Read Until Next Time (The Shooting Stars Series) Online
Authors: Michelle Maness
Until Next Time (The Shooting Stars Series) (3 page)
“Yes, sir; we just moved here from Pittsburg,” Adam admitted.
“What do your parents do for a living?”
“It’s just me and mom; she works as a medical transcriptionist.”
“How do you like Jackson so far?” Julia asked.
Adam smiled, “We arrived quite late last night and until I went to the store with Kaitlyn this afternoon all I had seen was the road between home and school.”
Katherine watched her father frown at the nick name; then smile.
“I hope ya’ll get settled soon and like it here. Pittsburg the only place you lived?” Walter asked.
“No, we’ve lived in the north, east, and west; this is our first time in the south. Thank you for agreeing to have me to dinner, Mrs. Mayfield; this is some of the best lasagna I’ve had,” Adam offered.
“Why, thank you, Adam and you’re welcome any time. I like having Kattie’s friends over, it keeps me young,” Julia assured him.
As soon as they had finished eating, Katherine set their plates in the sink and they returned to the basement to finish their work.
“Uh oh,” Adam said when she abandoned her shoes and sat down in the floor at the coffee table.
“What?” Katherine frowned at him.
“Purple nail polish? I think you may have a rebellious streak hidden in you,” he teased.
“What?” she frowned at her toes and wiggled them. “My aunt gave it to me for Christmas; it isn’t exactly a color I prefer for my fingers.”
“I sometimes paint mine black,” he admitted.
“So you have an identity crisis,” she noted.
“In what way?”
“You want to mix rap and rock and you dress like you’re into grunge stuff. You don’t know what you want to be.”
“True enough,” he conceded. “I like to think of it as having eclectic taste.”
“Clearly.”
“What kind of music do you like?” he asked her.
“I’m a big fan of the Cranberries, the Smashing Pumpkins, the Lemonheads, and I have to admit, thanks to my aunt; I am big fan of eighties music,” she shared. “What about you?”
“I am into Nirvana, Cypress Hill, House of Pain, Alice in Chains; stuff like that. Oh yeah and the Violent Femmes.”
“I’ve never heard of the last one,” she admitted.
“They aren’t real main stream but I love their music,” he shared.
“You’ll have to let me hear it sometime,” she suggested.
“I will,” he agreed. “Your parents are nice.”
“I like them,” she smiled.
Adam studied her. She was an interesting mix. She was open and kind, a hint sweet but she had a little sass too; it was an appealing combination. Her genuine friendliness was refreshing. He didn’t know how to explain so he didn’t but she rather reminded him of his “Grandma Kaitlyn” in Boston, right down to nearly identical green eyes. The woman had actually been no relation to him but she was the closest thing to a grandmother he’d ever had. Kaitlyn didn’t remind him of a grandparent though, not by a long shot, but she did share the older woman’s kindness and beautiful eyes. By the end of the summer she had baby sat him he had believe in kindness and goodness in the world again. Then they had moved and he had begun to doubt that again; Kaitlyn made him think otherwise.
“I guess we should get back to work,” Katherine suggested as she pulled her books back close.
They worked for a while before Adam glanced at the clock and realized he should call his mom before she left work; their home phone wasn’t on yet.
“Hey, Mom; I just wanted to let you know I’m at friend’s. I’ve eaten and we’re going over homework right now,” he shared.
“I’m glad you made a friend; don’t stay too late.”
“I won’t,” he promised.
Adam turned back to Kaitlyn; her curls were brushing the table where she leaned over her books. She was very pretty and very out of his league, no use in even letting his thoughts go there. He rejoined her and they talked and joked before she helped him with his last assignment. They had become fast friends by the end of the night.
Two
Katherine peered into the mirror on the inside of her locker and freshened her lip gloss as she prepared for first period. She smiled when Adam leaned in beside her and pretended to check his hair.
“Hi,” she greeted.
“Hello,” he grinned.
“Don’t you have your own mirror?” she teased.
“Nope, never have bothered; besides, it more fun to aggravate you.”
Katherine smiled as she closed the locker and led the way into their first period class together. She slid into her usual seat and Adam slipped into the one behind her. He had been in town for one week as of today but Katherine already felt as if he had been there the whole year. He was already a part of her regular routine. They talked and joked before first, he joined her and her friends for lunch, and they sat together in Drama and were currently working on a project together for that class. After school, if Adam didn’t have to work, he was often at her house.
“Here’s your CD back,” Katherine pulled it from her book bag and handed it to him.
“What did you think of it?” he asked with a smile.
“I liked it; interesting lyrics and had my mother heard the language she would have flipped her lid but it was kind of cool,” Katherine smiled in return.
“Don’t guess your mom would approve,” he admitted. He could imagine her mom freaking out, he realized.
“She’s a little old fashioned,” Katherine acknowledged.
“Your mom is a really nice lady, Kaitlyn.”
“She is,” Katherine nodded, pulled her book from her bag and twisted to place it on her desk as she brushed her hair over her shoulder.
Adam watched with a smile as Kaitlyn opened her notebook to her homework assignment. He still couldn’t figure out how they had hit it off as they had. Adam admired the way her hair hung down her back to brush at his desk and gave into the temptation to play with a curl.
“What are you doing with my hair?” Katherine looked over her shoulder.
“You have really silky hair,” he informed her.
“Leave my hair alone,” she laughed.
“It was on my desk,” he teased.
Smiling as she did, Katherine reached back and pulled her hair over her shoulder. Adam was a flirt; it hadn’t taken her long to figure that out. She found Nathan frowning at her and ignored him. What she did was no longer any of his business; he had dumped her.
“I don’t think he’s over you,” Adam leaned forward to share.
“Too bad because I am over him,” Katherine shrugged.
The bell rang and students who were still lingering in the hall rushed to drop into their seats.
“Alright class, get out your homework,” Mrs. White wasted no time getting started.
After class, Katherine swapped out her book for the next two she would need since she wouldn’t be back by her locker until after lunch. Adam had finally been assigned a locker just down from her and was exchanging his books as well. After he had finished, he came to stand beside her. Her next class was in the same direction and they usually walked together until they had to part ways.
“Hi, Adam,” a girl nodded at him, her jet black hair hung in a straight sheet down her back. Her face was pale and her clothing all black.
“Hi,” he nodded back.
“Do you have an admirer?” Katherine teased as she closed her locker.
“Maybe,” he shrugged, “we have Spanish together.”
“She looks like your type,” Katherine’s eyes were twinkling now.
Adam shook his head; he was starting to prefer sweet red heads though he didn’t say so.
“I prefer my girls to not look like they’re ready for the graveyard,” he finally quipped; it made Katherine laugh.
“I’ll see you at lunch, Adam,” Katherine waved as she turned off toward her class.
“See you,” he waved.
Adam entered his Spanish class and found the girl from the hall seated behind his usual seat. He slid into his desk with a nod in her direction.
“Hi, I’m Angela,” the girl introduced herself.
“Hi,” he returned.
“You have lunch at the start of next hour don’t you?” her dark blue eyes were studying him intently.
“I do,” he admitted.
“Want to join me and my friends?” she invited.
“No, thanks; I already have some friends I sit with,” he returned and watched her frown.
“Not exactly your crowd,” she noted.
“Didn’t know I was supposed to limit myself,” he shrugged.
“Guess you prefer red heads,” the girl looked irritated as she stood.
“Sorry,” he shrugged again.
Angela stalked off across the room and Adam opened his book to flip to the page they had left off with the day before.
After class was over, he moved on to his next class and dropped his books on his desk before turning around and heading for the cafeteria. Adam spotted Kaitlyn in line and moved to stand behind her. He tapped her on the right shoulder as he ducked to the left.
“I hate it when you do that,” she reminded him yet again.
“I know,” he grinned at her. He followed her through the line, grabbed his own tray, and followed her to the table.
“I am so ready for today to be over!” Tessa plopped her tray on the table. “Nothing, and I mean nothing, has gone right.”
“Sorry, Tess,” Katherine offered her friend. “What’s up?”
“I forgot my homework for Chemistry and you know how Mr. Lorne is and then I had to call Mom for a change of clothes when lab didn’t go well; I ended up with acid on me. That was before I forgot about my math test today…I’m ready to call it quits,” Tessa related.
“Sorry,” Katherine offered empathetically.
“I’ll live. How is your day going?”
“Mine is going fine,” Katherine shrugged.
“Why is that pale faced, half dead looking chick shooting darts our way?” Stephanie, her eyes on a nearby table, seated herself.
“Isn’t that the girl who greeted you in the hallway?” Katherine asked Adam.
“Yes; I turned down her invitation to sit with her and her friends for lunch. I guess I’m supposed to stay with my own kind,” he shared.
“Don’t walk down any dark alleys without checking over your shoulder!” Tessa teased.
“No joke,” Stephanie laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Brandon folded his lanky frame into a chair.
“Death chick is giving Adam the evil eye because he isn’t sitting with her,” Tessa explained.
“Her name is Angela,” Adam supplied.
“Leave off the second a and you have angel of death,” Stephanie joked.
“I’m sure she’s nice,” Katherine came to the girl’s defense.
“You don’t mind her making a move on your man?” Mandy joined the conversation; she had seated herself at the same time as Stephanie.
“Adam and I are friends,” Katherine informed them.
Mandy glanced between them and shrugged before returning to her food. Katherine glanced at Adam where he sat beside her and noticed for the first time that his arm was on the back of her chair. Okay, so they flirted. He was a cute guy; it was hard not to flirt.
That afternoon after school, Adam and Katherine settled into her basement and hurried to finish their other home work so they could focus on their drama project. They ran through their lines several times both with and without their scripts before Katherine worked up the nerve to address the stage kiss they were supposed to be blocking.
Mrs. Curtis had caused an uproar among her students the week before when she demonstrated how this was done with one of the English teachers. Katherine had been amused to see her teacher actually blushing by the time the students were through with her. Now that she was in the hot seat it wasn’t so amusing.
“Okay, so Mrs. Curtis said you turn me upstage and then we lay our cheeks against each other, right?” Katherine felt silly for being so nervous over what wasn’t even a real kiss; her nerves, however, would not abate.
“Right,” Adam nodded and stepped closer.
Katherine took a steadying breath only to inhale deeply of his cologne and soap, warmth flooded her. A moment later she was laughing.
“Can I just tell you how awkward this feels?” she asked him.
“You don’t like getting close to me?” his grin was teasing.
Katherine was sure she was blushing; she did like it, a little too well.
“It isn’t that, it just feels…odd. I don’t go around laying my cheeks against other people while pressing up against them,” she shrugged. She could only hope he didn’t see how deeply being close to him affected her.
“Let’s try this again,” he tugged her closer by the waist.
A moment later, Katherine was laughing again.
“What is so funny?” Julia came down the stairs, a basket of laundry on her hip.
“We’re trying to block a stage kiss,” Katherine admitted.