Tre

Monday came around and my eye was finally back to its normal shape and size. I walked inside Garrison High School and almost immediately spotted Morgan and Jake, her boyfriend of two years and captain of our “beloved” Garrison Warriors football team. They were standing beside my locker, which is strange because I was usually the one who had to walk to the other side of the hall where Morgan’s locker was located.

“Hey,” I greeted them as I routinely opened the combination lock and took out my Math Analysis AP book for first period.

When I didn’t get an answer, I looked up and saw Morgan looking at the ground and Jake staring at me with his concerned, fatherly countenance. He always acted like he was my father or older brother, which is understandable since he had the same first name as my actual brother. His constant need to protect me, however, tended to insult my longing desire to gain true independence.

“Why are you looking at me like that, Jake?” I asked as I placed the enormous textbook inside my backpack.

“Morgan told me that you have a crush on Landon Crenshaw,” he replied, a disappointed frown engraved on his face.

I shot my best friend an annoyed look before proceeding to look for nothing in my locker and keep my mouth shut.

“You are aware that he plays for our rival school, right?” Jake continued.

“Yes, well, I don’t see how this is any of your business,” I snapped. “Besides, it’s not like there’s anything going on between the two of us. He attends Ridgeview High which is on the other side of town and I don’t have time to share more than a crush with Landon anyway.”

I glanced at Jake and saw that he suddenly looked a bit more upbeat. That’s the difference between Morgan’s Jake and my older brother. Morgan’s Jake is easier to convince about all sorts of things.

After school, I walked the twenty minutes back home, tossed my enormous backpack onto one of the breakfast table chairs, and grabbed a grape from the fruit basket on the kitchen counter. As I grabbed another one, the phone started to ring and I saw, after looking at the caller I.D. that the call was being made from the Crenshaw residence.

I popped the second grape into my mouth before greeting the caller.

“Hey, it’s me again,” Landon’s voice answered from the other end.

“Can’t stop talking to me, I see,” I teased him as I swallowed the grape.

“Guess not,” he laughed. “Then again, I could just be a very gregarious person who loves to talk to his friends.”

“I’m your friend now?” I asked playfully even though I would’ve died if he said “no.”

“Do you consider me your friend?”

I frowned. “I hate that.”

“Hate what?”

“I hate it when someone directs the question they’re being asked towards the inquirer,” I replied. “It’s a lame way to save their ego from getting injured.”

Landon laughed. “Good point, good point.”

“So why’d you call?” I asked casually, hoping that my eager curiosity wasn’t blatantly revealed in my tone of voice.

“I wanted to know if you were going to the game on Thursday,” he said.

“Why? We’re not going against your school this week.”

“I know, we’re playing some team from Thompson County,” Landon said. “I needed to make sure you weren’t so full of school spirit that you attended every game.”

Oh, crud. If he only knew that I did go to every football game since Morgan started dating Jake. To be fair, however, I didn’t always want to go. Morgan forced me to go with her to “support her boyfriend.”

“Okay,” I finally said. “Please don’t tell me that’s the reason you called me.”

He laughed again. “I wish I could be there right now to see your face.”

Oh…. My…. Did he just say what I think he-- I almost melted to the ground. He wanted to see my face? How adora--

“Your expressions always crack me up,” he snorted.

I turned red. Of course. I barely knew Landon and, somehow, I kind of knew that that was what he had meant.

“Well, I wish I were deaf right now,” I grumbled.

“Why’s that?” Landon asked as his snorts died away.

“Then I wouldn’t have to hear your embarrassing laugh,” I smirked. “You sound almost as bad as me.”

“Almost, eh?” I could almost sense the amused little smile that he probably wore on his face when he said that.

“Yeah, almost,” I repeated. “Anyway, why do you keep avoiding an answer to my question? Why did you call me?”

“I’m not avoiding it, Kari,” he said matter-of-factly. “You just keep giving me reasons to make it seem like I’m avoiding a reply to your question.”

“Okay, well, answer it now,” I told him firmly.

“Alright, I called you because I wanted to know whether or not you’re into carnivals,” he said.

I smiled. “Why? Are you trying to ask me out on a date?”

Did I just ask him that?! I’m such a dork! It wasn’t like I’d be satisfied with either of the possible answers to the question. If he said “no,” my feelings would definitely be hurt and if he said “yes,” I’d probably say that I couldn’t go because I had so much homework and reading to finish for school.

“Well, I guess that depends,” Landon answered.

Okay, I didn’t expect that as an answer.

“What does it depend on?” I asked anxiously.

Landon kept silent for a second before saying, “Are you into carnivals?”

I pondered my answer and allowed myself to say, “Yes.”

“Then I’m asking you out on a date,” he said as soon as I my reply left my mouth.

I beamed-- actually beamed. The last time I remembered glowing so brightly and smiling as widely as I did at that moment was when I won my first 500 savings bond as the first place winner of an essay contest in the fifth grade.

“So…. do you want to go with me to the carnival?” Landon asked after a silent moment.

I decided to give him a hard time. “Why are you asking me out on a date?”

“Does my response affect your answer in any way?” he inquired.

I shrugged even though I was aware of the fact that he couldn’t see me. “Maybe,” I added to the shrug.

“Alright,” Landon said after another silent moment. “I’m asking you out on a date because I want to get to know you better.”

“Why?” I almost started snorting. I didn’t really care for an answer, but it seemed to help him think before he spoke. This caused him to give me the replies I wanted.

“I had a fun time talking to you last Thursday at the game,” he replied almost as quickly as I’d asked my question.

“Crenshaw, that was for less than thirty minutes and I’d just gotten hit in the eye with a football,” I reminded him. “How are you so sure that I’m as fun to talk to now that I’m fully conscious?”

“I’m having fun right now,” he laughed. “Besides, now that your eye has healed you’ll look more attractive.”

I snorted. “I should have known you were as shallow as every other guy in this world.”

Actually, whenever I said that, I would usually be angry or disgusted. However, I knew that Landon was joking when he said the bit about me looking more attractive with a normal sized eye so my statement about males being shallow turned out to be a joke as well.

“Well, I think you should at least ask me out properly,” I said after we finished our fit of laughter.

“What do you mean? I did ask you out properly,” Landon insisted.

“I could just be old-fashioned,” I teased, “but doesn’t ‘properly’ include the omission of all words like ‘depends,’ etcetera?”

“You’re quite the character, Espy,” he laughed, “but if that’s what must be done to get you to say ‘yes’--”

“No,” I smiled. “I was just giving you a hard time, Crenshaw. I’ll go to that carnival with you. When do you want to go?”

“Is this Saturday okay?” he asked, a hint of relief in his voice.

“Yeah, that’s fine,” I answered. Screw my usual Saturday study session. I needed to have fun every now and then anyway.

At that moment, my mom entered the kitchen and looked at me questioningly-- she wanted to know who I was talking to.

“I’ll talk to you later, Crenshaw,” I said quickly.

“Okay, Espy,” he replied. “Bye.”

“Bye,” I smiled and turned off the phone.

“Who was that?” my mom asked as she took off her black pumps and walked to the answering machine to play the two messages that had been left.

“Just a friend,” I shrugged.

“Oh, Morgan?” she asked, half paying attention.

“No, a new friend,” I smiled.

“Really? Who?”

“Do you remember that guy I was talking to on the day I got that terrible black eye?”

“Yes.”

“I was talking to him,” I said. “His name is Landon Crenshaw and he’s a relieving quarterback.”

“Isn’t Morgan’s boyfriend the relieving quarterback?”

My mom usually liked to be “tuned in” with my social life and I didn’t really mind. We were close, after all. I just found it kind of pointless sometimes to tell her anything about anyone other than Morgan because she always got them mixed up.

“No, but that’s okay, Mom,” I said as I patted her lightly on the back. “I’m going to go upstairs and study, okay?”

“Good,” she said as I grabbed my backpack and walked to the second floor and entered my bedroom.

I lied down on my bed to try and recall every word that was said in my phone conversation with Landon, why such a cute guy like him wanted to date such a nerd like me, and what Morgan’s Jake, as well as my parents, would say if they knew that I was going out on a date with Landon Crenshaw. Jake would kill him out of hatred for his school and my parents would slaughter him because they thought that I wasn’t “ready to date” yet.

That was exactly why I would have to keep my mouth shut until at least after the date. This way, I’d get the desire to see Landon again out of my system; and if the date went horribly wrong, I’d be able to find the courage to tell my parents (and maybe even Morgan’s Jake) that he was a jerk and I wouldn’t feel bad if they hurt him.

Author’s Note: Ha! An update…. Hey, at least it didn’t take me as long to get this chapter out as “Due” and this is longer like I promised. I hope it was (at least somewhat?) worth the wait.

Also, I know that I promised to explain why the chapter titles are in Italian, but if I did that in this chapter, it would have taken me about two extra days (or weeks) to update. So, to keep my promise of a quicker posted update, I decided to save that explanation until the next chapter.

One final note until I thank my wonderful reviewers. I know that there are a lot of questions that you, the reader, may be wondering such as why I set Landon and Kari up on a date so quickly in the story. It does sort of rush things and makes their relationship a bit corny and unrealistic, don’t you think? Well, I did this because…. well, I won’t spoil it. If you’re dying to know, send me an e-mail or I’ll send you one. Just remember to ask!

Now, on to the reviews:

livingdead2010: Thanks so much for continuing to review my stories! It truly does mean a lot to me that you would take the time to read my writing. -hugs-

DarkTouch: I hope you continue reading!! Come to think of it, if you’re reading this, I’m sure you’ve already found out that Landon does find Kari. He’s her stalker, you see. hehe I’m just kidding. Thanks so much for your review!

fantasy-sorceress: Thanks! I’m glad you love this story and I’m really glad that you found it original. My work here is done (almost…. Okay, I guess I’m not done until I finish this story, huh?) XD

moviechicka: Thanks! I hope you’re satisfied with what’s happened between Landon and Kari so far. J

n i g h t s h u n t e r: Haha Yeah, I used “quicker posted” in my author’s note. I think I’ve kept my promise (barely) and updated a few days faster with a longer chapter. There’s a plague of blonde haired, blue-eyed guys where you live? What state?! I live in California and most of the guys in my city are long-haired skaters who constantly dye their hair. It works for some guys, but others…. well, it doesn’t look attractive or cool.

Lady Arabella the Wise: Thanks so much for reviewing so many of my stories!! -hugs- It means so much to me!! By the way, do you predict the future? Ah, never mind…. Thanks again!

lindserly: I like the name Landon too! Hmm, who would’ve guessed that? . hehe Anyway, I hope you -do- continue to read this story!

So, that’s everyone! ThanksA BILLIONto all of you!! Please continue to tell me what you think!!