Inexperienced

And you thought his car was strange for him.

I was completely amazed by his house. It took us nearly forty five minutes to get to his
home, a fact alone that stunned me. His house was far from the confines of the city. I never would have guessed he lived way out through the back roads.

He pulled into a long, winding driveway. There was a pasture that seemed to stretch for miles and my eyes sparkled with enthusiasm at the thought of the beautiful green fields. I’d never seen something quite so beautiful in my entire life.

He pulled in front of a large white house. Its simplicity was what drew me back. The adorable two story white house was surrounded by a large wrap around porch. I couldn’t help but gawk at it’s simple beauty.

He broke me from my trance. “What’s with that face?”

I looked at him, completely forgetting for a second that we were sitting right next to each other in his large truck. “You never told me you were a country boy,” I commented. I let out a small laugh.

He shrugged and chuckled. “It’s not something I typically bring up.”

“So this is where you throw those great parties?” I asked curiously. People would talk about his parties all the time. He was famous for them. I couldn’t picture people destroying a home like this and gossiping about a party being thrown here.

“Oh no,” he said, shaking his head. “I lead a much more modern life with my dad back in the city.” He smirked at me. “That’s where I throw those great parties.”

“So then this must be –”

“My mom's.” He finished my sentence. “My parents are divorced.”

“That stinks.” I mumbled, an awkward tension settling between us, and I wasn’t sure how I should respond. “I’m sorry.”

His laughter surprised me. “You didn’t do anything wrong.”

I just blushed and shrugged.

“Ready for a tour?” he asked, some sort of unreadable emotion glowing in his eyes. I nodded. We both stepped out of the truck and he came around to me. He then grabbed my hand and I couldn’t help but stare at it as he led me up a few steps to the front door. Was he really holding my hand?

I focused on the way his large rough hand felt so overpowering in my smaller one. I already liked the feeling.

He guided me into a large living room. It was such a simple design, yet very comforting. I could see how someone could easily unwind here. He showed me through the kitchen, dining room, and upstairs.

“This is my room,” he said, pushing back a large oak door that was painted white. I took a step inside and surveyed his room. It was a decent size, with a large bed along the far wall, a dresser, and a desk as well. I brushed my hand against a few photos that were placed in frames and smiled at the innocence of his eyes in his childhood pictures and the carefree way he seemed to radiate in his smile.

“Oh, um, yeah, my mom’s kind of big on photos. I probably should have put some of them away.” I turned to look at him and his face was slightly red. I stared for a few seconds longer, not believing that Jared was actually a little embarrassed.

“You don’t have to hide them.” I laughed and he breathed out a sigh of relief.

I sat down on the end of his bed, bouncing slightly, and turned to look at him, smiling. Our eyes locked and while he stared at me, an unreadable emotion brewed behind his eyes. His gaze was warm and his eyes seemed to have melted right in front of me.

He stepped towards me and bent down to my height. He lifted his hand to me and cradled my face. I felt myself melt into his palm. He took his other hand and held the other side of my cheek. Our gazes never swayed.

He bent in a little closer.

Everything in my body started to spin out of control. My heart and head were racing and the butterflies in my stomach were doing backflips. What’s going on? Why am I feeling like this?

He closed his eyes and moved in closer, our lips nearly touching. I leaned in as well, my eyes still wide open. We were just seconds away from having our lips connect.

“Jared!” a woman’s voice yelled. Jared snapped his head in the direction of the door and my eyes trailed behind.

He looked back at me, his smoldering gaze locking with mine, before standing straight up again. “Yea, mom?” he called back.

“I’m home, sweetheart. Why don’t you and your friend come downstairs and work on your project?”

“We’ll be right there.” He extended a hand to me and helped me off the bed. I took in a few breaths, controlling my nerves that were on edge. We walked side by side down the stairs and back into the living room. I couldn’t stop thinking about what almost just took place.

A tall, thin woman stood in the doorway between the kitchen and living room. I gave a second look at her. I couldn’t believe this was his mom. She was lean but she had curves any girl would kill for. Her hair was an almost bleached blonde. She had sparkling turquoise eyes, the only resemblance signifying that Jared was even related to her.

“Well, hey there darling,” she welcomed, a bright, white smile spreading across her face. She extended her arms and I took them, slightly apprehensive. She gave me one of the biggest hugs I had ever received. “You must be Austin?”

I nodded.

“Well, I’m Jenna, Jared’s mom.” Jenna seemed to fit her perfectly. Her curious eyes shifted between the two of us. She smiled at Jared and then smiled at me.

“We’re going to go work on our project.” Jared gave her a final look and placed an arm around my shoulder, leading me back out into the living room.

He whispered in my ear, “Sorry about that.”

I looked up at him and smiled. “About what? She seems really nice.”

“She can just be so quick to jump to conclusions. It just drives me insane.” He chuckled halfheartedly.

“Well, good thing there’s no conclusions to jump to,” I commented, and instantly regretted saying it.

His faced hardened and he just let out a quick nod.

I could tell I’d just created an awkward tension between us so I chose to redirect the topic back to the project. We sat down to work, pulling out our books and working on coming up with some sort of project. Hours passed us by.

I was sitting on the floor, my back up against the couch. “I don’t think I can handle any more Pre-Calculus for today.” I shook my head.

“Ditto,” he laughed. I smiled at him. Before another word could be said, Jenna came rushing in.

“Hey, Austin, would you like to join us for dinner?”

I gulped. Would Jared want me to accept his mother’s invitation? Would that be overstepping the boundary between our new friendship and earlier incident? I thought up an excuse quickly. “Thank you very much, Mrs. Kent.” I gave her a complimenting smile. “But I can’t tonight. My parents are expecting me home.”

Her face fell slightly, but her beautiful smile never left. “Well, maybe another night.” She turned around and scurried back to the kitchen.

I looked back at Jared. His lips were turned down. Wait. Did he want me to stay? “What’s wrong?” I asked, dumbfounded.

He shook his head. “I…uh…nothing. Do you want to work on this again tomorrow?”

“Sure. Tomorrow sounds good.” I gave him a gleaming smile, hoping to cheer him up.

“Tomorrow,” he sighed. He stood up, helping me up as well. “Let’s get you to your car.”

“Sounds like a plan,” I laughed. He shot me a brilliant crooked smile and my heart thumped erratically in my chest. I was more than excited for what tomorrow brings.