The Crescent (4 page)

“Hey again.” His lazy grin incinerated the rest of my heart. I smiled like an idiot and stared, my mouth half open but no words coming out.

Jillian elbowed me. “Sorry, my friend must have temporarily misplaced her tongue. I’m Jillian.”

“Hi, I’m Alex.” His eyes fixed on hers for a moment and then came back to meet mine. I felt lightheaded. His knees hovered on either side of mine under the table and his whole body leaned forward. For the briefest moment I concentrated on his perfectly molded lips and considered leaning in to brush mine to his, wanting to know what they would feel like. Being this close felt more intimate than I had ever felt with anyone before. It made me wonder if he knew he was invading my personal space.

“Are you alright?” Should I say he just caught me fantasizing about kissing him?

Probably not.

Jillian saved me. “I’m sorry she has trouble thinking this close to lunch. Low blood sugar.”

“Is she diabetic?” Concern flashed on his face. I couldn’t stop staring at him, my face permanently frozen.

“Actually…” Jillian hesitated and put her hand on my knee. She squeezed hard pulling my eyes away from him to her. “She’s not.” Jillian’s eyes searched my face as I came out of a beautiful daydream. She looped her fingers in mine and squeezed my hand tightly.

“I’m sorry, umm… Alex?” I barely choked out. He nodded. “It’s been a hectic day.”

“I bet…” Alex glanced towards Courtney as she laughed and shamelessly flirted with Thomas, one of Garrett’s friends. She winked at Alex. My stomach churned. I don’t think I could really stomach them being together; he was out of my league but he was definitely too good for her. “So are you going to tell me your name? Or shall I guess?” Alex’s deep brown eyes could cut me in half if he kept looking at me that way. His fingers pressed firmly around his pen, tapping it slightly on his notebook. His shoulders inched closer to me across the table.

“Lacey. Lacey Quinn.” He extended his hand; I inspected it before finally offering mine.

“Wow…” Alex grinned larger. “She has a name... and it’s beautiful.” My skin lit on fire when he held onto my hand a little too long. The fire quickly turned to ice rushing up my arm as his thumb snaked over the top of mine and brushed across my knuckle. “Your hands…” Alex paused. Jillian’s fingers dug into my thigh with such force that I’d be bruised tomorrow.

“Ok class.” Mr. Thompson announced pulling me from Alex’s hypnosis. Alex brushed his thumb across mine again and then gently lowered both of our hands to the desk. He tapped his index finger to the back of my hand; like a magician snapping his fingers, time restarted and I let out the breath I had been holding. I quickly jerked my hand off the desk, very uncomfortable with all the people that had just witnessed the exchange.

“Time to introduce your new friends.” I knew nothing about him, other than how his touch stopped my heart and clouded my thoughts: now I had to introduce him. My eyes darted around the room to see Courtney smiling at my panic.

Alex pulled out a piece of paper from my notebook and whispered, “Here. Write something about yourself.” He quickly scribbled several things onto another sheet of paper. Our hands brushed each other and it felt like he would grab my hand again or maybe I wanted him to. Instead he says, “I hope you can read my writing.” He chuckles and winks. Wait did he just wink?

“Oh it’s fine.” I barely looked at the paper. He could have written he was a serial killer looking for his next victim and I probably would’ve thought that was perfectly wonderful.

“This is Lacey Quinn. She is seventeen. She is an only child. She volunteers after school at her Aunt’s Veterinary clinic. She loves listening to her iPod and reading.” Alex hesitated as he brushed his fingertips over my writing and grins. This is what I wrote:

Lacey enjoys school, going to the beach and hanging out with her best friend Jillian.
With such short notice, I couldn’t come up with anything better.

That, however, is
not
what he said. “Lacey enjoyed her ten day backpacking trip to Paris over summer. Ironically enough, where she met me and broke my heart. So when she left, in true stalker fashion, I followed her to the states.” I felt my face turn beet red as all eyes in the room fixed on Alex and I and the positioning of his body; still incredibly intimate. I wanted to bury my head in the sand like an ostrich.

“Well, that’s interesting.” Mr. Thompson added. Jillian and I both stared at Alex. The entire classroom scrutinized the silent conversation Alex and I were having. I felt more like a spectator to the conversation than a participant in it.

“Ms. Quinn, please introduce Mr. Morris to the class.”

My voice felt weak. “This is Alex Morris.” I stuttered as I felt his knee brush mine. “He is 18 years old. He just moved here from abroad. He loves to listen to music, read, and he is really active in outdoor activities.” His writing continued to say that he loves repairing old cars and hanging out with his friends. He changed mine, but I couldn’t think of anything clever to say.

I hesitated, desperately searching for something witty then I continued, “Alex loves to repair old cars and hang out with his friends.” Alex eyes twinkled as his cheek dimpled slightly from his growing smile. I’m sure he knew I tried to come up with a way to change his like he had mine.

“What? Nothing about Paris?” Mr. Thompson asked. I wanted to sink into my chair. “Jillian would you like to introduce Mr. Hammond?” Mr. Thompson went on with the class introductions, none as entertaining as the one Alex gave for me.

Alex did not move his chair back to his own table. He stayed positioned so close to me that I couldn’t concentrate on anything else other than his breathing; I kept forgetting my own.

“Ok class…” I barely listened to anything that Mr. Thompson said for the next forty minutes. I didn’t want to think about class ending. Alex had completely hijacked my mind and it only got worse every time I stole glances at him.

“So what’s up with him?” Jillian tried to keep her voice low as we tossed our book bags into our lockers.

“I have no idea.” I wasn’t looking forward to the walk to the clinic, I didn’t really have time to think about Alex and the liberty he just took telling my entire Econ class that we were an item, in
Paris
, no less.

“You sure you don’t want me to use my lunch and drive you?” Jillian walked with me to the parking lot as I wished I had a car of my own.

“No don’t worry about it.” I gave her a hug and hurried out the gate. She was disappointed that I didn’t have full days, but I didn’t have the heart to tell my Aunt I couldn’t work for her this year.

I pulled my headphones from my pack and slipped them in heading down the sidewalk that lined the parking lot of the school. Courtney sat in the backseat of a car, possibly Thomas’, but I couldn’t be for sure. Not too many spots down Garrett sat in his truck, but the windows were too tinted to tell who was in there with him. Several stoner students were camped out behind a van near the fence smoking pot; others were sitting on tailgates drinking beer. I walked faster as a few of the slackers offered me pot, something stronger than pot and different cans of beer.

Several high-pitched girls laughed and squealed from the parking lot. My music definitely wasn’t up loud enough if I couldn’t drown out Lindsey, Ashley and Bridget: Courtney’s best friends. They were walking towards the parking lot linked arm in arm, surrounding Alex.
That didn’t take long… he acquired a harem.
I half grinned and laughed thinking of Alex dressed up in an Aladdin costume with all the girls wearing outfits like Jasmine running around him while he sang with a monkey on a flying carpet. I’m not sure he could pull off parachute pants and a turban though… or maybe he could… without his shirt on.

I fumbled my iPod at the thought of Alex shirtless and watched it fall to the ground. When I up righted, I caught a glimpse of Nate Randall in his band uniform getting into his S-10, the first and only guy I had ever slept with. My sophomore year, Jillian and I signed up for band after the encouragement of our parents. They felt it would help us “make more friends”. It sort of did, but I’m sure not in the way they had intended. We made a pact with Nate and his best friend, Brian, that we would get the whole virgin thing out of the way by Christmas break if we hadn’t found someone. None of us had, so we drew names and just did it. It was the most awful experience of my life. Something was missing and things had been weird between Nate and I ever since.

I wrapped my fingers around my iPod tightly as I pushed it back into the holder and scrolled through to Green Day.
American Idiot
started blaring in my ears, taking away the memory of Nate fumbling with the condom, replacing it with the memory of Alex’s huge hand wrapped around mine. Back in the parking lot, Alex leaned against a jet-black classic Camaro and half the cheer squad surrounded him. I tried to get the thought of Ashley’s hand on his arm out of my mind as I turned the corner and cranked the iPod louder.

The next four hours I spent cleaning out the exam rooms and the holding areas for the animals, trying my best to get Alex out of my head. Aunt Jamie actually let me stitch up one of the dogs that came in and tried to get me to assist in neutering a cat, but I refused.

It was after 11 by the time she drove me home. Grant sat astute on the front step of the house when we got there, the house completely dark.

“Oh goodness- he is gigantic!” She walked up to him and brushed both her hands down the length of his body. “I’ve never seen a shepherd this big. Maybe you should bring him in.” She tried to pick up one of his paws, but Grant refused like he did every time I tried to put a leash on him. He let her touch him a few times then he had enough and settled next to my feet.

“Are you tired buddy?” I scratched behind his ears as he leaned his head into my side.

“So have you got them to agree to a car yet?” Jamie motioned towards the house.

“No, dad thinks I’m too irresponsible.”

Jamie’s my dad’s little sister; I was closer to her than I had been with my parent’s in recent years. “You are more responsible than any kid I know.”

“I know.” Grant head butted me on my stomach. “I think they still don’t want me going to San Diego.”

“You’re parents are just being protective. You are very special to them.”

“I know.” I didn’t know how else to respond.

Aunt Jamie gave me a hug and then took off. I sat on the porch for several minutes with Grant next to me, enjoying the cool night air on my face and the moonlight casting everything in a bluish tint.

“Come on boy, you ready to go to bed?” I patted his head and led the way to my room wondering what rumors would be flying at school over Alex’s public admission to stalking me.

“You would not believe the day I had.” I spoke quietly. “Jillian and I only have one class together. And I got paired with the most psychotic cheerleader from hell for first period.” I pulled on my tank top and shorts to sleep in. Grant lay in his usual spot at the foot of my bed, intently listening to my drama. I probably needed to ask for a bigger bed since Grant could stretch across the whole width of it and his paws hung off the side. “Did you get bigger while I was at school?” I laughed and pushed his head away as I lay down in bed. He put his face right up to mine, sniffed and then licked the entire side of my face.

“Ewww Grant…” I groaned, now smelling like dog breath and hamburger. I got up and washed my face in the bathroom trying to erase the awful smell. When I climbed back into bed it looked like he would do it again. “Don’t even think about it.” Pressing my hand to his nose, I pushed his face away before he could lick me again.

“I did meet a guy today. Well… sort of, until he was overtaken by the cheerleader harem from hell. Although, I did picture him singing with a monkey and dancing on a flying carpet without a shirt...” Grant gave me a blank look; I’d definitely lost it. He pulled himself further up onto the bed and rested his head close to mine. “You’re the perfect man, aren’t ya?” Grant started snoring long before I was asleep. I rolled away from him and drifted into my own deep slumber, dreaming about getting my own place and moving away from all the drama. I’m not sure whether to call it a dream or a nightmare.

FIVE

A few days later I was diligently working on the yellow slips of paper while Courtney worked on changing the color of her toenails…
again.

“You’re doing a good job with those.” Mrs. Stone said as she crossed through the office carrying more files. “Ms. Wilcox, if you plan on a passing grade, you should concentrate more on the work than your nails.” Courtney rolled her eyes. “Watch the counter for me?” Mrs. Stone headed down the hallway. Thankfully it had been a quiet morning and I had gotten a big chunk of the yellow forms completed before Courtney’s inquisition started.

“So…” Courtney got up from the desk and started shuffling through a stack of the forms. “Is it true?”

I didn’t turn to look at her. “What are you talking about?”

“You and Alex?”

She wasn’t going to leave me alone so easily.

“What?”

“Paris? Hello? He seems to insist that you two had a fling… or… well whatever. Is it true?”

“I’m not answering that. It’s none of your business.” I almost grinned, but resisted. It ate her up to think that Alex and I may have been an item. She tried hard all week to flirt with him but her advances weren’t returned. Even if he wasn’t interested in me, it brought me joy to know he wasn’t interested in her either.

“Well, I don’t see why he’d lie about having something with
you.
” She said it like I was such a bad thing. The front desk bell dinged stopping me from telling her to F-off.

“Hi can I help you?” I asked before I even looked at the person standing at the counter. Courtney tossed the yellow sheets on top of the filing cabinet making a mess; more than likely as retaliation for me not spilling my guts to her over Alex.