Chapter Three

When Alison walked into the house after sitting in Justin’s truck for a few minutes, Sam pounced on her and demanded every tiny detail.  Alison of course told her everything, as she had no secrets from Sam. They oohed and ahhed over the piece of jewelry, then Sam started grilling Alison.

“When are you gonna see him again?  Girl, he must be in love to give you something that expensive from only one meeting!  And don’t even try to back down from going out with him on a date or I’ll kill you.  I will, too, you know I will.

Alison sighed, looking at the necklace again.  “I can’t believe all this stuff is happening to me,” she said faintly.  “First they’re buying us champagne like we’re all video stars, then he shows up at school with a present from Tiffany’s.  Don’t you think it’s kind of weird that he was waiting for us outside of school? Like a stalker or something?”

Sam scoffed at that statement.  “Does he look like he has to stalk people?  Homeboy is fine, girl.  Just take what he said at face value and enjoy it. Maybe he just likes you and wanted to do something nice for you since it was your birthday, after all.  Did he ask to see you again?”

Alison relayed the arrangements for the next day and Sam was over the moon with excitement.  She raced off to Alison’s closet to start picking out cute outfits for her to wear and Alison followed, still dazed by certain events.  They’d decided to tell their parents that she was working in a group so she had to stay late from school, an excuse they would easily buy.  The next morning before they left school Sam dressed her from head to toe, supervised her hairstyle, the whole enchilada.  When she was satisfied she finally allowed them to leave.  And at the end of the school day before she left to meet Justin, Sam again commandeered her into the bathroom and carefully re-applied Alison’s makeup.

“I don’t like this, Sam,” Alison whined.  She wasn’t one for wearing much makeup but Sam insisted that she had to look older and not act like such a kid.  So she went along with it.

When she walked outside, there he was, idling on the side of the street with some kind of rap music booming out, only this time he was in a different car – a champagne colored Jaguar.  Alison’s entire fellow cheerleaders were being nosy since they didn’t have a class to attend, wondering whose car Alison, Miss Goody Two-Shoes as they affectionately called her, was getting into.  Looking over her shoulder, she could see them all drooling over Justin and how good he looked, not to mention the phat car he was rocking.  Alison knew Sam would have the story all over the school before they arrived at the mall.

“Hey,” he said easily, as he reached over and opened the door for her.  “How you doing today, Ali? Your make-up looks really good.” He looked just as good as before, if not better.  Same freshly shaped goatee, still wearing sparkling white sneakers with big track pants and a red t-shirt.  She was so nervous that she could barely get into the truck.  Once she got in and was safely buckled in, she finally answered his question.

”I’m doing okay,” she replied tiredly, but secretly hyped about him saying she looked good.  “I just hate basketball season.  There’re games at least twice a week and that means I have to stay up late studying … I’m just a little tired.  How’re you doing?  You look nice,” she complimented him then wanted to kick herself.  Wasn‘t it supposed to be the other way around?

He smiled, flashing those pearly whites at her again and she felt butterflies in her stomach.  He smelled so good that she wanted to lean right over and nestle her head into the curve of his neck like she had when they’d hugged the day before.  But she didn’t think her timing would be right if she attacked him the minute she got into the car.

“Thanks, Ali,” he actually looked a little bashful.  He was so cocky before that that surprised her   “Now you are the one who’s looking good.  You look sexy as hell in that shirt … and those jeans,” he went on, embarrassing her.

“Stop!” she yelled, laughing along with him.  Suddenly, without even realizing it, he’d put her at ease with him, which wasn’t an easy thing to do.  But something in her trusted him and felt like she could tell him anything.  They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, she thought, and if that’s true then his soul is wide open for me to see whenever I look in his eyes.  He kept laughing but she could still feel him gazing at her.  It was a little unsettling.  So she took a chance.  “Why’re you staring at me?  You’ve done that ever since we met.”

“You’re beautiful,” he said simply.  “And I like looking at beautiful things.”  He waited for her reaction, which was a ducking of the head and a blush spreading across her cheeks.

“Where’s the truck you had yesterday?” she asked.  He certainly must have a lot of money to own two cars like the one he’d been driving, she thought.

“I told you I like beautiful things … I figured you would go good with the Jag,” he said smoothly, looking for the reaction he was sure he’d get.  He wasn’t disappointed, either – she ducked and blushed yet again.

Smiling at her naiveté and done with teasing her, Justin put the car in drive and they headed off to the mall

~*~

“That was so easy!” Alison exclaimed as she and Justin examined the tiny copy of her parent’s photograph.  “I could’ve never figured out how to use that machine without you, Justin.  Thanks again so much.”

Justin and Alison were spending the afternoon shrinking the picture of her parents so that it would fit into the locket Justin had given to.  Surprisingly it only took about twenty minutes to do what they needed to do on the photo machine at Ritz Camera, so Justin suggested they get a snack.  Alison wasn’t really hungry but she wanted to spend more time with him so she went to the food court with him.  They both went to McDonald’s and sat down a little table off to the side at the food court.  Justin had a gotten a Big Mac Extra Value meal super-sized while Alison got a Coke.  He told her he’d been playing basketball earlier and worked up an appetite.  He proved himself right, because he started wolfing down the burger as soon as they sat down.

“So … you didn’t have to work today?” Alison tried to make conversation.  She felt like a dork talking about work but she didn’t know what else to say.  Most people that worked regular jobs didn’t hang out at one-thirty in the afternoon.

Justin shook his head as he sank his teeth into a Big Mac.  After waiting for him to finish chewing and swallowing, he answered, “I make my own hours.  Building houses is tricky; sometimes you have 7 AM meetings, like I did this morning, or sometimes you meet for dinner … shit like that.  It’s kinda unpredictable, when you think about it.  I’m just used to it because my dad’s been doing this his whole life.”

“You must make a lot of money,” she mused, thinking of the gift, the cars, and the clothes.  “Do you still live at home?” Alison inquired, than thought better of it.  “No, never mind.  That’s none of my business.” But she hoped he would answer anyway and he did.

“In a way,” he said mysteriously and she looked at him quizzically.

“’In a way’?  Either you do or you don’t, I think,” she answered.  “But you don’t have to tell me. I shouldn’t have been so nosy.

Justin looked at her with those eyes, now determined and midnight blue.  “Alison, you have permission to ask me any and everything you want, okay?  I hereby give you free and clear admittance to all of my secrets.  But to answer your question, I guess you could say I have two places of residence.”  He thought it over for a second.   “Maybe not all, but most of my life will be a fucking open book to you soon.”

Alison tilted her head.  “Soon?  You say that like you know for sure we’re going be talking that long, or whatever.”  A part of her liked what he said but another part of her thought he was assuming way too much.  One trip to the mall did not a relationship make. 

“We are,” he drank some Coke. 

She raised her eyebrows at him like he’d lost his mind and he enjoyed that she had given up being so scared of him and was opening up, having a conversation.  “What makes you so sure of that?”

“Because when I saw you Saturday night, Ali, you blew my mind.  I don’t just go to clubs every weekend to pick up girls.  I thought you were fucking gorgeous so I sent the champagne down so I could get to know you better and that made me like you even more.  You’re down to earth, levelheaded, smart, and extremely sweet.  I don’t see what there is to not like about you so far,” he said, chewing on some fries.

Alison laughed.  “You must be thinking of someone else,” she told him.  “I’m not all that nice and I have my bad sides, just ask Sam.  It feels like …” her voice trained off as she was uncertain on how to finish the statement.

“Like what?” he prodded, polishing off the rest of his meal and reaching for her fries that she wasn’t eating.

She shrugged.  “I don’t know … you’re moving awfully fast, Justin.  You barely know me and you think all these wonderful thoughts about me … I don’t want to be put on anyone’s pedestal.  I’m just a regular girl.”

Too late for the pedestal, Justin thought to himself but decided not to mention that.  “Okay, I admit the necklace is a little much, but I knew it would look pretty on you and I wanted to get you something for your birthday.  But other than that shit, I haven’t done anything out of the ordinary.”

Alison laughed.  “Like tracking me down at high school?  That’s not overkill, noooo.”

Justin pointed at her.  “I wouldn’t have to do those things if you had been like a normal girl and given me your telephone number.  Instead I had to resort to Map quest to find your ass.  You should treat me a little more nicely, Alison,” he teased.  He was pleased at the rapport they were beginning to build.

“Okay … what do you want me to do to be nicer to you?” 

Boy she left herself wide open with that one, he thought.  Instead of all the things he could’ve asked for he came up with one answer.  “Give me a kiss.’

Alison dropped her Coke on the table but managed to catch it before it spilled everywhere.  “A what? A kiss?  Justin, I don’t even know you.  I can’t kiss you.”

“Is there a law?  Some sort of waiting period before you can kiss me?  Because I’d love to know what the rules are,” he teased again.

Alison shook her head and stood up with her tray.  “C’mon, you nut.  I’d better get home soon; my parent will be home in a little while and I don’t want them to see me getting out of your car.”

Justin followed her.  “Well, then why can’t you just introduce me to them?  I don’t like sneaking around and I bet you don’t either.  Let me meet them and show them I’m not a fucking serial killer and take you out on a real date.”  He was tired of this cloak and dagger business.  He wanted to date her and make her realize how strong his feelings were for her.  He was certain she would reciprocate if he only had the time to spend with her.  And to do that, he needed her parent’s blessing.

They began walking along the mall again.  “Okay.  I’ll think of some way to say I met you … and I’ll tell you the plan and—“ he cut her off.

“When you start lying, you end up lying even more and more until that shit turns into a disaster.  Tell them you met me when you went out Saturday night and we’ve talked and we’re just going to the movies. Why would they object to that?

He had a point, she thought.  And what did she really have to lose?  Her parents trusted her; they knew she wouldn’t go out with anyone that wasn’t decent to her.  She was just worried about the age difference but she’d cross that bridge when she got to it.   But before she got him anywhere near them, he’d have to quit with the cursing.  If one curse word slipped out near them, she’d be under house arrest for the rest of the year.

“Hey, let’s go in here.” Justin pointed out one of those photo booths where you squash in with your friend and take a strip of pictures together.  Alison had always thought they were cheesy, although she and Sam had tons of those little strips floating around their rooms.

“You want to take pictures?”  Alison was surprised.  He acted like they were already a couple, she thought.  Like everything was settled and they had been together for years.  She just didn’t get this guy. But taking pictures sounded like fun, plus she could show the pictures off to her friends and Sam. “Okay.”

They squeezed in together, Alison in first, Justin in second.  “Okay, you gotta be ready for the flashes,” he told her.

“What are we gonna do?  Make faces, rabbit ears, what?” she asked him.

“Just do what comes naturally,” he advised her, then slipped his arm around her shoulder.  She shuddered a little at being so close to him.  “Okay, smile!” he told her and they both smiled and finished taking the pictures. 

She didn’t know how it happened.  But it just did.

In the first one they were both smiling broadly; in the second one they were turning to face each other, still smiling and laughing.  In the third one their faces were closer and closer together and in the fourth Justin hit jackpot.  She kissed him!  He couldn’t believe she actually did.  She didn’t actually believe that she did it.  Granted it was only a peck, but he was at least getting somewhere if she let him kiss her.  One small kiss was all he had, but he was at least making headway.  He’d get her, if it was the last thing he would do.

When they exited the booth Alison was flustered and staring at the machine, waiting for the pictures to appear.  She was busy trying to figure out what came over her that made her lean over and kiss him like that.  He was just so close to her and smelled so good and his soft, red lips were right by hers … she could honestly say she never did anything like that before.  He didn’t say anything to her about the kiss until the pictures appeared.

“Which ones do you want?  I hate splitting them up,” Alison told him as they studied the photos.

Justin said, “Just give me the last one.  You can keep the rest.”

She told Justin on the car ride home. “I just … I need you to know that I don’t normally go around kissing strangers.  I don’t know what came over me but I just … it just … I don’t know, it just felt right.”

He said,  “Baby, I know you’re not like that.  You’re the most innocent person I’ve met that’s legal in years, since I was in high school myself, probably.  But I asked for the one of us kissing because I don’t like people all up in my business,” he said.  “I mean, I want to date you and I don’t mind showing you off but some things in a relationship should be kept quiet.  Don’t you think?”

Alison blushed at the fact that he wanted the one of the two of them kissing.  She’d almost wanted it for herself but it was private and she didn’t want Sam or any of her friends seeing it. 

It was private, something just for them.

But wait. 

Relationship?  “We’re having a relationship now?”  This guy was moving at rocket speed and Alison couldn’t keep up with him.  Her head was still spinning from the soft, but tantalizing kiss he’d given her in the booth.  It was all she could think about – and she wanted more.

“I hope we are,” he told her as he pulled up in front of her house.  “Are we?”

Alison gazed back at him for a while and shrugged.  “I … I guess so.”  This man had her feeling all topsy-turvy inside.  She was really beginning to like him.

Alison had always been a loner unless Sam got her involved in something.  She’d gone on a few – by few, meaning three – and they’d all been disasters.  She was either too serious for them or they were too goofy for her and as for kissing?  She’d kissed exactly two guys before and hadn’t felt a thing.  So why did her insides skyrocket like it was the Fourth of July when his lips touched hers?  She couldn’t fathom it.

“Does that mean I can kiss you again?”

And there he went again.  Only this time, instead of being shy she simply nodded her head and waited for him to make his move.  She’d gotten a taste of what it was like to kiss him and she wanted more.

Justin didn’t disappoint.  He started giving her soft, deep, close-mouthed kisses before using his tongue to coax hers out to play.  Alison was lost in a world of sensation and feeling.  They could’ve kissed for a minute or thirty minutes, if you asked her she wouldn’t have known. 

Justin felt the same way and didn’t want to let her go.  He wanted to whisk her off to some hotel or something and seduce her slowly.  He knew that he could but he wanted to do things the right way.  This was a good girl and she deserved to be wooed.

And wooed she would be.  She won’t know what hit her, Justin thought as broke away from the kiss. Man, he wanted to take her to his apartment.  Soon, he told himself.  Soon.

Alison was flushed and breathing heavily.  “I … umm … I guess I better get inside.” She whispered, toying with her locket.  “My mom will be home any minute and I have some writing that I want to do.”

“You writing for school or something else?” he asked, curious.

She sighed.  “Sometimes I write just for me, when I have the time and the space.  Sam and I share a room and there’s only one desk in there.  Sam doesn’t use it much but I can’t concentrate when she’s around.  She always has music or the television on or is talking on the phone.  So I write my little short stories and poetry when I can but I hardly ever have the privacy.”

“Really?” Justin pondered, then asked her something completely out of the blue.  “What are your favorite colors?”

“My favorite colors?” she asked, totally confused.  “Why?”

“It’s just something I wondered.  So tell me, please.”  He had something in mind for his apartment …

“Umm … purple … fuschia …pink … those type of colors.  Maybe a little yellow, I don’t know.  But I do know I need to go before my mom pulls up.  I’m sorry, Justin.”

“Okay, baby, don’t be sorry,” Justin leaned over and kissed her one last time.  “Go … I don’t want you to get into trouble.  But remember, tell them the truth about me and just say I want to take you to a movie and dinner.  Oh wait, gimme your phone number, too.”  Alison recited the numbers and he programmed them into his cell phone.

“I’ll see you later, Justin.” She said, opening the door and climbing out with her schoolbooks. 

“Fo’ sho’,” he winked at her and watched her enter the house.

Alison practically sprinted across the lawn and into the house closing the door behind her and leaning onto it.

She was in love with the most wonderful guy she’d ever met.

So how was she going to be able to actually date this wonderful guy when her parents probably wouldn’t let her anywhere near him?

Sam would know the answer.  She always did.

“Hey Sam!” she shouted as she took off her coat and dropped her books in the foyer.  “Come down here.  We’ve got stuff to figure out!”