The Hollow by Jessica Verday

good-bye to me.
    Shoving one hand into my pocket, I touched the crumpled-up violet that rested in there, and I couldn't stop smiling the whole way home.

Chapter Seven
    Honorary Member

    Such heaped-up platters of cakes of various and almost indescribable kinds, known only to experienced Dutch housewives!
    "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow"

    To say I was distracted for the rest of the weekend would have been the understatement of the year. I had to keep pulling myself out of dreamland and back down to reality. And it was only because I really did have a science paper to finish that I didn't go back to the river on Sunday just in case he happened to be there.
    After I handed in the completed assignment on Monday morning, I spent the rest of the class debating whether or not I should take the way home that passed by the river. Will Caspian be there? What if he's waiting for me? Or what if he isn't there now but will come by later?
    There were so many variables to consider, I could go crazy trying to think of everything.
    I forced myself to relax; I was putting way too much thought into this. He knew what school I went to. If he wanted to see me again, he could find me. Then panic hit. Oh God, what if he shows up here, at school?
    I hoped Mr. Knickerbocker wasn't going over anything that would be needed for a test later, because I didn't hear a word he said during that whole science class. I was too busy trying to figure out what I should do.
    Finally I came up with the tentative plan of hanging out by the outside steps after school for an extra fifteen minutes in case Caspian showed up, and then taking the way home by the river if he didn't. But by the end of the next period, I was completely convinced that I would look too desperate if I hung around school and stopped by the river again. I didn't want to look like I was chasing him around.
    I went back and forth on it all day long, but ended up being slammed with so much homework that I was too busy to worry about whether or not Caspian would show up. I had a lot of books to shove into my tiny book bag, and it refused to cooperate. I forgot all about the whole idea to wait outside at the end of the day and quickly started home.
    What I didn't forget, though, was my indecision on which way to actually take. I tried to convince myself that there were several valid reasons to go by the river.
    I should stop there in case another piece of police tape had gotten stuck in a tree.
    And I should probably make sure that no one stepped on that shiny thing I'd seen in the water.
    Or what if someone had stepped on the shiny thing, which turned out to be glass, and there was no one around to help bandage their foot?
    There were half a dozen excuses that I could have made, but I knew the real reason why I was going. I wanted to see Caspian again. That was the bottom line. No poorly disguised excuse needed. I held my breath in anticipation as I turned toward the river and tried to work out clever small talk in my head. Hey, what are you doing here?
    Wow! What a surprise! I didn 't expect to see you again so soon.
    Come here often?
    Good move, Abbey, I chastised myself. Greet him with a pickup line used in bars.
    Yeah, I was so not good at this.
    When I got to the riverbank and scanned the edge, no one was there. I looked several times under the bridge, but I didn't see him sitting there, either. Obviously I had a lot more free time on my hands than he did. And obviously I was the only one who was desperate for us to see each other again. Disappointment washed over me and I dragged my feet the rest of the way home.
    I was not in a very good mood when I finally made it up to my room.
    Homework sucked, and it took forever to do. If this was any indication of the upcoming school year, then it was not going to be an easy one. I didn't even want to think about the stack of glossy booklets and colorful brochures that Mom and Dad had started nudging my way. My brain couldn't handle any college drama