It was nearly 11:30 and I had to be home by midnight. AJ looked at his watch, stretched before standing to his feet, and then reached for my hand to help me up from the couch.
“Karl, everybody, it’s been real, but I have to get her home soon,” he explained.
Everyone except for Leila looked disappointed that we had to leave. No one other than me seemed concerned about getting home any time soon which made me wondered if any of them had curfews. They all waved bye as we were walking to the stairs. Karl spoke up. “Glad you came, Sam. You should come back next Saturday. We’ll be here. It’s not like we have anything better to do.”
“Thanks,” I responded.
“Cool……see you around.”
I smiled and then followed AJ to the steps. Leila was planted there in her seat and made no effort to get out of the way. AJ walked around her as if she didn’t exist. As I passed, she looked up at me without lifting her head. I glared back, matching her intensity. She was going to have to learn that I wasn’t going to back down. She’d met her match.
AJ and I walked up the stairs and said our goodbyes to Mr. Holmes on our way to the car. When we pulled up in front of my house, my father had the light on for me already as I fully expected him to. Before climbing out of the car, I leaned in and kissed him quickly so that I could get inside on time.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” he said as he glanced down at my skirt.
“Oh yeah, that could’ve been bad.” I grabbed the jeans from my bag and shook the wrinkles out. AJ was watching me closely as I changed again and shoved the skirt into the bag.
“You should go while I’m still willing to let you,” he warned suggestively as he bit down on his lip. Something about the way he said that, made it clear that he wasn’t playing around. So, I took heed and smiled at him one last time, got out and disappeared inside the house.
Chapter Nine
Monday morning, I awoke and got dressed in a hurry, knowing that AJ was returning to school. When I pulled into the lot, I saw his car and immediately started smiling. It was apparent that the seasons were changing when a rush of cold air hit me square in the face as I climbed out of the car. To keep warm, I drew my hands inside my hoodie and held them to my ears as I ran toward the school entrance.
The halls were still pretty crowded as I paced to my locker to grab my Math book. When I turned around, I gasped loudly and bumped right into AJ who’d been standing there waiting for me.
“Didn’t mean to scare you,” he smiled “No, you just surprised me a little.” It was impossible not to gawk with him standing so close. I smiled shyly, realizing that he was aware of what I was doing. “I’m glad you’re back finally.”
“Me too,” he replied and casually reached for my hand to walk me to Mr. Talbert’s class. “You ready?”
The gesture was sweet, but I honestly wasn’t sure if I was ready to put our relationship on display just yet. It was too late for second thoughts now though. AJ wouldn’t have understood my reasoning if I rejected him, so I reluctantly put my hand in his and clutched my book to my chest. My footsteps were a little hesitant, causing me to trail behind slightly as we walked down the hallway. The stares from our peers made me uncomfortable because I could almost hear everyone’s disapproving thoughts aloud as we passed. But somehow, AJ didn’t even seem to notice any of it.