~~***~~
The next morning, Lyra spent a long time deciding what to wear and how to fix her hair, but even so, she was still waiting impatiently by the front door for him to arrive. As soon as she caught sight of his car through the trees, she opened the door and hurried outside, anxious not to keep him waiting even for a second. As he slowed to a stop alongside her, she opened the passenger’s side door and slid into the warmth of the Audi. It took her eyes a second to adjust to the dim interior due to the darkly tinted windows.
“Hi,” she said breathlessly. She breathed in his clean, woodsy scent and indulged herself in a long look at his angel face. He was dressed in black as usual, his hair still damp from the shower.
“Good morning, Lyra,” he replied solemnly, his eyes lingering on her a moment. He circled the drive and sped down the hill.
She tried to think of a safe topic of conversation, but before she could come up with one he began to speak.
“About last night,” he paused glancing at her before continuing.
Lyra hurriedly interrupted, “I’m so sorry, Jonah. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that. I should have called out as soon as I saw you. I just,” she faltered, not wanting to say what she was actually thinking. “I was just surprised,” she finished lamely.
“Surprised is putting it mildly,” he laughed humorlessly. He said nothing further, letting the subject drop.
Lyra turned in her seat to study his face. His eyes were narrowed, focused on the road, his mouth twisted into a mirthless smile. He gripped the steering wheel tightly.
He always seemed to be in some sort of pain—grief or anger or loneliness, Lyra thought. Compassion welled up inside her and without thinking, she reached over and laid her hand on his arm. She felt the muscles flex violently and saw his jaw tighten. Reluctantly she withdrew her hand. Evidently he did not welcome physical contact either. He looked down at her, his expression confused and mistrustful.
Lyra sighed heavily, “Can’t we be friends, Jonah?”
Jonah turned back to the road, his eyes bleak. He didn’t speak for so long, she thought he wasn’t going to. “You want to be my friend?” he finally asked, incredulous.
Lyra swallowed the lump in her throat. “Is that so hard to believe?”
When he didn’t answer, she sighed. “Yes, I do.” She paused before adding, “I think you need a friend, Jonah.”
Secure in the love and acceptance of her family and friends, she risked another rejection from Jonah. Her heart ached for the tortured, seemingly destitute boy beside her who evidently had no such security.
He took a ragged breath, his expression grave. “You don’t know anything about me, Lyra. I wouldn’t make a good friend for you.” His voice turned hard, “If you knew what I had…” he paused, sucking in his breath. “If you knew about things that had happened in my past, you’d be running in the other direction.”
“Whatever happened, whatever you did, can’t be so terrible you don’t deserve love and friendship, Jonah,” she assured him emphatically.
They had reached the school parking lot. He cut the engine and turned to face her. “Why are you doing this?”
“Because you are worth it,” Lyra answered softly.
He looked at her, disbelieving, for a long time. “I’ve never met anyone like you.”
She smiled crookedly, “So, is that a yes? Will you let me be your friend?” She held her breath, waiting for his reply.
He exhaled slowly and turned back to stare out of the windshield. All around them students were getting out of their cars and walking toward the school. Without looking at her he answered quietly, “All right.”
Relief flooded through Lyra. She felt like she’d just passed an extremely difficult exam.
Jonah looked over, and seeing her beaming face, let out a real, honest-to-goodness laugh himself. “C’mon. Let’s go.”
Lyra was euphoric. It seemed she floated up the steps of the school and down the hall to first period English. In Algebra, he was already at his desk when she came in. She flashed him a brilliant smile before taking her seat. As usual, he kept his seat when the bell rang, letting everyone file out before him. Lyra stood at her desk waiting for him. They walked in companionable silence toward the cafeteria. When they were almost there, Lyra asked, “Will you sit with me at lunch today?”
He frowned, thinking it over. They had reached the glass doors and he looked through them to her usual table. Connor, Aimee, and Trevor were already seated, talking animatedly. As they watched, Katie and Lisa, Trevor’s on-again-off-again girlfriend, walked over and joined them. Jonah turned to her, his eyes apologetic. “I don’t think so.”
Lyra tried to hide her disappointment. She knew she had made tremendous progress with him today and she didn’t want to push him any more. “Okay.” She looked down, then back up at him, “Maybe some other time” she suggested.
He nodded, but his eyes were doubtful. They walked in and Lyra headed over to her friends, watching Jonah join the queue in the lunch line. She was greeted enthusiastically and, after she’d put her books down, followed Katie and Lisa to get in line as well.
Katie and Lisa were discussing the Harvest dance, which brought back to Lyra’s mind her argument with Kyle yesterday. She looked over to his table and saw him glaring at her, his face twisted in sneer. He was leaning across the table talking to a fellow senior and hockey buddy named Steve. Steve looked over at her, then back at Kyle. Lyra could just imagine what Kyle was telling him.
“Lyra,” Katie asked, tugging on her shirt to get her attention.
Lyra turned back toward Katie. “Sorry, what did you say?”
“I asked if it was true that you rode to school with Jonah Forrester today. Someone said they saw you getting out of his car and walking in with him.”
“Oh, yeah, I did. My dad took my car in for servicing and so I got a ride with Jonah.”
Katie and Lisa eyed her with something akin to awe. Finally, Katie found her voice. “I can’t believe you would ask him after he was so rude to you that time.”
Lyra bristled slightly. “He wasn’t rude to me.” Though he sort of had been. “He’s just shy, I think,” repeating the explanation she’d given her father. She looked over at him, now seated at his solitary table, his food in front of him. He was looking back at her, his eyes amused, as though he had heard what she’d said. She smiled at him and turned back to Katie. “He’s quite nice actually.”
Katie raised her eyebrows. “If you say so.”
They made their lunch selections and returned to their table.
When she sat down, Trevor looked up at her. “What in the world did you do to get on Kyle’s black list, Lyra? I overheard him saying some ugly things about you in the locker room today. I was about to knocked his teeth out, but coach walked in before I had a chance.”
Lyra flushed with embarrassment and anger. Everyone at the table had stopped talking to listen. “I’m afraid I had to be rather blunt with him yesterday. When I refused to go to the dance with him and said I wasn’t interested in dating him, he accused me of being a tease.”
Trevor’s expression turned sour. “What a jerk. I don’t know how he doesn’t just blow away, his ego is so inflated.”
Aimee patted her arm consolingly. “He’ll get over it. Don’t worry about it.”
Lyra waved her hand, “Oh, I’m not. But I do wish he’d keep his opinions to himself.”
They moved on to other topics and left Lyra to her musings. She looked over at Jonah and found him watching her again, his face sober.
The rest of the day passed by quickly and it wasn’t until seventh period that Lyra realized she’d forgotten to ask Aimee for a ride home. She hoped she could catch her after school before she took off. When the bell rang, she hurried out the door, and ran right into Jonah. He reached out to steady her.
“Oh sorry, Jonah. I didn’t s
ee you. Excuse me, but I need to find Aimee before she leaves.”
“Okay,” he said keeping up with her as she headed out the doors.
Lyra realized he was following her and whirled around. “I’m sorry, Jonah. Did you need something?”
Jonah stopped too, looking confused. “No…I’ll just go wait by the car then.”
At once Lyra understood and her expression cleared. He was waiting for her to take her home. She smiled up at him in comprehension. “You’re waiting to take me home?”
He nodded, still looking confused.
“I’m sorry—again. I was going to ask Aimee. I didn’t want to inconvenience you twice in one day. But, if you don’t mind dropping me off, that would be better. It’s really out of Aimee’s way.”
“Of course not,” he flashed her a quick grin, lifting the books she was juggling in her arms. “Let’s go.”
Lyra fairly skipped to his car. He opened and held the door for her, then shut it gently once she was settled. She beamed up at him again. He stowed her books in the back seat and was around to his side in an instant. The parking lot was crowded with other students leaving, so they inched along at a crawl.
Lyra studied Jonah’s profile. His face was serious, but he looked more at ease than she’d ever seen him. As they waited for an opening in the line of cars, he turned meet her gaze. His eyes softened and the corners of his mouth lifted in a slight smile.
“Thank you,” she said softly.
He looked at her inquisitively.
“For not being mad at me and for giving me a ride this afternoon,” she clarified.
He leaned back in his seat, reaching in his front pocket for something. “That reminds me.” He pulled out a small slip of paper and held it out to her.
It was torn from a sheet of notebook paper and had a phone number neatly printed on it.
He was watching her, his smile careful. “In case you ever need a ride again.”
She blushed, lowering her eyes and tucking the paper into her purse. “Right,” she mumbled. Translation: he didn’t want her dropping by.
The line finally thinned and they eased out onto the street. They were silent, each of them thinking about the night before, but neither one daring to mention it.
They passed through the busy streets of downtown Placid, to the quieter, winding road leading home.
When he pulled to a stop in front of her house, Lyra turned to him again, “Do you want to come in?”
Jonah looked at her, surprised. Then his eyes narrowed and he demanded, “Are your parents home?”
It was Lyra’s turn to be surprised. “No, but they don’t care. I’m allowed to have company over when they’re not here.”
Jonah’s lips pressed into a thin line. He carefully shifted into park and angled his back against his door to face her. “Lyra,” he began, a warning in his tone. “I want you to promise me something.” He waited.
She nodded, “Okay.”
He took a slow, deep breath before continuing. “You need to be careful…You are…too trusting of people. You are the most open, honest person I’ve ever met. But you are also probably the most naïve. You don’t know anything about me. I’m a virtual stranger. And you don’t just go inviting strangers into your home, especially when you are home alone! Surely your parents have advised you on basic personal safety.” His voice rose as he spoke, his agitation apparent.
Before she could reply he went on. “I don’t want to scare you. I didn’t want to bring this up at all, but you obviously need to be warned…You haven’t heard the last from Kyle Douglas. He is taking your rejection very personally and I wouldn’t put it past him to resort to violence of some sort.” His hands curled into tight fists. “Please, Lyra,” his eyes beseeching, “Please be more careful.”
She was touched by his concern, but felt it was misplaced. “I appreciate what you’ve told me, Jonah. And yes, my parents have repeatedly lectured me about safety. My dad has even taught me some self-defense maneuvers. I’m not completely helpless. I know Kyle is upset with me right now, but he’ll calm down. Our parents are very good friends and he would never do anything to hurt me physically.”
Jonah was shaking his head, incredulous she could believe that.
“As for protecting myself against you,” she began again, her voice suddenly fierce, “I may have only known you a short time, and I may not know your whole life story, but I do know you’re not a bad person. I know you aren’t a rapist or a serial killer. And I’m not afraid of being alone with you—in this car, in the woods, or even inside my house when my parents are gone.”
They stared into each others eyes for a long moment, her face resolute, his disbelieving. In the ensuing silence, they heard a muffled barking and scratching. Lyra turned in her seat to see Harry through the floor-length window beside the door, clawing vainly to get outside to them. He must have finally figured out she wasn’t coming in through the garage and come around front to investigate the sound of the idling car.
She swiveled back to Jonah, her eyes pleading. “Will you at least get out and come say hi to Harry? He’s taken an unusual liking to you. His feelings will be hurt if don’t.”
Jonah gave up the argument for now, exasperated but resigned. He could see his words of caution were completely wasted on her. “You are hopeless. You know that don’t you?”
Lyra smiled benignly. “Please?” she begged.
He sighed and cut the engine.
Jonah didn’t go inside, but he stayed and played with Harry for a while in the driveway, rough-housing with him the way only boys could. Lyra took immense pleasure in watching them together.
Eventually, Jonah’s voice and petting grew more subdued until Harry was calm and docile once more. He straightened up and walked over to where she was sitting on the front steps. His eyes sparkled like bright sapphires, his smile was gentle. “I better go. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
Lyra hopped up and thanked him again for bringing her home. He started toward his car and she turned to go inside. As she was about to step in, he called her name. She turned with one hand on the knob. He was looking at her over the roof of his car.
“Lock the door,” he commanded, his voice stern.
She rolled her eyes and turned back to go in. She shut the door soundly and slid the bolt in place. When she peeked out the window, he was climbing into his car, a satisfied smile curving his lips upward.