I don't own TiMER and am just enjoying adding to this world.
I thought maybe by ignoring Collin he'd eventually leave me alone. If someone ignored me, I would eventually leaven him or her alone. I tuned out what he was saying, doodled on a piece of paper, counted the ceiling tiles, tapped my pencil to an invisible beat. I did anything I could think of to pass time, but he kept trying to get my attention. He would tap me. When that didn't work, he would pst me. After that he tossed paper into my lap. Then he whispered my name over and over. I gave up on remembering all of the countless attempts he did to get my attention.
After what felt like decades, the bell finally rang. Hannah tore off before even saying a word… leaving me with Collin. I would kill her later if I was still alive myself.
"Great friend," Collin mumbled as I stood. I froze. "Oh, right, still ignoring me. Whatever."
He nailed it on the head, and I walked to the door in silence. As if I had predicted it, footsteps followed me to my locker. I really wasn't sure what he wanted, maybe just to creep me out? Collin stood leaned against the locker next to mine as I packed things in my book bag. He had that same cold look about him the whole time, but said nothing.
"Listen," I said while closing my locker. "I have a lot going on right now. Could you stop freaking me out so much? Can't you get the hint? What is it with you?"
He looked down at the ground, as if I had hurt him. That had been kind of mean, and that wasn't like me. Was I really feeling remorse for this creepy guy though?
"Excuse me for trying to be your friend, I'm not sure if you've noticed but I don't have that many of those and from the looks of it yours are dwindling down too," he muttered, still not looking at me. There was an edge to his voice that wasn't there before.
"You could at least do so nicer or less creepy or something," I replied.
"Fine. Let's start over. Hey, I'm Collin. I'm a junior and you look like you could use a friend," he said sincerely and tried to smile. It looked like he was in pain however, which made me laugh. He obviously didn't smile much.
"I'm Kaylee. Yeah, I suppose another friend couldn't hurt, if you stop being so creepy. Doesn't look like I'll be Miss popular. I do hate to run, but my dad is waiting outside I'm sure," I said.
"Well let me walk you out at least," Collin answered.
"No, that's okay," I tried saying but Collin didn't take no for an answer apparently. He dragged me out of the school and looked around for someone waiting that would look like my dad.
I spotted my dad's car before he did and was about to say something when Andy walked up. He looked at Collin with a weird look and then looked at me.
"Collin," Andy greeted with the weird look still prevalent. He didn't look angry or disgusted or anything… it was almost a curious what are you doing with her look, but surely Andy wasn't jealous about this… right?
"An- Jackson," Collin greeted back, returning a look to Andy that I couldn't quite understand. And had he stumbled and almost said Andy? What was that about?
"Is your dad here?" Andy asked, turning his attention away from Collin. I nodded and pointed to the white jaguar sitting across the way. "Then we shouldn't keep him waiting."
And with that he started walking away. The past few times I had talked to him he didn't act like he was in a constant rush, but at the moment that's exactly how he was acting. He didn't even say bye to Collin or even a head nod. It was really odd. I waved bye to Collin and jogged to catch up with Andy. "What was that about?" I asked him.
"Don't worry about it," Andy responded and flashed me a smile. I didn't press, but I was sure I would find out eventually. "Are you alright?"
I shrugged and told him about the behavior room occasion, leaving out that Collin was being a creep. Something told me that wouldn't be a good thing to mention. Andy playfully shook his head and told me I needed to stop finding trouble. He told me being in class was important. What a teacher thing to say. I was about to reply to him when I heard my dad's voice. He had the windows rolled down and a huge smile on his face.
"Kaylee! Hey! Been waiting on you like I said. You ready?" He asked and then looked over at Andy, glancing up and down at him before smiling. "Do you want to just ride with us? I can bring you back by the school. It's really no problem and seems like a waste of gas to have two cars."
Andy shrugged and climbed in the back seat as I climbed in the front. My dad instantly turned around and beamed at Andy.
"I'm Rick. It's really great to meet you Andy. I'm sorry our first meeting has to be something like this- my wife is just… well she… I'm sorry. I don't know how to make up for her behavior. Sometimes she acts irrational like this. But don't either of you say that I said that. I'd be sleeping in the guest bedroom for sure. Anyway, I hope this doesn't take long, I'm pretty hungry. I haven't eaten since about eleven. Had an early lunch. Hope you two are hungry because I thought we'd get something to eat afterwards. Your mom has that book club of hers tonight, so it'll just be us. I want to get to know you Andy."
He talked the whole way to my uncle's office. My dad was worse than Lexi was with nonstop talking. I just laughed silently and let him talk. It was nice to see him excited and I knew he'd have nothing but positive things to say.
I wasn't expecting to have my blood taken. When we got back in the room where they normally install the TiMER uncle Bruce told me he was taking tests and took out a needle. This wasn't something he did often, so he was going to check every possible thing it could be. He said a bunch of doctor jargon and also hooked up a little wire to both Andy and my TiMERs. He put a monitor like one at a hospital on our fingers and then attached two little plugs to our heads.
"This is just to check to make sure the TiMER took right to your body, even if they looked right when they were put in they could have shortened a little without it being known at the time," he responded, looking more at me than Andy. Andy looked fine and relaxed.
"Will it tell you that Andy is for sure the right one?" I asked. It looked like a lot of things just to be finding out one answer.
"That's what this wire is for," he replied, pointing at the one connected to our TiMERs. "I'm going to restart your TiMERs as soon as I know they are both acting normally. I want you to both look at each other when I do this. Immediately both of your TiMERs will go off if it is true. TiMERs aren't ever wrong. Maybe they malfunction on rare occasions, but they aren't wrong."
He was saying this as if he knew it was going to go off again just like it did before, that he knew Andy and I were meant to be even if the situation was a bit odd. I nodded and looked over at Andy. He smiled at me and with his free hand grabbed mine. It was a gentle touch. He was telling me it was okay. I could just tell.
My uncle started up the machine and after a minute or two our TiMERs beeped. He said that was normal, they were restarting. I guess that meant they were both working right. I had missed that part of the conversation if it was stated. Like I was told, I looked directly into Andy's eyes.
The chimes that occurred a few seconds later made me jump. It was the same charm I picked out about a week ago, the same charm that went off in the classroom; it was the piano and harp riff that I had loved so much. It reminded me that Andy had picked the same tone and that musically him and I were on the same page. I'd have to ask him about when he got his TiMER sometime. Andy's smile widened and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Was I relieved that it was real? Was I scared? I wasn't really sure. It was going to be a rough road ahead for the both of us… that I was sure of.
"Welcome to the family," my uncle nervously said with a half smile I would be the first kid of the family on my mom's side to have their soul mate so I'm sure my uncle just didn't know how to react. That or he was thinking what we all were: that my mom was going to have a cow when she found out. I pushed the thought out of my mind and forced a smile. On the other side of the room my dad looked really excited but somehow was staying quiet. That did make me feel a little better.
"Thanks," Andy replied and looked around. He looked at me with questioning eyes. All I could think about was how my mom was going to react.
We ate at a little diner down the road and my dad went back on his constant talking spree. He talked about how it was perfectly okay with all of this and that he didn't expect a wedding immediately (which I was relieved about because honestly I hadn't even thought about that yet.) He also reassured me that we would work something out with the school and get everything settled. There was a rule about students and teachers but there wasn't any rule involving TiMERs and that was going to be the problem. I had no idea how the administration would even begin to deal with this. It made my brain hurt. He talked about how mom would get over it eventually and for the millionth time said everything would work out.
Mainly Andy and I ate silently. Andy said something every now and then to answer my dad, but I'm not sure if I uttered a single word. We were at a booth that seemed a bit small so our legs were touching under the table. My mind was at war with itself. On one hand there was the thought that yes, this man was my soul mate so one day we would share a lot together and that wouldn't be so bad. On the other hand he was my teacher and there would be favoritism whether we liked it or not and that would be bad. Also that he was considerably older than I was. That only bothered me because that would mean when we got old he'd be considerably old and inevitably I'd be alone in the end. I shocked myself with that thought. Never before had I thought about death or even getting old. That was weird. What on earth was going on with me?
It was hard to even think at all though, as I could feel the heat from his body so close to mine. If hormones really made it so hard to think like this, I really didn't want them. I glanced over at Andy who was joking about something with my dad and couldn't help but smile. They were getting along really well. I knew my dad always wanted a son. Having me was hard for both my parents; however, they barely were able to have me. And after countless miscarriages that made my second through fourth years of life different than most kids', the room next to mine slowly went from future nursery to guest room. Without a second kid I knew my dad always thought in the back of his head that he couldn't wait for his son-in-law to come around.
"We'll have you over for dinner real soon," my dad yelled out the window as Andy got out of the car. We were back at the school. All in all the evening had gone well. I wasn't sure what to think about that. I should be happy that him and my dad got along so well, shouldn't I? But if my dad was the only problem in this whole mess it wouldn't really be a mess now would it?
"Dad can I talk to Andy for a bit? I can walk home, it's just two blocks," I asked and gave my dad my puppy dog eyes.
"Of course kiddo," my dad said with a grin. I was almost shocked that he was letting me go off with this guy he just met today, that I had only known for two days, but the fact that he was my match cancelled out all of that I guess. My dad trusted that Andy wasn't some serial killer or anything. "But if you aren't home before dark I'll send out a search party. Let Andy drive you home. That way he knows where our house is. I'll see you at the house."
And with that I got out and caught up with Andy. He was parked around back so we had a little bit to walk. He smiled when I caught up with him and slowed down his pace. His hands were in his pockets and he was kicking a rock across the pavement with a lot of concentration.
"Your dad seems like a cool guy," he said after a moment. It didn't feel like a filler to kill the silence, it felt like he genuinely wanted to tell me that.
"Yeah, he is pretty great," I replied. "Too bad my mom can't be like him."
"Is it worrying you that much?" he asked and stopped walking. I diverted my eyes and shrugged. I shouldn't have said anything because I really didn't want to talk about it. He must have sensed this because he touched my arm to get my attention. When I looked up at him he said, "Hey, she will come around, because well unless you tell me to go I'll be around and she's your mom, she's not going anywhere either. I wouldn't let it worry you too much."
I half-smiled at him and sighed. It was easy for him to say that, he wasn't the one that had to be home with her. But nonetheless it was nice that he was trying to console me. I was okay with that.
When I didn't walk on with him he came back and put his arm around my shoulder and gave a squeeze. I forgot how strong he was and cold feel his muscles flex through his rolled up button up shirtsleeve. I wasn't really someone who was all into a muscular guy, but I wouldn't complain or anything. He gave me a look that said You going to be alright? I nodded and smiled as we walked on towards his car with his arm still around me.
We went through a closed gate that Andy had a key to. I didn't realize the faculty parking lot was gated off, but I guess it made sense. There were probably more than enough teachers that students didn't like. However now, there were no other cars in the parking lot. I wondered if Andy would be questioned to why his was still here but I didn't say anything. I figured it probably wasn't a huge deal. Then again no one probably even cared.
His car was a small silver sports car. I wasn't sure what kind of car it was. It wasn't flashy or really expensive looking but it was nice all the same. He noticed me staring at it and laughed.
"It's not much, but it was the first thing I bought after leaving home," he commented and unlocked the car.
"It's nice," I replied with a smile. He smirked at me and came to open my door. "Oh, a gentleman."
"That, or I just wanted an excuse to get closer to you," he stated with a grin. Instead of opening my door he leaned against his car, directly in front of me. "You have really pretty eyes."
I turned red and looked away from his gaze. Curse my fair skin for turning red at everything. "Thanks," I managed to say and looked back at him. His smile was really cute and he may think I have pretty eyes but his eyes were something to get lost in. They were brown, but a soft brown. Almost like a light golden or caramel.
"What?" he asked.
"I don't know what you're whatting," I simply answered.
"You were staring at me," he pointed out.
"Yeah, well you are the one between me and your car and directly in front of me. What should I look at, the sky?" I shot back with a grin. He shook his head and rolled his eyes. I looked up at the sky in amazement only making him laugh.
He cleared his throat, causing me to look back at him. I could see my reflection in his eyes. I didn't know if he was closing the distance between us or if I was moving in closer, but I felt close enough to him that he could probably hear my heart racing. I was sure China could hear my heart beating by now.
a/n: so there's the re-write of ch 6. I know, a cliff hanger.