This Girl: A Novel

movement of their bodies. It’s amazing. You aren’t going to hear any Dickinson or Frost here.”
    When I look at her again, she actually looks intrigued. Poetry has always been such a huge part of my life; I was worried she wouldn’t understand it. Not only does she understand it, she seems excited about it.
    I explain the rules to her regarding the competition. She asks a lot of questions, which puts me even more at ease. When I’ve explained everything to her, I decide to grab us drinks before the sac comes on stage.
    “You want something to drink?”
    “Sure,” she says. “I’ll take some chocolate milk.”
    I expect her to laugh at her joke, but she doesn’t.
    “Chocolate milk? Really?”
    “With ice,” she says, matter-of-fact.
    “Okay. One chocolate milk on the rocks coming right up.”
    I exit the booth and walk over to the bar to order our drinks, then turn around and lean against the bar and watch her. This feeling I get when I’m with her . . . I’ve missed it. I’ve missed that feeling of feeling. Somehow, she’s the first person in the last two years of my life who gives me any sense of hope about the future.
    I realize as I’m watching her that I’ve made a huge mistake. I’ve been comparing what her reaction to things might be based on what Vaughn’s reactions were in the past. It’s not fair to Lake to assume she would be turned off by the simplicity of the date or by the game we played on the drive here. It’s not fair to Lake that I assume she wouldn’t like poetry simply because Vaughn didn’t. It’s also unfair of me to assume she would push me away if she knew that I was Caulder’s guardian.
    This girl isn’t anything like Vaughn.
    This girl isn’t anything like any girl I’ve known. This girl is . . .
    “She’s cute.” Gavin’s voice jerks me out of my thoughts. I look over at him and he’s leaning against the bar next to me, watching me watch Lake. “What’s her name?” He turns around and orders two drinks from the waitress.
    “Layken,” I say. “And yeah. She is cute.”
    “How long have you guys been dating?” he asks, turning back to me.
    I look down at my watch. “Going on forty-five minutes.”
    He laughs. “Shit. The way you were looking at her I would have guessed a hell of a lot longer. Where’d you meet her?”
    The bartender hands me my change and the receipt for our drinks. I glance down at the receipt and laugh. It actually says, “Chocolate milk—rocks.” I fold the receipt and put it in my wallet.
    “Actually,” I say as I turn back to Gavin, “she’s my new neighbor. Just moved in three days ago.”
    He shakes his head and looks back in her direction. “You better hope it works out. That could get really awkward, you know.”
    I nod. “Yeah, I guess so. But I have a good feeling about her.”
    Before he walks away he points to the front of the room. “Eddie and I are over there. I’ll try to keep her occupied so you two can have your privacy. If she sees you here with a girl, she’ll be over there in a second trying to be her new best friend.”
    I laugh, because he’s right. “Thanks.” I grab our drinks and head back to the booth, relieved that I won’t have to deal with introductions tonight. I don’t know if I’m ready for that.

5.
    the honeymoon
    LAKE SITS UP on the bed and glares at me. “What the hell, Will? Gavin knew? He’s known this whole time?”
    I laugh. “Hey, you and Eddie weren’t the only ones keeping secrets.”
    She shakes her head in disbelief. “Does Eddie know he knew?”
    “I don’t think so. Unlike some people, Gavin can keep a secret.”
    She narrows her eyes and rolls back onto her pillow, dumbfounded. “I can’t believe he knew,” she says. “What did he say when I showed up in your poetry class?”
    “Well, I could go ahead and tell you all about that day, but that would mean I would be skipping over our first kiss. You don’t want to hear about the rest of our date?”
    She grins. “You know I do.”

falling
    “WHAT’S THE SAC?” she says when I return with the drinks.
    “Sacrifice. It’s what they use to prepare the judges.” I slide back into the booth but make it a point to scoot in closer this time. “Someone performs something that isn’t part of the competition so the judges can calibrate their scoring.”
    “So they can call on anyone? What if they had called on me?” she asks. She looks terrified at the thought.
    “Well, I guess you should have had