Читать книгу Junior Year, 93-94 - Megan B. March - Страница 7

"Hey, babe," Jensen said as he walked up the driveway. "What are you doing out here?"

“Waiting for you. How was the talk with your mom?"

"Oh, fine. She actually just wanted to talk about what she said she did—last minute college stuff."

I looked at his face, searching for a hint of what the conversation was really about. I was sure they had talked about something else, but Jensen's expression was giving nothing away and he wasn’t going to say anything else, either. I had to bite my tongue to keep from telling him that I saw them talking and it sure didn't look like last minute college stuff to me.

I tried another angle. "Is she having a hard time saying goodbye?"

"Yeah, you could say that." Jensen sat down and put his arm around me. He was like a vault this morning, which had me worried. What's he hiding?

"How was your morning?” he asked, reaching over and taking my hand. “What have you been doing?"

I looked at our clasped hands briefly and then decided I wasn't going to get anything out of him. "I called my Dad. I was afraid I'd lose my nerve if I waited for you to come back."

"That's OK, it's no big deal.” I raised my eyebrow. Huh? He's not upset?

"He said hello and congratulations," I said hastily, wanting nothing more than to ignore the awkward feel of the moment.

"Wow. He wasn't upset?"

"No, but a little concerned like your parents were. Well, maybe a little more so, actually. He did say that not all long distance relationships work out and that I should be prepared."

"What do you think?" he whispered, his blue eyes striking.

"I don't think I need to be prepared for something that isn't going to happen," I said with conviction.

Jensen let go of my hand and took my face into his hands, placing his lips on mine to say he agreed. I let him continue the kiss.

"I'm sure going to miss this," he said once he had pulled away, looking at me and caressing my bottom lip with his thumb.

Looking into his eyes I saw a sudden sadness that clouded the vibrant blue that was usually there. In an effort to erase it, I quickly reached out and placed my hands on the sides of his face, kissing him once again. Even though I had caught him off guard, he quickly recovered and returned the kiss with as much exuberance as before. A few moments later I ended the kiss before it could turn into something more. Now was not the time for sex.

"Are you ready to tell our friends?” I asked as I sat up straight and smoothed my clothes. “I'm sure it will be a cake walk compared to last night."

"How do you think they'll react?" Jensen looked out beyond the driveway toward the freeway and mud flats.

“Well, Karl seemed thrilled. I think Krissa will be excited for us and will probably say something about knowing it all along. I’m not sure about Aria, though … or Nate for that matter.”

“Gabe and Tyler will probably be fine with it. I agree with you about Nate and Aria. It seems like the two of you are always competing somehow." Jensen took a breath and then furrowed his brow. "I also think that Nate may still hold a torch for you.”

I looked at him to see if he was serious. He was stoic for a beat and then he was suddenly smiling from ear-to-ear, which earned him a punch in the arm. He grabbed ahold of me and nuzzled my neck through my hair.

“Even if he did, he’d never be able to take you away from me.”

I snorted at his comment. "Of course not. I wouldn't let him."

We had opted to take our friends out to The Armadillo, which was informal and also quite famous for their chicken nachos. When we walked in the door, I was reminded of the day Jensen and I had gone here after hiking. It was the same day I knew I was in love with him. It was ironic that this was where we'd be telling our friends the big news.

Not long after we’d walked through the doors, we were joined by Aria, Nate, Karl, Krissa, Ryan, and Tyler. The only one missing was Gabe. We vowed to call him later after first swearing everyone else to secrecy first.

While we were digging into the free chips and homemade salsa, and waiting for our two large orders of chicken nachos, I did my best to hide my left hand. Before we had even walked in the door, I twirled the diamond so it lay on the inside of my finger. The band was still fairly large enough to spot, but I figured the extra glitter from the diamond would attract too much attention. Krissa looked at me a few times with questions on her face, but she never did ask them. I was sure she knew something was up. Finally, it was Nate who broke the silence.

“Alright, what is this—the last lunch with friends before you college assholes take off?”

He was smirking and had his arm around Aria, who had her hand pretty high up on his leg under the table. She didn’t think we’d seen it, but we all knew. It made me smile for once.

“What, Mia?”

My head snapped toward Nate. “What? I didn’t say anything.”

“You were smiling,” Nate pointed out.

“Alright, alright.” Jensen made a motion with his hands normally used to settle crowds down. Apparently he thought I was giving away the news with my smile and decided to do the announcing himself. Standing up he said, “I did have an ulterior motive for bringing you all together. Actually, we had an ulterior motive.” Jensen glanced down at me and grinned wolfishly.

Krissa’s eyes widened and she looked at me and then to Jensen. Even though my hand was still hidden away, I was sure she knew what was up and tried to hide my excitement. When trying to figure out the right time to pull my hand out for everyone to see, Jensen did it for me. He reached down and grabbed my hand, pulling me up at the same time and holding my hand so that everyone at the table could clearly see the band on my finger. Jensen then let out a ‘whoops’ and turned the band around to show the diamond off.

“Mia and I are engaged!” he announced.

Embarrassment struck me for some reason and all I could do was stare at Jensen. Maybe I was afraid to see my friends’ reaction, but Krissa put me at ease with her excited exclamation of, “I knew it … I really did!” That was followed by subdued congratulations from Ryan. The rest of our friends began to clap and hold up water glasses for a toast. People seated around the restaurant looked over and shook their heads at our loud behavior.

“Wow, I can’t believe I’m hearing my man is off the market!” Tyler came around the table to give Jensen the typical guy hug. He leaned over and hugged me as well, whispering into my ear, “Congratulations, you two are meant for each other.” Smiling, I mouthed a thank you to Tyler as he went back to his seat with Karl following closely behind, smacking Jensen on the back just as he had at dinner the night before. I caught his wink, meant only for us. Krissa and Ryan were next, with Ryan shaking Jensen’s hand and Krissa giving me a giant hug.

“I knew he’d ask you,” Krissa whispered breathlessly into my ear as she hugged me.

“You two are so cute! You’re not getting married right away, are you?”

“No, of course not! I’m still in high school,” I hastily whispered back.

Aria and Nate were a different story. While the excitement of our engagement unfolded around them, the two seemed too surprised for words and kept looking at each other and trying to say something that would not come. It made me a bit uneasy waiting to hear what they were thinking. Even though Nate had a smile on his face, his eyes held sadness and I looked away. I didn’t want to think of what that sadness might be from. Aria just looked upset, as if she and I were a musical duo that broke up and I went on to stardom without her. Finally she spoke.

“Wow,” Aria finally said, “I can’t believe you guys are engaged. It’s so odd.” She picked up her glass and took a long drink.

“Odd? How?” we asked in unison. Jensen and I sat down and looked to her for an explanation. The reactions from both of them were deflating the mood fast. The other four didn’t say a word.

“Well,” Aria started out, looking at Jensen, “I guess I mean, or I wonder, if you asked Mia only because you’ll be going off to school and being engaged means you’ll be less likely to sow your oats while you’re gone?”

My mouth dropped open in shock at what Aria said. Jesus, did her filter know no bounds?

“Aria!” Nate said with nervous laughter. He tried to recover, but I could tell he was thinking the same thing. “We’re just a little surprised. I mean, Mia, you're still in high school, and Jensen, you're going off to college soon. Don't they say one major life change at a time is all a person should handle?”

I rolled my eyes. “Well, we’re not getting married tomorrow or anything. We’re planning on a long engagement.” It was hard to remain calm after Aria's rude question.

“Well, then why get engaged in the first place?” Aria asked pointedly.

“They’re showing their commitment to each other,” Krissa said just as pointedly. “They both know they found the one and want to be together.”

Aria only scowled. “Well, it’s just a strange thing to do before you go off to college.”

Jensen squeezed my hand underneath the table and I glanced at him briefly. Before he or I could come up with a retort, our food arrived and eating was the excuse we desperately needed to end the topic of our engagement. The conversation quickly moved to where the guys were going to college and when they would be leaving. Pretending to listen, I really couldn’t stop myself from dwelling on Aria’s reaction. Nate kept looking at me every now and then, but I didn’t dare look in either one’s direction. Hmm, is Jensen seeing this? I guess I'll know soon enough.

Finally, after an awkward thirty minutes of eating nachos and talking about college, lunch with our friends came to a close and I could not have gotten out of there fast enough. We all said goodbye and went our separate ways.

Jensen got behind the wheel once we were at the truck like he usually did, while I remained quiet. He, too, seemed lost for words. A few minutes into the drive, he let it all out. “Jesus, what the hell was up with your friend Aria? I didn’t think she’d react so badly.”

“I probably should have known she would,” I commented, taking note that she was now my friend. I stared ahead at the road.

“And Nate was upset. If that wasn’t obvious before, it sure was obvious today.” Jensen paused and I turned to see him looking at me intently.

“What?” I knew what he was about to say.

“Nate is still in love with you, isn’t he?” It wasn’t a question. “I could see it in his eyes when we told everybody the news. He didn't really do much to hide it with the way he kept looking at you. I think he thought maybe he was being sly about it, but I saw it.” Jensen turned toward the road and his jaw tightened as he stared ahead with one hand on the bottom of the steering wheel and the other wound tightly around the shifter. His knuckles were turning white. Reaching over, I put my hand over his to calm him down. Sometimes his jealous streak was flattering. Today, it put me a little on edge.

“Babe, I love you and you have nothing to worry about.” I put my hand on his leg. “Nate can be in love with me all he wants; nothing will ever come of it.” Squeezing Jensen’s knee gently, he looked over at me briefly and gave a slight smile. His eyes gave him away, though, and I knew he was still upset about what happened at lunch. Telling our friends and family hadn't actually worked out like we'd planned. First Jessica and Jensen's parents, then my dad, and now Aria and Nate. Were we making a mistake? I quickly shook the thought out of my head and turned to stare out the window, watching the landscape rush by.

After making it to the Meyers’ house, Jensen parked my truck in the driveway and I followed him into the house through the front door. Alicia was in the kitchen sitting at the island reading some gossip magazine.

“How did it go?” she asked, with her face falling the minute she saw ours. “That well, huh?”

I couldn’t see Jensen’s face, but I was sure he wasn’t smiling either. He coldly told Alicia that everything ‘was fine’ before he went over to the refrigerator and hid behind the door, pretending to poke around. I sat on the vacant stool next to Alicia and she tossed the magazine aside and threw up her hands to ask what had happened. I shook my head to indicate now wasn’t the time to go into it and I’d tell her later.

“When does James leave?” I asked abruptly, hoping to change subject.

“About a week after Jensen does.”

“You’re so lucky you have more time with him,” I commented as Jensen emerged from the refrigerator with two cans of Dr. Pepper for both of us. He came over behind me and set them on the island and wrapped his arms around me, letting his chin rest on my shoulder. I pulled my can over and fidgeted with the tab, not really wanting to open it.

“We’ll be registering for school soon, too,” Alicia commented, picking absently at the counter.

“Don’t remind me.”

My comment wasn’t about being unhappy with returning to school, but about the fact that Jensen's departure was imminent and his time remaining there with me would go quickly. Jensen stood up straighter and rubbed my arms with his hands; he must have been thinking the same thing. Reaching over my shoulder, he grabbed his Dr. Pepper and opened it while Alicia and I talked about senior pictures and registering for school.

“So, am I taking you both to get your pictures?” Jensen asked, coming around to position himself between us and putting his arms around our shoulders. “I’m so proud of you both, all grown up,” he smirked.

Alicia made a face and punched her brother in the ribs. He pretended she had hurt him terribly, which led to a sparring match around the kitchen. Curious to how his mood could oddly change so quickly, I opened my can of pop and took a sip, watching them play-fight. Jensen had Alicia in a headlock while she was trying to stomp on his feet to get him to loosen his hold.

“Alright, alright, I give up!” she sputtered. Jensen let her go and she stood up, pulling her hair back out of her face. “Jensen, you suck.” She came over and sat back down on her stool.

“To answer your question,” I began as Jensen came over and stood next to me, “yes, you’ll be taking us to get our pictures taken.”

“And registration,” Alicia added. She picked up her magazine and leafed through it.

I turned to see if Jensen’s new mood was still there. He seemed to have forgotten about lunch and only smiled at me, pulling the hair away from my ear so he could whisper into it. “I was thinking I need to do some more packing. Do you want to help me?” He kissed my neck lightly and told Alicia that we’d be back later.

“Uh, huh. Use protection and keep it down,” Alicia joked.

“Nice.” I rolled my eyes as we walked by Alicia and Jensen made a move to push her off her stool, which she had been anticipating and held fast.

Jensen led me down to his bedroom, and when he opened the door it looked the same as it did yesterday morning. He pulled me close, kissed me lightly and smiled. “I actually do need to do some packing, if that’s OK?” He kissed my nose.

Reaching up, I latched my fingers around his neck and pulled him onto the bed. “You have a few minutes, don’t you?” I asked, giving him my best look of desire. He gazed at me intently and surprised me by enthusiastically kissing my lips. I returned it equally. A few minutes later, we were both breathing heavily and staring into each other’s eyes. I could feel his erection pressing against my core and had to resist the craving of wanting him against me and eventually inside of me.

“I really do need to pack,” he said, pulling himself up off of the bed, “but, there will be more of that later.” Shit, sometimes he had the self-control of a Catholic priest. “Promise?” I asked, rolling onto my side to watch him.

Jensen smiled and his eyes glinted with mischief. He turned on his CD player and began where he had finished the day before. Stone Temple Pilots filtered through the speakers at a volume that would still allow us to talk if we wanted to. It was quiet for a few minutes and then he started conversation. “Tell me not to worry about you sharing a locker with Nate.” He turned toward me, holding a handful of CDs.

I wasn't completely surprised he was bringing this up again. Although we had discussed it thoroughly until I thought it was no longer an issue, it made sense that he was again uncomfortable due to Nate’s reaction to our engagement. I thought carefully about what I wanted to say in reply as he waited patiently. I knew too long of a pause would only make things worse, so I processed quickly and came back with, “Tell me not to worry about you and some random college girl.”

Jensen’s eyes softened and he tapped the stack of CDs against the palm of his opposite hand. “Point taken.” He placed the CDs in a nearby box.

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, I hoped he would get that I was tired of discussing the subject. He didn’t bite, and instead pretended to fidget with something inside the box he had just placed the CDs in. The silence was making me nervous and it caused me to cave.

“Jensen, if it bothers you that much I’ll trade lockers with Aria. Krissa and I can be partners again.” Jensen turned toward me, the hint of a smile playing on his lips because he was finally getting his way. “But you have to realize,” I pointed out, “that if Aria and Nate break up it’s back to the old arrangement.” I looked at him sternly, hoping he'd get the hint that I was irritated.

Jensen ignored what I said and instead walked over to me, leaned in, and gazed intently into my face to make sure I was serious. I rolled onto my back and allowed him to hover over me, pulling his head down to mine and kissing him to end the discussion. Even mad, I couldn't resist Jensen. He pulled himself up and went back to packing, humming along with Plush playing on the CD player. I remained on my back, staring up at the ceiling and thought about what the coming week would entail. Alicia would be registering on Tuesday. Senior pictures were on Tuesday afternoon. I would be registering again Wednesday … and Jensen leaves on Friday.

“Babe?” I came out of my thoughts and rolled over to face Jensen. “Where did you go just then? I was asking you a question. Are you alright?”

“Oh, I was just thinking about this next week. Do you realize you’re leaving on Friday the thirteenth? That’s not a bad sign, is it?”

Jensen dropped the clothes he was holding onto the floor and came over to the bed to sit down, placing his arm over me and onto the bed next to my side. “No, it’s not a bad sign. How do I keep your mind off of me leaving?”

I shrugged. There wasn’t much he could do. “What were you asking me?” I quickly changed the subject so we wouldn’t get into another deep discussion about how we’d each miss each other, how sad that would be, and how we’d have to wait three months until we saw each other again—I'd had enough of it.

“Oh, I was asking if you’d be OK with me hanging out with the guys a few times this coming week. Definitely while you’re registering. Maybe you and Alicia can go somewhere and do what girls do.” He put his hand to his forehead. “Shit, I just realized I need to call Gabe; we need to call Gabe.” Jensen got up from the bed to go find the phone and appeared a second later, already dialing. I went over to turn the volume down on the CD player while he switched the phone to speaker so we could both talk to Gabe. He answered on the fifth ring, seemingly out of breath.

“Hey man, what were you doing?” Jensen laughed.

“Running. What’s up?"

"Running?" Jensen and I both asked in shock. Gabe had finally quit smoking over the summer, but running seemed to be a whole other thing for him. He did lift weights, but cardio had never really been on his list of things to do.

"Yeah, yeah … don't give me shit about it. I'm trying it out, but I don’t guarantee it will stick.” Gabe took in a deep breath and cleared his throat. “Hey, are we still doing the movie thing at your house on Tuesday?”

Jensen looked at me briefly with a guilty look on his face and I had to smile. He must have forgotten to tell me they had made plans. “Yeah,” he confirmed, “We’re still doing the movie thing.”

“You done packing?”

“Getting there.” Jensen looked around the room at the various piles lying around. I was getting nervous with the small talk, so I poked Jensen in the side and he did his best to stifle a laugh.

“Listen, Gabe, Mia’s here with me and we’d like to tell you something.”

Only silence came from the speaker, which told me that Gabe had some kind of idea what was coming. I looked over at Jensen and squeezed his leg in anticipation. Not waiting for Gabe to break the silence, Jensen went on, “So, we wanted to tell you at lunch, but since you weren’t able to make it we thought we’d call.”

“Yeah, I had to work. What’s going on? Why all the cloak and dagger?”

“No cloak and dagger,” Jensen laughed nervously.

I perked up at the sound of Jensen’s voice —he was nervous again! I was surprised because he'd already done this drill twice and hadn't seemed nervous at lunch when we told our friends. I looked at his face and tried to read him. Before I could he told Gabe what was up.

“I asked Mia to marry me.”

I stared at the phone as there was a bit more silence before Gabe found his voice. “Holy fuck … I mean … wow! I assume she said yes?”

“Of course I said yes!” I yelled, unable to contain myself.

“Well, congratulations! Sorry I missed the main reveal. I’ll bet that was interesting with Nate and Aria.”

“Yeah, to say the least.” Jensen’s face darkened for a moment.

“So, when is this soirée going down?”

“Whoa, slow the marriage train down!” Jensen said with a laugh. “We’re doing the long engagement thing."

“Oh! Well, now it all seems to make a little more sense that you two would take such a leap by getting engaged. It’s not going to happen for a long, long time, I take it.”

Hmm, when he put it that way, it sounded contrived. I bit my lip to stifle the thought.

“No, of course not. Mia’s still in high school and I’m just starting college.”

“Yeah,” I broke in, “that would be weird to be the only married girl still in high school. I don’t need people thinking I’m pregnant, which I’m not.” Jensen threw me a look that I didn't really know how to interpret on-the-fly.

“Well I’m sure that’s a relief, eh, Jensen?” I could almost see Gabe’s big grin. If he were standing next to Jensen he would have elbowed him.

“No shotgun wedding here,” Jensen agreed. I leaned my head against his shoulder.

“Alright, man, I’ll see you on Tuesday.”

“Later."

“Bye, Gabe,” I added before the click.

“So, you're having a movie thing?” I teased with my best stern look as Jensen set the phone down on his bedside table. I figured I could let him sweat a little for not telling me until after he'd planned it.

“I thought I told you. You don’t mind, do you? I’ll hang with the guys while you and Alicia are doing your thing with pictures," he offered, looking extremely guilty.

I couldn't continue in good faith with faking my ire since he sometimes forgot little things because of his car accident last year. “Course not. I know I can’t keep you all to myself. Tell you what … how about I drive Alicia so you don’t have to be our chauffeur? That way you’ll have more time with the guys.”

“Really?” Jensen searched my eyes.

“Really,” I confirmed.

“Best girlfriend ever.”

“And don’t you forget it.” I gave him a sly look. “Alright, back to packing. The sooner you get it done, the more time we have to do other things.” I flashed him another one of my sultry gazes, which Jensen caught onto right away.

Jumping up again, Jensen doubled his efforts to finish packing while I went over to the stereo and changed the music to Janet Jackson’s newest CD, which I had purposefully left there so that he could listen to it now and then. I made a mental note to ensure he didn't pack it.

After trying to help for a few minutes, I just ended up being in the way and went back to the kitchen to hang out with Alicia. She was in the same spot where we’d left her.

“Hey, that was fast,” she teasingly noted. “You should tell my brother to take his time.”

“Ha, ha. We called Gabe and then Jensen went back to packing again. I tried helping but I think I was just in the way.”

“Good,” Alicia said, “then you can help me make a decision.”

I sat on the vacant stool next to her and noticed she was now looking at car brochures. I raised my eyebrow. “Are you actually going to spend some of your nest egg for a new car?” Alicia seemed to be like a squirrel packing away winter nuts when it came to money.

“Yup. Since Jess is taking her car back to college and I can’t ride with you all the time, I’m looking at a Toyota 4-Runner.” She handed me a brochure. “Here, read through this and tell me what you think. It’s between this, a Jeep Grand Cherokee, and a Honda Prelude.

“So, it’s an SUV versus a teeny-tiny car, huh?”

“What? They’re cute,” she simply replied.

“But not very practical for winter, although it does seem like your kind of car.”

“Read," Alicia commanded, pointing to the Toyota brochure. She went back to reading about the Prelude, and five minutes later she tossed that aside and went for the Jeep brochure.

Reading about the 4-Runner and looking at the colorful pictures, I couldn’t help but think that I’d like to get a 4-Runner for myself at some point in time. Reluctantly, I put the brochure down and picked the one up for the Prelude.

“Hey, there you are.” Jensen wandered into the kitchen from downstairs. “Car brochures?” He leaned across the island, raising his eyebrow and smiling crookedly in his usual sexy way.

“They’re for her.” I pointed to Alicia.

“Wow, really? What do we have?” He pulled the Jeep brochure out of her hands and started flipping through it.

“Hey!”

Leafing through it to look only at the pictures, Jensen tossed it back at her and rolled his eyes before picking up the other two.

“A Prelude, a 4-Runner, and a Jeep. Tough choice.”

“What would you get?” I asked. “I’m kind of sold on the 4-Runner.”

“Oh, the Prelude all the way,” he said sarcastically.

I shook my head to indicate that Alicia was seriously considering that car and not to knock it just yet.

“We all know that you’d pick the Jeep, Jensen,” Alicia said, sighing and tossing the brochure down. “This is almost as tough as picking a college.”

“You’ll decide. You always do.” I stood up and put my hand on her shoulder before walking over to Jensen and lightly leaning against him. “So, all finished packing?”

“Just about. My packing supervisor left early.” He smiled crookedly and followed when I grabbed his hand and led him back down to his room so he could finish. Right away I noticed that he’d snuck in a Nine Inch Nails disc while I was gone and I wasn’t going to stay if I had to listen to that. Flipping through his CDs, I found the Singles soundtrack. To Jensen’s annoyance I popped it in.

“Hey, I was listening to that, you know.”

“Yup, and now it’s time for a change,” I said matter-of-factly as I searched for my favorite Mother Love Bone song that I wanted to listen to. The low piano melody started streaming out of the speakers as I returned to the bed, lying back down on my stomach, propping my head up with my arms. Jensen let out a sigh, realizing there was no use fighting with me over the music choice. He went back to packing with his pace quickening.