Free Taking Off by Jenny Moss Page B

just be excitement.”
    —Christa McAuliffe

CHAPTER 19

    T wo things jumped out at me when Dad pulled up. First, he was in the Beatmobile. But before I had time to get mad about that, I noticed the second thing. He wasn’t the one driving the car. Mark realized it too. So did Mom.
    When Dad got out, Mark asked: “Who’s he?”
    The driver’s door swung open. A guy with dark wavy hair stepped out, resting his arms on the car hood. He gave a friendly wave. Then, he smiled. I felt my stomach do sweet, chaotic flips. He was cute. Really cute.
    “Yeah, Jesse. Who’s he?” Mom asked.
    His smile was like magic. It made you want to grin back at him, which I thought I might be doing. His sunglasses covered his eyes. So I couldn’t tell their color, but I didn’t think it mattered.
    I tried to step forward to mutter hi or something intelligible, but felt a motherly grip on my shoulder and a boyfriend’s hand pulling on mine. But I couldn’t stop looking at the guy’s smile. It was so … welcoming. It made me giddy. Mark’s hand tightened.
    “Who is this?” I heard Mom ask again.
    An unexpected scowl turned down Mom’s lips and up her eyebrows, giving her face an odd, fractured look.
    “Huh?” Dad asked, looking up. He’d been throwing old tennis shoes from the backseat to the trunk, and old french fries onto the grass. I realized Mom must be in shock because she said nothing about the limp fries hanging out on her lawn. Her eyes still bore into Dad’s.
    “What, Mags? What?”
    “The boy,” said Mom, waving. “Who’s the boy?”
    But this guy wasn’t a boy. He was out of high school, for sure, probably graduated for a few years. His grin didn’t fade, just kind of slid into an amused smile, while he glanced down. He looked back at Mom, a little shyly. It was adorable.
    “What are you staring at?” asked Mark.
    I looked at Mark, trying to place him. Then I felt the heat flow up into my face. I had been staring. I looked back at the guy. But he was just so incredible. No one, not even Mr. Williams when he defied the principal and wore his jeans to school, looked quite so incredible.
    “This is Tommy,” said Dad, casually throwing a hand his way.
    Mom stepped forward. “And you’re dropping him off?”
    “Yeah,” said Dad, laughing, “in Florida.”
    “He’s not going with you,” said Mom. Not a question.
    “Yeah, he is, Mags. He’s helping me drive.” He shrugged. “And he wants to see the launch of the space shuttle, don’t you, Tommy?”
    Tommy took off his sunglasses. “Nice to meet y’all.”
    His eyes were blue. Not that it mattered.
    “Can I talk to you?” Mom asked, grabbing Dad by the arm. She started pulling him over to the side.
    “What?” Dad asked, brushing her off. But he followed her. Mom began talking frantically. She never talked frantically. I didn’t understand why she felt the need to drag Dad to the side, when she wasn’t lowering her voice.
    “We can hear you, Mom,” I yelled, but she didn’t get any quieter.
    I caught Tommy’s eye, and he gave me a little shrug. “Hi,” I said. “I’m Annie. Sorry about them.”
    “Can I talk to you?” Mark asked.
    “Sure.”
    He led me to the door by the hand he’d not let go since Dad had driven up. He opened the door, like he was heading inside, but I stopped on the front step. “What’s going on?”
    “You’re not getting in that car.”
    “What?” I pulled my hand out of his. “Mark, don’t get crazy.”
    “You think I’m going to let my girlfriend go off with … him?”
    “Let? You’re not going to let me?”
    “Don’t start with that, Annie. You know what I mean. If I was going … surfing with a hot chick, you wouldn’t want me to go.”
    “I don’t think I’d mind. I trust you.”
    Mark’s mouth set into a firm, straight line. He looked down, shaking his head. “Annie, you’re not going.” His voice was tight, angry.
    “I am going.”
    With that, he hit the door with his fist so hard