Wishing…Chapter 14

The next day began with more intermittent rain and cool temperatures, making Jess frown to herself as she set out for school, umbrella in hand. She had meant to save more money for a car but found herself spending way too much on clothes – curse Evie for getting so much hip stuff in to the boutique and giving such generous employee discounts – but she had to admit that she had never dressed better in her life. Today she was wearing burgundy cords embroidered with abstract swirling patterns, a brown leather belt and a light cream-colored fuzzy knit turtleneck, her bouncing hair pulled up and partially contained with a big leather barrette. As soon as she walked through the front door of the main classroom building she ducked in the ladies' room and applied a fresh coat of burgundy lipgloss and a touch of dark brown eye shadow. She briefly studied her reflection, then nodded with approval although inwardly she was a little bit abashed. Admittedly the biggest reason she was getting dolled up was that Stacy was in her first class and even though he had yet to acknowledge her existence and was so obviously taken, she still had hopes of attracting his attention in some small way. She knew it was pathetic and she needed to focus on other guys and forget about the unattainable blonde, but in the meantime…oh, the hell with it, Jess thought. Even if we never speak, I just want him to think of me as that mysterious brunette in Geometry. The thought caused her lips to curve into an impish grin, which she still had when she emerged from the ladies' room and saw the very object of her thoughts standing on his own outside the classroom door, waiting for the students from the class before to vacate the room so he could take his seat. Even in the dim hallway he stood out like a beacon, his shoulder-length hair loose like always, only a couple of shades darker than the white Led Zeppelin shirt he was wearing along with – oh no, we're twins today, Jess thought with an inner groan – burgundy cords held to his slender hips with a brown leather belt. At least his cords aren't embroidered and I'm not wearing a Zeppelin shirt, but still! She wanted to smack her forehead, but suddenly realized that this could be the icebreaker she'd been looking for. She took a deep breath, put some steel in her spine, and started sauntering casually toward him. Catching her movement in the periphery of his vision, Stacy looked in her direction and immediately did a double-take when he noticed her outfit. As the realization hit, he smiled briefly but with genuine amusement, almost making Jess freeze where she stood. With effort she kept on walking, wearing her best "Yes, I know" look. As she passed Stacy, their gazes met and he smiled again. "H'lo," he mumbled, then quickly glanced at the ground. Still, it was an opening and Jess took it. She stopped by the open door and leaned against the frame.

"Hi, how are you?" she asked breezily.

"Oh, I'm ok," he mumbled, his gaze cast toward his blue Vans and the slightest flush of pink starting to show around his cheekbones. Jess was a bit taken aback – was he shy? He didn't seem the type. Oh great, this wasn't going to be so easy after all. But she knew instinctively that this moment would set the tone for all their future meetings. What was it to be – try to make a connection but risk failing, or play it safe and keep admiring from afar? For some reason, a bit of unsolicited advice from her 10th grade softball coach came winging into her brain: "If you're going to strike out, then at least go down swinging. That way you got nothing to be ashamed of." For the first time since hearing those words, Jess realized that they could apply something besides softball. She decided to take action, and the hell with the consequences.

When Stacy finally made tentative eye contact with her again a couple of seconds later, she gave him a mischevious grin and pointed to his shirt. "Y'know, if we're gonna try to dress alike then we oughta coordinate beforehand so we really match, don't you think?"

He threw his head back and guffawed with amusement, exposing teeth that were white and neat but for slightly crooked incisors. Recovering himself, he pushed his hair back from his temples and returned her smile. "Uhh, yeah, guess so. I got another Zeppelin shirt I could loan ya if you wanted," he joked.

Relieved that he was being a good sport, Jess burst into helpless laughter, instinctively bringing her hands to cover her mouth as she kept the eye contact alive. "Actually, I do have one of their shirts but it's blue," she confessed, her laughter subsiding to a muted giggle.

Stacy raised one light-colored eyebrow. "Oh, you like Led Zep?"

"Yeah, I like anything that's Rock-n-Roll," Jess stated. "Zeppelin, the Stones, Hendrix, Aerosmith…" her voice trailed off, but she could tell Stacy was impressed nonetheless.

"Aerosmith? Right on," he enthused. Jess was already entranced by the sound of his voice, which was medium-pitched and twangy with Californian intonation, rounded 'r's and all.

"Yeah, they're huge where I'm from," she informed him.

"Oh? Where are you from, anyway? I can tell it's not from here, for sure."

"Philly…well, really it's South Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia. But my dad has been living in Athens, Georgia for a few years, so I spent a few summers down there too."

Stacy nodded. "Cool. So uhh, you into any Southern Rock – y'know, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Marshall Tucker Band, Allman Brothers?" he queried.

"Yeah! My dad used to ride bikes with Duane Allman before the…you know…"

This time both Stacy's eyebrows went up as surprise lit up his features. "Oh my god, Duane is like, my idol! Your dad knew him? For real?" When Jess nodded yes he collapsed back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling for a moment. "No way, that is so awesome," he breathed, then turned his head to face her again with a hopeful expression. "Hey, you didn't get to meet him too, did you?"

Jess shook her head sadly. "Nah, every time they were in Athens I was up North with my mom."

"Aww, that's too bad. I would have loved to have met him and just talk about…anything, ya know?"

"Oh yeah," Jess empathized. Secretly, she was thrilled to have accidentally stumbled onto the perfect topic to pique Stacy's interest. He'll definitely notice me from now on, she thought triumphantly.

Their classmates began to file into the room, followed by the instructor. Stacy gave a reluctant sigh as he watched the progression. "Well, guess they're starting."

"Yeah." Jess gave him a wry smile. "Nice talking to you though, umm…"

"Stacy." He stuck out his left hand, making Jess change her grip on her book bag so she could shake it with her own left hand.

"Jess."

"Jess from South Jersey and sometimes Georgia," he quipped with another shy sideways grin.

She gave him a sweet little smile of her own. "Yeah, that'll work." Stacy made the classic "after you"gesture, ushering her into the room in front of him. They were the last to enter the classroom and take their seats. Throughout the lecture they didn't even look in each other's direction, but Jess was even more cognizant of his presence than usual; the temptation to glance his way was really strong. She wondered if he was thinking the same thing, but decided not. He probably just wanted to make small talk with some random girl to kill time and she happened to be the one. But hey, they'd spoken at last. It was a small but notable victory.

When class ended, she got out the door first, since Stacy was still copying formulas from the board. Slightly dismayed at not being able to continue their conversation, she started walking slowly toward the main exit but stopped short at the sound of Stacy's voice ringing out down the hall as he jogged up behind her: "Hey Jess! I'm gonna wear an orange shirt and blue jeans next time, ok?"

She spun around, cracking up with laughter again, and gave him a pretend pout. "Oh, but I don't own anything orange. What'll we do?" she mock-wailed.

Stacy hunched his shoulders and pretended to think for a moment. "Guess we'll just have to do the twin thing some other time," he quipped with a little shrug and a crooked smile.

"Guess so," Jess replied, trying to keep the disappointment out of her voice. Not that she really wanted them to dress alike; just to make a connection that would last for more than a couple of short conversations in the hallway. Maybe this was a start, she thought hopefully. "Nice to meet you, by the way. Stacy."

"You too. Jess."

"Yep. See you next time," she threw over her shoulder as began to walk away.

"Ok, later."

They continued their trek out of the building, Stacy staying several paces behind her. Jess fought the almost instinctive urge to sway her hips suggestively as she walked, but didn't want to overdo it. She did hope he was checking her out as she would have been doing to him if their places were switched. Jay Adams would have – hell, he'd probably grab a big handful of embroidered cords and squeeze her black and blue – but Stacy was no Jay Adams, that she already knew. And liked.

As soon as they were out the door they immediately went in separate directions, Jess toward the library and Stacy toward the playing fields. And that was it. No furious Dogtown girls descended upon her with fists flying, no jealous girlfriend jumped out of the bushes to confront her, the sky did not flash lightning and despite it being California, the earth failed to rumble prophetically. All in all, it was the perfect first meeting, Jess ruminated as she walked. And I hope there will be a lot more to come…