Delphic Song

Chapter Three

I raised an eyebrow. “Are you asking me, out, Mr. Hanks?”

“I believe I am, Miss Connolly.” He grabbed my hand and kissed it, his eyes never leaving my face. My skin burned where is lips lingered.

 “Okay, I’ll see you then.” I turned on my heel and ran off up the hill before he could see me blushing. Butterflies flitted around in my stomach.

I reached the stand where Liam stood observing the recent events with a disapproving expression. But even his sour mood couldn’t dampen my exuberant one. I was on top of the world.

I spun around and waved as Nate backed his car out of the grassy lot. Just before he pulled out on to the driveway, he rolled down the window and shouted, “Don’t forget to dress sexy!”

I waved, hoping that the distance would hide the furious redness in my cheeks. As he reached the end of the driveway, I heard rock music begin to blast; the car shook with the beat. Still blushing, I turned and headed to the stand to clean up. Avoiding Liam’s gaze, which I could feel resting on me, I let my ponytail slide to cover my face. I didn’t need to see his face when he tried to scold me.

Sure enough, his footsteps sounded up behind me. “Gwen,” he said. “How long have you known this guy? A couple of hours? Are you sure that that’s enough time to get to known him before you… start dating?" he said the last two words with barely contained loathing.

I ignored him. Using a damp cloth, I wiped apple stems and leaves off the scale, my back still turned to him. I hoped he’d catch on and realize that I didn’t want to talk about this, but, not surprisingly, I was out of luck.

“I mean, what if he’s way older? He looked old enough to be in his twenties-”

“Liam!” I whirled around to face him. “He’s my age. If he stays, he’ll be going to Fryeburg for his senior year too. And why do you care, anyways? Aren’t you in your twenties?”

Liam took a step back, his face hardening. But I didn’t stop there.

“And isn’t the point of a first date to get to know the guy? If I knew everything about him, we wouldn’t be going on our first date. And I want to get to know him. Why is that such a bad thing? I think he’s sweet, funny, and yeah, good-looking-”

Liam held up his hands. “I don’t want to fight about this, but I'm just warning you. That guy is trouble. I have a… a feeling about him.”

“Oh? You have a feeling?”

Liam’s jaw worked. “I can’t stop you from seeing the guy, but I don’t approve. He’s bad news.”

I was about ready to slap him. “Judging by what, exactly? By a single handshake?”

“I told you; we’ve met before.”

“Well, I exploded, “That doesn’t mean that he’s bad news! Why are you making such a big deal about this?!”

Liam snorted at that last part of my rant. “Me making a big deal? If you could hear yourself…”

I glared at him. “Fine. Maybe I’m making a big deal. Maybe. But I'm still mad at you.”

Liam rubbed his temples. “She is not going to be happy about this,” he muttered to himself.

“Who?” I demanded.

“Nothing.” Liam turned abruptly, his face a blank mask. “I need to go. We’ll talk about this later.” He strode off to his car without looking back.