4. It's Just Dinner, Hakuna Matata.
I set the phone down on the bed and poked my head out the door.
I could hear the sounds of old friends talking. I stepped back in the room and tried to control my breathing. This was ridiculous. I should not be hyperventilating over a guy I've known for all of two days.
Why did he have such an insane affect over me? I reached over for my makeup bag and pulled out my compact mirror. I checked my face and then sighed. This was not like me. I never cared about guys before. Why should I now?
I placed the mirror back in the bag and tossed it to the floor by my dresser. I stuffed my cold feet into my moccasins and stepped out into the short hallway. I walked into the living room at the same time as everyone else did.
I recognized Taylor instantly; he stood at least a good 5 inches above everyone else. There were two people who I vaguely remembered, an old woman and a younger woman, the latter only a few years older than Mom, and someone else who I recognized instantly.
Joe Earley. Gram came to stand beside me and officially introduce me to everyone.
"Beth, Emily, you both remember Leah," she said as she motioned first to Taylor's mother, and then his grandmother. "And Leah, this is Beth Earley, and Mrs. Emily Earley."
"My! You've grown my dear!" Mrs. Earley said with a smile. Her wavy black hair was pulled back into a tight bun at the nape of her neck. Her skin was dark and leathery.
"That's what they tell me," I said with a smile. I nodded politely to Joe.
I concentrated for a second. So Joe was Taylor's grandfather. And when Gramps said that Joe had grandkids about my age, he was talking about Taylor and Christi.
I almost laughed out loud.
Just then, a bright, bubbly Christi came bursting through the doors.
"Leah!" she exclaimed. "It's so good to see you again!"
I chuckled as I held out my arms for the incoming hug. She pranced gracefully over to me and wrapped her arms lightly around me. A smile spread across my face. I had forgotten how much I thoroughly liked being around Christi.
We all stood where we were, talking.
Christi and I chatted about where I could go to get clothes; my winter wardrobe was a little scanty.
"We can drive up to Ketchikan!" she offered animatedly. "A girls' day out!"
I agreed enthusiastically. It sounded like it would be a lot of fun.
We continued to plan for the next several minutes, until all the talk of clothes jogged my memory.
"Um, Joe, did you find a black rain jacket in the back of your truck?" I asked shyly, leaning around Christi to look at the rest of the group.
Taylor cleared his throat. He had been talking with Gramps and Joe and up until now I had been very careful not to look at him. I glanced up, and was immediately rendered dumb. I tried to regain my breath.
He smiled a gorgeous crooked smile and held out his hand. In it was a tight black bundle. I looked at him questioningly and he chuckled.
"Your jacket," he explained. "My grandpa found it in the backseat of the truck and figured it was yours."
"Oh, right, um, thanks."
"You're welcome." He laughed.
I took the jacket and excused myself. I hurried to my room and hung it on the hook on the back of my door. I stopped in the middle of my room and took several deep breaths before stepping back outside.
When I went back out they were all seated in the living room. Gramps had carried the two chairs from the dining room and set them by the couch. The only space left was in the armchair by the window.
I plopped myself down and tried to listen to the conversations. This proved to be a difficult task.
There were several conversations going on at once. Mrs. Early and Gram were talking about cooking while Beth, Gramps, and Christi talked about how the tackle shop was doing. I finally gave up after a few minutes and began to look around the room.
I dared a glance at Taylor. He was sitting in the other armchair across the room, staring at me with his piercing eyes. This time I was more easily able to control my breathing, although my stomach still flip-flopped.
He smiled and nodded his head to his right. Then he stood up and motioned for me to follow him. I was stunned. He walked behind the couch and stood, waiting for me to join him.
I stood up, my legs shaking, and caught myself when I almost tripped over my own feet. He laughed and it reached his eyes. I turned a marvelous shade of scarlet, and this made him laugh even more.
"How are ya Leah?" he asked, still laughing.
"Um, I'm fine." I was still a bit confused to as why he would want to talk to me.
"You liking it here?"
"It's nice. But I miss the sun."
"Hmm, yeah, I guess it's a little different from southern Cali."
"What?" I asked, my shyness replaced by curiosity. "How did you know I lived in southern California? I didn't say anything about it yesterday."
"No," he chortled, "You didn't. But your grandparents haven't stopped talking about you since the day they found out you were coming. I've heard about you every day for the past two months."
At this comment I turned crimson times twelve.
"Me?" I managed to squeak out. He just laughed and nodded his head. I rolled my tongue across my bottom teeth. I decided I would try to change the subject, "Aren't you cold?" I had noticed that he wasn't wearing a jacket. It was about thirty degrees outside, and yet all he wore was a simple navy zip-up.
A weird expression crossed his face and he answered a little too quickly. "Err, no, I'm fine."
Something in his expression wasn't right, but I dropped the subject, it wasn't really that important.
"So are you starting school on Monday?" He asked quickly.
"Yup, you?"
"Yeah." He was still obviously bothered by my question.
"So what are the classes like?" I asked, "Gram told me there are only ninety-three kids in the whole school? There were a hundred seniors alone in my school in California."
He chuckled, back to normal. "Last year there were thirty-one kids in my class. And they split us up in two groups."
I couldn't imagine having class with just fifteen people. This was going to take some serious getting used to.
"Wow, you only have fifteen people in each class?"
"Yeah, why?" He pulled out his heart-stopping smile. "How many people did you have in your class back home?"
"Um, sixty, I think, err maybe more, I um..." I couldn't think straight, not with him smiling at me with the face of an angel.
Just when I thought I was going to keel over and die of embarrassment Christi bounded up and announced that dinner was ready and that we should all make our way to the table.
I breathed a sigh of relief and turned around and started down the hall. I could hear him following behind me, but I tried to ignore him, and focus on breathing in and out.
When we got to end of the hall, everyone was seated at the table, and they had put three paper plates on the counter, with the barstools. I felt the color drain from my face, and I heard Taylor laugh under his breath as he took his seat and patted the one next to him.
I had been counting on sitting with everyone else, being able to join in on the other conversations.
Why was this happening to me? What had I done to deserve this? I sighed and plodded over to the counter. I took my seat without looking at his face. I could still hear him laughing quietly to himself.
Gramps stood up and prayed and then Gram brought the big pan of lasagna over to the table. Taylor, Christi, and I stood up to get our servings and then headed back to the counter.
I was careful to focus on my food and not him. I sat up very straight and ate in silence.
"Leah, why are you so tense?" His voice was so husky, warm, comforting…
I saw Christi raise her eyebrows as she took a bite.
"I'm not."
"Yes you are."
I glanced up at him, only to meet his piercing eyes. My arms and legs turned to jell-o. I melted.
"No I'm not." It sounded like a question.
I turned my attention back to my lasagna, and tried to recover use of my arms. I took a deep breath. It felt weird to just sit here and not talk. But what was I supposed to say? What are you supposed to talk about with the most beautiful person on the face of the earth?
"So, um, ninety-three students huh?" I almost smacked myself in the head. What was I thinking?
He laughed and ruffled my hair. His hands were unusually hot, I froze. This was the first time he had ever touched me, and it sent a shock through my body. I smiled and looked back down at my plate.
I heard Christi laugh. I looked up and met her eyes. She wagged her eyebrows and laughed another silvery laugh.
We didn't talk much. But I was shocked at how much Taylor ate. Luckily Gram had made two lasagnas; he ate almost a whole one by himself. Finally, it was time for them to go.
I was relieved and yet sad; utterly confused by my mix of feelings. I said goodbye to Beth and Mrs. Earley and then turned to the two radiant siblings standing side-by-side, playfully bothering each other.
"Well, I'll see you tomorrow." He said cheerfully, punching Christi playfully in the arm once more before turning to me.
"Tomorrow?" I sounded nervous.
"Yeah, Sunday, you are going to church right?" piped up Christi in her beautiful soprano voice.
"Um, I uh, think so." Maybe I could get sick.
"Ok, good, see you then." Christi gave me a quick hug before dancing out the door.
Taylor took a step closer to me. He ruffled my hair and shot me his glittering smile before disappearing out the door, leaving me frozen in the living room.
I wandered back to the kitchen to help Gram clean up. She was already stuffing the plates in the trash. I washed the pan and cups and then helped wipe down the counters.
"Well, I certainly had a good time. How about you dear?"
"Mmm."
"You and Taylor seemed to be getting along." Was I just imagining the double meaning in her words?
"Mmm, is there anything else I can do?" I asked, quickly changing the subject.
"No dear, I think that's all, you're free to go."
I went back to my room and started my senior citizen of a laptop. I sat in the creaky wooden chair while I waited for the piece of junk to light up and connect. I thought about tonight and how stupid I had acted.
I wasn't going to act like that again I promised myself. No matter what it took, I wasn't going to embarrass myself to that extent again.
The ding of the computer ripped me away from my thoughts and I pulled up my e-mail. No new messages. I should probably reply to the message Cata sent me, I thought. So I opened a new message and typed out a quick message.
Cata,
I'm good. The flight was fine, I slept the whole way.
I miss you too.
Yes, of course it's raining.
I decided to completely ignore the boy comment and instead, typed out a quick closure.
Well, I should go.
Love you too!
-L
No need to admit to the fact that I've been here for two days and was already going gaga over a total stranger. I turned on Bob Marley – he always helped me to relax. I turned the music down to a good volume and stretched out on the bed.
I tried to think, but I quickly realized that it was a bad idea. So I rolled over and snatched my notebook off the ground. I flipped through it till I found a blank page and started randomly doodling.
After about twenty minutes I stopped, and realized that I had drawn a dark pair of piercing eyes, staring intensely at me from the paper, they reminded me of Taylors'. I scowled and threw the notebook on the floor.
I stood up and grabbed my makeup bag from off the floor by my dresser. I hurried to the bathroom. I brushed my hair and teeth, and washed my face, then shuffled back to my room.
I grabbed my sweats and thermal shirt out of the dresser and changed quickly before collapsing onto the bed. I was surprised at how beat I was. All I wanted to do was sleep, yet my mind was wide awake, thinking about tomorrow.
Slowly but surely I drifted off. A smile spread across my face as I fell asleep, listening to Three Little Birds.
