AN UNLIKELY PAIR
By typical standards, Beth and Jacob should've never been friends, but it's funny what Geometry class and a shared backyard wall can bring about.
By Carla Krae
Published by Carla Krae at Smashwords.
Copyright 2011 Carla Krae
The right of Carla Krae to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First printed 2011
First Edition
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locale or organizations is entirely coincidental.
All Rights Are Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
A Word from the Author
This is the prequel short story for My Once and Future Love, an epic romance.
Chapter One
1998
Mom gave me a journal today. “Now that you’re going to high school, there are going to be things you don’t want to tell me or Daddy, or you’re going to want to think them out first.”
I wasn’t going to use it. Really, I wasn’t…but there was Jake Lindsey and…
Most kids in Geometry were sophomores, with a sprinkling of juniors. Dreading the walk into a class of older kids, I got there early and chose a desk in the back on the door side of the room, hoping I could be invisible in the corner. I was a freshman, and not just a freshman, but five feet tall, undeveloped, and stuck in glasses.
With my first day over, I could say Geometry wasn’t my worst class of the day, and part of the reason was the boy with the last name called after mine—Lindsey comma Jake. See, I’d been dwelling on this memory to avoid thinking about English class and the boy assigned to the seat next to me. Didn’t even know me, and he already called me names.
The teacher had Jake introduce himself since he was new to our SoCal district, and that voice had been stuck in my head all day.
Jake Lindsey had an English accent.
Jake Lindsey wore a sleeveless shirt displaying arm definition I’d never seen on a teenage boy before.
Jake Lindsey was a junior, sixteen or seventeen, and way out of my league.
Still…that buttery voice made me and every other girl in the room take notice.
****
Mum’s latest idea of punishment was public school. The private academy asked him not to come back when the tenth grade term ended and she wasn’t going to pay for him to “act like a hooligan” at another school.
Didn’t make him miss England less. Why she moved them back to California and away from all his friends and the familiar, he still didn’t know. They left Los Angeles when he was ten and after four years in London, he finally felt at home, then yank—right back across the Atlantic and a whole ‘nother country again. Felt like a bleedin’ yoyo. So he acted up a bit at school—what did she expect?
London gave him his identity. At twelve, he discovered punk and metal and devoured every disc he could get his hands on, much to the Head Boy’s chagrin. What better appealed to a teenager than loud music and authority-shunning lyrics? These California prep school brats didn’t understand. They thought punk was Green Day. Needed a bath just from thinkin’ of it.
So, anyway, here he was at a new school again with no friends or allies and prob’ly stickin’ out like a sore thumb.
Jacob snuck in the house, trying to get to his room without being noticed.
“Jacob…how was your first day?”
He sighed and walked into his mother’s bedroom. “Every teacher but one had me introduce myself.”
She looked up from her needlepoint. “Did you make any friends? You’re welcome to have guests provided your homework is done first.”
“I had friends. You keep pulling me away from them.”
“Don’t be melodramatic, Jacob. Your choices put you in your current situation.”
He stood his ground. “It wasn’t my choice to leave England.”
She sighed. “I know, dear. Some day you will understand. Do you have homework tonight?”
“Little bit.”
“Then I won’t take up more of your time.”
“Yes, Mum.” He turned on his heel and went to his room, shutting the door and cranking up the stereo.
****
Two Weeks Later
I put my pencil down and sighed. Concentrating on my homework was impossible with that racket outside. The noise of wailing guitars and raucous drums came from the house behind ours. Rolling my eyes, I ground my teeth, and stomped off around the corner to give some idiot a piece of my mind. Just because it was September, it didn’t mean I could slack on school work.
I pounded on the neighbor’s front door, hoping to be heard. After the second time banging my fist on it—ow—the door finally opened.
The hottest boy I’d ever seen stood in the doorway, looking at me like I was the biggest inconvenience he’d ever experienced. His brown hair was spiked straight up and was that eyeliner around his baby blues?
“What?”
“Can you turn the music down?”
“What for?” he yelled back.
“I’m trying to do my math homework!”
Pretty Boy in the Billy Idol t-shirt had the look of a light bulb moment. “Hey! You’re in my class, aren’t you?” He walked away for a moment and the volume of the music decreased by half.
Class, class…oh God…I knew that voice…and we were having a conversation? I wished I hadn’t come over in overalls cut off at the knees and winced as my eyes fell onto my outfit. It was geeky-farmer chic.
“Um, maybe? Are you in Geometry?”
He could have transferred from my class. I wasn’t known for my powers of observation and I was there to learn.
“Yeah, it’s bloody boring and I think the teacher’s a boozer. You know your stuff, always raisin’ your hand. Those proofs don’ make a bit o’ sense to me.”
“I-I could help…i-if you want. Just takes memorizing the theorems.”
He grinned at me and leaned against the door frame. Oh my god, Jacob Lindsey smiled at me! My cheeks turned crimson.
“Cool. What do they call you, pet?”
“Beth.”
“Well, Beth, your place or mine?”
Oh, God, don’t faint, don’t faint… “M-my book is still…” I gestured around the corner.
He shrugged, grabbed some books off the coffee table, and came outside. “Lead the way.”
I turned for home, palms sweating. Oh God, oh God… What would Mom think when I walked in the house with a boy? With an accent? I let him in and told him to wait in the living room while I retrieved my text.
Neighbor Boy—downgraded for touching things without asking—was rummaging in the fridge when I came back.
“What are you doing?”
“I’m thirsty.” He grabbed one of my Snapple Iced Teas.
“You could ask first. Sit.”
He winked at me and sprawled in a chair, his tight jeans looking…well, it wasn’t appropriate to think of it. I sighed and opened my book to today’s assignment.
“What are you having trouble with?”
“How about I copy yours and get out of here?”
“Look…whatever-your-name-is, I don’t cheat. I tutor. If you want to learn, great, but that’s all you’re getting from me.”
He clapped me on the shoulder and laughed. “I like you, kid. Fair enough. If you can make this nonsense make sense, I’ll owe ya one.”
I smiled. “Deal…”
“Jake. Mum calls me Jacob, but it’s so stuffy.”
“Open that book, Jacob.”
I helped him all the way to dinner time. Mom came out of her darkroom to the kitchen and stopped with the weirdest look on her face when she saw us. Then, she smiled.
“Elizabeth, who’s your friend?”
“S-someone from Geometry class, Mom. Jacob needed help.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Jacob. You’re welcome to stay for dinner if it’s alright with your parents.”
Mom! What was she doing? “I-I’m sure Jacob has to go, Mom.”
He stuffed notebook paper in his book and stood from the table. “I do. Got a date now my work’s done.” He mussed my hair. “Thanks, squirt.”
“No problem,” I said through clenched teeth. Jerk.
He walked out of my house and I fled to my bedroom.
Squirt. Squirt! Might as well call me a ten-year-old. Why couldn’t I be cool?
****
Wasn’t so bad bein’ tutored by the kid. Got his mother off his back, too. The mums had met and seemed to approve of each other, so he was free to go to Bethie’s or have her in his living room. No closed doors, of course, blah, blah…like he’d be interested in a freshman. Sure, she had a certain cuteness, but a kid was a kid.
Two years in California and he still wasn’t used to the lack of seasons. He missed the chill in the air and leaves changin’ color. Wasn’t lonely, though…always been a popular chap and this school was no exception. Girls flirted and the guys wanted to be his friend. Soon as Mum stopped watchin’ his every move, he could have fun, too.
That day finally came for Halloween week and his first party with the new crowd. He was over at Bethie’s to rush through homework so he could leave.
“It’s the same time it was thirty seconds ago,” she said after he glanced at the clock. “Jacob, focus.”
“We’ve been through the concept three times. I’ve got it.” He stole a Tootsie Roll from her pile.
“Hey!” She slapped his hand. “Mine.”
“You have more than me.”
“You’ve eaten more. I counted out an equal amount, Jacob. I’m always fair.”
“Let me leave and I’ll stop eatin’ all your candy.” He gave her the grin that usually worked on every female.
“Fine…if you come back tomorrow and prove you retained what I said.”
He smiled and gathered his books. “Deal. You’re the best, Bethie.”
Jacob hurried around the corner to drop his books, change, and grab his guitar. He wished he could drive to the house, but Mum wouldn’t let him take the test, yet. Luckily she was out at some thing tonight and couldn’t check his work. He checked the mirror, a truly handsome bloke smiling back.
“Hell, yeah. This is gonna rock.” The bad-ass look and guitar were guaranteed chick magnets and he’d have to totally put his foot in it to not get a good snog tonight. Maybe reach second base.
****
Nearing Thanksgiving break, I finally felt I had a handle on high school. Jacob showed up at my house whenever we had a test the next day. Honestly, he was smart enough to do the work. He just got bored, and then he got antsy. If I could keep him focused, he usually had the lesson mastered in under an hour.
Despite liking my teacher, I dreaded going to English even more now than the second day of school. Chad Cromlin had been the bane of my existence for two months.
Mom taught me to ignore bullies and they’d stop. Not this jerk. Today’s stunt? Poking me with an extending pen wand. I was trying to do the in-class reading and he kept tapping my ribs with the stupid thing—always when the teacher’s back was turned, of course.
Didn’t want to be a tattle-tale, what with my already minimal popularity, but how long would this go on? He had to get bored soon, right?
I stopped at my locker before my last class (Biology) to drop off the books I didn’t need tonight.
“Hey, Bethie, see you at Thanksgiving.”
I turned to Jacob. “Huh?” He never talked to me at school.
“Your mum invited my mum and me to the feast. Found out this mornin’.”
“Oh. Uh, see you Thursday, then.” A holiday with strangers at our table? Well, not strangers, but definitely not family. Mom had never invited outside people before.
The warning bell rang. “Later!” he said.
I watched him jog off, then walked the twenty feet to my class.
On Thanksgiving, we weren’t ourselves.
Mom put me in a dress, and Jacob arrived in a white collared shirt and tie. He’d even left his ear stud at home. My brother made an excuse not to come again, so it was my parents, Mrs. Lindsey, and us. Daddy ate too much then fell asleep in front of the football game on TV. Our moms, though…you’d think they were BFFs.
“Weird, isn’t it?” Jacob said.
“Huh? Oh…yeah, definitely. You know they’ll start trading stories about us soon.”
He shivered. We watched them wash and dry the dishes in the kitchen. Mom handed Mrs. Lindsey another dish to dry, their heads close together while they gabbed. Then they laughed about something.
“Scary. Gonna eat the last piece of pie?”
I pushed the tin to him. “Nah, take it.”
****
Christmas break meant two whole weeks without homework or freshman jerks. I felt like dancing, except I tended to trip over my own feet just by walking.
I watched through my window as Jacob hopped over the back fence into my yard. Always gave me a thrill when he did that, dropping to the ground with the grace of a cat. He smiled, seeing I was in my room, and I waved, then opened my window.
“Hey.”
“Hey. Wanted to wish you Happy Christmas. I’m off to England.” He looked happy to go.
“Family?”
“Yep.” He pulled a candy cane out of his back pocket and presented it to me. “Thanks for tutorin’ me. Know I’m not the easiest student.”
I took the candy and smiled. My first gift! “You’re welcome. Not like I have a busy schedule or anything. Well, it’s cold out, so…”
“Right. Can’t stay, but I wanted to--”
“Sure. Thanks.”
He nodded and left the way he came, back over the fence. Boy had the cutest butt ever in a pair of jeans.
The two weeks without a friend made me see my crush on Jacob. I’d gotten so used to seeing his face every day, it hurt to be without him. My calendar got an “x” through every day of vacation. I heard Dad ask Mom why I was moping. Had I been? I was lonely, but… Really, did they expect me to go out or something? I was fourteen in Los Angeles, duh.
When the break was over, I looked for Jacob the second I got on campus, knowing his schedule by heart. Finally caught him at his locker between second and third periods and almost hugged him.
Right in front of everybody.
“Hey, kid.”
The urge to roll my eyes came upon me again. It was only a two-year age difference. “Have a good Christmas?”
He shrugged. “It was alright. Got a new amp for my guitar. Sounds wicked.”
“Cool.” Oh God…my nemesis was coming down the hallway. “Hide me!” I ducked in between him and the lockers.
He blinked down at me. “What?”
“Chad Cromlin three o’ clock. Please.”
He shielded me from view to my right. I faced his open locker and tried to be invisible.
“Bethie, what was that?” He placed his hand on my shoulder.
I turned around. “Is he gone?”
“The hall’s nearly bloody empty. We’re goin’ to be late.”
“Thanks.” I ran to World History.
Chad was talking to his cohorts-in-crime when I got to English later, so I managed to sneak into my chair without the usual torment before the bell.
****
Jacob started out using Beth’s willingness to impart knowledge, but months later it was a friendship he valued. He could tell her things and she wouldn’t gab…not that she had many mates he knew of, but still. She didn’t have much to gain by ratting out his less popular aspects.
When he wrote new lyrics, he let Bethie critique them.
When he wanted to watch Monty Python, she’d keep him company.
If he wanted to rant about a teacher or his mother, she would listen, then always have good advice. He’d never say it out loud, but the wisdom a fourteen-year-old could have amazed him. She was way more mature than he was when it came to the brainy stuff.
Beth was sweet, innocent, not afraid to bust his balls, and the only part of this new school he wouldn’t trade. She was his best friend, and he’d protect what they had with his dying breath.
****
For two weeks, all Chad did was greet me with a stupid name and I thought I’d finally won. Too boring to tease all year. What really happened is the jerk lulled me into a false sense of security.
Semester finals week in late January, I walked into English and found a folded piece of paper on my desk. It was an obscene drawing with my name on it. Chad laughed when I looked at it. I crumpled it into a ball, stuck it in my jacket pocket, and opened my lit book. Always kept layers on in that class even if I was warm. It was finally time to talk to my teacher now I had evidence. Then, he started poking me with the pen wand again, under my right arm in the side of my nearly-non-existent boob. Ms. Blake was lecturing, so I turned my back on him and tried not to cry.
“Heh, knew you were frigid,” Chad said under his breath.
Frigid? I’d have to look that up later, but it was obvious he meant it as a major insult.
The second the bell rang, I ran out, debating whether to call Mom to get me or try to be a big girl about it. Not looking where I was going, I ran into a male chest.
“Bethie?” His hands steadied me. Oh, thank God it was Jacob. “Pet, what’s wrong?” He guided me into the library. “Did you get a B instead of an A?”
I shook my head, my lower lip trembling—couldn’t cry at school, at least not out in the open. He kept walking and we were soon behind the stacks. I liked the back of the library—it was quiet and left alone.
“Hey, what’s up, Beth?” he asked again.
Beth. Not Bethie. The serious use of my name did it and a tear leaked from each eye down my cheeks.
“Aw, Bethie, it can’t be that bad…” He tugged me into an awkward hug, patting my back.
“I thought he was done teasing me…” I blubbered into his shirt. God, I was such a baby.
“Who?”
“Boy. English class.” I pulled the drawing out of my pocket, handed it to him, and turned away to dry my face.
“Name,” he said. He sounded scary. Glancing at him, he looked scary. That expression would be a bad thing to meet in a dark alley. The look in his eyes was hard and his jaw was clenched tight.
“It’s my--”
“His name, Beth.”
I sighed. “Chad Cromlin. Blond hair, long in the back. Sits next to me in English. He’s been picking on me since the first day of school.”
“He drew this?” He balled the drawing in his fist, his knuckles turning white.
I nodded. “And pokes me with a stick and calls me names. What does ‘frigid’ mean, besides cold?”
His eyes widened for a second to the size of silver dollars. Wow, it must be bad.
“On second thought, don’t tell me.”
He squirmed, shifting his weight from foot-to-foot. “It means, uh, that a girl can’t, um…”
“What?”
“She doesn’t respond to sex.”
“Oh. Oh. First, eww, and second, he doesn’t know that! I don’t even know that, but I’m pretty sure I--”
“Bethie, please stop there.”
My cheeks turned red. “Sorry.” He still looked pissed. “Please don’t get in trouble for me, okay? I was going to show that to Ms. Blake once I got a grip, so please don’t do something stupid.”
“Beth, this sketch is sexual harassment.” He used the English pronunciation of “harassment”, with the emphasis on the first syllable. The different way to say things always made me pause.
“Which is why I’m talking to my teacher! I finally have proof.”
“’Finally’? What else did he do?” Okay, never want that angry face directed at me.
“Jacob, just leave it alone.” Our voices were starting to carry.
“He drew himself raping you!” he whispered.
“You don’t know that. That’s not necessarily what it is.”
“Pffft, please.” He started to charge out of the library.
I grabbed his arm. “Promise me you won’t get in trouble?”
He met my eyes. “I won’t get in trouble.”
I took the drawing back and went to lunch, what was left of it. When I told Ms. Blake what was going on, she promised Chad wouldn’t be sitting near any girls again. He didn’t show up for the final day of finals and it soon traveled the grapevine he’d been suspended.
We had Friday off between semesters. I went over to Jacob’s and listened to him play a song he wrote, while it rained all day. It was the first time he played for me and I was mesmerized by the movement of his hands, my fingers itching for my camera. His singing voice was even prettier than his speaking one.
On Monday, I didn’t know what to expect when I walked into English. True to my teacher’s word, my tormentor was now on the opposite side of the room. For the first time, he didn’t stare at me, daring me to hide my eyes. He avoided eye contact with most of the room, actually. Weird.
The bell rang to end the period and freshmen poured out into the hall.
“Did you hear what happened over the weekend?” one boy said.
“There’s a rumor Cromlin got jumped.”
“No way!” That came from a girl from my History class.
“Who did it? Who did it?”
“About time,” another girl muttered.
What were they all talking about? I didn’t see any bruises on the jerk in class, but three-day weekends gave kids time to make stuff up.
Jacob met me at my locker when I grabbed my Geometry book and walked me to our class. He was smiling and had an extra spring in his step.
“Jacob…what did you do over the weekend?”
“Hung out with you, silly.”
“That was only on Friday. What about the other two days?”
He didn’t look at me when he said, “Not much. It rained, remember?”
“Yeah…” I didn’t press further. The skin on his knuckles was roughed up.
It made me feel safe he protected my honor, and ratcheted my crush up another notch.
Our teacher decided to alphabetize us this semester, so Jacob ended up behind me.
“Perfect. Now I can see over your shoulder,” he teased.
“I’ll tell your mom if I catch you cheating, Jacob Lindsey.”
He placed a hand over his heart. “You wound me, pet.”
I rolled my eyes and faced forward. “Yeah, yeah…” It was nice having him close by, though.
Second semester was definitely better than the first. Monday through Thursday afternoons, it was good odds Jacob was over at my house to study, though we went to his sometimes, too. Mom and Mrs. Lindsey were frequently out gardening on weekends and chatted over the back fence until one or the other offered a glass of lemonade or iced tea. I kept expecting Dad to wonder what this boy was doing at the house so much, but Jacob was usually gone before he got home for dinner and I guess Mom hadn’t said anything he felt the need to worry about.
Spring Break came along, but not with fun time for me—Jacob and his mom were out of town. Dad didn’t have the time off, so Mom dragged me around to her daytime activities when I couldn’t escape to the park to practice with my camera. I got my first SLR for my thirteenth birthday, but I’d been shooting since I could hold a camera without dropping it and I had plans to make a career of photography.
With May racing by and the weather heating up, my fifteenth birthday was approaching. Birthdays were a family thing, since I hadn’t had enough friends for a party since I was seven, and brought mixed emotions of loneliness and anticipation.
“Don’t forget we’re going out to dinner tonight,” Mom said, setting two sodas on the table.
“Special occasion?” Jacob asked.
“Her birthday,” she said with a smile.
“Your birthday’s today, Bethie? Mine’s in a week. Small world.”
“No wonder you get along,” Mom said. “The symbol for Gemini is The Twins. Two sides of the same coin.”
“Mom…” She knew I didn’t believe in any of that stuff.
“Fine, I’ll let you study.” She walked down the hall and I heard a door close.
He bumped my shoulder with his. “Should’ve said somethin’. I’d at least get Mum to bake.”
“It’s no big deal.” I wrote out an equation from today’s assignment. “Just another day.”
“Next year, have a party. My sixteenth was awesome.”
“Honestly, who’d come?”
His knee nudged mine under the table. “I would.”
“Thanks.”
Two weeks later, finals arrived. The end of the school year filled me with dread.
What if Jacob went away all summer? What if he didn’t need my help next year with algebra? What if he met a girl? I mean, duh, I knew he dated. Anybody with ears at our school knew if Jacob Lindsey had plans Friday night. The junior girls he asked out couldn’t keep their mouths shut about it.
Summer, though…summer meant pools and beaches and parties I wasn’t invited to. Every date was the potential end to our friendship. He was two years older than me, so what else could I expect?
But the last of June was okay and I started to relax. He passed his driver’s license test and we celebrated with hamburgers and ice cream. I ordered a chocolate fudge sundae.
When the waitress brought him the check, she said, “You know, I think it’s so sweet you took your little sister for lunch.”
My face flamed as she walked away and I excused myself to the ladies’ room. Staring at my reflection, I couldn’t blame her for the assumption. I wore no make-up, my hair was in pigtail braids, I still had my frames from eighth grade, and I’d yet to graduate from the double-A training bra Mom bought me a year ago. Might as well have been twelve.
I sulked during the ride home and mumbled an excuse about eating too much and not feeling well. He shrugged and said he’d see me tomorrow. Completely oblivious to my pain.
“Home so soon, honey?” Mom asked.
“My stomach’s kinda yucky. I’m going to lie down.”
“Okay.”
She came into my room a few minutes later. “Do you need a Midol, Beth?”
“What? No! Eww, Mom.”
“Sorry, sorry…just wanted to check.”
God, could this day get more embarrassing?
Chapter Two
Dad took me and Mom on a camping trip for a week in July.
I came back to a note from Jacob that his mom decided to travel, after all. He didn’t know how long. So much for my fun.
In spite of being Queen of the Friend Zone, my teen heart was fiercely loyal—and stubborn, crushing on him hard all summer.
September came all too soon and school started in a week. I was ready to kick scholastic butt. Sophomore, baby! No more lowest-woman-on-totem-pole. Even had a new backpack and folders. And pens. And a graphing calculator.
Okay, still a nerd.
But most importantly, Jacob would be back!
I heard a car next door and checked my appearance in my bathroom mirror. New, much smaller, glasses rest on my nose and I’d chopped my hair from my waist to across my shoulder blades. Last week, I started experimenting with mascara and pink lip gloss. Finally grew an inch, so new jeans were added to my wardrobe, too.
Having stalled long enough, I skipped next door to welcome my best friend home. My jaw dropped when he opened the door. “Oh my god, what did you do to your head?”
“Like it?” He ran his hand over the bleached spikes.
“It’s white!”
I took in the rest of him—torn jeans, a wallet on a chain, and a black tank top. He wore studded cuffs on each wrist and silver rings on most of his fingers. It was hot.
“And are you taller?”
He grinned. “Six-foot-one as of two weeks ago. You’re still Little Bethie.”
I scowled at him. “I grew, too.”
“Oh, how much?”
“An inch!”
“Ooo, sproutin’ like a weed.”
And oh my god, he’d added a tongue stud.
“Shut up.” Turning on my heel, I pretended to leave.
“Oh, come in, already,” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me through the door. “Brought you some Cadbury chocolate.”
“We have Cadbury here.”
We reached his room. Our decorating tastes couldn’t be more different. He liked dark rich colors and nearly everything on the walls was music-related.
“Not the same.” He dug around in an overnight bag on his bed. “Here.”
“Thanks. So…why the bleach?”
“It’s my senior year, love. It’s all different now.” He pushed the bag over to make room for me to sit. “What did you do this summer?”
I sat on his bed, and he joined me. The white hair made his eyes look bluer, something I didn’t think possible.
“N-not much. We were camping when you left, as you know. Um, Dad’s been traveling for work a lot, so it’s me and Mom and our cameras. I learned how to develop my own prints. I could show you later.”
“That’s great, Bethie.” He tugged a strand of my hair. “Where’s the rest of it?”
“Trash can of Supercuts. It got in the way that long.” He noticed I cut my hair? Dad didn’t. Swoon.
Jacob dropped the strand. “Shame. I like the Princess Leia look.”
“Geek.” His love for Star Wars was a secret, especially if we were at school.
“Nerd.”
“Punk poser.” The walls were currently black, matching his wardrobe.
“Bookworm.”
We grinned at each other. “It’s good to be home,” he said.
“Yeah?” My heart swelled that I was part of that.
“Yeah.”
We hung out every day until school started.
****
Last year of high school and less than a year ‘til he was eighteen and finally out of here. He was counting down the days, chomping at the bit for a time when he could really devote his all to music.
Not all bad in L.A., of course. He had a car and Mum, and Bethie. Loved shocking her with his new look.
There were plans for this year that were all his, though, and he needed to do them alone.
****
His senior classes weren’t near mine and neither was the Senior Quad, so I didn’t see him much on campus. We didn’t get the same period for Algebra 2, either, then I found out he joined the soccer team after the fact. Other than giving me a ride to school in the morning, I barely saw him until October and he needed my help again.
“I see how it is. Too busy for ol’ Bethie unless you want something,” I said when he rapped on my window.
“You know it’s not like that.”
I arched one eyebrow. “Oh, do I?”
“Please, Bethie? Name your price.”
Anything? He must be desperate. “I want to go to Homecoming.”
He squirmed. “Uh, I already have a date.”
I slammed my window shut. “Then no deal.”
“Fine! Plenty more tutors to choose from!”
“Fine!”
Not fine. Dammit. Ooops. Good thing I didn’t say that word out loud.
I took the bus for a month just for spite. ‘Course, I was dealing with a teenage boy. A gorgeous teenage boy that could sell ice to an Eskimo. He had no problem getting help from the senior girls and even less of a problem remaining eligible for all his activities despite rarely being home to study. I knew. I peeked through the fence to see if his light was on almost every night.
It was a month before I saw him other than by a brief glance at school. Our moms planned Thanksgiving again. This time, they sat us right next to each other. He kept bouncing his left knee and bumping my leg.
So I bumped his leg back.
He knocked my knee again.
I did it back and bumped bone-to-bone.
“Ow.”
“Then keep your legs to yourself,” I hissed.
“You need less room.”
“You need manners.”
“Pie?” my mother asked, giving both of us The Look.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. Suck-up.
I escaped to my room when the adults moved to the den, hoping he would stay out there. He didn’t.
“What is your problem, Beth?” He shut my door.
“I thought we were friends.”
His brows furrowed in the middle. “We are friends.”
“I never see you anymore, and you have new ‘friends’.” He was in the top five of most popular seniors, maybe the most of the whole school.
“You’re the one who refused to let me take you to school.”
“Because you only want my brain power.”
He sighed. “I’m sorry I’ve been busy, but that’s how this is. You’ll understand when you get there.”
I crossed my arms over my newly-A-cup chest. “Oh, so it’s all okay because you’re a senior?”
“Now you’re twistin’ my words. Bethie, you still matter, okay? We’re just livin’ two diff’rent lives right now.”
“You’ll be gone in six months, so how is that going to change?”
He sat on my bed. “More like seven and a half. If I get accepted to university.”
“Where have you applied?”
“Some here. Some in London.”
“Oh.” Away from me. I was going to lose him to another continent.
He bumped my shoulder. “We’ll keep in touch. Swear on my guitar.”
A pretty serious declaration. “Which one?”
“Does it matter? I’d give up my car before I’d part with either of ‘em. Hell, I’d give up my soul before music.”
I smiled. “I know. The big dream.”
He nodded. “Too bloody right. And you get the first copy of the album, after me.”
“And you’ll sign it for me?”
He grinned. “Love and kisses, baby.”
I socked his shoulder. “You’re so corny.”
“Forgive me?” he asked hopefully.
“If you’re staying for Christmas.”
“Brat.”
I stuck my tongue out at him. “I want best friend time. Deal with it.”
He smiled. “Yes, Your Highness.”
At least soccer was done, so he didn’t have to stay after school for practices anymore. I allowed him to be my transportation again…which worked most of the time. Friday and Saturday nights were rarely mine, and I hated it when he ditched me to feel up some girl.
Well, I assumed that’s what they were doing. It’s not like we talked about it.
****
Mrs. Lindsey stayed in L.A. this Christmas, then left him home alone for the days surrounding New Year’s, my mother informed to randomly check up on him.
“Any New Year’s Eve plans?” I asked while he played a video game.
I lay on his bed with one of his pillows under my chin. He sat on the floor with the controller.
“Officially—no.”
“Unofficially?”
“Somethin’ might come up.”
With his hair right in front of me, I was tempted to play. The bleach had grown out a bit and waves were starting to form. He had the most perfect hair that did whatever he asked it to. So not fair.
“I’m not going to be your alibi.”
He glanced up. “I only did that once.”
“If you go out that night, you’ll have to tell my mom.”
“Don’t even know if there’s somethin’ to go out to. It’s just a rumor.”
“How come you won’t take me to one of these parties?” I wasn’t great in groups, but staying home every night was getting to me.
“You’re a sophomore.” Like that explained it all.
“So?”
“So…you’d be the youngest by a lot. And you hate crowds.”
I rolled onto my back and stared at the stars on his ceiling. “Just say the truth: I’m not cool enough.”
“Bethie…”
“You’re rarely seen in public with me if there’s a chance someone from school will see us, Jacob. I’m not an idiot.”
He paused the game. “I don’t care about that.” He rose up on his knees so he could see my face. “If anything, I’m protectin’ you.”
“Me? From what?”
“From the jerks who think I’m bein’ nice because you’re young and impressionable.”
“What does my age have to do with anything?”
He smiled at me, an expression that said he had wisdom I didn’t. “An easy lay with a little manipulation, pet.”
“Why would they think--? How dare they--? It’s not like that!” Of all the stupid-- “You’re my neighbor. My dad would kill you.” Yeah, part of me wanted him to be my first, but not at fifteen. And it was downright insulting anyone thought I was gullible.
“Believe me, I know. It’s just high school, Bethie. Most of it’s bleedin’ stupid.”
“Have you ever, um…?”
He turned back to the game. “Nope.”
My heart did the Snoopy dance over him still being a virgin. It shouldn’t matter, except it did.
“But you date a lot.”
“So.”
“So, why not? Isn’t that what a seventeen-year-old boy does?”
“Haven’t met the right girl, yet.”
“What makes her ‘the right girl’?”
“I don’t know… She just will be.”
“But I heard--”
“Beth, I’m gonna die if you don’t quit yammerin’.” He meant the game, of course.
“Sorry.”
He was two years ahead of me, and his own person, but it was bad enough he’d be going off to college without me, you know? I didn’t want to be left in the dust for every milestone.
And…
I loved him. I still hoped he’d see me before the year was over. Feel free to mock my delusion.
****
Bethie was giving him guilt trips whether she meant to or not. She looked so sad every time he told her he was busy, like she didn’t expect him to come home one day. She tried to hide it, but he wasn’t as oblivious as people thought.
Mum wasn’t much better. He’d spot her dabbing at her eyes sometimes, like when a university letter came in or he passed another high school milestone for the last time. She took so many pictures the night of Winter Formal he was blind leaving the house.
So, he tried to balance them all—his mother, friends, dates, studies—and hoped no one would be too mad with him in the end for being human.
****
This winter was pretty rainy, so Jacob wasn’t away from home as much. When the semester ended, I hoped to hang out for another three-day weekend, but Mrs. Lindsey took him to visit some university. Unfortunately, only one of the schools on his list was in L.A.
Dad went away for Spring Break on business and Mom left to visit my brother. Dad and Andrew butted heads if they were in the same room and both of them were too stubborn to get over it. Since Andrew wouldn’t come home, Mom went to him when she could.
It was the first time they’d left me home alone for a weekend.
I climbed in through Jacob’s window that night. He offered half of his bed. After making him promise to be a gentleman, I got under the covers, my back to him, and sighed in relief.
I woke up in the morning feeling a weight across the middle of me. His arm was draped over my ribs, his fingers laced with mine. I could feel him breathing on my neck.
One part of me wanted to stay being held. The other, fifteen-year-old, part was freaking out and thought flight was in order. I carefully slid out from under his arm, stood, and snatched my pillow. He mumbled in his sleep and stretched his arm out where I’d been.
He looked so cute dead asleep, his face like an angel’s. Sighing, I turned for the window, carefully slid it open, and went home.
Why did I have to fall for the unattainable boy?
****
Beth’s parents were away for the weekend for some such thing and she snuck into his room in the middle of the night, carrying her pillow.
“Hey. Can I take your floor?” She climbed in through the
window.
Jacob paused the Nintendo game. “Beth? What are you
doing here at this hour?” She was never outside past curfew and
even preferred getting to bed by ten.
“The house makes weird
noises. Do you mind?”
He shrugged. “Whatever.”
Bethie was the only girl allowed in his room because she respected boundaries. She stretched out on the hardwood floor and placed her pillow under her head.
“Don’t tell anybody on Monday.”
He rolled his eyes. “I
wouldn’t do that. Just go to sleep.”
He waited for her to complain about the game noise. Three. Two.
One.
“Can you mute that?”
Sighing, he shut it off, then
stretched out on the bed, propping his bleached head up with his
hand.
“There’s enough room, you know.” No motive behind
the offer—it was just the hospitable thing to say.
Her eyes
bugged out of their sockets. “Share a BED? I-I…”
“Bethie,
it’s not a big deal, pet. I’ll even sleep on top o’ the covers,
if you like.”
She thought about it, squirming all the while
because his floor was hard as a brick.
“Fine…” She stood and waited for him to scoot over. “No
monkey business.”
He made a crossing motion on his bare chest.
“Cross my heart and hope to die.”
She got under the covers,
her back to him, and sighed. The mattress was a double, so there was
plenty of room.
“Better?”
“Thank you.”
He played the game a while longer, being a natural night owl.
When
the sun shone through his window in the morning, he awakened before
she did. He was still on top of the covers with his arm wrapped
around her, their heads sharing her pillow. Their fingers were laced
together. He inhaled the sweet smell of her soft hair and went back
to sleep.
The next time he woke, she was gone.
It was the
first time he wondered what it would be like to wake up next to a
girl every day.
****
In May, I helped him get ready for Prom. Black suit, white shirt, straight black tie…and a single rose for his date.
The bitch.
Aw, that wasn’t fair. It was a girl he spoke well of from drama class, with good grades and a clean rep. He didn’t go last year, calling it “cheesy and too American”, but his mother was on the experience every part of your last year kick, so…Prom.
“It’s too tight.” He tugged on his collar.
I centered the tie again. “It’s fine.”
“Hate these things. Can’t breathe.”
“You look great.” I turned him toward the mirror.
He smirked at his reflection. “I do, don’t I?”
I rolled my eyes. “Don’t let it go to your head.”
The bathroom smelled like Obsession. I needed air before I did something insane like kiss him.
“Jacob, the limo’s here, darling,” Mrs. Lindsey called.
“Time to go, pet.” He left ahead of me. His mother snapped a picture when we reached the foyer. “Mum, a little warning?”
“Smile, kids.”
He draped his arm around my shoulders and mugged for the camera. My eyes were on the floor, my cheeks blushing whenever a flash was pointed my way. He took the rose from my hand, kissed his mother on the cheek, and walked out the door.
Jenny what’s-her-name was a lucky girl.
“Didn’t feel like dancing, dear?”
“Not my scene, Mrs. Lindsey. I work at Sadie Hawkins, but that’s it. You know…the music’s too loud and all sounds the same, the food is terrible and the punch is watered down…”
She nodded. “Of course. Goodnight, Elizabeth.”
“’Night.”
Mom had “sympathy face” when I walked back in the house. She finally confronted me about my crush a few months ago and knew how hard it was for me to see him go off with other girls.
“Chocolate Fudge Brownie?” she offered, extending the pint.
I took it and stuck a big spoonful in my mouth. “You’re a lifesaver, Mom.”
Ice cream in hand, I went back to my room to put more photos in my album and try not to cry.
****
Bethie turned sixteen on the twenty-fifth. Shopping for girls had never been his forte, so he looked for clues, watching for some sign of something she wanted that wouldn’t be weird for him to buy. Books were a good bet, but he didn’t want to get one she already had. Knew she liked classical music, and chocolate ice cream, and flowers…but flowers were for mothers and girlfriends and the sick and those categories didn’t fit. Could’ve played her party, but she refused to have one.
So, he treated her to a meal at their favorite burger joint.
“You picked up the check last time,” she complained.
“Bethie, it’s your birthday. Enjoy my generosity.”
She sighed and sat back on her side of the booth. “It’s just another day.”
“Why do you dislike your birthday so much?”
She shrugged. “I don’t…I just don’t think it’s special.”
“Well, accept that other people do and milk it.”
“That what you’re doing?”
“Haven’t had to lift a finger. Wouldn’t believe all the dosh comin’ in for my birthday or graduation. I’ve never been so happy to see the mailman as this week.”
She rolled her eyes. “Of course everyone loves you. You’re charmed.”
“Seriously. Just wait for it. I’ve gotten congratulations from folk I don’t even know, just ‘cause Mum does. People like your parents, so it’ll happen to you, too.”
She didn’t look convinced. “S’pose it’ll help you move to London.” He’d accepted the enrollment offer and would be leaving this summer to find a job before school started. “What happens to your car?”
“Dunno. Probably sell it. Mum doesn’t need two. Gonna get your license now?”
“Eventually.” She stirred her milkshake. “Thanks for taking me to the parking lot before I got in with Dad. I needed the practice.”
“Still drivin’ your mum around?”
“Yep. Think she likes having a chauffeur. But Dad’s the one to declare me ready.” She slurped up the last drops in her glass. “I’m done, so we can go. You probably need to be somewhere.”
He stood. “Yep.” He draped an arm across her shoulders once she slid out of the booth and joined him. “With you. It’s your birthday, dummy. I’m takin’ you to the mall.”
“Eww, why?”
“So you can pick out what you want. And I thought you were the brainy one.”
Beth socked him in the ribs. “Shut up.” She hit hard for such a petite little thing.
Going into a Barnes and Noble with her was a lesson in patience. Normally, she didn’t like shopping and went straight for what she wanted and left—if you got her in the mall in the first place. But take her to a bookstore and you might as well kiss your afternoon goodbye, especially if she was allowed to buy. She flitted from this possibility to that, taking forever to decide which book was the one. Made him happy to see her smile, though, so he followed along and didn’t complain.
If Bethie’s birthday was quiet, Jacob’s birthday a week later was in stark contrast. His house was filled with friends, food, and loud music, and that was after coming back from the rented movie theatre. The actual date of his birth was a Thursday, so the party was two days later and he hoped it lasted all night. Never felt so alive, being the center of adoration for so many people. It inspired him to grab his electric and accompany the stereo.
Too bad his best friend had bailed earlier, but he couldn’t make her stay in a crowd.
****
With prom behind us, just one event remained—Graduation Day. Saddest day of my life up to that moment. Our moms sat in the bleachers holding roses. I had a wrapped gift I felt he’d appreciate more.
“Congratulations Class of 2000!”
After the ceremony, I found him first over by the booth to turn in his cap and gown. We hugged, the pat-the-back type between friends.
“You made it, amazingly,” I teased.
“Quiet, you. Pressie for me?” He reached for it and I held it behind my back.
“Yup. But pick up your diploma first. The moms are about to reach us.”
They gushed over him and he made them feel like the bouquets were the best thing ever. I swear, sometimes my mother forgot she’d only passed two kids out of her womb, not three.
He got his fancy diploma, then we started trying to get to the parking lot amid a thousand other people. Mrs. Lindsey had made a reservation at a really nice restaurant. He and I climbed in the back of the car. I placed his present on his lap so I could fasten my seatbelt.
“Can I open it now?”
“If you want to.”
He shredded the paper. “A notebook?”
“Look inside.”
“Ah, notation paper! You’re the best, Bethie.” He draped his arm across my shoulders and squeezed my arm.
I blushed again. “You’ll need it for all those hit songs.”
“Damn right.”
“Jacob,” Mrs. Lindsey scolded him.
“Sorry, Mum. Darn right.”
I saw her roll her eyes in the rearview mirror, and stifled a giggle.
“What’s next for you, Jacob?” my mother asked. She just had to bring that up.
“Moving to London in two weeks to get used to it,” he said. He’d decided to pursue his music degree at one of the universities there.
“And find a job,” his mother added.
“Yes, Mum, and find a job. She’s not fundin’ my summers, only my education.”
“Poor baby,” I teased to keep from crying.
Four years with an eight-hour time difference. I’d been counting down the days since he told me his plans. Probably be counting the hours, too.
I fantasized about one of those airport romance movie scenes where the boy and girl kiss at the last minute instead of parting forever. But in this scenario, I’d have to do the kissing, and I was too chicken. Ruining our friendship wasn’t worth satisfying my crush.
So, I toasted his graduation, helped him pack up what he could fly with, and said goodbye to him at the terminal with a smile.
‘Cause that’s what best friends did.
Chapter Three
Keeping in touch with Jacob across the world was hard. Well, not on my end—I still didn’t have enough of a life to make me too busy to write. At first he called. Then he sent notes. Then I got the occasional postcard. Once classes started for him, I had more luck getting info from his mother. It hurt, but life went on for me.
I was sixteen, a junior, and ready to take my driving test soon. Dad’s car would be mine to drive when he was out of town. Driving a car filled a hole in me I didn’t know was missing. It was control. It was freedom. It was fun.
Without Jacob here as an excuse, I had to make more friends. Turned out, geeks found each other pretty easily in AP classes. I didn’t get close to anyone else, though. Christmas and Spring breaks were still lonely.
****
First-year music was easy. Since he’d been playing piano and guitar since he was a small lad, he passed the proficiencies, no sweat. The private voice lessons were tougher. Though he’d been in choirs forever, there was apparently much technique he still didn’t know, and the professor insisted he master classical pieces before modern ones. Some days frustrated him to near tears. But the classes for his major weren’t a problem.
It was the rest, the general education crap. Though he tried to pick the easiest choices in the catalog, he was still surprised by the amount of work presented. Many dead trees were sacrificed in the name of higher education. Faced with having fun or spending the weekend stooped over a desk, he probably chose fun a few times too many, but what else would an eighteen-year-old bloke do out on his own? A bar band, a beer, and a pretty girl on his arm made for good distraction.
Still, a voice in the back of his head that sounded an awful lot like Bethie kept nudging him back to study, to press on. She’d never let him hear the end of it if he flunked out first year. As always, she was his conscience, the good little angel on his shoulder.
****
I grew to five-foot-five over the year and finally felt I was starting to look my age of seventeen. I still didn’t have much of a figure, yet, but at least I didn’t look twelve.
When Jacob had finals week, I asked him how he thought he did.
Blueyedevil: Alright, I think. Performance exams were a piece of cake. You?
Bookworm01: Passed the AP tests in April, so those classes are auto A’s. So glad I don’t have to take PE again. Are you coming home for summer?
Blueyedevil: Don’t think so, Bethie.
Bookworm01: Why not? School’s out.
Blueyedevil: It’s expensive, and the band is pushing for gigs now we have time. ‘Sides, you know Mum—I have to work.
Bookworm01: You could work here.
Bookworm01: I miss my best friend.
Blueyedevil: Miss you, too, love. Gotta go. Celebratory freedom date.
Bookworm01: Oh. Girlfriend?
Blueyedevil: Could be. Later, Bethie!
He signed off the messenger program.
Well, that sucked. No best friend for the summer plus he was out with other girls and I was…
It was summer and I was looking at college applications, so I toured the UCLA campus and got lost in the beautiful library. I’d already decided not to leave L.A. as long as my parents were here. Call me a scared-y-cat, but I wasn’t ready to leave home, yet. London was the only other city that enticed me, but friendship wasn’t enough to make me move to another continent.
Mom and I went to visit Andrew for a week in August. He had a serious girlfriend he wanted the family to meet. It was an awesome trip and I could already tell I wouldn’t mind Darcy as a sister-in-law.
My high came crashing down when we got home.
Jacob made a surprise visit for a few days and I wasn’t here. He left souvenirs and a letter on my bed, but there was so much I would have said and wanted to know.
Of all the rotten, stupid timing…
“Hey…” I greeted him when the phone picked up.
“Hey, Bethie! What’s up, love?” He sounded distracted, some place noisy.
“I don’t have a lot of minutes, but I wanted to say I’m sorry I missed you. Why didn’t you tell someone you were coming?”
“Eh, spur of the moment, pet, really. You should see us play. The band is really takin’ off, Bethie. I had to tell Mum before things get crazy, ya know? I have a feelin’ about this like you wouldn’t believe.”
His accent was thicker after a year in London, even over an international phone line.
“That’s great. When you make the radio I’ll tell people I knew you when.”
Jacob getting famous scared me. Distance made it hard to keep in touch—becoming a rock star would make it impossible. The worst of it? I knew it would happen some day.
“Aww, there’ll always be room for my number one fan, Bethie. Think you’ll like what I brought you. Well, gotta go, pet. Rehearsal space ain’t cheap.”
“O-okay. Keep me up to date, okay?” He wasn’t reliable about it, but I could still ask. These phone calls never lasted long enough.
“Sure, sure. Bye!”
“B--”
Click.
“Bye…” I set the phone in the cradle.
I sniffed, something bothering my eye, and looked through my presents. There was a t-shirt wrapped in plastic. I tore that open and held up the shirt—a band logo. Jacob’s band logo!
“Awesome!”
There was some other London stuff--tourist trinkets, mostly. I set the letter aside to read after dinner when I wouldn’t be interrupted.
When I went to bed, I slept in the shirt.
****
My senior year was a blur and too slow all at once. Didn’t make sense, but the mind sensed the passage of time in weird ways.
My eighteenth birthday carried little fanfare, but I did finally have a party, a small one. Dad barbequed and we were out in the backyard until it got too warm. A few class friends came over, other nerds that were cool to hang out with.
Andrew and Darcy sent a gift and I got an e-mail from Jacob, and my friends brought gift cards. Mom gave me her old camera and the coordinating lenses. You might think a hand-me-down present was cheap, but not this…I could spend days playing with my new capabilities on film.
I graduated second in my class and five foot seven. Jacob sent a charm of a book for my congratulations gift. It was gold, or gold-tone, and on a fine gold chain. At least, I thought it was from him. Mrs. Lindsey passed it on to me. I chose to believe she wasn’t covering for his forgetfulness, since I didn’t hear from him often these days.
I wanted to fly out to London to see him this summer, but my parents wouldn’t pay for it and I didn’t have enough.
“Can’t you cover the rest? You know what it would mean to me, and I’ll pay you back,” I pleaded.
Mom shook her head. “I’m sorry, honey. Your father said absolutely no way. He doesn’t want you going that far alone.”
“But I wouldn’t be alone there!” Jacob would take me in even if I didn’t call him first.
“Elizabeth, he made up his mind before he left. Maybe when he gets back there will be time to--”
“Forget it.”
I stomped into my room and slammed the door shut. Then thought of talking to Mrs. Lindsey about it. I was eighteen, could go where I wanted--just didn’t have the cash. Luck was with me when I went around the corner and found her car in the driveway.
Opening the front door, I called out, “Hello?”
“Elizabeth?” Vivian Lindsey walked out of her kitchen.
“It’s me.” I closed the door since the AC was on. “Um, I wanted to ask you something.”
She led me into her living room to the sofa. “What is it, dear?”
“Are you visiting Jacob this summer?”
“Probably…why?”
“I…I’d like to go with you. I haven’t seen him for two years, and once I start college, there might not be time again.”
“Well, Elizabeth, of course I enjoy your company, but have you discussed this with your parents?”
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