“Yeah, but I’m going to miss everyone,” Kristina said. Ginger wasn’t paying attention; she was too busy taking her red hair out of its bun. “Ginger, you have the most beautiful hair,” Kris said. Ginger turned to her.
“You only tell me every day," Ginger said, laughing. "I hate it. It’s too red.”
“I would kill to have hair like that.”
“It wouldn’t look good on you, Kristina. You’re way too Hispanic to have red hair.” She glanced in a mirror, looking over her pale-skinned self, her red hair her identity as well as her naturally violet eyes. Kristina stood behind her, the polar opposite of her sister. She had dark brown hair with hazel eyes, and dark brown skin to match. “Now we have about three months of freedom, what do you want to do?” Kristina smiled, knowing exactly what Ginger was thinking.
“Borders!!”
Quickly they changed out of their fancy graduation dresses and into something more comfortable before they walked a mile and a half to the large building. Ginger walked inside first and looked around. "Where should I start?" she asked, not expecting an answer. She sat down in a chair, staring at a shelf of books in front of her. There were so many to choose from. "Well," she said, "I might as well start from the top." She stood up and took the one in the top left corner and sat back down again.
"Don't look now, but someone's walking this way and he's pretty cute," Kristina said as Ginger had just began to read the book. She glanced up. "I told you not to look!"
"Sorry," she muttered, her face in the book but her eyes looking up at him. He drew closer and she saw him stop at the bookcase. He turned towards it, and she pulled her book down to look at him. Kris was shaking her head at Ginger's blatancy. The boy turned around and she quickly put her nose back in the book. She waited for him to go away, but he stopped in front of her.
"Hi."
She looked up and he was staring down at her. She jumped slightly and put a smile on her face. "Can I help you?" she asked and silently scolded herself for sounding stupid.
"You took the last copy of that book, and I kind of wanted to buy it," he said.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she immediately said, closing the book and holding it out to him. "I'm just here to waste time; I can find another book to read."
"What's your name?" he asked, taking the book from her hands. She felt herself blush instantly.
"Ginger," she said, confidently, trying to hide her blush. "And you?" She did it out of politeness; she really didn't want to speak with him.
“Gilligan.” She gave him a look. Every time she introduced herself to someone new, she got a Gilligan's Island joke. He smiled lightly and spoke again. "Zac." Once the name was spoken, she recognized him.
"Well, Zac," she said, looking straight in his eyes. "You have your book. You can go now."
"Let me talk. I'd like to get to know you. Anyone who likes Ernest Hemingway is worth getting to know."
"Trust me," she said. "I'm not. Now are you going to go or will I have to?"
"Fine." He got up and left. She grabbed another book from the shelf and sat back down next to her sister. Kristina looked shocked by Ginger's rude behavior.
"Ginger! How rude! Before he came over here to talk to you, you couldn't take your eyes off him! He walks over and you were a bitch? What's wrong with him?" she said. Ginger rolled her eyes.
"No, I didn't mean to be like that," she said, shaking her head. "No…it was his teeth. His teeth weren't straight."
"I'm sure that was it," Kris said, snorting. "You better go over there and apologize before he leaves."
"I'm not going to apologize!" she said, looking over at her sister. "I just didn't want to talk to him, all right? I didn't feel like it."
"This coming from the same person who was complaining that she didn't have a boyfriend yesterday."
"That was yesterday." Kristina gave her a look. "I'm sorry. But I'm not apologizing. If he decides to give it another whirl, I'll talk to him." She shook her head and started the book. As the day progressed on, Zac was still hanging around. Ginger could see him looking through the poetry section nearby, and once or twice she caught him looking at her. He wasn't leaving, which was good, but he wasn't trying to talk to her again either, which was even better. At two o’clock, she went over to the café for something to drink. While she was sitting at the table, Zac came over again. He pulled out the empty chair in front of her and sat down.
“Okay, you've got me. What's with you?"
"What are you talking about?" she asked, taking a sip from her tea.
"Well, I know you've noticed me looking at you. You haven't done anything about it, but the only way for you to notice me looking at you is because you were looking at me."
"I have not been looking at you," she lied. She knew she had been but she really didn't want to be bothered at the moment. It seemed the idea of him was better than actually having him interested in her.
"Yes you have. Admit it. You've been sneaking a glance at me." She twisted her cup in her hands out of an old nervous habit.
"All right. I admit it. I've been looking in your general direction," she said, raising an eyebrow slightly. "But that's just about all I've been doing."
"Then why haven't you said anything to me yet?"
"Because I figured if you really wanted to talk to me again, you would. What do you know? I was right."
"Great. Now what do I have to do to get you to listen to me?"
“You have my attention,” she said, glancing at her watch. "Say what you have to say and get on with it. If I like what you say, I'll consider you."
“Well," he started, folding his hands together on the table. "I noticed you and your friend—”
“Her name’s Kristina.”
“—walking in here. Since you two were the first people yet today to walk in and not be thirty, I figured it would be a good chance to get to know someone around here. You’re the first person I’ve met in the city of Tampa that is remotely around my age. My brother noticed me staring at you and suggested I talk to you. I turned to him and said ‘the day I turn 18, I’m going to marry her.’ ”
She burst out laughing, but when she looked back at him, he looked serious. “Okay, Mr. Big Shot, what gives you the right to come over here, not even knowing me at all and tell me you plan on marrying me?”
“Cause it’s the truth. I may not get you today, I may not get you any time this year, but by the time I can legally drive I’ll be going out with you, and when I turn 18 we’ll be engaged, ready to get married.”
“Are you serious?" she asked. She'd never heard anything so preposterous in her entire life. It was rude and disgusting, but for a moment she actually thought it was true. He gave her a large smile and she didn't seem to mind that his teeth weren't straight.
“Absolutely,” he said.
She smiled back at him and leaned over the table. She gave him a kiss on the cheek and shook her head. “Sorry, Zac. That's not going to happen. Before you know it you’ll find a little miss that’ll marry you for your money and sleep with your brother. After all that, if you can find me, I’ll consider talking with you.” She took her cup of tea and headed back to Kris.
“Trust me, you’ll regret this!” he called after her as she grabbed her sister and left.