Ink (9 page)

Tucker hopped up on one of the desks at the back of the class.

“
I’m not a wild girl, so don’t get your hopes up. I’m kind of focused on college right now.”

“
So maybe we can study some time. College is good.” He nodded.

“
Where do you plan on going?” I lifted myself onto the desk across from his.

Tucker licked his lips. “Honestly, I haven’t thought about it. But I tell my mom and pops UCLA all the time. So let’s just say UCLA.” He laughed.

“
Obviously the reason Nona was so happy to introduce us. They have you pegged as the studious, hardworking guy.” I laughed to myself. Boy did it seem he had them all fooled.

“
I think Nona introduced us because she thought you would think I was cute. So was she right?” He slid down from the desk and took a seat next to me. He stared straight ahead, waiting for me to say something. I didn’t bother; I was too busy being intoxicated by his musky cologne.

“
I hear you’re a player, Tucker. Or should I call you Tuck?” I wasn’t going to confess my physical attraction to him so easily. He would have to work for it. Slade was good looking as well, and probably could be just as attractive if not for his rotten attitude, and I wasn’t out shouting his hotness from the rooftops, either.

“
You can call me whatever—”

“
You like,” I finished for him. I hated to think he was so predictable.

Tucker smiled, running a hand through his hair. “Those girls, they just want something I haven’t been willing to give them. So it’s to be expected they would call me names. I swear I’m a sweetheart. Let me prove it to you?” He extended his hand. I placed mine in it and his fingers closed around them.

“
I swear I’m harmless. Don’t believe all the hype. Is it wrong to turn someone down? Because that’s what I did. And now some of them are out for blood.”

I thought about this. “No, it’s not wrong. It would be wrong to lead girls on though.”

“
That I don’t do. If I like you, I’ll say I do. If I don’t, I’ll say get away from me.” He hopped down from the table, pulling me down, and then he finally let go of my hand.

“
Welcome to Ashwilder, Hope,” he said, going back out the door. As we headed back down the hallway I was starting to feel better about the whole school scenario.

“
Look, before we go back in,” he grabbed my arm, stopping me. “Your grandma is going to ask if I invited you out, so I really want to do the right thing. Hope, do you want to go out for some ice cream?”

I crossed my arms, a bit disturbed. “Um, not if you’re doing it out of pity because of Nona.”

Tucker laughed, “You’re funny. That’s a really great quality in a girl. I wouldn’t be asking if I wasn’t interested myself. My mom and your Nona were right, you’re something else.”

I blushed, giving him a nod of agreement. “Fine, then we can go, but as friends, okay?”

He brought his hand to his heart. “Friends.”

I
banged on the bathroom door. It was almost seven and Easton was taking his good old time getting ready for school. “Hurry up, I still have to blow dry my hair!”

Dad shuffled out of his room half asleep, any other day I would have been sorry for waking him, but not today. Today I hoped he could take the door off the hinges and give Easton a good lashing.

“
Easton Andrew, Hope is going to have a heart attack out in this hallway if you don’t let her finish getting ready for school,” Dad warned, not taking it seriously. This was typical Dad behavior.

“
It’s not funny, Dad,” I grumbled, giving the door one last kick before I went back to my room. I slammed my door shut, tapping my feet anxiously, waiting to hear the door creak open. But Easton was doing his best to make me late for my first day.

I dropped to my knees, pulling out my makeup bag. I would have to make do with what I had. I was no girl scout, but I would figure something out. There was no way I was going to school looking like a wet dog. I patted Crawford’s head at the thought of it.

I did my best to dry my hair with my mini blow dryer that was bought at one of those rest stops on the way here. It was the best I could do right now. I flung my head upside down, drying the under part of my hair.

“
Hope, you have a guest!” Dad yelled from the hallway.

I flipped my hair back over my head, totally confused. Who was here before school? I wasn’t even dressed. I grabbed my dark blue jean shorts from my bed, pulling off my pajama pants. This morning was going to be the death of me, I thought, ripping my wife beater over my head.

The door suddenly flew
open. I screamed, covering myself with both hands. Tucker apologized, covering his eyes with his hand. “I didn’t know you would be getting dressed, Hope. I’m sorry.” He shut the door quickly, leaving me completely mortified and as red as a beet.

I was going to kill Dad for letting Tucker past the kitchen. And I was going to kill him for making my morning that much worse. Now Tucker had seen my
buds,
as Nona would put it, and I could only imagine what he thought. I was sure he’d seen much more impressive boobs in his life. If anything, he was probably vowing to steer clear of me now.

I grabbed my backpack from my bed, completely defeated. This would just have to do. I buttoned the last button on my pale yellow top and smoothed out my shorts. My hair was only half dry and I didn’t care anymore.

Dad tried to comfort me in the hallway. “I’m sorry, doll, I thought you were just blow drying your hair.”

I shot an evil glare at the bathroom door. Easton strolled past me with a giant bowl of cereal in tow. I bit at my lip, trying to fight the urge to retaliate. I shoved my foot out in front of me and Easton tripped, spilling his cereal all over the carpet. He face planted, his whole body wet, and I was pleased.

Dad gave me a disapproving glare. “He had it coming to him.”

I caught a look at Tucker who was on our couch. He was making himself at home, his hands on the back of our ratty furniture. He jumped up as soon as I hit the door, going out onto the porch.

“
Wow, you’re a firecracker.” He laughed, looking back inside at my brother.

I crossed my arms. “This is the morning from hell. First day of school and it already sucks. Not to mention…” I didn’t add the other part to the story, I was sure Tucker knew just what I was talking about it.

He touched my arm, his fingers brushing softly against my skin. “If it’s any consolation, I think you look beautiful.” I eased up just a hair. He took my backpack slinging it over his shoulder. “And I promise you I didn’t see much.”

I scoffed. That was about right. “I’m sure you didn’t, because there is not much to see.”

Tucker tossed the backpacks into his jeep. I was a little taken aback but brushed it aside. If he wanted to drive me to school who was I to argue?

“
Oh lord, now you’re going to have to make me go back on what I just said.” Tucker went around the jeep. He rested his arm on the top of it, shooting me a smile.

“
What are you talking about?” I asked, giving him a weird look.

“
I liked what I saw. Now let’s drop it before you have me thinking about what I saw again.” He slid into the jeep.

I froze up, my heart doing back flips. Did he just tell me he thought I had a nice rack? I was sure I had heard him tell me he liked my body. I smiled and quickly stopped before I hopped in his jeep.

Tucker threw the jeep into drive, heading down the street. “Did I just make things really awkward?” he asked, coming to a stop at the light by the shore store.

I looked down at my nails. “Maybe a little.”

“
Next time I’ll steer clear of your bedroom, if I come over again, alright?” he asked, shooting me a sympathetic smile as he rocketed forward into the school parking lot, the jeep bouncing hard over the same bump Claude tried so desperately to avoid.

“
I thought we were going to stop talking about it?” I smiled, showing him I was joking.

Tucker slid easily between two red cars. He undid his seatbelt. I looked him over; he was wearing hunter green polo with tan cargo shorts, his feet in a nice pair of brown flip-flops. And once again he smelled amazing.

There were hardly any kids in the parking lot. It seemed school had just about started. I wondered why we were still waiting around.

“
I wanted to see if you were still up for ice cream. Maybe after school?” He studied my expression, a twinkle in his brown eyes.

“
Sounds good,” I said, taking my backpack out of the backseat of his jeep. I hopped out. I knew I had to head to the office for my schedule. It seemed schedules were mailed to the students, and seeing I was new, I didn’t have that luxury. Tucker opened up the door for me. I slipped under his arm, shooting him a smile.

“
Well, maybe we will get lucky and see each other at lunch or something. Good luck, Hope.” He slung his black backpack over his shoulder, heading down the hallway.

I stared up at the sign hanging above the door. It was obviously the office. I opened the door. The office had dark green carpet, three chairs against the wall and a giant bookcase to the right of me. A big countertop divided the room with various papers and hard candy dishes resting on top of it. Beyond the desk were filing cabinets and copy machines and several desks for the staff to sit at. I poked at the name plaque.
Mary Renrose, School Secretary
.

“
And good morning. What can I do you for?” a woman asked, coming to a stop behind the counter. Her hair long was dull brown, her eyes a slate gray. She rubbed her hands together, waiting.

“
I’m new here. I was coming to pick up my schedule. Hope Zigler.” I stared at the pictures on the wall as she turned around going through a filing cabinet. She pulled out a file. I watched from the corner of my eye, a little nervous to be starting the day.

“
You’re from Georgia?” she asked.

“
Yep,” I offered.

She sifted through a couple of documents, probably something my dad had given them. I reached out and took the schedule, its thin white paper flopping over my hand.

“
Enjoy your day. Any questions, feel free to visit the office anytime.” She snapped my file shut and kept staring at me.

I gave a short wave, heading into the hallway. Was it me or was this lady a bit odd?

The bell rang above my head and several doors snapped shut, and then one after another, more followed. I was late for the first day of school.

I grabbed hold of my schedule with both of my hands.

First period was bio, a class I was rather great in back home. Room seven. Simple enough, I thought, following the signs to my first class. The door had stained glass, hindering any ability to see into the classroom. I read the door silently to myself.
Mr. Rudner
.

Giving a quick knock, I made it into the classroom. Everyone’s eyes fell on me. I stared back showing my confidence. Mr. Rudner, a tall gangly man in his forties, beckoned me to his desk.

“
New student?” he asked, extending his hand.

I hesitated on what he was after. Probably not a high five, I thought. I plunked my schedule down in it. Mr. Rudner cleared his throat. I stared out into the classroom. Most of the kids I didn’t even recognize from open house. But I was sure that was because of my tour with Tucker.

Scanning through the group, I settled on Jesse, Lydia and Tucker. Tucker shot me a smile. Mr. Rudner finally gave me back my schedule. He scratched at his dark greasy hair. This made me a little queasy.

“
We will partner you with Mr. Sinclair.” He wiggled his pointer finger in the air as if he wanted me to disappear and reappear in the chair. He jotted my name down in the seating chart. A few girls in the front row let out audible disdain for my placement.

Tucker pulled the chair out for me patting it with his hand. “So we meet again.
Welcome to Biology,” he whispered.

I smiled, glad I knew someone in the class. Jesse gave me a glance over his shoulder, as well as Lydia who was his partner.

“
You know Jesse?” Tucker asked me. He rolled his pencil across the tabletop.

“
He works for Nona,” I shot back.

Mr. Rudner stood up finally, his black dress pants stained with some kind of white substance. I cringed again.

Tucker nudged my arm with his elbow. “Powdered doughnuts. If you’re ever on his bad side just give him a dozen.”

I nodded. Mr. Rudner started writing on the chalkboard, bringing everyone’s attention to him. Tucker kept rolling his pencil, and it was beginning to grate on my nerves. I placed a hand over it, shooting him an annoyed glare. He placed his hand over mine, giving me goosebumps. I avoided his smirk, going back to the board.

He was a flirt.

Tucker sighed, leaning back in his seat. A few girls gravitated to his noise.

Mr. Rudner set the chalk down. “Mr. Sinclair, is this boring to you?”

I waited for
Mr. Sinclair
to share with the class. It served him right.