Page 6 of Heartfelt Goals

“Because you haven’t showered in three days?”

“Nooooo,” Laurel drew out, trying not to be insulted as she sniffed her armpits and winced. “It’s because the last two times I’ve gone to leave the apartment, that jerk has parked almost right up against the driver’s door of my car. I’m tired of him and going to file a complaint – again.”

“Ooooh,” Kendall mocked, waving her hands. “Now she’s really mad. It’s complaint time.”

“And before I say something to hurt either of our feelings –I love you, and I’m getting food,” she mocked, giving her a salute as she walked out the door right as Kendall tossed a quick ‘Love ya too’over her shoulder.

Laurel walked down the hallway to the elevator, logging in on her cell phone to check her balance. She had three days until she got paid and was feeling the pinch so badly right now.

Having Kendall at the apartment had practically doubled the cost of everything. Twice the amount of food, twice the clothing, heck – she even had school expenses to pay for, like locker fees and internet. What happened to public school like when she was young?

“Oh my gosh, Idosound old…” Laurel muttered just in time to see the elevator door open – and stared as she met a very familiar set of blue eyes. The same blue eyes that haunted her dreams and lived in her mental fantasies.

And those blue eyes turned away as her childhood crush, the hottest man she ever knew, and the person she patterned every male character in her mind after, looked away almost like he didn’t recognize her or didn’t want to – reminding Laurel just what she looked like right now. She was wearing Disney yoga pants and a pajama top with a faded sweatshirt over the top, and she glanced down to see she was wearing two different colored Crocs.

Yeah, I ain’t saying ‘hello,’she thought painfully as she chanced a glance at Dustin Lafreniére and was assaulted by so many thoughts and memories. She’d had a crush on him since she was seventeen – and for ten years, she had compared every date, every guy she met, every fictional character to him… just wishing he would look twice at her.

But not today.

Please, if there is a God above, do not let him look at me today.

They stood there silently, both staring at the elevator doors, neither looking at the other, and she could have sworn that he had taken a second look at her.Please, noooo, she thought, swallowing as she tried to think of a reason for not showering, not fixing her hair, and for two different pairs of shoes.

“Laurel, right?” he began quietly as the elevator door opened on the twelfth floor. Of course, he lived on the top floor. He was a big-shot hockey player and…oh no, he knows it’s me! He said my name!

“I’m sorry -who?”she blurted out.

… And nearly slapped herself across the face in disbelief and frustration as his bright blue eyes widened for a moment before he simply got off the elevator without another word. As the doors slid closed, the two brain cells in her head were finally rubbing together enough for her to make a sentence. “I’m Laurel, and I don’t know why I just said that except that I’m an utter idiot…”

This time, she did slap herself in the forehead – immediately dislodging her baseball cap as the elevator sank to the ground floor leading to a hallway that connected to the garage. Making her way forward to her assigned parking spot – and froze.

“AREYOUFREAKINGKIDDINGME!”

Laurel screeched as the black roadster was there, parked almost against her car, diagonally in the parking spot, blocking her driver’s door. “That’s it! I’m gonna key the jerk’s vehicle and…” hesitated as her stomach growled painfully.

She stood there, trying to pull herself together, resting a hand on her stomach that was protesting – and realized she was losing her utter mind because she was hungry.

Hangry.

Going to jail or getting arrested for keying a car – no matter how satisfying – would not help her deadlines nor feed Kendall. In fact, it might make things a billion times worse.

“Get in the passenger side, hike your chunky leg over Mount Console, try not to tear your va-jay-jay, and get in the driver’s seat like thequeenyou know that you are…” she whispered, giving herself a mental pep talk in the politest voice she had because the next five minutes were spent cursing fluently as she managed to squeeze over the console of her Toyota without leaving a greasy nose imprint on the headliner… this time.

An hour later, on the way home from the grocery store after charging it to her credit card and replaying this afternoon in her head, she took a deep breath – and dialed.

Madeline answered on the first ring – right before Laurel could hang up.

“I was just thinking about calling you.”

“To tell me I need my head examined?”

“One of us does.”

“It’s definitely me,” Laurel muttered and then gave her friend from high school her brightest, cheeriest voice. “How are you doing? I thought I’d say ‘hi’ and see if you want to meet for coffee sometime – and why didn’t you tell me that Dustin lived in the same apartment building as me because we should have discussed this long before now. Do you know I’m wearing two different shoes, busting my butt to hit a deadline, and just ran into his royal hotness in the elevatorand pretended not to be me?!”she gushed, finishing in what could almost be called a ‘wail’ of disappointment.

“Breathe.”

“I’m breathing and bordering on hyperventilating. This would be the second panic attack today, and I have three pints of Ben and Jerry’s to prove it.”

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