In Love With A Tomboy

Joey's POV:

It was a week later and I was really starting to enjoy my time here in California more and more with each day of seeing Izzy and being near her. I haven’t done much surfing at the beach yet and I don’t really think I’m going to enjoy it as much as skiing, but I’m getting there. Just recently, I had purchased a bright red motorcycle and that’s mostly been my transportations to the places I needed to go.

And I guess, I just expected too highly of the thing, because I ended up breaking it like just four days after I got it. I was coming home from a little afternoon ride, when I guess I pushed it a little too much and it ended up breaking down and out of gas right in the middle of the way.

And since I didn’t even have my phone along with me, I couldn’t call anyone or a tow truck, so I was forced to drag and push it all the way back home. And lemme tell ya, it wasn’t easy moving a 200-pound bike for three miles!

I finally got home in an hour and almost a half all sweaty and tired, but I still managed to get it home all in one piece.

As soon as I had parked and up right in a good position in front of my garage, I collapsed onto the ground, exhausted and totally out of breath.

“That’s quite a predicament you have there.” I heard someone above me say.

I looked up and saw a beautiful figure in front of me looking a whole similar to an angel. And the first thing I thought it was was a hallucination, but as I squint my eyes and looked at it more closely, I realized that it was only Izzy.

“You-you have no i-idea how long and far I’ve been draggin’ this dang thing!” I sputtered out.

“Well, I can fix it.” she told me.

“Seriously?” I stood up straight as I started to catch my breath then, but my legs still wobbled and were close to giving in soon.

“Yeah, just get me a toolbox and some soda.”

I went back into my house to get the things that Izzy required and when I came back out, I found her kneeling in front of my bike checking it out.

I noticed that today she was wearing a pair of cargo pants -- which I assumed were her favorite -- with a red hat -- which was on backwards as usual – along with a short, black hoodie that revealed her stomach and only covered the top of her body and to top it all off, a pair of simple black converses.

Anyway, the thing that made me stare at her even more was her bare back. For some weird and strange reason, I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off of it. But, my eyes quickly turned away when I saw her start to get up and look over at me.

I handed her the toolbox first and then set the bottle of Coke down next to the bike. She set to work then and I just stayed out of her way letting her take her time in handling things.

I had to admit, she was pretty smart with these types of things.

‘Hmm, I guess that’s just another thing to add to the list of things that’s so great about her.’ I thought to myself.

It took a lot longer to fix the bike than I figured.

Pretty soon, it started to get a whole lot hotter outside and the air was damp and sticky, I couldn’t help stripping out of my shirt in front of Izzy.

I was pretty sure that Izzy felt like taking her jacket off too, but she didn’t bother doing so.

I also couldn’t help drinking some of her soda, but she didn’t really seem to mind and even if she did, she didn’t bother showing it. She looked totally content and was focusing all her energy and time on fixing the bike to really care or concern herself with anything else.

About a half hour later, Izzy was finally finished. She gulped down the rest of the soda and wiped her face and grimy hands with a small white towel I had brought down for her.

“Thanks a lot,” I told her, moving my hand around in my back pocket. “How much do you want for your help?”

“Seventy-five bucks, please.” she answered.

“Seventy-five?!” I almost ended up dropping my wallet after hearing the amount she wanted.

“Hey, I’m broke and I need the cash!”

“How about fifty and a big ‘ole hug from Joey instead?” I grinned at her.

“I’ll take the cash. Hold the hug.”

I handed Izzy the money that I had and shoved my wallet back into my pocket, when I suddenly got an idea.

I smiled wider and quickly wrapped arms tightly around Izzy’s waist and hoist her up in the air.

“Joey, put me down before I kick you so hard where it hurts the most!” she cried out.

But, I just ignored her and kept her body pressed up against mine. She was actually a lot lighter than you’d imagine her to be, so her feet were like sorta hanging in the air.

After a while, I set her down and she started to brush herself off as I were the one covered in all the dirt and oil.

"You know I could give you a ride on it tomorrow, if you want." I told her.

"I can't," she replied, making me feel disappointed, even though I had like no idea why. "

“My birthday’s tomorrow and my mom and dad are throwing this stupid party for me with everyone.”

“Can Dan and I come?”

“Sure. It doesn’t really matter to them. You could be like a escaped ax murderer and you’d still be invited.”

“Cool.” I chuckled.

But, Izzy didn’t even smile back, but just frowned and stayed quiet, making me wonder if she were serious or not.

Before I could ask her though, she quickly turned and walked away. I watched as she entered her house and closed the door behind her, before turning around to face my new and totally improved bike.

I was thinking: What if Izzy didn’t really fix the bike? What if she really broke it some more for me, so that the next time I get on it instead of it just breaking down, it actually broke down into a million pieces leaving me with nothing? Was she even that smart or capable to do that? Yeah, maybe.

But, I was wrong. She really did fix it.

I sat down on it and I then noticed something different about it.

It smelled nice. Kinda like Izzy herself.

She kinda smelled like a mixture of strawberries and some type of perfume. Those were actually two things I despised the most, but the way it made me feel was…nice.

She was nice, even though she acted like she really wasn’t.

She made me feel different about myself, about her, and everything and everyone else around me.

I loved her scent. I loved strawberries. And I loved perfume now.

But, most importantly, I didn’t just LIKE her. I was in LOVE with her.