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Chapter 7
Jaxson
Hampton, GA April 14- Friday morning
The wind blows wildly around us. Her long, dark hair is a curtain shielding me from the excitement I know she’s feeling. It reverberates off her. Her body is thrumming with energy as she revs the engine. She doesn’t want me to know how much this means to her. If she does, then it signifies I won. If I win, then we’re taking a trip to Savannah. I’ve been trying to get her to go there with me since the beginning of the summer. She’s afraid. I know she is. This has been the home she’s known all her life. The chance of loving someplace else just as much means being away from the only person she’d freezeframe her life for.
Another thing I know. What she doesn’t realize is I’m more than willing to have both. Regardless of where my racing career would take me, I’d make wherever she wants home. That’s how important she is to me. She doesn’t trust me. her refusal to take me at my word is because of the one thing I’ve kept from her.
The dare. My buddies “dared” me to talk to someone I normally wouldn’t go for. Little did any of them know, I’d had the perfect girl in mind. While they’d followed my seeming nonchalant walk towards my car trying to seek out the “perfect” girl, I’d secretly led them right to her.
I’d been watching her for a while. She was always with the same group that include two other girls. They sat in the same area near one of the big oak trees on campus for lunch. It was usually because she would lead them there. She always had a book with her or a motorcycle magazine. If they followed her, she’d hide the magazine inside the book. The first time I caught her hiding it, I couldn’t stop the chuckle that came out.
The guys thought I was laughing at them. They didn’t know I’d noticed someone outside of our group. Correction. The other guys didn’t notice me noticing her. Graham, overly observant bastard that he is, saw me watching her the next day.
When I led them to where she was sitting, I noticed the knowing smile on Graham’s grease-smudged face. He’d been spending more time in his parents’ garage. His parents were arguing too. The difference was his parents had decided to divorce. Mine argued like it was their daily sport.
Once the guys spotted the group of females, the debate began. I let them go back and forth, weighing the different aspects they thought I liked about each of the girls. Truth be told, each of them would’ve been perfect candidates. It wasn’t like I had a preference or anything. A female is a female. I count it a privilege any of them are interested in me. The rumor mill had circulated stories that I have a preference and I like variety because they haven’t seen me with one girl for long. I’ll never tell them they’re dead ass wrong.
Ryder and Graham are the only ones who know I haven’t stuck with one because I have issues. Life at home doesn’t offer a grand example of “happy life”. Mom and Dad deal with each other because they have three kids together. If they love each other, they don’t really show it.
I was about to open my mouth to point out something the other guys might not notice when Graham speaks up.
“The one with the long, dark hair and colored glasses is all wrong. She’s not his type at all. Did you see what looks like her dad’s or big brother’s shirt draped around her waist? She’s totally wrong for him.”
If Graham and I hadn’t been two of the closest buds at Filmore High, we would’ve been instantly. Ryder turned to look at Graham then looked at me. I tried to school my features, but he squinted his eyes at me. He looked like he was trying to see through me. A beat later, he turned to the last two members of our group and let them know she’d be the one.
That’s the truth of the “dare”.
I did ask her to go for a ride with me that day too. She laughed like I was joking. She looked from her friends to me to exactly where my car was parked. That was all I needed to know. I saw the “no” well before she spoke the word. Digging around in my backpack, I pull out the next issue of the magazine I knew she was hiding. I wrote my number down on the top of the inside page with a note to take a look at page thirty-three.
I walked over to my car. The guys followed me, giving me crap about her turning me down. When I looked out my window, I noticed her looking at me while her friends were talking to her. She was confused but I could see the interest.
The next day I rode my bike to school and parked it where I usually parked my car. I got to school early. The night before, I realized I had no clue when or how she got to school. I waited for what felt like forever. Standing leaned against one of the columns, I watched her get out of the car. An older gentleman was in the driver’s seat. As soon as she stepped out of the car, she looked around. I saw the instant she saw it.
A smile played at my lips as I watched her wave to the driver then make her way to where my bike was parked. She pulled out the magazine and looked at the bike in the photo then mine. They guys and I each built versions of bikes we’d seen in that magazine. My dad happened to know the photographer and wanted to show off our accomplishment. One of the best moments of my life.
My phone buzzed in my pocket. An unknown number was calling me. Somehow, I knew it was her. Answering on the second buzz, I found out I was right. I hadn’t even noticed her pull out her phone. We ended up talking the entire time we went our separate ways to our classes.
Thus, how we started.
She eventually admitted I won the bet, and I took her to Savannah. We ended up at a bench in Forsythe Park, sharing fries and a Leopold’s banana split. She made me laugh out loud and I told her I loved her. Right there on that park bench, I told a woman who wasn’t a member of my family I loved her.
Three years and four months later, she ripped my heart out and left me broken.
I don’t know why I’m thinking about her. She’s in my past. I need to leave her ass there. She’s living her live.
In the same city and state where you are. That can’t be a coincidence.
It doesn't matter. I’m not chasing her. Plus, I need to focus on fixing my shit. I get off my ass, close up my home office, get dressed, and take said ass to work.
Where she works too.
I groan as the car pulls up to the building. I’m not thinking when I climb out of Graham’s car, so I don’t immediately notice the crowd out front.
“Perfect,” I mutter as I plaster on a smile. “I really need to get my car back.”
