Dating: On the Rebound

by Stephanie Street

  I had to try again.

  I tapped her name on the screen and waited. I hated not knowing if she was okay. Was she hurt? Was she mad at me? What did she think of that kiss? Was it as amazing for her as it had been for me? I probably wasn’t going to ask that question but that didn’t mean I wasn’t dying to know.

  She still wasn’t answering. I guess that answered the mad question. I disconnected the call when it went to her voice mail again.

  Rolling up to sit on the edge of my bed, I propped my elbows on my knees and stared at my phone. It was late. She probably wasn’t too keen to talk to me tonight.

  I tapped her name on the screen one more time and held my breath while it rang.

  “Why are you calling me?” she whisper shouted into my ear and the breath I’d been holding came whooshing out.

  “You answered,” I stated the obvious while keeping my voice low. I was so surprised I lost my train of thought. I had no idea what to say… where to start.

  “You called me three times.” Her words sounded like they were being shoved passed gritted teeth. I stood and paced the small patch of carpet in my room that wasn’t covered with dirty clothes.

  “I know. You didn’t answer.”

  “Of course, I didn’t. It’s late.”

  “I know. I’m sorry. I just-” I just what? I didn’t even know. I just knew we’d kissed earlier and like a damn girl, I wanted to talk about it. “Dang, Tierney. That kiss-” I broke off there, not knowing what else to say but that.

  I heard her sigh on the other end of the line. My heart fell when she didn’t say anything. Earlier, I’d told her I wasn’t sorry for kissing her, but that was on my end. What if she was upset with me for kissing her? It wasn’t like I’d really given her the opportunity to stop me. I was an idiot.

  “Um, I guess I kind of ambushed you. Are you mad about that? Are you mad at me?”

  Please say no. Please say no.

  It was her turn to clear her throat. Her voice was just barely above a whisper, but I heard it. “No.”

  Yes!

  I jumped off my bed and pumped my fist in the air.

  “But it can’t happen again.”

  Oh.

  Man. Talk about deflating. I fell back onto my bed. My mind raced with all the things I could say to that, wanted to say to that. Top of the list was, why not? Second, I wanted to ask if she’d liked that kiss even half as much as I did, because in my opinion that was enough reason to ask her to marry me. I’d never felt sparks like that before. Ever.

  “It was just the heat of the moment, right?” she continued as though her words weren’t flaying me open.

  No.

  It wasn’t just heat of the moment.

  Maybe at first, but then she’d opened up to me and we connected. I couldn’t have been the only one feeling that way, could I? But then she kept talking.

  “Besides, it’s our senior year. You’ll go off to Notre Dame or wherever you’re going and I’m hopefully going to Butler. It would be silly to get involved right now. Wouldn’t it?”

  “Right.” I said the word but I wasn’t feeling it. I wasn’t feeling it at all. Tierney might have walked up to me at the high school when I was experiencing a minor breakdown over my dad’s illness and I was desperate for something to distract me from those emotions, but that part of it only lasted about two seconds. Then it was about her. Just her.

  And the way she’d made me feel.

  “Look,” she sighed. “We can’t let this be an issue. We still have to work together. Let’s just- let’s just pretend it never happened, okay?”

  She was determined to crush me, but I couldn’t let her know the effect her words were having. She was right about one thing, we still had to finish planning and executing the Homecoming Dance and work together in biology. Anything else? Well, I was just going to have to stuff the desire to kiss her again deep, deep down and make sure it didn’t screw up anything. I had to remember what was important.

  School.

  Getting into Notre Dame and making my dad proud.

  I put on my game face and forced myself to speak normally, casually.

  “Right. Never happened.” My very soul rebelled against the lie, but it was what Tierney wanted.

  “Goodnight, Noah.” Was it my imagination, or did she sound just as sad as I was feeling?

  “Night, Tierney.”

  11

  Noah

  Someone had planted a Tierney seed in my brain and it had taken root. All weekend, all I could think about was that kiss. I’d developed a one-track mind and every train in the station was headed to her and it was a freaking problem.

  First of all, I’d been the one to kiss her. And while she didn’t respond right away, once she had the chance to catch up? Wow. Just wow. And what did that mean? Because there was no way anybody was going to convince me she didn’t like that kiss, especially Tierney. Then she had to go and put the kibosh any further kisses. And it was killing me because I was dying to give kissing Tierney another try. I’d played those few minutes in the hall after the game over and over in my mind. I recalled the way she felt in my arms. The way her fingers felt against my cheeks. And best of all, the taste of that kiss. Her mouth. Her lips. It was driving me mad.

  Which meant I was a complete, raging, hormonal disaster when I walked into AP Bio on Monday morning. She, of course, already sat at our table cool as could be with her face stuck in a book.

  So, that’s how it was going to be.

  With my gaze trained on the long curtain of brown hair hiding her from my view, I threaded my way to the back of the room and tossed my backpack on to the table beside her. She didn’t even flinch. I was tempted to rip the book from her fingers and force her to talk to me, mostly so I could change her mind about that no more kissing edict she’d laid down, but Mr. McGowan walked in at that exact moment and immediately began speaking.

  “Okay, everybody, listen up,” Mr. McGowan called over the din. People settled into their seats and quieted down. “For the next month we will be working on Genetics.”

  Tierney’s attention was still focused on her book and my frustration morphed into annoyance. I nudged her elbow. When she didn’t react or put her book away, I nudged her again, harder.

  “Knock it off, Jacobs,” she growled under her breath.

  “Pay attention,” I whispered.

  “I am,” she whispered back, curling around the top of her book.

  Clearly, she wasn’t.

  Clenching my jaw, I swallowed back the venom building behind my teeth. How could she do that? Just ignore me when all I could think about was her? It made me mad.

  “In addition to daily homework and weekly quizzes, you and your partner will work together outside of class to create your own monster family.” He paused to flip a switch to dim the lights at the front of the lab area making it easier to see the smart board behind his desk. “Each of you will decide what attributes and characteristics your particular monster will possess.” He brought up a photo of a poster board with a grey blob with arms, legs and a face. It was covered with green spikes and only had one eye. “You will then decide which traits are dominant and which traits are recessive.” He pulled up a Punnet Square with various large and small letters which apparently coincided with the strange monster from the poster board. “Once you have created your monsters, you will then give them children. Each monster couple will have four children and you will demonstrate your knowledge of genetics by determining which traits they will inherit from their parents.”

  “Uh, Mr. McGowan,” Dustin raised his hand, interrupting.

  “Yes, Mr. Hart?” Mr. McGowan asked with barely concealed annoyance .

  “Yeah, so Jason’s a dude,” Dustin gestured to his lab partner.

  Mr. McGowan peered at Jason over the rim of his glasses. “It would appear so, Mr. Hart.”

  Dustin pointed to his own chest. “And I’m a dude.”

  Mr. McGowan’s eyes slid shut as he sighed, pinching
the bridge of his nose between his thumb and fingers. “Yes, Mr. Hart. Is there a question?”

  “Dude, Mr. McGowan, you can’t make babies with two dudes.” Dustin gestured between himself and Jason again as the class erupted into laughter.

  “Astute observation, Mr. Hart,” Mr. McGowan replied without even a twitch of his lips once everyone had calmed down.

  Dustin wasn’t finished, however, and even Tierney had come out from behind her hair to watch the comedy unfold.

  “So, how are we supposed to do our assignment?” Dustin asked, a smirk on his lips as he glanced around the room, enjoying being the center of attention. Dustin might be smart, but he was an idiot.

  “What do you suggest?” The question was the only indication that Mr. McGowan found any of this funny at all.

  Dustin grinned. “We can switch partners. Guys and girls.”

  A few people hooted and shouted out catcalls. Dustin turned to a girl across the aisle from where he and Jason sat and pointed between them with a cheesy smile. The girl, I didn’t know her name, shook her head and rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t seem to hold back her grin.

  “A solid plan, Mr. Hart,” Mr. McGowan finally spoke over the noise. “And one I considered, however, there are more females than males in this class. A random draw was the only fair way to decide.”

  “Aw, man,” Dustin groaned. He turned to the girl again with an exaggerated frown and brought his hands up to his chest and made a heart with them making her giggle.

  “Sorry, Mr. Hart. You and Mr. Ferguson will just have to decide who’s going to be the mommy. Now, as I was saying, you will create four offspring.” He reached for a stack of papers on his desk. “I’m passing out your packet for this assignment. We won’t be working on any of it in class, so get with your partner to arrange a time to work outside of class. Any questions?”

  A girl in the front row raised her hand, but I tuned her out. She asked redundant questions all the time. Instead, I plucked the book from Tierney’s hand and prepared for battle.

  “Hey! What is your problem?” She tried to reach for the book, but I’d turned my back on her and used my shoulders to keep her from succeeding.

  I pretended interest in the book until I read the title and I was truly intrigued.

  “Twilight?” I held it up for her to see, but not close enough that she could get it out of my hands.

  Her eyes flashed and she crossed her arms over her chest. “So? It’s a good book.”

  I raised one brow, secretly entertained by her red cheeks and narrowed eyes. Tierney really was pretty. I didn’t want to notice considering she had been ignoring me while I daydreamed about her lips, but there you go.

  “So, when should we meet?” I asked, thumbing through the book, trying to look casual.

  “I hate you right now,” was her response.

  Her words had bite, but I grinned anyway, still looking at her book. “No, you don’t. We were doing so well the other day.”

  “We are not doing this, Noah.”

  Maybe she didn’t want to talk about it, but I sure did. She didn’t even ask my opinion about kissing. Didn’t give me a chance to plead my case for more. What did she expect?

  “Why not?” I asked.

  “Because. I don’t want to.” Like that was fair.

  “What if I do?”

  Tierney huffed, clearly annoyed. Whatever. Join the club.

  The bell was about to ring but I didn’t move, just held her gaze until she grabbed the top of her book and pulled. I was stronger and tried to lighten the mood by teasing her. We played tug-of-war for a few seconds before she scowled and gave up.

  “Hey, if it’s not fair for girls to hit guys then it isn’t fair for guys to use their superior strength.” Her wide hazel eyes flashed.

  She was right and I was being a jerk. Every move I made with this girl seemed to backfire. I handed her the book. “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

  She snatched the book out of my hands and stuffed it into her backpack. I handed her one of the packets McGowan had handed out.

  “Do you want to be the mommy or the daddy?” I asked. I really shouldn’t tease her, but it was fun to get her all flustered again and at this point any reaction was better than no reaction.

  Her cheeks flamed and her nose flared.

  I held back a grin.

  “Are you always this annoying?” she asked.

  “Yes. When do you want to meet?”

  “Why don’t you do your half and I’ll do my half?”

  She was trying to get out of working with me. Not going to happen. I was determined to turn this thing around.

  I shook my head. “Group project, Duchess.”

  “I don’t like you,” she sighed.

  I didn’t believe her, that kiss said otherwise. I waited.

  She growled. “Fine. We have to meet about the dance, anyway. Let’s get it all over with at once.”

  Ha! I knew she’d relent.

  “Great. How about Sunday afternoon?” I had games all day on Saturday and who wanted to do homework on Friday night? Not me. Sunday was the only day I didn’t have practice or games.

  Tierney nodded. “Yeah. Where?”

  I thought about that for a minute. “Library?”

  She shook her head. “No way. If I have to give up my Sunday afternoon to hang out with you, there better be food involved.”

  Chick was high maintenance. “Your house? My house?”

  “Hannah won’t be able to restrain herself from bothering us if you’re in the house, so yours.”

  Her words sank in. Was she saying what I thought she was saying? I felt my chest swell a little.

  She glared at me. “Oh, don’t go getting a big head, Mr. Perfect. She’s too young to know any better.”

  The bell rang before I could react to that and she was already ready to go. “See you Sunday, partner. I’ll bring snacks,” she said over her shoulder.

  “Hey, Mom,” I greeted quietly. She glanced up from where she was preparing a tray of food for my dad. The chemo was kicking his butt and he’d had to take a leave of absence from his law firm until the treatments were finished and he got better. Or he didn’t.

  I tried not to think about that.

  “Hi, sweetie. How was school?” Mom’s smile was barely there and her whole face showed signs of fatigue. She was exhausted. I helped when I could, but they both insisted I needed to keep up with school and all my activities. Anyway, there wasn’t much I could do to alleviate the pain or sadness. That would only come when he got better.

  “It was fine.” I plucked a grape from the tray.

  “How was school?” She poured a glass of apple juice and set it on the tray.

  “Fine. I got it all under control.” The last thing she needed was to worry about me.

  Mom smiled again, this time it felt a little more genuine and she reached out to place her palm against my cheek. I’d grown a head taller than her and when I put my arm around her shoulder to give her a hug, she rested her cheek on my chest for a second.

  “You’re a good son, Noah.”

  Emotion clogged my throat and I squeezed her tighter. “You’ll let me know if you need help, right? Or if things are getting worse?” I was terrified they would try to hide the truth from me about my dad’s illness to keep me from worrying. Not knowing was infinitely worse than knowing. Bad news never got better with time.

  She patted my shoulder before pulling away. “I promise, kiddo.” She finished putting the tray together and handed it to me. “Tell you what, you go take that in there and keep him company while he eats and I’ll go soak in the bath for a half hour.”

  Feeling relieved to have something to do, I smiled. “Deal.” I took the tray and headed down the hall to Dad’s office that had been turned into a sick room. He wasn’t an invalid or anything, but he was weak from the medication and often sick to his stomach and it was easier if he didn’t have to go up and down the stairs to reach the master bedroom he shar
ed with Mom.

  “Knock, knock,” I murmured quietly in case he was asleep. The television was turned down low, but I knew he liked to have it on even if he wasn’t watching. Mom and I had discussed how bored he was and I’d been doing my best to spend time with him everyday after school and basketball. I hated that it took him getting sick again for us to have the time to enjoy each other’s company. I hoped once this was all over we could change that.

  “Come in,” my father’s weakened voice called out and I pushed the door open with my hip.

  The room was cluttered with books and magazines and a stack of newspapers I knew he only kept for the crossword puzzles and comics. Beside the twin bed where Dad rested, an overstuffed recliner sat empty waiting for my mom to come sit in it to keep him company. I usually took the office chair on the other side of the room, but since I was here in Mom’s place, I opted for the recliner.

  “Mom sent some food. Are you hungry?” I arranged the tray on a rolling table that extended across his lap. He shifted until he sat straight enough to feed himself. He looked miserable. His once robust body laid waste to the cancer attacking it and the chemotherapy that was supposed to make him better but more often than not made him feel worse.

  “I brought some soup and toast.”

  Some days were better than others. Some days I would sit in this chair and Dad would be like his old self, talking and asking questions about my day, school and basketball…even girls. But others, he was like this- lethargic, in pain, a shell of his former self.

  He was weak, but he managed to feed himself. “Tell me what’s going on at school.”

  “Let’s see. I told you about being on the Homecoming committee?” He nodded. “Yeah, well, the co-chair, Tierney, is my lab partner for biology, too. I think you’d like her. She’s new to our school, so you probably wouldn’t know her. She just moved here last year.”

  “She pretty?” he asked.

  I thought about that.

  Was she pretty?

  No.

  “She’s beautiful.”

  Dad hummed in his throat and I met his gaze. His eyes held the first spark of interest I’d seen for a couple of days. If talking about Tierney could bring some life to my dad’s day, I’d talk about her for the next hour. Heck, I’d talk about her all night.