Page 34 of Hey Girl
“But you obviously know it, so how long have you known?” He asks, sliding them both in my direction.
I blow out a breath from between my lips and look up at the ceiling for the answer.
I get a flash of Rebecca: hair wet, no glasses, gleeful smile on her face as she laughed, unabashedly; not caring for once who could see or hear her.
I look back at Jack. “I just do.”
Jack shuffles the pen and opens the notebook to a blank page. “Write it down, in as few words as possible, right in the middle of the page,” he instructs me, and while I want to scream at him for trying to make me do some kind of homework exercise, I keep my mouth shut and do what he says. Weird. We can probably credit that to Rebecca.
“What the hell are we doing?”
“Writing a song,” he tells me calmly.
“A song?!” I squeak. “I can’t write her a song. It’s too early, it will freak her out.”
“So don’t show it to her yet,” he shrugs.
“Then what’s the point?”
“Hey you want to meet her on a deeper level, this will help get you in the mindset. Do you want my help or not?”
“Yes sir.”
“What’s something you find yourself saying a lot since you’ve been with her?”
“Mouse,” I nod firmly.
“Yeah, we’re not using that.”
“Good call.”
“What else?”
I get a quick flash from this morning in Rebecca’s living room. “I’ve said hey girl to her a couple of times, and she … seems to like that.” What the fuck? I’m blushing! Blushing!
Jack sits back, his dreamy blue eyes staring off into space. Finally, his lips pull into a lazy grin. “Write it down,” he orders.
10
CHRIS
Ifeel like a teenager having a beautiful summer romance. No, seriously. Insert cheesy, romantic comedy montage here, complete with piggy-back rides and playful photobooth flashes. The next week, I got her to join me on a video chat with Leo for thirty seconds, which turned into thirty minutes because the asshole charmed the pants off her - not literally, or I’d have to beat the pants off of him - again, not literally.
The week after that, I held her hand while she placed her order at Rudie’s - the restaurant where the wait staff is supposed to act like giant assholes, as opposed to where Asshole Clay works. That was fun.
In that time, Rebecca has successfully shed some layers - not all of them - and kicked back - not completely, but just enough to see that she is in fact a delightful goofball with a sharp wit.
Only now, as we make our way up Jack and Mayzie’s driveway, I feel a slight pull on my hand as Rebecca slows behind me.
“What’s up, Mouse?” I stop and look back at her.
“I’m not sure I’m ready for this.”
“A double date?” I ask, as I walk into her and reach for her shoulders and start rubbing my hands up and down them until I see them relax. “It’s just two other people besides me.”
“That will want to have conversa - sh - tion,” she points out, stumbling over her words.
“You have conversation with me all the time, sweet girl,” I reassure her. “You’ve jumped over some pretty huge hurdles since we’ve met. I know you’ve got this. Let’s breathe.” We do a few breaths in and out together. Damn, is that ever relaxing. I never knew slowing down and taking a few breaths could feel so good. “And if you can do that with me, these two will be a breeze, trust me.”