Enigma (8 page)

The warm water felt cleansing as it hit my face. I couldn’t believe I had been stupid enough to drink three bottles of champagne, minus the few glasses Ian sipped on over the course of the evening. Lena was right, I really was lame. That’s when it all started coming back to me. Up until this very moment, I had forgotten about what happened after the restaurant. Bits and pieces started popping into my mind now that I was sobering up.

I remembered singing in the car, not being able to find the key, and totally making out with Ian. Did I really instigate that like a drunken moron? Then I remembered him telling me something about making it special. Mother of pearl! Had I been considering having drunken sex with Ian last night? Why in the world would I even consider giving that away to someone I hardly knew at all? Why couldn’t I remember the details of how that had come about?

How close had I come? I couldn’t believe that there were such huge black holes in my memory of last night. Other than the few bits and pieces I had recalled in the shower, the last thing I remembered was looking at the impressive plate of food the waiter had sat down in front of me. I threw more water on my face, trying to wash away the feeling of utter stupidity. Realizing it wasn’t going to go away no matter how much soap or shampoo I used, I decided it was time to get out since the water had started turning cold.

After crawling out of the shower and putting my flannel pajamas on, I managed to make it into the bedroom, where Lena had turned my bed back for me and put my cell phone on the charger. Pulling up onto the bed took everything I had left in me as I slid underneath the covers, barely having the energy left to breathe. Lena walked back to the bathroom, and I heard her turn the shower off, gather my filthy clothing, and shut the bathroom door again when she came out.

She had a glass of 7Up on the nightstand, alongside some saltine crackers and the remote to my fifty-two inch, plasma TV, which was mounted on the wall opposite of my bed. I couldn’t even think about nibbling on a cracker without feeling sick again, and TV held no appeal. Before leaving me to drift off to sleep, Lena put her hand on my forehead and checked to see if I had any fever. She offered to bring a heating pad to ease the muscles I’d pulled from being sick all night, but I told her not to worry about it. Then she said something about how I wasn’t going to die of alcohol poisoning and this wouldn’t be the first time I would find myself in this condition as my eyes closed and I was officially out like a light.

CHAPTER 4

How I even managed to get up and get dressed this morning was beyond my comprehension. I guess my internal alarm clock was responsible. Every muscle in my body, including those that I didn’t know existed, made it painfully clear that they had been abused by the tremendous amount of strain that had been required of them the night before last, when I had foolishly tried to walk on the wild side, causing me to be sicker than I had ever been in my life. With every movement I felt the burning ache of the severely pulled muscles in my body. Today they hurt three times worse than they had yesterday, making me regret even more the decision to give in and drink for the first time.

I felt as if I had walked out in front of a speeding bus and been hit by it, along with being plowed by all the traffic behind the bus before rolling off into a gutter. I felt so achy that I didn’t care one bit about my appearance. I grabbed a t-shirt and a pair of comfortable jeans, my tennis shoes, a worn gray sweatshirt that was slightly over sized, pulled my hair back into a ponytail without applying one drop of makeup, and grabbed my cell phone and keys. I was glad I had left my bag and laptop in my car on Friday when I got home from school, because carrying it down two flights of stairs would not at all have been pleasant. Just with my body weight alone, my muscles screamed in pain with every step I took.

I headed for the kitchen where Lorenzo, our personal chef, was already busy making breakfast. It smelled terrific, but I was still too scared to eat anything solid. Knowing how sick I’d been, Lorenzo nodded his head and waved at me with a spatula rather than starting up a conversation like he usually did every morning. Though he knew I was sick from a hangover, he was keeping his distance as though I was contagious though it was clear the only thing I suffered from was chronic stupidity, so that was my first clue that he was more than upset with me. I really wanted to tell him that my stupidity wasn’t contagious, but I just kept my mouth shut and went about my business.

I pulled into a parking space in front of Spirits, killed the engine, and grabbed my laptop, thinking through what I planned to say in my paper about not being a classroom disturbance. This assignment just made me mad. It was completely pointless. Just because it made her happy to make me miserable, I would play her little game. I wondered what the chances were of us having a substitute or Ms. Greer forgetting she had assigned me the paper. Neither one seemed to offer odds in my favor, so I opened my laptop and started rambling through sentences that sounded so fake and corny even I was getting bored with what I was writing.

I had claimed my usual spot in the fluffy, leather chair in the corner without ordering anything. I feared coffee would mess up my plumbing beyond imagination after the crazy stunt in digestive pyrotechnics I’d put on most of the weekend. Seeing how I spent money here nearly every day, I didn’t see how using their Wi-Fi and chair for a day without making a purchase would hurt them too badly. Besides that, it was just now 6:00 a.m. People really didn’t start bustling in and out until around seven. By then I would be done with my pointless assignment and be on my way to turn it in and spend an hour of quality time under the wonderful teaching of the ancient Ms. Greer.

Concentrating on how to make my paper sound as if I’d actually taken my actions into consideration, I stared blankly at the computer screen. I wished the words would populate the screen by themselves if I stared at the computer long enough. After trying it for a few minutes, I decided I was not born with the gift of telepathy or anything else that could control the software on my computer with my mind.

Figuring she would only read a few paragraphs anyway, I just typed up a paper on generalized classroom distractions and called it quits. I opened my browser to see what kind of headlines were on my homepage today. Clicking on a few of the hyperlinks and reading the stories that were informative but less than entertaining, I decided I would check my e-mail instead.

I was typing my password in concentration when I got that feeling that someone was watching me. At first I ignored the feeling, convincing myself I was just paranoid. It was too early for anyone from school to be here on a Monday morning. Repositioning myself in the chair and sitting crisscross applesauce so that my laptop sat in my lap, I noticed why I was feeling someone’s eyes on me. Right across from me, in a chair just like mine with nothing but a coffee table between us, sat Avan.

His order pad was in his right hand as he played with the pen he was holding in his left, staring directly at me. I was caught a little off guard and gave a little jump, causing a smile to spread across Avan’s face.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” His voice came out so smooth, as he was still beaming a smile.

“No, you’re fine.” Did I really just say that? I could feel my cheeks turning red. “Sorry, I just meant…never mind…it’s okay. I was just off in my own world.”
Nice going, Mattie, real smooth!

“Don’t you normally have a medium drip every morning?”

“Yeah, I just didn’t feel so hot this morning, so I didn’t want to make it worse.” I tried to grin and make eye contact but started playing with the sleeve of my sweatshirt instead.

“So you’re Mattie Holland, right?” he asked, causing my heart to skip a beat as I looked up, meeting his gaze.

I couldn’t believe he actually knew my name! Avan Rork actually knew I, Mattie Holland, existed. He must have memorized it from the teachers taking attendance in the classes we shared together every day. I hoped I would not pass out from lack of oxygen since I was suddenly having a hard time remembering to breathe.

“Guilty as charged!” I answered, trying to add a little comic relief.

“Well, Mattie, do you know what I find odd?”

I just raised my eyebrows, curious at where he was going with this conversation.

“I find it odd that I have seen you multiple times every day for at least six months and you have never said anything to me other than what you wanted to order.”

As he finished the sentence, I opened my mouth to spout off a lame reason as to why but couldn’t come up with one, so I shut it instead, still gazing into his creamy, light-brown eyes that made my heart beat irregularly. He had known I existed since he transferred? My heart wanted to beat out of my chest I was so excited but I had to play this cool. There is nothing more that hot guys hate than girls who react immaturely and go gaga whenever they found out that they were interested. I had to remain calm.

“So, Mattie, I decided that today I would talk to you.”

“Okay, well, what would you like to talk about?” I asked, putting my laptop on the coffee table in front of me as I repositioned myself once again, sitting on one foot and letting the other dangle with the toe of my shoe touching the hardwood floor.

“I want to talk about you.”

“All right. What do you want to know?”

“Everything there is to know.”

This had to be a dream! I was not interesting enough for a guy like Avan Rork to want to know everything about me. I was never the last kid chosen in gym class or the loser without a lab partner, but Avan was different. Just hearing him talk, I could tell there was so much more to him than just his amazing looks.

“Okay, well, how do you suppose we go about that?” I let out a small laugh as I responded.

“I guess it would require you agreeing to spend a lot of time with me for starters.”

Spending time with Avan? I was so excited right now I could fly! Was he hinting around that he wanted to date me? Taking deep breaths, I had to find a way to respond and sound confident and cool without getting one of those idiotic, overdramatic smiles pasted across my face as my eyes glassed over.

“I suppose that can be arranged.” Yes, I had managed to keep it together. Maybe I was better at flirting than I thought I was.

“Good, I’ll start by driving you to school.” He winked at me and smiled.

“Drive me to school? Like today?” Once again I was caught off guard, not expecting it.

“Yes, and every day thereafter.”

“What about my car?”

“Leave it here. It’ll be safe in the parking lot. Besides, my coworkers are here all day. They’ll keep an eye on it.”

Let’s see, ride in my own car and turn down the hottest guy that I’d ever known who really seemed like he wanted to get to know me or go with this gorgeous guy and come get my car later. It was hardly even a choice at all.

“Okay, but if it gets stolen, you’re buying me another one!” I said jokingly.

“Deal! So I’m gonna run upstairs for a minute so I can get my jacket and my bag. We’ll leave in a half hour. Sound good?” he said, like he’d just won the lottery.

“I’ll be waiting.” I finally stopped fighting the cheesy grin that had stuck onto my face, hoping it wasn’t too obvious.

Those thirty minutes seemed like the longest thirty minutes of my life. I couldn’t help but wonder why Avan wanted to get to know me. If I had gotten butterflies in my stomach anticipating the date I’d gone on with Ian, then I could compare the feeling in my stomach now to a stampede of water buffalo. I was so nervous that I was still having difficulty breathing, and I couldn’t focus on anything but Avan.

I was going to be completely worthless today in class. I could sense it now. I would spend the entire day dreaming about the countless possibilities of how this could all turn out. I was going to have loads of homework tonight that would keep me up until all hours due to my wandering mind. It was at that moment I realized my appearance. I looked like a bum. Of all the days Avan could choose to start talking to me, it had to the day when I looked like a train wreck. Then my breath was completely taken away.

I looked up while placing my laptop back in my bag. Avan was coming down the stairs. His eyes looked radiant with a deepness I’d never seen before as he pushed a loose strand of his soft, brown hair from his face and flashed a smile that displayed his perfect white teeth, his dimple adding an extra bit of charm. For a moment I couldn’t help but think he looked like an angel descending from heaven. I was so overwhelmed looking at him that I had to look away.

Something about him seemed out of this world, like I was seeing a part of something most people only imagined. I diverted my attention to the door, hearing the bells jingle for no more than five seconds. Avan came over, picked up my bag, and asked if I was ready to head to school. I flashed him a smile, excited that I was getting to ride in his hot Mustang, almost forgetting to lock my car on the way out, as I was surprised to see Avan walk to the passenger side of his Mustang and open the door for me. After putting my bag into the back seat and sliding into the passenger side, he closed my door, walked around the back of the car, and slid into the driver’s seat.

The ride to school was better than normal as I admired the way Avan’s Mustang sounded when he revved the engine. It still had the new car smell when I inhaled, and there wasn’t a single piece of trash anywhere in sight. I was good about keeping my car neat and clean, but Avan’s car looked as though he had just driven it off of the lot this morning. I didn’t see any car fresheners or anything that would be creating the new car smell, so I had to believe he had just kept his car in tip-top shape since the day he bought it.

Avan had me so caught up in our conversation that for the first time in forever I did not even mind the red lights that we seemed to sit forever at. We hadn’t been discussing anything important, but I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had a conversation with anyone that had been so interested in what I thought and had to say. When I talked to Lena, the conversation revolved around her and her adventures for the most part, unless she was trying to get me to do something I was refusing to. It was refreshing to have a conversation that involved more than me smiling and nodding. It made me feel important that Avan actually appreciated my opinions without making any condescending remarks or telling me I was lame. I ended up spilling my guts about my embarrassing little incident in Ms. Greer’s class on Friday morning and how I’d gone home early in order to avoid that hallway talk about smashing Bradley’s nose, which caused him to go to the nurse’s office.