Almost Perfect - Brian Katcher [9]
“Hey, Jack, tomorrow Tim’s gonna drive us out to Columbia to see a movie. You coming?”
Jack smashed his fist into the machine’s solar plexus. “What’s playing?”
“Dunno.”
“Sure. I’ll see if my brother wants to come.”
“Uh, hold off on that.” Tim’s car would only seat four (actually, we had proven it could hold twelve, but that was another story), and I had just spotted our fourth passenger.
She was standing in front of the girls’ restroom. I guessed she was waiting for someone, because she made no move to go in.
“Hey, Sage!”
She turned and smiled. Her braces winked at me as she crossed the room.
“Hi, Logan.” She hadn’t stopped smiling. Apparently, Sage had psychic brain-draining powers, because all I could see was her mouth. I had forgotten what I was going to say.
Jack had temporarily stopped abusing the vending machine. I suddenly came back to reality and introduced him.
“This is Jack.”
He stared at Sage like she was a captive yeti.
“Christ, you’re tall. Can I borrow a buck?”
Sage laughed nervously and handed him a dollar. My only consolation was that I’d look better by comparison.
“So, Sage.” I gathered up my courage. For the first time since Brenda, I was going to ask someone out. I almost stopped myself. It was only the memory of Sage’s hand on my arm that made me rush into no-man’s-land.
I took the plunge. “Tim and Jack and I are going out to the movies in Columbia tomorrow. You want to come with?”
Sage’s eyes widened. So did her smile. Her mouth expanded and the lines around her eyes deepened. She had a look of bliss on her face, like I was on one knee, holding a diamond ring.
“Sorry, Logan, I can’t.” The grin didn’t leave her face. I waited for her to follow up with I’m busy tomorrow, but she didn’t.
Jack, who liked to slow down and watch the aftermath of highway accidents, returned to his vandalism. This was too gory even for him.
I tried to blow off the rejection. “It’s cool. I just thought since you’re new in town …”
Sage shook her head, then hitched up her purse. “Let me walk you to the track.”
She trotted to the exit, not looking back to see if I was coming. I considered ignoring her. Why hadn’t I asked out Tanya? This strange new girl probably just liked teasing guys, then turning them down. But I followed her anyway.
Sage didn’t say anything until we were well out of the building, almost to the football field. Then she stopped, took my arm, and didn’t let go.
“Logan, I really would like to go to the movies with you,” she said sincerely.
“It’s okay,” I replied, enjoying the feel of her hand on my arm. At least I apparently wasn’t going to get the I like you as a friend speech. I was prepared to let things drop, but Sage must have thought she owed me an explanation.
“It’s my parents, Logan. They won’t let me date.”
I tried to look her in the eyes, but she released my arm and looked at the ground.
“Won’t let you date? But aren’t you, like, seventeen?”
“Eighteen. House rules. I don’t date until I’m out of school.”
I tried to grapple with the idea. I knew girls who weren’t allowed to be alone with boys, kids who couldn’t date anyone exclusively, even classmates who had to have a chaperone when they went out. But to tell a high school senior that she couldn’t go to the movies with some friends?
“They’re that strict?” I asked, disappointed. I realized how eager I’d been to get to know Sage. And now, it seemed, we wouldn’t even be allowed to casually hang out.
She sighed. “My dad especially. I never even got to wear makeup until a few months ago.”
No makeup at her age? Jesus, what kind of Nazi parents did she have?
“Why not? I mean, they had to know you could put it on at school when they wouldn’t be around.”
“Uh …” Sage looked to the right, like she was trying to think up an answer.
“What?”
“It’s nothing.” Sage had her back to me. I almost touched her shoulder, but chickened out.
“No, what?” Why would an eighteen-year-old put up with restrictions