that was then*
chapter 03
The remainder of the day went along pretty smoothly. As the minutes passed, the students hardly felt as if they had been off for 2 1/2 months. Everyone was so numb to everything, and basically only paid attention to seeing their friends. ******* About fifteen minutes later, Josh pulled up alongside the curb in front of his house. He grabbed his jacket and some books from the front seat, and made his way inside; he didn't notice the silver Suburban pulling into the driveway of a nearby house. ******** "Hold on a second," Dora said, holding up one of her hands to signal for her mother to stop talking. "Josh Chasez lives three houses away?"
By the end of the day, Josh, as well as all of the other students, was ready to go home. He said good-bye to his friends, and walked across the street to where his car was parked.
He waited for a few moments, looking around to see if Dora was coming. He figured since her car was parked beside his, he'd have to see her one last time before going back to his house.
Almost as if on cue, Dora came walking into the parking lot, her huge set of keys jingling in her left hand.
Josh diverted his eyes once he realized that he'd been staring at her for some time. He unlocked the door to his car, and pretended not to notice the girl walking right behind him.
Dora stopped a few feet in back of him, and couldn't help but fixate her eyes on him. She could see the muscles moving in his right arm as he twisted the key in his car door. The very thought of him made her mouth salivate.
He looked over his shoulder at her. "Hi, Dora."
She quickly snapped out of her daze, and returned his gesture. "Hi, Josh. How are you?"
"Good...you?" He opened his car door, and didn't bother to get in. He stood there, seeming somewhat interested in their conversation.
"Fine."
"How was your first day?" he asked kindly.
"OK...it's school how great can it be?"
He smiled, and nodded understandingly.
"So..." she filed through possible questions to ask him in her mind, "are you, uh, going straight home, or...?"
"Yeah, I am," he answered, looking shyly down at the cold concrete beneath his boots.
"Oh...I just figured that maybe you'd go to football practice or something like that."
He shot her a lopsided grin. "How'd you know I'm on the football team?"
"Um, I just sort of guessed. I mean, football is like a Mecca to this school, isn't it?"
He nodded, watching her as she fumbled with her keys in the most adorable way. "We don't start practice for two weeks."
"That's nice. Well, I can see that I have made a big enough idiot out of myself for one sitting, so I'm gonna head home."
"You're not an idiot," Josh replied sincerely. "You should see the people I hang out with...now they are idiots."
Dora laughed. She could feel the muscles in her shoulders relaxing. "Thank you so much for making a joke."
"It's my pleasure."
They made eye contact for the first time, and both found it excruciating to look away.
Finally, Dora let her eyes move from his. "So, I'll see you tomorrow then."
"Yeah, see you tomorrow."
She got into her car, and Josh did the same.
Once he was inside, Josh tossed his stuff onto an armchair in the living room.
A large black dog galloped over to him, his tongue hanging out of the side of his mouth. The dog jumped up at him, trying desperately to slobber all over his face.
"Petey, sit for God's sake!" Josh yelled, shielding his face from his dog's tongue.
Petey sat with his tail loudly thumping against the wood floor.
"Josh is that you?" a woman shouted from further inside the house.
"Yeah, Mom!" he called as he began to walk over to where her voice was coming from.
He found his mother in the kitchen, washing some dishes that had been left in the sink.
"How was school?" she asked, running another plate under the faucet.
"Stupid," he answered, hopping up and sitting on the counter besides her.
"You always say that," she noted with a smile.
"That's because school is always stupid. Where's Heather and Tyler?" he asked, referring to his sister and brother.
"Heather is with Amy getting some school supplies, and Tyler stayed after class to sign up for some sports thing, or something. Why?" She looked over at him, and began to dry off her hands with a dish towel.
"No reason."
"You don't have anything planned for tomorrow night, do you? You're not going out with Bryce, or anything?" Mrs.Chasez asked as she set the towel back in its place and sat at the kitchen table with a stack of letters.
"Uh, no, I don't think so. Why?" He jumped down off the counter, and took a seat next to her.
"Because I want to have the new neighbors over, and I want them to meet everybody," she answered while scribbling down addresses on numerous envelopes.
"New neighbors?" he questioned in a confused tone. "Since when do we have new neighbors?"
"Since Saturday. But you wouldn't know that since you're never home." She smiled at him playfully.
"Oh. Well, I'll stay home then." He stood up, and pushed in the chair he was sitting in.
"Don't worry, it won't be that boring. They have a daughter your age." Mrs.Chasez glanced up at him quickly as she licked the disgusting glue on an envelope.
"Really?" Josh's mind immediately went to Dora. No way, he thought to himself.
"Really. Her mother told me her name was Thora. No wait, that's not it." She rested her chin on her fist, something she did quite often while she thought. "Laura? No, that's not it either. Flora?"
He could feel a lump forming in his throat. "Dora?"
"Yeah, that's it! Do you know her?" She got up once more and carried the letters she had just finish addressing to the living room. She was always doing something.
"Uh, yeah. She sits behind me in homeroom," he replied as he followed his mother, suddenly a little more interested in what they were talking about.
"So, is she nice?"
"Uh huh, she's pretty nice."
Mrs.Chasez turned around to him after placing the letters on a small table by the door. "Is she a fox?"
He knew she was just kidding, but for some reason he blurted out, "I don't like her, OK?!"
"God, all right," she said, taken aback by his outburst. "I never said you did."
"I know, but...I'm just making sure that you know I don't like her."
"OK, I believe you."
He sighed heavily, and picked up his belongings. "I'll be upstairs in my room."
Mrs.Christensen stared at her daughter who was on the opposite side of the bed in the guest room. She picked up a moving box from the floor, and proceeded to empty it of the candles and other items that it contained. "Yeah, that's what I said about five hundred times in the past 10 minutes."
"But, that's not possible," Dora stammered, both confusion and slight horror present in her voice. "How come when we moved in no one saw him?"
"His mother said that he's usually never home. She told me that he's either at work or out with his friends." She tucked a lose strand of her light brown hair behind her left ear, setting the now empty box on the floor and picking up another. "Why does this come as such a shock to you? I didn't think that you would have given it a second thought."
"Yeah, well, I am giving it second thoughts....I don't know why, but I just am." Dora walked out, and stalked down the maroon colored hallway into the living room. She dashed out of the front door, and stood on the front step, counting three houses to the left.
Her eyes landed on a two-story white house with sky blue shutters. She had never noticed that particular house before, but she was positive that she'd always see it now.
Dora's eyes continued to scan the front yard as she walked down to the sidewalk for a better look. She could see Petey chasing birds through the chain link fence that surrounded the backyard.
A navy blue Lincoln Town Car headed down the block, turning into the driveway of Josh's house. Petey's playful barking echoed out to the street.
She unintentionally held her breath as she waited to see the face of the driver.
A fairly tall man stepped out of the car, decked out in a gray suit and black tie. He had to have been Josh's father. They had the same eyes.
He looked over at Dora, and gave a quick yet friendly wave.
She reciprocated, and turned around, walking briskly back inside. She could feel her face getting redder.