away in the dark.
“Great,” I said, a little too loudly, “now someone will find it and do something funky with my DNA.” Jensen only laughed at my joke.
Suddenly changing the subject Jensen asked, “Are you going home with Aria or Krissa?”
“Oh, um, Aria’s mom is picking us up. I was thinking of staying at her house tonight,” I answered, wondering where he was going with his question.
“Well, if you’re not going to stay at her house, I’d like to drive you home … if that’s okay. It gives me more time to spend with you.”
“Yeah, I’d like that,” I told him.
For the next ten minutes, we shared small-talk about ourselves before Jensen said again that he would take me home and got up off the bench to go get his car. Before he left me, he suggested I tell my friends that I was with him so they wouldn’t worry.
Roxette’s It Must Have Been Love was winding down when I entered the building and crossed the dance floor. The lights then suddenly came on and I had to blink a few times to find my bearings, but it didn’t take me long to spot Aria over against the far wall waving me over. I half-walked, half-jogged to where she stood being absolutely certain that she could see the excitement on my face.
“You’re all flush; what’s going on? Did he kiss you?”
“Actually, he’s giving me a ride home so we can get to know each other better,” I said, ignoring her question completely. I could tell she wanted details, but I had none … yet. “I’ll let you know tomorrow how it goes.”
With that, I was off and running outside. I passed Krissa and Kylie on the way out and yelled a quick goodbye. Krissa raised her eyebrow at me in a knowing way, but I only put my thumb and pinky to the side of my head like a phone and mouthed the words ‘I’ll call you tomorrow.’
Jensen drove me slowly home in his parents’ black BMW, explaining along the way that he was only borrowing it until his Jeep was out of the shop after getting a lift-kit put on. I was sure I’d like his Jeep, but his parents’ car was a nice ride. We soon pulled up to my house and only talked for a little while longer before Jensen yawned and said that he needed to go. I felt like we were on the verge of something more, but he kept a careful distance and told me he’d call me the next day.
Thanksgiving arrived and both Jensen and I had plans with our families. That didn’t, however, keep us from spending a few hours on the phone getting to know one another. Jensen told me about his three siblings starting with Emery, his older brother who was in his first year of college at UNLV. He then told me about Alicia, who was in tenth grade, and Jessica, who was a senior. By his description of his sisters; Jessica with her long, blonde hair and Alicia with her medium-length, light brown hair; I remembered seeing each of them only once or twice at school.
Jensen went on to tell about his family’s downtown jewelry store, which was operated by his mother. His father filled in at the store occasionally, but for the most part he worked in investments. It suddenly occurred to me that his family wasn’t just well off, but very well off. Jensen didn’t elaborate; instead, he went on to talk about his hobbies, which were weight training, racquetball, and volleyball. I decided to flatter him by mentioning that I had noticed his sculpted physique at the dance, but he shyly skirted around the subject and politely asked about my mother, whom I had to do the obligatory and uncomfortable Thanksgiving dinner with. I told him about her real estate career and touched briefly on our estranged relationship. Jensen was very easy to talk to and I felt like an open book.
The following week at school, Jensen and I sat together each day at lunch and talked mostly about what was happening at school that day. It was nice to spend time with him, and I could feel there was something between us, even though he never made any move to touch me or kiss me. There were a couple of times that I thought he would, but he never did. Come Thursday before I was to get on my bus, he met me at my locker.
“Would you like a ride home?” he asked, leaning against the locker next to mine and half-smiling. My heart skipped a beat and I instantly agreed. At that point I would have followed him anywhere. We started walking and made it all the way outside when I realized I had forgotten a book I needed.
“Jensen, can you wait here a sec? I forgot one of my books in my locker.”
“Actually,” he said, “I can go get my Jeep and pick you up here.”
“I’d like that, thanks.”
“Yeah, I’d like that, too,” he said with his crooked smile. I turned to walk away and he grabbed my hand and pulled me back. “But I think I’d like this even more.”
He tipped my chin up with his right hand and softly kissed me. His left hand wound around my waist, pulling me close. I wound my arms around his neck, holding the back of his head with my hand. His lips were nice and warm, and his tongue was soft as it rolled with mine. The kiss lasted for several minutes and we both felt the need for air as we slowly pulled away. I stepped back and Jensen looked at me a little alarmed.
“Too much? Sorry, I should have asked.”
Now I became panicky. “Oh, no, it was … amazing. I was just caught off guard and lost my balance a little.”
He grabbed my hand and pulled me close as he said, “Good, because I see more of that in our future.” Jensen pulled away to look at me. “That is, if you do too?” His blue eyes seemed to pierce my soul.
“Yes, I … I think I do,” I stammered, suddenly breaking into a large grin.
He pulled me close again, rubbing my arms as I had started to shiver. “It’s cold out here,” he said. “Why don’t you grab your book and I’ll get my Jeep?”
I nodded and raced to my locker, excitement overtaking me. Dialing my combination, I quickly grabbed my book and stuffed it into my book bag. After slamming my locker shut with my foot, I turned and ran down the stairs to the second floor and to the front of the school where I found Jensen waiting in a 1991 Jeep Wrangler hardtop, electrical blue in color. I whistled under my breath a little, slightly impressed with the three-inch lift and large swamp tires. When he saw me coming, Jensen got out of his Jeep and walked to the passenger side to open my door.
“Thanks,” I said awkwardly as he helped me in. I wasn’t used to guys with such manners. As he walked back around to his side, I noticed he had To Be With You playing low in the background. I commented that he must be a fan of Mr. Big, and Jensen only smiled, but offered to change it to something else if I didn’t like them since he had a six-disc changer in the Jeep.
“Wow, nice.” I looked around and saw that he had the whole package with eight-inch Rockford Fosgate speakers installed in the back. “Hopefully you acquired this vehicle by acceptable means.” I gave a sly smile to show I was joking, and he looked at me briefly and smiled his crooked smile before we took off in the Jeep with Mr. Big coming out of the speakers.
“Well, that’s something Aria didn’t tell you about me,” he said, speeding up and shifting into third as we pulled onto the freeway. “So, do you need to go home right away or is it okay if we take a little detour? I’m kind of hungry.”
Without waiting for me to answer, Jensen shifted again, sped up and passed a couple of cars that were going way too slow. Passing by the road that normally took me home, we traveled a couple more miles and got off the freeway before turning toward Front Street where McDonald’s was located. Once inside, we ordered cheeseburgers, fries, one Diet Coke for me, and one Dr. Pepper for Jensen.
“So tell me a little more about yourself,” he said, taking a handful of fries and eating one at a time.
“What do you want to know?” I asked as I unwrapped my cheeseburger and took off the pickles from the rest of