Free Sierra Hearts (Part One) by Ash Elko Page B

box marked Budweiser in answer.
    “Yes, sir. Thanks for letting me take it. I think I
have too many groceries just to carry myself.” He smiled. Mick
smiled. Jenn thought, what am I missing here?
    “Hello Jenn,” Danny said. For the first time since
Jenn arrived, Jenn felt like she was actually being addressed as a
person. “Long time no see!”
    “Hi Danny.” She blushed. Could this really be Danny
Williams? The scrawny scarecrow of a teenager who liked to build
model rockets and fire them into the sky? Not that Jenn as was a
winner at that age, either. With a bowl haircut and braces, add to
that her red hair, she wasn’t exactly on the top of the list of
middle school boy’s crushes. And even now, she didn’t exactly
consider herself to be a supermodel.
    Danny the scarecrow had filled out. He was tall. He
was… He was… strapping, rugged, handsome . He was gorgeous . He was wearing a red flannel shirt with specks of
green that seemed to stretch over his shoulders and torso. The top
two buttons were undone revealing a white undershirt and just a
hint of some serious muscle tone underneath it. He held the
cardboard box propped up on his forearms with his hands cupped
around the front corners, but Jenn could see even from that angle
that they showed a kind of sinewy strength that comes from working
with your hands all day. His hair was that same auburn it always
was, only now instead of the buzz cut he favored in high school, it
was straight and long with a part just to the left of center of his
forehead. There was a few days’ worth of dark blue stubble on his
taught cheeks that perfectly framed his face.
    How long have I been staring at him? Should I say
something?
    “How are you?” Jenn asked, afraid she might be
tomato red from blushing at this point. She was doing her best to
ignore the urge to throw herself at him.
    “Good, good. I heard you were back in town,” he
gestured with the box at Jenn’s father. Jenn traced the motion back
to her dad, who gave a shrug. Were he and Dad close now? How come
he never mentioned Danny when they spoke?
    “We should catch up sometime. It’s been
forever.”
    “Yes!” Jenn said, a little too loudly. “That would
be great.”
    “Great,” Danny repeated with a smirk. “Thanks for
the box Mr. MacKenzie. I wouldn’t want to lug all those groceries
without it.”
    “Not a problem, Dan,” Jenn’s dad said. “Anything
else I can get you?”
    “No, no, this is fine, thanks. Great to see you,
Jenn.” Danny angled himself sideways to walk past Jenn and her
father as he lifted the cardboard above his head. From this angle
Jenn could see that with his arms raised, the bottom of Danny’s
shirt lifted to expose a strip of skin on his abdomen, which from
the look of it might as well be carved from solid stone. A new wave
of blood rushed to her cheeks.
    “You, too, Danny,” Jenn could hear herself say but
didn’t remember willing herself to say it.
    Jenn floated, not quite sure her feet were actually
touching the ground as she climbed each step up to the second story
to her room. Once inside and door firmly closed, Jenn took off her
snow pants she had so hastily put on just a few moments earlier.
She took a good look at herself in the mirror. She stood up
straight and let her hair drape over her shoulders. She turned to
the side to see her profile. She posed. Her mind drifted. She
pretended she was at a bar—no, a nightclub—and standing alone on
the dance floor. She swayed her body to an imaginary beat, looking
at herself in the mirror. Watching herself move her hips. Enjoying
her body, feeling confident in front of the mirror as she
fake-danced. She imagined someone coming up to her, offering to by
her a drink. Her imagination sketched a face: Danny’s. Imaginary
Danny’s eyes twinkled… She realized her legs were cold and starting
to goose bump. She climbed into bed and tucked the sheets under
herself.
    The sheets were cool against her skin. A