She didn’t know where that came from; it just popped out. His face lit up at the answer. “He’s making fun of me,” she thought. Kara wanted out before she messed up even more.
“My friend Annie is waiting; I should go.”
“Sure you’re ok?” Scott asked, giving her time to stand.
Kara leaned as she stood, slowly putting weight on her ankle. Her ponytail fell in front of a shoulder until she straighten up. She saw him notice it and silently thanked Annie for the idea.
“My ankle’s fine, thanks,” she said, referring to the help and pizza. She almost added ‘for everything’, but that was too dramatic.
“See you around,” he said, and was gone.
She wove through the crowd to find Annie, who was surprisingly anxious to leave. She hardly waited for them to get out the door. “Real smart, Kara…falling in front of THE Scott Davis! I didn’t know you had it in you. OMG, how hot is he? He’s not only a quarterback, but every girl at Lakewood is after him. From now on I’m not going to leave you alone for a minute!”
“It was an accident. I’m a runner; you don’t think I’d chance an injury, do you?” Annie pretended not to hear and waved ‘bye’ as she turned down her street.
Kara walked quickly the rest of the way home to test her ankle. She keep re-living her time with Scott. Why not? She would never see him again. Mom was in the kitchen making a sandwich when she got home.
“Hi Mom; you got my note about The Onion?”
“That’s a lot for one day…Lakewood and then The Onion. Let me guess; Annie put you up to it. Which reminds me, she’s already called. Something about ‘she’ll kill you if you didn’t give him your number’.”
Annie’s making way too much out of a slice of pizza.”
Kara reached for her backpack on the table. “Do me a favor, Mom. If she calls, tell her I’m in the shower. I’ll email her later.” She noticed a box sitting next to her backpack. “What’s this?”
“A note’s good, but what if I don’t come right home after work, or you and Annie go somewhere else? Next time I want a phone call, so I know where you are. If you don’t keep your grades up, it’s gone.”
A cell phone! She gave Mom a hug. “Thanks; this is great! I won’t tell Annie. Everything’s an emergency to her.”
Kara took the phone and ‘Directions for Use’ upstairs. She turned the shower on in her bathroom while she read them, just in case. She quickly figured out how to call and text, putting some numbers in the directory. Then Kara turned her old desk top on. She so expected the ‘urgent’ email.
email: ‘What’s wrong with U? U don’t wait for someone like Scott to ask for your number. Look, I know what I’m talking about. CALL ME!!!’- An
email: ‘Do U have an idea how embarrassing it was to fall? Scott tried to make me feel better, that’s all.’ K
Kara wasn’t about to tell Annie exactly how she felt. The way his eyes sparkled when he talked, and smiled at some of the things she said. And there was something else. Whenever Kara pictured Scott sitting across from her at The Onion, it wasn’t such a long day after all.
AGREEMENT
The next morning Kara got off the bus and headed for homeroom. “Annie was right…about high school,” she thought. “Everything changes, even the first day.” She stopped to give her backpack a boost.
“Looks like you need more help,” Scott said, catching up to her.
“Ha ha very funny but no,” she said jokingly, unable to hide a slight blush. “My ankle’s ok. Thanks again for yesterday.”
She raise her head and looked at him. “Oh yeah…I owe you…”
“Forget it,” he interrupted, his eyes sparkling back like she remembered. “I bet your Mom’s working hard.”
Kara only saw sincerity in his eyes. “I don’t know what made me say that…nervous, I guess. She’s a nurse at the hospital.”
He lingered when she stopped at her locker. She felt like saying ‘it’s enough you were nice yesterday…’
“I don’t have practice this Sunday,” he blurted out.
“I do most of my homework on Sunday’s…especially math. That way it’s fresh on my mind for Monday.”
He shifted his weight and looked away.
“How are you at Algebra?” She heard herself say.
“I got a B+ for the year,” he quickly said. “We can meet at The Onion, if you want.”
“Why don’t you…come over?”
“Great, how’s two?”
“Sure,” she answered. Kara gave him her phone number and he left. She already decided not to tell Annie, in case this was a joke. She spun around and said ‘hi’ to Neil. He had to see Scott here. It was worth finding out, since he and Annie had classes together.
“Hi, Neil; what’s your first class with Annie?”
“After English; why?” They walked into homeroom together and sat down. Kara had to be tactful.
“Please don’t Annie about Scott. I owe him for a slice of pizza, that’s all.”
“Sure; I won’t say a thing,” he reassured.
“Thanks.” Neil almost seemed grateful for the explanation. “Do I have to answer to everyone?” She thought.
The closer it got to two o’clock on Sunday, the more a ‘wreck’ she became. “Maybe he won’t show up,” Kara told herself, glad she was keeping this from Annie. Luckily, she had to go somewhere and wouldn’t be around.
Kara went from the kitchen to the living room before deciding the dining room table would be best. There was plenty of room for a laptop and notebooks. All her homework was done except Algebra.
Kara made sure they had plenty of hot chocolate mix, checking more than once. What if he couldn’t find her house? Then it happened…the doorbell rang. Kara opened the front door.
“Hi,” she greeted, standing back to let him in. She spent a lot of time picking out the French Terry warm-ups. He hardly seemed to notice.
“Hi…I like your hair,” he said almost shyly. It was partially braided with the ends loose, touching her shoulders.
“Thanks,” she turned to say as he followed her in the dining room. He was here, which gave her reason to relax. “Yeah, right,” she thought.
Scott put his books on the table. She asked if he wanted some hot chocolate and he nodded. Kara filled two mugs with water and put them in the microwave. “Annie would say he ‘liked my hair’ just to say something,” she reasoned. Kara shook off her doubts and stirred in the hot chocolate mix. She took the mugs in the dining room and put one in front of Scott.
“Can we talk for a minute?” He asked.
She noticed he couldn’t keep his feet still under the table. “Sure,” she said, sitting down. “What about?”
“Would you go out with me? I mean, I have this feeling you wouldn’t, maybe because I’m a junior.” Scott took a sip of hot chocolate, indicating it was her turn. He deserved the same honesty.
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting this. Mom says I have to be fifteen,” she softly answered. “Dating…is really the last thing on my mind. I don’t even know if I have time between homework and cross country.” She stopped to put a loose