Protect My Heart by Judy Corry
Emma
After lunch on Monday,I met Kathryn by our lockers and walked with her to choir. Choir was one of my favorite classes for a couple of reasons: First, I never had homework assigned from it, which was always a plus. And second, I just really loved to sing. As an alto, I didn’t sing the melody in most songs, but it was fun harmonizing and figuring out where my notes fit in with the group. Kathryn was also an alto, so we were able to sit by each other during class, which was fun.
“How did your study date with Conner go yesterday?” I asked as we walked past the auditorium on the way to the choir room.
She blushed and bit her lip. “It was good.” Then in a low voice she said, “When we were sitting at the table, he sat close enough that our arms brushed a couple of times.”
I laughed. Brushing arms with someone wasn’t usually that big of a deal, but when the guy you liked brushed arms with you, it was the best thing in the world. It had all sorts of hidden meanings that could be analyzed for hours.
“I think he may like you,” I said in a singsong voice.
“I don’t know. I-it probably meant nothing.”
“I doubt it,” I said, smiling.
We soon arrived at the choir room and found our seats. I glanced around the classroom and noticed someone new sitting in the bass section directly behind me. I had to take a second look when I realized it was Arie. What in the world was he doing in Madrigals? Was he like a student teacher or something? I’d never bumped into a stranger so many times in just a few days.
Before I could say anything to him, Mrs. Jolley, our choir director, tapped her baton on the music stand.
Mrs. Jolley was in her midthirties and had been teaching at Maplebridge High for the past ten years. She was short and peppy, and the students all loved her. “Welcome, students,” she said. “As you may have noticed, we have someone new in our class.” She gestured for Arie to join her at the front. He stood and made his way next to her, making her look like a midget next to his tall frame.
“Everyone, this is Arie Blackwell, a new senior at our school. He just moved to Maplebridge and will be singing baritone in our choir. As you all know, I’ve been holding tryouts to fill the open spot. Lucky for us, Arie saw the sign-up sheet and came in. Once he auditioned, I knew I’d found the baritone for our choir. I’m sure you’ll agree with my decision once you hear him sing. He will also be joining in the All-State Choir this year.” Arie looked a little embarrassed at having Mrs. Jolley talk so much about him, but it could have been an act. “You may take your seat now, Arie.”
Mrs. Jolley went on. “Speaking of All-State Choir, practices start this Saturday and will be held at Ridgecrest High. We don’t have a bus going down to these rehearsals, so I want to remind those participating that they are responsible for finding their own transportation.”
I’d already made plans to drive with Kathryn, so I didn’t have anything to worry about.
Later, as Mrs. Jolley led us through warm-ups, I couldn’t help but notice the deep melodic sound coming from behind me. Mrs. Jolley hadn’t been exaggerating when she said Arie had a great voice. His voice was warm and smooth, like melted chocolate drizzled over a strawberry. After listening for a moment, goose bumps rose all over my arms and neck against my will. Kathryn glanced at me and mouthed, “Wow.” I raised my eyebrows and nodded back. How could he get those looks and have that voice?
When class was over, I tried to quickly stuff my folder into my backpack and get out of the classroom before I accidentally flirted with him. I couldn’t ruin my twelve-day streak. This was the longest I’d made it so far with my boy-cleanse.
I peeked behind me as I zipped up my backpack, which was a mistake because Arie was looking right at me.
“Hey,” he said when our eyes met. “I don’t know if you remember me. We met at the store on Friday.”
I gave him a bashful smile, remembering the embarrassing experience. “Yeah. That was me in all my glory.”
“It’s Emma, right?” He remembered my name? Wow!
I mean, not wow. Of course, he remembered. Players always did things like that to make a girl feel special.
“That’s me. I’m surprised you remembered.” I only added that last bit so he wouldn’t realize I was already on to him.
He leaned forward and whispered, “Who could forget you after that fateful muffin attack?”
I blushed. “I’d hoped you might have somehow forgotten that little incident.”
He smiled. “Sorry, I’ll try to forget it now.” He closed his eyes briefly and then looked back at me again. “Okay, it’s forgotten.” He scrunched his eyebrows together and pointed a finger at me. “Have we met before? You seem really familiar.”
“Har, har.” I shook my head and smiled despite myself. “Anyway,” I glanced at the clock, “it was good to see you again, Arie. I hope you have a great rest of your first day here.” I really needed to get away before I started falling prey to his charms. I was already having a hard time keeping my eyes off the cute dimple that formed when he smiled.
“Hold on.” He reached into his backpack and drew out a folder. “Could you point me in the direction of AP English with Mrs. Hendrix?” He rifled through the papers in his folder until he found his class schedule. He studied it for a moment. “This says it’s in room 2B, but I’ve been turned around all day.”
That was my next class. I groaned inwardly. How was I supposed to continue with my plan of ignoring all the hot guys this year if I had the most tempting one ever constantly in my path?
I pasted on a smile so it seemed like I wasn’t fazed by the idea of having one more class with him. “Actually, that’s my next class. I’ll walk you there if you like.” I should earn an Oscar for this performance.
He stood. “That would be awesome. It will save me from ending up in the wrong classroom like I did this morning.” Arie looked down at me, and I noticed his eyes were a brilliant blue surrounded by dark lashes. “Is there anything I should know about AP English or Mrs. Hendrix before going into class?”
I led him down the crowded hall. “Yeah, she’s super ornery and will give you detention if she hears you whispering to your neighbor. Oh, and don’t stare at her glass eye; she hates it when people do that.”
Arie cocked his head to the side. “Glass eye?”
I laughed. “Just kidding! She is the nicest little old lady, and I’m sure she’ll even give you special treatment. She always goes easy on the tall, dark, and handsome sort.”
Arie looked quizzically at me.
I gasped, realizing I just told him how attractive I thought he was. “Umm, I mean, it’s like any other AP English class. Mrs. Hendrix is really nice, she’s been teaching forever. Right now we’re reading Jane Eyre and talking about poetry and stuff.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad. Thanks for the heads-up.”
“No problem. I’m sure you’ll do fine.” We soon reached Mrs. Hendrix’s room. “This is it.” Arie opened the door for me, then followed me inside the classroom. I went and sat in my usual seat near the back while Arie introduced himself to our teacher. She then motioned for him to sit in an empty seat on the front row.
As he sat down, the girls around him twisted in their seats to get a good look at him. From the expressions on some of their faces, they weren’t immune to his good looks, either. This made me feel slightly better. Rachel, the long-legged cheerleader to Arie’s left, introduced herself to him. Rachel had a way of getting any guy she wanted to ask her out, with her super short skirts and curves in all the right places.
I smiled to myself. If she wanted him, she could have him. It would be nice to see her get played for a change. Instead of watching Rachel work her magic, I pulled out my binder and readied for class to begin. If she had her way, I wouldn’t even have to worry about keeping my defenses up around Arie because he’d never think twice about me again.
“Did you see the new guy today?” Maya asked when we got to her mom’s van after school. Her car was still in the shop, so her mom had let her borrow the family van today so we could take some of the fliers to the college. It wasn’t the coolest vehicle in the world, but it worked a lot better than my invisible car.
“Do you mean Arie?” I asked as I buckled my seatbelt.
“Of course! Who else would I be talking about? He was in my psychology class this morning, and thanks to him, I had a hard time concentrating on Mr. Lund’s lecture,” Maya said as she backed out of her parking spot.
“What’s this? You found someone besides your teacher to drool over?”
Maya shoved me playfully. “Well, I still think Mr. Lund is handsome, but this Arie is totally gorgeous and our age.”
“I’m glad to hear you’ve moved on to someone you can legally date.”
“Yeah, yeah. So how do you know about Arie?” she asked as she pulled into the long line of cars waiting to exit the parking lot.
I shrugged. “He’s in Madrigals and English with me. I walked with him to English after choir, and he seems nice.” There was definitely no reason for me to tell her how I initially met Arie. I could only hope he, too, would keep that embarrassing moment between us.
“We need to find a way to snatch him up before the other girls do.” Maya turned in her seat, looking at me with bright eyes. “Let’s invite him to hang out with us on Friday. That will give me a reason to talk to him tomorrow in Psychology.”
As if she ever needed a reason to talk to a guy. “I don’t know. We don’t really know much about him.”
“That’s kind of the point of inviting him to hang out with us.” We finally made it to the edge of the parking lot and pulled into traffic, heading toward Main Street.
I leaned against the headrest and sighed. I had watched him and Rachel interact during English and was sure she was already well on her way to snagging him. But instead of turning Maya down and seeming rude, I decided to let her try and fail. “Go ahead and talk to him. We should get Kathryn to invite Conner to hang out, too, while we’re at it.”
“Awesome! Should I tell him we’re getting together at your house or something?” Maya asked. “I’d rather not have my brothers bugging us the whole time.”
“Sure, we could go out back and roast hot dogs and marshmallows in the fire pit if you want.” Kathryn would probably be more comfortable with that, too, so it sounded like she was inviting Conner to something more than sitting around in my basement. We would have full reign of the house anyway, since I was the only kid living at home now.
“That sounds perfect,” Maya said. “Then if it gets chilly, maybe Arie will offer to warm us up by the fire.”
“He’s all yours.” I smiled at her ridiculousness.
It only took us a couple of hours to hang up most of the fliers Maya had printed off for the auction. Once we were done, she dropped me off at my house.
I lived in a two-story brick home that my family had built when I was young. I grew up here with my older brother, Carter, and sister, Lily, who were attending college now. It was kind of weird to be the only kid at home now, but thankfully, my parents were pretty cool most of the time, if not slightly overprotective.
“Hey, Mom,” I said as I plopped my backpack down on the kitchen counter where my mother was cutting fabric for her latest project. She was big on crafts and currently working on a new quilt.
“Hey, honey, how was school?” Mom glanced at me through black-rimmed glasses hanging at the end of her nose. My mom was beautiful and looked much younger than her forty-five years. Growing up, I’d always envied Lily, who’d been blessed to look more like my mom.
My mom and sister had blonde hair, while I had brown. They had green eyes; mine were blue. They were both a little shorter than average, but I was taller. I never saw the resemblance between me and my family like I noticed in other families. When people asked where I got my darker features from, I always made a joke of saying I was switched at birth. Even though I made light of it, there was a small nagging voice in the back of my mind that wondered whether Mom might have been a little too friendly to a salesman one day while Dad was at work. I hated to think that about my mom, but it would have explained a lot.
“School was fine.” I reached into the cookie jar that my mom always had filled with homemade chocolate chip cookies. I watched her work for a few minutes before going up to my room. As I studied her, I reminded myself, like I had so many times before, that a woman who sewed quilts and baked cookies every week would never have a secret affair. My genes had just gotten mixed up in different combinations than everyone else’s had.
