Infinite (Strange and Beautiful, Book 1) (20 page)

“Good.
Spanish is more confusing than I thought it would be, and I’ve heard French is
even harder.”

“Ugh,”
Jackson groaned. “It’s a miracle Mrs. Willis has passed me in Spanish each
year. I’m horrible.”

“As
nice as Mrs. Willis is, I don’t think she’d pass you unless you deserved it.”

Jackson
shrugged like he wasn’t so sure.

“Miss
Barkley could stand to be a bit nicer,” I commented, thinking of the latest
paper she returned. I’d spent hours on it, but even with Tierney’s help, I’d
only managed a B. It was frustrating. Stupidly, I’d been so sure it was an A
paper.

“She
is a bit . . .” Jackson seemed to search for the right word.

“Butch?”
I offered. I didn’t mean it in a derogatory way, like Luke might have. She just
seemed incredibly tough, abrasive even.

Jackson
snorted and burst into cacophonous laughter that sounded nothing like his usual
lilt. Once he managed to regain his composure, he smiled over at me with pink
cheeks and sparkling eyes. “Yeah, butch is a good word for her. She can be an
intense hard ass about stuff, but I think she’s a good teacher.”

“Yeah,
I guess that’s true,” I agreed, disinclined to say anything nice about the
teacher that hated me, as we reached my house.

I
unfastened my seatbelt and grabbed my bag from the floor before I got out of
the car. I walked around to the trunk to meet Jackson. He maneuvered by bike
out of the back. “Where does this go?” he asked, placing it on the ground and
closing the trunk.

“Follow
me,” I said, motioning toward the garage. I showed him where to park it before
I motioned for him to follow me into the house through the door in the garage.
“I’ll go get your John Green books.”

“Okay,”
Jackson nodded, following me into the utility room.

“I’ll
be right back,” I assured him before leaving him in the kitchen.

I
considered keeping his books under the pretense of rereading them. It would
have given me a reason to talk to Jackson again, but I knew I probably wouldn’t
reread them right away, so it seemed wrong to keep them under false pretenses.

I
jogged up the stairs and to my room and located the books where I’d left them
on my desk. I looked them over, making sure they were still in pristine
condition. After all, I’d promised to take good care of them, and I didn’t want
him to think I hadn’t appreciated him letting me borrow his books. Once I was
satisfied
Alaska
and
Katherines
were still in perfect condition,
I ran back downstairs to the kitchen. Instead of finding Jackson alone, as
expected, I found Skylar as well.

She
and Jackson were talking, but Jackson turned when my shoe squeaked against the
hardwood floor. I glanced down, grimacing, but, thankfully, I hadn’t left a
scuffmark. Noticing Jackson’s inattention, Skylar turned as well. She didn’t
say anything, though, as I crossed the room and held out the books to Jackson.

 “Thanks
again for letting me borrow these,” I said, smiling. “And thanks for the ride
home.”

“It
was no problem,” Jackson shrugged, smiling slightly, as he took the books. “On
both accounts.”

He
stood there for a moment, holding the books loosely at his side. He glanced
from me to Skylar and then back to me before saying, “Well, I should probably
get going.”

“I’ll
walk you out,” Skylar offered, smiling in a way that I thought was much too
friendly.

Jackson
nodded and we exchanged goodbyes. Then I watched silently as Skylar escorted
him back out through the garage door. Even though it really wasn’t that big of
a deal, I couldn’t help but feel put out. I knew Skylar knew Jackson before me,
but that didn’t mean she had to butt in.

Maybe
I had wanted to walk Jackson out to his car. Maybe I hadn’t been finished
talking to him. Or maybe I was just being immature.

If it
were up to me, I’d always spend the early morning hours sleeping in. While I
wasn’t as much of a grump as Skylar in the morning, I usually couldn’t form any
coherent thoughts until after I had a shower—even if it was just lukewarm.
There were, however, some things worth getting up early for. New clothes
quickly jumped to the top of that list, and I was more than willing to give up
a Saturday morning lay-in.

The
new bras had taken care of the direst need, and I’d found a couple pair of
really cheap jeans on clearance sale at Old Navy. Even though I’d become a bit
more comfortable wearing the tighter t-shirts, it really wasn’t my style. I
also had to borrow a few things from Tegan—namely shoes—to tide me over until
my shopping trip with Mom.

I
hadn’t immediately noticed that my feet had also grown because it wasn’t a huge
difference, but my shoes all felt just a bit tighter when I slipped my feet
inside. I tried to suck it up until the end of the week, but when I developed a
blister, I caved and borrowed a pair of shoes from Tegan. Thankfully, she had
enough shoes that it wasn’t a huge inconvenience to her.

I
invited Tegan to stay over on Friday night and go shopping with Mom and I on
Saturday morning. It was the first time she’d stayed over in a while, so she
immediately noticed the tension between my parents even though they made an
effort during dinner to be less hostile in front of my guest.

“I
know it’s totally cliché, but you could definitely cut the tension with a
knife,” she mused.

“Try
putting up with it daily,” I sighed. “So not fun.”

Tegan
grimaced. I was sure it was a foreign concept for her because her parents
rarely ever fought. Even though this was more extreme than usual, it wasn’t the
first time my parents hadn’t seen eye to eye.

When
Saturday morning arrived, Mom woke Tegan and I at seven. I couldn’t say I was
happy I only got to sleep in about thirty minutes longer than usual, but I
forced myself out of bed and went to tame the beast on top of my head. For
once, I actually got to take a hot shower and it helped to wake me up.

I
took longer than necessary in the bathroom. I was sure that I wouldn’t
regularly get to take hot showers until both of my siblings went away to
college, so it was a rare and enjoyable pleasure that I wasn’t going to take
for granted.

Back
in my room, Tegan was dressed but dozing on my bed. She was normally pretty
chipper in the morning, but we’d stayed up late last night, watching a Wes
Craven horror movie marathon. Even though I watched most of the movies through
my fingers, it was too good to resist.

 After
reawaking Tegan, we went downstairs to meet Mom.

“I
think we’ll stop for breakfast,” she said, glancing up from her purse, when we
wandered into the kitchen. “I don’t feel like cooking this morning. What sounds
good?”

I
didn’t even have to think before I answered. “IHOP!”

Mom
glanced at Tegan, who nodded her agreement. Then she smiled and pulled her
purse up over her shoulder. “Well, get your shoes and let’s go.”

We
didn’t often go out to eat—especially for breakfast—other than on special
occasions, so I was pretty excited when the waitress sat the stuffed French
toast combo in front of me.

Mom
got a ham and cheese omelet, and Tegan got the pick-a-pancake platter. By the
time we were all finished eating, I was stuffed and, even though the day had
hardly begun, ready to go back to bed.

We
arrived at the mall early enough to beat the crowds. We stopped in several
stores and found several good sales to help replenish my wardrobe. By the time
we were finished, the trunk was packed to maximum capacity.

Mom
also let me pick out a few CDs as my birthday gifts. I got Boys Like Girls’
self-titled debut album, Bee Lee’s Awake Is the New Sleep, and Paramore’s All
We Know is Falling.

Tierney
introduced me to Ben Lee’s music. He was one of her favorite musicians, and it
was almost always my first request when I was listening to music over at the
Tylers’ house. I decided maybe it was time for me to get my own copy to listen
to at home.

Stevie
had inadvertently introduced me to both Boys Like Girls and Paramore. She
always seemed to know about bands before anyone else, and I’d heard her playing
both while hanging out with Skylar. Even though I found Stevie somewhat
intimidating, I’d been curious enough to ask her about them. Skylar had been
annoyed by my mere presence, but Stevie didn’t seem to mind. She was always all
too happy to talk about music.

We
stopped at Subway to pick up lunch for ourselves and everyone else. Subway was
one of Mom’s favorite places to eat. She claimed it was because it was
healthier than most places. I didn’t know if that was the truth or not. I
usually got the chicken and bacon ranch melt without the green peppers and onions
on wheat bread. I lacked adventure in my Subway experience.

At
home, Tegan and I ate in my room and while listening to Boys Like Girls. Then
we talked as we sorted through the old clothes in my dresser and closet. Mom
came up to my room as we were putting the clothes that were too small into bags
to be taken to Goodwill.

“I’m
going to the grocery store,” she said. “Is there anything specific you’d like
me to get?”

“Hot
Pockets and Twinkies,” I answered. It was my usual request.

Mom
usually bought both in bulk because they seemed to be popular around our
household. Although that seemed to be the case with most anything that was
ready to eat or could be made in the microwave. Those items were the first to
go once dinnertime was shoved back almost two hours.

Luke
had been complaining about there being no food since Wednesday, and when Skylar
got home on Thursday night, she griped, “Where are the Ho Hos?”

“Well,
I’m looking at one,” Luke quipped.

“Asshole.”
Skylar smacked him on the arm while he guffawed like a hyena.

If
our parents had been around, he never would have said such a thing, but because
I was still irked at her, I actually smiled a little at Luke’s stupid comment.

Once
the complaints about the bare cupboard and refrigerator made it to Mom, she’d
promised she would go grocery shopping over the weekend. I rattled off a few
other items of less importance before Mom announced she’d be back in a few
hours.

Tegan
and I returned to the bags of new clothes, and once they were removed from
their bags and folded or placed on hangers, we put them away and collapsed on
my bed.

“It’s
been a long morning,” Tegan yawned as “Me, You and My Medication” played softly
in the background.

“I
concur,” I said, thinking of
Catch Me If You Can
, which I’d watched with
Mom the other night, as my eyes grew heavy and sleep quickly overtook me.

When
I woke up again, it was a little after three, and Tegan was still fast asleep.
I sat up and stretched, listening to the satisfying pop of my bones as I shook
away the sleep.

I
took a sip from my Subway cup but made a face when I swallowed the watered down
drink. I stood with the cup in hand and went downstairs to get something else
to drink, hoping Mom had thought to get some canned drinks even though I forgot
to mention it.

I
could hear people talking as I made my way down the stairs. I’d always loved
our staircase. The top half of the stairs sloped right above the main hallway
on the first floor, and there was a landing at the midpoint that wound around
and led down to the front entrance. I’d always considered it the perfect
staircase for making a grand arrival to someone waiting at the front door.

From
the way the voices floated up, I could tell their owners were standing at the
front entrance. It was never an ideal place to have a private conversation
because of the way voices seemed to echo off the openness of the high ceilings
there. I’d heard far too many things from Luke, Skylar and even my parents that
I probably wasn’t meant to—and didn’t want to—hear while they were standing
there.

Curious,
I stopped at the middle landing to listen for a moment, and the owners of the
voices became clearer. I immediately recognized Skylar’s voice, and I thought I
knew the smooth cadence of the second voice, but I was sure I was mistaken. I
peaked around the landing, and, sure enough, standing there at the front door
was Jackson.

Once
my surprise wore off, my first thought was, “Oh my God. I just woke up and
probably have bed head.” I hadn’t looked at myself in the mirror before coming
downstairs to confirm this, but it was usually a pretty sure bet. I quickly
pawed at my hair, trying to smooth it down before I continued down the stairs
while wondering
why
Jackson was here. This would be his second visit in
the span of a week since he’d just been here a couple of days earlier.

The
corners of Jackson’s mouth turned up into a gorgeous grin when he spotted me,
and he raised his left hand in a wave. I lifted my right hand, mirroring him,
in an unsure wave.

Noting
Jackson’s distraction, Skylar turned and the smile that was on her face faded
slightly when she saw me. It turned into her politely annoyed smile. I figured
she didn’t want to bare her bitch teeth with Jackson standing right there.
She’d likely reserve that for later.

I
wasn’t sure why Jackson was here, but from the look on Skylar’s face, I’d
interrupted something. I’d have to apologize later for breathing and living in
her space and disrupting her otherwise perfect insistence. Not!

 “I
was just about to ask if you were around,” Jackson commented as I reached the
front landing.

“Really?”
I tried to curb my surprise, but it wasn’t an easy task with a surge of
happiness rippling through my veins at his words. Jackson Hart actually
wondered about my whereabouts. Why wouldn’t I be giddy?

“Yep,”
he nodded. “I actually stopped by to see if you were doing anything this
evening.”