Burnt (3 page)

She nodded, yawning again. “Very good.”

He laughed. “Well, you’re obviously tired.” He looked at his watch and realized they had been studying for nearly four hours. “I should get going. It’s late and we both could use a break.”

She smiled. “You’re probably right.” She reached over to the coffee table and grabbed the hat she had knitted. “Take this with you,” she snickered and handed it over to him. It wasn’t the first item she had knitted for him, but he would never get tired of receiving one of her homemade creations.

“Thank you!” He put it on. “How do I look?” He held out his arms, standing up to turn from side to side.

She laughed. “Nice modelling pose. The hat looks good too,” she replied. “I have to say, you made pretty good progress today.”

Kevin loved the sound of her laughter. He fought the urge to reach out and brush her hair behind her shoulder, nodding instead and walking toward the door.

“We make a good team,” he said, turning to her.

She smiled. “Always have.”

It was an undeniable truth. It was also why he never felt the need to go out with other girls, because she was always there for him.

“Goodnight, Kevin.” They stood fixed at the door, until Tara leaned up to kiss his cheek.

Kevin turned his face quickly, and their lips connected. As her body leaned into his, he was tempted to wrap his arms around her, but the kiss ended all too soon. She pulled back and opened her mouth to speak, but had no words. She covered her mouth and looked away, embarrassed. “I...” he began.

“My aim never was too good,” she replied. Her face was red.

He shook his head. “No, it was my fault. I got caught up in the moment. It’s late and I didn’t mean to make things awkward.”

“You didn’t,” she said quickly. “It’s just; I was caught a little off guard. That’s all.”

Kevin stepped back and reached for the doorknob. He could tell she was confused by the look in her eyes. He didn’t want to make things even more complicated by staying. “I’d better be going,” he said softly.

Kevin sensed Tara’s stare from the doorway as he headed back to his car. He got inside, but couldn’t bring himself to leave. He turned to look at her through his window. She remained in the doorway, like a statue. He slowly turned and put his car into drive and left. He wasn’t sorry he had kissed her, but he wouldn’t push her. It would only confuse the situation and the last thing he wanted to do was make her uncomfortable.

––––––––

T
ara couldn’t stop thinking about the kiss. No matter how hard she tried, thoughts of Kevin’s lips on hers would come rushing back. She tried to focus on television, reading, sleeping and even internet surfing, but nothing worked.

After a few days, as she was looking over job postings on the internet, he phoned her. She hadn’t talked to him since their last study session and she was apprehensive answering the phone.
What if he wants to discuss it?
She thought. She wiped her sweaty palms on her shorts and answered her cell phone on the third ring.

“Hello?” She hoped she didn’t sound strange, but she feared he would be able to hear her uneasiness.

“Hey, it’s me. What are you doing right now?”

She glanced back at the computer, hitting dead end after dead end of job prospects. “Nothing much.”

“Good. Get dressed. Put on something business casual and I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes.”

“Wh...” Her words trailed off when she realized he had already hung up. She groaned, pulling herself from the kitchen table. She could only imagine what she was getting herself into. She went upstairs and headed to her bedroom where she pulled out a pair of khaki pants and a short-sleeved red blouse from her closet.

Tara quickly got dressed and brushed her hair. As she left her bedroom, she called out to her mom. “I’m going out, Mom. Don’t know when I’ll be back.”

She didn’t hear anything in response, so she shrugged and headed downstairs. The sound of Kevin’s car horn blared from outside. He was already there, leaning on the hood of his car. She paused from the front door to stare at him for a moment. He looked well put together, with his brown shaggy hair perfectly in place. She rarely saw him dressed up. After the kiss, she looked at him and wondered if he saw her in a different light. She tried to shake the thought out of her mind.

Kevin stood up, watching her intently as she headed down the front walkway.

“So, what’s going on?” she asked, eyebrows raised high in anticipation of what he had her dress up to do.

He opened up the passenger door for her.

“Get in,” he smiled.  “I have a surprise for you and I don’t want to ruin it by telling you now. You’ll find out soon enough.”

Tara was hesitant about flying blind, but figured she could trust him. She slid into the passenger seat and waited for him to join her. As she looked at him, the smile remained on his lips. Whatever he was doing was something he seemed proud of. Tara needed to know what it was.

***

T
hey drove toward the center of town and Kevin was relieved she didn’t question him more. He hoped she would be as excited over it as he was. He looked at her from the corner of his eye. Thoughts of how he had stolen that kiss came flooding back into his mind. He cursed at himself for getting caught up in it. It was just a silly kiss. It probably meant nothing to her, so to dwell on it was stupid.

“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me where we’re going?” she asked.

“I’m positive.” He laughed. “We’ll be there in another five minutes. You can wait, right?”

“If I have to.” She chuckled, glancing back out the window. After a few minutes passed, he pulled into a parking lot.

“I don’t understand,” she said as they parked near the main entrance of the petting zoo. “What are we doing here?”

He smiled. “Look...” He pointed to a sign by the front door.

She turned and read it out loud. “Now hiring! Interviews at two o’clock.”

He looked at his watch. “We’re early.”

“I’ve been looking for jobs online for the past three days. This could be perfect, Kevin!”  She was optimistic and he was thrilled about it.

He had to agree. They both loved animals, wildlife, and being around people. The local petting zoo was the best choice for them. He noticed Tara frowning and wondered why she was down.

“What are you thinking about?” he asked softly.

She turned to face him and he thought she was about to explain. Instead, she shook her head. “It’s nothing. We’d better get in there.”

For a moment, Kevin considered asking her again if something was bothering her. He had a feeling he was missing something, but as their eyes met he decided to ignore his gut feeling. They got out of the car and headed up to the main doors. Kevin opened it for her to enter first, and looked around the entrance. At least fifteen other people were standing around.

“I wonder how many they’re hiring,” he whispered to her.

She stopped abruptly, causing him to run into her.

“That’s what I’m worried about,” she replied, turning around. They were inches from one another. Her breath was shallow. Her eyes widened as she stepped backward. “Wh...What if...” She let out a breath. “Let me try this again...what if only one of us gets a job?”

He scrunched up his nose. He hadn’t given that possibility any thought. They did everything together, so this would be just one more thing to add to their list. Kevin considered her fear. It wouldn’t matter to him if she got a job and he didn’t.

“How would you feel if I got a job and you didn’t?” he asked, trying to anticipate her response from her body language.

She opened her mouth, but then quickly shut it.

“If you’re already worried about it, then you must have thought about it,” he said gently, trying to nudge her along to an answer.

She turned to look at the growing group of applicants, and then resumed looking at him.

“It wouldn’t matter to me. I would be happy for you.”

He smiled. “Same here, so we have nothing to worry about. Agreed?”

After a moment of contemplating, she smiled. “Agreed.”

He walked over to the front desk, and she followed him. They each took an application and found a place to sit down. They read over the forms and tediously filled them out. Although it didn’t matter to him, a part of him did hope they would both get a job. He was sure Tara felt the same way.

***

T
he interview process was painless compared to some of the student ranger jobs they had both worked up in Anchorage. Tara figured it had to be kept short. There were still five people who arrived after them, also waiting for a shot. When she left the interviewer’s office, she saw Kevin seated waiting for her beside the main entrance.

“How did it go?” He looked up and stood to greet her.

“I think overall it was fine. They said if I make the cut, then I’ll hear something by tomorrow. At least we don’t have to wait too long to get an answer.” They walked out of the building and headed to his car.

“They also said there are only three positions available. And it looked like there were at least twenty-five applicants,” Kevin said, hoping it wouldn’t worry her after he said it.

She stopped as he held the door open for her.

“Our chances aren’t great.”

“It might seem like a long shot, but I have reason to believe we both would make a great addition to this team.” Kevin winked at her and she rolled her eyes. “What? You don’t believe it?”

“What we believe and what will actually happen are two completely different things,” Tara answered.

“You know what? I know just what you need,” he offered.

“Oh yeah? What’s that?” she was not sure she wanted another surprise, although this one was pretty thoughtful.

“A nice hot meal from Marmalade’s,” he announced. “It’s been a long time.”

She didn’t know if food would do the trick, but she was willing to give it a try. It had been a long time since she had tasted one of their chocolate cheesecake desserts. “You talked me into it. It won’t get rid of this doubt, but it couldn’t hurt,” Tara conceded.

Kevin laughed, and as they headed toward Marmalade’s, she looked like she had already begun to relax. If the petting zoo jobs weren’t meant to be, then so be it. It was the motto they needed to adopt when it came to finding summer jobs this late in the game.

They pulled into the parking lot of the restaurant and Kevin parked close to the front entrance. As they got out of the car and headed up to the door, he wished they were on a real date.

“After you,” Kevin said as he held the door open for her.

“Thank you,” she replied.

They headed up to the hostess podium and as it was before dinner hour, they were seated almost immediately. Neither of them bothered to look at the menu. The waitress arrived quickly and they each ordered the lasagna. When the waitress left, their conversation flowed easily.

“You know,” Kevin started, “I have been thinking a lot lately about how our friendship started.”

Tara frowned. “You have? I don’t even think I remember.” It wasn’t the truth. She could picture it to a tee, but she wasn’t about to confess at all. She found herself thinking about it regularly as well, because the way they ended up becoming friends was a shocker to most.

He cocked his head. “You have to be kidding me. Don’t you remember how you socked a snowball at me for no reason?”

She put her hands on her hips.

“Kevin Crawford, you know very well I had plenty of reason. We were in kindergarten and you said my snowsuit was weird.”

He raised an eyebrow and took a drink of his water.

“I thought you said you didn’t remember?”

Kevin laughed. He was trying to get a rise out of her and it was working. She playfully threw a napkin at him for teasing her.

“Fine...maybe I remember it a little bit,” she replied with a laugh. “The bottom line is, I must have been caught by your charm, because we have been friends ever since.”

He smiled warmly. “It does make me wonder what made our friendship so strong.”

She thought about it. It didn’t seem too surprising to her.

“We’re so much alike,” she replied nonchalantly. “We both had families who were distant and we needed someone who could understand us. I feel we were that person for each other. I don’t know anyone who gets me more than you do.”

“Or vice versa,” he agreed. He looked down at his water glass. “There is something else I wanted to discuss with you.”

Tara could tell whatever he wanted to talk about, it would be deep. Looking over at him, he seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders. She felt a pang of urgency to change the subject. His sudden seriousness could only mean he was thinking about their kiss. It was another thing that bonded their friendship. They had been together for so long, they could sometimes read each another’s mind.

“Kevin, don’t...” she began, but her words broke off when she saw their food was heading their way.

“Thank you,” Tara mumbled as the waitress put their food down.

“Need anything else?” she asked them.

Tara glanced at Kevin and he stared back her. “No, but thank you,” she answered.

The waitress walked away and he resumed the conversation.

“Tara, we need to discuss it.”

“We already did,” she begged. She really hoped he would drop it. “It just happened and that’s all there is to it. I don’t want this to make things awkward between us.”

“I...” he started. “I’m relieved to hear you say that.”

“You are?” she asked, surprised.

“I am,” he confirmed. “I don’t want anything to get in the way of our friendship and I just wanted to make sure you felt the same way.”

She looked down at her food. It was what she wanted, but there was something nagging at her mind and telling her something was missing. She looked up and put a smile on.

“Great!” She took a bite of her food, and he did the same.

Their meal was interrupted when Kevin’s phone rang. Tara looked at him as he glanced down at the caller ID. He shrugged.

“I better answer it. Hello?” he paused and his eyes went to hers.