The Not So Girl Next Door

Chapter 18: Facing Amanda

            “I WON!” I heard Jared yell while I continued to run. He was so fast! Like a bullet, or a cheetah, or…but I ran out of comparisons.

          “Fine,” pant, “You won. Again.” I sat on the sidewalk, trying to restart my heart. I don’t know what made it drum so much—Jared’s gorgeous face or the race.

Jared laughs out loud and sits next to me. “I get the shotgun seat.” He announces smugly. He still remembers. I smiled.

“Sure, but how are you going to get around if you’re on the shotgun seat and no one’s driving?” I said as I tried to stifle back the laughter building up inside.

He grabs my head, and rubs his knuckles on my hair like a dog. “You are fairly annoying for a small person.” Though I didn’t hear a hint of annoyance in his tone

I barely heard him on account of all the birds cooing and the bells ringing inside my head. And he’s not even kissing me. I tried to get away from him by biting his arm, hard.

“Hey!” He said, and finally let go of me. “Are you planning to be a vampire anytime soon?”

“Maybe, then I’d be dazzlingly beautiful and pale and sparkle in the sun like in Twilight.” I joked while trying to fix the mess he did in my hair. I kind of want to pluck out each strand and frame them then hang it on the wall. Below would be the words: Strands of Kelsie Lewis’s hair which were touched by Jared Sullivan.

I heard him mumble something but was too low for my ears to hear.

“Kelsie, we’ve been waiting for you.” My mom said as she appeared on our lawn.

“Good Morning, Mrs. Lewis.” Jared said politely while standing up courteously.

My mom looked surprised to see him. “Oh, well, hello Jared.” She smiled at him. “It’s nice to see you two acting like little kids again.”

We looked at each other before laughing out loud.

“Jared. I haven’t seen you around here lately.” Wait a minute. There was something really familiar with that voice.

Heart in my throat, I turned to the source of the voice and my eyeballs were so close to popping out.

“Dad!” Oh my god! It has been months since I last saw my dad. I missed him so much.

My dad’s hair—brown with blond tints, the same as mine—was streaked with little grey hairs. The corners of his auburn eyes creased as he smiled at me. He was wearing a business suit—white polo, red tie, black pants and a black jacket.

“How’s it going my little Kiki?” He said as I rushed up and hugged him. Kiki is the goofy nickname my dad gave me. He’s the only one who calls me that.

“Dad, I told you never you call me that!” I wailed as I fought back the tears that evaded me. Jared chuckled behind me.

“And your mom told me never to set foot on her house ever again but here I am.” he teased. My mom rolled her eyes but I swear I saw her smile a little.

He put his arm around me and started leading me inside.

“Dad, wait.” I shrugged off his arm—gently, of course—and turned to Jared who was standing awkwardly on our lawn with his hands in his pockets.

“Hey,” I said shyly. “Thanks for making me feel like a kid again.”

He stared at me, confused. “Is that good or bad?” He smiled. My heart dropped to my feet.

“Oh, it’s good. Real good.” I flashed him the best smile I could. “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yeah,” Then he put his arms around my waist and came closer. My hands fell limp on my sides. My feet almost lifted off the ground—he was extremely tall—as he hugged me tightly that I couldn’t breathe. My heart beat so fast I swear it was having its own rock band. It’s like everything in the world stopped with a screeching halt.