Free The Hollow by Jessica Verday

be close to a swoon here.
    "What about Saturday, Abbey? Are you free Saturday morning? Will you meet me here?" His voice broke through my giddy thoughts.
    I turned back. There was no amount of overdue homework or room cleaning duties that would stop me from answering that one. "I'm free." I tried to sound vague and nonchalant about it. "I can meet you here."
    "Good. Saturday, then." The light shone off half of his face, and he was smiling. "Night, Abbey. Sweet dreams."
    My stomach dipped.
    "Good night… Caspian," I whispered. I don't know if I remembered to smile back or not. I was too busy telling myself not to trip over my own feet as I turned toward the main road.
    Yeah, I was definitely going to have sweet dreams tonight.

Chapter Six
    Great Expectations

    I profess not to know how women's hearts are wooed and won. To me they have always been matters of riddle and admiration.
    "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

    The next couple of days flew by, but I had a hard time sleeping again on Friday night. Only this time it wasn't nightmares or sad memories keeping me awake. It was excitement. I paced nervously around my room while my brain kicked into overdrive.
    What should I wear?
    What should I say?
    What if he thinks I'm a total dork?
    What if he stands me up?
    When the clock on the nightstand started creeping close to three a.m., I forced myself to go lie down in bed and think sleepy thoughts. But that didn't work either, and I ended up staring at the ceiling. Glancing over at the clock again, I realized that I had only… Crap. I didn't know how many hours I had left to get some sleep. Caspian never said what time he wanted to meet. Now my brain kicked into super overdrive, worrying about that.
    Was nine o'clock too early? I'd have to get up before eight to be ready on time. Maybe ten or ten fifteen was better. Then I wouldn't seem so desperate. I could casually stroll into the cemetery and totally act like I hadn't given it a second thought. Yeah, that's definitely the way to go. Desperate was so not good.
    Satisfied with my decision, I closed my eyes and thought back to the bridge for the hundredth time. Reliving every word he'd said, every gesture he'd made, I examined the memory from every angle. I didn't want to overlook any tiny detail or subtle nuance that had been there.
    I don't want you to get hurt.
    I couldn't stop a huge smile from spreading over my face as I heard those words in my head again. When I finally was able to fall asleep, I dreamt of piercing green eyes and haunting dark figures half hidden in the shadows.
    They were sweet dreams, indeed.
    * * *
    Saturday morning came way too quickly. I stared groggily at the beeping clock, wondering why it was going off at the ungodly hour of nine, when it suddenly dawned on me what I was supposed to be doing today… and who I was supposed to be doing it with.
    I jumped out of bed and ran over to the connecting shower. Humming softly, I lathered up my hair in vanilla-scented shampoo and then rinsed off with pink grapefruit shower gel. They both smelled delicious and perked me up even more.
    My excitement waned, though, as I started to towel-dry my hair. I desperately tried to tame my wild curls into perfectly defined spirals, but they vehemently disagreed with me on that one. It was a battle I quickly lost.
    Begrudgingly I settled for twisting up several sections and piling it all in a loose bun on top of my head. If I shook it out in about thirty minutes, then hopefully it would be sort of wavy.
    Waxy hair is making a comeback, I tried to convince my mirrored reflection. It's called "soft and romantic." You'll be a trendsetter. But I didn't really want to set any trends. I just wanted to have sexy hair. With a heavy sigh, I went to go get dressed.
    Of course my wardrobe turned out to be a complete crisis too.
    The cargo pants I had thought about wearing were not very flattering once I actually had them on. If my butt was really as big as it looked in those pants, then