Ava is a typical seventeen-year-old dealing with everyday teenage problems. A job opportunity for her father takes her parents overseas. Not wanting to move, she accepts her grandmother's offer to let her live with her, until her parents return.
On...
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The rest of day went by quickly. The few times I saw Jared, I felt a flutter of excitement, but our eyes never met. There was something about him that pulled at me, and I found my eyes searching for him in the hallways between classes. It was so unlike me; I'd never felt this type of pull to a guy before.
Stacy and Kennedy had swapped numbers with me at the end of the day. They programmed their numbers into my new touch-screen phone my mom had bought me six months ago. I waved the two girls off just outside the school as I made my way to the bus.
It was only a short bus ride to my grandmother's house. I dumped my school bag at the entrance and walked into the kitchen to get something to eat. I reached for a green apple and took a bite before I headed upstairs to do homework. For the first day of school, we didn't get a lot of homework but there was enough to keep me busy for half an hour before I was done. It was still early and Anne wouldn't be home until later. She did most of her work from an office in town although she did travel often to the city to fulfill appointments with her bigger clients.
I couldn't help my thoughts from drifting back to the gorgeous boy I'd seen at school. He seemed to be the typical hot guy that knew it and walked around with an ego to match. I don't know why I couldn't stop thinking about him. I knew enough about guys to know that one who looked like him wouldn't be single. I remembered what Stacy had said about there being rumors that he was with Felicity, and if their intimate interaction at lunchtime was anything to go by, those rumors were true. How sad was my life that I was fascinated with a guy who didn't even know I existed?
My experience with guys was limited. I hadn't even been kissed before. I was shy around boys. I hadn't met a guy who'd actually affected me like Jared had. The effect on me had been instant. I'd felt my heart flutter to life at the sight of him. Was it the start of a crush?
I let out a frustrated sigh. I needed to stop thinking about him and the only way to do that would be to keep myself busy. The less free time I had, the less time I had to think about him. With my mind made up, I pushed all thoughts of Jared out of my mind. I glanced at the bedside clock. I still had some time before Anne would be home, so I went downstairs and switched on the TV.
Later the door opened and I stood up to greet Anne as she arrived home.
"Hi, sweetheart," she said, setting her briefcase down beside the table in the entrance and shrugging out of her coat.
"Hi," I greeted her, giving her a brief kiss to her cheek.
"How was your day?" she asked as I followed her into the kitchen.
As I began to relay the events of my day, she began to make supper. She was making spaghetti and meatballs, which was one of my childhood favorites.
"I saw Stacy today," I told her.
"How is she doing?" she asked as she put the spaghetti into the boiling water on the stove. "The last I heard, her parents were getting divorced."
"Yeah, they're divorced. She's good, though. She lives with her mom on the other side of town."
I talked as Anne finished up with the cooking. I got the plates out and dished up our food before we sat down by the kitchen table and began to eat our food.
"So good," I murmured between bites. Anne was an amazing cook.
She smiled at my enthusiasm for her food.
"So were there any cute boys?" she asked, taking me by surprise. It was so weird to hear my grandmother talk about boys like that.
There was only one who stood out for me, and cute wasn't the word I would use to describe him.
"Not really," I said, trying to get away from the subject of boys. I didn't want to talk about the guy who I hadn't been able to stop thinking about.
Her knowing smile widened. She could read me well. Like an open book.
"How was work?" I countered, trying to steer the conversation away to safer subjects.
"It was good," she answered, allowing me to change the subject.
I had no idea exactly what her job entailed and I was pretty sure even if she explained it I wouldn't understand anyway.
"You'd better call your parents and let them know how your first day at school went," she said as we started clearing up the dirty dishes on the table.
I picked up the phone and dialed my father's number.
"Hi, baby," my dad answered after a couple of rings. He sounded like he'd just woken up.
"Did I wake you?" I asked, not sure what the time difference was.
"It's okay. It's good to hear your voice."
I missed him too.
"How was your first day back at school?" he asked, and I gave him the same rundown of my first day at school that I had given Anne.
"So it sounds like you're settling in nicely, then."
When my mom took over the call I could hear the emotion in her voice although she tried to hide it.
By the time the call ended I was missing my parents.
I went into the kitchen and did the dishes. After drying them and putting them away, I went back to my room to get settled for bed. I ran a bubble bath and climbed in. Another one of my favorite things was bubble baths. Just lying in the bath and soaking my body in millions of tiny little bubbles was soothing. It was only when the water started to cool and my hands had turned wrinkly from being in the water for too long that I finally worked up the enthusiasm to get out. It was only when I put on my cotton panties and matching bra that I realized I'd left my pajamas in my room.
I walked into my room quickly and was heading over to retrieve them from my closet when a sound outside my window caught my attention. It was the memory of the mysterious lights that pulled me forward to my window as I searched for the source of the sound. The forest remained dark.
Footsteps in the street below pulled my gaze down to see someone walking down the street, and just as I was about to look away, the person lifted their face, and our eyes met. He stopped.
It couldn't be.
And yet, even in the dark night, there was no mistaking who it was. Standing in the street outside my house was the guy who had been constantly in my thoughts that day. I was fixed to the spot as I continued to stare at him. It was only when his eyes drifted down, away from my face, that I remembered I was only dressed in my underwear. A smile tugged at his lips as I gasped. Red flooded my cheeks and I stepped back, pulling the curtains closed.
He'd seen me standing in just my bra. My face turned crimson at the reality that the hot guy from school had seen me in my underwear. What was he doing on my street? Did he live nearby?
I quickly pulled my clothes on and climbed into bed, my cheeks still burning with embarrassment. I switched off my side lamp and in the darkness of my room the full implication of him seeing me half naked penetrated my mind. I tried to argue with myself that him seeing me in my bra wasn't any worse than seeing me in a bikini top. It wasn't that bad, was it? The problem was that I didn't wear bikinis, so this was the first time a guy had seen me dressed in so little. I was pretty self-conscious about my body, and what teenage girl wasn't? One thing was for sure, there was no way I would be able to face him tomorrow without feeling embarrassed.
