Finally My Forever (11 page)

"You can't leave without sitting by the bonfire for a few minutes," he said. "It's tradition."

"I have to get back to Roscoe."

"Yeah, and I'm a great dog sitter," Thomas informed him.

"I was hoping you could stay for a little bit," Micah said. "I can't stop thinking about that experiment you showed me… the one that didn't work."

I shot him a warning glance, which only made him smile.

"Because the thing is… I thought it
did
work," he said, looking comically confused.

My warning glance intensified. "No," I said, shaking my head. "I'm pretty sure it didn't."

"Well, we have to try it again," he said in a matter of fact tone.

"You can come to my science class tomorrow," Thomas said.

"It's not tomorrow," I reminded him. "It's in four more days."

"You can come to that," Thomas said.

"I might have to," Micah said with a hint of challenge. He shrugged. "So are you staying?"

"Just for a few more minutes."

Chapter 13

Trish was there when I got home that evening.

It was Saturday, and our other roommates, Ryan and Isaac, were both out, but Trish stayed home to dog sit Roscoe. She thought about coming with me to the festival, but she was feeling lazy after a long week at work, and wanted to chill. That worked out better for Roscoe anyway, since he was still getting used to the new house.

Trish had just started dating a guy, and he'd come by earlier, but was no longer there when I got home from the festival at 9pm. She was watching a movie in the living room, and she paused it as I opened the door. Roscoe ran over to me with his tail going about a hundred miles an hour. I stooped to greet him in the high-pitched
that's my baby
tone I always used, and rubbed him behind the ears.

"He's been curled up on the couch with me since I started this movie," she said.

"Were you lovin' on your Aunt Trish?" I asked, still petting Roscoe.

I took off my shoes and purse and stashed them in their places by the door. "It must have gone well," she said.

I looked at her with a regretful expression. "I'm sorry I'm later than I thought I'd be. I ended up having fun, and the farm's about thirty minutes from here."

She shook her head. "Don't be sorry. We had fun. I was glad to have a movie partner." She patted the seat next to her and Roscoe jumped up beside her again as if demonstrating what an ideal movie partner he was.

I followed him to the couch and took a seat, sighing and letting my shoulders slump with relief. "So…" she said curiously. "How was it?"

I looked over at her without taking my head off of the back of the couch. "He kissed me," I said, unable to contain a smile.

Her brows furrowed. "Who?"

"Micah Bennett."

"Get out!" she said with a shocked expression, leaning forward to slap at my leg. "I thought you didn't even know if he was going to be there."

"I didn't."

"I thought you haven't seen him in five years."

"I hadn't."

"So how did he kiss you? Were you bobbing for apples and it just sort of happened by accident or something?"

I laughed, and then sighed and shook my head as I remembered the chain of events. "His girlfriend died," I said. "It happened about a year ago, and he was in the car with her."

She gasped, and covered her mouth with her hand. "That's terrible," she said.

"I know." I stared into space, thinking about the conversation I had with him. "He was hurt too, but he said the worst part was seeing her." I hesitated. "Anyway, I ended up telling him about what happened to me, and somehow we mentioned that neither of us had moved on since. One thing led to another and the next thing I knew, he said we should kiss each other, you know like for an experiment to see if we could still do it or whatever."

"What?" she asked, scrunching up her nose as if that was the weirdest, unromantic thing she'd ever heard.

"I'm not saying it right," I said. "I can't remember exactly how it happened, but we were standing there next to a building talking about it, and he came up with this bright idea that we'd kiss each other." I threw my hands in the air. "I'm totally not explaining it right. It was awesome. He was funny and gorgeous, and I'd do it again in a New York minute."

It must have been obvious how giddy I was, because she grinned at the sight of me. "He's still hot, I take it?"

I sighed dramatically and let my head hit the back of the couch again. "So hot," I said. "He has a scar on his eye from the accident and it only makes him hotter, if that's even possible. Plus, he's a lot bigger than the last time I saw him. I think he turned into a man."

"You're totally in loooove!" she said.

"If I could fall in love at first sight with anyone, it would be Michael Bennett. It's too bad I told him we should pretend like this never happened."

She slapped my leg again. "You did not!"

"I sort of did."

She hit me again, making me giggle.

"I think he mentioned it first, and it made me nervous, so I said it. I was a little out of my mind."

"Well, you better find a way to take it back."

"I might have also said that I didn't enjoy myself," I said.

"What? Why in the world would you say something like that?"

"I didn't say it in those words. It's a long story. We were referring to it as a science experiment, and when we talked about it in front of his brother and I sort of led Thomas to believe that the experiment didn't work. I didn't mean to say I didn't enjoy myself, but it might've come out that way."

Her expression was utterly dumbfounded, which made me laugh.

"It's too hard to explain," I said.

"Basically, you loved it, but you made him think you didn't."

"Maybe a little." I said cringing and scrunching my face up.

She laughed. "Who knows, it might actually work in your favor."

"He already mentioned trying again."

"Oh snap," she said, covering her mouth. "So was that it? You talked, you kissed, and you came home?" She gestured to my face. "There must have been face painting somewhere in there."

"Oh there was a ton of stuff. Micah went off to play flag football with some of his friends while Thomas and I hung out. There were tons of things to do. You really should come with me if I go next year." I glanced at her with a sideways smirk. "I didn't even tell you the best part."

"What?"

"They had this huge bonfire. There were like fifty people sitting around it once the sun went down, you know, roasting marshmallows and everything. Micah brought his guitar and sang for everybody."

"He just busted out into a song?" she asked.

"It sounds cheesy, but it was amazing. He's hilarious, and he started by playing and singing an impromptu song about fall. He talked about specific things and people at the festival, calling people out and making everyone crack up. It seemed like it was impromptu, but I have no idea how he could have made up something that good on the spot. I'd seen him play with his rock band a long time ago, and I knew he had a good stage presence, but I'd never seen him like this. He had everyone's undivided attention, and he never for a second seemed awkward or nervous. Everyone just laughed and clapped along like he was the best thing since sliced bread. It's amazing to watch someone with that much talent. He was like a hot Jack Black with the most perfect singing voice."

"You are soooo in love," she said.

"I am not," I said. "I just can't believe how talented he is. His talent's magical or something. I wish you could see him play and sing. You'd agree with me."

"Is he still playing in a band?"

"I was asking Thomas about it, and from what I gather, I think Micah's doing Christian stuff now."

"Really?" she asked wrinkling her nose again as if Christian music might be second rate.

I shrugged. "I don’t know for sure," I said. "Thomas started bawling in the middle of telling me about it, so I didn't get the whole story."

"Why'd Thomas start crying?"

I shrugged. "He does that when he gets touched. It's usually when he talks about God."

"So they're big time Christians?"

"Yeah. I think so. I'm not sure about Micah, but Thomas is for sure."

"What do you think about that?" she asked.

I shrugged. "I don’t know. I've been thinking about it some lately. Sometimes I'm drawn to the idea."

"I love God," she said, surprising me.

I raised an eyebrow at her. "You do?"

She laughed. "Thanks a lot. Is it that hard to believe?"

"No, I've just never heard you mention it."

She shrugged. "I'm probably not as good a Christian as I should be, but I did get saved when I was in high school, and I do believe Jesus is the way and everything."

I almost told her we should try the church the Bennett's went to, but I decided to save it for another day. I didn't say anything for a minute or so. I just put my hand on Roscoe's belly and stared at the ceiling as I contemplated everything.

"Are you gonna see him again?" she asked, breaking the silence.

"I'm sure I will; I just don't know when," I said, still staring upward.

I stayed out there for a few more minutes before telling her I was going to take a shower. She said she was going to stay in the living room to finish her movie, and I said I'd probably be back out for a snack. Roscoe came with me into my room even though she protested and begged him to stay.

I was thankful that he seemed content in our new house. I did too. It was a comfortable place, and judging from the state of the common area, my roommates were all neat freaks. It was the first night in my new room, and I slept like a baby. Perhaps it was that I felt at home there, or perhaps it was the memory of Micah's kiss. Either way, I was content and comfortable, and Roscoe was too.

The next day was Sunday, and it took me just about the whole day to get everything put in its place in my new room. My week at work was busy as usual, and my Wednesday evening science class snuck up on me. I was doing the experiment about density with oil, water, and syrup, and I smiled as I brought my supplies in the house, remembering how I explained it to Micah.

My smile faded the second I stepped foot in the door. Gina was standing in the living room talking to Claire Bennett. Both of them looked at me when I walked in. Claire was wearing her usual smile, but Gina didn't hesitate to look me over from head to toe as if she was sizing up the competition. That's how I took it at least. Maybe that was just the face she made all the time, but it sure felt like she had distaste for me. I wanted to scowl back at her, but I remembered Claire was looking at me, so I smiled and tried to seem genuinely happy to see them both.

"Hey Carly!" Claire said. "Do you need help?"

"No ma'am, I've got it."

She gestured to Gina. "Did you get the chance to meet Gina the other night at the fall festival?"

"Yes ma'am, we met," I said, not looking at Gina.

"Carly does a science class every Wednesday," Claire told Gina.

"She told me all about it," Gina said, with that syrupy sweet smile.

Was I the only one who could see through that thing?
I had to tell myself to chill out and not let her presence bother me.

"Oh, I didn't realize you two got to know each other already," Claire said.

"Oh, we didn't really. She asked me how I knew Thomas, and I told her about doing the class. That was really all we said."

"Well, Gina decided to volunteer with us," Claire said as if that was exciting news.

It took great effort on my part not to let frustration show on my face. I was holding a canvas bag full of supplies in one hand and a big glass container in the other, and I gripped them both tightly as I squeezed out a forced smile. I was sure mine looked as fake to Gina has hers looked to me.

"Great," I said. "I'm gonna go ahead and get set up." I tilted my head toward the hall letting them know which direction I was headed before I glanced at Gina. "It was nice seeing you again."

"Likewise," she said.

I groaned inwardly and rolled my eyes when I had my back turned to them. Everything about this girl irked me. It even frustrated me that she said the word likewise. I never used that word, but I always liked it when I heard someone else say it, and I wanted to try it one day when I had the opportunity.

It didn't help that she was beautiful and extremely well put together. I cringed as I made my way down the hall toward the art room wondering if she'd be there every Wednesday.

All my resentment melted away the instant I saw my students—especially Thomas. They were excited to see me. I felt a sense of unconditional love when I was around them that made me happy right down to my bones. I wasn't sure if it was volunteering in general, or if it was these students specifically, but I loved it. I regretted that it took me so long to find this beautiful outlet in my life.

I helped them clean up the mess created by the art class before setting up my experiment and giving the students their handouts. I started off with a speech, giving them the basics of density and matter. A few of the students stared at me the entire time as if I wasn't making any sense, but I had learned to ignore it since that was the face they made week after week, and they always told me how much they enjoyed it afterward.

I was 15 minutes into the class and just starting the actual experiment, when a shadow darkened the doorway. I assumed it was Mrs. Bennett since it was a regular occurrence for her to peek in on my classes. I assumed Gina would be with her even though I hoped that wasn't the case and she'd already gone home.

I glanced at the door with a smile, and my heart leaped into my throat when I saw Micah Bennett standing there.

"My baby brother is here!" Thomas yelled. I looked at him to find his arms raised above his head as he beamed at Micah. I looked back in Micah's direction to find him smiling at Thomas with a finger over his mouth, telling him to keep it down.