28. MATTHEWS

MATTHEWS

2016

I snuck out.

Me, Clementine Mary Matthews, snuck out of my house to go to a house party across town without my Daddy’s permission and without Cael.

My hands shook at my side. Most of the walk over there was spent trying to convince myself of why I should turn back and go home. But Kiefer Hart, from my advanced Socials class, had told me specifically to come.

“ It’ll be fun, and all the girls that usually show up are all the same. Having some fresh faces around to talk to would be nice.”

Kiefer was cute, really cute . A six-foot hockey player for our high school team. He had dark, wavy hair that he always shoved under a cowboy hat when we weren’t in class and big, glassy green eyes that looked like the pine trees that grew along the highway leading into the city.

Cael hated him, from the tip of his black suede cowboy hat to the worn-out leather of his pointed cowboy boots. ‘ He’s a showboat with a charming smile. There’s nothing sweet or gentlemanly about that guy. All hockey players have an agenda, Plum.’

It always sounded like Cael was jealous of him, but I still would go into the situation cautiously. Cael might have been jealous, but he wasn’t usually wrong about people. The party was already pumping when I arrived in my jean shorts and Brittany Spears baggy t-shirt. I had tucked my long brown hair into a ponytail and put on a little bit of makeup.

For the first time in a long time, catching my reflection in the window didn’t make me sad. I felt prettier than usual, which was enough of a win for me. Even if tonight was a bust, even if Kiefer was just being nice to the loner girl in class, I had taken what courage I had, dressed and came down here alone.

I pushed open the door into the crowded house, much bigger than mine, and it was going to be easy to get lost in a crowd of bodies. I stood by the door, picking at the frayed edges of my jean shorts, and a sudden sense of discomfort settled down over me.

Coming here alone might have been a mistake.

“Hey, Matthews!” A name called out to me as I turned to walk back out the front door. “Where are you going?” Kiefer slid into the space between me and the door, wearing an open Hawaiian shirt that exposed his muscular chest and a pair of low-cut jeans that showed off… everything.

“I—”

“In the time it took me to beeline from the living room to you, something changed up there.” He tapped my temple. “You looked like you were going to bolt.”

“Parties aren’t really my…” I scrunched up my nose when he chuckled at my response.

“Give me twenty minutes,” he said, stepping forward and creating distance between me and the doorknob. “If you still want to go, I’ll walk you home.”

I stared at him, my eyes flickering to the cup in his hand and back to his face.

“It’s soda.” He held it out for me to smell. “I don’t drink, but the guys here partake in heavy peer pressure. It’s my way of getting out of it.”

“I don’t know, Kiefer. I don’t fit in here.” I wrapped my arms around myself. He was sweet enough, charming in every aspect, but I couldn’t see myself getting comfortable here.

“I think you fit in perfectly, Clementine. Twenty minutes.”

He held out his elbow to me, and I wrapped my hand into its crook as he weaved us through the tightly packed dance floor and into the backyard. The air was sticky and warm on my skin, but Kiefer kept a tight hold on me as he led us over to where the rest of the hockey players were .

A few of them gave me looks but when Kiefer unlinked himself and threw his arm around my shoulder, they all turned their attention to other girls and issues.

“You look really pretty tonight,” Kiefer said, leaning down to meet my ear. “I’m glad you came. The party was looking bleak without you.”

“You’re so full of it.” I laughed at him and he mirrored my smile.

“No, really,” he said softly. The lights from the paper lanterns that hung in limp strands around the backyard sparkled in his eyes.

“Thanks for inviting me,” I said quietly, turning my face away from his as the blush crept up my neck to my cheeks.

“Can I get you a drink or…” he asked, and I shook my head. “Are you sure?” He stared at me like not needing anything was a crime, but I wasn’t used to so much attention, and it was making my heart race in my chest.

He was too pretty.

Too close.

Smelled too nice.

A kid named Baxter, whom I knew from elementary school, wandered up to where we were all standing. Kiefer’s attention was still on me as he whispered something else in my ear.

He made a face at me, and I tried to ignore it, but when he didn’t stop staring, Kiefer turned on him. “What?”

“Nothing.” Baxter raised his hands in the air. “I’m just surprised you got the…” he looked me over. “...recluse away from her journal. In elementary school, she used to pen the names of all the books she liked on the covers over and over. It was pathetic.”

I swallowed tightly, waiting for Kiefer to laugh with him, but he just stared at Baxter.

“Even more surprising that you got her away from her guard dog,” another hockey player chimed in.

“You got it wrong. She follows Cody around like a lost puppy and half the time he forgets she's even around until she makes a noise or something. I’ve seen him jump in the cafeteria when he remembers she’s there. ”

The pit in my stomach grew. I knew eventually someone would call me out for the weird behavior, but no one outside of Kiefer had ever taken the time to talk to me. Cael wasn’t in that class with us and, that day, someone had taken my seat and I was forced to sit beside Kiefer. It was just an accident. I tensed up beneath his arm and slipped away from his side.

“I should go,” I said quietly and backed away from the group of laughing hockey players. Listening to them tell Kiefer how much better he could do, I brushed the back of my hand over my face and scooted through the crowd to the fence that led from the backyard.

The front street was quiet, with only the occasional street lamp to guide my way back to the path that led to my house. It was only a fifteen-minute walk, but the further I got down the street, the more apparent it became that Kiefer had listened to what they had to say and, yet again, I was alone.

“Aye, Matthews!” His voice echoed against the night sky, tangling with the breeze that pushed through the treetops. “Where are you going? My twenty minutes aren't up!”

I turned to see him jogging down the road. “It’s been over,” I said, shaking my head at him.

“Nope! You aren’t allowed to count the two minutes those assholes wasted.” He shrugged with a smile on his face that screamed ‘I’m sorry.’

“I told you I don’t really fit in at parties like that, Kiefer. You tried, and the effort was noted. I’ll see you in class next semester,” I said with my arms wrapped around my body.

“No, hey.” He shook his head. “That was my bad.” He pulled off his hat, rubbing his hand over his neck, and looked up at me from the ground. “I should have asked you on a real date. I was just being a coward and thought having people around would make you more comfortable, but now…” He trailed off as he came to stand toe to toe with me. “I should have just listened to you.”

My heart stopped at his confession. No boy had ever talked to me that way.

No boy except Cael.

“Are you cold?” He asked, brushing a finger down my arm. I shook my head. I just wanted to curl in on myself and become as small as possible at that moment. “Will you then? ”

“Will I what?” I asked him.

“Let me take you on a date?” He laughed, hat still hanging from his fingertips as the wind tangled in his dark hair.

“Uh…” I opened and closed my mouth.

“Please?”

“I snuck out to come here tonight because my Daddy doesn’t really let me… do fun teenager things?” I confessed, and my cheeks flushed.

“You go out with Cody all the time?” He questioned, and he wasn’t wrong about his assumption.

“There’s a rule that I’m not allowed to go out with anyone that my Daddy doesn’t know.”

“Then I’ll come meet him.” Kiefer shrugged. “I’ll pick you up tomorrow in the afternoon. We can go to a movie. I’ll have you home before the sun sets.” He stared at me, his face begging me not to say no to him.

“Are you sure?” I asked in disbelief.

“Let me make up for tonight?” He pleaded. “One movie, and I’ll meet your Daddy if that's the stipulation to get you out, pretty girl.”