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

chapter four.

The next day went by in a blur. My mom took the day off to take me to register for school, and go shopping for new clothes. By the time that we returned home, the sun was starting to set. We had went through a drive-thru and eaten supper, my mom calling my dad to let him know to throw something together for him and Sam. I think they had leftover spaghetti, because Sam had traces of orange around his mouth when we got home. 

"Have fun?" my dad asked, watching the local news on the television. 

"Yeah. I'm tired, though." 

"I made her shop 'til she dropped," my mother said, laughing. "But we got everything on our 'to do' list accomplished, so that's what really matters," she added. 

"Yeah, I suppose so," my dad replied from his seat in his recliner in the living room. My bet was he didn't really hear two words my mom had just said. They were highlighting the recent sports news currently, and when that was on, my dad was in the zone, so to speak. 

"I'm going to go put this stuff away," I announced, carrying the bags of new clothes and shoes to my bedroom. My mom smiled at me and nodded her head, silently excusing me. 'Putting the clothes away' consisted of setting the bags inside my closet and at the foot of my bed.  

"I'm going outside for awhile," I announced, emerging from my room. The sun was low in the sky, the temperature dropping from scorching to tolerable. Sam was already passed out on the couch, so I grabbed his basketball from his room, and headed out to shoot around at the basketball goal for awhile. Ten minutes later, Jared's black SUV creeps around the corner. Noticing, I stand still, holding the basketball under my arm. 

"Hey," he called from the end of the driveway, getting out of his vehicle.  

"Hey," I answered, walking towards him. 

"So, you practicing for the WNBA or something?" he asked, smiling that dazzling smile of his. 

"Ha, no," I replied, laughing, "I wouldn't come close to the height requirement." 

"Oh, well," he stopped, leaving a brief, semi-awkward silence hanging in the air. 

"You want to shoot a few hoops?" I asked, trying to break up the awkwardness. 

"Oh, no, I don't play ball. I'm not much of a jock. I like watching baseball, but that's about it." 

"Oh, okay. Well, what's up?" I asked, trying to keep the conversation going. 

"Well---" he started, but was interrupted by my mom calling from the back door. 

"Hey, Tiff! We're going to bed soon. Your father and I are tuckered out. Oh! Who's your friend?"  

"Uh, this is Jared," I said, and we both started up the driveway. 

"Hi, it's nice to meet you," Jared said, extending his hand once we were closer to my mom. 

"It's nice to meet you, too, Jared. Do you live around here?" 

"Yeah, over by the park," Jared answered. I wanted to run away and hide at that exact moment, because I knew what was coming next. I saw the look in my mother's eye as she glanced at me, and then back at Jared. 

"Oh, well, it's not a wonder Tiffany is always wanting to run over to the park then."  

"MOM!" I exclaimed. I knew she was going to say it, but at the same time, I still couldn't believe she just had. Mothers, I swear! Jared laughed nervously, unsure of what to say.  

"Well, you kids behave. Don't stay out too late, Tiff. See you in the morning," my mom said as she shut the door, smiling. I knew she was hurrying inside to tell dad what was going on. Great. 

"She seems nice," Jared said, turning his attention back towards me. 

"Yeah. She's great," I said sarcastically. Jared just laughed. We made our way to the back yard where a few lawn chairs were scattered around Sam's sandbox. "You want to sit down?" I asked.  

"Sure," Jared replied, "Um, Tiffany? I was wanting to ask you something, but....I don't know...." Jared trailed off, seeming unsure of himself. 

"Yeah?" I wasn't a hundred percent sure I'd turn down a marriage proposal at this moment in time. He could ask me to jump off of a cliff, and I would probably agree. 

"Huh, well, a, uh...a friend of mine, well," Jared was suddenly staring at his hands, coming off as very bashful, "A friend of mine is having a par---er, uh, get together. On Friday. I was wondering if....well, if you'd want to come with me. If you don't, I understand, it's not big deal. I just thought I'd ask. You, you know. You could meet some people maybe, and...I don't know," Jared stammered out in a rush. It was kind of cute seeing him act this way. Actually, it was really cute. And hot. And sexy. 

Confidence soared through me from out of nowhere. "Sure," I answered. "I'll go with you. It sounds like fun." I smiled the best smile I could. 

Jared looked up from his hands, surprise written all over his face, but it was gone as fast as it had appeared. "Oh, great. Good. We'll have fun, I promise," he smiled his usual mind-numbing smile again. He was back to 'his old self.' The sudden urge, and want, to kiss him until the sun came back up washed over me. 

"Sounds like it," I said softly. 

"Yeah. Well, I guess I better get going. My mom's gonna wonder what happened to me," Jared announced, standing up. "I, uh...will be working a lot the next few days, but I'll try to stop by sometime before Friday. Do you think your parents will care? I mean, they don't know me, you know," Jared said, gesturing with his eyes at the house. 

"Oh, no," I replied, glancing briefly behind me. I half expected to see my parents peeping out at us through the curtains. "They're pretty cool. I don't think they'll care. I'd just have to be home by midnight or so, I'm sure." 

"Oh, well, alright. Sounds great," Jared stopped, stared into my eyes for what seemed like it was just short of eternity.  

'This is it! He's going to kiss you! He is for real going to kiss you!! Right now! Oh my God!!!' my mind screamed. I thought my head was going to explode. Oh, what a great impression that would make! Jared slowly leaned forward and held my hand lightly in his. Before I knew what had happened, he kissed my hand just as swiftly and just as softly as the other day. Slowly releasing my hand, our fingers trailing at the end, holding on to the feeling of our skin touching, he started back down the driveway towards his SUV. I stood still, my mind buzzing.  

"I'll talk to you later, Tiff. Oh, wait. Here." Jared suddenly stopped and whipped out a small piece of paper out of his short's pocket. "This is my cell phone number. Text me or call me sometime. If you want, of course," he said, back at my side in an instant, holding out the piece of paper. I took it smiling. It seemed like forever for my mind to jerk back into a working fashion again.  

"Oh, wait. I'll write mine down for you," I said, walking towards the walk in garage door. There was a pen my dad kept on the workbench next to the door. I tore off the bottom part of the paper he had handed me and scrawled my cell phone number on it, with my name. 'Because he gets so many random numbers from girls,' I thought. Well, maybe he did. What did I know? 

"Thanks," he said, smiling down first at the paper as I handed it to him, and then back up at me. 

"No problem," I answered.  

"Well, I gotta go. Bye," Jared said with a small wave of his hand.  

"Bye," I replied, holding my own hand up in the same small gesture. 

Looking down at the paper, I traced the numbers of his cell phone with my finger. Two thoughts galloped through my mind. One: he had really nice handwriting for a guy (oh my God, I'm so lame!), and Two: I was totally head over heels for this guy already. And we weren't anything except maybe friends. Probably more like acquaintances at best. 

But later that night, as I lay quietly in my bed, I held the piece of paper he had given me with his number on it tightly in my hand. I closed my eyes, a smile spreading across my face. I instantly fell asleep, Jared flooding every dream I had that night.