Something About Sarah

Chapter 4

Sarah

I sat in the driver's seat of Tahlulah, driving down the highway. Layla had needed a ride home. She used to have her own car, but her parents took it away and sold it to someone after Layla decided that she would give an "innocent" looking hitch-hiker a ride. Now that I had dropped her off, I knew what I wanted to do with the rest of my day.

Pulling up to the local bookstore, A Novel Life, I hopped out and got a tea from the café located inside. Then, I walked over to my favorite table and pulled out my journal, jotting down my thoughts. I heard the scuffle of footsteps on hardwood in front of me and looked up. Benjamin stood in front of me, smiling, with a bag of books dangling from his hand.

"Hey! Come sit down," I said, pointing to the chair in front of me.

"So how's it going?" he asked.

"Has Layla, uh, spoken to you lately?"I was cautious, not wanting to spill her secret.

"Didn't need to," he muttered, "Found Derek's phone last night and she had been texting him." Benjamin rubbed his forehead and looked at me. "How long has it been going on?"

"It started yesterday," I said.

He looked relieved, "I was afraid that I was completely oblivious."He smiled, and fished one of the books out of his bag. "I hope I'm not being completely rude, but I've been wanting to read this for the longest time."

"By all means," I smiled. He cracked the book open and I continued writing. We spent about 45 minutes doing just that. I would look up occasionally, and he would be buried in the book. Jason, my boyfriend, would never get into a book like that.

"Well," Benjamin spoke after about an hour, "I think that's about enough for now."

"Not as good as you hoped?"

"Nah, just a little too scientific," he flipped the book so I could see it's cover. Your Brain and You: How Your Brain Chemistry Affects Your Personality. "I can only take it in small doses."

"I'd imagine. Is neuroscience something you want to study in college?"

"I'm not sure yet," he replied. "Right now it's just something I dabble in.

"You dabble in neuroscience?" I laughed. "I think you might be the only teenage guy ever to dabble in neuroscience."

"I am pretty remarkable," he said, with a lopsided grin.

"That you are. I however do not have anything to contribute to a conversation about neuroscience so I'm going to not so subtly change the conversation. Do you have any summer plans?"

He smiled. "I'm going to go visit my grandparents in London, where they'll teach me the age old family business of unicorn breeding."

"Is that so?" I pretended to ponder the idea of such a thing. While doing so, I saw the clock up on the wall. "I have to go," I said, standing up, "My parents wanted to have a family game night, and they will freak if I'm late."

"Well it was fun discussing brains with you."

"Yes," I said, "we should do it again." I began to leave. "Oh, and by the way," I turned around and walked backwards so I could face him, "My birthday is coming up and I would really love a pink unicorn."

His smile was the last thing I saw as I walked away.

***

Plopping on my bed, I grabbed my cell phone, which had become entangled in my sheets. There was an alert for a new text. Miranda, one of my friends from band, had sent me a message.

James finally asked me out! :):):)

What was with everyone getting bit by the love bug all at once? Was it because summer was coming and people were letting out their repressed feelings from the year while they still had a chance?

I rolled onto my back and thought. I thought about the date that Jason was going to take me on tomorrow. About how the summer was coming up and I was going to start my new job soon. But I mainly thought about Benjamin and how easy it was to talk to him.