Sweetness (Bold As Love) (2 page)

Oh, no. “It’s a month away. That hardly counts as ‘coming up’,” I tell her. I wasn’t planning on going, but it is right after our last game. If we win the championship, I know the team will talk me into going. As they do every year.

“
Have you got a date?”

Claire was a nice girl, but that didn’t mean I wanted to take her to the Formal. I’ve had relationships before and with the way things are at home, they never work. I’ve stayed away from them since. “Not yet,” I answered with a smile. The smile seemed to relax her. Good. If I
had
to take someone, it would probably be Claire. However, I wasn’t going to ask her just yet.

The warning bell rang. “Catch ya later,” I said before I walked off. Oddly enough, I love being at school. It means I’m not home with an alcoholic dad. Even though school bored me to death sometimes, it was better than being there. The next best thing was being at the rink. There is nothing like the good rough sport of hockey to make me feel better.

On the other hand, I like being at home. That was only because of my little brother. He was the light of my life and I love hanging out with him.

The day passed like any other. Hanging with the boys at lunch and trying to focus on my classes. I had one class left to go before I pick up my little brother Drake and go to practice. “Alright everyone. This is the last day to work in class on the project that I handed out yesterday. Go ahead and pair up. You have the whole period to work. You will need to complete this assignment outside of class. It’s due next week.”

I looked towards where Emily, the new girl, was sitting. She looked a little scared. She didn’t look up when I dragged a desk in front of her. I had to admit, something about her intrigued me. Of course, I wondered what her story was. She was a beautiful girl with medium brown hair that was shoulder length. Her eyes were brown with little flecks of gold. Her nose was slender and led to pink kissable lips.

Kissable? I shook my head and said hello. Emily didn’t look at me as she mumbled a reply. She gathered her things together and placed them neatly on her desk. Same as yesterday, her leg started bouncing and when she raised her head slightly, I could see her biting down on her bottom lip. She didn’t have on any make-up on and her eyelashes are long and pretty.

I cleared my throat and thought she lowered herself into the seat some. Maybe I’m just seeing things. “Okay, so where did we leave off?” I asked. Quietly, she answered and pointed to the current question. “Do you always talk so quietly?” I asked. Her head shot up and for the first time she looked into my eyes as if she was trying to find a hidden meaning behind my curious question.

It was as if she realized that she was looking at me and she quickly looked back down as if it never happened. “Yes,” she said. She began talking about our assignment, but I zoned out.

“
Why,” I asked, interrupting her. Again, she looked up. Then it was gone, as if it never happened. She ignored me and continued where she left off.

An hour and twenty-five minutes later, I glanced up to see we had five minutes left. “How about we go ahead and stop for today,” I ask. Emily nodded and began to gather her things. “You know we have to finish it outside of school, right?” She seemed to freeze at my words. The look on her face looked like one of total terror.

Wanting to stay away from my dad, I offered to meet at the library or her house. While she thought about which, I added that my brother would be with me. Her features seemed to soften at the mention of him. “My house would be better. That way he can watch TV so that he doesn’t get bored in the library.”

With the decision made, I asked yet another question. “Do you always walk home?” She nodded. “I can take you home today. Then I’ll know how to get to your house.” She seemed on the verge of denying my offer. “I’m horrible with directions, even the simplest. It’ll be easier for me,” I say as my last attempt to get her to say yes.

I looked up at the clock. One minute left. Faintly, I heard, “Okay.”

“
Okay, I’ll meet you at your locker.” She nodded and seemed to find something interesting on her desk. The bell rang loud and clear and she bolted out of the room. What is up with that girl?

I gathered my bag and headed to my locker. Claire was once again waiting. I tried my best not to let out a sigh. The girl just would not give up.

“
Could you give me a ride home today, Jake?”

“
Sorry Claire. I already have an extra run to make. Todd probably could,” I say making the offer for him. I knew he would not mind.

Claire did not seem to like that answer. “Are you sure?”

“
Yep. Look Claire, I gotta go. Later,” I tell her as I walk the opposite way to where I see Emily putting the lock on her locker. “Ready?” I ask.

She jumps at my voice. “Sorry,” I mutter.

“
I’m ready,” she says quietly, putting her bag on her left shoulder. Automatically, I placed my hand on her lower back to guide her outside to my car. She flinched at my touch so I quickly removed my hand. “Sorry,” I offer once again.

Is she being abused? Is that why she was quiet? Why she flinches from an unexpected touch and jumps from sudden noises? I then notice her clothing. A loose fitting, white short sleeve t-shirt and blue jean shorts decorated her body. If she is being physically abused, then she would cover up more to hide the bruises.

So what was going on with her? I pondered as we walked over to my ‘09 Mustang. I opened the door for her and she took her seat. I walked around and started the car. Silence filled our surroundings the air as I headed in the direction I saw her walking in yesterday. “Turn left up here.” I follow her instructions and soon arrived at her house.

“
I can come over Friday after practice if you want to work on it then,” I say before she can escape. She nods her head. In attempt to hear her voice I ask, “Is that a yes?”

She huffed and curtly said, “Yes.”

I couldn’t help but laugh. For the third time today, she surprised me. She once again looked at me. This time, she was glaring, which only had me laughing harder. She swiftly opened the car door and got out, walking quickly up the doorsteps. I pulled out of her driveway and headed to the elementary school, only five minutes down the road.

The line was dwindling and I took my place. Slowly, I made my way up to the breezeway where, among other kids, Drake was waiting. He broke out into a grin when he saw me. He ran to the car and hopped in.

“
How was your day?”

“
Awesome! A man, Kaleb, came in to and brought in a snake! It was so cool! I even got to hold it! We all did. You should’ve been there Jake!” It felt good to see Drake so exited about something. He’s had a hard time with Mom’s death. Dad, of course, took it the worst.

“
Well, your day definitely topped mine.” His grin seemed to grow wider.

“
I can’t wait to tell the guys!”

I laughed and roughed up his hair. “Hey! You are going to keep the ladies away if my hair is messed up,” he yelled.

I laughed, “You know there aren’t any ‘ladies’ at the rink when we practice. Plus, if they found out you touched a snake, they wouldn’t come near you.” He seemed to consider it while I drove back to the school.

Finally, as I was parking, he spoke. “Well you better not tell any of them!” I laughed and assured him I wouldn’t. Drake was only seven and he loved to make girls laugh. It didn’t matter how old they were. If they were cute, he would flirt like crazy.

We headed inside to the rink and Drake ran into the locker room to tell the guys about the snake. I followed him and began to change for practice. I could hear him excitedly retelling the snake story to the guys, but this time the snake was much bigger than when he told me. I smiled at Drake, who trying to impress the guys.

“
Alright Drake, we have to practice. Go find a seat.” He obediently ran off. We practiced long and hard for two hours, relentlessly. I was exhausted as I drove home. Making me even more tired was knowing what was to come. Drake ran inside, probably to tell Dad about the snake. Maybe Dad would be in a good mood. Doubtful.

I made my way to the kitchen to start dinner. Dad always seemed fine around Drake. He seemed a little cheerful and not so depressed. Maybe Drake could be his reason for moving on in life.

Emily

The time had arrived. It was game time and my dad could not be happier than to see me out of the house. His enthusiasm showed at the arena. I think he was the loudest person there. I focus on the game, but I couldn’t find it in myself to yell and cheer.

I stayed quiet the entire three periods plus intermission. I was probably the only person that was quiet. I smiled at the irony of me and my dad. My dad caught my smile and gave me a huge hug. “I love you honey. Thank you,” he whispered in my ear. I hugged him back. It seemed like he was squeezing all of my breath out.

“
Dad. I can’t breathe.”

He released me, smiled, and focused on what was happening. Naturally (I hope so anyway), my eyes were drawn to Jake. He really pissed me off yesterday. He makes me talk and then has the nerve to laugh at me. I wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow at all. I didn’t want him anywhere near me.

I noticed a little boy sitting on the bench with the other players, watching intently. He had the same black hair and face as Jake. That had to be his little brother. My eyes soon traveled back to the ice and followed Jake as he skated back and forth across the freezing, solid surface. He made the winning goal with three seconds left in the final period. The crowd went wild. A smile rose and I clapped.

“
That was a great game,” my dad commented on the way home.

“
Yep.”

We stopped by McDonald’s to grab a bite to eat. Of course, we had to go inside and eat. Once we were seated, my dad asked, “Any plans this weekend?”

I tried not to sigh. “Someone is coming over tomorrow.”

“
Oh yeah?” He was excessively pleased with this.

“
Yes. We have to work on a project.”

I glanced up when the door opened and saw Jake and his little brother. The boy was talking animatedly about something and Jake laughed. “Hon?” I looked at my dad for a second and then glanced back down at my food.

“
What?”

“
Who is coming over?”

“
Just some guy.”

“
Well, what’s his name?”

“
Jake. He was number 11 on the hockey team.”

“
Really? He’s a great player. I’ll be excited to meet him.”

That caught me off guard. “Why would you need to meet him,” I asked quietly.

“
I don’t need to, but I’m going to.”

“
His little brother will be there too.”

“
Okay.” I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Something bad is about to happen.

“
Hey Emily.”

Speak of the devil. I glanced up and looked just to the right of Jake’s head. I waved. My dad spoke up since I wouldn’t.

“
Hey Jake, I’m Emily’s dad. You can call me Mike.” He held out his hand which Jake promptly shook and said hello. “Who might this be,” my dad asked turning his attention to his little brother.

“
I’m Drake!”

“
Nice to meet you Drake.”

“
Hey Drake,” I say quietly. I wish they would leave. Why did he even have to say hey anyway?

My dad made it worst. “Would you guys like to sit with us?”

I glanced up at Jake and saw him contemplating. He was probably trying to figure a way out of having to eat with the weird girl. Drake looked up at Jake and pleaded, “Can we please?” His eyes flickered over to me and then back to Jake who smiled and nodded. Drake scrambled over to sit beside of me while my dad moved over so Jake could sit beside him.

“
What’s your name,” Drake asked shoving fries into his mouth.

“
Drake, one fry at a time and no talking with food in your mouth,” Jake said in a fatherly tone.

“
Sorry,” Drake mumbled before turning back to me and asking again.

“
Emily,” I said. It was easier to look Drake in the eye than the others. He had such a sweet face and cute slightly chubby cheeks.

“
You’re pretty Emily.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks Drake. How old are you?”

“
Seven. But I’ll be eight in two months!”

I was starting to relax. I laughed at Drake’s expression. He was definitely excited about turning eight. “That’s pretty cool.”

“
Can I tell you what I did in school today?”

“
Sure.”

Drake began to tell me how he got to hold a big snake. “Want to know a secret,” he whispered, covering the side of his mouth.

I leaned down and asked, “What?”

“
I was scared at first. It was a
big
snake. But I knew Jake would think I was brave, so I held it.”

I smiled down at him. “I wouldn’t have the guts the hold a snake, big or small.” The voice that came out didn’t sound like me. I was talking in a normal tone instead of my usual quiet one. It scared me. I couldn’t think about it long though. Drake was taking my attention again. I went to take a sip of my drink when Drake asked me a question.