Laney (3 page)

Chapter 4 - How About This Weather?

Tuesday was my long day, but that wasn’t the reason I got up earlier than usual. I felt like I needed more than just matching flip-flops today.

It was still warm out, so I decided on a pair of aqua-colored Capri pants, a flowing white tank top, and a pair of white flip-flops. I usually put my thick, chestnut-brown hair in a ponytail, especially for school, but I left it down for once and it fell across my lower back with large curls across the bottom. I applied a tiny amount of make-up and admired myself.
Not bad,
I giggled. All I could think about was seeing Oliver again.

Kiera came in to wake me. She was surprised to see me up and even more surprised that I was ready. She said she was feeling better, but she was still staying home today, just in case. I bet she was going to study all day.

She was sitting at our well loved, second-hand dining table having her daily oatmeal—
so gross!
—when I sat down to have some Lucky Charms.
I so love this stuff!

“What did your parents say last night? You were asleep when I came in to get the phone from you.”

“They freaked, of course,” she said with a sigh. “They said that I needed to come home.”

“A little dramatic,” I said between bites.

“No kidding.”

“What did you say?”

“I told them ‘no,’ of course—and reminded them that I’m legally an adult and they can’t make me do anything.” She seemed rather proud of herself.

I had stopped eating with the spoon hovering just inches from my mouth. I was shocked. “You said that?”

“I did,” she beamed.

“Wow, Kiera. I’m impressed. What did they say to that?”

She sighed again. “They threatened to stop paying for school and my share of the apartment.”

“What?” I shouted. “They can’t do that!” Kiera’s parents had made her a deal: If she got straight As, they’d continue paying for school and rent. She had always held up her end of the deal; this was totally unreasonable. I was outraged, but it was just like them to blow things out of proportion. “You’ve got the flu or something. It’s not like you robbed a bank or killed someone!” I exclaimed.

She shot me a look.

“Okay, I admit those were rather dramatic examples.”

“Ya think?” She raised an eyebrow at me.

“Sorry, but still. They are being ridiculous.” I had gotten pretty worked up.

“Laney,” she said very calmly, “calm down. They won’t do any of those things and you know it.” She gave me a reassuring smile. She was right. Her parents were all bark and no bite, just like that stinky little wiener dog they had.

On the way to school, I thought about how ridiculous Kiera’s parents were being and I thought about Aunt Lilly and how she had always let me create my own path. Mostly. It helped that we were fine, financially. I didn’t remember much of my father, but he had always made sure that we had whatever we needed. Neither of us had spoken to him in all the time I had been with Lilly, but he had always kept the bank account funded. So, I supposed I could be thankful that, at least financially, he had always been there, even though it would have been nice to know him. Deep in my thoughts, I sighed loudly, startling myself back to the here and now.

I made it to class with plenty of time to spare. I waited impatiently at my desk for Oliver to arrive. The anticipation of seeing him again was driving me nuts. I couldn’t stop fidgeting, readjusting myself in my seat, and tapping my pen, which got me several dirty looks. Just as Professor McBaldy Bald arrived, I noticed that Oliver was already sitting in his seat. How had I missed him coming in? My focus was completely his. He was perfect, with that flawless light skin and gorgeous, brown, wavy hair. His beautiful emerald eyes felt like they were piercing my soul—in a good way, of course.

Professor McBaldy Bald interrupted my daydream by calling my name. “Miss Alexander?”

“Here.” I said in a dreamy voice, not taking my eyes away from Oliver’s jewel-like eyes.
Whoa! Wait a minute. If I can see his eyes
… I realized then that he was staring at me, too, along with the rest of the class, and there was my name again.

“Miss Alexander, are you alright?”

As I jerked my eyes away from Oliver’s, I saw a hint of a smile start to form at the corner of his mouth. I sank down in my seat. “Yes, Professor. I’m fine.”

“Are you sure?”

Yes, now leave me alone!
“Yes.” I managed, as I felt the burn of pink on my face.

“And Miss Blake? How is she doing?”

“She’s fine, too; just needs a day to recover.”
But she’s going to be horrified when I tell her that you brought it up in front of the entire class.

Professor McBaldy Bald gave me a sharp stare from over the tops of his round, thin-rimmed glasses and then he began talking about English-related topics. My tension and the warmth from my cheeks faded and my mind started wandering again. I couldn’t concentrate on anything except Oliver. Is this what a “crush” does—wreak havoc with your mind? I had liked boys before, but never had one distracted me the way he did.

I peeked sideways to see if he was looking at me. He wasn’t, but I thought I saw a smile start at the corner of his mouth while I was looking at him. I had to have imagined it. How could he know I was looking at him? I tried to focus on the class, but to no avail; my mind and my eyes wandered back to Oliver and this time he was looking at me. I panicked and looked away. My body tense, I waited what seemed like an hour, but was probably only ten seconds, and glanced over at him again. He was still looking at me, with a small smile that melted my heart. He turned forward. I didn’t know how much more I could take.

Class continued that way, with my mind and my eyes wandering to him over and over again. He was going to think I was a freak! Then I heard a most wonderful sound—Professor McBaldy Bald excusing us five minutes early. It was only five minutes; but, right then, it was like a lifetime.
That balding man just scored some points back with me
.

I lingered at my desk long enough to walk out just as Oliver was passing by. I smiled at him and he smiled back. My heart-rate picked up. Oh, that smile; it was mesmerizing. He asked in his cool, smooth voice, “How’s Kiera today?”

I struggled for a moment, trying to form a complete sentence.
Man! I have it bad!
“She seems better. I think it was really hard for her to stay home. I’m pretty sure she’s never missed a day of school,” was what I finally rambled out.

“That’s good to hear,” he responded, flashing me more of his gorgeous smile. My heart skipped a beat, or three.

Summoning the strength to speak again, I asked, “How was Carter after you left?”

“He’s fine. I think it was more the idea of her not feeling well that was causing him to feel like he did.” We walked along the arched hallway together.

“So, you and Carter are roommates?” I didn’t want him to stop talking. I wanted to know everything about him and I could listen to his voice all day.

“Yeah, he seems like a really nice guy. And he really likes you and Kiera.” He gave me a tiny smile as he glanced at me. I could feel my heart pounding harder against my chest.

“Kiera has always had a crush on Carter, but she’s too shy to do anything about it.”
Oh, my God! Why did I just say that?
I hadn’t just said it; I had blurted it out. “I don’t know why I just told you that. Please don’t say anything,” I pleaded, feeling the stinging pink return to my cheeks.

“I won’t,” he said with a wink.
What was that supposed to mean?
“Well, we’re here.”

“Where?” I said, looking at the door to my next class. “How did you know this was my class?”

“It’s mine, too,” he said with a crooked grin. “I heard your name in roll call yesterday.”
No way! How am I going to make it through another class with him?
On the other hand…I honestly didn’t think he had to be there in order to distract me.

“Ladies first,” he said, opening the door for me. I stepped inside.

It was a small, regular classroom with desks lined in rows facing the front of the room and a large wooden desk—the professor’s—facing us. The class was almost full, with about twenty-five students, except for a few single desks scattered throughout the room. In the far right corner, there were two desks together, conveniently located toward the back of the class. He gestured for me to follow him. Of course, I did. Who wouldn’t? I sat down and glanced over my right shoulder at him. His eyes were on me and he smiled that heart-melting smile as our eyes met. The professor entered the room from a door beside the white board at the front of the classroom and broke our connection.

As the professor started class, I realized that we were in Astronomy.
Sweet. Maybe this one will keep my interest.
The stars and the sky had always fascinated me.
Maybe enough to distract me from Oliver for a moment? Yeah, right.

The professor had her back to us. She was writing on the board. She had lovely, straight, very long, strawberry-blonde hair. As she turned to face the class, she spoke in the most delightfully captivating voice that had just a hint of an accent. It wasn’t profound enough to detect where she was originally from. “Hello, again, to those of you who have returned. To those of you who are joining us for the first time, welcome.” She had a warm smile. “I am Professor Ambrose SaVan,” she said, looking directly at me, “and I’d prefer it if you called me Professor Amber.”

Professor Amber was absolutely stunning. She was about my height, five-foot-seven, but with her gleaming, cream-colored pumps, she stood almost two inches taller. She was thin and elegant. She was wearing a sea-green, fitted skirt that flared out at mid shin in a pleated three inch ruffle. She wore a beautiful cream-colored cardigan over an equally beautiful cream satin blouse. She was graceful as she walked up and down the aisles between the desks while she continued speaking. Her strikingly radiant, blue-green eyes stood out against her flawless porcelain skin. I found her fascinating and I hung on every word she spoke. She really didn’t look old enough to be a college professor. She barely looked older than me.

By the end of class, I think my attention had only wandered twice, and only for brief moments. That was pretty good considering the way things had gone in English class. Every time my eyes wandered to Oliver, he was leaning back, relaxed, totally still in his seat, his arms crossed over his chest, his face forward, but his eyes would glance toward mine and he’d give me just a hint of a smile. I would be awestruck for a moment before the professor’s voice would break the connection and he would wink—
ahhh
—and we would both return our focus to her.

We walked out of class together. I worked up all of my nerve, and my heart rate, too. “Well…I have my break now.” I paused for a quick moment to hold onto my nerve. “I’m going to go have lunch and study a bit,” I said, hoping he’d join me, but I was too afraid to ask outright.

“Okay,” he smiled. My hope picked up. “I’m sure I’ll see you later.” He turned and walked away. My heart sank. I stared after him, feeling a little disappointed and then startled, my cheeks warming, as he looked back at me over his shoulder and smiled again. Then he was gone.

I wandered sullenly out of the arched hallway and off through an open, grassy area to a tree that I liked to sit under. I had a seat in the shade of the huge maple tree. Its leaves were beginning to change, as were all the other trees. On that side of the college, opposite from the parking lot, in the large, open, grassy area there were lots of other trees, mostly Maples and oaks, where students sat and studied. There were benches, too, but most of the students sat under the shade of the trees or sprawled out in the grass, sunning themselves. I’d often thought our little town should’ve been named Treeville or even Tree City; there were trees everywhere and they lined most of the streets.

I watched a couple of very bushy-tailed grey squirrels scamper by, searching for food, and my eyes followed them as they chased each other up an enormous oak tree and out of sight. With lots of trees came lots of squirrels. I leaned back against my tree and got out my lunch—okay, it was just a granola bar—and my astronomy book and started to munch a bit while I flipped through the pages. My mind was elsewhere and Oliver was the star of my thoughts. I hadn’t been there long, but long enough to get lost in my Oliver fantasy, when a shadow loomed over me. I looked up and that magnificent Knight with his shiny white teeth, sporting a pair of very dark sunglasses, was standing before me, smiling down at me. My heart sped up at the sight of him.

“May I join you?” he asked. I felt butterflies in my stomach.

“Of course.” I might have answered a little too quickly, but I really didn’t care.

He sat down beside me and he too took out his astronomy book along with a stainless steel water bottle. “It’s my break time, too,” he said, smiling. I seriously thought my heart might give out from all his smiling.

I flipped through my astronomy book, pretending I was reading, but my gaze kept drifting to Oliver. He’d glance at me and smile and, every time, I would blush. My heart would race and I’d quickly look back to the book. I really wasn’t going to learn anything at that pace. Finally, I took a deep breath and asked, in what I hoped was a steady voice, “So, where did you move here from?” It wasn’t as steady as I had hoped.

He looked at me through those dark glasses and smiled—again, my heart skipped a beat and I had butterflies in my tummy. This crush stuff was really hard on the body. “Reno,” he replied. “You?”

“Me? I’ve always lived here; I grew up just outside of town.” He stared at me—well, it looked like he was. I couldn’t tell with the dark glasses. I wished I could see his beautiful eyes, which were hiding behind those shades. Of course, he was smiling—just that gorgeous hint of a smile that made me want to...
Whoa!
I rubbed my forehead and shook my head a little, trying to keep it together. “Do you like it here?” I managed to say in a normal tone—no quavering this time.