like it was Christmas and he covered the distance between them with three large steps, grabbing her up into his arms.
“You made it! I’m so glad you got off work early.” Karl grinned like a love-struck fool.
“Hey, Jessica,” I said with a smile. “Glad I won’t be the only girl here—I was beginning to feel outnumbered.” She laughed, which seemed genuine for once.
Everyone else said hello to Jessica between mouthfuls of pizza. The way they were packing it in I’m surprised any was left for her, but she was able to slide a slice onto a napkin before snuggling up to Karl on the couch. I called out the choices of movies and got the biggest response for Candyman.
“Dim the lights!” Jessica commanded. “This one is supposed to be scary.” She moved in closer to Karl.
With the lights turned off, the only brightness that made its way into the room came through the shades that were in Jensen’s opened bedroom. Eerie music began to play through the speakers and everyone quieted down. When the movie started, I followed Jensen back to the couch and sat down right in front of where he was with my legs crossed underneath me. He rubbed my shoulders lightly and kissed my neck.
“You changed,” he whispered, “and I wish you hadn't. There go my thoughts of taking that outfit off you later." He squeezed my shoulder and I felt my stomach twinge in response. Turning around, I kissed him quickly and he told me that he loved me. “I don’t think I told you how beautiful you look today,” he whispered into my ear, his breath moving a few of my hairs and tickling my skin. “When your hair’s this way it does things to me—I love it.” His whisper was just low enough so only I could hear. I felt my face blush and was glad we were under dim lighting.
Moving his arms down to circle my waist, I snuggled closer and put my head back against his chest, content to just be close to him. We stayed that way through both Candyman and Sneakers, but by ten o’clock I decided to call it a night and go on home; Sliver and Singles would have to wait. I figured Karl, Gabe, and Tyler would more than likely spend the night with Jensen, whom they hadn’t spent a whole lot of time with since school let out. I’d see them all again in the morning. I hoped none of them thought I had monopolized too much of his time.
Jensen walked me out to my truck after I finished saying goodnight to his friends and his parents who had just come home. I hopped inside and let my legs dangle outside of the open door. A Scorpions song quietly played on the radio as I reluctantly said goodbye to Jensen.
“I’ll miss you,” he said as he nuzzled my neck with his nose and held me around the waist. His lips found mine and I held his face with my hands. We continued to kiss until Gabe's incessant yelling for Jensen broke the moment. “Be there in a sec,” Jensen yelled back, then turning to me he murmured, “Jesus, Gabe can be so impatient.”
“They probably want to play Sega. What else are you guys going to do other than stay up all night? You won’t watch Sliver and Singles without me, will you?”
“Well, we might, but you and I can watch them again tomorrow. Are you coming over for breakfast?”
“Well, I think you need to have time with your friends and I hijacked that tonight. I also have to register for school tomorrow. I’ll come over in the afternoon when I’m finished.”
“Deal.” He moved in to kiss me and I covered the rest of the distance between our lips.
Krissa’s last name starts with the letter V so she was scheduled to register before I was, and since I had to wait to register, I had to rely on Krissa to pick out a good locker. Krissa knew which areas to stay away from, so hopefully she was able to find one that we both liked, although I had completely forgotten to tell her that the locker sharing situation had changed. I looked for her after walking into the commons area after finding a parking spot that was a little too far away for my taste.
“Mia!” Looking to my left I saw Krissa running toward me with the chair she had been sitting in a moment earlier still rocking slightly from its near-miss with the floor.
“Hey! You been waiting long?”
“Well, sort of. I just wanted to let you know where we got our locker. Aria called me yesterday and said she was sharing with Nate while you and I would be sharing. She also said he got a locker in the English wing along with Alicia. I figured we’d all want to be close to each other so …” she trailed off, looking up to detract from the fact we would be in the English wing. She didn’t know that I was already resigned to that fact.
“Shit, sorry, I forgot to call you and tell you about the change in the locker situation."
"Jensen?" Krissa asked with a smirk.
"Who else?" I grinned. "About the English wing … look, Krissa, it’s OK. I figured that’s where we’d be yesterday when I was here with Alicia and Nate showed me his locker.”
“Oh, you were here yesterday?” She seemed surprised.
“Yeah, I came with Alicia and then we had senior pictures in the afternoon.”
“Oh, Aria didn't mention that."
"She didn't? We were all at Heritage together after Alicia and Nate registered." How odd of her not to mention to Krissa that she'd seen me yesterday.
"Do you want me to wait so we can check out our locker together?”
“You don’t have to. I mean, if you have somewhere to be.”
“Hell, I waited this long,” Krissa figured, “It’s probably just another fifteen-to-twenty minutes tops.”
“Alright, let me get in there and get this over with.”
After leaving Krissa and making my way to the first table, I then followed the rest of the pack through the gym saying hello to those I recognized and listening to the mumbles and groans of the typical end-of-summer complaints. Like many others students who were there, I shuffled my way through and forced a smile for my junior picture. I hadn’t done my hair like I did for my senior picture. Instead, I had just pulled it up into a ponytail. My clothes were also the normal everyday teenage outfit: jeans and the same B.U.M. Equipment sweatshirt I had worn to Jensen’s house the previous day. There was also a different photographer and I didn’t have to sit there for long—it was a ‘snap’ and get up and move out of the way for the next person. From there I went to the next station where locker assignments were given out and told the lady who greeted me I was sharing with Krissa VanKamp. I crossed my fingers that it was a good one.
Krissa was eagerly anticipating my return to the commons area and jumped up when she saw me emerge from the gym. I briskly walked over and soon we were off to check out our new digs that turned out to be in the carpeted area on the opposite side of where Nate and Aria would be sharing. I dialed the combination, and after a second of peering in I slammed the door.
“Alright, seen one locker, seen ‘em all.”
“I guess,” Krissa agreed.
“You probably want to get back to the few days you have left with Ryan. Jensen leaves in two days and it’s starting to really hit me,” I confessed, feeling sad.
“Yeah, Ryan leaves next week. I can’t imagine being at the tail end
