Pieces of it All Read Online Free Page B

hands back on the banister. "I'm still surprised I've never seen you before. Well, before that night you came by for, what again, chili powder?"
    "Crap! I still owe your mom." He snapped his fingers. "Please tell her I'm sorry and I'll pay her back soon."
    "She won't mind." Of course if he returned the spice, he'd come by again.
    "Anyway, I've lived here most of my life." The dimple on his chin became a rest for his finger. "I've never seen you, either. I went to Focus First."
    Only the troubled kids attended Focus First, an alternative school for those needing extra attention. "That explains why I never ran into you at school. I still think I would've seen you around town."
    His smile fell from his face. "I don't know everyone here. I'm not too surprised. I just got back from a small trip, so I was off the radar. Besides, I'm a bit older than you. Even if we'd gone to the same school, we would've been in different classes."
    Harvey couldn't be too much older than Beth. At least not old like thirty. At most he would have been a senior when she was a freshman, which didn't mean they'd have been strangers. Upperclassmen guys dated younger girls all the time. He probably had a type and she wasn't it - tall, blonde, a dancer or cheerleader, she assumed.
    "Anyway, I should go. I need to find Bullet before this heat becomes more than he can handle."
    Poor dog. "Okay. Nice seeing you again. Now that I know who you are, I hope to bump into you sometime."
    He winked. "I'd like that."
    Their eyes locked. Beth opened her lips slightly to release a breath as she massaged the back of her neck. The hair at the base of her neck was damp and her cheeks warm. When should she look away? Did guys like girls to ask them out? Should she ask him on a date? In order to break from her urge to burst into a fit of giggles, she detached from his stare. "I better get back inside," she thumbed to the door.
    "Okay," he responded as he turned to leave. He slid onto the bike like he was Lance Armstrong. As he pedaled away, she secretly wished for him to turn around so she could see him one last time, memorizing every line in his face, each placement of each hair on his head. It was probably a good thing he hadn't, or he'd have seen her melt to the ground.
    Once he was a speckle of dust down the road, she ran up the stairs into her bedroom. Like when she was a pre-teen with her first crush, she dove into the bed, a smile spread across her face. She laid there, her eyes focusing on every dot in the ceiling. His perfect face was etched into her mind, and she wished to touch his skin, resting her finger in that dimple. Oh, that fricking dimple. She covered her face with her hands and kicked her legs on the mattress. "Eek!"
    She couldn't recall the last time giddiness overcame her like this. In middle school, she went to a Valentine's Day dance with David Porter. Two awkward and pimply pre-teens. They shared one small kiss, enough for them to be considered boyfriend and girlfriend for all of two weeks. She swore off boys after their brief interaction, until her sophomore year of high school. She met Ryan, a junior, in the library. He towered over her at six foot two. Every day he'd hug her before class, and she'd press herself into his chest, taking note of the rhythm of his heartbeat. Built like a football player, although he played baseball, he always reminded her of the stereotypical surfer boy with his dirty blond hair and bright eyes. They dated for about seven months. All their nights of making out never led to sex. Not that she didn't want to. Lucy always told her if she did it with him, he'd dump her and tell everyone how easy she was. In her heart, she didn't feel Ryan would ever do that, but she wasn't willing to take any chances. Their make out sessions always involved a lot of kissing and heavy petting. Sometimes they would just lay naked next to each other.
    After the two of them broke up, Ryan hooked up with a few girls. Beth knew they were doing