He turned around from the table in front of me and very slyly asked, “What did that pencil ever do to you?”
I was taken aback at how strikingly handsome he was. He wasn’t the type of guy that I was used to…which would be none. Of course, my mind first wandered to Dawson. He was the last guy I’d even given a second thought to in a romantic way. Which was pathetic because all we’d ever shared was a kiss; he shouldn’t even be in the boyfriend category, more just like a long-lost best friend.
Eric had jet black hair that was combed over just slightly to the right. His face was clean-shaven but even with his smooth face, I could tell he was older than me. He had sharp, dangerous features. His cheekbones were high and straight-edged, just like his jaw. The dark color of his eyebrows illuminated his baby-blues and I swore for a second, I could see the actual sky in them.
He was also dripping with money. His navy blue suit was pressed and starched so perfectly, as if he’d just pulled it off the dry-cleaning rack. He had on a checkered, red tie and when he smiled at me, my stomach flip-flopped. He was too attractive for his own good, and he knew it.
I didn’t answer him when he’d asked about my pencil. Instead I only stared at him because my mouth had forgotten to form words.
“Ah, statistics,” he clucked, looking down at my paper. “In other words, a big pain in the ass.”
A small laugh escaped my mouth and it caused him to smile so widely, I could see all his dentist-approved white teeth glimmering behind his peach-colored lips.
“That sounds about right,” I answered, looking back from my laptop and then down to my notebook paper, scribbled with all sorts of equations.
“Do you want some help?” he asked, hope gleaming in his eyes.
I thought for a moment, trying to keep my expression even. Why would he want to help me? Surely, dressed like that he needed to get to some overly important business meeting.
“I’m okay, I think. You look like you’re headed somewhere important.” I glanced down at his attire and then back up to his chiseled face.
He bit back a smile. “I think there is nowhere more important than being right here, right now.”
My heart jumped at his words. It’d been so long since I’d even given a guy a second look, let alone felt all swoony at a few words from his mouth. I couldn’t hold back my smile, but what I did try to hold back were the thoughts of the last boy who had made my heart strum a little faster in my chest.
Dawson always crept into my head, even now, six years later, but I hadn’t seen or heard from him since I’d ridden in that fateful bus for six hours only to find him standing on his front stoop with my one and only enemy. The only two people I’d kept in touch with since moving away was my neighbor, Judy, and that’s because she helped me figure out some financial stuff over the years, and then Becca.
Becca was the only person who knew I had gone to see Dawson after I’d moved away. I’d thought she was going to blow a gasket when I told her about Dawson and Breanna. I was pretty certain that steam was going to come pouring through the phone from her ears. In the midst of her flipping out, which made me feel worse about the situation, I made her swear not to tell him where I was or that I’d ever come to see him. I didn’t want him to know. I was angry. I was too angry for words and I hung onto that anger for as long as I could.
Becca kept her promise, even to this day.
Apparently, shortly after she’d gotten back from vacation that summer and after she’d called me back, he’d shown up at her house and asked if she’d heard from me. She slapped him in the face and told him to never, ever talk about me again. They got into a massive fight, one that they still haven’t worked through.
She’d called the second he left her house and filled me in. It literally caused an ache inside my chest to know he was inquiring about me, and it swayed my inner turmoil slightly. But not enough to break down and have Becca give him my number. I just... couldn't do it. Too much hurt was still there, lying right below the anger, and although at one point in time Dawson had been one of the most important things in my life, it wasn’t like that anymore.
Things had changed.
Too much had changed.
Becca’s sealed her mouth shut, not giving up any bit of information on me (not that he still cared now) but Dawson hasn’t spoken to her since. It had been six long years, and he hadn’t spoken to her once. Not even when they were both in the same bar (the only bar in Oak Hill), hanging with the same friends, or when they were sitting near one another at Wildcats football games.
He was still holding a grudge over it.
And I really couldn’t figure out why that meant something to me, but it did.
A singsong voice grabbed my attention. “Earth to Ivyyyyy.”
I blinked. “What?” I looked over at my sister who was eyeing me with such suspicion that I felt like I was in a room full of FBI agents.
“Where were you just then? I was asking if you wanted to unpack. I have to head back to school in a few days, so chop chop!”
“Oh yeah, let’s get started. I’ll order some pizza from Frankie’s.”
Mia stood up and came over to where I was. She bent down with her big, round eyes and droned, “I’m gonna bet my left arm… that you were thinking of a certain somebody with blue eyes.” She grinned and then coughed the name Dawson under her breath.
“What? No I wasn’t!” I acted like I was appalled, which only fed her more ammunition to use against me.
“Oh, whatever! You always look a certain way when you’re thinking about him.”