I spent another afternoon zoning through my classes, thinking only about Michael. When the final bell rang, I knew I had to get to my locker fast; Michael had to get to work, and I didn’t want to make him late.
I ran to my locker, already holding the books I would need to drop off and mentally listing the ones I needed to grab. Michael was there waiting, his eyes focused on the paperback book he held in one hand.
“Hey—I’m sorry you had to wait, I’m hurrying. She always keeps us in Trig until the last minute.“
He held up his hand. “I just got here. Take a breath. I wasn’t going to leave without you.”
I shoved my books into the locker and rooted for one I needed. Glancing back over my shoulder, I inquired, “What are you reading?”
He held up the book so that I could see the cover. “John Keats. We’re reading him in English and I needed—” he broke off for a minute, not meeting my eyes. “I was kind of preoccupied in class today, and I need to be more familiar with some of these. This kind of stuff doesn’t come as easy for me as Math and Science.”
I closed the locker. “All set. I love Keats. I wrote my sophomore lit paper on Ode on A Grecian Urn.”
Michael grimaced. “That makes me feel so much better, thanks.”
“No problem. You can do the same when I tell you that my Trig teacher was speaking in a foreign tongue today.” We were walking toward the parking lot, and I looked up at him, smiling a little. “At least I think she was. I was a little… preoccupied too.”
He blew out a breath. “Nice to know I’m not the only one. I was beginning to think that maybe I was.”
“Was what?”
Michael didn’t answer me as we headed toward the parking lot and climbed into his car. He remained silent while he started up the car and then turned to me. “What I meant before was that I worry that I’m the only one who gets preoccupied. It’s crazy. It makes no sense. But sometimes…” His voice trailed off again, and he shook his head, looking down. “You probably think I’m insane.”
“I don’t. Not at all.”
Michael shifted into reverse and then pulled out onto the road. He kept his eyes on the road even as he prompted me. “But…?”
“But nothing. This is all so new. I’ve only known you for three days, and like I told you yesterday, I’ve never…” I drew in a deep breath. “I don’t have any experience with boys. At all. I feel totally comfortable when I’m with you, but then when I stop and think about it, the whole situation seems unbelievable. Like I must be crazy.”
“Well, that’s it then.” Michael shot a quick bright smile at me. “You need to stop thinking. And so do I.”
“Really?” I cocked an eyebrow at him. “We need to stop thinking?”
“Yup.” Michael nodded. “Or maybe we need to stop over thinking. When we’re together and talking, I don’t have any doubts that—well, about us. I like you, Tasmyn. And there’s more than that to it… more that we need to talk about. Not today.” He ran a hand through hair and scowled. “I don’t have time before work.”
“You never did tell me where you work,” I remarked. “When we were talking about it yesterday, we kind of got side-tracked.”
Michael laughed. “Yeah, we did. I work for my parents. They own a nursery and landscaping company, and I work there three days a week and most weekends.”
I was impressed. “Wow. I don’t know anything about plants. Do you like it?”
“It’s cool. I like working outside, and my parents are pretty flexible. But I don’t like to take advantage of them.” He pulled up to the curb in front of my house. “So as much as I’d like to stay with you and talk now, I need to just drop you off and get moving.”
I hopped out of the car. Michael met me at the sidewalk and handed me my backpack. I slung it over one shoulder and turned to look up at him.
He was looking down at me with such intensity that I couldn’t breathe, and for one moment I was sure he was going to kiss me, right out here in the open. But he only squeezed my arm.
“See you tomorrow morning,” he whispered. And as he left, I wondered how on earth I was going to make it until then.