She smiled, making her lovely face light up. He brushed her hair back from her face. She dipped her head and he could see her faint blush. "You make me feel special."
"Good. You are special."
She kissed him and then laid back down. He let himself relax, stroking the soft skin of her shoulder and back. She must have been naked, his memory filled in details.
A moment later she lifted her head. She rested her head on her hand, making her arm into a triangle. He admired the view as the blanket dipped below her breast, then he looked up at her face. "Why did you come looking for me at that noon hour? You weren't far behind me in that math class. You didn't need help."
He laughed, having been caught. "You are right." He forced his attention from that bare breast that taunted him for his attention. She noticed his gaze and pulled the blanket up. "Do you remember that essay you wrote for Mr. Bowen?" Her brows knitted together. "In eleventh. About your future plans."
She wiggled her cute little mouth and he couldn't help kissing it. "Oh right, I wrote about being a teacher."
"Yes, I was skipping out of math because I was so bored in there. And I stopped to read those essays. And yours caught my eye and I was just floored. Just shocked. You were so passionate about being a teacher. You wanted to do that more than anything. No one else wrote with that kind of conviction."
"Because of an essay I wrote in grade eleven?"
"Because of the life you had in that essay. There was nothing in my life that I felt that kind of passion for. I liked hockey, but hockey doesn't inspire other people. Not like you wanted to do. I got a little panicked when I realized there was nothing else I was good at in life. What would I do if hockey didn't pan out as a career?"
She smiled. "You'll make it. You are so great on the ice. It's like magic. This doesn't explain why you approached me in the library?"
"I wondered about you. I went back to class and then the teacher called your name. And I was just like, THAT shy girl is my Mandy? I couldn't believe it."
He paused for a few moments, letting the memory seep back in. "And?" she prompted, dying to know the rest.
"So, I just stared at you. You saw me staring at you. And you were gorgeous." She looked skeptical. "You were. Your face, your eyes. I only knew you were this shy, smart girl who had no friends. My friends made fun of you, girls I dated were mean to you. And I probably joined in. Not one of us had ever looked at you." God, he felt like shit admitting that to her right now. He'd just gone along with the crowd.