least I know it now.” Johnny laughed.
“Well, there are lots of tutors, and if nothing else,
I’m sure he’s never changed the answers on his tests in all this time, so you
can ask me what you should write and I might even have the answer!” We were
both walking, making our way slowly towards the dining hall from the opposite
end of the campus, and in spite of my firm resolution to never even think about
him again, I felt myself smiling, reacting to Johnny, blushing, my heart
beating faster at the fact that he seemed to have wanted to talk to me
specifically.
He stepped in front of me, forcing me to stop as he
did, and tilted his head slightly to the side. “I have an important question
for you: do you like hockey?” I hesitated for just a second; I knew absolutely
nothing about hockey other than the fact that there were a lot of fights and it
apparently took place on an ice rink.
“I love it!” I lied. I felt my cheeks burning again—I
thought to myself that if he asked me what my favorite team was, I was going to
be totally screwed. I had better think of something. Hockey teams… what kind of
mascots did they have? What cities even had teams? And if I said the wrong
team, it would be just as bad as if I admitted I didn’t know anything at all
about hockey, but just wanted to say yes so that we could keep talking.
“Great!” Johnny’s face lit up, and he was beaming down
at me, looking as excited as I could imagine him ever looking. “That’s really
awesome, you don’t even know. There’s a game tonight; do you want to come
watch?” I felt my heart leap up into my throat—he was asking me to come to a
game with him! I took a deep breath as surreptitiously as I possibly could.
“Yeah, that sounds great—when did you want to pick me
up?” Johnny frowned slightly for an instant before he laughed.
“Oh, I’m playing—but I could have a ticket put aside
for you so you could come and watch me play.” I felt a little disappointed; I
thought of all of the games I’d gone to for my friend in high school. At least,
I had known something about football. Johnny put one hand on my shoulder and I
felt as if I would vibrate out of my skin at any moment. “I would love for you
to come and watch me.” My heart skipped a beat in my chest at the word “love.”
I told myself I was being ridiculous, but it sent a little quiver through my
body even so.
“Can I bring my roommate? She—she likes hockey, too.”
Johnny nodded.
“I’ll have them put two tickets aside for you at the
box office.” He beamed down at me and gave my hair a quick tousle. “Can’t wait
to see you there,” he said.
“Thanks—I’m really excited. First game at my new
school!” Johnny’s hand left me and he told me to make sure to be there with
plenty of time; I watched as he started to head back the way he had come, and
felt my skin tingling all over, my heart beating faster. I glanced over my
shoulder, not wanting to give up the moment I’d just had, and caught sight of
Johnny looking back at me, a little smile still curving his lips as he went on
his way to another class. When I turned back around, I saw a group of girls who
had come to a stop, looking from Johnny to me. When they saw me looking at
them, I watched their expressions go from shock to envy, and then anger. It was
petty of me, and probably pretty stupid, considering how keyed up I had been
before, but I had to admit that it felt really good to see them all looking so
jealous that Johnny had paid some attention to me.
Chapter
Eight
I felt fidgety and nervous as Georgia and I got to the
hockey stadium, all the way at the edge of campus; it was farther away from the
dorms even than the football field. When I had told Gigi about Johnny inviting
me to come watch him play, she had taken it as a sure sign that he was
definitely into me—and I couldn’t help but think that he at least had
remembered my name, at least wanted me there, at least had said
“Well, there are lots of tutors, and if nothing else,
I’m sure he’s never changed the answers on his tests in all this time, so you
can ask me what you should write and I might even have the answer!” We were
both walking, making our way slowly towards the dining hall from the opposite
end of the campus, and in spite of my firm resolution to never even think about
him again, I felt myself smiling, reacting to Johnny, blushing, my heart
beating faster at the fact that he seemed to have wanted to talk to me
specifically.
He stepped in front of me, forcing me to stop as he
did, and tilted his head slightly to the side. “I have an important question
for you: do you like hockey?” I hesitated for just a second; I knew absolutely
nothing about hockey other than the fact that there were a lot of fights and it
apparently took place on an ice rink.
“I love it!” I lied. I felt my cheeks burning again—I
thought to myself that if he asked me what my favorite team was, I was going to
be totally screwed. I had better think of something. Hockey teams… what kind of
mascots did they have? What cities even had teams? And if I said the wrong
team, it would be just as bad as if I admitted I didn’t know anything at all
about hockey, but just wanted to say yes so that we could keep talking.
“Great!” Johnny’s face lit up, and he was beaming down
at me, looking as excited as I could imagine him ever looking. “That’s really
awesome, you don’t even know. There’s a game tonight; do you want to come
watch?” I felt my heart leap up into my throat—he was asking me to come to a
game with him! I took a deep breath as surreptitiously as I possibly could.
“Yeah, that sounds great—when did you want to pick me
up?” Johnny frowned slightly for an instant before he laughed.
“Oh, I’m playing—but I could have a ticket put aside
for you so you could come and watch me play.” I felt a little disappointed; I
thought of all of the games I’d gone to for my friend in high school. At least,
I had known something about football. Johnny put one hand on my shoulder and I
felt as if I would vibrate out of my skin at any moment. “I would love for you
to come and watch me.” My heart skipped a beat in my chest at the word “love.”
I told myself I was being ridiculous, but it sent a little quiver through my
body even so.
“Can I bring my roommate? She—she likes hockey, too.”
Johnny nodded.
“I’ll have them put two tickets aside for you at the
box office.” He beamed down at me and gave my hair a quick tousle. “Can’t wait
to see you there,” he said.
“Thanks—I’m really excited. First game at my new
school!” Johnny’s hand left me and he told me to make sure to be there with
plenty of time; I watched as he started to head back the way he had come, and
felt my skin tingling all over, my heart beating faster. I glanced over my
shoulder, not wanting to give up the moment I’d just had, and caught sight of
Johnny looking back at me, a little smile still curving his lips as he went on
his way to another class. When I turned back around, I saw a group of girls who
had come to a stop, looking from Johnny to me. When they saw me looking at
them, I watched their expressions go from shock to envy, and then anger. It was
petty of me, and probably pretty stupid, considering how keyed up I had been
before, but I had to admit that it felt really good to see them all looking so
jealous that Johnny had paid some attention to me.
Chapter
Eight
I felt fidgety and nervous as Georgia and I got to the
hockey stadium, all the way at the edge of campus; it was farther away from the
dorms even than the football field. When I had told Gigi about Johnny inviting
me to come watch him play, she had taken it as a sure sign that he was
definitely into me—and I couldn’t help but think that he at least had
remembered my name, at least wanted me there, at least had said
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