biology and then realized she’d forgotten her textbook. She hurried to her locker and grabbed the book she needed. Turning, she bumped into Jason. Her heart jumped and she stepped back, embarrassed. “Sorry. I didn’t see you.”
“My fault. Can we talk?”
Now he wanted to talk? After almost a month of acting as though she didn’t even exist? “I’m going to be late.” She stepped around him, but he moved to block her.
“I tried calling you.”
“When?”
“This summer. After you called me.”
“Thanks for reminding me.”
“Once I stayed on the line long enough to hear your voice on the answering machine. I didn’t leave a message.”
She looked at him. “Why not?”
“I chickened out.” A muscle tensed in his jaw.
“Your note said if I wanted to talk, you’d listen. I guess I know now that was bull.” She stepped around him and raced to class, slipping into the room just as the bell rang.
She didn’t expect to see Jason waiting for her when she came out.
“Would you like to go for a soda after school? We could talk then. I have a car. I could drive you home.”
After so many weeks of nothing from him, she couldn’t quite take in his sudden warmth. False hope and wrong conclusions would just add to the hurt. “I know you have a car. Kim told me you’ve been picking her up every day.”
His eyes flickered, and then he smiled, looking relieved. “I’ve been picking up Tom Barrett, too. But she and Tom decided to ride the bus together instead. It takes longer to get home.”
She blinked, not sure what he meant. “Are you saying they like each other?”
“Yeah. Is that so surprising? Tom’s a great guy.”
“I know he is, but Kim is Pastor Daniel’s daughter, and Tom is barely a Christian.”
“The three of us have been doing a Bible study every lunch hour. Tom is talking to Pastor Daniel about getting baptized.”
A Bible study every lunch hour? Was that why Jason had been leaving the table? Maybe his departure had nothing to do with her.
The warning bell rang. Jason took her books. “I’ll walk you to class.”
Bemused, she fell into step beside him. “You don’t know where I’m going.”
“You’re going to algebra, which is just down the hall from my trigonometry class.” He saw her to the door. “Do you want to go have a Coke after school?”
“Yes.”
His eyes warmed. “Wait for me after class. We’ll get your stuff and go.” He headed back in the other direction.
Dawn couldn’t wait for class to end. Every minute felt like torture. When the bell finally rang, she slapped her book closed, gathered her things, and headed for the door. A few minutes later, she spotted Jason weaving his way through the throng of students. When he smiled at her, Dawn went hot all over.
“How was algebra?”
“Agony.”
On the way to student parking, Dawn spotted Kim and Tom walking hand in hand. “How did I miss that?”
Jason laughed as he opened the car door for Dawn. “I guess you had other things on your mind.”
Jason. That’s what she had on her mind. Every day, all day, and nighttime, too. She slid into the white Honda, admiring the pristine, beige interior. Jason tossed his backpack into the trunk and slid into the driver’s seat. She smiled. “It’s so neat and clean.”
“I bought it from a lady in the trailer park. She’s in her eighties and can’t drive anymore.” He started the engine. “She only put seven thousand miles on it and had records on oil changes and services.” He put his arm on the seat behind her, backed out of the parking space, and pulled into line behind others waiting to exit the cyclone- fenced lot. “My mother is less than happy about it.”
“Why?”
“I dipped into my college savings.” He pulled out onto Prince Street. “She was pretty ticked off. But I’m still working five to nine as a bagger five days a week. It’s good pay.”
“What about a Doyle Scholarship and Santa Rosa Junior College? That would give you two extra years to save.” She didn’t want to think about him leaving the area in less than a year.
“My mother has her heart set on me going to the University of California.”
“Which UC campus? Berkeley? Davis?” Both were close enough that Jason could come home on weekends.
“Berkeley. The hotbed of radicals.” He pulled into McDonald’s and asked if she wanted something to eat. She was hungry, but said no. She didn’t want him spending what little money he had buying her junk food. He bought two sodas and a large order of French fries.
Jason drove to Memorial Beach. They walked across the grass and sat on the beach above the Russian River. He insisted she share the fries. They talked about their classes and teachers’ expectations. He asked about her summer, and she talked about Oma.
“You’re blessed.” He looked at the river, expression wistful. “I’ve never met my grandparents.”
“Do they live far away?”
He wadded up his empty bag and pitched it into a garbage can. “San Diego.” He rested his forearms on his raised knees. “They don’t speak to my mother.”
“Why not?”
Jason turned his head and looked at her solemnly. “She had me.” When her mouth fell open in surprise, he stood abruptly and walked down to the water’s edge. Dawn got up, dusted off her jeans, and followed him. Jason shoved his hands in his pockets. “I thought you ought to know.”
Dawn moved closer, her hand brushing his arm. “My mother came home from Haight-Ashbury and found out a month later she’d brought an unexpected package with her. Arundel is Mom’s maiden name.”
Jason stared at her. “I wouldn’t have guessed.”
“It’s not something to advertise, is it? Have you met your father?”
“Once, when I was five or six. We ran into him at a park. He kept staring at me, and I asked why. Mom told me he was my father. I ran over to him and asked. His friends laughed.” He gave a bleak laugh. “He told me to get lost. We moved a few weeks later. I haven’t heard of or seen him since.” He tilted his head. “What about you?”
She shook her head. “I have no idea who my father is.”
“Have you asked?”
“Once or twice. My mother won’t tell me anything.”
“Maybe the memories are too painful.”
“Or she doesn’t know who he is.”
He winced. “Ouch.”
“Well, she was a hippy. Free love and all that…” She lifted her shoulders. She wondered why she was telling Jason. It wasn’t something she’d ever wanted to discuss with anyone.
Jason turned to her and gripped her arms. “Dawn, I’ve been wanting-” At the sound of a car crossing the bridge, he let go of her and stepped back. Looking grim, he glanced at his watch. “I’d better drive you home. I need to get to work.” They walked slowly up the sandy hill and under the shade of the redwood trees, neither in a hurry to leave.
“When are you going to do homework, Jason?”
“Study hall, and I get up early.” He opened the car door for her. When he slid into the driver’s seat again, he turned to her. “I’m not going to have a lot of free time, but what I have I’d like to spend with you. How do you feel about that?” He searched her face.
Everything bloomed inside her. “I’d like that very much.”
