Paradise

Chapter 3

        By the time I woke up the next morning, the thought of Joseph had escaped my mind. I got ready for school like I did every day, moving about normally. Vicki didn't have an early emergency practice this morning, so I was "ready on time" according to Jordan. In the car, it was unusually quiet. Vicki didn't even ask about new boys in my life or if I had considered dating anyone. If she had, I probably would have thought of Joseph then and there.

        Adam didn't walk with me to my locker like he had yesterday, but that wasn't a very common occurrence so I wasn't surprised. My friend Kaylie came up to me as I was putting my books away. She was excited that the boy she asked to Sadie's had said yes, and was going on and on about dresses and hairstyles. I pretended to listen to her. That's when I saw him. Joseph was standing about a hundred feet away, getting into a locker of his own. I shook my head, surprised that I saw him. "Avery, are you even listening?" Kaylie sounded impatient.

        "Huh? Sorry, Kaylie, I zoned out there for a minute." I glanced back to look at Joseph, but he was gone. I couldn't even find his back. "Strange..." I mumbled under my breath.

        "What's strange?" Kaylie followed my line of sight down the hall.

        "I just thought I saw someone. Anyway, you were saying?"

        Before Kaylie could really get back into what she was saying, the warning bell rang and we had to part ways to go to class. Kaylie made me promise to go dress shopping with her after school, then I made my way into English.

        A few hours later, I met up with Kaylie for lunch. As we drove to the nearest Chinese place, we began talking about dress stores to go to after school. I glanced out the window and saw Joseph again, driving right next to us. He glanced over at me, winked, and zoomed ahead as the light turned green. Kaylie turned into the parking lot of the restaurant just as Joseph's car went out of sight.

        By the time school finally got out, I had seen Joseph six more times, and each time, he seemed to disappear. I decided that I had to go to the waterfall after dinner and hope that he was there. I met up with Kaylie and we took off for her favorite dress store. We both picked out a few dresses, and Kaylie eagerly went into the dressing room to start trying them on. As I sat outside and waited, a voice said, "Now what have we here? Are you stalking me?"

        I looked up and found Joseph standing next to me, looking down at me. I hadn't even heard him walk up. "I should be asking you the same question. I didn't even know that you go to my school, then you mysteriously show up there."

        Joseph chuckled. "I don't go to your school. Yeah, I was there today though."

        "Wait, how does that... Oh are you a private school shadow student?" In our area, there are many private schools along with the public schools. Sometimes parents or even the students debate about whether they want to stay with the school they have been with or transfer over to the other type of school. To help make the decision, the students can arrange to shadow a student at the other type of school for a couple weeks.

        "Something like that." Joseph cleared his throat. "So what brings you here?"

        "That one is my question. I can't imagine why a guy like you would choose to spend his afternoon in a dress store."

        Joseph chuckled again. "My sister is here. Figured I might as well come along. I don't have anything to do." Joseph nodded toward a young girl looking at dresses.

        "You must be a nice brother. I would never ask Adam or Jordan to go dress shopping with me. They would rather die than spend five minutes in a dress store."

        "Well my sister is really someone special. She was a miracle child. I guess I just feel the need to protect her." Joseph sat down next to me. "So are you going to the waterfall today?"

        "I figured I would later. After dress shopping I have homework, then I'll probably go after dinner."

        "I'll meet you there." Joseph winked again, then stood up and walked out with the girl. I watched him go, a billion questions running through my mind. I suddenly wanted to know everything about him, starting with what made his sister a miracle child.

        "Avery, I'm coming out!" Kaylie walked out of the dressing room wearing a gorgeous emerald  green strapless dress, making her green eyes pop. My jaw dropped. She looked amazing. "This one is my favorite. What do you think?"

        I closed my mouth, realizing that I probably looked like an idiot. "Wow, Kaylie. You look so beautiful. Come look." I stood up and motioned for her to come to the full mirror. As she stood in front of me, I put both hands on her shoulders. "He's going to love you in this. You are going to be the most beautiful girl there."

        "Do you really think so?"

        "How couldn't you be? Look at yourself!"

        Kaylie smiled and nodded. "I love it so much. It's so pretty."

        "Buy it."

        Kaylie looked over at the price tag under her arm. "It's perfect price. My mom gave me just enough money for it." She looked up at me. "It's decided. I'm getting this one."

        After she changed and bought the dress, we went out to her car and she drove me home, talking about how she should do her hair the entire way. When I reached the house, I thanked her for letting me come along and went inside, glad to be away from the talk of Sadie's. After finishing up my homework, I was called in for dinner.

        My foster dad Will always made the effort to know what was going on in his sons' lives, and ever since I moved in with them, he's done the same for me. At dinner every night, he has each of us share something that happened during the day. I find it annoying sometimes, but Will is hilarious and I love having a good relationship with him, so I participate without complaint. He started with his wife. Angela told of a particular customer in the bakery who generously tipped her for "a job very well done." Jordan talked about Vicki's team going to the State competition next week, then told about his baseball practice. I told about Kaylie and the dress shopping.

        As we all looked over to Adam for his exciting news minute, his face turned bright red. He mumbled something under his breath, and when Will asked him to speak up, he said, "I got asked to Sadie's today."

        Angela freaked out first, going on about how excited she was that Adam was going to another dance (because Homecoming had been such a big deal for her). Jordan lightly punched Adam's arm and said "Look at the lady's man!" I caught Adam's eye and smiled. Only Will jumped in and said, "Now wait, wait. Who was it that asked you? Do I know her?"

        "Yeah, you do Dad, it was Kaitlyn Newsome."

        Angela started freaking out even more. Will leaned back with a grin and nodded his approval. Jordan punched Adam's arm again and said "You dog!" Adam looked over to me and mouthed the words 'Thank you,' which proved to me that he knew that I had talked to Kaitlyn. I just nodded.

        When dinner was finally over, I said goodbye to Angela and Will and drove out to the park. I didn't pause to sit on a bench this time, I made my way straight into the woods. I went directly to the waterfall, pausing only to make sure no one was watching me step off the trail. It's not exactly a crime to step off the walking trail, they just "strongly disprove of it." In other words, if you get caught, the cops get mad at you for 'destroying wild life'.

        I stepped out into the field, expecting Joseph to be there. He wasn't there, so I sat down by the water and waited. Within minutes, I heard a voice say, "Didn't we talk about you being so close to the water?" I turned around and watched Joseph jump out of a tree. He came over and held out a hand to help me stand up. As soon as I was standing, he started walking toward the waterfall. He walked for a while before he turned around and saw me watching him. He motioned for me to follow. "Come on, I want to show you something."