Return to Love (11 page)

They had just passed the school when the snow turned to sleet. Joanie ducked her face deeper into her coat to avoid the tiny spears of ice hitting her face.

“This is horrible! Gosh it’s freezing out here! Maybe we should have taken Jane’s dad up on his offer to drive us home.”

Joanie shook her head no. “Uh uh, with our luck he’d ask us why Sally was passed out on the living room floor.”

Kate turned back to smile at her friend, and her smile broadened as she spotted a familiar car slowing down besides them. “Maybe our luck is changing.”

Joanie heard the car and turned to stare in surprise as Eric pulled up alongside of them. She felt her icy cheeks began to thaw and was grateful that the redness would be mistaken for wind burn instead of her blushing. He leaned over and rolled down the window. “You icicles want a lift?”

Joanie didn’t have time to answer before Kate yanked open the door and pushed Joanie through the opening where she almost landed in Eric’s lap head first. She sprung up quickly and sent Kate a piercing look. Kate looked at her innocently as she scooted into the front seat next to her shoving Joanie over so that her and Eric’s legs were touching. She felt electricity jolt through her body and pinned it up to numbness setting in and not the contact. She looked at Eric and forced herself to calm down.

“So where are you heading?” Eric asked. He turned a little bit sideways and had his elbow resting on the back seat gently pressing against Joanie's shoulder. If it was on purpose or not Joanie couldn’t tell.

“Home.” Joanie chattered.

Eric reached out and grabbed her hands. He sandwiched them between his two huge, warm ones, and Joanie blushed even more. She knew that was no accident. Joanie felt herself heating up quickly, and she knew it wasn’t from the warm car. “Better?” He asked her, and all she could do was nod. He gave her a breathtaking smile and turned to shift the car into gear. Kate elbowed her in the ribs and Joanie refused to look at her knowing the smirk that she would find.

Joanie lost track of time as they drove. She almost sighed in disappointment as they pulled up in front of Kate's house. Kate hopped out quickly and grabbed her bag. She gave Joanie a ‘you better call me or else look’ before she thanked Eric and ran to the house. With Kate gone, Joanie was more nervous than ever. She self consciously scooted over a little towards where Kate had sat. She was surprised at the coldness that seeped into her left side where her and Eric’s bodies were touching.

Joanie was about to refuse and then thought of April’s words about her being a prude. She smiled shyly as he helped her into the jacket. It felt like she was in an oven his body heat had warmed it up and the leather held in the heat. She refused to look at him as she slid back over next to him.

“Better?” He asked as he headed back onto the road to take Joanie home.

“Much better.” She was shocked when after shifting into drive; he let his hand rest on her knee. Taken by surprise, she pushed it off nervously. He glanced over at her, but feeling uncomfortable she refused to meet his gaze. They were soon in front of Joanie’s house, and she was surprised when he pulled into a parking space instead of just pulling up and dropping her off at the curb. She started taking off the jacket, but he stopped her.

“How about I walk you to the door? I don’t want you freezing to death on me.” Eric said hopefully.

Joanie smiled and nodded. They both opened their doors and ran for her apartment doorway. Breathless they stumbled in together into the deserted hallway. Suddenly Eric turned her towards him, and he gave her a quick kiss on her lips. Before she could react, he grabbed her hand and they started climbing the stairs.

He kissed me! She thought and for once she wished she had more steps to climb to prolong the feel of him next to her as they climbed in sequence. At the top, they paused outside of Joanie’s door, and they turned to look at each other. He smiled as he saw his jacket hung almost to her knees and her hands were completely hidden from view.

“Wow.” She breathed as he pulled back to stare at her again. She never thought it would be like that. It seemed silly to get so giddy over a kiss, a small one at that but Joanie knew that no matter how long she lived she would always remember that instant and how wonderful it was.

They were interrupted by a neighbor climbing the stairs and Joanie quickly fumbled through her bag for her key before they were caught in the hallway. She unlocked the door and stepped in with Eric following closely. They were greeted warmly by Joanie’s mother.

“Well hello dear! I was worried about you. I called the Madison’s but they said that you and Kate had already left.” She said as she eyed Eric curiously and then glanced at her daughter’s apparel.

“Mom this is Eric Phillips. He gave me and Kate a ride home.” Joanie said gesturing towards Eric.

“Well of course I’ve meet Eric before. I haven’t seen you around lately what have you been up to?” Carol asked none too discreetly.

Joanie wanted to crawl under the couch; her mother wasn’t usually that direct. She was grateful when Eric stepped up and shook her hand.

“It’s good to see you again Mrs. Caldwell. I have a job working construction, so I keep some odd hours. You’ll hopefully be seeing more of me soon.” He added as he glanced over at Joanie.

Joanie’s eyes widened. Had she heard him right?

“Well if that’s the case than you can call me Carol. And thank you so much for bringing her home safely, again. Why don’t you come and sit down and visit? I just got home from work a little while ago so, I have to rest my dogs.” She said gesturing towards her feet.

“I’m sorry I can’t I was on my way to work before I picked up Joanie. If I don’t get there soon, my super is going to kill me.” He nodded apologetically to Joanie and Carol as he moved towards the door.

“I’ll see him out.” Joanie said quickly as he started to leave. She followed him out to the hallway and shut the door behind them. “Thanks again for the ride.” Joanie said shyly. She took off his jacket and handed it to him. She was surprised when he held his hand up as if to refuse it.

“Why don’t you hang on to it?” He said moving closer to her and staring into her eyes intently.

She shook her head no ever so slightly. “I don’t want you to freeze to death on me.” She said repeating his words. He grinned as he quickly swung it on.

“Bye.” he whispered winking at her.

“’Bye.” She whispered back and then he was gone. She sighed as she opened the door and went back into her home. She shut the door behind her and locked it.

“He’s handsome. Do you like him?” Her Mom said. She was sitting on the couch waiting for her.

Joanie turned red as she went over to sit down next to her. “I do like him. But I don’t know. I haven’t had too much experience with boys before. I mean I’ve been thinking about him for weeks and then there he is and I’m acting like an idiot. I can barely even talk to him. He probably thinks I’m dim witted.”

Carol smiled knowingly. “Oh I don’t believe he thinks that at all.”

Her mom kissed her cheek and then headed into the bedroom to get some rest. Joanie was restless. He hadn’t mentioned seeing her again maybe he didn’t want to. Her thoughts flew through her head, and she knew the one person she needed to talk to was only a phone call away. Making sure her mom was asleep she quickly dialed Kate’s number. The cord wouldn’t stretch into the living room, so she just sat on the kitchen floor with her back to the refrigerator, facing the rest of the house.

“Hey Kate. What’s up?” She asked unsure of how to word her question.

“What the heck do you mean what’s up? What’s up with you? You’re the one who left alone with Eric. You two seemed quite cozy as you drove off.”

“You were spying on me?” Joanie squealed.

“I’m your best friend of course I was spying on you! Now out with the details. I was dying to call you, but I didn’t want to interrupt anything.”

“HA! Cold my butt! I was cold too, but you didn’t see him offering me his jacket! Plus you said he kissed you! I can’t believe that you gave it back to him. I’m so disappointed. Do you know what girls would have given to be in your shoes?”

Joanie sighed. Maybe she had interpreted the situation wrong. He wouldn’t want her to be his girl or would he? She felt her insides began to warm at the thought.

Monday came much too quickly. Joanie groaned as she forced her feet out from under the warm covers into the cold air. She quickly dressed and showered. She was surprised to find Brad at the kitchen table working on a mixing bowl full of cereal. She went over and felt his forehead with her hand.

Joanie realizing the time grabbed a banana and ran for the door she stopped to yell back good luck as she headed over to Kate’s house. On the way to school, Joanie told her about Brad’s job.

“That would be too cool. Do you really think he would take us?” Kate asked excitedly. “I love going into the city. I just hate crossing over the bridge.”

“Probably. He’s been nice lately. It’s kinda scary maybe he’s been cloned.”

The girls headed into the school and were surprised to see kids pointing and whispering at them. Joanie glanced over at Kate and saw that she noticed it too.

“What’s up?” Kate asked, and Joanie just shrugged.

Suddenly an arm went around her shoulders, and she jumped in surprise. Chris grinned down at her as he bent down and whispered in her ear. “I know you’re just playing hard to get.” He said as he held up the slam book. Joanie regaining her senses grabbed the book with one hand and elbowed Chris hard in the ribs with the other one. She tossed the book to Kate who grabbed it and ran into the girl’s bathroom to destroy it. Chris doubled over but was able to grab Joanie's arm and force her against a locker.

Joanie more angry than scared glared at him as her mind reeled with ways of escape. She looked around, and her hopes fell as she realized that Chris’s football buddies were surrounding them. She tried to kick him, but he side stepped and just moved closer to her. “What the hell do you want?” Joanie asked her eyes flashing.

“You.”

Suddenly the bell rang and Chris released her almost dropping her to the ground. He smiled. “Later.” And he strutted off down the hallway with his friends.

“Are you ok?” Kate asked grabbing her friends arm.

Joanie didn’t trust herself to speak she just nodded her head. The second bell rang and Kate gave her a quick hug before running for her locker. Joanie sighed and headed for the gym. She made it to the locker room and forced herself to take deep breaths to calm down. The rest of the morning passed uneventful, and Joanie was thankful. She met Kate for lunch. They noticed that Jane and Sally were sitting at their usual spot with Chris and Co. Thinking quickly Joanie turned and headed towards a different direction she motioned for Kate to follow her.

“Hey Chad.” She called as she and Kate came up to his table. He nodded to his friend Jack to scoot over and Joanie and Kate thankfully sat down. Chad smiled over at the girls.

“Rough morning?” He asked.

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Joanie mumbled through bites of sandwich. She wanted to eat and get out of there as quickly as possible.