Almost There

- 15 -

Isaac leaned over the center console to open Tess's door from the inside. He nudged it and it swung open a few inches...then fell closed again. Tess opened it from the outside.

"You didn't text back," Isaac said. "I would have come up to the door and done all that stuff."

"No need to make you walk up there," Tess replied, sliding into the passenger seat. She smoothed her hand over her hair, hoping her dash from the house had not ruffled it. "Besides, you tried to open my door. That makes you a gentleman."

"Is that your dad?"

Glancing up at the window of her house, Tess saw her father standing there, a coffee mug poised halfway to his mouth. He was so embarrassing. "I wish I could tell you I didn't know him, but he's in my house, so..."

Isaac waved at Tess's dad. To her horror, he responded—not with a wave, like a normal person, but with a slow, sober lift of his coffee mug, like some kind of grudging, fatherly toast. Laughing, Isaac put his car into reverse. "He didn't shake his fist, so I guess that's a good sign."

Tess was glad Isaac had a sense of humor. She smiled at him and smoothed her hair again. "Thank you for picking me up."

"No problem!" He put his hand on the back of Tess's headrest, half-turning so he could look out the rear window as he backed out of the driveway. "How's your weekend been so far?"

"Aburrido," she replied.

"What?"

"Boring. Homework and homework and homework." Suddenly, the memory of her Friday talk with Dr. Mark popped into her mind, and fear lanced through her stomach. She couldn't tell Isaac about that; she'd have to be careful. What if it had slipped out?

"You don't do homework on Saturdays though, do you? Homework is a Sunday night thing."

"I don't know if I'd get it all done if I saved it that long. I try to get it out of the way so I don't suffer later."

"Man, I wish I were that organized. You'll be glad to know that I spent my Friday night watching the first Thor movies over again, so I'm 100% ready for this."

"Is that what you normally like to do on a weekend? Stay in, watch movies?" Tess was eager for the chance to get to know Isaac better. So far, she only knew he was cute and that he was one of the nicest people she'd met.

"Sometimes," he replied, "but not usually. I like to go out to parties and hang out with friends. If I'm gonna watch a movie, I usually don't like to watch it alone."

Tess nodded her understanding. He did seem like a pretty outgoing guy; he must have a lot of friends. "Do you do any sports or clubs?"

"I did baseball all through grade school, but only because my parents made me. Tried football, but wasn't a huge fan. The only thing I really liked was swim team, but I didn't have a great academic year last year, so I guess I had to give that up."

"Oh. I'm sorry, Isaac."

He slowed at an intersection; after glancing both ways, he eased into a right turn and smiled at her. "Why? It isn't your fault. I'll try again in college. What about you, any sports?"

"I'm not really a sports person. The only sport I ever tried was cheerleading for basketball one year in middle school. At my old school, I was a Mathlete, but I don't think I'll have time for it here."

"Mathlete?"

Tess blushed. "Yeah. You do math competitions and things like that."

"Woah. I mean, that's kind of a sport, right?"