Our Little Love Story *NOW PUBLISHED ON AMAZON KINDLE!!*

chapter eighteen

There was only about a month left of summer before I would be starting my junior year at a new high school. I was excited, nervous, and about a million other emotions all rolled into one.

The last month of summer flew by faster than I knew it was possible. I worked at the diner through the week and every other Saturday. I enjoyed working there, and it kept my mind busy while Jared was at work on the farm. Ray soon bumped my pay up to regular minimum wage plus any tips I made. He had said that he thought I was working out really well. I was left on my own a lot, becoming a cook, waitress, and cashier all rolled into one job many days that I was working. Ray and his wife, Mary, also ran a fast food place in Norwood, the town where my new high school was located. He also made taco shells at Mel’s, and delivered those once a week on Thursdays. Sometimes he would deliver on Saturdays, depending on the amount of orders he had. 

The day before school was supposed to start, Jared stopped by after church. We drove into town and went to eat at the local Dairy Queen. 

“So, do you have all of your stuff for school?” he asked, picking at his Oreo Blizzard with his red plastic spoon.

“Mmm, yeah. Mom swung by Wal-Mart the other day and picked up the rest of it for me. Notebooks and pens and stuff, you know,” I took a bite of my banana split, and then asked, “How about you?”

“Yeah. I picked it all up about a week ago. So are you excited?”

“Yeah, I guess. I mean, it’s school. It can’t be all that great, no matter where you go. It kind of stinks that we don’t have any classes together. Well, except for study hall and lunch, I guess.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. We sat in silence, momentarily engrossed by our frozen treats. The reason why we didn’t have any other classes together was that Jared was incredibly freakin’ smart. I wasn’t stupid by any means, but looking at his class schedule that we received in the mail a few days ago, I sure felt that way. He was in advanced chemistry and advanced calculus. He was also in AP English, and then the regular American history class every junior was thrown into. He was also enrolled into psychology and language arts. 

I was baffled when I looked over his schedule when he had handed it to me. Here I was, in basic geometry, and I already knew that it was going to be difficult to get a passing grade in there. Math and science were definitely not my thing, to say the least. 

“I had no idea you were a genius,” I had remarked to him, handing his schedule back.

“No, not a genius,” he had replied, laughing a little, “I’m just good at math and science stuff. It’s always come easy to me.” 

“I should have you do my math and science homework then,” I’d remarked.

Jared, laughing and pulling me close to him, said softly, “Well, now, if I did that, then you wouldn’t learn anything.”

I had rested my head on his chest. “I probably won’t anyways,” I’d remarked with a sigh.

Coming back to present time, I looked across our small booth and noticed that Jared was eyeing my peculiarly.