Repulsive! “I need to call the police,” I said, after punching in 9-1-1. He backed off and went into the kitchen, the last thing Hoffman wanted was the police nosing around our neighborhood. More than once, I’d seen him selling weed in Applegate Park. He was probably afraid they’d raid his trailer.
After a brief conversation, the operator informed me an officer was on the way. Setting the phone down on the porch railing, I quickly thanked Hoffman and left.
I changed into my sweats and began pacing nervously up and down the living room waiting. The thought to move my inebriated mom into her room was interrupted by a light tap on the door. I opened it to the sight of a handsome police officer with the letters MET embroidered across his black jacket.
“Hello, I’m here to speak with Maggie Brown.”
“That’s me,” I dribbled out stupidly, still ogling him. He was incredibly good looking, with his dark wavy brown hair and deep brown eyes. His shoulders were broad, leaving me with the impression that this guy was serious about his workouts. He wasn’t quite as tall as Seth, though still quite tall. He was probably the only human on the planet who could give Seth some competition in the gorgeous department. Well, almost. He flashed me a heart-stealing grin, and I noted the dimples on either side of his smile that could only be described as, WOW!
“May I come in?”
“Sorry, yes. Please do.” Snap out of it, Maggie. “Have a seat,” I said, pointing to the one free piece of furniture in the room. He glanced over at my mom who was snoring softly on the couch.
“No, please, I don’t mind standing,” he said, gesturing for me to sit down.
“I’ll get a chair from the kitchen.” I reined in my hormones and dashed the two feet into the kitchen to grab the least rickety chair we had.
With pen in hand, he started asking questions about the man from the park to which I answered each to the best of my memory.
Then the questioning took a strange twist. “You were in the park with Mr. Prescott between 11:30 and midnight, correct?”
“How did you know that?”
“I came here directly from speaking with Mr. Prescott. He said the two of you were in the park when you saw the man in question.” I nodded soberly. “Midnight is a bit late for you to be out, seeing it was a school night and all. You’re how old, 17?” He looked back over at my mother disapprovingly. Great, now the hottie cop thinks he’s my father. “What were you doing out so late?”
Not wanting to go into the whole argument with my mother, I simply said, “I was with Seth,” sort of, “he’s 18.” There was no need calling in Social Services this late into the game. In a few months I’d be 18, and I had no intention of ending up in a foster home until then. It was why I didn’t get free lunch at school, fearing if I filled out the forms, government people might come snooping around my house. Not a good idea!
“Seth does seem like a responsible young man. You have good taste in boyfriends, Miss Brown.” He smiled and reached into his pocket for a small card.
“He’s not my boyfriend,” I said, a little too fiercely. “He’s just a friend.”
“Really? Huh.” He handed me his business card and asked me to call him if I remembered anything else. He thanked me for my help as he slid his pen into a breast pocket and gave another sideways glance at my mother.
“When do you turn 18?”
“April.” I opened the door and found the dog from this morning sitting on the porch. I knew I had to think fast. A stray dog without tags meant only one thing, the animal shelter.
“There you are. I’ve been searching for you everywhere, you naughty boy.” I scooped up the dog, and he began licking my face. The hottie cop chuckled.
“Friendly little guy, isn’t he?” He reached over and began rubbing the dog on the head. “What kind of a dog is he?” I shrugged. “Probably just a mutt of some kind.” The dog then snapped at the officer. “And that’s exactly why I prefer cats,” he added, laughing.
“Does he have a license? It’s a law in this county that all dogs must be licensed. Is he yours?” He continued to rub the dog’s head, though clearly he didn’t like it.
“No, but I’ll let the owners know when I see them.” That wasn’t a lie, if I found out who owned him, I’d tell them.
“I could take him to the shelter if you’d like. We’ll make sure his shots are up to date, and even have him neutered. It’s a free service offered by the local shelter.” The dog snapped once more at him as if he understood what he was saying.
Smart doggy. Now stop it, or he’ll haul you away!
“That won’t be necessary,” I said. He nodded and left. I looked down at the business card in my hand and wondered why Officer Hottie thought Seth and I were dating. Correction. The hottie was a captain, Captain Booker Gatto, to be precise.
I shook my head. I didn’t need to be thinking about boys, or men right now. I had a ton of homework to do and dwelling on the male species, no matter how good looking, wasn’t going to help me finish.
I went to the refrigerator, took out the leftover Maggie’s Kiss, and divided it up between two plates for my mom and me. I put some of mine onto a paper plate for the dog. He stuck his nose up at the food, probably still full from all the garbage cans he’d raided earlier, and instead curled up by my feet for a nap. I scratched him behind his ears for a few minutes trying to think of a name for him. “How about Brutus?” The dog cocked his head. “No? Maybe Prince. What do you think, you little ball of fluff. You like the name Prince?” The dog dropped his fluffy head down onto his paws. “That’s it! Fluffy. It’s perfect. Do you like it?” He barked loudly. “Since I don’t speak dog, I’m guessing you do. “ I have to do some homework, Fluffy, you’ll have to entertain yourself for a while.”
I steeled my brain for another battle with numbers, but only after making sure all the doors and windows in the house were locked.
6
“What is that noise?” I lifted my head up from off the table. As my mind cleared, I realized it was my alarm clock screaming at me from the bedroom. It was 7:13 A.M., and I’d spent the entire night sitting, or rather sleeping, at the kitchen table. The last thing I remembered was letting the dog out when he scratched on the door around eleven P.M.
I stood up slowly, stretching the kinks out of my back and vigorously rubbed at the red mark on my forearm from where my head had been resting. I could hear my mother’s snores as I passed her bedroom to switch off the alarm.
“Thanks for letting me sleep at the table all night, mother,” I said to the door, wondering for the umpteenth time if she cared about me at all. I took a quick shower and dressed for school. Racing out the door 20 minutes later, I ran smack into Seth.
“Good morning, beautiful.” Forcing my eyes from his heart-stopping green eyes, I straightened my sweater and headed down the street.
“Thank you. What are you doing here?” I asked, marching past his Lexus.
“I brought you some breakfast.” He held out a Bagel Heaven sack, the contents of which caused the small brown bag to bulge.
“I’ve already eaten,” sort of. “Thanks, anyway.” It smelled delicious. Bagel Heaven was the hot spot for most of the student body, and even though I’d never eaten there before, I’d heard about it.
“You can eat it later,” he said, stuffing the sack into my book bag. “It’s freezing today, wait here, I’ll get my car.” Before I could refuse, he was gone, pulling up alongside me with the passenger door ajar a few seconds later. I decided accepting the ride was better than freezing to death and climbed in.
“You should eat the bagel while it’s still warm. The cream cheese practically melts in your mouth.”
“I’ve already eaten, remember?” I stole a whiff of the warm bagel. Heaven itself couldn’t possibly smell this good.
“Thin as you are, it won’t hurt to eat a second breakfast. Hobbits eat second breakfasts.” I bit my lip to keep from laughing at his analogy. “You know, Hobbits? J.R.R. Tolkien? Lord of the Rings?
”
“Yes, I’m familiar with the story.” Everyone on the planet was familiar with the story.
“Never mind.” He grumbled something under his breath about a great joke and looked back over at me. “Why do I make you nervous?”
“You don’t. Why do you keep asking me that?”
He leaned over and tugged softly on my fingers. I was twisting my hair again! “Because it seems every time I talk to you, you start doing this. Not that I mind, it’s kind of cute.”
“It’s kind of cute I twist my hair, or it’s kind of cute you make me nervous?
“Both.”
“I twist my hair mostly out of boredom, sorry to disappoint you.” I smoothed out the tangled mess and mentally slapped myself. Get it in control, girl.
I was relieved the foul tempered Hillary was nowhere to be seen as we pulled into the parking lot. I thanked him for the ride and the bagel, vowing silently to never again twirl my hair. I took off running for the bathroom to devour the bagel, I couldn’t very well eat it during our class after making such a big stink about not being hungry. I chided myself again for my foolish pride, but not before stuffing a huge piece of the delicious bagel into my mouth.
“Slow it down, girl. You’re chowin’ on that as if you haven’t eaten in a week!” Oh! Not Melody! Within seconds I had the low-down on the two new transfer students while she dragged me down the hall to Mythology. I nodded, shoveling pieces of the bagel into my mouth as she continued her babble. We stepped into the room as the bell rang. Melody ran to the front row and dropped into the desk next to Hillary. As my luck would have it, Seth was sitting next to the only empty spot left in the room. I dropped my books down on the desk and sank into my seat.
“Psst.” I ignored him. “Psst,” he said again. He motioned for me to lean toward him and I wondered what bit of torture he had in mind for me next. He reached for my face, and with his thumb slowly caressed my bottom lip, stealing my breath away. He popped his thumb into his mouth and licked it, sending the blood coursing through my veins at an inhuman speed. He mouthed the words, “Cream cheese,” which, thankfully, helped me to regain my composure. I mouthed back, “Annoying,” and turned away. Out of my peripheral vision, I could see him silently laughing.
“Good morning, my fellow humans.” Oh. My. Gosh. Dr. Bore is such a nerd! “It has been brought to my attention by one of your classmates,” Bore said, grinning at Melody, “that the syllabus for this course has a typo. It states you are to do either ten hours of community service, or a ten-page paper on community service. However, it should read a 25 page paper on community service, not ten.” The class, myself included, let out a collective groan. Where was I going to find the time to do a 25-page paper? Leaving my mom alone for long periods was difficult, it was too easy for her to get hurt, even going to school some days were a challenge. It was why I hadn’t taken an after-school job, though we certainly could use the money. I brought the idea up to her once, but she forbade it, saying I had responsibilities at home and she wasn’t going to pick up my slack, as if that was ever going to happen.
I was still brooding over the news when class ended. Gathering up my belongings, I moped silently to Seth’s car, hoping CaL would cheer me up.
“You’re not upset over the whole cream cheese thing are you?”
“What?”
“You know, back in Snore’s class. Are you still angry with me?”
“I was never angry, just annoyed.” His comment jogged my memory back to yesterday and the whole Hillary incident. “Did you know your endless flirting almost got me killed yesterday?”
“Killed?”
“Okay, maybe that’s an exaggeration. Hillary cornered me in the bathroom and told me to stay away from you. She said you were hers, and then she tried to punch me in the face, twice! If Mrs. Volkel hadn’t walked in, who knows what she might have done.”
“Cheerleaders don’t punch people. Are you sure you didn’t misunderstand her?”
I pulled up the sleeve of my sweater, showing him the huge bruise on my forearm where I had deflected one of her blows.
His eyes focused on the mark. “I made it clear to her we were just friends, and she agreed saying she didn’t want to be tied down her last year in high school. Does it hurt?” He gently caressed the undamaged skin around the bruise.
“Maybe if you didn’t flirt all the time girls would actually believe it when you say you only want to be friends.”
We pulled into the elementary school parking lot before he spoke again. “I don’t flirt unless I mean it, Maggie, and despite what you think of me, I don’t lead girls on.”
“So the whole cream cheese incident back in Dr. Bore’s class was a misunderstanding and not flirting?” I couldn’t understand why I always overreacted to him, I was usually pretty easygoing. I hated confrontation. It’s just that he made me nervous, and I found myself snapping at every little thing he did.
He opened my door and stood there, close, making it difficult for me to get out. I slid halfway between him and the car and stopped, unable to move any further. He stood firm, looking me dead in the eyes. It was a bit unnerving to say the least. His eyes dropped to my mouth, and I thought for a moment he might kiss me. Instead, he shook his head and went into the building leaving me to follow.
Mrs. Mathews suggested we play games with the kids, and they decided on hide-and-seek. Seth and I had a difficult time finding hiding places given that we were significantly taller than a bunch of first graders. After an exceptionally long seeking turn, I recommended we play something else.
“No, Miss Maggie,” Elise said, bouncing up and down on her toes. “One more time, please.” Her request took me by surprise since she and a few of the other children were talking during the last two rounds of the game instead of participating. Soon all the kids joined her in chanting “one more time” and jumping up and down. Seth, being Seth, joined them, looking silly in a cute kind of way as he bounced about, I had to laugh.
“Okay, as long as you three hide this time,” I said, pointing to Elise and her little posse.
I was met with a resounding yeah from thirty first graders and one hot twelfth grader. Harrison started counting as Noah led Seth to the other side of the room. He sounded excited as he explained how he’d found the perfect hiding spot.
“Miss Maggie, you can hide in here.” Elise dragged me to a closet I hadn’t noticed before and stuffed me inside.
It held stacks of colored paper and various craft supplies, along with an over-sized easel. “There’s enough room for the two of us,” I said, squishing over to the side. There wasn’t much room, though certainly enough for a first grader.
She giggled. “I’m afraid of the dark.” She giggled again and shut the door. A few moments later the door popped open, and Seth was forced into the closet next to me. The door slammed shut. Seth and I were face to face, neither of us able to move. He laughed softly.
“I’m glad you think this is funny, however, you’re standing on my foot.” I bumped against his incredibly muscular chest and immediately wished I hadn’t touched him. I needed to get out, fast, and began searching for the doorknob.
“You’re wasting your time, they’ve locked the door.”
I found the brass knob and jerked it franticly. It wouldn’t budge. I was about to demand that they unlock the door, when Seth’s fingers fell softly across my lips. “Shhh, listen.” His warm breath caressed my cheek. “Can you hear them? They’re right outside the door.”
I pulled my mouth away from his fingers. “I don’t hear a thing.” And I really have to get out of here.
“They want to know if we’ve kissed yet, especially Elise, she’s quite the romantic.” Seth was clearly amused by our predicament. “We shouldn’t disappoint them, they are young.” I felt his hands steal around my face, with his mouth so close to mine I could almost taste him.
“Kiss me, Maggie.” He ran a thumb slowly across my lips, and repeated, “Kiss me.” His lips were a fraction from mi
ne, his voice a mere whisper. I held my breath, trying fruitlessly to control myself, only the desire was too strong. No matter how hard I fought it, I wanted to kiss him. The thought of feeling his warm mouth on mine again was over-powering.
I give up! I started leaning into him–
“Children, where are Mr. Seth and Miss Maggie?” Mrs. Mathew’s voice disrupted my incoherent thoughts. Seth immediately let go of my face as the kids ratted each other out on the other side of the door.
“Elise and Noah locked ’em in the closet ’cuz they wanted ’em to kiss.” Zane began tattling, with several others chiming in.
“Oh my goodness! Where’s the key?” A few seconds later, the lock rattled and the door flew open. I was the first one out.
“Are you two alright?” We both nodded. “Are you sure? Maggie, your face is quite red.” Seth’s face lit up in a wide grin. Not a flirt. HA!
“I’m fine, just a little warm, that’s all,” I said, smoothing my hair.
“Children, you need to apologize this minute, and if you ever do that again we will not have the visiting teachers come back here.” The children quickly apologized, as did Mrs. Mathews once more.
“Will you read to us?” asked Zane.
“Our time is up. Sorry, we have to go,” Seth said, disappointment filling their faces. “The next time we come we’ll do some reading, okay?”
“If you hadn’t locked them in the closet, we may have had time for a story.” Mrs. Mathews gave Elise and her little group a stern look. Elise ran up to Seth, whispering something to him.
“No, I did try though,” he said. Knowing precisely what she had asked him, I stormed off to wait at the car.
“That’s exactly what I was talking about earlier.” I said as he crossed the parking lot behind me.
“Sorry, you’ve lost me.” We were driving out of the lot before I could compose myself enough to speak without becoming angry.
“Before we went inside you said girls misunderstand what you say.”