by Emily Camp
I sighed and flopped into my seat.
“It’s going well.” Jack nodded to me with a smile. So he chose now to use his smile? In front of Mr. Radcliffe? When that smile does stupid things to me.
“Today we were going to work on an essay,” Jack continued to watch me as he spoke.
Mr. Radcliffe nodded then lifted a paper. “I gotta tell you, you’re really close. Think you can make a goal of having all your grades up by Christmas?”
The thought of this being my last two weeks with Jack made me sad. I know he said that he’d still help me, but it would be different. He wouldn’t have to see me.
“Definitely,” Jack said.
He was awfully confident in my abilities.
Mr. Radcliffe looked at me, tapping his desk like a drum with his pointer fingers. “Kacey?”
“Yeah sure.” I propped my arm on the armrest.
“Great. Let’s meet again before Christmas break and hopefully we can get you away from this joker.” Mr. Radcliffe grinned and nodded toward Jack.
Jack ran his hand over his head and laughed. This was the first time I noticed a small dimple on one of his cheeks. I didn’t want out of ES, to be honest. Today, I had actually been looking forward to it.
Chapter Eighteen
“Then Jack said …” I was in midsentence when Addi interrupted with a squeal. “What?” I turned toward her, my ponytail flying behind me. I was sitting with my legs criss-crossed in the middle of my bed, scrolling on my phone and reading the meme Jack sent. It was about math being a foreign language. He thought of me when he saw it.
“You have a crush on Jack.” A smile stretched across her face.
“We’re just friends.” I said, looking at my phone again. “Besides, Jack isn’t even my type.”
“Are you even listening to yourself? Do you have a type? The only two boyfriends out of the dozen you’ve had that are similar to one another are Dylan and Cody.”
“Not true.”
“Jesse was a lanky basketball player, Carson a pale basement-dwelling gamer, Leo a drama star …”
“Your point?” I had to stop her before she brought up Nolan. I wasn’t sure if she would, she knew that was a touchy subject.
“My point is you don’t have a type. When you like a guy, you own it, so why aren’t you owning Jack?” She pulled my phone out of my hand.
I shook my head and took my phone back. “Because it’s illegal to own people.”
Addi sighed, “You know what I mean.”
I tossed my hair from my face. “I don’t have a crush on Jack.”
“Uh huh.”
“He’s my friend.”
“And so were Dylan and Cody … and Evan, who was almost your step-brother.”
I looked at my ceiling and groaned. “Our parents only dated six months.”
“Which is a record for your mom.”
I wasn’t sure if I should be offended by her statement or not, my mom was married to my dad for thirteen years. Six months wasn’t long compared to that. “Is not.”
“Your mom really liked him.”
My phone buzzed. It was Evan. WYD
“Evan?” Addi asked.
“How’d you guess?” I said as I typed my reply, that I was hanging with Addi.
“Your smile isn’t as big as when Jack texts you,” she said.
My phone buzzed again. Evan again. Send me a picture.
I bit my lip, trying to make sure I smiled as well. My hair was a mess and I already took off my makeup. I’d have to scroll through my phone and find a selfie. “This is Evan, I’m smiling.” I said as I scrolled through my saved pictures.
“It’s not the same as when Jack texted you.”
Another buzz came in when I was looking for a cute photo.
I concentrated on not grinning when I saw Jack’s name. You working on that paper?
“And that would be Jack,” Addi said.
I glared at her. “Just text your boyfriend.”
She giggled. “You know I’m right.” She held up her phone. “Tyler’s here.” She hopped off my bed. “Thanks for covering for me again. I owe you.”
***
I flopped down, belly first on my bright comforter. My damp hair still smelling of lemon sugar shampoo, wrapped in a towel. I found a picture for Evan and sent it.
The reply wasn’t immediate, but that was okay. I had to catch up on my social media anyway. It was several minutes later when he texted back Nice. Took you long enough.
I had to get a shower. I texted back.
His reply was almost immediate this time. Liked to see that.
I’m dressed now. I replied.
My phone went off again, and I was poised to respond to Evan when I saw it was from Jack. Hope you’re working on that paper.
I groaned and rolled on my back. My mom is on me about my homework. I don’t need you, too.
So, you are working on the paper? Jack replied.
Then Evan, Send me pictures anyway.
I was still not selfie-ready. Good thing I had enough stored into my phone. I scrolled through until I found one with my hair up in a messy bun, a cute t-shirt and a filter that made my makeup look on point. My lips cherry and puckered. This one looked casual enough, but it was a good picture.
Cute, but that isn’t your paper. Jack replied. I slapped my hand to my forehead. Wait, did Jack just call me cute? I had to check my phone again.
A picture of Evan, shirtless and flexing popped in my messages.
Then another notification from Evan, Now you.
I found the picture again and this time I made sure I sent it to Evan. With the caption, Sorry, my shirt stays on. Addi had made that mistake once. Tyler claimed that it wasn’t him that shared it with everyone, that his friend got ahold of his phone and sent it. I wasn’t sure that was the truth.
I like it. Evan replied with a winky face. Why was I disappointed to see it was from Evan and not Jack?
Paper, Kacey. Get to work. Jack texted again. There it was.
Okay, Lanyard. I sent back and though my conversation with Evan should be more interesting. I wanted to see another from Jack.
Two pages, double-spaced, twelve-point font. Again, with the essay. I should be annoyed. I wasn’t.
Don’t you have something to do? Like writing your own papers, college essays, how to take over the world? I typed out, nearly forgetting about my conversation with Evan.
I pressed send just as Evan sent another text. Wanna go to a party with me?
Going to a party Friday night was one thing, but to be honest, I didn’t like them. Two weekends in a row would be a little much.
I don’t feel like a party. I sent to Evan. I wasn’t sure how he would take it because when we were together before I always agreed to everything. In fact, whenever I dated anyone, I agree with them.
Jack’s reply popped up. A laughing emoji. Yes, taking over the world.
A movie? Came from Evan.
“Kacey,” My mom called from downstairs.
“Just a second” I called back, but wasn’t sure if she could hear me.
I replied to Jack first, I knew it. That’s why you rarely smile. Then to Evan, A movie sounds good.
Chapter Nineteen
“I swiped my lip gloss over my lips, putting on the finishing touch. Normally, anticipation ran through me before a date, but tonight I didn’t have the game day butterflies. I figured it was because I’d dated Evan before. We were used to each other now. Maybe he was supposed to be my other half. The one that people associated me with. It would kill my dreams of walking down the hall together and everyone envying us, since he didn’t go to my school. But if this was who I was supposed to be with, then this was who I was going to be with.
I shoved my feet into my boots. When I went to tug the zipper, it broke. Oh no. I frantically looked in my closet. It was too cold for sandals and too wet for my flats or crocs. The boots were what went best with my outfit.
I decided after trying on
my Converse, that those weren’t going to work. I needed boots. I trekked down the hallway to my mom’s room. I was on the floor digging through her closet when she came in.
“Kacey Marie, what are you doing?”
“I need boots.” I stood up showing my mom the outfit, motioning to my feet.
“What for?” She knelt in the closet and dug around.
“I have a date, remember? I asked Monday if I could go.”
“Is that tonight?” She pulled her knee-high boots out of the clutter and sat them by me.
“Yes, that’s tonight. You didn’t make plans did you?”
“No,” she yawned. “Gavin’s at a friend’s house anyway.” She walked toward her dresser, removing her earrings one by one. “Who’s your date? “
“I told you, Evan.”
“Evan.” She nodded. “Do I know him?”
Oh my gosh. Was she serious?
“Evan Roe. Greg’s son.”
She stopped in the middle of what she was doing. Her eyes wide. “I didn’t know it was that Evan.”
“I told you, mom.” I zipped the boots, thankfully the zippers survived this time.
The doorbell rang.
“He’s here.” I smiled and rushed down the stairs, but I knew we wouldn’t get away that quickly. My mom was right behind me, grabbing the door before I could shut it.
“Hello Evan,” she said almost creepily.
“Becky,” he nodded.
“Where are you two going tonight?” She asked.
Ugh could she be any weirder?
“Going to see Slasher 5.”
“A scary movie, huh?” She looked at me with her eyebrows arched. “Kacey doesn’t like scary movies.” It was true. I said no to the party, but when he wanted to go to the Slasher movie, I agreed. I didn’t want to be too difficult. We probably weren’t going to be watching the movie anyway.
“Mom.”
“What time will you be back?” She leaned against the door, crossing her arms.
“Movie starts at 9:30, should be home by midnight.”
“You remembered,” she said, as if this was an impressive feat and not the standard time for most curfews.
He nodded, as he took my hand.
“Nice seeing you again, Evan.”
He stepped off the porch, then turned around, “Oh yeah, my dad said to tell you hi.”
“He did?” she huffed and rolled her eyes. Maybe Addi was right, maybe my mom did have feelings for his dad. But it’d been almost a year since they were together. How could she still have feelings for him? “How is he?”
“Good.”
“Is he dating anyone?” I asked because she looked like she was dying to ask herself.
Evan tilted his head as he shook it, looking at the porch roof. “Nah, he hasn’t dated anyone since your mom.”
I noticed a flash of satisfaction cross her face. Yes, Addi was right about that. My date suddenly felt incestish. I wished I wouldn’t have figured this out until after the movie. If Addi wouldn’t have planted that seed in my brain, I probably would have still been clueless.
Chapter Twenty
During the movie, Evan put his hand on my leg. I made myself small, pressed against the opposite side of the chair. He put his arm around me. His knee bumped into mine. He pulled me toward him. I really hated scary movies and I had to force myself to seem interested by it so I could avoid kissing him. I looked at my phone when Evan made a move. I wished I had a better reason than homework to text Jack. He had a wrestling meet in the morning. He was probably already asleep.
Finally, about halfway through the movie, Evan leaned into me. His mouth pressed to my ear. “Wanna get out of here?”
In my naivety I thought he was bored with the movie or at least got the hint that I didn’t want to make out tonight. He didn’t take me home. We parked in an empty parking lot by the river.
“Kacey,” he said, running his hand up my arm, staring at the river. His radio played Ed Sheeran. It was perfect make out conditions, but I couldn’t do it.
“Listen.” I turned toward him, just as he did me. His arms reaching around me like an octopus, his lips puckered like a fish.
“Evan, I can’t do this.” I pushed on his solid chest.
“What?” He seemed dazed and confused. Looking out at the river, then scratching his head.
“We could end up step-brother and sister.”
“Our parents aren’t even together.”
“Your dad hasn’t dated anyone since my mom and the look on my mom’s face when she heard that …” I sighed and my shoulders slumped.
He leaned his head back against the headrest. “So that’s why you were skittish in the movie.”
I nodded.
“I just thought you didn’t like the movie.”
“I didn’t, but that wasn’t my problem.” I fidgeted with my hands. “We should get them back together.”
“Like Parent Trap?”
I nodded.
“Do you think that would work?”
“It’s worth a try.” I shrugged. “I want to see my mom happy. I mean she’s happy, but I haven’t seen her laugh and light up like she did when she was with your dad.” And I was too selfish thinking about my own dating life to even notice it until now.
“Okay, what’s your idea?” He changed the radio to some hip hop.
“I have none …” then I thought for a minute. “What are you doing for Christmas?”
“We’re going out of state to my grandparents’.” He started the car.
Well, that idea was shot. “Will you be back by New Year’s?”
He shook his head as he backed his car up. “Not until school starts.”
“I don’t think we have time to get them together before Christmas.”
“We can do something after we get back.” As we drove to my house, I continued to rattle off ideas. I knew we had time to think about it, but my mom had obviously been hurt by his dad somehow and vice-versa according to Evan. We weren’t sure they would readily agree to seeing one another. I scrolled through a website labeled, Romantic Blind Dates. I was mid-sentence when Evan slowed.
“Uh, Kacey,” he said.
“Yeah?” I was pondering signing them up for the couples cooking classes.
His car stopped. “I don’t think we have to worry about operation parent trap.”
“What?” I thought we’d agreed when I looked up and saw … his dad’s truck sitting in the middle of my driveway. Right behind my useless car.
“That’s … huh.” Evan scratched his head.
I climbed out of the car. Evan followed. The lights coming from the windows were dim and blue as if the only thing on was the television. I put my hand on the doorknob. “I’m scared.”
Evan laughed, placing his hand in the middle of my back. “My dad isn’t that smooth.”
Still, I walked in cautiously.
“Mom?” I called out into the dark. From the living room I could hear the actor’s voices on the television.
I took another cautious step inside. “I don’t think she heard.” I whispered to Evan.
He shook his head, laughing like this was hilarious. I didn’t particularly want to see anything I couldn’t unsee.
“Dad?” Evan’s voice was loud as he stepped around the corner, much braver than I.
The light flipped on.
“The movie’s over already?” My mom’s voice.
I stepped around the corner. His dad shuffled upright, smoothing down his hair. My mom scooted to the opposite side of the sofa. At least they still had their clothes on.
“What are you doing here?” Evan asked the same time as his dad, who was putting his glasses back on his face.
“I’m on a date.” Evan motioned toward me.
“I’m …” his dad ran his hand over his messy hair. Then looked at my mom before they both burst out laughing.
Evan was right, looked we didn’t have to do operation parent trap after all.
Chapter Twenty-one
“Kacey Marie.” My mom’s voice was loud and meant business. I tossed my phone on my bed then hurried to my door. I swung it open.
Gavin strolled past me, his Nintendo Switch in hands and face pointed toward it. “She used the middle name, you’re in trouble.”
My thought exactly. I ran down the stairs. I guess I shouldn’t have been in such a hurry by the look on her face. Her scowl would scare a demon. Then I saw the green paper in her hand. I slowed. Crap.
“What’s up?” I said, even though I knew exactly what was coming.
“You’re failing three of your classes?” Her lips were pursed. The paper crinkled in her hand.
“Not anymore. I mean, well … two or maybe one.” I needed to think quickly.
“You tried to hide this from me?” She flipped the paper in the air like a maimed bird trying to take flight.
“I didn’t want you to worry.”
“You didn’t want to get in trouble.” She slammed the slip down, making me jump.
“I’m working on them.”
“Darn right you are. No more going out.”
“But … I can’t be grounded. I have a date with Dylan.” That was exactly why I didn’t tell her about my grades. Plans with Dylan happened when he came up to me on Monday, leaned against my locker.
He said, “I regret how things turned out between us.”
“Do you?” I wouldn’t look at him. We’d been okay friends since our breakup.
He smirked, his crooked smile and turned toward me, rubbing the back of his neck. “You think you’d give me another shot?”
“I don’t know, maybe.” I said before walking away. He broke up with me by text. It wasn’t going to be that easy for him to get me back. By Thursday he’d worn me down and I’d agreed to go to the game with him and that was tonight.
“Now you have a date with your homework,” she said, “And give me your phone.”
“But …” I pulled my phone against me, protecting it from the powers that would separate us. “I need my phone.”
“A cell phone is a privilege, not a right.”
“No, you can’t do that.” My phone was my only way to keep in touch with the world.
