by Amity Hope
“Sure,” I agreed, hoping he’d stop.
Was he trying to talk me up in front of Kylie? Kylie smiled at me, clueless and clearly relieved her friends weren’t pounding her with questions. She’d been worried she’d have to explain going to a party. Instead, they seemed far more interested in the fact that we’d spent time together at all.
“I should’ve known it wasn’t a date,” Francesca said. “Meg and I both know how messy that would get.”
“Messy?” Her words had definitely grabbed my attention. “Messy how?”
“I can’t date,” Kylie admitted as she poked at a piece of cantaloupe.
“You can’t date?” Luke repeated. “Why not?”
He looked at me. I shrugged. I had no idea what she was talking about. I turned back to her, waiting for her to explain.
“It’s not exactly that I’m not allowed to date. I am. I just don’t know if it’s worth the trouble. My sister Maddie…” She hesitated. “She had some trouble her senior year.”
“Trouble?” Adam asked.
She ignored him, clearly not wanting to get into it.
“Since then,” she went on, “my parents have been really hard on my other sisters and me. Lexie’s a year older. She gave up trying to date and said she’d just wait until college. She claims Mom and Dad stopped short of asking for fingerprints and a blood sample.”
I must have looked alarmed.
“It’s not quite that bad,” Meg assured me. She frowned before saying, “Although it’s not a whole lot better either.”
“Fingerprints?” I echoed.
“That might have been an exaggeration,” she decided. “However, there is a little speech my dad gives on how to treat a lady.”
“I think I’d rather give a blood sample,” Luke groaned.
“They mean business, huh?” I asked sympathetically.
“They’re a little overprotective.” She winced and I decided “a little” meant “a lot.”
“They interrogated me the first time I met them,” Meg said.
“You?” Luke asked Meg. “Why you?”
Kylie made a face to let us know exactly what she thought of the situation. “They want to make sure they know what kind of people my friends are.”
Julia nodded. “We’ve had a few girls’ nights out. When I’ve picked Kylie up, her parents ask me a hundred questions.”
Kylie flinched. “I’m so sorry. I know they can be overbearing.”
“Oh no,” Julia said quickly, “I wasn’t complaining. I was just saying.”
“I think they want to make sure our stories match,” Kylie explained. “Like they want to trip us up in case we have something nefarious planned.” She glanced around the table, clearly embarrassed that everyone’s attention was on her.
“It’s good you two are hanging out,” Adam said as he tapped his hands against the table in an unfamiliar beat. “Now Leo has something to do, other than sit alone in his shop until all hours of the night.”
Kylie turned to me, wearing a curious expression.
I was tempted to reach over and smack Adam across the head. It was too late. The damage was done. But I couldn’t be too mad. I was used to Adam’s body being in constant motion. I knew from past experience that sometimes he couldn’t stop his mouth from joining in.
“What’s that about?” she asked.
“Nothing,” I muttered. I was not going to get into this now. Not with a table full of people.
Luke noted my irritation and decided to help steer the conversation elsewhere. “Is there anything going on this weekend? We should all do something.” Earlier, he’d congratulated me on scrounging up the nerve to ask Kylie to the party. He told me I should ask her to do something else soon, warned me not to let the momentum die.
“I have an idea,” Julia said. “You all should come over to my place on Friday. My parents have a dinner party. They won’t get home until pretty late. We could have a bonfire.”
Kylie’s eyes lit up. I could guess what she was thinking. It was one more thing she could put on her list.
“That would be so fun,” she said.
James and Meredith walked by, and her attention was instantly diverted. They slid into the table across from ours without looking our way. I was selfishly relieved today wasn’t a candy-testing day.
Kylie frowned as she returned her attention to our group.
“A bonfire does sound fun,” Francesca agreed with a disappointed sigh, “but I can’t make it. Nate got us tickets for a play a friend of his is in. A play he wrote himself. It’s going to be a delight,” she said sarcastically.
“Next time,” Julia offered sympathetically. “My parents are gone a lot.”
“It’s perfect,” Meg said to Kylie. “You can tell your parents you’re with me. You won’t even be lying.”
“Wait a second,” Francesca said. “How did you get away with going to a party?”
Color crept into Kylie’s cheeks as her attention was pulled back to our table. “Allie covered for me.”
“Really?” Meg’s tone didn’t hide her disbelief. “That’s a first.”
Kylie nodded but didn’t elaborate.
Adam took that as a cue to swerve the conversation around to baseball. I didn’t want to discuss the upcoming try-outs, which were really just a formality for most of the team. I was actually relieved when lunch was over.
I walked Kylie to her locker, hoping for a minute to talk to her. Alone.
“Is that true?” I asked. “About your parents?”
“Pretty much. I mean, we were joking a little. But yeah, they’re pretty strict. They would have to meet a guy before he took me out—and not a quick introduction, either. Fortunately, since, according to Allie, I’m such a ‘goodie-goodie’”—she scowled as she used air quotes—“they totally trust me. I don’t think they’ll give much thought to me going to Julia’s on Friday. They’ve already met her a bunch of times. And I won’t even need to involve Allie.” She groaned. “Speaking of the little twerp.”
I spotted Allie standing on her tiptoes in front of Kylie’s locker scanning the crowd. I was about to slip away, to avoid being seen, but I hesitated and Allie’s gaze locked with mine.
Her eyes widened and, yeah, the girl looked smug.
“Why am I not surprised?” Kylie grumbled.
“Hey, you two,” Allie said as she pushed her way through the crowd to reach us. “I had to see for myself.”
I kept my mouth shut, knowing it would be best to let Kylie handle this.
“What are you doing here?” she asked her sister.
“Where else would I be?” Allie’s tone was a little too sweet. “Skipping school is a bad habit to get into.”
“That’s not what I mean and you know it.”
“Are you asking what I’m doing on your side of the school?” She gave me a megawatt smile. “I was wondering what my big sister is up to.” She leaned around Kylie so she could look me over from head to toe. “Decided to take my advice, did you? You asked my sister out?”
“What are you talking about?” Kylie asked.
“This is why you were so excited about going out Friday night.” Allie nodded to herself. “Very sneaky. I approve.”
Kylie looked at me, as if silently asking what she should do about her sister. I had no idea. After almost eighteen years, I still hadn’t figured out my own siblings.
“When you asked me to cover for you, I thought you were going to the party with Meg and Francesca,” Allie explained. “But then I heard someone mention they saw you at Colton’s with Leo.”
“I know what you’re thinking,” Kylie said. “But you’re wrong. Leo and I are just friends.”
Allie cocked an eyebrow. “Right. That’s why you were together at the party. And why you’re together right now.”
“Can we maybe talk about this later?” Kylie asked. Her eyes darted around the hallway. It was clear Allie wasn’t going to be swayed, and Kylie didn’t want to argue with an audi
ence.
“Yes. Sure. I want to hear all about it. Don’t worry about Mom and Dad. Your secret is safe with me.” She mimed zipping her lips, then started walking backward. “Better run so I’m not late.” She swiveled and took off down the hallway, heading in the direction of the underclassmen lockers.
“She didn’t believe me,” Kylie said in disbelief. “She thinks we’re dating.”
“Is that going to be a problem?” I asked.
Kylie shook her head. “I don’t know. We’ll have to see.”
Chapter Seven
Kylie
I spent a solid half hour coercing my wayward locks into something resembling flirty beach waves. My door flew open as I coaxed the last few stubborn strands into place.
Allie sashayed in as if she still belonged here. Without asking, she dropped down onto the edge of my bed.
“You know,” I said, “if you’d rather still have this room, I’d be more than happy to trade.”
“You’re going out with Leo, aren’t you?” she asked, clearly ignoring my sarcasm.
“I’ve already told you, Leo and I are just friends. Yes, we went to the party together last weekend. As friends. Tonight I’m going to Julia’s. With Meg.” Not a lie. “We’re having a girls’ night.” Just a fib. I reached for my hairspray and busied myself applying it.
“Uh-huh. Will there be boys at this girls’ night?” She narrowed her eyes at me. “Because I don’t think you’d spend so much time trying to tame your hair for Meg and Julia.”
“Don’t you have your own social life to worry about?” I asked with a laugh.
“Marc was at the movie last weekend with Shanna Miller. They ended up sitting a few rows in front of us. They were all over each other.” She sighed. “It was awful.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, feeling real sympathy for her.
She waved away my concern with a flop of her hand. “It’s fine. I’m over it. I’ve decided I’m not going to waste my time being interested in a guy who’s interested in someone else.”
“That’s probably smart,” I admitted.
“I know,” she said. “You should follow that same rule.”
I turned around to face her. “What are you talking about?”
“James,” she said bluntly. “I heard he was at the party with Meredith.”
I twisted back around to the mirror and reached for my mascara. “I don’t really want to talk about James.”
“Okay,” she said. “We can talk about Leo. You two are really only friends?”
“Yes, why do you sound so disappointed?” I eyed her reflection in the mirror.
She shrugged and said, “He’s nice. He’s cute. He’s available. Right?”
“He is nice. He is cute.” I finished with my mascara, twisted the cover on, and spun back around. “He is also crushing on someone else.”
Her smile slipped. “Who?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. He told me the other night but didn’t go into details.”
“And you didn’t ask?” She shook her head.
“No, I didn’t. Do you know why? Because unlike you, I mind my own business.” I kept my tone light to let her know I was teasing. To my surprise, I was finding I liked talking boys with Allie.
“Minding your own business is no fun,” Allie informed me. She leaned forward. “Tell me the truth. Is Leo going to be there tonight?”
“Yes,” I said. “But I don’t get why it matters. I really am going to spend time with my friends.”
“It matters,” she said as she slid off my bed and headed to my closet, “because I think you two would make a good couple. You looked really cute together when I saw you at school the other day. And if Leo isn’t actually dating this girl, you totally have a chance with him.”
“Allie, I never said I want a chance with Leo.”
She began flipping through my clothes. “Why not? Because of James? Please tell me that’s not it.”
“That’s not it,” I said automatically, though it might be untrue. Whenever James glanced my way—whether he meant to or not—my heart did its usual happy somersault. But I’d spotted him with Meredith every day this week. If they weren’t a couple already, it looked like they were on their way to being one.
“I know you said you don’t like Leo, but it never hurts to look cute just in case. You should wear this.” She held up my favorite pair of jeans along with a cute yellow top that Lexie had left behind. “You’ll be comfortable in those jeans, but Lexie has way better taste in clothes than you do. Not many people can pull off that color, you can. Most of your shirts are a bit frumpy.”
Sadly, my little sis was more of a fashion guru than I would ever aspire to be. Who was I to argue?
“You can thank me anytime,” she said as she tossed the clothes onto my bed.
“Thank you,” I said sarcastically. “I would never be able to dress myself if it weren’t for you.”
“That’s not what I’m talking about.” She paused, as if I should know what she was talking about. When I didn’t answer, she explained, “You can thank me for giving you the kick in the butt that you needed. If it wasn’t for me, you’d probably be spending the evening hanging out with those ogres, elves, and magical fairies you like so much. But look at you now, going out two weekends in a row instead of burying your face in a book.” She hesitated and lowered her voice to a conspiratorial level. “Even though it’s just as friends, you’re going out with a boy two weekends in a row.”
“Thank you,” I said, because she was right. If not for her, I would probably be sitting at home again tonight. Instead, I was running off to meet Leo, and anxious to add another item to my list.
…
Julia’s bonfire was contained to an enormous fire pit, which was built into the paver stone patio that overlooked her backyard. Adam had gotten it started, and it had taken a while to die down. It gave off enough heat to take the chill from the air.
Julia had placed lawn chairs in a circle around the flames. She had put Leo and me so close together our elbows touched when we rested them on the arms of the chairs. For the past hour I’d been entertained with stories revolving around the baseball team. It wasn’t nearly as boring as I might have feared because Adam was a great storyteller. He spent a lot of time leaping up from his chair to act out his anecdotes. He was great at impersonating people and managed to do it without mocking them too badly.
Leo’s fingers tapped against mine. I turned his way. “Are you having a good time?”
“I am,” I assured him.
“Kylie?” Julia got up from her camp chair. “Would you come inside with me for a minute? I could use some help.”
“Sure,” I said as I popped up from my seat.
As soon as we were in the kitchen, she began rummaging around in cabinets.
“I can’t have a fire without s’mores,” she said. “It seems wrong.” She tossed me a couple of bags of mini chocolate bars.
“Oh, chocolate,” Meg said as she stepped through the patio door.
“Where did the guys go?” Julia asked. They were notably absent from the camp chairs, visible through the huge panes of glass.
“They went to investigate something,” Meg said.
Julia paused with a box of graham crackers in her hand. “What?”
Meg motioned toward the woods on the other side of the patio door. The crackling fire gave off enough light to see their silhouettes edging into the trees. “They thought they heard something and decided to go check it out. It was probably a rabbit. I don’t know what they think they’re going to do if it’s a bear or a mountain lion or something.”
“I’m sure it was Adam’s idea.” Julia laughed and handed the graham crackers to me. “I swear that boy is always on the go.” She pulled out a puffy bag of marshmallows and tossed it to Meg.
“You know,” Meg said as she moved into the kitchen, still clutching the marshmallows, “Adam said something very interesting before they all took off.”
�
��Oh yeah?” Julia asked.
Meg nodded, her gaze bouncing between Julia and me. “He told Leo he’s waited long enough and he should just ask Kylie out already.”
“Waited long enough?” I blurted in confusion. “Why would he say that?”
“I don’t know,” Meg admitted.
“Ummm…” Julia grimaced as she twisted around and headed toward the hallway. “I need to go downstairs to see if we have more soda.”
“Oh no,” Meg said, “not yet.”
Slowly, Julia turned back around.
“Do you know something?” Meg asked. She smirked, nodded, and said, “You do.”
Julia sighed. “My boyfriend has a big mouth. Sometimes he doesn’t think before he talks. He can be kind of impulsive.”
Both Meg and I crossed the kitchen from opposite directions until we were standing in front of Julia. I clutched the chocolate bars and graham crackers to my chest.
“Why would Leo ask me out?” I demanded, well aware of the slight note of panic that had crept into my tone. Leo and I were friends. If he asked me out, that would make things… I didn’t know how it would make things. I’d never been in this situation before. Julia arched an eyebrow as if to ask, Why do you think?
“That doesn’t make any sense,” I blurted. “The other night, Leo told me he’s had a crush on some girl for a really long time. Why would he ask me out if he likes someone else?”
“Yeeeaaaah,” Julia said, dragging out the word, “about that…”
Meg glanced at me, her eyes sparkling with interest, then back to Julia. “Keep talking.”
Julia shook her head. “I shouldn’t. I really shouldn’t.”
“Is Kylie the girl Leo likes?” Meg asked. Julia was silent so Meg said, “I’m right, aren’t I?”
“What?” I took a step back, bumping into the counter, and shook my head. He had offered to help me with my list because he was bored. Not because he actually wanted to spend time with me. “You can’t be right.” I turned to Julia. “She can’t be right.”
“I didn’t say a word!” Julia exclaimed.
“You didn’t have to,” Meg said. “It suddenly seems so obvious.”
