Читать книгу Straight From The Onion Vine Book 1 Between - Jody Scottsmith - Страница 6

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 strand of hair behind an ear. “The truth is, I don’t care if I ever go to The Onion, again.”

“I like the way you’re sort of…natural. Like with the fall, and what you said just now about The Onion.” He paused to choose his words, like he was afraid of saying too much. “It was pretty cool what you said about your mother…how hard she works. Most girls can’t stand their mothers.”

Kara took another sip and continued. “What scares me is…I don’t know where to start, with getting to know someone.”

“This is a start, right?” He put a hand on hers, giving it a squeeze. They both heard Mom pull in the driveway. He took his hand away when she walked in.

“Hi, you must be Scott,” she said. “You’re the spitting image of your father.”

“I thought you’d know him,” he said, noticing her ID badge from the hospital.

“Sure,” Mom replied. “He does a great job of running the emergency department.” Mom excused herself to change and said she’d start supper soon.

“There is one thing,” Kara insisted. “I don’t like being pressured.”

“I won’t; promise,” Scott simply answered. She believed him.

“How about staying for dinner?” Kara comfortably asked. “Nothing fancy on Sunday’s. Tonight it’s cheeseburgers.”

“Yeah; great!” He eagerly answered.

Mom stuck her head in the dining room, saying “I could use some help,” and asked them to make a salad. Kara handed Scott the lettuce and a cucumber. She showed him how to tear up the lettuce. They preheated the oven for fries and Mom put the hamburgers on. As soon as Kara set the kitchen table they were ready to eat. Scott took care of the ‘extra’ cheeseburger. He stayed to help load the dishwasher while Mom went into the living room to relax. Scott said good-bye and left. Kara hurried upstairs, anxious to blog.

pb: ‘No one would believe this, not even Annie. I didn’t think he’d show up, but he did. He wasted no time in telling me why. I said I couldn’t date until I’m fifteen. Now what? I could ask him over next Sunday, or maybe I should wait. Everything about him is different from what I expected. I showed THE Scott Davis how to make a salad. Annie would just die! It’s way too soon for a kiss, right?’