“How did that work out for you?” he points to the score card in my hand.
I laughed. He was right.
We get in the car and pull out of the parking lot.
“So you suck at mini-golf, but you are awesome at video games. So, how do you think you would do playing a videogame of mini-golf.
“Probably much better than your sorry ass,” I laugh.
“I challenge that.”
“Okay then, let’s go buy one.”
“What?” he asks confused.
“Let’s go to the nearest videogame store and get a mini-golf game. Then we can settle this once and for all.”
“Deal,” he nods. “But you know what that means?”
“What?”
“It means you actually have to come to my house so we can play,” he smirks.
He smirks a lot. But sadly it is kind of cute.
I sigh, “As I feared.”
He laughs.
We manage to find a mini-golf game for the Wii. We drive to Hayden’s house. He lives in a really rich neighborhood. Shocker. He has a big house that is clean, white and practically sparkles. There is another car just like his but silver parked in front.
“That’s my sister’s car,” he says.
“I didn’t know you had a sister.”
“Yeah, well she doesn’t live with us anymore. She moved away but left her car here.”
“Can I have it?” I ask as a joke.
“Sure.”
“Really?” I ask, incredulously.
He laughs, “No, idiot. I’m not giving you a car.”
He gets out of the car and I follow suit.
We walk inside and the house smells like vanilla. There is a large living room when you first walk in and one whole wall is a big window. It looked out into the garden. I follow him into a huge kitchen. I feel like I have walked into an old-fashioned movie. Everything was black and white. The tile, the counter, the refrigerator. Everything was so big it looked like the kind of kitchen a chef would have. I really like this house. It feels so full of life and open and homey.
“It looks like we cook a lot but we never do.”
I laugh and a really pretty brunette woman walks in, “Hayden?”
“Hey mom, this is-.”
“Is this that girl? Jenna right?” she asks pulling me into a hug.
I see Hayden blush and I smile at him, “Nice to meet you.”
She lets go of me, “Sorry, I’m a hugger,” she laughs. “I’m Anne,” she looks over at Hayden who is glaring at her now. “And now I am leaving.”
She walks out of the room and I cross my arms in front of my chest. I look at Hayden smugly. “Care to explain how she knew my name?”
“Nah. I’m good,” he says pushing me out of the room.
We end up in the biggest bedroom I have ever seen. It’s light grey and white and his bed is covered in a fluffy dark grey comforter. I bet his bed sheets matched. He has a king-sized bed with a wooden frame. The furniture is big and elegant somehow, but his room is messier than Luke’s room.
“Thanks for cleaning up for me,” I laugh.
“You are welcome.”
He turns on the television and the Wii and I look around a little more. All his underwear drawers were open. Not meaning to, I see a flash of gold in one drawer and I grabbed it in shock.
“Why do you have gold thong?” I ask laughing.
His eyes widen and he nearly tackles me to get it back. He shoves it back into the drawer and closes all the others as well. “The boys just got me that as a joke for Christmas.”
I keep laughing and sit at the foot of the bed, “Okay, Hayden.”
“It’s true,” he sits next to me.
We play the game and Hayden promises not to talk when it is my turn. We play for about two hours and we tie.
“How did we tie?” I almost yell.
“We balance each other out. You and your amazing videogame skills and me and my super awesome, sexy mini-golf skills.”
“I wouldn’t call mini-golf very sexy,” I snort.
“It is when I do it,” he sings. I laugh as he jumps on the bed on his stomach next to me. I lay down on my side facing him.
“You know what that means?” he whispers and I shake my head. “It means we are soul mates.”
I laugh again, “I don’t think that qualifies as soul mates.”
“I do.”
“Yeah well you are insane.”
“There you go, insulting me again,” he pouts.
“Aw, I’m sorry.”
“You’re not sorry,” he says as he sits up. So I can see him, I move onto my back.
“You’re right, I’m not.”
“You have to make it up to me,” he says and I see a glint in his eye.
“How?” I ask interested.
“This.”
He leans down and kisses me softly. And for once, I don’t pull away.
Chapter 14: A Small Argument
Luke comes to pick me up at around five, and I really wish he hadn’t. I was having a blast with Hayden. It was the first time I had ever made out with someone before (well, the first time I was okay with it). I felt my heart kick Luke out as Hayden moved in. I was happy, because I wasn’t dreaming about snuggling up with him, I was actually snuggling up with him. And not in the way Luke and I did, in a much more romantic way. And it surprised me when Hayden didn’t try to get me to go any farther with him like I had thought he would. He was really sweet and I realize now I had completely misjudged him. He was all talk, but no action. Everything he said about us sleeping together was just his sense of humor. I didn’t get that until now.
As I was leaving his house he whispered in my ear, “Now I know I am going to beat everyone else and get you at the second auction.”
He pecks my lips with his, and I got in Luke’s car.
“What was that?” Luke asked looking at me strangely.
“What was what?” I ask back.
“Well, I might be mistaken, but it looked like he just kissed you.”
I smile a little bit, “Oh, that.”
“Jenna!” Luke says in an almost shout. “The point was to get him to stop liking you. Not to let him kiss you!”
“I realize I completely misjudged Hayden. He is actually a really nice guy. And I don’t care anymore if he buys me at the auction.”
Luke looks like he is about to yell at me again. But he just breathes in and then starts the engine.
There is a long silence and usually when this happens he starts the radio. But he never did. “So are you two dating now?”
I look at him surprised, “I don’t know.”
“How do you not know?” he smiles in an exasperated way. “He kissed you while saying goodbye! And who knows what happened before that.”
I lean up in my chair a little bit, “What is that supposed to mean?”
He breathes again, “Nothing.”
I lean back again. What is happening?
“If I were you,” Luke starts. “I would ask him. Hayden’s never really been the relationship type.”
This gets to me a little. I don’t know if Luke meant it to bug me or not, but it does. Why would Luke say something like that?
“What does that mean?” I wonder out loud.
Luke is silent for a second. “I’m just saying that in all the years that I have known Hayden, he has never been in a single relationship. He’s gone on a lot of dates and hooked up with a lot of girls, but not anything more.”
“So, what?” I ask. “I’m just another hook up?”
“Did you hook up with him?” Luke asks casually.
I don’t answer for two reasons: One, I don’t really know Luke’s definition of “hook up” and, two, I don’t have to explain myself to him. I turn on the radio full blast and the rest of the car ride we don’t speak a word to each other.
A few minutes later, we arrive at his house and we go to our separate bedrooms. I don’t think we will have another mo
vie night tonight. Without that, I really have nothing else to do but get ready for bed. I go to the bathroom to brush my teeth and through the door leading to Luke’s room, I hear a phone ringing. But not the ringing you hear when you get a call, the ringing you hear when you are calling someone. I hear a mixture of Luke panting and metal noises and realize Luke must be riding the stationary bike in his room. He was calling someone on speaker. Who? I decide to listen out of pure curiosity. Maybe he is calling his “secret girlfriend.”
“Hello?” a familiar voice picks up the phone.
“Hey, Hayden,” Luke says.
Oh, this is going to be good.
“What’s up?” Hayden asks. “How’s Jenna.”
I smile to myself. Yeah Luke, he isn’t the “relationship type.”
“She’s good,” I hear Luke say as he stops cycling. “What happened between you two?”
Hayden is quiet, “What do you mean? Did she tell you something?”
“No, nothing actually. I was just wondering because when I picked her up today you kissed her.”
“Okay?” Hayden asks.
“So are you guys a couple?” Luke isn’t panting anymore.
“Well I haven’t really asked her out yet,” Hayden clears his throat, “But today was really fun and I will ask her out soon probably.”
“Well, what did you guys do today?”
“Just hung out,” Hayden sounds a little agitated.
“You hung out and then you kiss her randomly? You must have done something before that.”
“It’s kind of rude if I tell you,” Hayden says and I smile again.
“Did you sleep with her?” Luke asks anxiously.
“What? Of course not. We just made out a bit.”
Luke is quiet.
“Why do you care so much, man?” Hayden asks after a while.
“I don’t.”
“Then why are you asking so much? Do you like her?” Hayden asks. I can hear the laughter in his voice.
“No,” Luke says instantly. “I just care about her.”
“Well so do I. I’m not going to hurt her, man.”
I hear Luke breathe and he says, “Okay well, sorry. I’ll see you Monday, I guess.”
“Bye,” Hayden says.
They hang up and I hear Luke collapse on his bed.
Well that was interesting.
I brush my teeth and get dressed, my mind just racing the whole time. I am about to go to sleep when there is a knock on my door.
“Come in,” I say.
Luke walks in looking a little sad, “Hey.”
“Hey,” I reply sitting up.
He sits on the foot of the bed and looks at me, “I’m sorry for being a major asshat earlier.”
I smile, “It’s okay.”
“No, it’s not. I don’t know what came over me.”
“I get it. Jealousy can get the best of us sometimes,” I say smiling, half joking and half curious to see how he responds.
He laughs, “Yeah, for sure.”
It gets quiet and he says, “Want to watch a movie?”
“Sure, what movie?” I ask getting up.
“We can check Netflix.”
We go to his room and spend 30 minutes looking for a movie.
“Toy Story?” I ask at one point.
“Nah,” he responds. “I have seen that way too many times.”
We finally decide on “New Year’s Eve.” When the movie starts I put my head on his shoulder. I don’t even think about it anymore. A few minutes in, I sense him staring at me. I ignore him. And then he does something that surprises me: he lays his head on top of mine. I get butterflies in my stomach. Okay, so maybe Hayden didn’t kick Luke out completely.
And yet again, I fall asleep in the middle of the movie.
I feel some movement around me, waking me up. I open my eyes slowly and watch as Luke closes his laptop. The movie must have just ended. I don’t say anything and close my eyes again. I feel Luke push me down a little bit so I am lying down now. I sense him lie down next to me and I feel him grab my head and set it down on his chest. He wraps his arm around me, just like it was this morning when I woke up. Next, I hear the click of the lamp and the light goes out. It is pitch black when I open my eyes. A few seconds later, I feel his warm lips kiss the top of my head and he goes to sleep.
Whoa.
Chapter 15: An Interesting Morning
I wake up lying in the exact same position I did yesterday. As soon as I open my eyes, the memory of Luke kissing the crown of my head flashes in my mind. He kissed my head while I was asleep. Just like I kissed his cheek while he was sleeping two nights ago. Does this mean he feels the same way about me as I do about him? Or was it a friendly kiss? Do friends even kiss each other before they go to sleep? I already knew the answer to that; it was no.
And then, without reason, Hayden’s smirking face blocks the memory of Luke. How could I forget? I made out with Hayden! He was going to ask me out soon and I was thinking about another guy? I was in another guy’s bed! I slowly sit up, cringing at every creek the bed made when I moved. I nudge Luke’s arm out of the way and manage to stand up without waking Luke. I creep out of the room and shut the door noiselessly.
I turn around and almost bump right into his mother.
Gasping, I say, “I am so sorry, Mrs. Parker. I didn’t see you.”
She laughs a little nervously, “It’s alright dear,” She glances at the door behind me, “Why are you coming out of Luke’s room so early?”
Uh-oh. This looks bad. “I accidently fell asleep in his room last night while we were watching a movie and I didn’t want to wake him. Sorry.”
She looks me up and down. My makeup was probably all smudged and my hair was in a ponytail. She looks at my pajama pants with ducks on them and nods slowly, “Okay.”
I walk to my room for the week, holding my breath until I close the door firmly behind me. I let out a long breath and lean against the door. Well, that was awkward.
I plop on my bed and fall back asleep. It was Sunday, I could if I wanted to.
I awake to the sound of my phone ringing. I check the time: 10:00.
“Hello?” my voice is groggy.
“Hey, Sassy-pants,” I can hear the grin in Hayden’s voice.
“Hey, Sensitive-pants.”
He laughs mockingly, “That was the best you could come up with? Sensitive-pants?”
I smile, “It’s the best I can do after just waking up. Plus it’s true.”
“Yeah alright,” he pauses before continuing, “You wanna hang out today?”
I nearly jump from excitement but quickly come back down from my high, “I can’t.”
“Why?”
“I’m supposed to hang out with Luke today. I mean, he is the one who paid for me and I have barely spent any time with him,” I explain. “And besides, if you buy me Tuesday, then we can spend a whole week together,” I say, a little too flirtatiously.
There is a long pause.
“Hayden? You still there?” I ask laughing.
He clears his throat, “Yeah, sorry. Well okay then, I’ll text you later.”
“Bye,” I say and hang up.
I get up and walk to Luke’s room. I am about to knock on the door when I hear him talk. God, I eavesdrop way too much. But, I can’t help myself.
“Did you pay fifteen hundred dollars?” I hear him ask. He pauses as the person on the other line of the phone talks. “Come on, man. You probably will spend all week with her. I have only hung out with her like a day and only at night,” Another pauses. “I told you why I let her hang out with you guys; I felt bad,” Pause. “No, we are friends,” Pause. “Whatever, I’ll talk to you later,” he hangs up.
He was talking to Hayden. I can’t believe Hayden called him and asked if I could hang out with him instead of Luke. I am a little bit flattered and a little annoyed. Hayden was a little pushy, wasn’t he? But in a cute way. Ugh, everything Hayden Sharpe does is cute. I am pretty sur
prised Luke said no. Like he actually wanted to spend more time with me and he regretted making me stay with other people this week. I get more chills as I think about him kissing me on the head last night and what it could have meant.
I knock on the door, “Come in.”
“Hey,” I say opening the door.
He nods his head at me, “Good morning. Where were you earlier?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well,” he says smiling. “I fell asleep, you were here. I woke up you weren’t here.”
“Oh,” I laugh. “Sorry. I had to go to the bathroom and I didn’t want to wake you up so I just went back to my room,” I lie.
He smiles, flashing his perfectly white teeth at me, “It’s okay. It just freaked me out a little.”
“So what are we doing today?”
He smiles again, “I thought we could go play some Laser Tag.”
“Laser Tag?” I ask. “As in, running around in the dark shooting people with lasers?”
“Yeah,” his smile fades. “Do you not like Laser Tag?”
“Are you kidding?” I laugh. “I love it! I played a few times a birthday parties but haven’t gone in a while.”
The million dollar smile returns, “Great.”
“I feel bad for you, though,” I say as I head for the door.
“Why?” I can hear the confusion in his voice.
I turn to look at him, “Because I always win.”
Chapter 16: A Day with Luke, Finally
I take my card and slide it into the computer. A pop up comes on the screen and tells me to enter a player name. I enter “LastGirl”, just to be ironic. Luke laughs at mine and enters his to be “TheLukeator.”
I look up at him, “You’re kidding right?”
He shrugs and smiles, “Ever since I was 13 that has been my player name.”
We enter a tight room with a lot of vests hanging on hooks on the walls.
“Same team?” Luke asks me, handing me a vest.
“Hell no!”
He laughs and we slip the vests on. Mine is big, bulky, and bright red. The targets are on the back, the stomach, and the shoulders. We scan our cards with the guns and our names flash up on the guns’ screens. I walk up to the red team’s door and wait for other people on my team to be ready as I fiddle with my gun. It was a clear plastic in the shape of a handgun. How realistic.
The Last Girl Page 7