noticed his sculpted physique at the dance, but he shyly skirted around the subject and politely asked about my mother, whom I had to do the obligatory and uncomfortable Thanksgiving dinner with. I told him about her real estate career and touched briefly on our estranged relationship. Jensen was very easy to talk to and I felt like an open book.
The following week at school, Jensen and I sat together each day at lunch and talked mostly about what was happening at school that day. It was nice to spend time with him, and I could feel there was something between us, even though he never made any move to touch me or kiss me. There were a couple of times that I thought he would, but he never did. Come Thursday before I was to get on my bus, he met me at my locker.
“Would you like a ride home?” he asked, leaning against the locker next to mine and half-smiling. My heart skipped a beat and I instantly agreed. At that point I would have followed him anywhere. We started walking and made it all the way outside when I realized I had forgotten a book I needed.
“Jensen, can you wait here a sec? I forgot one of my books in my locker.”
“Actually,” he said, “I can go get my Jeep and pick you up here.”
“I’d like that, thanks.”
“Yeah, I’d like that, too,” he said with his crooked smile. I turned to walk away and he grabbed my hand and pulled me back. “But I think I’d like this even more.”
He tipped my chin up with his right hand and softly kissed me. His left hand wound around my waist, pulling me close. I wound my arms around his neck, holding the back of his head with my hand. His lips were nice and warm, and his tongue was soft as it rolled with mine. The kiss lasted for several minutes and we both felt the need for air as we slowly pulled away. I stepped back and Jensen looked at me a little alarmed.
“Too much? Sorry, I should have asked.”
Now I became panicky. “Oh, no, it was … amazing. I was just caught off guard and lost my balance a little.”
He grabbed my hand and pulled me close as he said, “Good, because I see more of that in our future.” Jensen pulled away to look at me. “That is, if you do too?” His blue eyes seemed to pierce my soul.
“Yes, I … I think I do,” I stammered, suddenly breaking into a large grin.
He pulled me close again, rubbing my arms as I had started to shiver. “It’s cold out here,” he said. “Why don’t you grab your book and I’ll get my Jeep?”
I nodded and raced to my locker, excitement overtaking me. Dialing my combination, I quickly grabbed my book and stuffed it into my book bag. After slamming my locker shut with my foot, I turned and ran down the stairs to the second floor and to the front of the school where I found Jensen waiting in a 1991 Jeep Wrangler hardtop, electrical blue in color. I whistled under my breath a little, slightly impressed with the three-inch lift and large swamp tires. When he saw me coming, Jensen got out of his Jeep and walked to the passenger side to open my door.
“Thanks,” I said awkwardly as he helped me in. I wasn’t used to guys with such manners. As he walked back around to his side, I noticed he had To Be With You playing low in the background. I commented that he must be a fan of Mr. Big, and Jensen only smiled, but offered to change it to something else if I didn’t like them since he had a six-disc changer in the Jeep.
“Wow, nice.” I looked around and saw that he had the whole package with eight-inch Rockford Fosgate speakers installed in the back. “Hopefully you acquired this vehicle by acceptable means.” I gave a sly smile to show I was joking, and he looked at me briefly and smiled his crooked smile before we took off in the Jeep with Mr. Big coming out of the speakers.
“Well, that’s something Aria didn’t tell you about me,” he said, speeding up and shifting into third as we pulled onto the freeway. “So, do you need to go home right away or is it okay if we take a little detour? I’m kind of hungry.”
Without waiting for me to answer, Jensen shifted again, sped up and passed a couple of cars that were going way too slow. Passing by the road that normally took me home, we traveled a couple more miles and got off the freeway before turning toward Front Street where McDonald’s was located. Once inside, we ordered cheeseburgers, fries, one Diet Coke for me, and one Dr. Pepper for Jensen.
“So tell me a little more about yourself,” he said, taking a handful of fries and eating one at a time.
“What do you want to know?” I asked as I unwrapped my cheeseburger and took off the pickles from the rest of the burger, putting them aside.
“Well, first off, do you not like pickles?” he said, eyeing my action.
“Oh, that. You’ll laugh … or be grossed out if I told you. Actually, you might want to take yours out, too.”
“Why?” he asked.
“You really want to know?”
“Of course, especially since I’m doing it and I don’t know why.” Jensen piled his pickles up on the corner of his wrapper just like I had.
“Alright, you asked for it,” I told him, leaning over the table and our food so that I could whisper to him. It was a bit funny to think I was being secretive since we were literally the only customers there.
Jensen listened intently as I told that I’d heard of workers there having pickle fights with one another and then putting the pickles back into the jar they had come from in the first place. When I was finished, Jensen only looked at me with his deep blue eyes like he was working something out. At that point I wished I was a mind reader.
“Mia,” he began with a serious tone, “do you think that your burger is safe by simply removing the pickles? They’ve already touched the other items.”
“Oh, I guess so,” I shrugged, flipping my hair back behind my shoulder. “Now I feel stupid.”
“Don’t,” he said, taking my hand, “I’m just playing with you.”
We sat there and ate the rest of our burgers and fries, talking about and laughing at a number of things. We must have been there about twenty minutes, when out of the corner of my eye the door to the restaurant swung open letting the normal after-school crowd in. Instinctively, I turned to look and almost choked on the fry I was eating. There was Kyle strolling through the open door. Oh, why him?
“Are you alright?” Jensen asked as I coughed, sputtered, and grabbed for my Diet Coke.
It took a moment before I gained my composure once again and looked up to see Kyle place his order. I hoped he wasn’t planning on staying, but my hopes weren’t enough because Jon walked in to join him. They seemed inseparable, like one couldn’t eat without the other. I huffed at the thought, forgetting for a second that Jensen was sitting across from me. He sat back and looked at me.
“Really. Are you okay?”
“Yeah, yeah, I was just thinking that the burger may have been better with the pickles on it.”
Jensen laughed and relaxed back in his seat. I, too, relaxed a little and tried not to think about Kyle who was still up at the counter with Jon. Hopefully they wouldn’t sit nearby.
A
