Cursed by Monica Wolfson Page A

to give her a ride.
    “Forget it,” Jenna said. “How’s Evan?”
    “Who?” Sasha made an attempt at being cryptic.
    “Uh, the hot guy from your birthday party,” Jenna snapped not wanting to play games.
    “I told you Jenna he told me he wasn’t interested,” Sasha said glumly. “He doesn’t want to date me.”
    “Oh, I thought he’d change his mind,” Jenna said.
    “Why’s that?”
    “Guys can be so stupid. They like to pretend they aren’t interested when they really are. I figured he’d come around.”
    “I hope you’re right.”
     
    Sasha sensed her interest in track was slipping as of late. She dragged herself to practice, didn’t engage with the other runners and felt alone in the crowd. She’d started withdrawing after her birthday dinner and wondered if it had something to do with Evan’s rejection.
    She used to love running and now she saw it as a chore. No one made her do it but if she didn’t keep it up she’d get out of shape fast. Running had always been a comfort, a place she could go to think and work out her problems. Now she found her mind racing, constantly thinking about Evan and the impossibility of ever having a relationship with him and it made her sad. She’d tear up while she ran, her breath becoming labored because of the emotions churning through her mind and body. She wished she could turn off her feelings and make herself numb.
    Sasha thought track was a perfect sport for mindless running because she was surrounded by people but it didn’t make a difference. She found herself caught up in her thoughts and not paying attention to what she was supposed to be doing. If anything Evan was bad for her running.
    She was washing her hair in the gym shower after practice when Sasha heard the door bang open. For a second she envisioned Nefar rushing into the shower and attacking her with fire balls. She tense and stopped shampooing her hair until she heard a female voice.
    “Sasha,” a girl yelled. “There’s a guy out here waiting for you.”
    Sasha stared at her soapy hands worried at the possibilities.
    “Who is it?”
    “Heck if I know,” the girl said “But I’d like to know him.”
    “What does he look like?”
    There was no answer, the girl was gone. Sasha quickly rinsed her hair full of curiosity. She wondered if it was Evan, and if she were honest with herself, she’d admit she wanted it to be him. She was curious about how he found out where she went to school. She went to a private school and she assumed Evan went to the public school. They weren’t anywhere close to each other, so how did he guess which school was hers? She couldn’t remember showing up in the café in her uniform or telling him about her school or even that she was on the track team.
    Speculating was distracting her and she suddenly realized it could be one of the café robbers outside as well. She didn’t know what they looked like but theoretically one could be good looking.
    She finished her shower quickly skipping shaving her legs or putting conditioner in her hair. She toweled dry, shoved her hair into a ponytail and dressed as quickly as she could considering she was shoving sweatpants over wet legs. She always brought a change of clothes so that she didn’t have to put her uniform back on after her shower.
    She left the locker room and found the hallway empty. A slight drop of disappointment tingled in her belly. Where could he be? She walked down the corridor toward the parking lot guessing that he was waiting in his car and she was right.
    She knocked lightly on the closed driver’s side window and waited for Evan to roll it down.
    “Hey,” she said trying to keep her excitement in check. He’d already rejected her so she’d be an idiot to get her hopes up.
    Instead of rolling down the window Evan opened his door and slipped out. “Sorry for surprising you,” he said. “I just wanted to see how you were. Come here.”
    He slipped his hand around her elbow and guided