Falling (2 page)

“Yeah, I really like scary movies. I only watch them when someone else is with me. I am kind of a wuss.  I just like the thrill I get from horror.”

“I love scary movies. They are especially great for dates because most girls like to cuddle up when they get scared. Are you that type of girl, Abby? I am here if you need me,” Connor murmurs as he reaches over and squeezes my shoulder for a second.

Connor and I constantly tease each other but I never take anything he says seriously. I am the total opposite of the girls he dates. “Of course I am that type of girl, with the right guy.” He stares at me for a second like he is going to say something, then turns his attention back to the movie.

After the movie is over, I notice Leah has fallen asleep. She always does that when I rent a movie she doesn’t like. It is her way of protesting. I hit Connor’s arm as I motion for him to follow me to the door, “Well, it appears to be bedtime in the Lowe house,” I say as I open the door. I feel really nervous when we are totally alone like now.

“So, I guess this means you are kicking me out?” Connors laughs.

“You know how it is. The trash has to be taken to the curb at some point,” I chuckle and grin at him.

“You’re so funny, Abby. Well, I will leave, but only because you are making me. Thanks for letting me come by and watch the movie. I guess I will see you later.”

“Yeah, be careful going home." I reply. Connor waves and walks toward his car. As I am about the shut the door, I glance at Connor and he is just standing there looking at me.

“Are you okay?” I ask.

“Yeah, I just noticed something that’s all." He calls out as he climbs in his car. I watch him drive away wondering what he noticed and if that was a good or bad thing.

Chapter 2

“Abby! Wake up. You overslept, honey. You need to hurry or you are going to be late for school." I turn to look at my alarm clock and it says 7:25.

“Mom!  Why didn’t you wake me earlier? You know I have to take Allie to school. Oh my goodness, I am going to be so late. Three tardies mean detention and I cannot get detention."  My mom gets up every morning at six to read the paper and have alone time. I just don’t understand her sometimes. It is like she doesn’t understand her responsibilities. I throw on a pair of jeans and my favorite orange T-shirt. I brush my shoulder-length hair back into a ponytail. As I look at myself in the mirror, I try to imagine what guys see when they look at me. Tall, skinny body with very few curves,  a face that is cute but nowhere near pretty, and long sandy-blond hair that is usually back in a ponytail. Most guys just think the word nerd when they look at me.

I rush across the hall to Allie’s bedroom. She is sitting on her bed tying her shoe
s. “Morning, sunshine. You ready to go to school?”

“I guess. We need to hurry, I can’t be late today, my English teacher is assigning partners and if I get there late I will get with someone bad. Please hurry Abby." My sister is in the sixth grade, and if she gets with the wrong partner, life will end as she knows it.

“Let me grab a granola bar and we will hit the road." I call back to her as I head down the steps. When I reach the kitchen, my mom is sitting at the table drinking coffee and reading the paper. I call out a good bye as I rush out of the room.

“Oh Abby, I have to show a house at 4:30 and then another one at 6:00. You will need to make sure Allie does her homework. Also there are frozen dinners in the freezer, fix those for supper. Your father got called into the hospital early this morning. He should be off tomorrow and Wednesday, so you can have some time to yourself. Have a great day, hon.” I grab two granola bars and my backpack then head towards the front door. I can’t believe her. I am basically Allie’s mom some days. We deserve better than this. I grab Allie’s hand and pull her out the door.

Allie yells a farewell as we race towards my car. My parents got me a new Jeep Wrangler when I got my license. I think they felt bad for not spending time with us, and this was a gift to rid them of some of their guilt. I zip through town and drop Allie off at the middle school.

When I reach Sutherland High School, all I can say is thank goodness for assigned parking spaces. I sprint to my locker, occasionally having to slow to a walk when I see a teacher. My locker is famous for getting stuck at the worst moments, but today my prayers are answered, and it opens on the first try. I grab my notebook and textbooks and turn to head to class, but ram directly into another person, who was also running.  We hit so hard I feel a little dazed. I shake my head to clear it, and notice my papers and books are scattered across the hallway. I crawl around and start gathering my stuff before I turn to see who the lunatic was that slammed the breath out of me. As I turn around and spot the lunatic, I know there is no getting away from him, at least not today.  All it takes is seeing him.

“Abby, are you okay? I’m so sorry. Do you need help? I know I hit you pretty hard." Connor asks in a concerned voice as he kneels beside me.

“No, I‘m fine, I think. Are you okay? I know I knocked you down too." I say as I rub my knee where it hit the floor. My shoulder is also sore where it ran into his muscles. He was like a wall.

“Yeah, I can take a hit. I wouldn’t be much of a football player if I couldn’t. I fell more out of shock than impact,” he laughs then notices me rubbing my knee and shoulder. “Abby maybe you should go to the nurse. I will walk you.”

“No I am fine. I promise. It’s nothing. Probably just is a little bruised.”

“So just further proof that you really do deserve the nickname Klutzy. Let me see your knee. Pull up your pants leg. “

“Connor, that is really not necessary,” I say as he kneels down and starts to fold my pants leg up. Thank goodness I shaved last night. Connor runs his hand up my shin bone until he reaches the injured knee. I feel like my legs are about to give out completely. I have got to hold it together. He can’t find out how much I like him. Hold it together Abby. Don’t think about him touching your leg.

“Yep. It is already bruising. Does it hurt? Do you need some ice? I will run get you some.”

“Really, I am fine. I need to go to class before the bell rings. I already have one tardy. “I glance at my watch just as the tardy bell rings.

“I guess you have two now,” he frowns. “So, no hurry now. I will walk you to class and carry your stuff for you, since I basically threw you on the ground. What class you going to?" He puts his arm around my shoulders for support. I think I was walking better before he touched me because my legs are once again losing their strength.

“English, with Mrs. Cloudy. I hope she doesn’t give me a hard time about being tardy.”

“I can’t believe anyone would say something to you. You are like the perfect student. You never get in trouble and you make straight A’s.  Everyone loves you,” Connor grins at me. “You worry too much.”

“Aren’t you going to be late?” I ask.

“I have weight training this period. Coach Miller will understand, he trusts me." When we get to Mrs. Cloudy’s room, Connor opens the door and continues into my classroom.

“What are you doing?” I whisper.

“Getting you out of trouble.” Connor murmurs. He then walks straight up to Mrs. Cloudy and explains that it was entirely his fault that I was tardy. He told her how he knocked me down in the hall, but in his version he left out that I was already running late. Mrs. Cloudy looks completely charmed by Connor, and by the end of the story she is laughing.

“Okay, Ms. Lowe, we will let this tardy slide since there seems to be a reasonable excuse." I peek at Connor who is grinning at me. He walks over to my desk and puts my books down.

Then he leans down next to my ear and whispers, “See Klutzy? I told you I would take care of you." When I look up into his face, his smile disappears and he seems very serious. “See you later, Abby.” he says as he heads toward the door. I stare after him wondering what that look was all about.

**********

Lunchtime is always an adventure. I rarely pack my lunch, so that means I brave the lunch line and the mysterious food served there. I glance down at my chicken nuggets that seem a little too circular and at my limp French fries. I really need to start packing my lunch. As I head towards Leah and our normal lunch table, I stumble and barely keep my tray from flipping over. A ketchup packet skitters across the floor and comes to rest under a table full of jocks. I consider leaving it there, but I really like ketchup, and since our cafeteria ladies only allow one packet per student, I refuse to lose mine. I march over to the table hoping I can get the packet without embarrassing myself too badly. I quickly set my tray down next to Leah and then march over to the jocks’ table.  I explain what I am doing as I bend down to extract the packet from under a chair. A hand beats me to the packet. My eyes flick up to the owner of the hand, and my eyes collide with Connor’s. He winks and dangles the packet towards me. As I start to grab it, he quickly pulls it out of my reach laughing.

"Klutzy, how did your ketchup get under my table? I mean, I really shouldn’t be surprised. You can barely walk, much less carry something and walk at the same time,” he
laughs. I glance around the table and notice some of Connor’s friends are watching us with puzzling looks. One of them asks who I am, and Connor quickly explains that I am just a friend of his kid sister. While his attention is focused elsewhere, I grab the packet and head back to Leah. His definition of me shouldn’t hurt, but it does. I want him to look at me and see someone special. I want him to see Abby, a girl he has fun with, but instead all he sees is a friend of his little sister. Once seated next to Leah, I see Connor giving me a questioning look. I guess he is wondering why I walked away so hastily without a word to him. I focus my attention on Leah, who has been talking since I sat down. I need to forget Connor.

“Don’t forget we have Mathletes practice Wednesday.” Mathletes is the name of our high school’s math quiz-bowl team, in which Leah and I are both members. I am the leader of this select set of nerds, which probably means that I am the biggest nerd of all.

“I’m glad you reminded me. I need to talk to Mrs. McKinney about some of the practice problems. I bet you are excited about practice. Miles will be there,” I hoot. Leah has a crush on another member of Mathletes, Miles. He is super smart, cute, and sweet. Everything a girl could possibly want in a guy.

“So, have you talked to him today?”

“He walked me to chemistry this morning. He even carried my books, like the perfect gentleman. It was so romantic." Her story made me think of Connor and what a great guy he had been earlier today.

“So, are you guys ever going out on a date?  You have been flirting for months. “

“Be quiet Abby. Someone might hear you,” Leah whispers. I glance around the cafeteria to see if anyone is paying any attention to us. As if our conversation about her interest in Miles is a big secret. It is obvious to anyone who watches them that they like each other.

“No one is listening or even looking at us,” I say as I spot some of the Mathletes heading towards us, Miles among them. As I wave at them, I see Connor and his best friend Blake heading in our direction. Then again, we sit near the door so they are most likely just on their way out of the lunchroom. As they walk past our table, Blake waves at me, he’s a member of Mathletes. Connor stops and looks in my direction, then back at Blake. He whispers something to Blake before they head out of the cafeteria. Another look from Connor. I look down at my shirt to make sure I didn’t spill something on it. No spills and my clothes are fine. What is up with these looks? Leah taps my arm to get my attention.  

“Abby, can you give me a ride home today? Connor has practice like normal,“ Leah complains. She is always whining about her lack of transportation. I would gladly exchange my Jeep for her parents any day of the week.

   “Of course. We will have to hurry because I have to be at home when the beast gets off the bus. You can come to my house after school if you want.”

“I can’t. My mom and dad have planned a family night out. Don’t they understand that I have other things to do besides hang out with them? “I hate it when she gripes about her parents. She just doesn’t understand how lucky she is. I love hearing about her family’s adventures. Maybe I should ask Mom and Dad if we could do something. Maybe I just need to try harder.

“We are going out to eat and then bowling. They said family only, or you would be coming with me. Connor would probably bring a different girl to every excursion if they would let him. Speak of the devil, I heard he about knocked you unconscious today. Someone from your English class told me. What the heck happened? Did he really mow you down, or did you just fall?" she asks with a chuckle.

“We were both running late and ran into each other in the hall. I have a bruise on my knee and one on my shoulder. I am just one lucky girl." The bell rings dismissing us from lunch and back to our last two classes. Leah starts heading in the wrong direction.

“Where are you going? We have pre-calculus next.”

“I gotta run by my locker and grab something before class. See you there!” she says as she dashes off down the hall. As I walk into pre-calculus, I notice Connor is already in his seat in the back of the room. Leah and I sit in the front. Just another difference between us. Connor is a good student but doesn’t focus on academics like I do. He has a lot of other things going on, like sports and being a womanizer. I just can’t figure him out. Leah interrupts my thoughts as she rushes in the classroom with a big grin on her face.