Total pages in book: 116
Estimated words: 110624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 110624 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 553(@200wpm)___ 442(@250wpm)___ 369(@300wpm)
Tarah echoed my earlier sentiment. “Yeah, man…seriously. Look at her. She is totally content now.”
Jake looked over at the little girl as he spoke. “Cedric, my brother-in-law, has a sister who’s autistic. When I first spotted Marina, her mannerisms reminded me so much of Callie. It was crazy, and I just knew. It’s like they’re locked inside their bodies, but there is so much in there waiting to come out. You just have to know which keys to use to unlock it.”
The four of us continued to look over at Marina playing with the pinwheels until Desiree approached with a tray full of food. As she placed the hot plates onto the table, her eyes were placed firmly on Jake. God, I may have been obvious in my checking him out at times, but she was flirting relentlessly, and I immediately hated her for it. It didn’t help that she was absolutely gorgeous. Jake, on the other hand, dug right into his food and didn’t seem affected by her one way or the other. I suppose he was probably used to girls throwing themselves at him.
After we finished eating, a group of people in the corner started dancing in a circle to the Greek band’s music. Desiree came by to clear our plates and glared at me. I wondered if it was because she was jealous. Jake and I had been joking around flirtatiously all night and she constantly looked in our direction, even when she was serving other customers.
Bring it on.
I didn’t like the looks of her. Even if my relationship with Jake stayed platonic, I felt protective of him and certainly didn’t want that cheap hussie to have him.
The four of us lingered until almost closing time and shared an entire platter of baklava. It was late by the time we went back upstairs to the apartment, so all of us retreated to our rooms.
Exhausted from the day’s events, I went to the bathroom to wash my face but skipped a shower. I couldn’t wait to bury myself under the covers. As my head hit the pillow, staring back at me on the nightstand was another origami bat. I chuckled and opened it.
Congratulations again on making the grade.
Imagine the possibilities when you finally get laid.
P.S. Kidding, Nina! Just retesting your ability to take a joke.
P.P.S. Your blood tastes like bananas.
He was certifiably nuts, but he never ceased to make me laugh.
CHAPTER 10
Friday morning, I awoke with the jitters, anxious about my date with Alistair that night. He was supposed to be picking me up at seven and taking me to a popular Italian restaurant down the street from the university.
It was bugging me that I was not looking forward to it as much as I had hoped and that I couldn’t stop thinking about Jake. Thankfully, as usual, my roomie would be headed to Boston for the weekend straight from work and wouldn’t be a distraction tonight. It wasn’t healthy to be focusing on him so much, and I was convinced that going out with Alistair was a necessary step in the right direction.
I would have to get through a day of classes, though, before I could concentrate on things like what to wear and how to do my hair for tonight.
Alistair sat in his normal seat next to me in math and he immediately acknowledged our plans when he turned to me and whispered with a twinkle in his eye, “I can’t wait to take you out tonight.”
I just nodded, not wanting Professor Hernandez to overhear anything. It’s a good thing I was paying attention to the lecture, because Hernandez called on me to come up to the dry erase board and work on a problem about Venn Diagrams. “Ms. Kennedy, shade in the parts of this diagram which correspond to the named set.”
When I colored in the correct parts of the circles in red, he nodded in agreement. “Very good, Ms. Kennedy.” Then, he whispered to me with a slight smile. “Most improved student, so far this year, it seems.”
Maybe he wasn’t such a jerk after all. Feeling a sense of achievement, I couldn’t contain my smile. Alistair high-fived me when I returned to my seat.
After class, we walked down the hallway to the exit, and Alistair’s blue eyes gleamed as he said, “I’ll pick you up at seven.” He truly was a handsome guy; maybe tonight, I would feel something stronger for him in a different setting.
“Yup, sounds good. See you later,” I said.
***
That afternoon, Tarah was making an early dinner in the kitchen when I got home from school, and the apartment smelled like garlic and onions.
“Hey, girl,” I said as I placed my backpack down on the couch.
“Hey! I am just making some rice and chicken. This gluten-free diet is a bitch. Want some?”