A while later, she heard the garage door open. Probably her dad. She noticed how her hurt feelings about being stood up by him had been melted away by her interest in Jake. She glanced at the time. It surprised her how long she had been thinking about her new potential friend. A stranger who earlier today had no place in her life.
She put her phone down. Opening her door, she walked down the stairs to say hi to her dad. He smiled as best he could, but she read the exhaustion in his eyes. He apologized again. Said he would make it up to her. Whatever she wanted. She said that would be fine. She knew the routine. He went to the kitchen for a drink—whisky, his favourite—and headed for the couch.
Abby went back upstairs. Looked at Jake’s picture again.
And wondered what kind of person he was.
chapter two
He was the first thought on her mind when her alarm clock woke her at 6 a.m.
Normally she would have touched the snooze button. Normally she would have gone back to sleep. But she didn’t normally receive friend requests.
Not from guys like Jake.
She looked at his picture. Felt an unmistakable connection with him. Like he could breathe a sense of calm into her life. She cycled through his photos, touching the screen longer than she usually did.
What do you know about him? Why did he contact you?
Part of her wondered if he was one of those guys who reach out to dozens and dozens of people to broaden their network of contacts and loosely defined friends. The other part of her wondered if, hoped, it was more than that. Hoped it was real. Hoped he saw something about her that interested him.
It wasn’t until she got into the bathroom and looked in the mirror that she remembered her injured nose. A light blue line ran across the bridge where it was bruised. She touched it. It didn’t hurt. Not that much.
She had other things on her mind.
The morning at school went faster than usual. When her class before lunch ended, she pulled out her phone and gazed at him again. She focused on him with such intent that she didn’t even notice Kedisha walking up to her.
“So how’s Toronto’s latest UFC fighter doing?” Kedisha asked, catching a quick glance of Jake before Abby hid her phone from view.
Abby looked up. Laughed. “Good. Doesn’t feel that bad. What’s new?”
“Who’s the guy?”
Abby felt her pulse quicken. Her face flushed. She sensed a rush of blood through her nose. What to say? She raised her shoulders as if it were no big deal. As if he hadn’t been the only thought on her mind since last night.
“Just some guy.”
“I don’t think so. Who is he?”
Abby clicked off her phone, then felt in a strange way that it was disrespectful to do so.
“Want to go for lunch?”
“I’ll meet you there. Need to talk to my band teacher.”
“Sounds good,” Abby said, hoping Kedisha would let it go.
At least until she had sorted Jake out in her own mind.
Abby walked into the crowded cafeteria and for the first time had no concerns about sitting by herself. Leaving her lunch unopened on the table, she put a knee on the bench and kept standing as she studied Jake’s face. Yes or no? Accept or decline? She looked into his eyes. Soft pools of golden brown. Maybe. Maybe this could become something. You never know unless you try.
Abby accepted.
She flicked through his profile to other pictures of him. Skateboarding against a backdrop of the setting sun. A selfie of him in a Mustang. Red. Convertible. One of him at Niagara Falls. With the large Horseshoe Falls behind, of course. That one was her favourite. He seemed so happy. So content. She felt relaxed just looking at him.
A message popped up from him. Her heart jumped.
“Hey, Abby. How are you doing?”
“So, you going to take boxing lessons next?” Kedisha asked with a laugh. Abby clicked off her phone. Part of her was glad to see her; part of her was annoyed that her friend had inadvertently cut short a great moment.
“Boxing? Me? No.”
“You sure? You can take a pretty good beating and keep on ticking.”
“Energizer bunny. That’s me.”
“Some of us are finishing our lunch break out on the field. Want to join us?”
Abby hesitated. It caught Kedisha off guard. Something wasn’t right.
“You go ahead,” Abby said.
“Everything okay?”
“Fine,” Abby replied, her attention already back to her phone, even if she was still looking at Kedisha.
“Okay. If you change your mind, you know where we are.”
The moment Kedisha left, Abby turned back to Jake’s message.
“Doing great. How are you?”
She waited. Was his message a typical one he sent to all the people he reached out to, or was this specific to her? Was this the beginning of greater things to come, or would he fizzle out like the dew on an early morning that the sun burns off, leaving no trace of what was once there?
Abby took out her sandwich. Was about to take a bite.
“I’m well. Thanks for responding. How’s your day going?”
Abby smiled. If there still was a crowd of students making noise in the cafeteria, they had all disappeared as far as Abby was concerned.
The bell rang. What? So soon?
“Going great. Thanks. Gotta run off to class. Chat later?”
She watched. Hoping for a response. Come on. Come on.
“For sure.”
Yes. Abby took her uneaten lunch and put it in her locker. Grabbed her books and headed off to class.
The walk home today felt different. Better. Much better. She stayed focused on her conversation with Jake. She reached her house, passed under the basketball hoop, not noticing it this time, said a quick hello to her mom and went upstairs.
“Hi, Abby,” her mom called out, watching her round the corner up the stairs. “Who are you texting?” she asked, trying to make conversation the way mothers do when they want to stay involved in their children’s lives and have a slight, or possibly exaggerated, fear that perhaps they are drifting apart.
“A friend,” Abby said. She entered her room and closed the door, shutting out her mother.
Abby
