“It was okay. Not my best ever, but there were a lot of good things,” I said and filled her in on the highlights, like my upcoming trip.
“And did you hear from…?” she asked, her voice dipping out at the end.
I pulled at my ponytail. “Teo texted. Wished me a Merry Christmas, and we made plans to meet tomorrow for Noelle’s party.”
“That’s great. But I, um, actually meant J.D.,” she said, her voice soft.
I shook my head, and Morgan bit her lip.
“It’s fine,” I told her, but she scrunched her eyes closed and wrung her hands together. I felt my stomach sink. Something was up. “Morgan, what did you do?”
She opened one eye. “Nothing. Well, not intentionally. Okay, don’t be mad, but I ran into him outside last night, and I might have yelled at him for not showing up at the party and stuff like that.”
I yanked my hair so hard it hurt. “What do you mean stuff like that?”
“Don’t worry, I didn’t tell him you like him.”
This was not happening. “I don’t like him.”
“You’re right, I’m sorry. I just told him how disappointed we both were that he didn’t show up. That he promised you, and it was crappy for him to bail. That’s all.”
I let out a sigh. “Okay.” I guess that wasn’t so bad. “And what did he say?”
“He felt really horrible. I believed him. Really. He said he wanted to apologize and make it up to you, and—”
The doorbell cut her off.
“And I may have told him you’d be over at my house today,” she said superfast. “Don’t kill me, and give him a chance, he really looked sorry.” She didn’t wait for my response as she went to answer the door.
I knew it was Christmas and goodwill and peace and all—but I was going to murder her.
Morgan opened the door, and there was J.D. She gave him a hug and wished him a Merry Christmas. He looked right at me, and I just stood there, not knowing what to do.
“Come in,” Morgan told him. “Can I get you some leftover Sentinel party cookies? They’re all yours, if you want them.”
“Actually, I just have a minute. I have to get back to my family, but I saw Charlie’s car in the driveway and wanted to stop by for a second.”
“Sure. You know, I um, think I left the stove on. I better go check it.”
Real subtle, Morgan.
She left, and it was just the two of us. “Merry Christmas,” he said.
“Same,” I answered. What did he want from me?
He shuffled back and forth on his feet, and I stayed planted. Waiting.
Finally, he spoke again. “I just wanted to apologize for missing the Sentinel party the other day. I didn’t mean to.”
“Can’t say I was surprised,” I said, my eyes studying the floor. “It’s not like you cared about it anyway.”
“That’s not true.”
“Whatever, it’s fine. Your spread in the paper looked great, that’s what matters.”
“I didn’t miss the party on purpose,” he blurted out. “I was talking to my grandfather.”
“And it had to be during the party?”
“Actually,” he paused and his eyes got a faraway look. “It did. I told you he moved to be near my aunt because he couldn’t take the winters here. That’s true, but he’s also been having a hard time with his memory, and my aunt is in a better position to take care of him.” His eyes welled up. “This sounds strange, but he’s like my best friend in the world. He taught me to love art, to take a good picture, to paint, to solder, to cut glass, to not miss what’s right in front of you.” He smiled as he spoke. “I would see him almost every other day when he lived around here. When he moved we switched to FaceTime.” J.D. got quiet again. “You saw him the night of the ugly sweater party. He was okay that night, but he does better during the day; it’s like he’s more there, more himself. So we have a routine. I call him after school most days. Sometimes the conversation is a couple of minutes. Sometimes it goes a lot longer, and it makes me run behind for other things.”
That was why he was always late for the Sentinel meetings? I didn’t know what to say.
J.D. kept talking. “On Friday, he was having a really good day. It was like old times, and he was in this really talkative mood. I wanted to be at the party, but I couldn’t say good-bye to him. It was so close to Christmas, and he was like his old self.”
Now I felt like I was tearing up. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
He shrugged. “It’s not something that’s easy for me to talk about.”
“But all those times I gave you a hard time for being late, you could have just said you had something beforehand.”
“I was afraid you would have pushed for an explanation.” He bowed his head slightly. “It wasn’t something I was ready to give.”
He was right. I would have pushed.
“Anyway,” he said, “I really did want to be there. I was planning on giving this to you, too.” He handed me a small bag. “I saw the way you were looking at the ornaments my family made, and I thought maybe you and your mom could start a tradition of your own.”
“Thanks,” I said. My stomach felt like it was forming a pretzel. J.D. had been going through a lot, and I had just jumped to conclusions about him. And yet, here he was still being thoughtful. The doorbell rang again.
“It’s probably for me,” he said as Morgan appeared from the kitchen. “My mom warned me if I wasn’t back in five minutes, she was sending out the troops to track me down.”
Morgan laughed and headed toward the door.
J.D. turned his focus back to me. “So … I hear Operation Secret Santa worked.”
“Yeah, we did it,” I said, but even though J.D. helped make it a reality, it felt strange talking about it with him. “It was a success. Teo and I are going to the party together.”
“I know. He told me.”
The doorbell rang again.
I looked over at Morgan. She had totally been spying. She quickly turned her attention from me and J.D. to the door.
She opened it—and it was none other than Teo himself.
Speak of the devil.
Morgan let him in, and they both walked over to me and J.D.
“Hey there,” Teo said, putting his arm around my shoulder. “Merry Christmas.”
“Merry Christmas.”
It felt a little awkward. Morgan must have sensed it, too. “You guys want to all go sit in the living room?” she asked. “It’s more comfortable.”
Teo didn’t seem to notice anything weird. “I would, but my aunt won’t serve dessert until we’re back, and Dylan is going crazy. I was sent to get J.D. before my brother has a Christmas meltdown.”
“Poor kid,” Morgan said. “I know the power of dessert.”
With that, we all said our good-byes, and I watched the Ortiz cousins walk away.
“Wow,” Morgan said, still staring at the door. “Just wow.”
“What?” I asked.
“What?” she mimicked me, as she walked into the living room and dropped onto the couch. “Did you not hear the same conversation that I did? I’m talking about J.D.” I knew she had been eavesdropping. Not that it mattered; I would have told her everything anyway. “He really likes you.”
I sank down next to her. “Clearly you were spying on someone else, because he said nothing of the sort.”
“Charlie, he even bought you a present!”
“So, you did, too—it doesn’t mean anything.” I was still clutching onto the bag he had given me.
“It does. Open it,” she said. “I want to see.”
“Fine.” I reached inside, carefully pulled out the contents, and let out a slight gasp. It was an ornament—a figurine of my mom holding me when I was a baby in front of our Christmas tree.
“I posted this picture on GroupIt last year,” I said, staring in awe at the detailing. It was one of the few pictures I had ever put up. It was always one of my favorites, and now J.D. ha
d brought it to life.
“That’s incredible,” Morgan said.
“It really is.” He must have 3-D printed it at his internship. “I can’t believe he did this for me.” The Ortiz boys definitely knew how to give a gift.
“Okay, this proves I’m right,” Morgan said, nodding in approval. “He is head over heels for you.”
“No. It means he looks at me as a good friend. He helped set me up with his cousin. Or did you forget that part?”
“And did you forget that he made you the focal point of his whole photo spread? I can’t believe I didn’t realize this ages ago,” she said. “You guys are supposed to be together. The initial fighting was just because you were trying to deny your chemistry. It’s so obvious to me now.”
She needed to stop. My life wasn’t some fairy tale or storybook romance. “Morgan, you watch too much TV. He doesn’t like me; he laughed at the idea of us being together. And if you want to go the whole Hallmark movie route, I think Teo is much more the classic leading man. The guy has his choice of colleges and has just about everything going for him. He’s definitely the smarter pick.”
“Charlie!” She shook her arms in the air. “Picking who you like isn’t the same as picking which school or summer program you should attend. You need to go with your feelings, not some checklist. J.D. could be the perfect boyfriend if you gave him a chance.”
“He doesn’t want a chance, Morgan. J.D is not shy; if he wanted me, he would have said it. Instead, he helped me win over his cousin—which is what I want, it’s what I’ve wanted from the start. Teo isn’t just practical. He’s amazing. He understands me. He’s the type of guy I should have in my life.”
“See!” she cried.
“See what?”
“You said he’s the type of guy you should have in your life—not the type of guy you want in your life.”
“Enough,” I cried out. “I want Teo. Teo. Teo. Teo. There, happy?”
“Okay.” She held up her hands in surrender. “I’m sorry. It’s just, you know I’ve always thought J.D. was kind of awesome, and I just got excited about the idea of the two of you together. But I’ll stop. I get it, you like Teo. Not J.D.”
“Thank you,” I said.
I wasn’t sure she really believed it.
But I did.
I had to.
Thirty-Seven
Noelle’s extravaganza started at seven, and I, naturally, wanted to be there right on the dot. I picked up Teo at his house. “Wow,” he said when he got in the car. “You look really pretty.”
“Thanks, you look really good, too.”
This was it. I was on the way to Noelle’s with Teo. I had done it. I had gotten what I wanted. Operation Secret Santa was a success. I wanted to be more excited. This is Morgan’s fault. She put in my head that J.D. had feelings for me, but I knew that wasn’t true, and besides, it didn’t matter. I had Teo, and he was great. “How was your Christmas?” I asked him.
“Great, yours?”
“Really nice,” I said.
The conversation the rest of the drive was just as stilted. This was supposed to be my dream date with my dream guy, yet a simple conversation was torturous.
I was relieved when we made it inside the party and Noelle ran over. She was holding on to her boyfriend’s hand, and he had to jog to keep up. “You’re here,” she said. “I knew I could count on you to be here on time. And,” she said, raising her eyebrows up and down at Teo, “to follow my directions.” She was talking about bringing a date, but really, this whole party, this whole couple’s theme seemed kind of stuffy. I kind of wished the party was more like a few years ago—where everyone hung out in a big group and it didn’t matter who was with whom. Everyone just had a good time.
“Noelle, Lee, you know Teo, right?” I asked.
“Not formally,” she said, and stuck out her hand so he could shake it. “I’m glad you could come to the Lovers’ Ball.”
Did she really call it that out loud? To Teo? I tried not to cringe.
We made small talk for a bit, and when a few more people walked in, Noelle and Lee went off to greet them.
“Should we get a drink?” I asked.
“Sure,” he said. “I promise not to spike it.”
His words made me think of J.D.—the way he helped me after I got drunk. He had been so nice. Stop it, Charlie. You’re here with Teo. Enjoy it. We walked over to the bar. I had to give Noelle credit. The place was even more decked out than last year. There was a giant ice sculpture that spelled out Noelle’s name, Christmas lights galore, flower arrangements the size of small trees, two bars that served nonalcoholic drinks (and after my eggnog mishap, I was more than fine with that), and six food stations—sushi, mashed potato bar, a meat carving station, personally prepared pasta dishes, sliders, and a raw bar. There was also mistletoe over every doorway, although I pretended not to notice that.
I felt like my dress was closing in around me. I tugged at the collar. Why was I so uncomfortable?
“You okay?” Teo asked.
I nodded and took my soda from the bartender.
Heather spotted us and waved. “Teo, Charlie,” she said, coming over. “I made the list after all. Although I think you were right about Kevin Wayward. I don’t think he’s showing, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed he pops up and performs at some point anyway. Still, this party is like nothing I’ve ever seen. I mean, there are a million little tables for two, and each one has two dozen roses. Not that I want to sit at my table for two.”
“Why not?” Teo asked.
“You know how bad I wanted to come to this, right?” she said.
We both nodded.
“Okay, so don’t judge me. But the girl who was supposed to come with one of Noelle’s cousins decided she’d rather stay home, so I got to take her place.”
“What’s so bad about that?” I asked.
Her face scrunched up in embarrassment. “He’s fourteen.”
Teo spit out part of his drink and started laughing. “You’re on a date with a freshman!”
She got one of the twins.
“It is not a date. We didn’t even come together. I’m just assigned to a table with him, and I promised one dance.”
I could see why the other girl backed out. Didn’t sound like a stellar evening. I had met the twins, and unless they had completely changed in one year’s time, they were not the most mature guys in their class.
“Hey!” She swatted Teo. “Stop laughing. It was the only way I could come. The only non-juniors invited were the dates of those who were and Noelle’s family. But did you see that shrimp over there? That alone makes this night worth it.” Then she kind of maneuvered herself behind me. “There he is. Hide me.”
Noelle’s cousin was headed our way.
“You know, I think I’m going to run to the restroom,” she said.
Pretty soon Teo and I were alone again.
“I can’t believe she agreed to come with him,” he said.
“I know.”
“Any guy would have taken her if she’d asked; she didn’t have to go with Noelle’s cousin,” he added.
I waited for the surge of jealousy to hit me, but oddly, it didn’t come.
For the next few moments we just stood there sipping our drinks. It was strange. For weeks, all I’d wanted was for Heather to leave me alone with Teo, and now that she had, I kind of wished she was still with us.
I looked around the room. There was no sign of Morgan and Ira. Or J.D. I guessed he’d decided not to come. But I did see Zakiyah staring at me. Here it was, my big moment, my chance to rub it in her face that I scored the perfect date, yet it just seemed petty and kind of pathetic now. I turned away.
Another slow song started playing. “Want to dance?” Teo asked.
“Yeah, okay.”
We moved out onto the dance floor, and he put his arms around my waist, but this time I didn’t feel any of that electric jolt I used to get around him. And let’s face it, I knew w
hy. It was J.D. My mind kept going back to him.
For the millionth time, snap out of it, Charlie! This is what you wanted. Teo is the smart decision, and he’s the one who wanted to be here. He had been incredibly sweet to me. I needed to think about that. This was Teo. Teo who gave me all those thoughtful gifts. Teo who knew about my little idiosyncrasies, and instead of writing me off, wrote cute little notes about them in an organizer calendar.
“You know,” I said as we swayed back and forth to the music, “all of those things you wrote in the calendar, I love them. I’ve already been through it at least a dozen times. And those drawings. They’re incredible.”
He didn’t respond, so I kept on going. “You’re really talented. What kinds of other stuff do you draw?”
He cocked his head slightly to the side. “I actually don’t,” he said.
“Huh?” I waited for him to go on.
“I can’t draw,” he admitted.
I stopped moving. “What are you talking about? You said you made the planner especially for me.”
He got a sheepish grin. “Actually, I said it was made special. You sort of assumed I did it myself, and I may have let you.”
Ice-cold shivers ran down my body. “Well, who actually made it?”
“J.D. may have helped me with the gifts.”
I dropped my hands from his shoulders.
My mind was racing. “Wait a minute, gifts? Plural. When you say he helped you … how much of it was him?” I took a step back.
Teo looked like he was considering how much to confess. “Now don’t forget, he helped you pick out presents, too.” Then he let out a sigh. “He pretty much did it all.”
“So everything … the gifts, the notes, and the drawings in the planner … they were all J.D.?” I asked. I was kind of scared and excited for the answer.
“I gave the seal of approval on his ideas, but yeah, it was him. He’s better at that type of stuff, and he wanted to make some little drawings, so I figured why not.”
It wasn’t just drawings, it was what was behind them.
My New Crush Gave to Me Page 19
