Markings by S. B. Roozenboom Read Free Book Online Page A

The windows had a crank handle to roll them up versus a button. The seats were made of glossy black leather, and in the dash I spotted a tape player instead of a CD player.
    “You like retro much?” I asked, staring at a Marilyn Monroe sticker on the glove box.
    “It was my dad’s,” Aaron replied, unlocking the doors.
    “Oh.” The way he used the past tense said that was not a subject open for discussion.
    We were silent as we slid into the car, side by side. I tensed as he reached near me to turn the heat on. He noticed, eyes flicking to the thigh I’d pulled away, but he didn’t comment. I made note that if he was going to attack me, this would’ve been the perfect time. Instead, he steered the Cougar out of the lot, ignoring the directional arrows and yellow lines.
    “You don’t have like, any DUIs or speeding tickets I should be concerned about, right?” I asked.
    He laughed darkly. “One speeding ticket when I was eighteen, but nothing else. I don’t drink. I don’t care much for the party scene or anything that goes with it.”
    “Oh.” Whew. That was a relief. “So, no bar fights on the weekends?”
    He gave me a funny look like, where’d you get that idea ? “Definitely not. I avoid town and people as much as I can.”
    “So, you tripped down the stairs and went through a window, and that’s how you tore up your leg?”
    Maybe it was my imagination, but it looked like he flinched. “No. Good guess though. Animal attack.”
    My eyes widened. “The cougar?”
    “No. Dog.”
    “At the shelter?”
    “Nearby.”
    “Well, wait, I’m confused. Same weekend or different weekend? Because I didn’t see any dog the night I found you. I just know the cougar escaped.”
    “Different.” He fidgeted for some reason, tapping his fingers on the wheel and shifting in his seat. “No, the night you found me I was coming back from the reserve. I’ll go jogging in there sometimes—don’t tell Jamie—and that was the night I came back and . . . ran into the cougar.”
    “Oh. Hmm.” So he had lied about not remembering anything. I knew it .
    “Anyways, it’s over now. Nothing to worry about. I’m fine,” he said. “Tell me about you. How much longer are you at the shelter?”
    “Another week or two. Not totally sure. Jamie will tell me when she doesn’t need my help anymore.”
    “Ah, I see. You like working at my work?”
    “Yes. Do you like going to school at my school?”
    “Not particularly.”
    I laughed. “Yeah, me neither. Wait.” I scrunched my eyebrows. “You got a speeding ticket when you were eighteen. How old are you now?”
    He grimaced. “Nineteen.”
    “So, were you held back a year? Are you a super senior?”
    “Mm-hmm.”
    “Why?”
    “Personal problems. Most of my teenage years were sort of messy, I guess you could say. I didn’t really care about education back then.”
    “Oh. I’m sorry.” I frowned. “Mine were kind of messy, too.”
    “Yeah. Things were pretty bad.” His grip on the steering wheel tightened. “Some people, like a few at the shelter perhaps, might tell you I’m not a friend worth keeping anymore. I’m arrogant. Cold. Stupid.”
    “Well, according to my mother all men are at one point or another.” I shrugged, sort of joking.
    He glanced at me as we hit a red light. The way his expression sort of froze I knew he hadn’t gotten the joking part and was waiting for my opinion—not my mom’s.
    So I finally laid it out. “To be honest, you sort of creep me out, Aaron. You buried your face in my hair in the woods, and you keep popping up in my life at these weird, random times. I’m probably just being neurotic, but still. ”
    Color crept into his cheeks. “Yeah, I guess I can see why you think that.”
    “So do you care to explain yourself?”
    “No. You wouldn’t understand.”
    “You might be surprised what I understand.”
    “I might, but I’m not ready to risk it yet.” He smiled again. “I will explain sometime though,