Read The Season of Shay and Dane for Free Online Page B

time we’ve
known each other Jenny knew me inside-out, and now, even with my timidity near
boys, I’m unable to conceal from her the slight curiosity I’m feeling—and that
comment mostly deflated the little bubble forming in me, but not
entirely.
    “Right.” Still, he
could be talented and smart , and not from a wealthy family—not too
wealthy anyway.
    I remember something my
dad said to me years ago, probably at the age when any other young girl might have
invited the idea of beginning to date. “Just remember, getting a sense someone
is a delicate thing; it takes time. It took me a month of showing up at the
same 11:00 church service, when there were two other services on Sunday, just
to be sure I could see your mother as the greeter, and for her, she was asking
others if she could take their spots to be at that door just to get to see me.” He had said it with a laugh, as if it was an intricate dance they performed,
each not knowing—but knowing.
    Not a word to Jenny.
I’m going to be near that bus bench at 7:00 tomorrow and put dad’s theory to
the test. There aren’t too many risks in it; I have to walk past it obviously
to go up the steps to my building, whether it’s 7:00 or 8:00. And in all
likelihood he won’t be there anyway. Yes, what am I saying? I’m sure he has a
girlfriend, maybe more than one girlfriend . What type of guy would still
act that way—like any semblance of a gentleman, especially when so many girls
are in full pursuit meeting at after-game parties or one of the dozens of clubs
that snake the outside of campus. Even though it’s not for me, it seems to be
just about what it is for most everyone else.
    “Thanks again for a great
late lunch.” Shifting my thoughts and stacking my towels onto hers.
    “Take some brownies,”
she calls, headed off to the bathroom to put them away. “There’s plastic wrap
in the drawer beside the stove.”
    I wrap up a couple,
dipping my finger into the icing on the top of the last one I set in, licking
it.
    “See you in the morning
Jen!” I say loudly, opening the door to leave.
    “See ya there!”
     
     
    dane
    “Gretchen, right?” I
ask, closing the door and walking further inside to see the two of them curled
up on the sofa watching tv.
    She lifts her head up
to Vince for reassurance of being there and then turns to me, “Yeah, hey Dane.”
    “Hey,” I say with my
back to them reaching for the phone to take into my room. She must possess something
the others don’t. It’s the first time the same girl has returned—at least two
days in a row.
    I push my door closed
and kick off my shoes, falling back on my bed outstretched, staring up at the
ceiling. I know until I at least attempt to talk to this girl it’s going to
keep drumming in my head. I’ve got to find a way to run into her again— Jesus! —without
actually running into her again .
    What’s wrong with me?
    How stupid did that
sound?
    I let out a long
breath, pushing away the thought of her and reaching for the phone I let drop
beside me on the bed. It feels good to lie down.
    Kate and mom will be
expecting a call from me any day now and it’s as good of a time as any to catch
up for a minute.
    I dial the number. It
only has to ring twice before Kate answers.
    “Hey sis.”
    “Dane!” The excitement
in her voice picks up. “Hang on, okay?”
    “Sure.” I can hear her
palm scratch across the mouthpiece, covering it as she yells for mom to come to
the phone.
    “Mom’s on her way. How
are things going out there?” She likes hearing about Yale. Even when the news
sounds the same to me every time, but I indulge her. Other than coming out here
to visit me, she’s stayed mostly near home to be with mom. When she decided to
get a nursing degree she chose a small university only thirty minutes away to be
home every night. Being left to feel like the man of the house since I was
little, I owe her a lot. “We saw Coach Malloy at the steak house last night. He
said he’s