Waiting for Us (2 page)

Chapter Three

Summer 2007

School's out for the summer! I'm once again with my best friend Marcus and all's right with the world. We've been at our beach cottage for about two weeks now. Marcus and I have been having a blast as usual. Seeing him for the first time was a bit of a shock. He's grown a few more inches and has to be close to six feet tall. He's been working out a lot because of football and he looks pretty buff. I can't believe I'm going to admit this, but my bestie is kind of hot now. It's weird to be thinking such thoughts about him, but it's hard not to notice. His dirty blonde, freshly buzzed haircut makes him look older than the longer style he used to sport. His deep blue eyes stand out more with the shorter hair and his smile seems even brighter. His voice now has a husky tone to it and I can't stop watching his pinkish red lips as he enunciates every syllable of each word he speaks. Those lips make me wonder what they'd feel like pressed against mine. His bottom lip is much fuller than his upper and it looks soft and plush. It makes me want to sink my teeth in and bite it. I'm finding myself distracted with daydreams involving the two of us making out. I've never been kissed and I wonder what it would feel like to kiss Marcus? I know he hasn't kissed anyone yet, either. Maybe we could be each other's first kiss?

          Cory shows up the next morning. Jake's been here since we first opened the house for the summer and he's staying for the next few weeks. Cory has only a week before he has to return to Boston. I guess he has a job he has to be back for. Unexpectedly seeing him for the first time in two years is a pleasant surprise. I swear he's more handsome than ever. His dark brown, wavy hair that used to reach the bottom of his chin is now cut in a much shorter, more professional style. It makes him look older and serves as a much-needed reminder of our insurmountable eight-year age gap.

He catches me off guard when he pulls me in for a hug. He squeezes me close for a moment before pulling away and holding me directly in front of him with both of his hands resting on my shoulders. As I raise my eyes to his, I notice his gaze sweeping me from head to toe before settling on my face.

He pauses for a moment, locking eyes with me.

"Look at you, all grown up."

I smile and feel my face flush from his attention. I'm my usual tongue-tied self around him. Unfortunately, some things never change.

"How have you been Hailey?"

"I've been great. Everything's great."
Wow. I managed to string
together a whole five words. Well, four if you penalize me for
repeating a word.
Jake walks into the room at this point and they do the man hug thing before heading off to get Cory settled in.

***

Marcus and I are all beached out and decide to go for a walk to the General Store. It's a decent distance away from our houses so I make sure to put my sneakers on instead of the flip flops I usually wear. Jake sees us as we are just about to walk out our door and suddenly wants to play the big bad brother card. "Where do you think you're going Munchkin?"
Munchkin? Really? Insert eye roll!

"We're going to the General Store."

"Do mom or dad know you are going?"

"Yes, Jake and so does Marcus' mother."

"Do you want some more company? Cory and I can go with you if you want." I'm about to tell Jake that we are all set, even though spending more time with Cory would be nice, when Marcus cuts in.

"No, of course not. You should know by now; I always watch out for Hailey." Then he puts his arm around my shoulder and gives me a little squeeze. It makes me have a funny fluttery feeling in my stomach and I wonder if he wants to spend some alone time with me? He jumped in pretty fast when Jake asked about coming with us.

Marcus and I walk the first half mile in complete silence before he breaks it by questioning me. "Are you still hung up on Cory?"

"Why are you asking me that?" I ask, scrunching up my nose.

"I'm just curious. Are you...still hung up on him?"

"I don't know how to answer that. I mean, I still think he's totally hot, but I know nothing's ever gonna come of it. He's him...all gorgeous and hot and I'm me...average and not hot, not even lukewarm." I finish with a shrug of my shoulders. Marcus remains silent, a guarded expression on his face. I wish I knew what he was thinking. Does he agree with what I just said? If he didn't agree wouldn't he have said something? It's not that I think I'm ugly or anything. I know I'm fairly average looking with my shoulder length, straight, black hair and fair skin. I love my eyes, though. I get complimented on them a lot. People often assume I have colored contacts when they notice their light turquoise color. I also have long, thick, dark eyelashes which I'm thankful for. I can go without mascara and no one knows the difference. I've seen pictures of my maternal grandmother when she was my age and I actually resemble her quite a bit. She has always said that I favor the Irish side of the family. My temper also resembles it. If you've heard the saying "don't get my Irish up" then you'd understand my temperament. I'm very easy going until I'm pushed to a certain point.Then it’s all bets are off and I may bite your head off.

When we get to the General Store, we both grab bottles of water from the cooler and fill bags with penny candy or should I say nickel and dime candy? It's not really penny candy anymore, but my family still likes to call it that. Nickel candy? Nah, just doesn't sound as good. We pay for our stuff and begin the walk back. Marcus has been quiet and I'm not sure why. It's not like him. This silence between us is feeling uncomfortable and I don't like it at all. Our time together is always my favorite time. We don't do awkward.

"Let's go swing," I say as we come upon a playground. "I need a water break, I'm so thirsty from this heat." He nods in agreement and we each choose a seat to sit on. I'm too short for my feet to reach the ground so I have to do a balancing act holding my candy, the chain on the swing and drinking my water, all at the same time. Once I'm comfortably situated, I glance at Marcus and see him smirking at me.

"What?" I ask in an annoyed tone.

"You're so little, no wonder Jake calls you munchkin."

"One of these days I'll grow and kick your ass."

"Uh, yeah Hails that's never going to happen. You're fifteen, how much more could you possibly grow?"

"Whatever" I huff. I drink the rest of my water and get up to throw the bottle in the rubbish.

"Wanna head back?" I say as I turn back to face him.

"I guess," he says with a shrug.
What is his problem? I am so over this walk. Get me home!

I start walking at a fast pace, keeping my focus straight ahead. At this rate, I'll make it home in no time. Marcus is behind me somewhere, but there is no way I’ll turn around and look. He can catch up with me if he wants, I'm not the one that's acting weird. The rest of the walk continues with me in front of Marcus and the odd silence between us. As our houses come into sight, I breathe a sigh of relief. All I want is to get inside, curl up in my chair with my book and forget this afternoon and all the weirdness between us ever happened.

As I start up my driveway, Marcus catches up with me.

"What d'ya wanna do for the rest of the afternoon Hails?"

"I think I will go read my book."

"I thought we were gonna hang out?" He looks confused at my sudden change of plans.

"Marcus, I don't know what's going on with you today. You're acting all distant and moody. You've barely said two words to me so I'm not sure why you'd think I'd want to do anything with you?

"Hails, I have no idea what you're talking about."

"What's wrong?" I say as I look up at him. He's grown so much I no longer reach his shoulder.

"Nothing's wrong, I guess I'm just in a funk today. I thought maybe you could get me out of it, but instead I think it rubbed off on you." He says with a smile, pulling me in for a hug. I rest my cheek on his chest and breathe in his scent. He smells like sunshine and Irish Spring soap, two of my favorite scents.

"Okay, it's whatever," I say with a shrug, pulling out of his arms. It’s pretty much impossible for me to stay mad at him. I turn, opening up the side door that leads to our mud room. I glance over my shoulder at him one more time before I walk inside.

"Are you coming?"

We spend the rest of the afternoon watching television and we seemed to have settled back into our usual groove of best friends.

***

I’m sitting on our back deck at the table, eating dinner and I have once again turned into “tongue tied Hailey” all because Cory is sitting next to me.
Oh my God!
His arm keeps brushing up against me throughout the meal.
As if I’m not aware of him enough already.
It’s really distracting and making it hard to concentrate on the conversation taking place around me. Marcus is sitting on my other side and he keeps nudging my foot whenever I miss something important that was said. I must seem out of it, though because my mother finally mentions it.

"Hailey, are you okay honey? You don't seem like yourself. Are you feeling sick?"

"Yeah mom, I'm fine, just tired I guess," I say with a shrug. At this point, Cory puts his arm around me, leaning down towards my ear as if he’s going to whisper in it.

"Hailey you need to tone down the partying." I turn my head to glance at him as I hear everyone laughing at his comment and realize our faces are closer than I thought. There're only about six inches separating our lips and I want more than anything to lean forward and connect them. Instead, I smile up at him and try to come up with a reply.

"Yeah, I need to stop being such a party animal."  He laughs along with the others and winks at me before picking up his glass of water and taking a sip.

After dinner, Marcus and I played Boggle with my parents. I play Boggle like a boss so of course I beat them all.
Not to
brag but I have a rather extensive knowledge of the English
language for my age.
After a little gloating and celebrating I run up to my room, throwing my toothbrush and some clothes for tomorrow in my pink backpack since I'm sleeping over at Marcus' house. When I say clothes for tomorrow, I mean a bathing suit and board shorts. That’s pretty much the extent of my wardrobe for the next two months. I finish zipping up my bag and I say a quick goodbye to my parents, before heading across the street.

The O’Connor’s house is like a second home to me. Over the years, I have spent a lot of time here, almost as much as at my own house. Their bungalow style cottage with the large front porch was built by Marcus' grandfather in the 1940's, so his family's roots run deep in Bradburyport. My family has only been coming here since my parents bought our house when Jake was a baby, but my mom grew up on the Cape, in a nearby town. My dad is a city boy, born and bred in Boston. Sometimes I think he misses living in the midst of all the noise and chaos, but my parents didn't want to raise us in that environment. He still works in downtown Boston so he gets his city fix on a daily basis.

Lexham, where we live, when we're not at the beach, is a medium sized town, but the crime rate is pretty much nonexistent. There is also virtually nothing for teenagers to do for fun...maybe that's why there's never been a crime issue? Everyone tends to stay home and wallow in boredom.  So many times I've wished that my parents had instead settled somewhere in the city. There's always something going on and you can feel the energy of it as if it's a living, breathing entity.

My dream is to attend Beacon University in Boston. It’s my mom and dad's alma mater and where they met when they were in their junior year. The campus is beautiful, situated along the Charles River. I'm a sucker for the old brick buildings with ivy growing up the sides and there are even some of the original cobblestone sidewalks that have survived for hundreds of years. I'd always been partial to the area it’s located in because there’s always something new to do. Sometimes on weekends during the school year my parents will take us into Boston on a Saturday morning and we will stay overnight, in a hotel, in the heart of the city. When we’ve gone in the past, we spend the weekend acting like visiting tourists and we always come home with some sort of souvenir to remember it by.

***

Marcus and I spend the next couple of hours sitting side by side on their brown leather love seat watching Jaws. You'd think with all the time we spend in the ocean that would be the last movie we would want to watch, but it’s actually a favorite of both of ours. We’ve been cramming our mouths full of popcorn and washing it down with copious amounts of coke and now the movie has ended. Even after all that we just ingested, we are both still wanting more, so we head to the kitchen and make double hot fudge brownie sundaes, with Mrs. O’Connor’s famous double fudge brownies. We eat the gooey mess on Marcus' queen sized bed while watching funny videos on his laptop. I give up on eating any more of mine about halfway through. I can’t take one more bite so Marcus is eating the rest like a champ and he will probably still be hungry afterward. That boy can put it away like nobody's business. I've never before seen anyone ingest such ungodly amounts of food.