Spencer's Face (Buckeye Hawks) (3 page)

I shook my head without
saying a word. I looked down and tried to walk away quickly. He pulled on my
arm, bringing me back toward him.

“Please. I want to
apologize.” He almost pleaded with me.

“Apologize?” I asked weakly
as I waited awkwardly for him to say something.

“I wasn’t very nice to you
this morning. I’m sorry.”  He apologized. He seemed really sincere.

I waited for a second, then
spoke. “That’s okay. I guess you were having a bad day.” I let him off the
hook.

“The girls in this school
haven’t been very nice to me. I thought you were going to be just like them.
I’m sorry.”

“I’m sorry a few girls
weren’t nice to you, but that doesn’t mean that all the girls here are going to
be mean to you. Don’t turn gay on us, just because of a few mean girls. I was nice
to you.” I chastised him. Maybe that was it; he thought I was going to be like Vicky
and the other girls. I couldn’t really blame him for his paranoia.

He chuckled a little and
shook his head. “You’ve been really nice. I was the only one being mean. Can we
start over? I’m Spencer.”

He held out his hand for me
to shake. I shook it and smiled up at him. He was tall. I liked tall guys. I
really liked the way his T-shirt clung to his chest, too. I felt my stomach
jump looking at his biceps. His jeans were really nice too, hugging in all the
right places. His facial structure was almost perfect, high cheekbones and full
lips. And, those eyes were so pretty. They were light brown. His hair was
perfect, short in the back and kind of long in the front and the top.
Everything about him was perfect. What was wrong with the girls at this school?

“I’m Taylor. I don’t think we
were actually introduced.” I tried to laugh even though I was feeling a little
self conscious.

There was an awkward silence.
I couldn’t think of a thing to say to him now.

“So, maybe I’ll see you
tonight after school, Taylor.” he said uneasily.

I liked how he said my name. I
smiled at him. “After practice? At Senior Pole?”

“I’ll be there tonight.” he
promised.

I wondered for a second why
he hadn’t been there every night after practice, then I remembered that Vicky
and her friends were usually there. Maybe that’s why he disappeared before I
saw him every night. I wished that I’d seen him before. He seemed like such a
nice guy. Zane said he was a great guy. I could always count on Zane to tell me
the truth about guys. He’d called it exactly right about Jose and Dwayne. I
should have listened to him.

About that time, Terri walked
by. She glanced over at Spencer and me. She gave us one of her wicked smiles. I
knew she was about to say something mean. I could always tell when it was time
to take cover around her. “Hey, Taylor. Watch out. I think that might be
contagious. You might want to step back a little.” She laughed.

As if that was funny! What a
bitch! Spencer gave a resigned look and shook his head in defeat. He was
embarrassed. He started to walk off. I grabbed his forearm to keep him from
leaving. I wanted him to know that it didn’t matter to me what she said. He
pulled away still.

I yelled out to Terri. “I
don’t think you’re a very good judge of what’s contagious and what’s not. How’s
that rash that Rob gave you a few weeks ago? Is it cleared up yet?”

Terri stopped and turned
around. She gave me a look that could have killed me. She started walking
toward me angrily. I stood my ground. I wasn’t about to run and hide. I owed
her big time for last year. I was too embarrassed to face her down last year,
but this year I wasn’t taking it. And, I wasn’t going to stand by while she
made fun of a nice guy like Spencer. She turned back around and walked away.

Spencer smiled at me.
“Thanks. But how did you know about the rash?”

“My friend Karen works in the
nurse’s office. She’s full of handy tidbits sometimes. She said Rob came in a
few weeks ago. And, I saw Rob with Terri about that time at a party. She may
have given it to him.”

“That one was very handy.” He
said with a smile.

“See you tonight.” I said as
we parted ways.

He smiled at me again. I
could feel his smile all the way to my feet. He was such a genuine guy. I don’t
know why I was so attracted to him without even knowing him. It was almost like
a magnet was pulling me toward him.

After a grueling practice,
the girls made their way to the Senior Pole. The guys were already there. They
had short practices on the nights before games. Vicky, Dawn, and Terri were
already there. Terri looked up at me, then looked down quickly. I gave her an
upwards nod, basically daring her to say something about Spencer’s face again.

Spencer was there too. He
stood next to Zane in a tank top and gym shorts. Man he looked good. He had an
incredible body, a nice chest, small waist, and great legs. I watched him as I
walked up to the group. He looked up and smiled at me. I returned the smile.

“So, did you guys have to run
today?” I tugged at Zane’s tank top. They usually wore sweats when they did
their football drills or worked out, but they wore shorts when they ran. They
looked much better in their shorts.

Zane laughed.

“The coach says Glendale is
way faster than us, so he’s running us, getting us ready for tomorrow night.” Jose
informed the group.

Sally walked up about that
time. “We’ve got a new halfback starting.” She said cheerfully. She said
everything cheerfully. She was a true cheerleader. No wonder she was the team
captain this year.

I smiled at Spencer. “We sure
do. Maybe we’ll win.” I tried to joke.

“I hope so.” Spencer said to
the guys with the laugh, but he never looked at the girls. It was obvious that
he wasn’t comfortable talking to the girls, but he was completely at ease
around the guys.

Shelly walked up and put her
arm around Jose’s waist. She’d been his girlfriend for several months now. And,
the way they touched in public, I was pretty sure they were having sex. I’d
noticed little things, like how he’d slip his hand inside her waistband. Or
slip his hand up the inside of her leg while she was sitting next to him. He’d
finally found someone who put out. She was a nice girl, I thought. She’d never
been mean to me in any way, but I did notice that she always put her arm around
Jose pretty tightly when I was around. Maybe it was just the fact that I was a
former girlfriend. Maybe I read too much into things.

We stood around and talked
for another thirty minutes, then everyone decided that it was time to go home. It
was our usual after school routine. When we ran out of conversation, it was
time to head home.

“Do you need a ride tonight?”
Zane asked Spencer.

“Yes, if you don’t mind. I
can call my aunt if you’re not going home though.” Spencer answered him. He
seemed completely at ease around Zane.

“Where do you live?” I asked
him. Zane lived in Palo Verde, so Spencer had to live somewhere near him to be
bumming a ride.

“Palo Verde.” He answered me.

“Really? Where?” I asked him.
“I live in Palo Verde.”

“Bruner Road.” He answered.

“I live on Narramore. I pass
right by Bruner. I’ll give you a ride home.” I offered. What a perfect excuse
to spend more time with him.

“That’s okay. I always ride
with Zane.” He balked.

Just when I thought I was
getting somewhere. Darn it.

“Actually I wanted to go see
Mary for a few minutes.” Zane said. “Ride with Taylor. I forgot that you live
closer to her.”

I laughed. “Are you scared to
ride with me? I’m a good driver.” I teased him. I knew that he wasn’t scared of
my driving. I knew he was scared of me.

“Okay. Thanks.” Spencer said
uneasily.

Zane and Spencer walked with
me to the parking lot. I always walked with someone when I went to the parking
lot at night. Sometimes the parking lot wasn’t the safest place for a girl
alone. One girl was attacked last year by a guy just passing through town. He
stole her purse and beat her up a little bit. Other than that, she was fine. Spencer
walked on the other side of Zane. Zane winked at me as I stepped into my car.
He’d lied to force Spencer to ride with me. He was always on the lookout for
me. He was a good friend.

Spencer sat in the passenger
seat after I cleaned it out. My gym clothes were scattered all over the seat,
along with some candy bar wrappers. I ate on the way to school most of the
time. “Sorry. I’m such a slob sometimes. Well, I guess I’m a slob most of the
time.”

Spencer laughed. He scooted
the seat back so his legs weren’t so cramped. Sandy was the last person to ride
in that seat, and she wasn’t very tall. She was about five four, just a little
taller than me.

“So, why didn’t you want to
ride with me?” I asked him after I’d started the car and backed out. He
couldn’t jump out now that we were moving.

“I…” he said, then stopped.
“I wasn’t sure if it would be putting you out.”

I could tell it was a lie,
but what could I do? I couldn’t call him a liar. That wouldn’t be a smart move right
now. “So where did you go to school last?” I asked him.

“Riverside California.” He
answered.

“Is that near a beach? Did
you surf?” I asked. It was the only thing I really knew about California. That,
and it had Disneyland, and it was falling off into the ocean any day now.

“I did go on the weekends.
The beach wasn’t too far away.” He answered.

“I’ve been surfing a couple
of times. We have cousins that live in El Cajon. It was fun. It’s really pretty
out there.”

“I know where that is. Did
you actually get up on the board?” he asked impressed.

“A few times. I wiped out a
lot
more
times, though.” I laughed out the words.

He laughed. He had a great
laugh. I loved listening to him. He had a great voice. It was deep, but not too
deep, and really smooth somehow. “What do you do here? Since surfing is out.”

“I cheer, and practice our
routines. And, I work, helping my dad out on the farm and the dairy.”

“That sounds like fun.” He
said.

I was sure he was just trying
to be polite. “It may sound like it. But it’s not. Have you ever milked a cow
that didn’t want to be milked before?”

He laughed again. “No. I’ve
never milked a cow. I don’t think I’ve even seen too many cows.”

“You should come over this
weekend. I’ll teach you how.” I said, taunting him.

He laughed again.

“Really. You should come
over. You live close enough. I’ll pick you up at four Saturday.” I told him,
threatening him playfully. Did I just ask him out? Was milking cows considered
a date?

“Okay. Pick me up at four. We
are talking about four in the afternoon. Right? I don’t want you driving up at
four in the morning. I won’t be awake.” Spencer said, teasing with me. He
seemed to be loosening up some.

I liked the looser Spencer.
He was more fun.

“We do it at four in the
morning, too. Sometimes I can get out of that one though. I think my dad gets tired
of trying to wake me up. But I never get out of the afternoon milking.” I told
him.

“So you’re a farm girl? I’ve
never dated a farm girl before.” He said, amused.

“Have you dated a lot? Did
you leave a girl behind in California?” I asked, suddenly very curious. Okay,
it wasn’t very sudden. I’d been wondering since yesterday.