EIGHT

Sam couldn’t believe his luck. He was being shown around an awesome house by a gorgeous girl—a senior, no less—who seemed into him. She was hot. And really cool. And she had the entire place to herself.

It was like an angel from God had come down and dropped her into his lap. He still couldn’t believe it. It was just what he needed, and at just the right time. He was afraid that any second all of his luck would turn, and she’d ask him to leave. But she didn’t seem in any rush to ask him to go. In fact, she seemed like she wanted company. And she didn’t even care that he’d been in her barn. In fact, she seemed to have liked finding him there. He couldn’t believe it. He’d never had any luck in his life like this before.

As he walked around, he saw that her house was still basically empty. No food in the fridge, and not even that much furniture. There was just a random chair here and there, and a small couch. That made him feel good, cause he could help her. If she wanted. He could help her fix it up, move stuff, buy food, shovel, whatever she needed. Even if she just let him crash in her barn, that would be cool. And if she wanted him in the house, well, that would be awesome. More importantly, he really liked her. He was lonely. He realized it now. He really liked being around her.

“And this is the living room,” she said, as she walked him into the final room. It was really bare, no pictures on the wall, no rug on the floor—just a small loveseat in the middle.

“Sorry it’s still so empty,” she said. “I just got here. I didn’t want to bring any of my old stuff. I figured I’d just get a new start.”

Sam stood there, nodding. He was dying to ask her a whole bunch of questions. Like: where are you from? How did your parents die? Why did you come here?

But he didn’t want to be too pushy. So he just stood there, nodding, like an idiot.

He also felt kind of nervous. He was really attracted by her, more than he’d been by any girl in his life, and he didn’t really know what to say—and didn’t trust himself to say anything. He had a feeling that if he said anything, it would come out wrong.

“Want to sit?” she asked, as she walked around and sat in the loveseat.

Do I ever.

He tried not to show his excitement. He tried to walk as casually as he could, as he came over and sat beside her. It was a small loveseat, and his leg brushed up against her as he sat. He could smell her perfume, and he felt his blood race. It was getting hard to think clearly.

She tucked one leg under the other, and turned and faced him. She sat there, smiling, staring into his eyes, and he wondered for the millionth time if this was all a dream, if one of his friends was setting him up for a prank.

“So,” she said. “Tell me about you.”

“Like what?” he asked.

“Are you from here?”

Sam thought how to answer that one. It wasn’t easy.

“No, not really. But I guess you could say I am, since I’ve lived here more than just about anywhere. We moved around a lot. My family. Well me, my sister, and my mom.”

“What about your dad?” she asked immediately.

Sam shrugged.

“He was never around. They said he moved out when I was young. I don’t really remember.”

“Haven’t you tried to track him down?”

Sam looked into her eyes, and wondered if she was able to read his mind.

“It’s funny you should ask,” he said, “because I actually have been trying. I’ve always wanted to know. But I never found anything. Until last week.”

Her eyes opened wide in surprise. Sam was surprised by how excited she looked. He couldn’t really understand it. Why would she care?

“Really?” she asked. “Where is he?”

“Well, I don’t know exactly, but we’ve been talking on Facebook. He says he wants to see me.”

“So? Why don’t you see him?”

“I want to. It just has all gone down so fast. I guess I just need to make a plan.”

“What are you waiting for?” she asked, smiling.

Sam thought. She was right. What was he waiting for?

“Why don’t you write him back? Make a plan to see him? You know, if you don’t set a plan, things never happen. If it were me, I’d message him right now,” she said.

Sam looked into her eyes, and as he did, he felt his thoughts shifting. Everything she said made so much sense. It was weird: he almost felt like every time she said something, the thought became his. She was right. He shouldn’t wait.

He reached into his pocket, took out his phone, and logged onto Facebook.

As he did, she cuddled up next to him, leaned her shoulder into his, and looked at his phone with him. His heart started racing. He loved the feeling of her shoulder touching his. It was so soft, and fit perfectly. He could smell her hair, and it was overwhelming. He was getting really distracted. He had forgotten, for a second, why he had taken out his phone.

Then he saw the new message light, and opened it.

There it was. Another new message from him.

It read: Sam, I would love to see you. We do need to get together. I know that you are busy in school and all, but what does your schedule look like? It’s hard for me to travel, because of my bad leg, but I’m wondering if you could come up here and visit me? I live in Connecticut.

Samantha smiled. “There you go,” she said.

“What should I say?” Sam asked.

“Say yes. Tomorrow’s Saturday. It’s the weekend. What better time?”

She was right. Saturday was the best day. Wow. This girl was not only really hot, she was really smart.

Sam typed back: OK. Sounds good. How about this weekend? What’s your address?

He hesitated for a second. Then he clicked send. He already felt better.

“I’m so excited for you,” Samantha said, smiling. “Wow, it’s so cool that I could meet you at such an exciting time.”

Sam suddenly felt her smooth fingers reach out and stroke his face, then slowly run through his hair. The feeling was intense. Amazing. His heart was slamming, and he could barely think.

He turned and looked at her, and saw that she was facing him, both of her hands now, caressing his face, his neck, his hair. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from her large, glowing green eyes. He could hardly breathe.

“I really like you,” she said.

Sam opened his mouth to speak, but it was too dry. It took him a couple of tries. “I really like you, too.”

He knew he should lean in for a kiss, but he was too nervous. He was relieved when she leaned in, and planted her lips on his.

It was amazing. The blood rushed to his brain, and he prayed this would never end.