The Mark by Jen Nadol

Author:Jen Nadol
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: ebook
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2010-08-19T16:00:00+00:00

chapter 17

He was sitting on the edge of the bed, watching me when I woke up.

“What time is it?” I asked, automatically looking at my naked wrist, my watch somewhere on his nightstand.

“Shh,” he said. “Early. Just before eight.” He stroked my hair and it felt wonderful. I closed my eyes. “I didn’t want to wake you,” he said softly, “but I have an early meeting at school.”

I started to get up. “I have to work anyway.”

He shook his head. “No rush, Cassandra. Take your time, as long as you like. Just push the lock on the door when you go.”

I propped myself on an elbow and looked at him, my eyes better adjusted to the light. He was amazing, I thought, his hair brushing the rims of his glasses. He smiled.

“I had a nice time last night,” he said. “Can I see you again?”

I smiled too, self-conscious about being this way—lying rumpled in his bed. “I’d like that,” I said, trying to sound like a college girl might.

He leaned over and kissed my forehead. I watched him leave, my TA, his familiar bag slung over one shoulder. A shoulder that I had seen, had touched bare.

I flopped back in bed, reveling in the warm, tingly feeling inside. I was really here, I thought, in Lucas’s apartment. I had kissed Lucas and … well, other stuff. I was a little embarrassed to think about that.

I sat up, looking around his space, dying to learn more, know everything about him. I pulled on my sweater and walked to the living room, liking the scratchy feel of its straw rug on my bare feet. There was a stack of hardback books on his coffee table. I leaned sideways to read their spines: Our Century in Pictures, Ancient Greece, World Atlas. There were more books on shelves along the wall. Books everywhere, I realized. A short stack of paperbacks on the end table, another near the window, another on his desk beside three picture frames.

I walked over to look at the photos. One was obviously Lucas’s family. Beautiful people on a beach near sunset. His mom and dad were gray-haired, but trim and smiling. Holding hands, of all things.

The second was Lucas with a group of girls and guys. I recognized one, the pretty blonde from the coffee shop. The picture looked recent, had been taken on campus. She was next to him, his arm around her shoulder. I looked closely, but the meaning was unclear. The whole feel of the picture was casual, friendly. Still, I wondered, having seen them together at Cuppa more than once. I was jealous, but felt stupid for feeling so. After all, I was here and she wasn’t, right?

The last photo was a little older. Lucas in high school, I guessed. Surrounded by other guys, all of them in faded sweatshirts, a football slung in one’s arm. It took me a minute to find Lucas without his glasses and made me wonder about my initial impressions of him.

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