Gable (3 page)
______________________________________
From:
9565876
Subject:
Hi!
Date:
August 28, 3:32 p.m.
To:
9543254 <
[email protected]
>
Hi 9543254!
It’s nice meeting you!
Um, to tell you a few things about myself, I’m a sophomore and female. I’m not from Washington State. I’ve got two older brothers, and was raised by my dad. My mom died of cancer when I was three, so I was raised by three guys so I guess I’m kind of a tomboy. I love chicken tacos, Alter Bridge is my favorite band (Mark Tremonti is THE best guitarist ever) and I have a huge crush on Alex Trebek. Weird, I know.
I hope your week has gone well so far. How are your classes going? Great, I hope! Mine are going fine. I know we’re not supposed to tell each other anything too personal, but I have to tell you, I’m already loving my French class, well, except for when the professor called on us to see how much we knew and I accidentally asked if the chicken was in my size. I was going for sweater, but as you see, I screwed that up.
Anyway, I hope this assignment is fun. I’ve never had a pen pal before, but if it gets me an A in psych, then I’m in lol
Talk to you later! : )
9565876
My pen pal answered that night.
______________________________________
From:
9543254
Subject:
Hi!
Date:
August 28, 10:36 p.m.
To:
9565876 <
[email protected]
>
Yo 9565876—
I’m a dude from the Seattle area. I’ve got 3 brothers. Jimi Hendrix, enough said. Not much of an Alter Bridge fan, although I haven’t really listened to them. Tremonti was good when he was with Creed, though. Chicken tacos are cool. You’re into older game show hosts—nice. My classes are good.
What do you look like?
---9543254
______________________________________
~*~*~*~
“How’d it go?” Amy asked when she came in that night from the fast-food place where she worked. She still wore her work uniform that consisted of khaki pants and a crazy colorful striped shirt. She hated it but I thought she looked cute in it and couldn’t help smiling at her every time I saw her wearing it which always made her scowl at me. She was about the same height I was but a little thicker since she’d been a gymnast for most of her life, so she was like a walking muscle. Her skin was gorgeous, the color of coffee with cream, and her eyes were a startling sea foam green. She wore her dark brown hair short, similar to Halle Berry’s, and I thought she was beautiful.
“Good. How about you?” I was sitting at the kitchen table working on a paper for poli-sci.
“Okay. I’ve already got a paper due Friday in my advanced comp class. There goes summer.” She rolled her eyes and plopped down on the couch, picking up the remote and clicking through channels on the TV like crazy.
I chuckled. “They don’t waste time, that’s for sure. I’m working on a paper right now.”
“What’s your topic?” she asked, peeking over the back of the couch at me.
“We have to read something about the American Dream and argue how it impacts different ethnic groups.”
“Yawn,” she answered. “Ours is something about Hamlet and self-awareness and its meaning. Double yawn.”
I chuckled again. “Good times.”
“Yeah,” she muttered turning back to the TV.
“Hey, do you know a guy named Gable Powers?”
Her head whipped around. “
Everyone
knows who Gable Powers is. Why?”
“Remember the guy who helped me with my flat when I came to meet you?”
“Nuh uh!” she answered, staring at me in disbelief, her mouth hanging open.
I rolled my eyes and nodded. “Yeah, and now he’s in my psych class and is just as big a jerk as he was the first time I met him.”
“He’s hot, Scout.”
“He might be hot, but after today, I know he’s still a jerk.”
“What happened?”
I told her what he’d said and she squealed. “Holy shit! He wants you!”
“Maybe in a Cro-Magnon sort of way.”
She laughed. “Still,” she said grinning at me, wiggling her eyebrows, which made me snort. “Keep me posted on what else he says.” She turned back to the TV and I frowned, not having thought that he and I would have another encounter.
“God, I was hoping that was it…” I mumbled.
“From the way it sounds, I don’t think it’s over,” she said as she continued turning from one station to the next with the remote. I bit my lip and frowned, staring at my laptop and wondering what else he might have to say to me. “Okay, on that, I’m gonna take a shower,” she said as she stood, muttering on her way out of the living room that she couldn’t take smelling like a giant French fry any longer which brought me out of my ruminating and made me chuckle.
I’d lucked out that Amy was a good roommate. I’d been a little wary because Heath and Holden had told me some scary stories about their former roomies, but thank God that wasn’t the case for me.
______________________________________
From:
9565876
Subject:
Hello =)
Date:
September 3, 8:03 a.m.
To:
9543254
Dear 9543254,
What do I look like… I’m about 5’7” and weigh around 125. I have long, blond hair and green eyes. How about you?
You only have brothers too?
I agree that Hendrix was probably the best, though I’d say Tremonti is a close second : )
Seattle has produced some amazing musicians and bands. You’re lucky to have grown up here if you like music.
I hope you’re enjoying your 2
nd
week at Hallervan.
I think French class is going to kick my ass.
Talk to you later,
9565876
______________________________________
From:
9543254
Subject:
Hello =)
Date:
September 4, 5:49 p.m.
To:
9565876
Six,
You sound hot. Are you hot?
I’m 6’2” with brown hair and eyes and I have tattoos. You have any tattoos?
Yep. 3 brothers. I’m 2
nd
oldest.
Nirvana. Pearl Jam. Alice in Chains. Seattle is the Mecca of all things grunge.
School’s cool. Sorry about French.
~*~*~*~
Monday after class, I applied at a couple places for a job because I needed the extra cash. Dad was giving me money for gas and groceries, but I wanted to help some too, so I’d made the rounds around town, going in and filling out applications then coming home and filling out others on my laptop. I’d already gotten a call from a sports bar at which I’d applied and they’d scheduled me to come in Wednesday for an interview.
I also applied for the campus newspaper and was “hired” to review movies, which was the start to my journalism career. Whoopee! My column would provide a weekly critique of a movie every Friday, giving it one to ten Bulldog paws in honor of Hallervan’s mascot. The good thing was, I could review any movie I wanted, not just new ones and since I was a huge movie buff, I was excited about this gig.
I hadn’t seen Gable since the first day of psych class, but I hadn’t really been looking for him, either. No, let me rephrase that. I
had
been looking for him but only to make sure I avoided him. But I’d seen his friend a few times and had made dang sure not to make eye contact with him.
I sat in the student center on Thursday eating a hamburger for lunch as I reviewed some notes for French when someone said, “You’re in my poli-sci class.”
Looking up I saw a guy I didn’t recognize with a tray of food standing there smiling down at me. “I am?”
He chuckled. “Yeah. You mind?” he asked, nodding at the table.
“Oh, no, go right ahead,” I said, clearing my books out of his way and hoping he wasn’t a jerk who’d ruin my day.
He set his tray down then pulled out a chair and once seated, held his hand out to me. “Bodhi Matthews.”
I shook his hand. “Scout Patterson.”
“Scout?”
“Yep.” I was used to people repeating my name since it was unusual but it didn’t bother me at all because I liked my name.
“Cool.” He took a plate of lasagna off his tray along with a piece of lemon meringue pie and a bottle of water. Once he was settled, he lowered his head in prayer and several seconds later dug in.
“So, you’re in my class…” I stated having no clue what to say to this guy. He was very tall and slender with curly brown hair and big, blue eyes. The wire-rimmed glasses he wore gave him a somewhat academic, if not nerdy, appearance.
“Yeah,” he said, chewing on his food. When he swallowed, he added, “You sit two rows in front of me.” He continued scarfing down his food.
“What year are you?”
After several seconds of chewing then taking a drink, he answered, “Junior.”
We sat in silence for several minutes. “So where’re you from, Bodhi?” Maybe he’d get tired of my questions and leave. I mean, he’d initiated things and there were at least twenty other tables open that he could’ve sat at but he’d chosen mine, interrupting my study time.
“Coeur d’Alene.”
“Really? I’m from Idaho too. Stone Springs. Small town near Idaho Falls.”
“Cool.”
All righty then. Since our conversation wasn’t going very far, I decided to ignore him and continued looking over my French notes.
“So, you like it here?” he finally asked.
“Yeah,” I replied, still studying my notes.
“Wanna hang out sometime?”
I glanced up at him and frowned. “Well, you’re not the most vociferous person.”
He laughed. “Sorry. I was just really hungry. I work the graveyard shift stocking at Walmart and went right to class from there, so I didn’t get breakfast.”
I nodded, giving him a small smile. He was kind of weird, but I always thought weird was interesting. When he finished his lasagna, he started on his pie, which took about five seconds for him to inhale. Then he downed his water and let out a big sigh.
“Okay, brain’s fully functioning now.” He grinned. “Let’s start over. I’m Bodhi and you’re Scout. What’s with the name?”
I laughed. “I have the same question about yours. But my mom loved books.
To Kill a Mockingbird
was one of her favorites.” I shrugged.
“That’s awesome. Well, I’m Bodhi because my parents are Buddhists.” I raised an eyebrow at him and he snorted. “I know. Tall, gay, white boy who’s a Buddhist.” He shrugged. “My parents were hippies. They almost named me Mohandas Karamchand after Ghandi. Thank God, they went for Bodhi. My sister is Dharma Nirvana. She’s a junior in high school back home. She and I were both glad Mom and Dad stopped having kids after us. Our next little brother or sister was gonna be named Sanskrit.”
I couldn’t help but giggle. “You’re a funny guy, Bodhi.”
“Yeah, well, it’s the gay thing.”
This made me laugh even more. “Oh, that’s bad.”
He chuckled and wiped his mouth. “Yeah, I know.”
“So what brought you to Hallervan?” I asked.
“My parents went here, so I thought I’d try it.” He shrugged. “What brought you here?”
“I won a scholarship to the journalism department, so I took them up on it,” I explained. “What’s your major?”
“Well, I went back and forth for a while but think I’ve finally nailed it down—education. High school social studies. So now I’m backtracking some and picking up some classes I missed. What year are you?”
“Sophomore. Oh, good. I might need your help with the paper we were assigned,” I informed him with a grin.
“It’d be my honor.” He smiled widely. I liked this guy. “Well, it was nice meeting you, Scout.
Now
do you wanna hang out sometime?” he asked, putting all his trash on his tray.
I smiled back at him. “Sure. Maybe you can teach me how to be more zen.”
“I can do that. ‘Kay, I’ll see you tomorrow in class,” he said still smiling as he stood, picking up his tray before leaving.
I smiled for a long time after he left knowing I’d just made a new friend which was awesome.
______________________________________
From:
9565876
Subject:
Me again!
Date:
September 9, 7:54 a.m.
To:
9543254
Hey (should I call you Four since you called me by the last number in my ID?)
Am I hot? Hm. My ex-boyfriend used to say I was, so maybe? How about you? Are you hot? lol
No, no tattoos, but if I did get one, I’d probably have, “He gave us two soap dolls, a broken watch and chain, a pair of good-luck pennies, and our lives…” put on the back of my right shoulder. Silly, I know.
Also are you athletic? I was an All-Idaho basketball player and played one year in college but I won a big scholarship here, so I decided to use it instead.
You’re a middle child, huh? Does that mean you’re the black sheep? ;) I’m the baby and my older brothers are very protective. I’ve only had one boyfriend and they had him so scared at first, it’s a wonder he stuck around.
Don’t forget Foo Fighters and Heart.
Thanks. I think my goal of a 4.0 can kiss itself goodbye because of French.
I hope you’re still liking your classes!
See ya!
______________________________________
From:
9543254
Subject:
Me again!
Date:
September 4, 5:49 p.m.
To:
9565876
You can call me whatever you want, Six.
Ever know of a guy who doesn’t think he’s hot?
All-State football player but blew out my knee in the championship game senior year. Quarterback. Had scholarships too but lost them because of my knee, so I decided to follow my brother here. My two younger brothers are here also.
To Kill a Mockingbird, huh? Favorite book?
Yeah, I’m the big screw-up black sheep. Haven’t declared a major. Always getting in trouble. My brothers fuck with me about it all the time. Bastards. But I love them.
Classes are good. Maybe I’ll have a major figured out soon…
______________________________________
All three of his brothers went here.
Holy shit.
Was my pen pal Gable? Oh, God, please, no.
But several things matched up to what I knew of him so far: My pen pal was cocky. He had three brothers. Tattoos. Who else could it be? Time to put my investigative instincts to work and find out. Then I’d have a little talk with my psychology professor and see if she could change us if it really was him.
~*~*~*~
I got the job at O’Leary’s Sports Bar and Grill and started training the next week. I’d worked as a waitress at Rosie’s Country Kitchen when I was in high school, so I was familiar with this type of job, and I already kind of knew the ropes, so I hoped to pick things up quickly.
A girl named Alyssa was my trainer and she was kind of a bitch, but whatever. I followed her around for an hour thinking my only problem would be memorizing the menu, but I knew that would eventually come.
“And after your shift is over, you have to roll silverware and fill salt and pepper shakers. If you don’t, Jack will dock your pay so you’d better make sure you’re paying attention,” she said after my training was over and rolled her big, blue eyes at me as if I’d been a huge inconvenience to her before she flipped her long, brown hair over her shoulder and walked off to check on a table.
“Don’t mind her. She’s been stuck in bitch mode ever since one of the bartenders blew her off. She’s got the hots for him, but there’s no way she’s special enough to land him. I’m Natalie by the way.” She was another waitress and she gave me a gorgeous smile. She was tall and had short, brown hair that hit her at the shoulders, and her brown eyes had twinkled when she’d given me the info about Alyssa. I liked Natalie right away.
“Hey, Natalie. I’m Scout. Thanks for that. I thought she just didn’t like me,” I said with a chuckle.
She laughed. “She doesn’t like anyone who can’t do something for her. But she’s a good waitress. I’m sure you’ve seen her fakeness in action all night.”
I snickered. “Well, I wasn’t sure, but at least it got her some good tips.”
I left thirty minutes later after rolling silverware with Alyssa who griped the entire time about the bartender she was dating who’d stood her up for a poker game. By the time I got home, I was ready for some silence.