Stirring Up Trouble

by Juli Alexander

  With a last look of disdain, she stalked away toward a couple in the shadows at the end of the bleachers.

  “We should dance?” Jake suggested. “Nesbitt-zilla isn’t monitoring the dance floor. Looks like Mr. Henderson has that job.”

  “Great idea.” I followed him onto the floor, hoping for more slow songs than fast.

  We danced for two hours in my own real-life fairy tale, until the band announced it was their last song.

  “Already?” Jake asked.

  I grinned. “I’m dying of thirst.”

  He motioned to the refreshment table. “You want some really old punch with Cheetos floating in it?”

  “Sadly, no.” I saw that most people had left, only a dozen couples remained on the dance floor.

  “Maybe we should go,” he said as Mrs. Nesbitt approached with a giant broom.

  We had to meet Kent at the shopping center down from the school. I wasn’t ready for the night to end. “Okay. Let’s get out of here.”

  We walked through the gym, treading on broken streamers, and made our way to the hall.

  The hall was dimly lit, with the Dasani machine glowing like a beacon. “Water,” I croaked and not just for effect.

  Jake fed two dollars into the machine and got two bottles of water. He handed me mine, and then he unscrewed the cap on his own and took a long drink. I opened my bottle and gulped the cool liquid until it was gone. Jake laughed, and chugged the rest of his.

  “Much better.” I tossed the empty bottle in the trash.

  “I could drink four more,” Jake said.

  “Just four.” I raised a brow. “Lightweight.”

  Jake looked at his watch. “It’s only ten. We’re supposed to meet Kent and Camille at Stefano’s for pizza.”

  “Pizza sounds good. A pitcher of Coke sounds even better.” My stomach rumbled. I guess I’d burned off some calories while we were dancing. Whole wheat crust smothered with cheese and sauce sounded good. Spending more time with Jake sounded great.

  We spent an hour at the pizza place. Camille and Kent were already absorbed in each other, so we got our own table. After we drained two pitchers of Coke, we each had a slice and then sat holding hands and talking.

  “What’s the status of our plan for our parents?” Jake took my hand in both of his. “I don’t think we should do it.”

  “Why not?” Any opportunity for making out was fine with me.

  “Because they’ll watch us closer and stop leaving us alone if they think something’s going on with us.”

  “Good point.” That should have occurred to me, but my head was too fuzzy from the hand holding and dancing and touching. Dad would never leave us alone together again if he caught us making out. It might teach him a lesson in PDA, but I’d be the one to suffer. I didn’t have nearly enough practice in sneaking around. So much for being a good girl. “So far, they don’t think we’re really dating.” Because we weren’t until a few hours ago, but whatever. “We should probably play it really casual.”

  “I don’t mind messing with your dad for a good cause, but enraging him now doesn’t seem wise.” His eyes gleamed with humor.

  This was the most romantic night of my life. “So, no goodnight kiss?”

  “Oh, we’ll have our goodnight kiss,” he said leaning across the table. His husky tone sent a shiver through me.

  “We will?” I asked with what I hoped was total flirtiness. “Here?”

  He nodded toward the door. “We have fifteen minutes before our ride gets here. We could go outside for some air.”

  “I wish we could drive.” Making out in a car was a cliché I was totally willing to participate in. Sneaking a kiss around the side of a building, not so much.

  We paid our check and went outside. We looked around and then ducked into the doorway of the resale shop on the corner. We had some privacy as long as no one parked right in front of the store.

  I giggled, suddenly very amused by the whole situation.

  Then, I looked into Jake’s eyes. And I stopped. There was nothing funny in his expression. His eyes were all dark heat and smoky promises.

  “Hey.” His husky whisper reverberated through me like a shiver.

  “Hey.” I barely got the word, if you can call it a word, out before his mouth was on mine. He wrapped his arms around me and I snaked mine around him. We fit like two wiggly hormone-raging puzzle pieces. Not the puzzle pieces that can get you pregnant, but the arms, hands, and mouths that can provide a remarkable amount of pleasure.

  I had no sooner plummeted into the depths of passion, every nerve alive with Jake’s touch, when we heard catcalls from the sidewalk. Jake and I sprang apart (really, we were getting good at it) to see Camille and Kent and three other teenagers.

  Teenagers we knew.

  A couple of Jake’s friends started pointing and laughing, making kissing noises, and otherwise harassing us. And the ever-clever finger into the hole gesture. So mature.

  “Get a room,” Camille yelled, but she winked as she said it.

  Instead of being mortified, I was just plain annoyed.

  Luckily, Kent’s mother pulled up and saved us from the teasing. I was two seconds from pulling out my vomit card.

  “So much for that goodnight kiss,” I grumbled as we walked to the car.

  Jake frowned. “At least we’ll get home on time.”

  I didn’t say maybe my dad would be too busy fooling around with his mom to notice. No good could come of sharing that thought.

  We squished into the back seat with Camille. I really didn’t want this whole romantic evening to end. Who knew when and if he’d flake out again on me. Or for that matter, when I’d flake out on him.

  The tires crunched the leaves as we pulled up to the curb in front of his house. We hopped out, and Kent’s mother pulled away. I was hoping he’d dare one last kiss but I couldn’t handle being busted again. And I really didn’t want to go from kissing Jake to seeing my dad’s angry face in a matter of seconds. No. We definitely should just go in.

  Jake must have come to the same conclusion, because he took my hand and walked straight to the door. When we reached the porch, he gave me a quick peck on the cheek. I doubted anyone from the house could even tell unless they could replay it in slow motion.

  As we approached the door, I said, “Remember to make some noise.”

  “Right.” He jiggled the knob a little. Then, he muttered something like, “Oh, the hell with it,” and next thing I knew he was kissing me again.

  And I kissed him back. I really hadn’t wanted the night to end without a real kiss.

  Then, the inevitable happened. The door flew inward to reveal my dad. Jake’s lips left mine. I looked up quickly to see the smile on Dad’s face fading into mottled anger.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jake bravely, or perhaps foolishly, kept an arm around me.

  “Hi, Dad.” I probably should have called him Daddy for the brownie points, but I didn’t manage. My second instinct was to give him a sneezing fit and run for home, but it would just make him angrier.

  Dad grunted.

  Jake dropped his arm.

  Sheree walked in from the other room. “Hey, kids. How was it?”

  “Uhh,” Jake said.

  Dad grunted again.

  “John?” Sheree asked wrinkling her brow. “What’s going on?”

  “I just caught your son pawing my daughter.”

  Huh? I wish.

  “They were” —Sheree paused— “kissing?”

  “I guess you might call it that,” Dad grumbled.

  My cheeks were flaming.

  “Well, John,” Sheree chided, “let them in the house.”

  Dad stepped back suddenly like he hadn’t realized he was blocking the door. “I thought you two were just friends,” he said.

  “We were,” I told him.

  Dad glared at Jake and then at me. “Friends don’t do…that.”

  “It was just a kiss,” Jake said. “We’ve seen
you two kissing.”

  Dad looked as though he’d like to strangle Jake. He turned to me. “You two are dating now?”

  “Umm.” I didn’t know what to say. Running all the way to my house was starting to seem like a good idea.

  “We are,” Jake answered.

  His mother raised a brow. “Aren’t you full of surprises.”

  She obviously hadn’t expected this anymore than my dad had.

  A hundred irritated quips raced through my mind and I clenched my jaw to keep any of them from spilling out. Being a smart ass was not going to help the situation.

  “Let’s go in,” I suggested, and plowed past our parents.

  Jake followed me toward the family room where the movie Dad and Sheree were watching still blared on the television.

  Dad walked in and threw his hands in the air with melodrama I’d never witnessed in him before. “How can the two of you be dating?”

  Hadn’t I heard that somewhere before? Like in my own head when he started dating Sheree.

  “Well,” Sheree said, motioning for me and Jake to sit on the couch. “I guess they just are.”

  Exactly, we just were.

  “I don’t think I can handle this,” Dad said in a soft voice looking at none of us in particular.

  “Don’t be silly. It’s just puppy love.”

  I glanced at Jake. He rolled his eyes. She was being a little demeaning. I mean, we were old enough to have real feelings. Of course, we weren’t really in love yet. Just deep in like.

  My dad said, “I guess we’d better get going,” in his deepest doom and gloom voice.

  That did not bode well for me.

  I stood. “Bye, Jake. Bye, Sheree.”

  “Bye honey,” Sheree said. “Now John, don’t overreact.”

  “See ya’, Zoe,” Jake said.

  I stole a glance at him, and he was smiling. I guess he wasn’t worried for his life now that my dad was leaving. Deep down, I knew the whole thing was really funny. But meanwhile, I had one uptight nuclear physicist on my hands.

  I followed Dad out the door and to his car. The whole time, I just kept thinking that we had planned this for a month. The PDA, and getting caught. And how ridiculously ironic was it that we’d called it off, started dating, and gotten caught with the PDA after all. And like Jake said before, my dad was never going to let me out of his sight. So I could forget being alone with Jake, and I could forget about kissing him.

  I caught myself grinning like an idiot at the memory of his kisses. Oops. No good for Dad to see that.

  Luckily, he had gone straight for his door and climbed into the car. I hurried into my side and buckled up.

  “I’m really not comfortable with this, Zoe,” Dad said, starting the engine and backing out.

  Well, that made two of us. “Comfortable with what?”

  “You dating Jake.” He practically spit the words out. “You’re only fifteen.”

  “Well, I’m not comfortable with you making out with Sheree in her kitchen.”

  “I asked you before about my dating Sheree. You indicated that it was okay with you.”

  “I lied,” I admitted, crossing my arms over the seatbelt in the best defiant pose I could manage while seated. “What was I supposed to do?”

  “Tell the truth?” he suggested in a harsh tone.

  “Or we could both lie. We could pretend that all of this is okay. And then, we can just go on with our lives.” Now that I thought about it, it was the perfect solution.

  “We are not pretending.”

  “Haven’t you heard ignorance is bliss?”

  “How can it be ignorance when I know you’re dating him?” He gripped the steering wheel so tight I knew his patience was about to snap.

  “Pretending ignorance could be bliss too, right?”

  “I’m losing track of your logic here, Zoe.”

  Dad and his freakin’ logic. “Always with the logic.” Oops, did I say that out loud?

  “There’s nothing wrong with logic, Zoe.”

  “Dad, I know you like Sheree, and you know I like Jake.”

  He shook his head. “I didn’t until five minutes ago.”

  “But now you do. So can’t we just drop this?”

  “No. I don’t like you growing up. I know it’s silly, but dating? And then Jake. You guys have been alone together a lot lately because of me and his mom. Now, instead of enjoying myself with Sheree, I’ll be worrying about what the two of you are doing.”

  “Now, you know what I’ve been going through.” I pushed the button for the airflow and aimed the vents my way.

  Dad groaned. “I didn’t think about it like that.”

  “Well, now you know.”

  He glanced my way, his expression softening. “You really like him?”

  “Yes. I really like him.”

  Dad sighed and slumped a little in the driver’s seat. “I guess he’s a good kid.”

  “He is.” Not too good though, thank goodness.

  “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.”

  “Are you calling my boyfriend a devil?” I tried for a lame joke.

  “No. I doubt my girlfriend would appreciate me calling her son a devil.”

  “Okay, how about I stop reminding you I’m dating Jake and you stop reminding me you’re dating Sheree.”

  Dad pulled through the gates of his apartment complex. “It’s after midnight. How about we go to sleep, and deal with this in the morning?”

  Thank God. “Deal.”

  First thing in the morning, I called Mom. She was up, of course, and headed to aerobics. Dad was up too, and I had to call from the bathroom to make sure he didn’t hear me.

  I told her about our new boyfriend/girlfriend status and about Dad’s reaction.

  Mom laughed. And laughed.

  I started to wonder if she was able to control her car laughing so hard.

  “I’m going now, Mom. Thanks for the help.”

  I knew Mom well enough to know she was laughing at Dad being tormented rather than the resulting torment to me, but still.

  Since I didn’t think Anya would be the best person to talk to about the whole Jake situation, I texted Jake. “Have you left the country?”

  I put my phone in my pocket in case he replied, and then I opened the bathroom door and braced myself to face my father.

  Dad wasn’t in the mood for talking. In fact, he moped around all morning. I counted fifty-six sighs. Finally, I asked him to take me home.

  Mom ran to the door when I came in. “Is your father still out there? I want to see his face.”

  “Thanks for being supportive, Mom.”

  “I’m kidding, Zoe.” She hugged me. “I’m glad you and Jake are dating.”

  “Me too.”

  Camille called to tell me Jake and I made a cute couple. I congratulated her on snagging Kent.

  “I tried to call Anya, but I can’t get her. Did you see her last night? I don’t think she and Brad showed up at the dance.”

  “She did. Brad didn’t go with her, but I think she was okay. She danced with Josh, and then said she was leaving.”

  “I guess she’ll call me back.”

  “I should probably call her too.” My phone beeped, and I took it from my ear to see who was calling in. “Oh, Camille. It’s Jake.”

  “Kiss-ee, Kiss-ee,” she said.

  “Goodbye, Camille,” I said with mock exasperation.

  I took a deep breath and disconnected Camille. “Hi, Jake.” I tried not to jump up and down.

  “Hey.” I lowered my voice. “So did you leave town?”

  A chuckle rumbled through the phone. “No. I’m still in town.”

  “What did your mother say after we left?”

  “We can talk about that after you answer the doorbell.”

  “Doorbell?” I had no sooner spit the word out than the doorbell rang. “Jake?” I said into the phone.

  He didn’t answer. I closed my cell and threw it on the
bed.

  After clip-clopping down the stairs, I pulled open the front door.

  To find Jake grinning at me.

  “Nice trick,” I said.

  With a step toward me, he put his hands on my hips and gave me a kiss on the lips. “I thought you’d like it.”

  “Yummy,” I said.

  “Is your Mom home?” he asked, running his finger over my cheek.

  “Out back. Planting mums.”

  “Good.” He pulled me close again and kissed me thoroughly. “I don’t guess we could lock the back door.”

  “Uh, no.” Although it wasn’t a bad idea. “She’d just come in the front.” He didn’t smell like cologne but soap and essence of hot guy.

  He gave me a crooked grin and the glint in his eyes turned mischievous. “Yeah, but that’s what, two extra minutes?”

  “And one angry mother. Not the trade-off I’m looking for.”

  As if on cue, the back door slammed. “Here she comes now.” I pulled him further into the house and shut the door.

  We headed back to the kitchen where Mom was washing her hands.

  “Zoe, I should do more gardening,” Mom said without turning around. “It really is therapeutic. And if my yard looks better than Mudhead Mack’s, so be it.”

  “Mom, uh, Jake stopped by.”

  “He did?” Mom switched off the water and turned around. “Well, hi, Jake. It’s good to see you again.”

  “Mrs. Miller.” Jake nodded politely.

  Mom grinned. “Well, you make yourself at home, Jake. I’m going to make a quick landscaping sketch of the yard before I say anything to embarrass Zoe. Like how if John marries Sheree, you’ll be dating your sister. Or something petty, like how funny I find it that John’s getting a taste of his own medicine.”

  I dashed across the kitchen to open the back door. “Bye, Mom.” With an exaggerated gesture, I motioned for her to leave.

  Mom laughed. “Let me gather my sketchpad.” She picked up her pad off the kitchen island. “And a pencil,” she said pulling one from the pencil jar. “And I will leave you two to yourselves.”