Dinner went great. My mom was talkative and asked Brody a million questions. He answered them all without a hint of annoyance. I was the one becoming annoyed.
“Mom, stop interrogating him like you’re a member of the KGB or something.”
“I don’t mind,” Brody said with a smile.
“So, what are your plans after graduation, Brody?” My mother dabbed each side of her mouth with a linen napkin.
“College, ma’am.”
“And what will you study?”
“Medicine.”
Really? How did I not know that? I guess I was too preoccupied about us being separated to ask.
“Ah, a doctor!”
“Actually, I’m going into medical research.”
“Still, a very respectable field. Willow is going to study education.” She said it like I’d be skimming scum off mud puddles. She thought I was wasting my life on teaching. There were so many more prestigious occupations I could have, especially with my grades. Blah, blah, blah. I didn’t care about prestige. I wanted a job that made me happy. “You’ve been accepted at a college?” my mom asked Brody.
“Yes. The University of Michigan.”
My heart did a nosedive like it did any time I thought about where we’d be going to college, so very far away from each other.
“Very nice,” my mom said, nodding. And Brody earned his fourth gold star of the night. “Willow is going to State.”
Not in this lifetime.
Brody looked at me and nodded. I gave him a tight smile.
And so it went throughout the evening. Question after question.
After Brody left, my mom said, “He’s a very nice young man. Seems to have a plan for his life. That’s important. I like him a lot.”
I smiled. “I like him a lot, too.”
“I know. I can see it in your eyes. You both have the look.”
“The look?” I asked.
“The look, you know, respect, admiration, friendship, love. I can see it when you look at one another. I’m happy for you.” She tapped the end of my nose with her finger. “Few people find a relationship like that.”
And Brody earned his fifth gold star. Five out of five stars. He had sufficiently won over my mom. I breathed a sigh of relief.
We lay on a blanket on the roof of Brody’s Jeep, wrapped in a quilt to keep warm, snuggled together, sharing body heat.
“The stars are pretty tonight,” I whispered.
“Mm-hmm.”
“I love coming here. Soon, it’ll be too cold.” I shivered.
“I know. I usually go to the planetarium in the winter. It’s not the same, though.”
“Do you want to come over and watch a movie? Ralph isn’t home this week.”
Brody turned his head and looked at me. His face was so close our noses nearly touched. “Your mom won’t mind?”
“No. She’ll probably be upstairs reading anyway.” I scooted forward and kissed him. His lips were cool against mine, but when his tongue slipped into my mouth, it was warm and tasted sweet. It sent my body into overdrive. Every time he touched me, my body reacted in ways that surprised me. But it was more than just physical. It was raw emotion. We didn’t hold anything back. We opened our bodies, hearts, and souls to each other and connected in a way that was beyond the physical.
I’d never given much thought to the idea of soul mates. I never knew if I believed there was only one person in the world meant for me. But Brody answered those questions. We connected in a way that I knew he was my other half. There wouldn’t be anyone else that would touch all of me the way Brody did.
“You’re freezing. Let’s go. We’ll get a movie on the way to your house,” he said when he ended our kiss.
“Okay,” I agreed reluctantly. I didn’t want to leave. Brody’s aunt’s property was my favorite place. It was the only place we were truly alone. We spent hours there talking and learning about each other.
And other things… those were good, too. Yeah.
I’d never been happier than I’d been the two months I dated Brody. It was bliss.
“When you jump for joy, beware that no one moves the ground from beneath your feet.”
~ Stanislaw J. Lec
During the two months that Brody and I dated, Jaden was relatively quiet. Thankfully, he avoided us. But, like I knew he would, he told people I’d slept around with other guys while we dated. He made it sound as though it happened all the time. I’d known he’d try to trash my reputation. What surprised me was that people didn’t believe him. Not only was my reputation not ruined, but people also talked about Jaden sleeping around on me.
The truth was, I wasn’t sleeping with anyone. And thankfully, Brody wasn’t one of those guys who made up stories about bagging some chick to make their friends jealous or himself more popular. No, he was the type of guy who wasn’t embarrassed to tell people we hadn’t had sex. It didn’t bother him what others thought.
Although Jaden remained somewhat detached from the situation, acting as if it didn’t matter—maybe it didn’t—he still had moments when he just couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
It was a Monday, and Brody and I had just walked into the commons during lunch. We had to walk by Jaden’s table to get to my locker for my afternoon dose of caffeine.
“What do you have today, caffeine or caffeine and chocolate?” Brody asked. “I know how nervous you get before an exam. You might need a fix of both before our calc. exam,” he teased.
“Ha, you are so very funny. I think I’ll stick with the—”
“There’s the slut of Cassidy High,” Jaden shouted when he saw us walk by.
Brody’s fist darted out so quickly that no one had time to react. He landed a hard punch to Jaden’s jaw, knocking him off his chair. Jaden jumped to his feet and charged Brody, but his football teammates held him back.
Brody grinned. “Watch your mouth, Jaden.” He threaded his fingers through mine and walked away as though nothing happened. “So, what’s in your stash?” he asked when we reached my locker.
“You can’t do that. It doesn’t matter what he says, Brody. You can’t do that. Look at you,” I grabbed his hand and looked at his knuckles. “You’re hurt.”
“Nah.” He pulled me to him by the belt loops on my jeans and bent down, kissing me slowly. When he raised his head, he looked in my eyes. “I don’t like hearing him say things like that about you.”
“It doesn’t matter what he says. Just leave it alone.” When he opened his mouth to argue, I put my finger over his lips. “For me. Please.”
He nodded once and leaned his forehead to mine. “Okay. For you.” He pulled back and kissed my forehead. “Let’s get your caffeine and go eat.”
“Have you asked him yet?” Jenna asked in history class. It was Friday, and I was itching for school to end. Brody and I had a weekend full of things planned.
Jenna doodled little hearts across my notepad. I shooed her pencil away. “No. He’s coming over after school. I’m going to ask him then.”
“Is Ralph home this week?”
I blew a lock of hair out of my eyes. “He’s coming home tomorrow.”
Jenna started drawing hearts across the table. “You’ve got to tell him sooner or later.”
“I know. I thought we’d wait until the wedding.”
Jenna laughed. “Yeah, that might be a good idea.” She drew a big heart across the table and filled it with little ones.
“Vandal,” I said with a laugh.
“Yeah, I’m a rebel. I have detention this week anyway. I might as well make it worthwhile.”
“What’d you do this time?” I asked with a sigh. Jenna was a detention addict. She had detention as much as I had caffeine.
“I needed to use the bathroom in English and old fart bag Malone wouldn’t give me the bathroom pass. And I needed to go. It was a woman thing, if you know what I mean.”