She has to be his mother. I see a familiarity in her features, a fleeting expression that reminds me of Jordan, but otherwise I wouldn’t say he got his looks from his mother. He must resemble his father.
She’s a beautiful woman, though. Her skin is smooth and not a wrinkle in sight. Her lips are full and shiny with nude gloss. Was she a teen mom or what?
“This is Amanda,” Jordan says gruffly.
Her smile fades. “I’ve heard about you.”
What? “Um, hi.” I run a hand over my hair, wishing yet not wishing I had a mirror to check myself out. I look like absolute hell. On Monday mornings I lack motivation to put together a cute outfit, and with this morning’s rain, I really took the slacker’s route. She must think I’m an absolute bum, especially compared to how well put together she is.
“We’re in English together,” he tells his mother. “We’ve been working on a project.”
“Some project.” Amusement tinges her voice and I feel my cheeks burn with embarrassment. “You should take her to the library then. You two can work on your project there.”
There’s a library in this house? I had no idea. How many rooms do they have anyway?
Jordan’s hand is still on my waist but I slide out of his grip. I grab my hoodie from the floor where he dropped it only minutes ago. “It was nice meeting you,” I tell his mother.
“Likewise.” Her mouth twists into what I think is a smile, but looks more like a grimace.
He doesn’t say a word. Just tugs on my hand and leads me out of the kitchen. We walk right past her, but he doesn’t acknowledge her. She just watches us coolly, her expression betraying no emotion.
I’ve seen that look before. She reminds me of Jordan.
We end up in his room, not the library. He shuts and locks the door, leaning against it while watching me go to the mirror that sits over his dresser.
“I look terrible,” I moan as I stare at my reflection. My mascara is smudged under my eyes. I’m wearing an old T-shirt I never planned on anyone seeing and my legs look like black legging-covered sticks.
He walks over so he’s standing directly behind me, our gazes meeting in the mirror. “I think you look beautiful.”
My heart leaps at the compliment, but he must be blinded by our earlier kisses. “Your mom must think I’m a scrub.”
He chuckles, then leans in and nuzzles my neck. “I don’t care what she thinks about you.”
“Well, I do. I want to make a good first impression, like you did with my parents.” I elbow him in the ribs and he lifts his head, glaring at me, though there’s no real anger there. “You didn’t even tell me her name.”
“It’s Celeste.” He resumes kissing my neck, his lips lingering. “Celeste Tuttle the ice queen.”
His tone and his words make me sad. “You don’t get along with her.”
“She’s rarely home, and when she is, she’s either drinking or high on pills,” he explains with a weary sigh. “She needs them to cope.”
“Cope with what?”
“Life.” He lightly bites my neck, making me shiver. “I don’t want to talk about all this shit, Mandy. I’ve had a bad day.”
He wraps his arms around my waist and I rest my hands on top of his. “You never really want to talk to about anything.”
“Because there’s nothing really good in my life that I ever want to talk about,” he says, his voice soft, his gaze locked with mine in the mirror. “The only thing that’s good in my life right now is you.”
“Oh, Jordan.” He’s breaking my heart. I don’t know what else to say to him, don’t know how to make him feel better.
“It’s true,” he whispers against my cheek just before he kisses it. “How I feel about you scares the hell out of me.”
His confession should make me feel good. I know it should.
But it doesn’t.
The rest of the week buzzes by. I studied for the SAT when I could and didn’t even go out with Jordan Friday night because of it. Mom wouldn’t let me, claiming I needed to work on my future.
When I went and took the test, there were so many other people there, including Em and Livvy and Ryan and Cannon Whittaker and Brianne Brown and Dustin, too. No Jordan, though. He told me his score was good enough—no surprise—and he even applied early at a few colleges.
I totally bombed the SAT. My mom is going to be so disappointed.
I worked from three to seven at Yo Town, and Livvy agreed to pick me up. She’s helping me get ready for our double date tonight with her and Ryan. Somehow I convinced Jordan we should go out with them tonight and he reluctantly agreed. We stopped by my house and grabbed a few things before we went back to hers, where I took a quick shower and then Livvy did my hair and makeup.
I’m both excited and nervous about tonight. I like having Jordan all to myself, but I don’t like how he isolates himself all the time. His explanation makes perfect sense—everyone wants a piece of him and he doesn’t have enough pieces to give. I get it.
Sort of.