we’d be going out in this heat, why didn’t you just wear shorts?”
“I don’t like wearing shorts. Can’t get the ladies to stop staring at me when I do.”
“If you do say so yourself.” Without fail, Justin knew how to make me smile and laugh. He could turn anything into a joke.
Justin might have been joking, but I didn’t doubt that what he said was true. Sometimes when Justin stood close to me and looked at me I felt like reaching out and brushing my fingertips across the freckles that dotted the bridge of his nose and cheeks. There was something magnetic about him, and it wasn’t just the way he looked that made him that way. He had a soft, tender side that I found incredibly appealing.
On the train Justin and I sat beside each other. “So how’s your brother doing?” he asked.
“Good. You saw him. Once that medication wore off he was totally fine.” I felt a need to justify my brother’s carelessness. “I know you might not really believe this, but most of the time my brother is a totally cool guy.”
“Hey, I’m not judging. I’ve done plenty of stupid things in my life.”
“Somehow I find that hard to believe.”
“It’s true,” Justin insisted. I wasn’t buying it, though. Although after he said it I realized there was a lot about Justin’s life I didn’t know and now that I had his attention it was a good time to ask more questions.
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Yup, two brothers, no sisters.”
“You must be the baby.” I wasn’t sure why I thought he was.
“Actually, no. I’m the oldest. My brothers are a few years younger than me. They’re both in college and. . .I’m the loser big brother who’s still at home with his parents.”
This time it didn’t sound like he was joking. “I’m sure that’s not how your parents see it.”
The train screeched to a sudden stop slamming me into Justin. My body pressed against his. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry.” My face felt flushed as I realized that I’d noticed how strong his chest felt and how good he smelled.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, as I scooted back towards my seat. I wiped my forehead with my palm. “So do you get along with your brothers?” I asked.
“Yeah. We get along. I don’t see them very often. Jeff, he’s the middle one, has a girlfriend that he’s always with, and James just started college last year so he’s busy enjoying his new found freedom.”
I wanted to keep talking to Justin, but we’d arrived at our destination and keeping a group of teenagers quiet in a museum was harder than I thought it would be. That explained why Mrs. Connor wanted to bring the kids in two smaller groups rather than all at once. I pictured myself the way I was just four years earlier, the age that most of the kids with us were. It was crazy how much I’d changed. Four years ago I was so angry at the world. Sometimes I still was, but nothing like I had been then. I couldn’t imagine myself signing up to go on a trip like the one we were on, but if I’d gone, I probably would have been making jokes and acting stupid. Now I looked at the art hanging on the walls of the museum and found myself appreciating it.
It was either the field trips, or the knowledge that summer was more than half over that made the next two weeks pass by too quickly. I found myself willing time to slow down. Come the end of August my job would be over. I’d miss the kids and Mrs. Connor—and Justin. Maybe we’d keep in touch for the next few months, but eventually I predicted our friendship would fade. Brooklyn was too far from the Upper East Side, and with me back to a full schedule of classes and Justin still working full-time at the community center I doubted either of us would find the time to hang out. If he was interested in me, now was the time for him to act, but he didn’t, and with each day that passed I was beginning to lose hope that he ever would.
On our last museum trip I
“I don’t like wearing shorts. Can’t get the ladies to stop staring at me when I do.”
“If you do say so yourself.” Without fail, Justin knew how to make me smile and laugh. He could turn anything into a joke.
Justin might have been joking, but I didn’t doubt that what he said was true. Sometimes when Justin stood close to me and looked at me I felt like reaching out and brushing my fingertips across the freckles that dotted the bridge of his nose and cheeks. There was something magnetic about him, and it wasn’t just the way he looked that made him that way. He had a soft, tender side that I found incredibly appealing.
On the train Justin and I sat beside each other. “So how’s your brother doing?” he asked.
“Good. You saw him. Once that medication wore off he was totally fine.” I felt a need to justify my brother’s carelessness. “I know you might not really believe this, but most of the time my brother is a totally cool guy.”
“Hey, I’m not judging. I’ve done plenty of stupid things in my life.”
“Somehow I find that hard to believe.”
“It’s true,” Justin insisted. I wasn’t buying it, though. Although after he said it I realized there was a lot about Justin’s life I didn’t know and now that I had his attention it was a good time to ask more questions.
“Do you have any brothers or sisters?”
“Yup, two brothers, no sisters.”
“You must be the baby.” I wasn’t sure why I thought he was.
“Actually, no. I’m the oldest. My brothers are a few years younger than me. They’re both in college and. . .I’m the loser big brother who’s still at home with his parents.”
This time it didn’t sound like he was joking. “I’m sure that’s not how your parents see it.”
The train screeched to a sudden stop slamming me into Justin. My body pressed against his. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry.” My face felt flushed as I realized that I’d noticed how strong his chest felt and how good he smelled.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said, as I scooted back towards my seat. I wiped my forehead with my palm. “So do you get along with your brothers?” I asked.
“Yeah. We get along. I don’t see them very often. Jeff, he’s the middle one, has a girlfriend that he’s always with, and James just started college last year so he’s busy enjoying his new found freedom.”
I wanted to keep talking to Justin, but we’d arrived at our destination and keeping a group of teenagers quiet in a museum was harder than I thought it would be. That explained why Mrs. Connor wanted to bring the kids in two smaller groups rather than all at once. I pictured myself the way I was just four years earlier, the age that most of the kids with us were. It was crazy how much I’d changed. Four years ago I was so angry at the world. Sometimes I still was, but nothing like I had been then. I couldn’t imagine myself signing up to go on a trip like the one we were on, but if I’d gone, I probably would have been making jokes and acting stupid. Now I looked at the art hanging on the walls of the museum and found myself appreciating it.
It was either the field trips, or the knowledge that summer was more than half over that made the next two weeks pass by too quickly. I found myself willing time to slow down. Come the end of August my job would be over. I’d miss the kids and Mrs. Connor—and Justin. Maybe we’d keep in touch for the next few months, but eventually I predicted our friendship would fade. Brooklyn was too far from the Upper East Side, and with me back to a full schedule of classes and Justin still working full-time at the community center I doubted either of us would find the time to hang out. If he was interested in me, now was the time for him to act, but he didn’t, and with each day that passed I was beginning to lose hope that he ever would.
On our last museum trip I
Similar Books
