Infinite (Strange and Beautiful, Book 1) (11 page)

I
laughed at that. I couldn’t imagine living in a house with six other people and
not having a dishwasher. “Your house must have been so crowded when your
brothers were at home.”

“Oh,
yeah,” he nodded. “I hated sharing a room, but I’m on my own now, so I can’t
complain.”

“I’ve
never had to share a room,” I admitted.

“Lucky!”
Jackson nudged me in the side teasingly.

I
was sure he was probably right, but I’d always kind of wondered what it
would’ve been like to have to share a room with Skylar. Tierney and Tegan
shared a room, and even though they fought sometimes, they usually got along
just fine. There were times when I longed for that kind of relationship with my
sister and wondered if sharing a room would have brought us closer. Or, maybe,
we might have wound up killing each other. It was too hard to guess now.

When
we reached the parking lot, I spotted Skylar’s car in the same space she had
parked that morning. Relief that she hadn’t left without me washed over me, but
there was a smaller part of me that wished she had.  Then I might have been
able to hitch a ride with Jackson again.

“Well,
thanks for the books,” I said, still holding them to my chest. “I’ll be sure to
return them in the same condition as they are now.”

“I
don’t doubt that,” Jackson said, sounding sincere. “Take your time, and I’ll
see you around.”

“See
you,” I said as he headed toward the last row of the parking lot. I stared
after him for a second before I hurried over to Skylar’s car. I was surprised
to find her seated inside, apparently waiting for me.

“What
took you so long?” she asked as I fastened my seatbelt.

“Sorry,
I was talking to Jackson,” I muttered as she shifted the car from park to
drive.

She
glanced over at me, pushing her long hair back behind her ear. “Jackson who?”

“Um,
I don’t know his last name,” I flushed to admit. “But, you know, the guy that
was over at the house with Scott a few weeks ago.”

Her
bright blue eyes widened slightly. “You mean Jackson Hart? Why were you talking
to him? You weren’t bugging him again, were you?”

“No!”
I scowled at the accusation. “He was letting me borrow a couple of books.” My
grip tightened on said books as I thought about reminding her that I hadn’t
been bugging Jackson the first time I met him either, but I knew it probably
didn’t matter much to Skylar. In her mind, because she considered my presence annoying,
then I must be that way to everyone else as well.

“Fine,”
Skylar muttered, sounding annoyed and looking skeptical. “Just don’t make a
nuisance of yourself.”

“I
wasn’t, and I won’t.”

As
if unable to withhold her disbelief any longer, she said, “Right, so you expect
me to believe Jackson Hart actually wanted to talk to you?”

“It
seemed that way to me.”

“You’re
delusional.” Skylar rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to the
road.

I
made a face, but I turned toward the window so she couldn’t see. I bit my
tongue so I wouldn’t tell her that I didn’t care what she said or thought.
Jackson didn’t seem to have a problem talking to me.

At
first I was fully committed to not speaking to Skylar the rest of the ride
home, but the longer I sat and held my tongue, the more I felt like voicing my
thoughts.

“You
know, some people aren’t embarrassed to talk to me,” I commented, turning back
toward her. “Some people don’t care that I’m your little sister. Did you ever
think maybe I wouldn’t want people to know I’m related to you?” I added as an
afterthought.

Skylar
spared me only a glance but she didn’t reply, which was fine with me. My words
had probably earned the whole family an evening of short answers and slammed
doors, but I couldn’t find it in myself to care.

On the
morning of my fifteenth birthday, I half expected to wake up feeling like a
whole new person, but the truth of the matter was fifteen didn’t feel much
different from fourteen. Perhaps I was expecting too much to wake up a few
inches taller and with actual breasts, or maybe it was just wishful thinking.

My
parents didn’t make a fuss about my birthday. Mom hugged me, kissed me on the
forehead and said, “Happy Birthday, baby.” After a little throat clearing and a
meaningfully glance from Mom, Dad chimed in with happy birthday wishes.

As
expected, Luke and Skylar didn’t say anything about my birthday, aside from
groan and roll their eyes when Mom said, “Be home by five thirty tonight.”

Naturally,
they wouldn’t want to spend their Friday night with the family, but they both
looked slightly less disgruntled when they found out we were going to eat at
Red Lobster. I couldn’t say if their appeasement had more to do with eating
seafood or the idea of seeing me, undoubtedly, embarrassed out of my mind after
our waiter or waitress was informed it was my birthday. I suspected it was the
latter.

Tegan,
at least, showed much more enthusiasm about my birthday. I was greeted with a
hug and an excited, “Happy Birthday!” Then she presented me with presents.

She
replaced my copy of
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
. I
suspected this was a last minute gift after the debacle a couple of days
earlier. She also gave me a couple of CDs I’d been wanting and three humorous
t-shirts that made me think of Jackson and his silly shirts.

The
first shirt was teal and had an illustration of a
Jaws
style shark head
tearing through the center of a book with the words “Reading is Jawsome” around
the book. The second was a gold shirt with the words “Camp Anawanna” and a
canoe beneath the words in a deep red. I recognized it as the logo from the old
show
Salute Your Shorts
, which Tegan and I used to watch on Nickelodeon
when we were little.

The
last shirt was a red scoop neck tee with a black and white illustration of a
sallow girl with long black hair and straight bangs, who I recognized as
Emily
the Strange
, and a black cat accompanied her. Beneath the illustration it
described her as “World’s Strangest Girl.”

I
laughed and hugged the shirts to my chest. “Is this last one a reference to me
or to Emily the Strange?”

Tegan
grinned and shrugged. “Maybe a bit of both?”

“Gee,
thanks.”

Tegan
gave me her best innocently apologetic smile. I wondered how she was so good at
doing that since she hardly ever got in trouble. I decided she must practice.

I
sighed, rolling my eyes. “Thank you for the presents. Even the one that mocks
my oddity. I love you anyway.”

“You’re
welcome.” She hugged me again. “I really wanted to get a Camp Anawanna shirt
for myself,” she commented.

“I’ll
let you borrow mine sometime,” I offered.

I
stowed my gifts in my locker and, begrudgingly, Tegan and I headed to class. I
received a few Happy Birthdays from classmates throughout the morning. I
suspected Tegan had tipped them off before I arrived at school. I was able to
escape Mark Moses and keep my lunch money—a gift all of itself—and was
presented with more gifts in the cafeteria.

Tierney,
who usually sat with her friends, was waiting for us at the table Tegan and I
usually occupied with Tegan’s other friends. She had a homemade cake sitting at
my usual spot at the table.

“Dad
helped Tanner and Tatum bake it for you last night,” Tegan explained.

Their
kindness more than made up for my family’s lackluster feelings about my
birthday. Once again, I revisited the idea of the name change and possible
adoption.

Tierney
also had gifts for me—the
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
DVD and the
three book box set of the first three books in the
Sisterhood of the
Traveling Pants
series as well as
Keep in Touch: Letters, Notes, and
More from The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants,
all of which were by Ann Brashares. Even
though I’d read the books in the box set, I was excited to have a copy of my
own, and I was really excited to get
Keep In Touch
because I hadn’t read
it yet since the library, rudely, didn’t carry it.

As if Tegan, Tierney and the rest
of their family hadn’t already made my day, I just happened to look up as I was
gathering my gifts at the end of the day and was getting ready to go meet
Skylar at her car. It was like déjà vu as I spotted Jackson Hart walking toward
me.

That out of this world smile of
his was in place as he greeted me. “Hi.”

I greeted him the same as last
time, with a confused and somewhat breathless, “Hi.” I was so surprised he was
seeking me out yet again. It had only been a couple of days, and I worried that
he might need his books back. I’d already finished
Looking For Alaska
,
but I hadn’t brought it with me to school as a precaution against Mark Moses.

“So,” he began, surprisingly
serious, “I remembered you said your birthday was today.”

The seriousness threw me off, so
I nodded and answered with a confused, “Yes?”

“So I thought I’d wish you happy
birthday.” Then he smiled a smile so sweet that it took me a moment to even
notice he was handing me a paper. “It’s nothing fancy, but it might be the best
piece I’ve created in art class in a while, so please appreciate the fact that
I didn’t turn it in for a grade.”

I looked down at the paper, which
was folded in half to make a card, and read the cover. It said:

Sweet 16! Hooray! Sixteen is finally here! So grab the keys
and put the car in gear! Happy Birthday!

Underneath
the surprisingly neat and kind of loopy writing he’d drawn a car.  It was so
fantastic that I dreaded the thought of reminding him that I was only fifteen,
but then he motioned, grin spreading across his handsome face, for me to open
the card.

I
did as I was told, and the inside of the card read:

Oops! That’s not until next year. I’ll be taking those keys
back now. Hopefully, you’ll forget about this card by this time next year
because that was the best I would come up with!

– Jackson

“Thanks.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “That’s great.”

“Nah,
I know it’s lame.” Jackson shrugged, as if to lessen the blow of his
self-depreciation. “I’m not good with sappy cards and all that.”

“Well,
I think it’s pretty awesome,” I assured him. “And funny.”

“I’m
glad you like it.”

“I
do. And I’m pretty impressed you remembered my birthday.”

 “Did
I earn brownie points?” He was just teasing, I knew, but his smile was also
kind of flirty. It made insides flutter.

“Of
course you did, but I hope you’re not expecting to cash in on some spectacular
prize. That will only end in disappointment.”

“I
just like the good conversation,” Jackson shrugged, “but, between you and me, I
think the present company is pretty spectacular.”

I
could feel myself blushing, but it was, not only highly amusing, but also
pretty flattering that he thought I was good company as well as a good
conversationalist. It also made me wonder what kind of conversations he was
having with other people. I’d handled these talks with him pretty well so far,
but I was also known for my bouts of randomness.

“I
like the conversation and company too,” I admitted, “but if I don’t want to
miss my ride, I better go.”

“I
won’t keep you then.”

I
almost opened my mouth to tell him I wouldn’t mind if he wanted to keep me,
but, thankfully, some kid shoved into me as he passed, causing me to lose my
balance. With lightning-like reflexes, Jackson caught me by the shoulder and
kept me from toppling over while he yelled after the guy that ran into me,
“Hey! Watch where you’re going!”

I
vaguely made a mental note that his righteous indignation on my behalf was
endearing and was grateful to him for saving me from being trampled underfoot
in the rush to get out of the building, but, mostly, my thoughts were zeroed in
on the fact that Jackson’s hand was still on my shoulder. I managed to get a
good look with his hand so close, and, boy, did he have nice hands.

“You
okay?” he asked. He cautiously removed his hand from my shoulder, much to my
disappointment, but his hand hovered nearby as if to steady me in case I hadn’t
regained my balance. Sadly, it seemed I had.

“Yeah,
thanks,” I blushed. “Gravity just doesn’t like me much, that’s all.”

“Well,
you can’t win everyone over.”

“True,
but gravity would be a good thing to have on my side.”

“I’m
sure gravity will come around eventually.”

I
laughed in spite of myself. I was standing in the hallway, talking about
gravity as if it were a person, and, for some unknown reason, Jackson was going
along with it. My heart fluttered a bit, and I thought I could very possibly
end up falling in love with this beautiful boy, but, before I could ponder this
idea any further, I remembered that I was supposed to be headed for the parking
lot to meet Skylar.

“I
really should go,” I reminded Jackson reluctantly.

“Parking
lot?” I nodded. “I’m headed that way myself,” he said. “I’ll walk with you.”

Again,
I was struck by how at ease he seemed as we fell in step and made our way,
following the dwindling crowd out into the unusually sunny October outdoors.

“So,
big plans tonight?” he asked eventually.

“Not
really,” I shrugged. “Just dinner with the family.”

“Sounds
nice.”

I
forced myself not to make a face. “It’s kind of a tradition,” I said instead.
“We usually go out some place nice for birthdays instead of having a party.”

“I
think there’s too many of us to do that for everyone’s birthday,” Jackson
chuckled. “My mom usually just cooks our favorite meal. Sometimes my dad will
take my mom out for her birthday, though. Not that I’m complaining or anything.
My mom’s a great cook.”