Falling - On the Banks of Lake Saint Clare (Falling - Book One) (7 page)

We walked over to the picnic table and started eating. I was getting so annoyed listening to Erica
’s
non-stop talking
. Her topic at the moment was reality shows. I couldn’t tell if Derek was really interested or had the best poker face I had ever seen.
 

I was too nervous to eat, but didn’t want to be that girl that picked at her food and said she was full after three bites. Erica, on the other hand was s
c
arfing down her food and reaching over for mine.
             
Michael looked at me for a reaction. “That’s just her.” I explained.
             
After we ate, I wanted to get away from Erica. She had not stopped talking the entire time. Derek didn’t seem to mind. If he did, he was nice enough to not say anything.
             
“You want to walk around?” I asked.
             
“Sure,” he said, picking up our trash. I grabbed our drinks and we started
walking
toward the water.
             
“You like it here? I mean the area in general?”

“It’s not
Dallas
.”

“That, it’s not. I have never gotten lost in this area. Although, I have lived here my entire life. Ok, you asked about me last night, let me hear about you. All I know is that you are extr
emely tall,
an excellent athlete
,
and my dad wants to marry you.”
             
He laughed. “Hmm, where do I begin? I was born a little black baby. Is that to far back?”

“No!” I smiled
,
“Go on.”
             
“Well, I grew up
in
Plano
, a town
outside of
Dallas
.
It’s
nicer than
Dallas
is really. My mom is a high school teacher. You might have her next year. She teaches English and like I told yo
u before, my dad is a surgeon.”

“Why does Derek live with you?”

“His dad is stationed in Kosovo in the military and his family had the opportunity to go over there to be with him. Derek really had no desire to go overseas his senior year. We are trying to get scholarships to college, so we offered to let him stay with us.”

“That leads me to my next question. How old are you?”

“I’m 18 and I’ll be a senior.”

“Shouldn’t you have graduated already?”

“I have one more semester. My Dad went to
Africa
to help start up a hospital. My mom and I went so I was out of school for
a few
months. It was worth it though. I met a lot of great people over there.”

“What kind of scholarship do you want?”

He reached over and started holding my hand,
“I love playing basketball. That’s how Derek and I became best friends. We met at a basketball camp when we were ten and just stayed best friends. We spend all our free time on the court. We have a lot of other things in common also, not just basketball.”

“May I ask you something,” I asked nervously.

“Anything.”

“Why did you ask me out when you know you are going to marry Hailey?” I smiled.

He laughed, “First of all, I don’t know Hailey, but know her type.
But I am literally going to text her when I get home and stuff,” he said sounding exactly like Hailey.

“That was awesome,” I laughed. “I have to
make that
my
ring tone
!”

“Deal,” he smiled
.
“
Second, I thought you were breathtaking the first time I saw you at the store.”

“You remember me
from
the store?” I asked surprised.

“Oh gosh, yes. I told my mother that I had to find out who you were. I thought about you all day and all night. I even went into the store to ask if they knew you
,
but all I had to go by was a tiny girl with long blondish brown hair with a killer body. Not the right thing to ask people at a grocery store. Then I saw you at the ballpark. I asked Travis who you were. He said he was your neighbor and Coach’s daughter. You showed up later at practice. I couldn’t concentrate on practice because I was watching you.”

“Yeah right,” I said. So it was him in the store. Sweet
!

“I thought you and Brad were going out. He knew everything about your house and everything about you. He talked about you in the dugout. But then, I found out the entire team hangs out at your house all the time and decided I needed to try to get you on a date.”

“I’m so glad you did,” I blushed.

“Is it true you have never been kissed,” he asked, throwing me off guard again.

“Yeah,” I blushed more. “I never felt the time was right or the person didn’t make me click.”

He stopped walking and took my hand and looked me in the eyes, “Do I
, Alex
? Do I make you click?”

My knees started shaking and going weak. “Yes, Michael, you very much make me click.”

He smiled and started walking again

What? No kiss? I was so ready!

We walked along the lake, talking and laughing. He was really intelligent and I, like his mother, thought he was hilarious. He would pick up a hand full of rocks and as we walked he’d throw one at a time into the water. The magical moment was broken by my alarm on my phone going off.

“
Sorry,
I have to call my mom
,
” I apologized. “They are on a business convention thing and I ha
ve to check in at 8 every night
.”

“That’s fine. I’m going to run up and grab a blanket out of the car.”

“How sweet,” I thought, watching him jog up the hill.

“Hey, Mom. How’s
Utah
?”

“Just beautiful,”
s
he said. “The mountains are fascinating. I think we are going to move here.”

“No way,” I said, looking at Michael getting into the trunk. “I’m happy here.”

“Me too. So how are things at Erica’s? Are you two watching a marathon of Project Runway?”

“No,” I said, wondering if I should continue telling her where I was.

“Really?” she asked sounding surprised.

I heard noise in the background. “Where are you all? There is a lot of noise there.”

“It’s the hospitality room. It’s actually been a good time here. We have met a lot of
fun
people.”

“I bet there isn’t anything more exciting than a hospitality room full of grocery store owners. I am so jealous.” I figured if I focused on what she was doing she would forget to ask what I was doing. We had never discussed when I could start dating. I was a bit worried she would be disappointed.

“What’s the topic this year,
e
nd cap design?”

“You read the itinerary, didn’t you,” she laughed.

“No, I swear. It was a wild guess.”

“I don’t believe you,” she laughed again. “Did I leave you enough money?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Hey, I’m going to let you go get back to your thing. I don’t want you to miss out on frozen food friend or foe.”

I loved hearing my mom laugh. “You didn’t tell me what you were doing,” she said instead of hanging up.

“I’m actually at the lake
, kind
of on a date.”

“A date?” She asked.

I couldn’t read her reaction from her voice. “With whom?”

“Michael. But it’s a double date. Erica is with Derek
.
”

“Where are you?” she asked, her voice still not changing in tone.

“We went to
the Double D
and then came down to the lake. Mom, it’s fine. We are walking around.
Michael is a super sweet guy.”

“Michael? The new boy in town?”

“That would be the one
.
”

She was quiet for a few minutes. “Ok,
”
she finally said, “Your father has had nothing but great things to say about him. Don’t stay out too
late and keep your phone on you. Call
if you have any trouble what so ever.”

“Yes ma’am
,
” I said, knowing she hated being called that.

“I mean it, Alex. I am not prepared for you to be dating. Not fond of it at all.”

“Ra
chel was 13 when she started to date
. I’m 17.”

“I know, but you’re my baby. I always feel like I need to be more protective of you than Rachel. Rachel could beat the crap out of most guys in town. And also, this makes me feel extremely old. So thanks a lot for ruining my trip.” I could tell by her voice she was smiling.

“Now I feel guilty. Have fun, don’t worry about me. Michael is waiting in the backseat for me. I gotta go.”

“Cute, Alex
, v
ery cute.”

“Love you, Mom.”

“Love you too,
B
abe.”

I turned around and saw Michael was standing behind me. “Backseat?” He smiled
, the crooked smile, I was loving more and more.

“You weren’t supposed to hear that,” I laughed.

“What’s going on up there?” I asked, pointing at Derek and Erica.

I took the other half of the blanket and we started to spread it out on the ground a few feet from the water.

“I think they are getting along,” he said, glancing up there. “He didn’t say our bail out word when I walked by.”

“Bail out word?” I asked confused.

“When we need help getting out of a situation or away from someone, we have a word. I have to pay him back from the other night at the party. I must have said the word twenty times when your dad had me cornered. I wanted to talk to you, but he kept smiling and walking on by.”

“What’s the word?”

“I can’t tell you. What if I have to use it?”

I slapped his arm. “Quit,” I laughed. “I am very insecure about being here with you to begin with. Don’t go saying rubber duck at a random time or I will start crying.”

“How’d you know the word,” he laughed, kicking off his
hi-tops
.

He sat down on the blanket and held his hand out to me. I put my hand in his and sat down beside him. My heart started beating so hard I wondered if he could hear it.

“What’s the word?” I asked again nervously.

He held up his hand and put mine against his, comparing the size. “Your hands are so tiny
,
”
h
e said, looking at my eyes.

I looked down and took a deep breath. We were so close, touching each other’s hands and I was worried my heart was going to pound out of my chest.

I looked back up noticed that my hand fit inside his palm perfectly. It almost looked like a child’s hand against his. I was embarrassed and felt my face turn red.

He took his hand away from mine and lay back on the blanket. I could see the sun setting and it was amazing. He rolled on his side propping his head with his hand and placed the other hand on my knee. I felt a rush go through my body, up and down my leg. My heart was pounding so hard it was hard to hear
anything
. I could tell I was breathing heavily.

“You okay?” He asked, sounding concerned.

“I’m scared to death,” I admitted before I knew I said it.

“Do you want to leave?” He sat up looking worried.

I sighed, “Not at all. I am so sorry. You make me nervous.”

He looked like I hurt his feelings.

“I don’t know if I am worried that I am going to do something wrong or something stupid. I like you and I am not a dating expert,’ I managed a grin. “You are so sweet and so freaking good looking.”

“You are so silly,” he smiled. “And you are so freaking good looking,” he mocked. “If you start feeling uncomfortable or want to leave, just tell me. I won’t be mad. I promise.”

I nodded. I looked over and saw Derek and Erica making their way toward us.

“How’s everything going?” Michael asked as they got closer.

“It’s great,” Erica said, “Except it’s a pain in the ass walking down hill with crutches.

“Maybe you should go back up the hill and sit back down,” I hinted, wanting them to leave.

I listened to every word Michael said, wondering if he was saying the “rescue me” word. It had to be something you wouldn’t say in a casual conversation. I was so nervous that I was being extremely immature. I figured he was more mature and worldlier than me, since he lived in a big city. I also didn’t know how experienced he was at dating. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know. I was so jealous thinking that the hand that was just on my knee might have been on another girl at one time.