Spencer's Face (Buckeye Hawks) (4 page)

“I had a girlfriend in
California. We broke up right before I moved out here though. We didn’t think
the long distance thing would work out.”

“That’s sad, but I’m glad you
don’t have a girlfriend.” I said. Was that way too forward? We turned down
Bruner Road. “Which way from here?” I asked, trying to change the subject
quickly.

“Turn right after those
houses.” He said as he pointed me in the right direction. “That’s my house.”

Gosh. He had a nice house. We
lived in a tiny house. His family must be rich to live in such a nice house. They
had a garage. Not too many people had garages out this way.  “Nice house.”

“It’s okay. It’s bigger than
the one we had in California.” He said nonchalantly. “Thanks for the ride.”

“You’re welcome.” I said.

“Thanks for getting Terri
back for me today, too. That was really nice of you.”

“She’s mean to everyone. It’s
not just you, so don’t go thinking you’re all special or anything. She’s bitten
me a few times too. And I swear the girl’s got venom.” I told him.

“You? Why?” he asked as we
sat in my car in his driveway.

“Bad perm last year. What she
said today, was nothing compared to what she did to me last year when she saw
me the first time with that perm.”

“Your hair looks great.”  He
said as if he didn’t see what the deal was.

“Thanks for that. But after that
perm, it looked horrible. I was so embarrassed to go to school, then she
started in on me. She pointed and laughed out loud. Really loud. Then she
started rolling on the ground because she was laughing so hard. The entire
school looked and then laughed. Well it seemed like the entire school. All I
could do was run and hide.”

“Damn.” He said with
sympathy.

“Zane’s sister, Summer, fixed
it for me. She’s a hairdresser in town.”

“I know her. Zane took me to
her salon. She cuts my hair now.”

“I like your hair. It looks
really good.”

“Thanks.” He said sheepishly,
then looked down as if I’d embarrassed him.

“I didn’t mean to embarrass
you. It just seems to me like you’re one of those guys who doesn’t really know
how good he looks.”

His face went totally blank.
It was almost as if he’d never been complimented in his life.

“Okay. That time, I meant to
embarrass you.” I teased him, trying to ease the tension I’d caused.

He halfway laughed. “You see
the birthmark. Right?” he asked.

“It makes you one of a kind.
You know you’re absolutely gorgeous. Don’t you?” I asked him. I knew I was
being extremely forward, but I wanted him to know that I really did think he
was a great looking guy. And, if any guy in the world needed some building up,
it was Spencer.

He turned serious on me,
then. “You see the birthmark. Right?” he asked.

I laughed at him. I reached
over and ran my hand through his hair. It felt as good as it looked. Smooth,
soft, and silky. Then I ran my hand across his cheek, then rubbed it. “I see
the birthmark, Spencer.” I said slowly, teasing him. I looked directly in his
eyes, and held his gaze for a second. Something was happening to my heart. I
looked down quickly.

We stayed in the car talking
for another thirty minutes. He told me how he used to play football and
basketball in his old school. I told him my story, how I got into cheerleading
this year, how I used to play sports instead, and about working with my dad a
lot. He laughed at all my jokes and he told him some great ones too. I felt
like we were already friends.

A little before nine o’clock,
he started to get out of the car, but I grabbed his hand quickly to stop him. That
shocked him judging by the look on his face. “Wait. Can I give you a ride to
school tomorrow?”

“Sure. See you about seven?”
he asked.

“I’ll be here.” I said
exuberantly.

Gosh he was so nice. I really
wanted to go out with him. This was going to take a little work though.

My world just slammed into a
tailspin today. My head was still spinning. Taylor Hope liked me. She was the
prettiest girl in school as far as I was concerned. I couldn’t believe it. In
fact, I called Zane a liar when he told me that she liked me. She drove me home
tonight, and she was definitely interested. She stood up for me at school
against that bitchy girl, Terri. She even ran her hand through my hair tonight.
My stomach did weird things when she touched my birthmark tonight. I couldn’t
believe that she actually touched my face, and told me that I was gorgeous.

She even invited me to milk
the cows with her Saturday. I was excited about that. I’d never had a
girlfriend before, even though I told her that I did. I felt like such a chump
answering no to that question. Sometimes a guy has to lie.

I walked in the kitchen to
grab something to eat. I was always hungry after football practice for some
reason. I grabbed all the sandwich meat and started fixing myself a sandwich.
Aunt Janel walked in. My aunt Janel was the best aunt in the world. She’d
inherited me when my parents were killed. She and Uncle Todd have been raising
me since I was eleven. It hasn’t always been easy on them. I really tested
their patience that first year.

“Hey, who brought you home
tonight? Did Zane get a new car? I didn’t recognize it. You sat in the driveway
for quite a while.” Aunt Janel asked me.

“A girl I met today.” I told
her. That sounded funny coming from my mouth. I’d never said that before.

“A girl?” she asked,
excitedly. She was getting her hopes up.

“A real girl, Aunt Janel.” I
teased her.

“Is she pretty?” she playfully
interrogated me with even more excitement in her voice.

“She’s really pretty.” I
assured her. Oh man was she pretty. And, somehow she seemed even prettier to me
tonight.

“Really pretty?” she prodded
me for more information.

“Long reddish blonde hair,
about five three or five four, cute face. She’s in shape. And, she’s a
cheerleader.” I said, trying to impress her. I couldn’t go into detail about
what a great body she had with my aunt.

“Really? Hey Todd. Did you
hear that?” she asked my uncle who had just joined us in the kitchen.

I started eating my sandwich.
I knew they were about to make a big deal out of it. I could tell by the
excitement in their voices. This was a first for our family.

“A pretty cheerleader. I knew
he had it in him.” Todd teased me.  “Are you going to ask her out? You can
borrow my car. Take her out to eat, or to a movie.”

I borrowed his car every once
in a while. So far I’d only borrowed it to go see Zane. We took it to the mall
once. Todd drove a nice Nissan Z. I loved driving his car. It was quick and
sporty.

“I don’t know. She asked me
to milk cows with her Saturday.”

“Milk cows?” Janel asked. The
sudden change in her tone told me that she thought I was stupid for accepting
that invitation.

“It started as a joke, then
turned serious. It’ll be fun, I hope. Anyway, it’s a chance to get to know her
better. She’s driving me to school tomorrow too.” I told her.

“Well, as long as she’s
pretty. It needs to be worth it to milk cows.” Todd teased me. He was always
joking with me.

After my sandwich, and
several other quick conversations about Taylor, I went to my room to work on my
music. I started writing another song about a girl who finally noticed me. I felt
like the luckiest guy alive. I wanted to ask her out, but I didn’t want to get
my hopes up. Maybe she just wanted to be friends. I would settle for that. She
was fun to be around.

Tomorrow night I would be
starting in the game. I was a little nervous about that. It seemed like my life
was turning around all of a sudden. In California, I started in every game. Out
here, I’d just now proven myself good enough to start in the games. The
competition was a little tougher out here. I really hoped I wouldn’t choke on
the field or with Taylor.

Taylor picked me up at seven
in the morning. She was right on time. She looked really pretty today, as
always. She had on her Hawks cheerleading uniform. I really liked the
cheerleading uniforms here. They showed the girls’ stomachs. Really sexy
outfits, especially when they were cheering. I wanted to show her off to my
aunt and uncle to prove to them that she was really pretty and actually
existed. They’d already left for work though.

“Thanks for picking me up
this morning.” I told her as I put my football gear in the trunk of her car. I
could start by being polite. At least it gave me something to say to her. After
saying it, I was nervous again.

When I sat down in her car, I
saw a little girl in the back seat. “Hi.” I said to the little girl. She was
really cute, with dark hair and big dark brown eyes.

“I’ve got to run my little sister
to the babysitter in town. My mom had to go to work at four this morning.
Sorry.” She apologized.

“She’s cute. I didn’t know
you had a little sister. What’s her name?” I asked her.

“That’s Cheryl. She’s girl number
six. I’ve got
five
little sisters.”

“Holy…cow.” I said. I started
to curse. Not a smooth move, especially in front of her little sister. I was
shocked by that fact. “Hi, Cheryl.”

I made a show of saying hi to
her. She smiled at me, then hid her face, as if she was really shy.

“Hi.” She said in a tiny
voice. “I like your face.”

Taylor’s mouth dropped open, then
she smiled quickly to cover her embarrassment. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay.” I told her. It
was the nicest compliment I’d ever received on my face.

“I like that color purple.
It’s my favorite. Barney’s that color.” She said.

Taylor halfway laughed as if
she knew she couldn’t keep her sister quiet about my face.

“Thanks.” I said. That was
kind of cute. “Who’s Barney?”

“You obviously don’t have
little brothers or sisters. He’s a big purple dinosaur on the educational
channel right after Sesame Street. He’s a really pretty shade of purple.”
Taylor explained to me, with a laugh.

“It’s almost like your butt,
Taylor.” Cheryl said excitedly.

“Cheryl!” Taylor shouted at
her, then laughed, thoroughly embarrassed.

“What?” Cheryl asked
innocently.

I laughed.

Taylor laughed.

“So you have a birthmark on
your butt?” I asked her. I was teasing her. It was too good an opportunity to
pass up.

She laughed again. “You’ll
never know for sure.”

“Is that why you don’t have a
problem with mine?” I asked her.

“Maybe. I don’t know. I don’t
see why anyone has a problem with it, to tell the truth.”

I thought about what she was
saying. I didn’t either. It didn’t change the facts though. People did have a
problem with it. I was so glad that Taylor didn’t though. I was glad she was at
least willing to treat me like a regular person.

“Taylor. Can you put on my
songs?” Cheryl asked her.

“Hang on a second.” She said
to her little sister, then handed me the iPod hooked to her radio. “Can you
pull up the folder called Cheryl and start it? She can do it, if you don’t know
how.”