“Of course I’m excited.” I smiled at her. “It’s one of the nicest things anybody has ever done for me. And I really love the basket. I only wish I knew who left it, so that I could give him a proper thank-you.” I put the basket down and faced my locker mates as I continued speaking. “So, which one of you gave him my locker combination?”
Beth and Cam both faked innocence. At least, I think they were faking. Beth responded first. “What are you talking about?”
“Oh, don’t play dumb with me,” I scolded, pointing my finger back and forth between them. “I know one or both of you knows who left this. In order to put it in my locker, mystery man would have needed the combination. There are two people in this school, besides myself, that know my locker combo. And they both happen to be standing right in front of me. Unless he’s been spying on me with binoculars while I open it, one of you gave him the info.” I stood there, hands on my hips, taping my foot, channeling my inner Nancy Drew.
They both gawked at me, stunned and silent, before Cam spoke up. “Bebe, I swear I didn’t give your locker combination to anyone.”
“Me, either,” Beth agreed, shaking her head.
“Come on, guys. I’m not buying it. I wasn’t born yesterday, you know. I’m not leaving this spot until I get the truth.”
“Maybe someone really was watching you open your locker so they could get the combo?” Beth reasoned. “It’s not impossible. You wouldn’t even have to get that close to figure it out. If it was at a time when the halls were really crowded, he could’ve seen you open it from just a couple feet away. You probably wouldn’t even have noticed he was watching.”
Beth made a valid point. I frowned.
“Plus, Bebe, you know the office secretary keeps everyone’s combo on her desk in a manila folder,” Cam added. “So that she can look them up if people forget. Or break in if Principal Davis thinks someone has contraband stashed. It wouldn’t be very hard to lean over the counter while she was gone and peek in the folder.” Cam looked thoughtful. “It’s actually a little disturbing how easy it would be for someone to get another person’s locker combination.”
My determination was fading. Another good point. Maybe they really didn’t know who was doing this. And if that was the case, who knew when I’d find out the truth? “You guys promise you didn’t give out my locker combo to someone? And before you answer, remember that you both recently swore never to lie to me again. Cam, under penalty of eye gouging.”
“We promise,” Beth answered for both of them. She looked at Cam, and he nodded in agreement.
The bell rang. Cam and I said good-bye to Beth as we headed off to English class. I hoped my secret admirer wouldn’t wait too long to reveal himself. There was a stack of candy and some Diet Coke in my locker that were calling my name.
. . . . .
Ms. Lambert let us out of PE a little early, and I didn’t need to rinse off, so I got to chemistry class right as the fifth-hour dismissal bell was ringing. I went in to the empty classroom and plopped down on my stool, opening my backpack. I was pouring over yesterday’s notes to brush up for today’s quiz, when I felt someone walk up beside me. Brady was standing there, looking as handsome as ever, and flashing his beautiful smile.
“Hey, Bea. How’s it going?”
“It’s going ok. How are you today?” I smiled back at him and closed my notebook.
“Pretty good,” he answered, then paused before speaking again. “I was wondering… Were you planning on going to the football game tomorrow? It’s an away game. I was thinking that if you weren’t already going with someone else, maybe you’d want to ride up with me? We could get some food after. If you’re up for it, maybe even catch a movie?”
Cam and I usually went to the home football games together, but we rarely made the effort to attend away games. And we hadn’t discussed the possibility of going to this one, so I didn’t see any reason not to say yes.
“I’d love to,” I answered, sincerely excited about the invitation.
“Awesome. The game starts at seven, so I guess I’ll pick you up at six?” Brady asked.
Cam had come in during our exchange and was trying to pretend like he wasn’t eavesdropping. Brady glanced at him with a worried expression. Like he was poaching on Cam’s territory. Definitely something he didn’t need to worry about. Cam already knew that Brady liked me and didn’t say he objected. As far as I was concerned, that was the equivalent of giving his blessing.
“Sounds like a plan. I’ll text you my address right now.” I whipped out my phone to send the message before Mr. Gardner could yell at me to put it away.
“Cool.” Brady flashed one last smile, then headed for his seat.
I put my phone back in my bag and I turned to Cam. He was sitting on his stool, staring at me with his mouth hanging open. “What?” I asked, raising my eyebrows expectantly.
“You’re going to the football game with Brady tomorrow? On a date?” He closed his mouth, scrunched his eyebrows, and stuck his bottom lip out in a pout. “We always go to the games together.”
“We almost never go to the away games. I didn’t think you’d care since we hadn’t even discussed going to this one.”
“But you’re going with Brady…on a date…”
“Yes, I think we established that already. You know, I do go out on dates from time to time.”
“But not with Brady.”
“What’s your problem? I thought you liked Brady? I thought you guys were friends? For crap’s sake, Cam, you’re the one who pointed out that he might like me.” I was irritated by his reaction, so I decided to poke the bear. I spoke in baby talk. “What’s wrong, little Cam? Is somebody jealous?” My taunt was mostly meant to be a joke, but he crossed his arms and grunted.
“No. Well, not that much really.”
I laughed and slapped his back. “If it bothers you so much, why don’t you get a date and join us?” I knew he wouldn’t, so my offer was completely benign.
“You know I don’t do that.”
“Come on, Cam, you go out with girls all the time.”
“Yes, but I don’t ask them out. It’s against the rules.”
“I know; it’s a stupid rule.”
Cam looked like a three-year-old ready to throw a temper tantrum, so of course I couldn’t resist pushing him a little more. “You know, if you really wanted to join us, I could tell Angelica that you’re looking to double. All she needs to do is ask.”
His head snapped up and his eyes narrowed. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Yes, I would; I already had. The thought made me snicker. “I’m just trying to help a brother out.” I held up my hands. Cam knew better, and I knew he knew. That’s what made our relationship so fun.
“Fine, you win. Go on your stupid date with Brady. Leave me home, all alone on a Friday night. Maybe I’ll borrow your copy of Love & Basketball while I cry into a gallon of ice cream.” He’d gone back to pouting.
“Oh my gosh, don’t be so dramatic.” I laughed. “One Friday won’t kill you.”
“That’s what you think,” he mumbled as Mr. Gardner spoke, putting an end to our twisted conversation.
“All right, everyone, clear your desks and take out a pencil. It’s quiz time!”
Why did our teacher always sound so excited about quizzes and tests? I guess he loved to torture us. Maybe almost as much as I loved torturing Cam.
CAMERON
Brady. Freaking. Jones. He didn’t know it, but he was becoming my new arch nemesis. The Larry Bird to my Magic Johnson. Yes, I know as far as looks were concerned Brady should be Johnson and I should be Bird, but forget that. Nobody is better than my man Magic, so Brady is the Bird. The big, dumb Bird. Big Bird. The thought of that goofy Sesame Street character made me smirk. From now on at practice, I’d just call him Big Bird. The nickname wouldn’t make sense to anyone else on the team, but it wouldn’t matter. If I started it, the name would stick. Serves him right. Nobody tries to snake my girl from me.
I was in a grumpy mood, so when I asked my mom if I could take my dinner upstairs and eat in my room, she didn’t argue. Now, I sat at the computer wondering what my next move should be. Obviously I had to know what was happening on that date tomorrow. I didn’t trust them to be alone together. What if he tried to kiss her? Even worse, what if she kissed him back? What if there was more than kissing? Good heavens. I couldn’t think about that.
C: Bebe is going out with Brady tomorrow night.
B: I know. She told me at dinner.
C: What am I supposed to do?
B: I don’t know, what can you do?
C: Well, I have to stop it.
B: I don’t think that’s a good idea. She’d be pretty mad.
C: I can’t sit around and do nothing.
B: I don’t know what to tell you.
C: We should go with them.
B: Still a bad idea.
C: Fine, whatever. I can see you aren’t going to be any help.
Ten seconds after I sent my last text, my phone rang, Beth’s name on the screen. I picked it up and went straight into my rant.
“I know I sound like a jerk, but I can’t handle the thought of them going out.”
“I clearly remember someone telling me recently that the proper response when answering the phone was hello,” Beth lectured me without responding to my comment.
“Hello, Mom.” I didn’t have time for a tongue lashing, so I moved on. “What if he puts the moves on her? If they hold hands, or kiss, or make out… I’m going to freak out. Do you hear me? What if he asks her to homecoming? I can’t watch her dancing with another guy all night. It would be torture.”
“What did you think would happen? You already have a date to the dance, remember? And even if you didn’t, you refuse to ask Bebe. You blew your shot there.” There wasn’t an ounce of sympathy in her voice.
“I thought you were on my team, Beth?”
“I am. Really, I am. But I’m not going to sabotage Bebe’s date, if that’s what you’re thinking of doing. That is what you’re planning, isn’t it?”
“If I promise to go undercover, will you go with me? Just reconnaissance work. Spying only, no interference, no sabotage, no fighting Big Bird.”
“Fighting who?” Now she was confused.
“Never mind.” I didn’t feel like explaining the nickname. “Will you come with me?”
“I don’t know. If she saw us, we’d be back on her black list. She’s barely forgiven us for the last infraction.”
“That’s why we won’t let her see us. We’ll get disguises.” I was starting to sound like a maniacal mad man. Sooner or later, my sinister laugh was going to break free.
“Yeah, because that won’t be obvious. Good idea, lover boy.”
“Ok, no disguises. But we can wear sweats and hoodies and keep them up over our heads so we’re less noticeable. Please? I have to know what happens. It could be fun. You don’t have other plans, do you?”
“You mean other than needing to be at the game to cheer?”
“Yes or no, Beth?” I was losing my patience.
“If I say no, will you go without me anyway and cause a big scene?”
“Potentially…” Ok, I probably wouldn’t, but she didn’t need to know that. I needed a wingman, and she was my only option. There was silence on her end of the phone, and then she finally released a big sigh.
“Fine. I’ll go with you. But if we get caught, I’m throwing you under the bus.”
“Beth, you’re the best.”
“I know. You’ve said so a lot lately. I have to ride the bus over with the cheer squad, and obviously I can’t sit with you at the game. But I’ll get a note from my dad excusing me from the bus ride home. That way I can leave with you. You’ll have to keep tabs on them, because we’ll need to follow them from the stadium to wherever they’re going. I’ll try to get some clues about their plan beforehand, but I can’t give her the third degree. She’ll know something’s up.”
“That’s ok. I’m an expert at tailing people.” I was already in spy mode, and Bebe’s date was still a whole day away.
“When’s the last time you tailed someone?” Beth’s tone said I was full of crap and losing my marbles. Maybe I was.
“Ok, well I’m sure I will be excellent at it. I’m good at most things.”
“Humble, too.” Her eye roll was implied. “Make a plan, and I’ll go with the flow. But seriously, Cam, do not get us caught. You hear me?”
“Yes, Mom.”
Beth laughed and hung up the phone without saying good-bye. I didn’t care if I promised not to interfere. If it looked like things were going to get serious, I’d find a way to break them up. Knowing I had a plan lifted a huge weight off my chest, and I was able to focus on the other task at hand. I still had to come up with a way to show Bebe that I was thinking about her tomorrow. Another item in her locker would probably be pushing it. I didn’t want to get caught yet, so my gesture needed to be on a different turf and much bigger than the last.
After thirty minutes of nothing but super dumb ideas, I did what no man should ever do. I had no choice; I wasn’t that creative. I opened a Pinterest account. My mom was on that stupid website all the damn time, so I knew there’d be plenty of ideas. I just hoped that nobody ever found out. I should be safe because I didn’t link it to my Facebook, and I was pretty confident none of my guy friends were on there. To be sure, I made my username Magic-J and skipped a profile picture. Hopefully that would be enough to keep my dirty little secret.
Ten minutes later, I found the perfect idea. Something called a heart attack. It’s where you cut out all kinds of paper hearts and hot glue them to popsicle sticks. Then you shove the sticks in the ground at the yard of the person you want to heart attack. When they come out in the morning, their lawn is covered in hearts. It was going to be a lot of work, but I knew that my mom had all of the necessary items in her hobby room. That would save me another embarrassing trip to the craft section at the store. Plus, this would definitely make the grand statement I was looking for.
After hunting down the supplies and asking my mom how to work the glue gun (yeah, that was an interesting conversation), I got started on my project. Three hours later, I had five hundred construction paper hearts in all colors and sizes glued to popsicle sticks. I’d also made one giant heart to tape to Bebe’s front door, with a simple message that I’d typed up on my computer.
Bianca,
I wanted you to know that you have my hearts.
Yours - ?
You have my hearts…plural… Get it? Because there were five hundred of them going on her lawn. Damn, I was clever. I was also getting good at this whole secret admirer thing. I looked over my room, paper scraps everywhere. If my career in the NBA didn’t pan out, maybe I could do this for a living.
I peeked out my window, then at my clock. It was midnight and all the lights were off across the street, but I decided to wait a little longer. Just in case. Finally, at one o’clock, I threw on my black sweatpants and black hoodie. I even added a black ski mask for effect. Then I dumped my laundry basket out on my bed, put the paper hearts in it, and snuck across the street.
I bent over to put the first stick in the ground, but it was much harder to get in than I expected it to be. Damn popsicle sticks; the ends were blunt. What were the manufacturers thinking? They should have made the ends sharp. Forget that it’d be a hazard to small children; it would have made my night a hell of a lot easier.
An hour later, I stuck my last heart in the ground, then ti
ptoed to the front door and taped my note to it. I hurried across the street and into my house. Then I ran straight up the stairs and looked out my window to survey my work. The moon was pretty bright, and I had a clear view of the yard. For the first time, it dawned on me how lucky I’d been that I hadn’t been caught.
Bebe’s yard looked awesome; I mean, it seriously kicked butt. If this didn’t knock her socks off, then there was no hope of impressing her. I shucked off my clothes and buried myself under my blankets. For the third time this week, I fell asleep with a huge grin on my face.
Morning came quickly, and when my alarm went off, I started to snooze it before remembering last night. I shot out of bed. Had Bebe seen her front yard yet? I kind of wanted to be there when she did, if I wasn’t too late already. I jumped in and out of the shower, threw on the first outfit that looked clean, brushed my teeth, gathered my school books, and headed down stairs. I was getting ready to walk out the door, when I noticed the clock. I wouldn’t normally head over for another twenty minutes. I guess I should’ve enjoyed my shower a little longer. If I went over now, I’d look suspicious.
I sat on the couch in the front room, my stare alternating between the window and the clock. After the longest ten minutes of my life, I decided to give up and headed over early anyway. I walked through the side door and into the kitchen, where Bebe was making her customary bagel and Beth was blending a smoothie. All right, Cam, don’t give yourself away. I waited until the blender was done, took a few deep breaths, and put on a casual expression.
“Hey, guys. What’s up with the front yard?” I suppose I could have had a better segue. Guess it’s too late now.
Bebe gave me a questioning look. “What do you mean, what’s up with the front yard?”
I pulled an apple from the fruit bowl and took a big bite. People always looked like they didn’t give a crap when they answered a question with their mouths full of food. That’s a thing, right? “You mean, you haven’t seen it yet?” Sweet. Now I could see her reaction as it happened.
Perfectly Oblivious (The Perfect Series Book 1) Page 13
