You Were Always on My Mind

When I wake up, my stomach feels sore from getting hit with the bat, but it isn't as bad as it was last night. I grab a bag of peas when I get into the kitchen and my dad gives me a weird look.

"Are you planning on making peas for lunch because that's not how you defrost them," my dad points out to me, staring at the bag at my stomach.

"Sammy accidentally threw a metal bat at my stomach when we played baseball yesterday," I inform him and automatically regret it when he starts chuckling.

"Love is painful," he comments still laughing.

"Very funny," I retort sarcastically.

"Son, just because everyone else doesn't see it doesn't mean I won't."

"Sadly," I declare with a sigh.

"Don't worry she likes you too. I've been around long enough to recognize the look in someone's eyes."

"You just called yourself old."

"No, I called myself wise. Learn the difference son."

"Whatever you want to call it," I tease getting up and putting the peas away. "I'm heading over to Sammy's, she's worried about the bruises."

"She might not be there, I saw Nick at the house earlier while you were sleeping in."

"I thought you said she liked me old wise one."

"I did, but she has friends."

I head over to the house and see Sammy through the window. I walk in and head toward the dining room.

"How's your stomach?" She immediately asks; not even a hello first.

"Better than yesterday," I answer, but she gives me a doubtful look.

"Has it started bruising yet?"

"Ya, a little."

"Can I see?" She asks getting closer. I lift my shirt up a little. The bruises are pretty obvious and I wish I had said no. She has a worried look on her face and she lightly touches my stomach. She is always gentle when it came to people in pain.

"It looks worse than it feels," I lie hoping to smooth out those worry lines of hers. It helps a little. She keeps lightly prodding at my stomach.

"Does this hurt?" She asks using a little more pressure. I try not to wince, but it's a useless attempt. She pulls away and I put my shirt down. She heads toward her kitchen and I follow. She grabs an ice pack from the freezer and hands it to me.

"I already iced my stomach earlier," I inform her trying to hand it back.

"It won't hurt to ice it more," she states, but notices that my look doesn't change," I'll make you the famous Reed hot chocolate."

"Okay," I give in, sitting down and watching as she gets everything she needs for the hot chocolate. She quickly makes enough for two and turns off the stove. She pours a cup for me then starts putting everything back in its place. She pours the rest into a second cup for herself.

"So what are you doing today?" I ask her. If she has no plans, we could do something together.

"Nick invited me to the movies. We're going at 1:30," she answers, looking down and blushing a little, "what about you?"

"I'll probably just work on my car, it'd be nice to not have to borrow Harry's or Alex's," I tell her. She’s only going to the movies so maybe she could drop by later.

"I can't wait to see it!"

"I can't wait to drive it."

"Promise me that when its done you'll drive me around in it first."

"I promise."

"Pinky?"

"Yes, I pinky promise," I reply wrapping my large pinky around her small one.

"Good," she replies getting up," you know you sleep in late?"

"I realize it sometimes, why?"

"Because I already have to get ready."

I look at the clock and see that it’s already 12:30. I put the ice pack back in her freezer and start heading out. "Well, maybe I'll see you later."

"Yeah, maybe," Sammy replies heading toward the stairs. I walk out and head to my house.

"She was home, but she's going on a date with Nick," I tell my dad before he has any time to ask.

"Did she say it was a date?" He questions me.

"Nope, but it's just the two of them," I inform him.

"Then she may not view it that way," he tells me.

I think about it then head to the garage. It would be nice to finish my car this summer. For hours, I work on it and think about Sammy. She never said the word date so either she was trying to avoid the word because it was me or she doesn't consider it a date. She blushed when she said it though. I drop a wrench on my foot; I need to focus better.

I mindlessly fix little things in the car since I need new parts to do anything else. I clean dust off the car and make sure all the little things work.

"Hey there." I look up and almost hit my head on the hood of the car. Sammy stands in the entrance of the garage with a short, pink summer dress and, of course, a pair of matching converse. She has her makeup and hair done; it was definitely a date. "Your dad told me you'd be in here, do you mind if I stick around?"

"Go ahead, you can sit inside the car, on the couch or on the stool next to the stereo," I tell her pointing at her three options.

"I'll choose the stool, do you mind if I turn on the stereo?" She asks heading to her seat of choice, it was one of those spiny stools and she twirls around in it.

"Sure, but no girly stuff," I answer with a grin. She turns on a country radio, not my favorite, but I got used to it last year. She quietly sings along to most of the songs as she watches me work.

"Does your stomach hurt still?" She asks, but this time her face doesn't look worried, just curious.

"No, the work distracts me," I answer trying to focus on the work instead of her.

"Huh."

"What?"

"I need to try that sometime."

"Feel free to come over and work on it anytime. Anyways, how was the movie?"

"Good, we watched a comedy and I easily laugh which was probably why he chose it. He tried holding my hand," she informs me. I almost hit my head again, stupid hood.

"And?" I ask dying to know if she let him, but I don't dare turn around and look at her.

"I told him I had to go to the bathroom, so I hopped up quickly and headed out of the theatre walking at a fast pace, but not too fast. I took about 5 minutes in the bathroom. He said he almost went looking for me, he thought I got kidnapped," she answers smiling yet blushing. I laugh nervously, thankful nothing happened.

"So it wasn't a date?"

"Kind of, I didn't want it to be, but he attempted to make it into one. He tried to take me out to an early dinner and I told him I wasn't hungry, but he insisted. We ended up going to McDonald's and I got a happy meal. I'll show you the little toy later. I kept that toy in my left hand the whole time so he couldn't hold it."

I look over and she’s smiling, thinking back at the memory. I smile at her and she walks over to me. She’s humming to the song on the radio as she comes toward me.

"Can I help?" She asks eyeing the tools.

"Yeah, I have a work apron if you want to wear it over your dress," I say pointing toward the pegs on the wall. I grab the apron and hand it to her. I rarely use it, but if I knew it would be a really messy day I'd put it on.

"A little help on tying the strings?"

"Sure," I respond. She pulls her hair away from her neck as I take the strings, careful not to touch her. I quickly tie it then put her to work. I explain all the parts and tell her what needs to go where. She has difficulty working around the empty spots where my missing pieces belong, but she seems to understand what to do. Sometimes she needs help and I'd just do the part for her.

"So how do I connect these?" She asks.

"Here, I'll just do it," I offer moving closer to her so I can easily reach what she pointed to.

"I want to learn how," she says looking up at me with those big gray eyes. A stray lock of hair had fallen out of her ponytail and I have the urge to slip it behind her ear, but I decide against it.

"Okay," I say coming behind her and putting my hands over hers. I help her connect the two parts and she has a huge smile on her face when she realizes she did it right. We both slowly lean in.

"Ouch!!! Stupid trash can!" I hear Alex yell from right outside the garage door. I quickly pull away and look toward the entrance expectantly. Alex walks in slightly soaked and a little bitter looking. He smiles when he notices Sammy.

"You said you needed help on the car," Alex explains as he takes in the car. "I see you already got a helper."

"I was just about to take a break," Sammy states moving away from the car and taking off the apron. She goes back to her spot on the stool and toys with the stereo for a while.

After an hour, Sammy decides to leave and Alex leaves soon after her. I stay in the garage working for about another hour, basically just cleaning everything up. I put the apron back on its makeshift peg then sit in the car. I stay there for a while thinking. It wasn't really a date and she was going to let me kiss her. She wouldn't even let Nick hold her hand! When I finally get into the house it’s 12:30 and I barely got anything done on the car since Alex left, but all the screws are organized at least. That almost kiss will continue to bother me for the rest of the summer. I quickly get ready for bed then plop down on my bed and fall asleep, completely exhausted.