My Book Boyfriend: Dave

MBB is a weekly meme hosted over at the Unread reader---check out the intro post here

I recently reread Sarah Dessen's What Happened to Goodbye and now I find myself with a little bit of a crush on Dave <3

Dave's actually not my all-time favorite Dessen boy, but still, he is quite charming :)

Now, a little bit about him....

• black hair--messy, kind of curly, kind of long
• his dream: a road trip to Texas with his friends after graduation 
• pretty much a boy genius (but not arrogant at all)
• went to Lakeview High School because he wanted a normal experience for once
• likes basketball
• likes to hang out in the storm shelter of the unoccupied house next door---but not in a creepy way!
• has really uptight, controlling parents
• basically: "boy genius, smoothy maker, cellar dweller"
• 
  

"Coast is clear," he reported, letting the door drop fully open, hitting the ground with a thud. "You should be able to go home now."
"I'd hope so," I said. "since it's only, like--"
"--fourteen feet, seven point two inches, to your back deck," he finished for me. I raised my eyebrows, and he sighed. "I told you. Weird kid."
"Just kid?"
Now, he smiled. "Watch your step."


"So," he said as we turned onto the main road, the muffler rattling, "I've been thinking." 
"Yeah?"
He nodded. "You really need to go out with me.:
I blinker. "I'm sorry?"
"You know. You, me. A restaurant or movie. Together." He glanced over, shifting gears. "Maybe it's a new concept for you? If so, I'll be happy to walk you through it."
"You want to take me to a movie?" I asked.
"Well, not really," he said. "What I really want is for you to be my girlfriend. BUt I thought saying that might scare you off."

As we headed toward town, I leaned back, pulling one leg up underneath me. Beside me, Dave was looking out the window, and for a moment I studied his face, brightened now and then by the lights of oncoming cars. I thought of all the times we'd been together, how I kept coming closer, then retreating, while he stayed right where he was. A constant in a world where few, if any, really existed. An d so as he sat there beside me, I moved a little closer, resting my head on his shoulder. He didn't turn away from he window. HE just lifted his hand, smoothing it over my hair, and held it there