Marcus thought a lot about Tricia Brennan. He thought about her as he rode his bike to Shaw's after school to stock shelves for two hours. The canned beets reminded him of the dark red sweater she wore in winter. It wasn't bulky like her other sweaters, but showed her shape. Wiping down the floor in the toiletries aisle, his eyes landed on a row of hairbrushes, reminding him of the way her hair fell across her back and swished from side to side as she walked. Guys often talked about staring at girls' asses while they walked behind them in the halls, and Marcus wasn't against that, he just found himself mesmerized by her honey brown locks, curled just at the ends, and sliding back and forth against the small of her back. He wanted to reach out and touch her hair, but he figured she'd slap his hand away if he didn't have a good reason for it.
He first saw Tricia each morning as she waited for the school bus. Although he rode his bike to school, he and Tricia lived nearby, so he got in the habit of riding by her stop each morning on his way in. Sometimes she noticed and gave a slight wave. Other times she was too busy talking with Corey Melkins to see Marcus ride by. And there was the time he rode beside the bus nearly the entire way to school. He had nearly been hit by cars twice as he tried to keep pace with the bus in the morning traffic. He imagined that she noticed and had watched him through the window—he could not see inside the bus to know where she sat but he had a feeling she knew and was watching. When he arrived, exhausted and sweaty, he stopped right in front of where the bus was letting students off and waited as everyone disembarked. Tricia was one of the last to get off the bus. While still trying to catch his breath, he smiled and nodded at her. She walked past without a glance.
They didn't share any classes together, but they were on the same lunch schedule. Marcus sat with his buddies at a table in back, furthest from where the teacher monitors sat, while Tricia and her friends stayed near the front. She often brought her lunch in a box with lots of little compartments and interesting foods, while he had a brown bag with a ham sandwich and chips or sometimes pretzels. He always walked to the trashcan across the cafeteria to throw out his empty bags. It gave him a chance to walk past her and over hear her conversations, just for a moment. He wanted to catch her talking about him, but so far he hadn't. She talked about Corey sometimes, but Marcus didn't think it sounded the least bit serious.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays he stayed after school to take some pictures for the yearbook. Lacrosse team, soccer team, football team, jazz band. Whatever sports or clubs were meeting those days, he'd find them practicing and take pictures. Tricia played on the girls' field hockey team, so he was sure to drop by and take pictures of them as often as he could. He would get actions shots while they were focused and playing, then smiling poses when they noticed him and started to preen. Tricia smiled a lot for the pictures.
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