Astoria: Part One

Jordan and Heather: Chapter Twenty-Six

           The girls entered Jordan's car and began cruising away from the school.

Both were reflecting on the events of the day.
Jordan couldn't help but think about the fight, and Heather was thinking about poor Maisie.

"Do you think she'll be okay?" Heather asked.
"She only got hit with a football," Jordan assured her, "I think she'll be okay."
"No," she shook her head, "I was talking about Maisie."
"Oh..."
"I mean I hope Violet's okay too..."
"That was her name?"

Heather smiled softly.

"You really don't pay attention, do you?"
"Hey," Jordan smiled, "I told you."
"Yes, you did," Heather continued, "her names Violet Campbell."
"Okay," Jordan said, trying to commit that to memory.
"But I meant Maisie," Heather repeated, "she was having a really hard time."
"Who was it that hurt her?"
"Well, she clearly didn't want to say..."

Jordan then pulled into her driveway.

"Wow," Heather said, trying to mask her surprise.
"Yeah," Jordan agreed, "big, huh?"
"A little," Heather laughed.
"My mom grew up in a trailer park," Jordan explained as she got out of the car, "and my dad wanted to give her the world."
"That's really romantic," Heather smiled, "although I'd hate to be the one to clean it..."

The two entered the front door, and Jordan heard an intense growling from her right.
Heather was already on the other side of Jordan.

"No, Sarge," she said plainly, "she's a guest."

Sarge stopped growling, but he didn't seem totally convinced.

"Here," Jordan took Heather's hand and held it out to Sarge, who sniffed and then licked it.

Heather was holding her breath.

"Now he knows you," Jordan smiled at her, "he won't give you any trouble."
"Oh," Heather sighed in relief, "that's good."

Jordan then gave Heather the house tour, starting with the den.

"Here's the den," Jordan stated, "it's mostly just dad in here these days..."

Heather noticed the two worn, comfortable looking chairs. Then she saw that two walls were made up of giant bookshelves, and the third had a large window that looked out on the front lawn.

"Cozy," she remarked.
"Yeah."

The next room was the kitchen and dining-room combination.

Heather saw that the kitchen was large, modern and expensive. She thought about the fifteen-year-old refrigerator she had at home. The dining-room had a large wooden table with ten chairs around it and a fancy chandelier hanging above it.

"Wow."
"Again," Jordan chuckled, "dad wanted the best for mom."
"I can see that," Heather laughed.

"And here's the bedrooms and bathroom."

Heather was now in a long and wide hallway.
The bathroom door was open and just by walking past, Heather could tell it was nice.
The pair entered Jordan's room.

"...it's..." Heather began.
"Empty?" Jordan smiled.
"I mean," Heather agreed, "a little, yeah."
"I guess I just don't really care about decorating," Jordan said, looking at the ground.

Heather looked around and saw very little.
Jordan had a full-size bed with a dark grey comforter and pillows, a dark wooden dresser, some clothes in a laundry hamper, a metal desk with a laptop on it, a long mirror leaned against a wall and a guitar case in a corner.

"I guess so," Heather giggled.

Jordan looked around nervously.

"So how slow is slow..?" Jordan asked hesitantly.

Heather smiled softly.

"Well," she began, "I guess I just wanna do things the right way..."
"The right way being..?"

Now Heather began to blush.

"I guess I mean that I want to actually be a couple before we do anything serious..." she said carefully.
"Oh," Jordan nodded, "when do we officially become 'a couple?'"

Heather blushed harder.

"At least three or four dates," she said quietly, "and you have to ask me to be your girlfriend."
"Ah, I see," Jordan sat on her bed, "and 'doing something serious' would be what exactly?"
"Y'know..." Heather avoided eye contact.

Jordan smiled teasingly.

"No, I'm not sure I do," she lied.

Heather shifted uncomfortably.

"Sex," she whispered, embarrassed.

Jordan started laughing.

"It's not funny!" Heather protested.
"It really is," Jordan said, laying back on the bed.

Heather sat beside her.

"Why is sex such an 'S' word for you?" Jordan asked, still smiling.
"I don't know..."

Heather laid back beside Jordan.

"I'm just weird I guess," Heather laughed.
"You definitely are," Jordan agreed, "but I wouldn't like you if you weren't."

Jordan turned toward Heather and kissed her on the cheek.