Page 18 of Check the Halls
I text him the address, but when I go to save his number in my contacts, I can’t seem to make myself type out his name. With a private smile, I save it as hockeyboi17.
CHAPTER 7
BEN
THEN
“What are you thinking about, Mads?”
Maddy blinks, like she’s just surfaced from deep water, her thoughts still lingering wherever they had carried her. I almost hate to rob her of her daydream, but class will start in a few minutes and I’m greedy for my regularly scheduled time with her. With a small shake of her head, she focuses on me. “Sorry, what?”
I try not to laugh, but it’s hard. Half the time when I look at her, she’s wearing this expression of strict concentration, like she’s solving some advanced algebra equation in her head. And I look at her a lot. As often as I can, in fact.
“What were you just thinking?”
Her cheeks turn the lightest shade of pink, but she doesn’t blush as easily as she used to when I met her six weeks ago. I miss those blushes.
“It’s not important.”
“Please?”
She exhales, long and slow, like she already knows she’s going to regret humoring me.“I was wondering if the phrase ‘rub you the wrong way’ was originally about cats.”
I blink. “What?”
“I was volunteering at the Humane Society after school yesterday and petting one of the older cats, Figaro, while talking to Jimmy. I must have stroked his fur the wrong way because he scratched the hell out of my arm.”She tugs up the sleeve of her sweatshirt, revealing a set of angry red scratches across her forearm, scattered between freckles.
“Who’s Jimmy?”
“Another volunteer. He’s a senior at Dartmouth High.”
I briefly consider signing up for the Humane Society on the spot. Then reality sets in—I can barely juggle school and hockey as it is. Adding volunteer hours to my already chaotic schedule would be impossible. Even if it meant spending more time with her.
Maddy pulls her sleeve back down over her wrist. “So, what do you think?”
That I don’t like the sound of this Jimmy asshole,I think darkly. “About what?”
“Do you think that’s where the expression comes from? Rubbing someone the wrong way?”
I should probably Google it. Give her an actual answer. Instead, I just say the first honest thought that comes to mind.
“I think I like the way your brain works, Mads.”
She rolls her eyes, but I catch the ghost of a smile before she buries it. Like she thinks I’m full of shit but doesn’t entirely mind it.
Maddy isn’t like anyone I’ve ever met. She’s smart and funny and so damn random sometimes, like now. I’ve never had to work so hard to figure out if a girl is interested in me before.
She doesn’t go to parties like the rest of the student population. Whenever I ask about her weekend plans, she’s volunteering or doing something with her parents. She’s impossible to read, and it’s driving me insane.
I should just bite the bullet and ask her out. But what if she says no? What if it makes things weird or ruins the easy rhythm we’ve fallen into twice a week in Poli Sci?
Patience. Like waiting for the perfect moment to take a shot.
The right moment will come. I just have to wait for it.
NOW
As I walk into the polished office, I’m grateful for the coffee cups I’m gripping. They’re giving my hands something to do besides shake.
