minded taking the bus since I’ve moved here, except for the few days Paige was sick and had to stay home. Those were the longest days I’ve had yet.
Paige yawns as I open the door to show her the interior and describe, in detail, everything I plan to do to this bad boy. “I’m sorry, I’m boring you aren’t I?”
She shakes her head. “Not at all. I’m just tired.”
“So I guess going down to the river tonight is out?”
“We can go tomorrow night?”
“That works. Well, let me get you home then.” I was excited to show her this as soon as possible. It had been too late to call her house when I finally came in from looking everything over after I had received it. Even though I know she’s a girl and doesn’t care about stuff like this, I still couldn’t wait to tell her.
“Can I come back tomorrow afternoon so you can finish showing me?”
“Of course. If you don’t mind?” I raise a skeptical brow, wondering if maybe she really does care.
“Not at all. It makes me happy because you’re happy. Plus, maybe I can get you to drive me places since you’ll turn sixteen a few months before I do.” She smiles at me with those chocolate brown eyes that could get me to do practically anything for her.
“I promise.”
The next morning I jump out of bed and quickly get dressed. I can’t wait to further inspect what else I’m going to do with my car. I walk passed Sarah’s room and see her sprawled out on her bed, still sleeping. Mom is sitting at the kitchen table with her coffee and newspaper when I get there. I’m taller than her, but I definitely get my looks from my mom. She has golden curls that cascade down her back, sapphire eyes, and the same dimple in her right cheek.
“You hungry, honey?” she asks.
“Starving.” She stands to make me some eggs and toast.
I love my mom’s cooking, even the simplest things she makes taste like heaven. I’ve learned a thing or two from her in the kitchen. I scarf it all down, noticing Dad has already left for work. Good, then I won’t have to deal with him getting after me about something today. He’s never been very kind to me. He treats my mom and sister like the angels they are, but he takes out his anger and agression on me, always pushing me to do better and be better. My mom has always been my guardian angel through times like those. I just try to stay out of his way. At least I’ve learned a few things from him. And how not to be, is one of them.I stand and give my mom a big hug, lifting her up off the ground.
“Thank you again for my car. I really love it.”
“You’re welcome, honey.” I set her down and walk around her to the side door, closing it behind me.
After being under the hood of my car for a good two hours, installing a new carburetor, I look up to see Paige coming towards me. My heart rate picks up a little as it does almost every time I see her. Her long dark hair is pulled back in a braid, and she’s wearing her usual shorts and T-shirt.
“I thought it would look different in the daylight for some reason, but it looks the same. Maybe just a little dirtier.” She reaches out and starts to make a line with her finger.
“Don’t rub the dirt in! It’ll scratch the paint.”
She rolls her eyes. “You’re such a nerd.”
“I’m pretty sure you’re a bigger nerd than I am.”
She shrugs.
“I’ll take that as a compliment. Hey, is Sarah home?”
“She’s still sleeping. We can go wake her up later.” They’re not best friends, but we try to include Sarah sometimes, and I love how well they get along.
“Want to see the inside?”
“Yes, I’d love to see where I’m going to get to sit every day to and from school. No more school bus.” She moves towards the car.
I get to the passenger door first to open it for her, taking a dramatic bow.
“M’lady.” I know she likes that kind of crap from the books she reads since she feels the need to tell me about each and every one of them. She bats her eyelashes.
“Why thank you, good sir!” She gets in and I gently shut the door before running around to the driver’s side.
I sit there, looking out the windshield and imagining I’m driving it somewhere far away. Maybe Mom and Sarah in the back with Paige sitting next to me.
I look over to see Paige smiling at me, her brown eyes bright with excitement, and suddenly I know. I know why my pulse quickens whenever I see her, why I can’t stop smiling whenever she’s around, and why it feels so right to have her sitting next to me in this car at this very moment.
I like her.
Even admitting this to myself sounds absurd. I can’t like Paige like that, can I? But I do. I might even love her a little. Nope, definitely more than a little. I do love her.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Is everything all right? You just turned pale.”
I shake my head and look at her some more, this time in a whole new light. She’s the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. The most perfect, loving, and caring person I’ve ever met.
“I’m not pale. It just looks like it because you’re so tan.” I pinch her arm.
“I’m Bulgarian!”
“Talk to me again at the end of summer and we’ll see how pale I am then.” I look down at my arms. I plan to be outside all summer working on this car.
“I was thinking about getting a job.”
“Really? When? Where?”
“As soon as I turn fifteen, I’m going to apply at
Belle’s Pepper to be a hostess.”
“That’s not for, like, six more months. How much will you be working?” I’m hoping it doesn’t take away too much of my time with her.
“It’ll only be part-time since I’ll have school. It would be nice to get some extra cash. Not all of us get an allowance like you do.”
I smile with guilt. I have everything I could possibly want, but she doesn’t have as many nice things as I do. I’ve already found what I’m going to get her for her birthday, but maybe I could do a few extra things for her sometimes to make her feel special. “I still work hard though. I help my dad even though it’s practically torture. I can’t even hold the flashlight properly, let alone installing a new transmission. And I always help my mom out in the kitchen and cleaning up.” I look down at my new sneakers.
“Besides, I put most of it away.”
“Yes, you have it so rough,” she teases.
***
“Happy birthday to you!”
I clap and cheer along with everyone else as Paige blows out the fifteen candles. Everyone is gathered around in her kitchen as the cake is cut and passed out. It isn’t near as nice as the party I’d had a few months ago, but it’s intimate and her closest loved ones
are here. I don’t understand how more people aren’t knocking down her door trying to be her friend. She’s super outgoing and fun. I was drawn to her the first time I laid eyes on her. Simple as that.
I’m often asked by the guys at school what it is that I see in her. They just don’t get it. And I don’t want them to. Because if they all knew what I knew, they’d fall in love with her too. And I selfishly want to keep her for myself.
When the party dies down and everyone seems to be taking their leave, I stay behind so I can give Paige her present. I wave good-bye to Laura, feeling bad we didn’t get more of a chance to talk, but it was too hard to do with the food and all the games we were forced to play.
“You ready?” I ask her as the night starts to fall.
“Yup. Should we go into the kitchen? I think everyone is going to stay in here and watch a movie.”
“No, come out to my car with me.”
“Your car? Did you really drive here?”
“Yes.” She grabs her coat as I put mine on, then I take her hand as I always do, leading her out to my car.
“Eli, it takes like ten minutes to walk here. Plus, you don’t even have your license yet.”
“It’s not like I’m going to get pulled over on my way here. Besides, it’s cold. I’ll get the heat going.”
“Ooh, you’re such a bad boy,” she teases me.
I didn’t want to tell her why I drove here. Not yet anyway; she’ll find out soon enough that I want to drive her down to our spot. I open the passenger door to let her in. After I’m seated and we’re both buckled up, I start the car and pull out of her driveway.
I tell her to look under her seat and she bends forward to bring up a rectangular box wrapped in pink paper and a colorful bow on top. “It’s from my mom. I believe Sarah helped her pick it out.” My mom loves Paige and is convinced we’ll be married someday.
Paige opens it and lifts up two summer dresses, one pink and one yellow. Two different styles that will both look great on her. She gives a small squeal. “They’re so pretty! I’ll have to tell them thanks the next time I see them.” She neatly folds them and places them back inside.
“Why couldn’t they come?”
“I’m not sure, really. My parents had an appointment or something, and Sarah is off with a friend. You know Mom would have come if it wasn’t something important.”
She nods. “I know.”
I pull in by the river and put the car in park. We come out here all the time to sit and talk while admiring the beauty. Sometimes we go fishing. We should probably go ice fishing one of these days.
“Too bad you didn’t get a van instead.”
“Why? What are you talking about?”
She bursts out laughing. “Because then you’d be in a van … down by the river!” She’s lost it. “No? You don’t get it?”
“I guess not.”
“Matt Foley!”
“Nope.”
“Saturday Night Live? Chris Farley?”
I shake my head, trying to remember every episode
I’ve watched until it dawns on me. “Oh!”
“There you go, buddy.”
“You’re so weird.”
“I know,” she says, wiping a tear from laughing so hard.
I shake my head. “Anyway, now look in the glove box.”
She takes off her seatbelt and reaches forward to remove a small green box with a white bow. Green is her favorite color. She opens it much slower than she did my mom’s gift and I watch her face as she pulls out a necklace with a tiny silver book charm. She examines it for a few seconds before she looks at me, tears in her eyes.
“What’s wrong?”
She shakes her head. “Nothing. Thank you, Eli. It’s beautiful.” She leans over and throws her arms around my shoulders. I hug her back, taking in the citrus scent of her hair. I want to tell her that she’s beautiful, but I don’t want to come across as cheesy. I’d much prefer to keep my dignity.
As she starts to sit back, I stop her without a second thought and lean forward, bringing my lips to hers.
She freezes but doesn’t move away, and neither do I. Her lips are so soft that I can’t help but pull mine back and bring them to hers once again.
So. Soft. I hold the kiss, fingers in her hair, wondering if this is okay. I know it might change everything. I didn’t plan this. I never thought I’d be kissing Paige, in my car, on her fifteenth birthday.
Her shoulders start to relax and I slowly detach my lips from hers, anxiously looking for a reaction. Her face is relaxed and her eyes are still closed. I’d say she looks … well, I can’t tell how she looks. She doesn’t look mad, so that’s a good thing. I exhale, my heart still racing as I wait for a response. Any response.
A few seconds later, her eyes flutter open and stare into mine. The smallest smile forms on her lips as she sits back in her seat. She looks down at the necklace still lying in her hand and reaches back around her neck to put it on. She opens the door, and I scramble to get my seatbelt off and chase after. I slow when I get by her side and take her hand as we walk the rest of the way to the river in silence.
***
When I pull into my driveway after dropping Paige off, I chuckle to myself. I can’t believe I kissed her! Ever since I realized I might like her just a little more than a friend, I’ve been doing my best to stay normal around her. And that includes keeping my dick from going six-to-midnight. We didn’t kiss again, nor did we talk about it. We just held hands and watched the sunset in our favorite spot out on the dock. There’s something special about being next to her without talking; sharing each other’s company and just being there in that moment.
Shit, I’d better get in the house and start playing some video games to try and get some of my manhood back.
When I get inside and set my keys down on the counter, I hear voices coming from the living room. I walk over, still smiling to myself as I see my family sitting on the couch with bloodshot eyes.
It’s very rare to witness either of my parents crying, especially my dad. Dread fills my stomach and I immediately want to cry too. “What happened?”
“Sit down, honey,” my mom says as she pats the couch cushion next to her.
“What’s going on?” I look to her, then my dad, Sarah, then back to mom again, seeking answers.
She takes a shaky breath and holds it.
I wait.
And I wait. And then my perfect world comes crashing down.
My mom, my guardian angel, only has a few more months to live.
Chapter 11
Present Day - Paige
Rising early, I scratch at the mosquito bites I had gotten the night before and apply some calamine lotion.
Damn mosquitos. No more midnight walks for me.
I drag myself to work where I perk up a bit as I drink my coffee and think about being at Eli’s last night. Corbin has been far from my thoughts for the past week and the number of calls and texts have reduced substantially within the last few days. I can only hope that complete peace will soon be coming.
After a huge breakfast from Dom, I go into my office to get some paperwork done before I have to head out to the dining room to start my first of four interviews for new hires. It’s a slow time of day which is the perfect time for something like this. I’ve narrowed the list down from DeAnn’s top eight choices, to four. I really need to find someone who I can depend on to show up for work. But who really gets excited about washing dishes or bussing tables?
I remember being grateful for the opportunity. I’d worked so hard when I first started here. Then there was Laura, whose parents paid for everything and she got a job only because her mom forced her. She hated working, so I ended up taking most of her shifts to make extra money while she went and hung out at her friend DeeJay’s. She grew up quite a bit after college and finally got a job that she loved, which she always thought would be photography but ended up being a tattooist instead. She’s always been very artistic, I’m glad she
’s finally found her way.
Of the four interviews, I’m pleased only one of them is a dud. And interestingly enough, my final applicant is an old schoolmate.
Larissa Clemmons is a short girl with a spunky personality, extremely full chest, and blonde bob. She approaches my seat and bends over, throwing her arms around me.
“Paige Tomlin! How are you?”
“Larissa, it’s been a while. Six years?”
“Actually, I saw you at Eli’s soiree over the weekend, but I didn’t get a chance to come over and say hi.”
“Oh, that’s okay, I’m sure we were both busy.”
“You sure were.” She winks. “Everyone was drooling over that handsome man at your side.” She laughs and her pink cheeks turn a little darker. “Good catch on that one.”
“Um, thanks. I guess.”
Thinking about Corbin makes me uncomfortable and a little sad. I should probably mention we aren’t together anymore, but I’m not going to sit here and explain my love life to her, especially during an interview. I look down at her application. “So you’re interested in waitressing full time?”
“Yes, my husband has a good job but we just finally bought our first house, and we have two growing boys to feed, so the extra money will be nice to have. And I used to come here so often with my friends. I’ve always loved this place.” It really is a special place. This was where everyone would come after school and on the weekends. Group hangouts and first dates were always going on. Many great things have happened here.
“I love it here, too.”
After going through the details of the job offer as well as her job history, she says, “We should totally hang out, Paige.”
“Sure, we could get together sometime.”
“What are you doing this weekend?”
Laura works, no boyfriend, no plans. I’m lame.
“Um, I’m not sure yet.”
“Well, you have my number. Give me a call. Come hang out with me. Even if I don’t get the job.”
I laugh. “I’m pretty sure you’ve got the job.”
“Really? Yay!” She claps her hands and bounces in her seat.
“Really.” I smile. “Can you start on Monday?”