Signs Point to Yes

by Sandy Hall

  “What kind of story?”

  “I don’t know. You’ll think it’s weird,” Jane said quietly.

  “Oh come on, you totally called the Buck thing. You might as well share your family crap.”

  “I don’t know. It sucks being the idiot in a family of geniuses.”

  Teo looked less surprised than Jane would have liked.

  “Yeah, I get that, too.”

  “Keegan and the twins are in Mensa?”

  “No. I don’t mean the genius thing. I mean, like, um…” He shook his head and looked at the sky, and Jane had the keen feeling that Teo wasn’t going to say much more that night about anything of importance. And she wouldn’t push him.

  “Ah, you know. The stepfather crap. Them being my half sisters,” Teo said, waving a hand as if to clear the air. “But your family aren’t all geniuses. I mean, they’re nice people, but they’re normal smart. You’re just smart in a different way.”

  Jane accepted the subject change. “I’m average at best. And they’re all like—”

  The boom of the first firework swallowed up the rest of her sentence.

  “To be continued,” Jane said. Teo smiled.

  Teo lay back on the roof with his arms under his head, and Jane mirrored him.

  “This would be extremely romantic with the right person,” Jane said.

  “And I’m the wrong person?” Teo asked with a devilish grin.

  “What? No! I didn’t mean it like that. I just meant … Well, I didn’t even really mean to say it out loud.”

  Teo nodded.

  “I’m a freaking mess sometimes.”

  “Aren’t we all,” Teo said.

  Jane closed her eyes and imagined what a different kind of girl would do in this moment, the kind of girl who was confident and didn’t feel the need to consult a fortune-telling toy before making any decisions. She let out a deep breath and opened her eyes to find Teo watching her.

  He grinned sheepishly.

  Grins like that should be illegal, Jane thought.

  They sat quietly for a moment after the show ended. Everything seemed darker than before the fireworks started, like there wasn’t any light in the whole world.

  “Guess I’d better go,” he said, slipping back through the window. He extended his hand to help Jane through.

  It was sweaty and made Jane feel better about not being the only nervous one.

  Or maybe her hand was sweaty.

  It was hard to tell, so she pulled away fast and rubbed her hand on her shorts.

  They stood in the middle of her room, and the bed seemed to loom large in front of them, making Jane have thoughts suited more to fan fiction than to real life.

  She shook her head, trying to clear away the weird thoughts that seemed so loud she wouldn’t be shocked if Teo could hear them.

  “Well,” he said.

  “Well,” Jane said, nodding.

  Teo took a deep breath, opening his mouth like he was about to say something important and memorable, something that might change the course of everything.

  Instead, he hooked a thumb toward the bedroom door and left without another word.

  Jane peeked out the window and watched him walk home. He glanced up and caught her there, peering out at him, and he waved.

  Normally she would have been embarrassed, but right now she was happy that he was the kind of guy who looked back one more time.

  Chapter 10

  On the fifth of July, Margo was up early, waiting for her sister to emerge from her bedroom cocoon so Margo could ask her a favor. By nine a.m. Margo was getting antsy. By ten she couldn’t sit still.

  “Margo, are you having some kind of episode?” her father asked.

  “I wanted to ask Jane something,” she said innocently.

  “Why don’t you go wake her up instead of flitting around here like some kind of possessed hummingbird?”

  Using her father’s words as permission, Margo flew up the stairs and knocked on Jane’s door until she finally heard a muffled “Come in.”

  “Janie,” Margo said.

  “Margo, I’m busy,” Jane said, rolling onto her stomach and pulling her covers over her head.

  “Jane,” Margo whined.

  “No.”

  “You don’t even know what I was going to ask.”

  Jane huffed and flipped over. “What? What do you need from me?”

  “You have a pool pass, right?”

  “Yeah, Connie bought it for me,” Jane said, leaning on her elbows.

  “Can you bring guests in?”

  “Yes. A day pass is, like, five dollars.”

  “Can you bring me in?”

  “Why do you want to go to the pool?”

  “I don’t know—it’s something different to do.”

  “We could go to the beach,” Jane offered.

  “No way,” Margo said. “It’s Fourth of July weekend. The place is crawling with Bennies.”

  “Good point. Let’s avoid the out-of-towners,” Jane said, lying back on her pillows and yawning.

  “It’ll be fun,” Margo said.

  “Yeah, I’m not so sure about that.”

  “Maybe Teo will be working.”

  Jane sat up straight and narrowed her eyes at her sister.

  “I mean, because you guys are becoming friends, not for any other reason,” Margo added, wanting to hedge her bets. Even though she was sure that Jane was nursing a big old crush on Teo, she didn’t want to freak her out about it. And she didn’t want Jane to say no to taking her to the pool.

  Jane chewed her lip for a second. “Fine. We’ll go. But I need food first.”

  “I’ll buy you a bacon-egg-and-cheese bagel.”

  Jane hopped out of the bed and patted her sister’s head. “You’ve won me over with your generous spirit.”

  “Awesome,” Margo said. Since Jane seemed so pleased, Margo didn’t mention that the bagel would cost her all of two dollars.

  “I’ll drive,” she offered when they were outside.

  “No way. I want to drive,” Jane said, snatching the keys out of her sister’s hand and racing for the car. Margo had to admit it was nice to let someone else drive for a change.

  It was the kind of day where the sun didn’t just beat down on the cracked pavement—it pulsed. Ordinarily, the pool would be packed from one end to the other. But since it was Fourth of July weekend, people had other things to do.

  After eating their bagels while lounging on the lawn surrounding the pool, they walked through the gates and were surveying their available options when someone spoke up behind them.

  “If I’d known you’d be making an appearance, I would have reserved the VIP area.”

  Margo hadn’t seen Jane look so happy since the Christmas when she was ten and her parents had bought her a lime-green mountain bike.

  “Hey,” Jane said.

  “Hey,” Teo replied.

  And then they just stood there looking at each other idiotically for what felt like a thousand years.

  “Hi!” Margo finally said, leaning into Teo’s line of sight.

  “Hey, Margo. I didn’t even see you there.”

  “Thanks,” she said.

  He didn’t even register Margo’s sarcasm before turning back to Jane.

  “Last night was fun,” he said.

  “It was,” Jane agreed.

  Then a whistle blew from across the pool and Teo had to rush away, but Margo already had plenty of ammunition for torturing her sister all afternoon.

  “We have a great view of the lifeguards,” Margo said as they dropped their stuff onto deck chairs at the far end of the pool.

  “Why would I want a great view of the lifeguards?” Jane asked.

  Margo looked at Jane pointedly.

  “We’re just friends,” Jane said, but her blush gave her away.

  “I don’t believe you.”

  “I swear!”

  “Tell me what happened last night, and I’ll tell you whether you�
��re ‘just friends,’” Margo said as they slipped into the pool.

  Jane dragged out the story of watching the fireworks with Teo on the roof far longer than was really necessary while they bobbed in the deep end, but by the time she finished, it was obvious that Jane had a whopper of a crush on their neighbor. It almost made Margo not want to tease her too much.

  Almost.

  When they were getting out of the pool, an Asian girl who was vaguely familiar to Margo approached them.

  “Hey,” Jane said to the girl. Then she turned to Margo. “This is Claudia Lee.”

  “Oh, hey,” Margo said.

  “And this is my sister, Margo,” Jane said to Claudia.

  “Hey,” Claudia said. “I think we were in the same art class my freshman year.”

  “Yeah, totally,” Margo said. “I knew you looked familiar.”

  Jane’s jaw dropped. “You took art class?” she asked her sister.

  “Yeah. I had a spot for an elective my junior year, and it seemed like a fun one.”

  Margo didn’t mention that she actually transferred into it to hang out with a girl named Kara Maxwell. She also didn’t mention that while she was out with her friends yesterday, she learned that the very same Kara Maxwell was an assistant manager at the pool. Margo kept both of those facts to herself.

  “What are you doing here?” Jane asked, taking her seat and motioning for Claudia to take the one next to her.

  “The usual,” Claudia said, gesturing toward a group of kids.

  “Claudia is in charge of her stepbrother and stepsister every freaking day of her life,” Jane informed Margo, who nodded and slid her sunglasses back up her nose to hide her eyes.

  Kara Maxwell had finally taken the lifeguard stand.

  While Jane and Claudia chatted like old friends, Margo spent the next few hours watching Kara rotate around the pool from one lifeguard chair to the next while trying to think of a decent opening line.

  They hadn’t exactly been close in high school. Margo had only watched Kara from afar, but maybe that could change now.

  Margo was pleased when Teo went back on rotation. She liked the idea that she wasn’t the only person sitting there pining for one of the lifeguards.

  “You got it bad for him,” Claudia said, looking up from her book to follow Jane’s line of sight.

  “I do not.”

  Margo leaned over to address Claudia. “She totally does. And he’s definitely into her, too. You should have seen them trying to flirt earlier.”

  “Don’t worry,” Claudia said. “I get to witness it every day at swim class.”

  “Do we really have to discuss this in earshot of him?” Jane asked, casting a desperate glance in Teo’s direction.

  “Something happened last night,” Margo told Claudia, pitching her voice a little lower.

  Claudia punched Jane in the arm. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “We just watched the fireworks together! We’re friends. I don’t like-like him.”

  Margo smirked and Claudia raised a doubtful eyebrow.

  “Fine. Whatever. I appreciate him—”

  “You appreciate his buttocks,” Claudia interrupted.

  “I appreciate him,” Jane continued, undeterred, “for being helpful and sweet.”

  “You love him,” Margo said.

  “No, no,” Claudia said. “She doesn’t love him, but she definitely lurves him.”

  “A very important distinction,” Margo said.

  “What’s the opposite of lurve?” Jane asked. “Because that’s how I feel about the two of you.”

  “Ouch. Burn,” Claudia said. “So if you guys aren’t here to check out Teo, and you’re not here because of babysitting, then why are you here?”

  Jane looked at Margo. “It was her idea.”

  “Margo, you really couldn’t think of anything better to do?”

  Margo shook her head sadly. “You were in art with me. You know I’m not that creative.”

  “Oh, oh,” Claudia whispered, patting Jane’s arm to get her attention and tipping her chin in the other direction. “Teo.”

  Jane sat up straighter and tried to fix her hair a bit, even though there really wasn’t any hope, between the chlorine and the sun drying it out.

  But it was the attempt that solidified for Margo that Jane had it bad for this kid.

  “Hey,” Teo said.

  “Hi,” Jane said, her voice breathy.

  Margo mouthed Just act normal! at Jane, who tried to smile but looked more like she was about to have oral surgery than like she was happy to see Teo.

  Margo tried to think of something else to say to fill the silence and to cover up for Jane who was quietly freaking out for no apparent reason. Then she caught sight of someone else approaching them.

  Kara Maxwell.

  Margo pulled her towel up higher out of fear of a nip slip and pushed her sunglasses up on her head, hoping to miraculously tame her own hair.

  “Hey, Margo!” Kara said.

  Margo sighed with relief at Kara’s apparent enthusiasm, but the sigh got mixed in with her greeting and she ended up sounding nearly as breathy as Jane had.

  “I was coming over to see if you guys were giving Teo a hard time, but I guess not.” Kara glanced at the other two girls and nodded in greeting.

  Kara looked over at Claudia. “Hey, what’s up? I was just texting your brother. I hear you guys are having your annual Uncle Bru party soon.”

  “We are,” Claudia said. “You guys should all come, too.”

  “Um, okay,” Jane said.

  “All of you,” Claudia said, looking at Teo and Margo.

  “Sounds fun,” Teo said, glancing over at Jane, only to catch Jane looking up at him. They both looked away bashfully.

  “My brother, Darryl, and I have a party at our uncle’s place every summer. He goes on some kind of fishing trip with his college buddies. I’ll never understand how he doesn’t notice. But I guess it’s kind of a don’t ask, don’t tell thing.”

  Margo could have sworn that Kara looked over at her for a split second as though Margo would understand the “don’t ask, don’t tell” reference better than anyone else in the group. It gave her the smallest shred of hope.

  Because Margo actually had no clue whether Kara was into girls. Margo had heard some things, but she didn’t know for sure.

  Margo stood up quickly, surprising everyone.

  “We should exchange numbers,” she said to Kara, waving her phone around.

  “Sure,” Kara said. “I’ll give you mine, and you should text me.”

  “So when is this blowout going on?” Margo asked Claudia.

  “Next Saturday,” Claudia said. “I’ll shoot Jane the details.”

  The five of them talked for a few more minutes, and then Teo and Kara left to do their next rotation and Jane mumbled something about wanting to go.

  Things couldn’t have gone better for Margo, so she didn’t mind leaving. In fact, it was probably the best day Margo had had all summer. Maybe even all year.

  “You can drive home,” Jane said, tossing her the keys on the way to the car.

  Margo pulled out of the pool parking, and Jane’s hand slapped against the dash as she braced herself.

  “Oh my God, Margo! Didn’t you see that minivan?” Jane asked.

  “What? No. I must have missed it.”

  Jane was quiet for a moment. “I didn’t know you knew Kara Maxwell.”

  “Um. Yeah. We went to high school together, but we were never close.”

  “It’s so nice to see you making friends after all these years, Margo,” Jane said in a fairly good impression of their mother.

  “Like you were making friends with Teo, hmm? That kind of friend?”

  Jane opened her mouth to respond, then covered her eyes as Margo nearly clipped a pedestrian.

  “Sorry!” Margo shouted out the window.

  “You’re a really bad driver.”

  “I’m offensive as opposed to
defensive,” Margo said.

  “If you say so,” Jane said.

  “There are all different kinds of drivers.”

  “Uh-huh. And, for the record, Teo and I really are just friends.”

  “Just friends for now,” Margo said. “What you need is a plan.”

  Jane rolled her eyes.

  Margo smiled. “Do you want ice cream? I’m in the mood for ice cream.”

  Jane white-knuckled the door handle as Margo U-turned across a four-lane road to get a parking spot.

  “I would love ice cream, but I’m totally driving home. My heart can’t take this,” Jane said as they got out of the car.

  “You sound like Mom.”

  “That’s a terrible thing to say!” Jane said, passing her sister and running for the door of the ice-cream shop. “Oh, and you’re paying or else I’ll tell Mom you tried to kill a pedestrian.”

  “She’ll never believe you.”

  “I can be fairly persuasive.”

  It was Margo’s turn to roll her eyes, but she paid for the ice cream, just in case.

  Chapter 11

  The week after the holiday dragged for Jane. She saw Teo only a couple of times, but each time he mentioned the upcoming party. So that was good news.

  On Friday afternoon as she was leaving work, Jane got up the courage to ask him if he wanted to go to the party with her and Margo.

  “Oh, I’m actually going with some of the other lifeguards right from the pool, but I’ll see you there,” he said.

  Jane searched his face in the hope of detecting some disappointment, but she didn’t find any.

  On Saturday night, she and Margo managed to get out of the house without too much fuss.

  “I think they’re really excited that we’re hanging out together,” Margo said as they walked to the car. Their parents had even extended Jane’s curfew until twelve thirty.

  “I have to agree,” Jane said as she walked right to the driver’s side.

  “I could drive.”

  “You are the worst driver on earth, and I want to actually make it to this party alive.”

  Margo slouched in the passenger seat and crossed her arms. “Fine.”

  They parked a couple of blocks away from Claudia’s uncle’s house, just as Claudia had instructed. When they got to the house, there was a message written in sidewalk chalk on the driveway: SHUT UP AND WALK AROUND BACK! it said.