“Yeah, are we all set? Or do you have a date you forgot about?” There’s an edge of irritation in his voice.
“No, everything’s good. I just want to warn you, my mom gets a little neurotic about guests coming over.”
He pauses in his step. “Neurotic, how?”
“Hostess complex.”
“Does that include food?”
I nod with a serious expression. “Oh yes.”
Caleb breaks into a wide smile. “Sounds great then. Last night, my sister Gabe cooked dinner. It was pancake sandwiches with cheese. Her original recipe.”
“My mom will have a cook come in.”
“I like food,” he says with a funny nod that makes me surprisingly happy.
After school, I hurry to my car to get home before Caleb comes over. Monica sends me a text as I reach the parking lot.
MONICA: Hurry, hurry to your little boy toy.
ME: Funny. It’s homework, that’s all.
MONICA: I can see that by the way you blew out of here. What are you wearing for homework, lingerie?
ME :You should consider stand-up, take your show on the road.
“Hey, eight o’clock?” Ted calls to me, and I turn around, surprised that he caught up to me.
MONICA’ S NEXT TEXT SAYS: Not fast enough. So who will she choose, dinner at the Lion’s Mane or homework with cabana boy?
I look up from my phone.
“I have plans tonight, a homework project.”
“You have a date with me.”
A strength pulses through me. Ted’s not getting his way this time. Might be good for him to realize some early defeats to prepare him for politics.
“You don’t tell people they are going out with you. You ask. And if you do ask me, I’ll say no. Bye, Ted.”
I see Monica getting into her car with a smile on her face. Oliver leans on the roof of my car laughing at the exchange.
“That’s my girl,” he says when I reach the car to give him a ride home. The texts start popping in.
MONICA: I’m duly impressed. Ms. Landreth would be so proud of her little feminist. Girl power.
KATHERINE: Just heard you knocked Ted down. An example to us all. Sorry I didn’t listen to you about the Blake mess.
SUSANNE: Ted is licking his wounds. He just asked Ashley out.
EMILY: Hawaii still is free game, right?
CALEB
I’m walking to the parking lot when I come face-to-face with Ted. He pushes me with two hands on my chest as hard as he can. I don’t drop my helmet.
All around us people jump back with fearful expressions, surprised. This isn’t a school that sees fights. I try to keep from smiling. Ted would be so easy to take down.
“Keep your hands off her!” he shouts. “I’m serious.”
I gotta give the creep points for bravery. Or maybe it’s stupidity. My guess is he’s never actually been in a fight before. He doesn’t know what it feels like to pick your face up off the dirt. He’s never tried to breathe with a few broken ribs. If he did, he’d know he’s way outmatched.
I’m trying not to laugh. This makes him furious, but I’m really not trying to disrespect the guy.
One of Ted’s friends tries pulling him back as I set my backpack and helmet on the ground. There’s only so far I’m willing to go until something will happen.
“She doesn’t belong to you, Ted,” someone says from behind me. “Kate can make up her own mind.”
“Seems the whore has lost her mind.”
“What did you call her?” I say, calm and cold. The blood surges through me; all humor gone. The crowd that has gathered quiets.
Ted suddenly gets it. He stops moving, staring at me, then flings his arms into the air. “It’s not worth it. You aren’t worth ruining my future over.”
He turns around fast. I pick up my bag and helmet.
“Loser,” someone shouts after him. It’s Marv, a guy who hangs with me at lunch—computer geek who wants to learn to surf.
“Have a good weekend, everyone,” I say with a smile that comes off a little stiff. There’s a slight applause as the crowd disperses.
“Man, you’ve made Gaitlin way cool!” Marv says before heading off to his hybrid.
KATE
“Have the flowers arrived?” Mom asks as she hurries by Gerdie setting the table. The silver is polished and china set at each seat. “Your dad will be in late and has another flight to LA in the morning. He hopes to make it for dinner.”
“Mom, I don’t want to scare Caleb away.”
“He’s our guest. We’ve known his family for years. I met his mother a number of times when they came over for vacation.”
“Why did they come for vacation if our families hate each other? That sounds like the lamest family feud I’ve heard of.”
“After your grandfather’s death, your dad reached out to the Kalanis. He offered them free access for whenever they wanted. For a while Ben and his wife brought the kids. He has always loved the property—it has some significance to his family. I think it ended when the grandfather found out.”
“Interesting.”
Mom picks up her iPhone and reads over her list.
“But remember, we’re just here for homework. And now dinner.”
“I want him to feel welcome. He’s a special guest in our house.”
I wonder what he’s thinking right now. Glancing at the clock, there’s an hour before he comes over. I’m genuinely nervous, especially after the dozens of texts Oliver read while we were driving home. Ted and Caleb nearly in a fight at school! They both would have been suspended. Ted would recover from that, but could Caleb?
I almost turned back, but Oliver said it was best to keep going.
Monica was even impressed by it all, watching the scene from her car and reading the play-by-play via Twitter.
I’m rethinking how I feel about this guy, she texted after someone wrote that Caleb defended my honor.
Now Caleb is coming over to my house, which looks like a small mansion. Will our life and home appear pretentious to him? Extravagant, wasteful, shallow, meaningless?
Mom turns toward the kitchen and says, “Maybe we can have our families put the past in the past.”
It’s strange hearing her say this. I sometimes forget about this bizarre family connection between Caleb and me. Mostly I can’t get past the insane reaction I feel whenever he’s near me. Maybe I’m allergic to him . . . no, what’s the opposite of allergic?
“Hi,” I say as I open the door.
Caleb steps inside, glancing around. My stomach is doing all kinds of crazy loops and pummels; even my hands are shaking. I wondered what it would look like to have Caleb standing inside my own house. He’s so . . . outdoors. Like the epitome of water and rock in human form. But he looks natural here, too, which surprises me. I thought perhaps our entire house would look plastic or something next to him.
“We’ll work on the project downstairs,” I say quickly, hoping Mom keeps her promise not to give a tour of the house.
“Okay, whatever. This is great,” he says with no contempt or disgust in his tone. He kicks off one of his shoes, then stops. “We take off our shoes at home, in all homes in Hawaii.”
“Mom would love that. But you can leave them on if you want.”
He shrugs and slips his shoe back on.
We’re still in the entryway when Jake pops out. His hair is spiked and he’s dressed in black shorts and a bright orange Hurley shirt. Jake got ready for this.
“Hey, I’m Jake,” he says with a lift of his chin that makes me want to laugh. He’s all skinny arms and legs in his thirteen-year-old body.
Caleb stretches out his hand. “Nice to meet you. I’m Caleb.”
“Has he met Allie?” Jake asks me.
I give him the get lost look. “He just walked in the door.”
“You haven’t met Allie?” Jake asks as if this is a travesty.
Caleb stares at me like I’m hiding a crazy member of
the family in the basement or something. “She’s our dog.”
“That’s a relief. I love dogs. We have two labs in Hawaii.”
“She’s not really a dog,” Jake says.
Caleb looks from one of us to the other.
“She is a dog,” I assure him. “She’s not. She might look like one, but she’s much more than a dog. This is Allie.” He whistles and from somewhere in the house I hear her coming. Then the thin, one-foot-tall dog comes prancing in like she owns the house, which in a way she does. Jake motions toward his dog like a circus trainer introducing an act. “Allie the Wonderdog,”
“She’s . . . small.” Caleb laughs.
“Oh, you’re one of those, huh?” I say with a mock frown.
“What kind of dog is she?” he says to me. “I’m more accustomed to large dogs. That’s all.”
“Watch this,” Jake says, and as he motions with his finger, Allie makes a roll one way and back again. “She’s a terrier mix—we aren’t really sure. Dad saw her at the grocery store. I’m going to try getting her on the Tonight Show.”
“Really? The silly dog tricks?” Caleb crouches down, leaning on his elbow watching Jake and Allie.
“Yes, exactly.”
Allie runs up and bows to Caleb, who looks taken aback. “That’s cute.”
“Would you like to see something really cool?”
I sigh, looking at the three of them. It is pretty cute: Caleb and Jake with Allie. But I’m ready for Jake to go now.
“Jake, don’t you have homework or something? We have a project we’re working on.”
“Let me just show him.”
Caleb shrugs. “I’d like to see what the dog can do. I was pretty judgmental at first. I’ve never been a fan of little toy dogs.”
“Allie is about to change your mind,” Jake says proudly.
“Make it quick, Jake.” Will the nightmare never end? Next, Mom will appear with board games.
Jake runs up the stairs toward his room. We hear his feet pound along the second-story hallway to his bedroom and then all the way back and down the stairs. Allie runs at his feet in both directions. She makes a little hyper circle and barks as Jake catches his breath.
“Just . . . a . . . minute,” he sputters with a hand up. Then he presents his tiny harmonica.
“Oh, this,” I say in an exasperated tone, though I am excited to see Caleb’s reaction.
Jake takes another breath and then puts the instrument to his lips. At the first note, Allie’s ears perk up. Jake then launches into a loud and quick version of Oh! Susanna. Allie jumps up and climbs a wooden bench beside Jake, then she starts howling in her small dog howl.
Caleb’s mouth drops as Allie continues howling along to the song. He laughs and claps for Allie, which makes me laugh. Jake keeps playing with Allie, howling, barking, and howling again.
“That’s brilliant,” Caleb says, clapping hard as the performance ends. “Come here, you funny dog.” He grabs up Allie, rubbing her fur as her tail bounces ferociously.
“She sings when I play my saxophone too.”
“You play the sax?”
“I’m okay,” Jake says, shrugging his shoulders.
“Jake plays multiple instruments. He started with piano and now plays saxophone in a school jazz band. He just started picking up the guitar six months ago. He’s good at all of them.” I’ve always been a little jealous of this, after all those years of practice. Mom had my ears examined after my piano teacher told my mother that I was tone-deaf and hopeless beyond an intermediate level.
“And of course, he plays the harmonica,” Caleb says, effectively winning Jake over forever.
Jake shrugs with a smile on his face. “I taught myself that one.”
“Mom wants him to try getting into Julliard someday. “
“You should keep with it. I regret not continuing with a few things in my life. Though I do play guitar.”
“We should jam sometime, then,” Jake says and I try not to laugh. My mini-geek of a brother just used the word jam, and I wonder how a concert pianist might do such a thing.
“Let’s do it,” Caleb says, apparently unfazed by the suggestion. Or maybe he’s not really planning on it.
Allie jumps up on Caleb’s leg to get his attention then makes her several circles before curling up with her head resting on his shoe.
“Homework time?” I say.
CALEB
The house is to be expected.
The family is not.
There’s no way to not like Kate’s brother, dog, and mother. Her dad is working, but the few times I’ve talked to him at the inn, he seems okay. Grandfather will take all of this as a betrayal if he hears about it. Which I have no doubt that he will.
This project was on a track to help me like Kate less. Face a problem head-on, I was taught. But at every turn, I like her more.
We work on our project in the downstairs entertainment plaza—that’s what it should be named. There’s a home entertainment room that looks like a small movie theater, with a popcorn maker and cup holders attached between the theater seats that can be adjusted into couches. Another larger room is filled with a pool table, video games, Ping-Pong table, and other games. Close to a wall of windows, there’s a sectional couch and coffee table where Kate takes her books.
Though we’re downstairs, the house is built on a hill, so the back of the downstairs looks out at a swimming pool, and beyond that a beautiful green valley with pine-covered mountains.
For its size, the house is surprisingly comfortable. I wish I could see her room and get an idea of what she sees every morning when her eyes open. But we don’t go upstairs. Probably better anyway. The image of her bed might end up emblazoned on my mind.
Kate’s mom carries down a tray of “brain food”—what she calls the chicken quesadilla cut into triangles for us to share.
We lean back and eat and never open a book. I don’t know where the time goes or what we’re talking about, but I feel enormously content, a happy I haven’t felt since . . . since my mother died, I realize.
Kate sits with her legs pulled onto the couch cross-legged, talking about how much she loves the crew team, and I’m awash with this strange joy. She could talk about anything and I’d be happy listening to her voice and watching her hands move as she talks.
Her mom calls over an intercom that dinner is ready.
I hear classical music as we walk up the stairs.
“This will be your brother someday?” I ask.
“If Mom has her way. The conductor of this symphony is a childhood friend of my father’s. We’d heard him play in New York and again on a trip to Vienna when I was little.”
Little comments like that are slight pricks to my contentment. But right now, I’m going to enjoy this and not obsess about the gulf of differences between us.
“We haven’t eaten together at the table this whole year,” Jake says as we take our seat at the perfectly decorated dining room table. I’ve rarely eaten with china, except when Grandfather dragged me along to one of his parties.
“It hasn’t been that long,” Mrs. Monrovi interjects, seeming embarrassed by that. She says a prayer and the food is passed around.
“Wow, this is very good,” I say, taking a bite of some kind of a chicken dish with an excellent rosemary sauce.
“I confess, I don’t cook, but I have great people who can.”
Kate appears horrified by this, and I wonder how long I should let her believe I’m some poor Hawaiian guy attending Gaitlin on a scholarship. My lunch friends caught me up on all the assumptions people had made about me when I arrived. My favorite was that I had to leave Hawaii for spearing a guy while diving for underwater treasure.
“What are meals like in your house, Caleb?”
“Well, you know, it’s my dad, sister, and me.” Kate’s mom nods, she’s already told me stories of meeting my mom and how sorry she was to hear about her death. Those are always the awkward moments for me, but we’re pas
t that now, thankfully. “We do a lot of eating on the run. Now with my extended family, it’s chaos, nothing formal at all. I have cousins and aunts and uncles popping in and out all the time. We have a large family on my mother’s side. My aunts love to cook, but the food goes fast. It’s a bit like a free-for-all. If you don’t elbow your way in, you might go hungry.”
Everyone laughs as I tell them about Uncle Harv falling asleep in a recliner and waking up to find all of the food completely gone.
As we talk, I hear the sound of a car approaching, tires in water. It must be raining outside. And then the entire night makes an abrupt change.
KATE
It’s as if everything is exactly as it should be. I don’t understand where that feeling comes from, because it’s also new and unknown. When Caleb tells a story about his family, the details fascinate me; they sound so unlike my family. With Caleb beside me eating dinner, it’s like I know him but I don’t know him at the same time. That’s what I’ve felt since the night of the prom.
We hear the sound of the downstairs garage door open.
“Reed is home, excellent,” Mom says, glancing at his empty plate. “I hope he’s hungry.”
I hear my father’s footsteps coming up the stairs.
“Hey, Dad,” I call.
“Dinner at the table? What’s the occasion?” Dad says, coming around the corner to the dining room.
When I see the worn look on his face, I’m instantly worried. Something is wrong, very wrong. He takes a step back when he sees Caleb.
“What in the world are you doing here?” Dad demands.
We stare, no one moves. I’ve rarely heard Dad speak so forcefully and with such anger.
“Dad,” I say, jumping up. “I invited him over. We’re working on a project together.”
“Reed, what’s going on? I told you she had a friend coming,” Mom says, regaining her composure after the shock of such a humiliating outburst in her house.
Caleb stands up. “I’ll go.”
“No,” I say, grabbing his arm.
Dad stares at me like I’m someone he doesn’t know at all.
“Dad, what’s wrong?” Jake said. Even Allie barks from the anxious energy in the room.
“Reed?”
“Nothing,” Dad says with his jaw set. He suddenly turns and heads for the staircase to the second story.
Caleb + Kate Page 13
