Page 18 of Mr. Principal

“Getting tired?”

I shrugged self-consciously. “Yeah, kind of.” Who was I kidding? I could barely keep my eyes open. It was time to go.

“I think I’ve had enough partying for one night. I should go find Meredith.”

My shoulders were tense again. I rolled them and reached a hand around to rub one side that was full of tension.

Carter stood up from the tree he had been leaning against and came and sat next to me on the tiny bench.

“Turn around,” Carter ordered.

I did as he said and sighed when his warm hands massaged my shoulders. “That feels great,” I sighed.

All the tension from my shoulders melted and I leaned against Carter, my back against his chest. He smelled yummy. I wondered why I didn’t notice before. I wondered if it was cologne or some sort of scrub that his wacky mom had given him. I knew she ran a shop on Etsy selling all sorts of all natural, organic goodies.

He stopped rubbing my shoulders and then started stroking my arms. His touch gave me goosebumps and felt kind of familiar, intimate even.

“What are you doing, Carter?” I asked softly, not moving, but feeling I needed to say something before things progressed further.

“Warming you up,” he said, his mouth close to my ear. “You have goosebumps.”

I shivered then a little but not because I was cold.

“Carter—” I started, turning to face him.

“Hey, Mom. There you are,” Meredith said, appearing on the front porch with Tom and Becca at her side.

I instantly sat up, pulling myself away from Carter’s embrace as they approached. And then I remembered that I was supposed to be Carter’s girlfriend. But I also didn’t want Meredith to think Carter and I were an item.

Confused, I just sat there, trying to figure out what to do next. Carter made it easy for me by letting go of me and standing up. He took my hand and helped me up too.

Meredith grinned when she saw us together, “I knew you liked my mommy,” she said, giving Carter a wide smile. Hmmm... I guess I didn’t have to worry about her reaction.

Tom again looked at us as if he wanted to punch Carter in the face. Jealous much? I thought to myself with a self-satisfied inner grin.

“Do you think it would be okay if Meredith spent the night?” Becca said. “I know we normally get her on Wednesdays, but since it’s spring break and all, do you think maybe I could take her to go pick strawberries with me? My mom and I used to do it when I was a kid, so I thought she might like to go too.”

I wanted to say, “Aren’t you still a kid?”

But instead, I looked at Meredith who had her hands folded together as if she were begging while she beseeched me with her eyes saying, “Please...please...please.”

“Sure,” I said, “Who can resist a face like that? But what about a change of clothes…”

Becca waved her hand in reassurance. “Oh, she has a full wardrobe at our house. With lots of tiaras, I made sure of that.”

She took Meredith’s hand and the two looked at each other like they were best of friends. And that’s when it hit me. I didn’t need to be worried about Becca and Meredith’s relationship. It was totally different from the relationship I had with Meredith. It was almost as if they were sisters, strangely enough.

I mean, hey, they were close enough in age to be related.

I bent down and kissed Meredith on the head and she hugged me tightly. “Have fun, sweetheart. I’ll pick you up tomorrow evening. Sound good?”

“That sounds great, Mom. I’ll save you some strawberries.”

“Please do,” I said straightening up.

Tom didn’t say a word during the whole exchange, which was fine with me. The less I had to talk to him, the better. In fact, I figured maybe I would just contact Becca instead when I needed to discuss anything that had to do with Meredith. It would stop me from being a jerk to him if I just didn’t have to talk to him.

Maybe I would eventually get to the point that Carter’s parents had. Except I didn’t have anyone, but Tom did. I wondered if that would change any time soon.