Perfectly Oblivious (The Perfect Series Book 1)

by Robin Daniels

  “Why are we stopping? We’re going to lose them,” I complained.

  “I thought that’s what the binoculars were for, super spy.” She smirked at me. “Just give me two seconds to change into something less obvious than my cheer outfit.”

  My eyes got big. “You’re going to change right here?”

  “You got a better idea? If I take time to go to the locker room, they’ll be long gone before I get back.” Beth was already pulling out clothes and unbuttoning her skirt. “Just turn around and keep your eyes glued to them.”

  “Maybe I should watch you change,” I teased. “Bebe might get jealous if she knew I’d seen you in your underwear.” Beth swatted me in the arm.

  “Turn around, you perv, and make sure nobody’s coming. We’re wasting time.”

  Beth must have mastered the art of the quick change, because fifteen seconds later, she was done. Her cheer skirt and sweater were switched out with a pair of black yoga pants and a navy blue hoodie. “Do you still see them?” she asked as she pulled her blonde hair into a loose bun and tucked it under her own beanie.

  “Yes, but they’re getting pretty far away.” I started walking again, and Beth shoved her discarded clothes into her duffel bag before she caught up to me. She examined me as she walked, and then looked down at her own outfit.

  “Are you sure the dark clothes were a good idea? We might blend in better if we were dressed regularly. We look like a couple of dumb teenagers out for a night of mischief.”

  I grinned at her. “That’s exactly what we are, so the outfits are appropriate. Besides, we do blend in…with the shadows…” I whispered the last part, trying to sound mysterious.

  Beth grunted. “Ok, 007. Wait a second while I turn on your theme music.”

  I ignored her jab and quickened my pace. I watched them reach Brady’s car. He walked Bebe to the passenger side and opened the door, then waited until she was safely in before shutting it and walking to the driver’s side. Who did he think he was? A gentleman, or something? The engine roared to life in his Charger. I had to give him credit for one thing: Brady had a pretty sweet ride. All I had was a bike. One point for Brady.

  We continued toward my car, which was parked by the entrance on the opposite side of the parking lot from Brady and Bebe. I watched Brady back his car out, but instead of heading toward the gate he was closest to, he pointed his car in our direction.

  “What’s he doing?” I panicked.

  Beth was scanning the parking lot, her face twisted in a frown. “Looks like the gate is closed in front of the other exit.”

  “Great. They’re going to drive right past us.”

  “Calm down; just pull your hood down lower and walk slowly. They probably won’t even notice us, much less recognize us.”

  There was no calming me down. I’d turned into a crazed lunatic. I watched as Brady turned his car down our aisle and reacted without thinking. I dove between the two closest cars, pulling Beth down with me. At least I had the forethought to pull her on top of me as we tumbled to the pavement so she wouldn’t get hurt. Beth tried to get up, but I held her down as Brady’s car passed. When I was certain the coast was clear, I released her from my grip and jumped to my feet, sprinting the last twenty yards to my car.

  “What the crap was that?” Beth was yelling at me from behind.

  “Hurry, they’re pulling out. We’re going to lose them.”

  I jumped in the driver’s seat and turned on the car, slapping it reverse.

  “Geez, let me get the door shut before you peel out like a mad man.” I ignored her comment while Beth slammed her door and buckled her seat belt. She was fuming mad at me, but I didn’t have time to respond. I exited the parking lot and punched on the gas. They’d already made it through the intersection I was approaching. The light turned yellow, but I didn’t brake and sailed through right before it turned red.

  Once I’d caught up to Brady’s car, I pulled into the other lane and stayed back a few car lengths. I looked over at Beth, who was glaring at me, arms folded across her chest. Man, was she pissed.

  “What?” I asked, shrugging my shoulders. I’m not a dummy, so I already knew what, but I figured it best to feign innocence.

  “You know, it doesn’t matter how many gifts you give her or how many hearts you stick in our yard. If you get me killed, you’re never going to get the girl.”

  Beth was right. I was being pretty irrational, and almost running a red light wasn’t exactly keeping her safe. “I’m sorry. I just freaked out for a bit…they were holding hands. At a football game. That’s a public declaration.”

  “Cam, it’s not that big of a deal. It’s not like they were cuddling or kissing.”

  “Not yet, at least.” I huffed under my breath.

  The rest of the ride remained uneventful. I managed to keep a good distance without having to run any more lights that were pink around the edges. It was a Friday night, so the streets were busy. I don’t think it was obvious that I was following Brady’s car. We’d been on the road for a while, when we hit a busy strip mall and Brady turned into the parking lot. I looked up at the restaurant sign.

  “Chili’s? Really, Brady? You could have at least picked someplace classy,” I said to myself. I actually really liked Chili’s, and so did Bebe. I just needed something to complain about.

  “Shut up.” Beth laughed. “Chili’s is like your favorite restaurant. You’re just being a bad sport. Bebe probably even picked it. You know how much she loves fajitas.”

  I pulled into the parking lot on the other side and parked the car. We waited a few minutes before getting out and walking to the front door. Once inside, I scanned the dining room until I found Bebe and Brady sitting in a booth toward the rear. It was the middle table in a bank of five booths. All of them were back-to-back but separated by tall seats with frosted glass partitions on top. Each booth sided to a wall on one end and a walkway on the other.

  Once we got to a table, I felt confident Beth and I could remain hidden; getting there unseen, however, was going to be a problem. We walked up to a perky hostess who looked about our age.

  “Welcome to Chili’s. How many in your party?”

  “Just the two of us,” Beth answered her.

  I watched as the hostess looked down at her seating board and crossed off a table on the opposite side of the room from where we needed to be. “Actually,” I cleared my voice, “can we sit over there?” I pointed to the booth behind Bebe and Brady. It seemed like the best option for concealing ourselves. The hostess turned to see where I was pointing and then looked at me with a slight frown. I knew my request would mess her up. Time to pull out the big guns.

  I whipped out a wide smile so that the dimples could work their magic and slung my arm around Beth’s shoulder. “Please?” I pleaded. “I know it might screw up your rotation, but my sister here has a really weak bladder, so she likes to sit close to the bathroom.”

  Beth elbowed me in the ribs, hard. “Gee, big brother”—her voice was filled with menace—“way to embarrass me.”

  I laughed as I answered. “Sure thing, sis. That’s what brothers are for.”

  I’m not sure if it was the dimples or the fact that the hostess now thought I was here with my sister and not on a date, but she was suddenly very willing to accommodate.

  “I think I can make that happen.” She smiled at me, then winked. Beth gave me a look that said she was going to throw up. Hey, I couldn’t help it if I was beautiful. And she shouldn’t complain, because right now it was working to our advantage. I knew the hostess would take us in the most direct path, which would march us right past Brady and Bebe. I took off as she leaned over to grab the menus and walked along the wall side of the booths rather than the open side. That way we could approach our table from behind the half wall at the end. I slowed as we reached the corner and let the hostess pull in front of us. Just as I hoped, she positioned her body by the divider between our table and theirs, briefly blocking us from Bebe’s vie
w.

  I quickly pushed Beth into the seat that backed to Brady, then slid onto the bench next to her. The hostess gave me a weird look as she handed us our menus. I guess choosing to sit right next to your sister instead of across from her was the wrong thing to do. I didn’t have any siblings, so I hadn’t thought about my choice looking awkward. I smiled up at the hostess and nodded my head at Beth. “She doesn’t read very well. I always sit next to her at restaurants, to help her with the menu.”

  I heard Beth choke on her spit as the hostess rolled her eyes at me. “Sure you do. Your waitress will be Rebecca, and she’ll be over in a minute.” She walked away.

  Beth picked up her menu and whacked me with it multiple times. “You stupid…” she started to yell at me, and I slapped my hand over her mouth.

  “Shhhh. They’ll hear us,” I lowered my voice, hoping she’d take my cue.

  She remembered where we were, then pulled my hand from her mouth and went back to yelling at me, in a whisper this time. “You stupid jerk! I’m your sister who can’t read and wets her pants?” Her face was a very, very bright shade of red.

  “At least you’re cute. That totally makes up for the incontinence.” That one earned me another slap on the shoulder. Beth buried her face in the menu, content to ignore me when Rebecca, our waitress, strolled up to the table. “Hey, you two. What can I get for you this evening?”

  “I’ll have a bacon cheeseburger with onion rings and a Coke,” Beth whispered. She sounded ridiculous, but we were close enough that if we talked at a normal volume we ran the risk of being heard. Brady might not recognize our voices, but Bebe sure would.

  I didn’t realize how hungry I was until she ordered. “Mmmm, that sounds good. I’ll have the same,” I added, in a whisper as well. The waitress gave us a look that clearly said she was confused by the whispering. I grabbed my throat and smiled as I explained. “We both have laryngitis; this is the loudest we can talk.”

  Rebecca laughed at my obvious lie as she jotted our orders down and started to take our menus. I put my hand on her wrist, continuing to whisper. “Can we hang on to those for a bit? In case we want something else?”

  “Sure thing, kid. I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

  After Rebecca walked away from the table, Beth looked at me with wide eyes. “How much do you intend to eat? Now I look like the girl who can’t read, wets her pants, and eats like a pig.” She folded her arms across her chest and stuck out her bottom lip. Beth was a champion pouter.

  “I’m not going to order more, silly girl. I thought it would be helpful to have the menus in case Bebe or Brady gets up to use the bathroom. We’ll need something to hide behind.”

  “Oh. Well, in that case, good thinking,” Beth agreed. Rebecca returned with our sodas, and Beth took a big swig before continuing. “I hope you brought a lot of money, because you’re paying for dinner. You owe me that much for dragging me out on this crazy escapade.”

  I chuckled quietly. “Fair enough. Now stop talking so we can eavesdrop.”

  We sat there in silence for a few minutes, listening to the two of them talk about the football game. Their conversation was coming in crystal clear. Looked like Beth and I would be whispering for the remainder of our meal. At least I could hear what they were saying. That was the whole point of the mission, after all.

  Brady and Bebe talked, and talked, and talked. About anything and everything: basketball, chemistry class, their families and friends, hobbies, favorite movies, and music. On and on and on, until all of our dinners had been eaten and cleared away. I was getting bored; they hadn’t said a single thing that was interesting. How could Bebe seriously be into this guy? He was about as exciting as a coat hanger. Beth must have agreed, because she was starting to squirm.

  “How much longer do we have to sit here? I’ve had like twelve Cokes, and I really need to pee.”

  “Well, you can’t go here. Going in to the bathroom won’t be a problem, but when you come out, Bebe will have a clear shot of your face. I’ll get the check, and then we can run across the parking lot to the gas station.”

  I was signing my name on the credit card slip, when suddenly the night got a whole lot more interesting. Our waitress came out with a large order of drinks for the big group across the aisle from us. She’d set the drink tray full of ice waters and soda on a stand in the aisle, right where our booth joined with Bebe’s. At the same time, Brady and Bebe’s conversation took a bad turn.

  “So, Bianca, do you by any chance have a date to the homecoming dance?”

  Beth whipped her head toward me, and her eyes got big. She’d obviously heard the change in conversation, too. Damn it. Brady was going to ask her to homecoming. This was not happening. I looked around, frantically wondering how I could stop it without being seen. Jumping up and shouting in protest probably wouldn’t go over very well.

  “Actually, I haven’t been asked to the dance yet.”

  Man, asking girls out is so awkward. That’s one of the reasons I never did it. He sounded like a dork, and she sounded uncomfortable. I wasn’t sure I could stop the train wreck waiting to happen, but I came up with a plan anyway. Beth wasn’t going to like it, either. Everything was happening so fast that I didn’t have time for a better one.

  I grabbed Beth by one hand and her purse in the other; we were going to have to make a run for it. I slid toward the open end of the booth and turned to face the aisle. As discreetly as I could, I kicked the base of the stand holding the giant tray of drinks. The stand tipped away from us, and the tray slid off. More than a dozen glasses came crashing down, spilling on the floor, the poor waitress, and most importantly, all over Brady.

  Everyone was momentarily distracted by the chaos, so I stood and pulled Beth out of the booth. Heads down, we walked as fast as we could without drawing attention. Once we cleared the building, we sprinted to the car and left the parking lot. Beth looked out the back window for any sign that an angry mob was in pursuit. Remembering her urgent need for a bathroom, I stopped at the neighboring gas station and parked out front.

  “Why are we stopping?” Beth asked.

  “I thought you said you had to pee? I stopped so you could use the bathroom.”

  Beth unbuckled her seat belt. “You knocked that tray of drinks over, didn’t you?”

  I wasn’t exactly feeling bad, so I found no reason to lie. “Guilty as charged.” A wide smile spread across my face at the thought of Brady sitting in his booth, soaking wet and freezing cold.

  “You promised you wouldn’t ruin their date, that we were just going to observe.”

  “Don’t be so dramatic, Beth. I didn’t ruin their date. They’ll have a good laugh about it later, I’m sure. I couldn’t let him ask her to the dance, and I didn’t know how to stop it without them seeing us. I panicked. Spilling the drinks was the first thing I could think of.”

  Beth sighed “Cam, you realize you didn’t stop anything. You only delayed it. If he was going to ask her to the dance earlier, then he’ll still do it, probably even tonight.”

  “Maybe,” I replied thoughtfully, an impish grin forming on my mouth. “But I’d be a lot less likely to kiss a girl goodnight if I was covered in soda.”

  Beth was trying to be mad, but she had a hard time concealing her smile as she got out of the car to find the bathroom. When she got back in, she looked tired. “Please tell me we’re done for the night? I need to get home before Bea does. She’ll probably head into my room first thing and tell me all about the disastrous dinner. I need time to practice my shocked face.”

  “Fine, we’ll go home. I learned what I needed to, anyway.”

  “What?” Beth asked as I pulled onto the street and headed for home. “That he plans on asking her to homecoming?”

  “No, that Brady is boring and safe. He could never make Bebe happy.”

  I turned up the radio, and we didn’t speak again until we reached home. I parked my dad’s car in the driveway and walked Beth across the street. “Thanks fo
r coming.”

  “You’re welcome. Go home and get some sleep.” She smiled knowingly. “Spying on them from your front window won’t stop a goodnight kiss.”

  “If you say so, Mom.” I hugged her and walked back to my house. I should go to bed like Beth had instructed, but there was some masochistic part of me that wanted to wait until they got home. Would they even come home soon? They had to; it was almost eleven. Mr. Barnes never let Bebe stay out past eleven. I grabbed a blanket and sat backward on the couch, looking out the front window. Fifteen minutes later, Brady’s Charger pulled up across the street. He got out and walked Bebe to the door. The front porch light was on, so I could see them clearly, though I couldn’t hear a thing they were saying. I wonder how hard it is to find bugging equipment?

  They stood on the porch talking, face-to-face, maybe a foot or two apart. She was holding her jacket across her stomach, and he had his hands in his pockets. Brady said something, and Bebe smiled really big while nodding her head yes. Then Brady got a big goofy grin on his face, too, and I knew she’d just accepted his invitation to the dance.

  Brady stepped closer to Bebe, and I watched in horror as he leaned in for a kiss. She closed her eyes and waited while he pulled a hand from his pocket and placed it on her cheek. Everything was moving in slow motion, drawing out my agony. I felt like I was going barf; I couldn’t watch this. Instead of shutting the blinds like a decent person would have done, I acted like a royal jackass for the second time that night.

  I reached into the pocket of my hoodie, pulled out my keys, and pointed the fob out the window toward my dad’s car. Then I hit the panic button. The alarm blared to life, beeping and buzzing and wailing. Lights flashed, illuminating my driveway through the darkness. Brady had been millimeters from Bebe’s lips, so when she jolted in surprise, the top of her forehead whacked him in the nose. I doubted it hurt him, but it totally killed their moment, and I laughed out loud. Unfortunately, after a minute of examining my dad’s car and determining the coast to be clear, they laughed, too. This was no fun. I hit the panic button again, and the car went silent.