a little but kept her gaze. “Um…just know…I would…never do that to you…um…you deserve better.” He hesitated, “You know if you are looking for a nice guy um well you know where to find one.” He finished almost in a whisper as he lost his nerve looking away.
Beth sat for a second and then replied, “I know.”
Wes turned back to look at her. She put her hand on his cheek and leaned forward. Wes leaned in and their lips met.
Something slammed onto the hood of the car. The two sprang apart. They stared at the man standing in front of the car. The headlights illuminating him as he stood reaching toward them. He held his arms outstretched over the hood. His face just barely visible in the dim light, looked bruised and beaten but pale. The man’s hands came down on the hood again, his nails scratching at the paint.
Wes got the message, quickly putting the car in reverse. He pulled away leaving the man lurching after them. Shaking hands spun the wheel trying to turn the car around, Beth squeaked, hanging onto the seat belt she was trying to put on. Wes slammed into first gear praying it didn’t stall. The car lurched then caught. He pushed his foot to the floor, leaving the man stumbling after them in the fading red of the taillights.
“Damn.” He said, shaken by the man’s anger. He checked his rear view often. “That dude was pissed.”
Beth placed her hand over his. “Karen said that when she and Dave were out here last week, they were chased off by a crazy old guy. She said he was screaming about kids and music and stuff.” She laughed nervously.
“Yeah, well knowing Karen, old dude had a point.” Wes laughed. “I guess she’ll have to find a new place to…um…hang out?”
Beth sat back in the seat and laughed. “Maybe she should hook up with Corey.”
“I heard she already did.” Wes laughed.
Beth spun in the seat to face him, “Really? God! That lying bastard.” Beth spat out.
They spent several minutes thoroughly trashing Corey. When they pulled into their development, Wes glanced sideways at Beth, “What were you thinking?” He asked.
“I wondered when you were going to get there.” Beth sighed. “To answer, I guess I wasn’t.” She shook her head. “I went with looks and popularity over personality. I just hope my new boyfriend will always like me for me and not because I look good with his car.” She finished as Wes pulled into her driveway. “Then again, I’m not sure anyone would look good with this car.” She laughed
“Funny, you were happy to see it earlier.” Wes grumbled pulling into the driveway. Beth began to unclasp the seat belt. She reached for the door handle when Wes spoke up. ”“Um hey, Beth?”
‘Yeah?”
“Would you like to….um….Ya know, I just kissed you and stuff….Damn it!” Wes took a deep breath as Beth smiled at him. “Can we start dating? I mean… yeah…I want to be more than…you know freindzoned. ” Wes stumbled. Cringing at himself he looked hopefully at her.
“Wes, I don’t kiss guys I’m not dating, just so you know.” She stated trying to act angry but failing through the laughter. She leaned over and kissed him again laughing through the entire kiss.
“No…No I didn’t think you would.” Wes smiled. He leaned over and kissed her. She reached in the back and grabbed her wet clothes.
“Come over tomorrow to get your hoodie?” She asked turning back to face him.
“Yeah, sounds good. What time?” He smiled.
“Come by for lunch. Maybe we can catch the movie tomorrow.” She said and kissed him goodnight. She was barely out of the car when her phone rang. She looked at the number then over at Wes.
“It's my ex. I think I’ll let it go to voice mail. See you tomorrow.” She closed the door. Wes watched her go through the front door. Sure she was safe, he headed home, a huge smile on his face.
Wes’ head was spinning with the night’s events as he pulled up to his house. His room was above the garage, an addition that was put on in the sixties and still retained some of that character. Outlines of huge flowers could still be seen in the paint of what Beth had dubbed the Scooby Room. The rest of the house was a small post Second World War ranch. It wasn’t as big, or nice as the houses in Beth’s part of the neighbor hood that was built in the nineties. He had always been slightly embarrassed about the place, but tonight he could only sit and smile at it.
“Finally! Finally she sees me. I can’t believe she likes me!” He told his car, rubbing the faded and cracked dash affectionately.
It wasn’t until the front porch light flicked on that Wes turned the key. He smiled as he listened to the tired engine sputter and die. He leapt out of the car, bounding to the front door. He gave his mom a kiss on the cheek as she moved out of his way to let him in.
“How’s Beth?” Wes’ stepfather, Reggie, asked as he gave a small cough. Reggie rubbed his throat and grimaced.
“Great! Just great. I’m gonna call it a night.” Wes bid his mother and stepfather good night.
“What? I thought there was some kind of trouble….” His mother yelled after him as he took the stairs to his room two at a time. He thought about seeing Beth tomorrow making him smile all the more.
“There was, but everything is great now.”
More of a Bad Night
Corey’s little red sports car screeched to a halt causing several of the people standing around the parking lot to jump out of the way. Lance slapped Wayne on the back and nodded toward Corey’s car, the outline of a lone occupant silhouetted by the security light of the nearby building.
“Guess she could resist him.” Lance laughed while grabbing a couple of beers from inside his own car.
“So, how was she, studly?” Wayne laughed as Corey slammed his door harder than was necessary. Corey responded by giving Wayne the finger as Lance pressed a beer into his other hand.
“So, the date ended early? She didn’t even want to come to Linda’s party, huh?” Lance asked while downing his drink.
Corey opened the beer taking a long drink, “Don’t know. I left her ass out at Troll Bridge.”
“Dude! That is cold.” Wayne laughed.
Corey just gave him a disgusted look. Lance cocked his head to one side. “Dude that was uncool, you need to go get her.” He finished his beer then reached for another.
“She made it clear she did not want to be in the car with me.” Corey drained his own beer flicking away the empty can. Wayne continued to laugh as he passed him another.
“Come on, man. Let’s go get her. If she doesn’t want to ride with you, I’ll drive her home.” Lance said with a slight slur followed by a long loud belch.
“Or maybe she’ll come to Linda’s and we can change her mind.” Wayne ventured an evil grin spreading across his face.
“Dude,
