Bittersweet Sixteen (A Dodie Jenks Novel) (13 page)

I took a deep breath as the thought of that one percent hit home. I looked into his green eyes and knew I couldn’t wait a moment more. Leaning into him, I pressed my lips to his. He started to pull away, but instead, pulled me closer to him, returning the kiss.

I closed my eyes and laid my head on his shoulder listening to the thudding of his heart which matched my own. Now if I died I’d at least have kissed a boy. And not just any boy. I’d kissed Leopold.

Chapter Twenty-One

I woke the next morning with Sasha snoring beside me. I don’t know what time she came to bed because after our kiss Leopold had left as fast as he could. He’d looked shocked afterwards and I could tell he’d been caught off guard by it. So obviously I had shielded my thoughts from him. At least he hadn’t tried to apologize for the kiss. I don’t think I could have taken it if he had.

Not wanting to wake Sasha up, I slipped out of bed quietly and took my clothes into the bathroom to shower. When I emerged twenty minutes later she was sitting up in bed, texting on her phone.

“Good morning.”

“Hi,” she didn’t look up from her phone as her fingers flew over the buttons.

“You ready for breakfast? I’m sure Leopold has something made by now.”

“He cooks?”

“Sure. He makes the best cinnamon rolls I’ve ever tasted.”

“Well, he’s pretty amazing for someone our age. No wonder Brody and Anson don’t like him.”

“Is that what they told you?”

“Not in those words. But after listening to them I gathered as much. It’s pure, simple jealousy. Anson is eaten up with it and Brody is like under his spell, sitting in the front row of the Amen corner, shouting hallelujah. I’ve never seen anything like it and believe me I’ve dealt with a lot of personalities and egos over the years being a cheerleader.”

She got out of bed finally and walked toward the bathroom, grabbing her bag off the floor. “Are you all done in here?”

“Yeah.”

“Brody is taking me into town later. Do you want to come?”

I thought about that for a second. I wouldn’t mind spending more time with her and getting to know her better, but I did have homework. “I’ve got a book I have to finish reading for Monday so I can write a comparative paper on the two books we’ve read this month. I better stay here and work on that. Ms. Pritz would not be pleased if I requested an extension.”

“Suit yourself, but if you change your mind you’re more than welcome to come.” She closed the bathroom door and my stomach growled.

The thought of Leopold possibly making cinnamon rolls again kept running through my mind and made my mouth water. I hurried down the stairs and found him sitting at the dining room table drinking coffee with my father. They were talking, which was a good sign in my opinion, but stopped when I entered the room.

“Good morning, pumpkin.” Dad sat at the head of the table in Grandma’s chair this morning and he reached his arm out for me to hug him.

I obliged, leaning down to kiss him on the cheek. “Mom and Grandma still out shopping?”

“Yes. I don’t expect them back for several more hours. They drove into Dover to the mall there.”

I looked over to Leopold. “What’s yummy for breakfast today?”

“I’ve got muffins and fruit juice. I felt going light this morning after all the food that was eaten yesterday would be best. Have a seat and I’ll go get it for you.”

“Thanks.” I took the chair next to my dad. “Did you sleep well?”

“Actually I did. First time all month. I credit it all to my talk with Leopold yesterday. He explained his plan to us and it took a load off my mind to know what he was going to do.”

“And that is?”

Dad shook a finger at me. “He told me how you’re being watched and how it isn’t wise for you to know the details beforehand because it could put you in danger.”

“I see.” I couldn’t help but frown. This
was
my life we were talking about. Didn’t I have a right to know how things would go down to save it?

Dad leaned forward. “Dodie, while Leopold is out of the room, I was hoping to talk to you about him. I’ve seen the way you look at him and I’m sure he is the reason you think you want to stay here with mother once this is over, but surely you know he will be leaving after the curse is broken. He will move on. He’ll be out of your life. You do not want to get too attached to him.”

I blinked, not believing what he was telling me.
Attached?
Is that really what he thought my feelings for Leopold were? He’s a person, not a pet. My feelings for him went deeper than that.

“Here you go,” Leopold said, coming back into the room. He set a plate with two golden brown muffins that had caramelized sugar on the top before me and a glass of juice. “Be sure to drink all of the juice. I made it myself.”

“You’ll love those muffins. I had three.” Dad picked up the newspaper and opened it.

I tried to smile, but I couldn’t stop feeling like my parents were from Mars. First, they ignored Grandma’s warning about the curse, waiting until now to do something about it. Second, they were clearly more concerned with my education than the prospect that I could die. Now, when it was clear that I had interests in a boy, the first boy I’ve ever had a real crush on, my dad wants to brush my feelings under the rug and pretend it’s nothing more than an attachment.

Leopold watched me closely. I felt his stare before I even looked up at him. A brow was arched over one eye as he studied me.

“This looks wonderful. And you made the juice yourself?”

He nodded. “It’s a combination of several fruits. Let me know what you think.”

I reached for it and took a drink. There was a natural sweetness that I tasted immediately and a hint of cinnamon, his signature flavor. I smiled, peeling the paper skirt off the muffin and cutting into it with my fork. A gooey filling the color of custard oozed out. I dipped the tines of the fork in it and brought it to my mouth, tasting it. Sure enough it was custard with a hint of lemon and orange flavorings. I quickly cut another bite off the muffin feeling safe that today was not an observation day and this was not a test. Hadn’t my father said he’d eaten three of them?

I drained my juice glass. “Can I have more?”

“Sorry. That’s all the juice there is. I’ll make more for tomorrow.”

“Okay.” I stood and took my empty dishes into the kitchen. Leopold followed me. I glanced over my shoulder and smiled at him. “I’m going to get a bottle of water. Do you want one?”

“No. And you really shouldn’t drink anything just yet.”

I set my dishes on the counter and turned to look at him. “Why not?”

He clasped his hands behind his back and took a step toward me. “Because I put something in your juice. I needed to see how you reacted to it.”

“But I’m thirsty.”

“A side effect.”

“Are there other possible side effects?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ve never done this before so I can’t be sure.”

“So I’m your guinea pig?”

“Yes, but I have no choice. We have only a week to break the curse.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. “Don’t remind me. I’m so tired of this curse. I wish I’d never heard about it.”

“Don’t be upset. If I could do this any other way I would.” He came forward, tilted my chin upwards so I was looking at him, then he leaned down and brushed his lips against mine.

I ran my hands up his chest and wrapped my arms around his neck, stepping into his embrace as he circled my waist with his arms. It felt wonderful to be held so close to him and I couldn’t believe he’d refused to acknowledge our feelings all because we needed to keep our heads focused.

He moved his mouth from my lips to my ear and whispered, “I don’t want to lose you, Dodie.”

“I don’t want to lose you either,” I murmured, laying my head against his shoulder.

“Then promise me that no matter what happens you will do everything within your power to not lose faith in me. You must believe even if the odds are stacked against me.”

“I promise.”

He pulled back and looked me square in the eye. “Don’t just say it, Dodie. Mean it.”

His plea reminded me of Tinkerbell in Peter Pan when she implored the audience to believe in fairies. “I do mean it, with all my heart, Leopold. I have all the faith in the world in you.”

He crushed me to him and I inhaled, breathing him in, amazed that he even smelled like cinnamon.

The sound of the kitchen door swiping against the floor as it swung open gave little warning that we were no longer alone. But the guttural sound of my father clearing his throat jarred us enough that we broke apart. I turned around and busied myself putting the dishes in the top rack of the dishwasher.

“Sorry to interrupt. I just came in to refill my coffee cup and to see if Dodie would want to spend the day together.”

“What do you have in mind?” I shoved my hands in the back pockets of my jeans. “I have some homework I wanted to finish for Monday, but I can spare time for my dad.”

“Anything you want to do. Leopold can come too.”

“Thanks, Mr. Jenks, but I’ll have to pass. I have to run some errands today to prepare for next week. I’ll be back by five.”

“Really? What about possible side effects?”

“Benadryl. And you can drink water now.” He backed out of the kitchen and was gone.

Dad poured his coffee. “I didn’t mean to run him off.”

“I don’t think you did. He’s a little socially awkward at times because he was accelerated in school and went to college at a young age.”

“What’s this about side effects?”

“He put something in my juice to see how I’d handle it as he prepares for next week. There could be side effects, but he isn’t sure. The main one I’ve noticed is that I was thirsty, but I had to wait a while before I could drink anything.”

“And the hugging?” Dad leaned against the counter. “He was hugging you yesterday after you almost went face first into the entry table and now I find you hugging a few minutes ago.”

“I tend to get emotional. I think I have a right to be a little irrational at times under the circumstances. It’s a lot to deal with knowing that I could be alive one second and dead another.”

“Dodie, the curse may be looming over your head making you contemplate your mortality, but everyone has death knocking on their door. We were all born and we will all die. No one knows their appointed hour.”

“Yeah, well, I have one hundred sixty eight hours until I answer that door.”

“Enough talk about death. What would you like to do today? Just you and me. We don’t have to leave the house if you don’t want to. In fact, if you need to read your book I can read too. We can sit in front of the fireplace and read together. Then we can raid the refrigerator at lunch time and have left over turkey sandwiches.”

“With cranberry sauce oozing out of the sandwich?”

“You remember?” He looked as surprised as he sounded.

“Of course. It’s always been a Black Friday lunch favorite of mine. Why’d we stop doing it?”

He shrugged. “I guess I thought you’d outgrown it when you started going shopping with your mom instead of staying home with me.”

“Nope.” I smiled. “I’ll get my book and race you to the living room. The last one there has to stoke the fire.”

I raced out of the room determined to beat him back down and be already sitting in the armchair reading when he walked in. However, even though I’m a pretty fast sprinter, he somehow was waiting in the living room when I arrived.

He looked up from his book and grinned. “What took you so long?”

I quickly recalled the sounds I’d heard when I went upstairs, but counted only mine. “Did you already have your book in here?”

“Guilty as charged, but don’t worry, sweetie, I stoked the fire for you.”

I grimaced and sat down in the armchair facing the fire and noticed a cup of hot chocolate sitting on the table between the chairs for me. “Thanks.”

“Don’t mention it. So what fascinating literature are you reading?”

I showed him the cover.

“The Great Gatsby.”

“Yeah. And I have to compare it to
The Natural.
Two totally different types of books, yet they have one thing in common.”

“What’s that?”

“The actor Robert Redford starred in the movie version of both. My tutor Ms. Pritz just loves Robert Redford.”

Dad chuckled. “Interesting assignment. Where did my mother find this tutor?”

I shrugged. “You should see her. She reminds me of Delores Umbridge from the Harry Potter books because she is always wearing pink and she dresses like she’s still in the fifties wearing pearls with everything.”

“She sounds like quite the character. Is she foreign? I don’t believe I’ve ever heard the name Pritz before.”

“She doesn’t have an accent, though she does speak very proper. She’ll be very upset if I don’t have this assignment completed because we’ve had a light week in lessons since Grandma took me for a driving lesson on Monday.”

“Mother did what?”

“She taught me how to drive this week.”

“But…how’d you do?”

“Very well. I didn’t wreck the car. We practiced in the church parking lot in town before I drove on the road. I felt comfortable behind the wheel which helped. Then we parked at the Soda Fountain and had lunch. Tuesday and Wednesday Ms. Pritz showed the movie versions of both books in lieu of my classes. She felt it was imperative that I see the screenplay adaptations of the books.”