In Plain Sight

by Amy Sparling

  I give her a sad smile and the doors open. Everyone turns to look at us, and they even stand from their chairs. “Thanks, Mom,” I say as we step forward. “I love you.”

  She squeezes my hand as she prepares to become a wife. “I love you, too, honey.”

  Chapter 34

  I blow off my friends on Friday. They’re going to the Getaway with the sole purpose of picking up girls, and that couldn’t be more unappealing to me right now.

  My parents don’t ask why I’m staying in tonight. I haven’t told them about Maddie, but it’d be obvious even to the most absent of parents. When it comes to breakups, my parents prefer to leave me alone and let me work it out myself. I guess that’s better than having some heartfelt family meeting over it.

  Mindy calls me around seven, and I let it go to voicemail. She’s been nearly as MIA as Maddie lately, eating lunch alone and going dark on social media. At least she didn’t delete her account like Maddie did. Of course, I can’t ever picture Mindy doing something like that. She lives for the attention of internet likes.

  A few seconds after the ringing stops, it starts again. With a sigh, I answer Mindy’s second call.

  “Yeah?”

  “Douche bag,” she says by way of greeting. “I’m coming over.”

  “No, you’re not, Mindy. I don’t need company.”

  “I’m here. Come let me in.”

  “No,” I say, standing up and peering out of my window. “Go home.”

  “Not happening, Jensen.”

  I know she won’t give up; that’s just not the Mindy way. I hang up on her and walk to the front door, where she meets me on the doorstep, staring at her nails like she’s bored.

  “You gonna invite me in?” she says.

  I step back and open the door wider. “Don’t bother asking for a drink because you won’t be here long.”

  She makes this little scoffing sound and moves around me, heading toward my room. Luckily my parents aren’t here or they’d stop her and chat because she’s another Shady Heights girl and my parents are all about having friends in high places.

  In my room, I close the door, turn around and fold my arms across my chest. “Why are you here?”

  She sits on the edge of my bed, facing the window. “We need to talk about Maddie.”

  “Did she send you here?” I ask, sitting next to her. Just hearing her name makes my heart pound.

  “She did not. But I came here because you two are both my friends and I care about you.”

  “Caring about us doesn’t make everything all right, Carmichael.”

  Mindy throws her hair over her shoulder and turns to look at me. Most guys cower under her calculated gaze, but I don’t. I’ve known her too long.

  “I had a talk with our girl yesterday. Now that I learned the truth about her, I decided to forgive her for lying to me.”

  Okay, that’s not at all what I’d expected her to say. My shoulders loosen a little. “You’re not really the forgiving type,” I say.

  Mindy shrugs. “I understood where she was coming from. I think maybe that’s why I like Maddie so much—she’s real. She got that way by living a really hard life, and now she’s living the high life with us but she’s still grounded as a person. I can respect that.”

  The cracks in my broken heart feel like they’re breaking apart all over again. “Yeah, but she lied to us. To me. I loved her and she lied to me.”

  “I don’t blame her one bit. Look at you! You never noticed her before she was rich.” She turns to look at me, a surprising lack of sarcasm on her face. “Listen up, Jensen. I’m going to tell you everything I know, and you’re going to pay very close attention. Then I’m leaving, and you can do what you want with the information. If you ruin this then that’s your own fault, but I’m doing my part, okay? So listen well.”

  #

  I take a deep breath. My body feels weird in this suit. A little sweaty even though I just showered. Itchy even though the fabric is soft. I guess it’s my nerves.

  Maddie Sinclair is the perfect girl for me, and she’s been here the whole time. My angel, my perfect girl, was hiding in plain sight.

  I never even saw her before. I had four months to discover this girl and make her mine, but I only saw what I wanted to see. The popular crowd. I failed her and I failed myself.

  So now I’m going to a wedding in the best suit I own.

  I take a deep breath and run the comb through my hair, tugging it into place at the back of my neck. My stomach is so jumbled up with nerves that I may never eat again, and I’m sweating through three layers of deodorant.

  I draw in a deep breath and head down to my car, driving straight to Maddie’s house before I lose my nerve. There are half a dozen cars in the driveway, and I pull in behind the last one. I can hear the soft thump of music playing from the back yard as I walk up to the pristine white steps in front of her house.

  I ring the doorbell and wait.

  An older woman dressed in a blue gown answers the door. “Hello there,” she says with a pleasant twang in her voice. “May I help you?”

  “I’m here to see Maddie,” I say, my throat feeling dry. “I know you’re having a wedding tonight, so maybe she could just meet me out here?”

  “Nonsense,” the woman says, waving at me to come in. “Wait, you are Colby, right?”

  I nod. Who is this woman and how does she know my name? Surely, that’s a good sign.

  “The wedding is over and everyone is enjoying the reception now,” she says, leading me through a marble foyer. “You’re just in time for the fun.”

  I try to smile, but it probably makes me look like an idiot. I’m taken through the house and to the back yard, where the patio has been turned into a sparkling white, flower-decorated wedding reception. A live band plays in the corner, and well-dressed people are dancing and having fun.

  “There she is,” the woman says, pointing on the dance floor. I see Maddie looking like a princess in a purple dress that goes down to the floor. She’s dancing while holding the hands of a little girl around five years old. Her smile sparkles under the twinkling lights, and she looks so happy I immediately regret coming here. I regret everything, all of it.

  And then she looks at me.

  Chapter 35

  Emma’s hand slips from my grip as I stand up. She turns, following my gaze to the unexpected visitor who just appeared on the patio.

  “Is that Colby?” she says. Before I answer, she breaks into a smile and waves at him, her chubby hand wobbling back and forth.

  “Yes,” I say, but my heart is pounding so hard I can’t really hear myself talk. “I’ll be right back,” I tell her.

  “Can I come, too?” she asks. I stop, turning and bending down to her eye level.

  “Let me talk to him first, okay? And then maybe you can come talk to him in a little bit.”

  She looks past me at Colby, considering it for a second. “Okay.”

  I smile and give her a little hug. To anyone else, I look like I’m comforting a kid, but in reality, I’m comforting myself. Too bad her tiny little hug doesn’t help much. The pain in my chest is far too big to be bandaged by a five-year-old.

  I swallow the lump in my throat, take a deep breath, and walk to Colby. On the dance floor behind me, my mom and Landon are wrapped in each other, swaying to the music. My aunt and uncle are dancing a few feet away, and our friends and relatives are all absorbed in their own lives, oblivious that I might be walking straight toward my doom.

  At least he’s dressed well, if this is the last time I’ll ever talk to him.

  I stop just a few feet in front of him. We’re standing under the covered part of our large backyard patio. There’s a string of clear lights hanging overhead, the dip in the strand hovering just a couple inches above Colby’s head.

  I open my mouth to say something lame like hey or hi, but nothing comes out.

  “Can we go somewhere to talk?” Colby asks. He adjusts the lapel of his jacket. “Just for
a second.”

  “If it’s only a second, why can’t you say it here?” I ask. Ugh, I’m not trying to be difficult, but, well I don’t know what I’m being. This is hard. It hurts looking at him, especially when he looks so remarkably sexy in that suit.

  “Please, Maddie?”

  Hearing him say my name makes me weak in the knees. I let out a breath and start walking toward the house. “Come on,” I say, not looking back to make sure he’s following.

  We slip inside, past the kitchen, which is busy with half a dozen caterers mulling around. I could take him to my room, but that’s too intimate for a final breakup talk, so instead I turn right and slip into the laundry room. It’s as big as our old living room used to be, so there’s plenty of room to talk.

  Colby brushes by me, smelling like clean boy with the smallest scent of peppermint. I clench my jaw and close the door, locking it.

  Then I turn around. “What is it, Colby?” I toss my hands up in the universal gesture for defeat. “There’s nothing you can say that will make me feel worse, okay? I swear, I’ve suffered enough for what I did to you.”

  “I’m not here to berate you, Maddie.”

  Colby’s fingers twist together, his shoulders slumped, long hair starting to fall apart in pieces that he’d brushed back. “Then what is it?” I say, taking a step backward. My hands touch the washing machine, and I hold onto it for support. Being this close to him makes me want to collapse and cry. Even in my daydreams, he wasn’t this handsome. God, why did he have to wear a suit that looks so hot on him? Why can’t he just go away and let me be miserable by myself?

  “Mindy told me everything you told her,” he says, stepping forward. My feet shuffle back, but there’s nowhere to go, the cold metal of the washing machine door pressing against my calves.

  “I understand why you did it,” he says, his eyes burning a hole into me even though I’m staring at the floor, at the little blue chevron patterns in the rug beneath our feet.

  I don’t say anything. How can I? I lied to him about who I am, who I was. And the worst part? I would have let it go on as long as possible just to save myself the embarrassment of the truth.

  “I’m sorry, for what it’s worth,” I finally say, not meeting his eyes.

  “Maddie, look at me,” Colby says. He’s just a few inches away now. I could look up and lean forward and I’d probably be touching him. Instead, I keep my eyes on my shoes.

  “I said I’m sorry, Colby. I really don’t have anything else to say.”

  “Why not?” His voice rises an octave and he takes a step back. “You told Mindy everything, but you can’t tell me anything at all? Why? You two are just friends and I’m your boyfriend, Maddie. Talk to me.”

  I look up now, the B-word searing into my heart like a hot dagger. “You know how Mindy is,” I say, pressing my lips together. “She made me tell her even though I didn’t want to.”

  His lips twist into a slight grin, his head tilting slightly. “I wish I had as much power as Mindy. I wish you would talk to me.”

  “What is there to talk about?” I heave a resigned sigh. As much as I love looking at this boy, as much as his honeyed voice makes my toes tingle, now I just want to leave and be alone. I can’t stand being right next to someone I can’t have.

  I stand a little straighter. “I’m trailer trash, Colby. I’m a poor, trash, loser who happened to luck out when my mom met a rich guy. I’ll never be one of the typical girls you date in high school. I’m just like them. I can’t be, no matter how rich and popular I suddenly get, that’s not me.”

  Colby moves closer, his hands grabbing my arms, his eyes boring into mine. “That’s why I love you, Maddie. I love that you’re not like the other girls. I don’t want one of them. I’m sick of typical. I want you.”

  “I—” I can’t say it. The words won’t come for the longest time, and we just stand here, his hands gripping me tightly but not painfully, his face an expression of desperation. “You should hate me. I lied to you.”

  He laughs, a snort at first, but then it turns into full out laughter. He drags his hands down his face and then sweeps them through his hair. “Maybe I should hate you. But I can’t. I am completely in love with you.”

  My heart pounds loudly in my ears. My fingers tingle and I am suddenly so very sure that I’ve slipped and hit my head and now I’m daydreaming all of this. “I lied to you,” I say, my voice barely above a whisper.

  “About stupid things, right? I mean, our talks, our inside jokes . . . our epic make out sessions . . .” He lifts an eyebrow. “That was real, right? The girl you were when you were with me, tell me that was real? Because nothing else matters but that.”

  I blink and tears roll down my cheek. “It was real, but—”

  He shakes his head, taking my hands in his. “That’s all that matters. I’m sorry I didn’t notice you before, Maddie. I should have. I should have seen you the day you first moved here and then we could have been dating a lot longer.” He squeezes my hands, inching forward until our toes touch, his forehead tilting to press against mine. “Please forgive me for taking so long to see you.”

  “I’m the one who needs forgiving, not you.”

  “Let’s both forgive each other at the same time.” Colby lifts an eyebrow, a devilish grin making my toes tingle.

  I chuckle. “Okay. On three.”

  “One,” he says. “Two . . . three.”

  I grin, not sure what we’re supposed to do now. But then I’m lifted off my feet, twirled through the air, and set back down again. Colby’s lips press against mine, his hands holding me tightly.

  This kiss is just like the first one: nervous and passionate, a little scared but full of possibility. When he pulls away, I realize a steady stream of tears have been slipping down my cheeks, a mixture of pain and love and hope of what’s yet to come.

  Colby brushes away the tears, his thumbs soft and gentle on my face.

  “What do we do now? I ask, peering up into his brown eyes.

  He holds out a hand in a sweeping gesture. “How about a dance?”

  ***

  Thank you for reading In Plain Sight! If you enjoyed the book, please consider leaving a review on Amazon or Goodreads.

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  Other books by Amy Sparling:

  Believe in Me

  Believe in Us

  Believe in Forever

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  About the Author

  Amy Sparling is the author of The Summer Unplugged Series, Ella's Twisted Senior Year, Deadbeat & other awesome books for younger teens. She loves coffee, the beach, and swooning over book boyfriends.

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