I hurried to grab a good space when I pulled into the parking lot and shut the car off before doing a quick scan to see if AJ had arrived yet. Obsessing over anything is not my style, so I had to convince myself that that wasn’t what I was doing. It’s perfectly normal to think about someone up until the second you fall asleep and wake up with them on your mind too, right?
Across the lot, I spotted his Jag backed into a space against the fence surrounding the football field and he was still inside. Should I go talk to him? What if he’s uncomfortable talking to me at school as opposed to in private? Would he think I was trying to get too close too fast if I made such a bold move? If I asked myself all the questions running through my head, I would’ve been sitting there all day. Although things had gone well Sunday – very well actually – I wasn’t sure what was going through his mind now. It was possible that he didn’t think about me at all after leaving my house. He could’ve left me and gone to some other girl’s house to toy with her emotions too. Who knows? Because I wasn’t quite sure where we stood at this point, the thought of just invading his personal space like that made me uneasy.
Texting him seemed like the safest way to go, so I reached for the phone and went for it. “Want some company?” I sat there waiting, half expecting him not to even respond. When he did, I jumped as my phone buzzed in my hand.
“Yours? Definitely. Where u @?” He asked.
I first said,‘Sitting here watching you,”which was true, but borderline creepy, so I quickly erased it and went with, “Chillin’ in my car.”
“Want me to come to u?” He asked. I thought about how it would look if Antonio happened to pull up. Too risky; especially after the Homecoming incident. He’d be looking for my car and I’d have a better chance of getting away with stealing some of AJ’s time if I went to him instead.
“Nope. On my way,” I replied and then stepped out and fought the urge to bite my nails as I walked toward his car, knowing that he was watching me. On top of being overly self-conscious, I also had to make sure that no one spotted me; especially Antonio as I made my way across the lot. When I finally gathered the courage to look his way, I could see AJ smiling faintly as I closed the distance between us. At that moment, it felt like it’d be worth getting caught if it came to that. My main concern was him.
“Did you really have to text first?” He asked and laughed a little once I shut his car door behind me. I blushed indiscreetly and didn’t respond other than shrugging my shoulders. AJ stared, first at my face and then everything else, making it difficult to breathe. I’ve never met someone who made me so aware of…..well, everything. Every time he looked my way I worried about whether my hair was in place, or if I had something in my teeth, or if my clothes were straight. What he thought of me was important – probably more important than it should’ve been considering the fact that I didn’t even put that much thought into my appearance when Antonio came around.
AJ reached toward my neck and I jumped like he was coming at me with a knife. He smiled and tried to contain the laugh that almost slipped out. “I was just gonna look at your necklace. Relax,” he said calmly. He looked me in my eyes to make sure I wasn’t about to freak out again and then back at the necklace as he picked it up and left his hand resting on my neck a little. When his skin made contact with mine, I felt my pulse beating against him. Hopefully he didn’t pay any attention to how fast it was racing, but I doubt that it went unnoticed.
“It’s nice,” he said once he finished observing.
“Thanks,” I replied and then cleared my throat.
AJ was silent for a second and then asked, “He get it for you?” I knew he was referring to Antonio by the tone he took when asking the question.
“Last month,” I admitted softly.
“Hmm….cute,” he replied condescendingly before letting the charm fall back to my collar, implying that he could’ve done better. He rested his head on the back of his seat and looked straight ahead through the windshield. “Yesterday was fun.”