Solo (6 page)

"Yeah, I'm going for a run; maybe explore the mountains a little."

"Could you put the laundry on your bed away before you go?"

"I'm already on it!" Quickly, I sorted the clothes into piles according to the drawers they belonged in. I wanted to get outside.

In less than five minutes, I was running down the back stairs and into the kitchen to make a quick appearance for my mom's sake. Mom and my grandmother stopped their conversation.

"I've got my phone on me. I'll be back by six-thirty." I bent and kissed my mom's cheek. "Love you."

Mom grinned. "Love you too, honey."

I noticed my grandmother's disapproving expression. I decided I didn't care. I hardly knew the woman, anyway. Her opinion didn't matter to me.

 "Doesn't that girl ever stay home?" I heard my grandmother say as I ran out the door.

"She enjoys the outdoors. It's good for her. She's healthy and fit. You should be thankful she doesn't sit in front of the television or surf the net every waking minute," Mom snapped in my defense.

I put my ear buds in and jogged down the driveway, turning onto the road leading to the endless green mountains. I glanced back at the farmhouse, wondering if I would be able to live in the same house with my grandmother for an entire year.

I ran at a steady pace to keep up with the energetic music and focused on the lyrics so I wouldn't think about anything—or anyone—else. I needed a short break from reality. Before I knew it, I was at an overlook in dire need of oxygen. I paced back and forth, inhaling deeply, trying to catch my breath. I glanced at my cell phone; pleased to see it was only a little after five. The upbeat tempos had pushed me harder today, beating my time from the day before.

For a few minutes I absorbed the breathtaking view while concentrating on lowering my heart rate. Mountains surrounded Myrtle Creek in the heart of the basin. In the distance, a tiny meadow peeking from between the trees, stood between Myrtle Creek and me.

 I closed my eyes and focused on the smell of the pines and listened to the beautiful sounds of chirping birds, rustling leaves, and a river flowing nearby. The moment was unlike anything I had ever experienced. For a second, I regretted hating this place.

When I checked the time, twenty minutes had passed. There was no way I was going be late again, so I started back to my grandparents' house. On the jog down, I came across the skid marks from the night before. Unfortunately, it made me think about Lucas.

Forcing my thoughts back to the small meadow, I figured I'd try to find it on Saturday. If I stayed with Mom tomorrow after school, she wouldn't have issues with me taking an all day hike.

In no time, I was out of the mountains. A familiar dark truck cruised down the road. My first thought was, Lucas Andrews. I turned the music up a few decimals and stared at the ground, which would make it easier to ignore him.

However, at the last minute, I glanced up. Sure enough, there was no denying those aqua eyes complimented by a mind-blowing smile. They belonged to the one-and-only, Lucas Andrews. Our eyes locked.

I slowly faced forward as if I wasn't fazed by him, even though my heart raced and the flutters took over. I decided I needed to find a discreet way to ask Casey for more info on him.

"I'm back," I called when I entered the kitchen. I glanced at the clock: six-twenty. I had ten minutes to spare.

Mom grinned, "Good, change and you can help me set the table."

"I'll be right down."

There was an awkward silence during dinner. I couldn't help but wonder what had been said while I was out. "So, Mom, do you have any plans for tomorrow afternoon?" I asked.

"Nothing that can't be changed. Why? Do you need me to do something?"

"Well, the movie we talked about seeing back in California starts tomorrow. I was just wondering if you'd like to have a mother/daughter date night." I carefully chose my words so no one else would assume they were invited.

"Oh, that sounds like fun," she replied.

"Great, it's a date."

 I finished dinner, helped clear the table, and loaded the dishwasher. My grandmother helped Gramps in the living room. She seemed so nurturing toward him, but so cold toward me. Why? Finally, I escaped upstairs to my room.

Lucas Andrews kept my mind preoccupied when I tried to sleep. I wanted to know more about him. Where did he live? Did he have a girlfriend? What practice was he going to next week? I had found my new reason for school—study hall!

I kept telling myself that I would only be here for a year, but this guy seemed to overpower that fact. I started to think,
what's the harm in becoming friends—just friends
. I decided to compare Lucas to window shopping. You can look; you just can't touch.

I rolled over to see the time. It was one o'clock. I really needed to sleep. I drifted in and out, etching Lucas' features in my mind: light brown hair just long enough to blow in the wind, bright aqua eyes that turned me to mush, and a stunning grin with totally perfect teeth. My fantasy was interrupted by the alarm, which I wanted to throw out the window. I refrained because I knew I would have to replace it.

"TGIF," I groaned, making my way to the bathroom. My eyelids weighed a ton, my legs barely came off the floor, and I moved in a slow shuffle. If I could stand the taste of coffee, I would inhale a triple espresso shot. However, I was a water girl, and unless I dumped ice water over my head, I didn't think it would wake me.

I perked up when I entered the school parking lot and saw the dark blue truck—my own personal triple shot. I hurried into the building hoping to catch a glimpse of Lucas in one of the hallways. Where did he go every morning? I walked to the junior hallway. There was no sign of him, but I came across Casey at her locker.

"There you are," I said, like she was the reason I was there.

"Oh, good morning, Eliana."

"I figured I would meet up with you today."

"Well, that's nice of you." Casey grinned.

My eyes cased the hallway.

"Is there someone else you're looking for?" She raised her eyebrows, and an ear-to-ear grin split her face as she followed my eyes.

"Oh, I was just checking out the hall. I've never been over this way."

"Okay, sure." She laughed and closed her locker. "So, who is he?"

She caught me off guard. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, come on. I can see it in your eyes. You're looking for someone."

I bit my lip and sighed in defeat. "I can't believe I'm telling you this."

Casey's eyes widen. "Eliana, you can trust me, I promise."

"Ugh." I paused, shaking my head.

"Come on, spill it."

"Well, I
don't
know him and I
don't
like him, but he's cute."

"Who?" She nudged me.

"Lucas Andrews," I whispered, instantly looking around to see if anyone heard.

Casey's eyes got wide, her mouth dropped, and her ear-to-ear grin returned. "Oh, you two would make the cutest couple."

"Shh, keep your voice down," I whispered.

"Oh, you're so paranoid," she giggled. "Besides, he's already come and gone. You just missed him. His locker is over there." She pointed to a locker five or six down from hers.

"Seriously?" My heart sank.

"Yep."

"Let me ask you something. Does he have a girlfriend?"

"Well, I don't think he has a girlfriend right now, but he does date different girls from time to time. He's not the serious relationship type. He causally dates."

"So he's a player?" I tried to hold back a discouraged look.

"I didn't say that, I just don't think he's ever found someone he likes enough to date exclusively." Casey threw me a half smile. "Don't look so down. You said you didn't like him,
right?"

"Right. I just think he's cute, that's all." Why did I sound like I was trying to convince myself?

Throughout Geometry, I stared blankly out the window, watching the clouds roll over the mountains.
This place is so unpredictable
.

The rest of the morning was just like the day before. Sasha continued to ignore me, Evan stared too much, and Casey jabbered constantly about nothing. I looked forward to gym and study hall, but they were ages away. The rain started falling shortly before lunch. I seemed to be in a constant daze from lack of sleep.

"Eliana, did you hear me?"

"Sorry, Casey, I was lost in thought. What did you say?"

"I said, 'I guess we'll be eating in the cafeteria today'."

I looked out the window to see buckets of rain. "Are you sure?" I laughed.

Casey laughed, too. "Come on, let's go to lunch."

We entered the cafeteria and stood in the lunch line. "Don't look now, but your hottie is at nine o'clock," she whispered.

I gave her a puzzled look. "What about nine o'clock? Your code words are confusing me."

"Lucas is over there. Is that better?"

I nonchalantly glanced over my shoulder and then back at Casey. I smiled. "I never see him until study hall."

"Oh, you've got it
bad,"
Casey warned.

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't stop smiling and your cheeks are flushed."

"Oh no! Is it that noticeable?" I touched my cheeks.

"Calm down, let's go to the bathroom." Casey pulled me out of the lunch line. In the bathroom, she handed me a damp paper towel. "I don't think he noticed," she tried to reassure me. "He was too involved in whatever he was talking about, most likely baseball."

"Baseball?" I was analyzing my complexion in the mirror and patting it with the paper towel.

"Yeah, Lucas is on the baseball team. He's pretty good. Evan is also on the team, so some of the games get intense."

That answers one of my questions.
"I'm okay now. I don't know why I get like this when I see him. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before."

"Eliana, you're so cute," Casey grinned as we walked back toward the lunch line. She tried to change the subject, most likely to keep me calm. "So, what are your plans this weekend?"

"Well, tonight I have a date night with my mom."

Sasha started to laugh. Casey and I turned toward her table to see what was so funny.

"Aw, is Mommy taking you to Chuck E. Cheese?" she teased.

 I didn't give her the satisfaction of a reaction, even though I imagined jumping over the table and ripping her face off. Casey walked over and bent toward Sasha, whispering. I could barely hear her words, but I think she said, "You are so rude sometimes."

I looked to see if Lucas had heard Sasha's outburst, and to my relief he was already gone.

When we returned to the table, Sasha began laughing again.
Why do I sit with her?
Inside I was beating myself up for not telling her off. The only thing that made me feel better was the fact that I knew it wouldn't get me anywhere.
Kill her with kindness
.

After lunch, I told Casey I couldn't sit at the same table with Sasha anymore. "I've never done anything to her and her comments are wearing on me. I'm trying hard to be the bigger person. So, I'm taking myself out of the equation."

"I'm sorry for Sasha's actions. I really am." Casey looked torn.

 "Don't apologize for her. You've done nothing wrong. I'm not asking you to choose between your friends and me. I really like you and we can hang out in class and outside of school."

"Eliana, it's just that I've been friends with them for a lifetime."

"Casey, it's really okay. I understand."

Casey was so quiet during Spanish that I wondered if I'd hurt her feelings. It actually felt eerie because I was so used to a chatterbox. On the way to gym, I said, "So…Casey, what are you doing Sunday?"

"Oh, I'm not sure. I don't think my family has anything planned."

"Check your schedule and let me know; maybe we can do something Sunday afternoon."

The twinkle came back into Casey's eyes. "Okay, that sounds like fun."

Gym was the same; we had our choice of activities. I ran laps around the gym, like normal. Of course, Sasha worked on her mediocre dance routine. Casey chose to look like she was doing stretches since she wasn't enthused about running. I naturally got lost in my jogging until my stride was interrupted by the sound of the coach's whistle.

"Hit the locker rooms!"

While I was changing my clothes, I said, "Casey, give me a call on Sunday if you want to do something."

"All right," She smiled.

"Talk to you later."

"Bye. Have a good weekend."

Excitement rushed through me when I entered the library and saw Lucas already in his usual spot. He stared at me while I walked past his table, but I couldn't muster the courage to make eye contact. I sat down and quickly retrieved my book and iPod from my bag. Lucas cleared his throat while I fiddled with the buttons on my iPod.