My Best Friend's Brother

by Chrissy Fanslau

  “I need to go home now. My dad gave me a curfew,” I muttered.

  To my relief, he smiled. “Sure. Need a ride?”

  I was totally tempted. But leaving Mom’s car in an empty lot for thieves is not a good idea. She’d fly home and kill me if anything ever happened to it. “I drove here.”

  He nodded. “So, maybe I can I get your number?”

  I pulled out my thumb-sized address book, wrote it down, tore the page out and handed it to him. Our hands touched and my heart fluttered.

  “Thanks. You couldn’t jot it down on something smaller…?” he joked.

  I laughed.

  “I’ll call you,” he breathed. Then he smiled, waved, and took a few steps back. He turned and walked toward the exit. But within a few yards he stopped and looked at me. “Hey Beautiful, should I walk you to your car?”

  I giggled. “I can handle it!” Mostly so I can see his butt as he walked away.

  ~ ~ ~

  Traffic almost made me miss curfew. I got home thirty seconds after nine.

  Dad was on the couch with his laptop and Writer’s Digest, pocket watch in hand. The look on his face made me sweat. “Thirty seconds! Round it up to the next minute and you’re late!”

  I rolled my eyes.

  He smiled and raised his eyebrows, obviously awaiting an explanation. I thought having to give one was cheesy, but I gave him one anyway.

  “I’m sorry, Dad. Traffic… and I didn’t wanna speed.”

  He nodded. “Did you have a good time?”

  I took my coat off and joined him on the couch. “I had a date.”

  “Oh? You had a date with whom?”

  “With a nice guy named Luke. We saw the new Ben Stiller movie.” I had to stick the nice guy part in there—if I didn’t, he’d ask a ton of questions and it would just take longer.

  “Was it a good movie?”

  “Quite.”

  “Was he well behaved?”

  I rolled my eyes again. “He was great, Dad…” He actually was—he was sensitive enough to keep his hands to himself through the entire movie!

  He resumed typing. “Let me know if he misbehaves!”

  I headed up the stairs to change.

  “Oh, look who’s home!” a voice called down to me.

  Jake was at the top of the stairs. I pushed past him. “What are you doing here?”

  “Hangin’ out with Sullivan,” he uttered, stopping at my bedroom door. “I went by the rink today. Saw Lilly. She said you had a date, I was shocked.” He laughed. Jake’s still cute—dark-haired and blue-eyed—but a total joke compared to the Greek god I’d just met.

  “Yup,” I boasted.

  He grew serious. “Do I know him?”

  I shook my head. “No. But he looks, acts, and smells better than you!” He deserved a taste of his own medicine, dumping me for a pea-brained cheerleader. “How’s Jenna?”

  “She’s great! And how are you?”

  I beamed. “I’m awesome. Now…”

  “Glad you were finally able to get over me.”

  I sneered. How conceited! “Like there’s anything to get over…” I threw myself on my bed and opened the book I was currently on, Life of Pi.

  “Still a bookworm, huh?” He’s such a nuisance.

  “Would you rather I spend my free time sleeping with the football team?” That one, of course, was aimed at his new girlfriend.

  He crossed his arms and leaned against the frame of my door. “Look, that’s not why I broke up with you.”

  “And I’m the President of the United States of America!”

  He rolled his eyes.

  He’s got to know he’s an awful liar! And wasn’t he supposed to be playing video games with that pest Sullivan? I started reading, wishing him away like a fly. If only I could swat him!

  After a lengthy moment, he sighed and said, “I really did love you.”

  “Did? You know, you were so pushy you were downright hounding me. And I finally snapped because you deserved it!” I shook my head. “Did you ever think maybe I don’t like you that much?”

  His expression was blank.

  “And why are you hanging out with a little seventh grader, anyway? You’re always around!”

  “I’m only here to help him beat some levels.”

  “Every day?”

  “There are just lots of levels.”

  Dad suddenly appeared beside him. “Is there a problem here?” He stared into the side of Jake’s face.

  I rubbed my forehead. Dad never stayed out of anything long enough for us to settle it. “No, Dad, there isn’t. Jake was just leaving. Weren’t you, Jake?”

  Jake cleared his throat, not looking at my dad. “I’m leaving soon, Mr. Morrison.”

  “If you need anything, Adonia, I’ll be in my office.” He looked at Jake again. “That’s right down the hall, you know.” Dad left after a quick wink back at me. I turned my attention back to my too-horny-to-be-with-me ex-boyfriend.

  “Look,” Jake mumbled. “I just wanted to say hi.”

  “So did you get what you dumped me for?”

  He looked annoyed. “Good night, Adonia.”

  I felt a sting of guilt and glanced his way. “Bye,” I muttered, looking into my book again, too upset to read. What made it worse, he still stood there and stared at me for like five minutes, like he did when we used to argue. I tried to look past him, but his eyes gripped me.

  His eyes are crap compared to Luke’s.

  Then my cell phone rang. Luke to the rescue, thank God! Speaking of which…

  “Hi, Luke!”

  Jake sighed heavily, turned and stomped back into Sullivan’s room. I got up and shut my door for privacy.

  “Hey, how’s it going?” he said. “I wanted to give you my number.”

  “Great,” I said, copying it from the caller ID to the cover of my journal.

  “So you got home okay?”

  “Yeah.”

  “It gets cold up here, huh?”

  I giggled. “It’ll get colder.”

  “Ouch! Yeah, things are pretty dry at my house this evening. Everyone hit the sack early.” After a brief silence, he cleared his throat. “You’re quiet tonight.”

  “Well you just called, give me time!” I said with a chuckle. “And my ex was just here, he kinda annoyed me,” I confided. “He always hangs around my little brother.” I closed my book and tossed it on my desk. I put a pillow under my chin and listened to the brief pause on the other end.

  “Sounds like he still likes you,” Luke said. “Do you still like him?”

  “Not exactly,” I said. “I like you, though.”

  Silence.

  Then he said, “Really?”

  “Yeah.” I guess that means he didn’t notice my drooling in the mall.

  He cleared his throat. “Maybe we should hook up again, if you want to? Don’t want to force you into another relationship or anything.”

  I walked over to the door and opened it wide. “Luke,” I said loudly, “I’d love to go out with you!”

  He laughed. “Awesome!”

  A door slammed and heavy stomping descended the stairs. The front door opened and slammed shut, hard enough to shake the house. “Hey!” Sullivan screamed as he emerged in the hall and peered down the stairs.

  I smiled to myself and shut my door.

  “Thanks for the great time today,” I breathed. “It was a lot of fun.”

  “I had fun, too. Will you be in school tomorrow? I don’t really know anyone else… Always unprepared.”

  I beamed. “Locker fifteen blue. The walls are color-coded with the lockers, so it’s easy to find your way around.”

  He cleared his throat. “Fifteen blue. Sweet. Okay, well, I’ll drop by before my first class.”

  “Great.”

  “Great,” he confirmed. “Good night, Beautiful.”

  “Good night, Luke.” I hung up and gripped my heart.

  I turned off my lights to change by moonlight. Cha
nging with the lights on freaks me out—I keep thinking some pervert is watching through binoculars.

  Outside, the wind blew through the moonlit spruce. I slipped on a silk nightgown. It had a slit on the side, and it was rather tight on my body.

  Under the comforter, I thought about things. Like Luke. His crystal blue eyes. His perfect hair. His cool demeanor. And his focus on me. I sort of liked the attention, from a guy like him. I broke into a grin. I couldn’t wait to see him again!

  I wished I could call Lilly to tell her about him, but she was probably sleeping. And I was half asleep myself.

  I’d call her really early in the morning and wish her a nice trip. Not getting a vacation didn’t seem so bad anymore—at least I could hang around that hunk Luke.

  IV

  Luke waited by my locker in the morning, wearing an awesome blue muscle shirt and loose black jeans. Three girls stood drooling across the hall. I’ll bet they think he’s a Greek god, too!

  “Hi!” I stopped just short of him.

  “Hey.” He seemed hesitant, like maybe he wanted to kiss me but wasn’t sure if he should.

  Yeah, I’m sure that’s just wishful thinking.

  I wore a tight sweater, denim jeans, and my hair perfect. Perfect because I spent hours in the bathroom that morning washing, conditioning, blow drying, brushing, moisturizing. Then there was the task of make-up, and getting dressed. I had to look good for him. And by the looks he gave me, it seemed I’d succeeded—at Lilly’s expense, because I never called her.

  “You found your locker, I see,” I said to break the silence, pointing at his muscle shirt.

  He laughed. “Yup, put my jacket away.”

  “So, what classes are you taking?”

  He pulled his schedule out of his pocket. “Math first, then history, art, and creative writing.”

  My face lit up. “You have creative writing with me! You’ll love it, it’s awesome!” I couldn’t believe my luck! Awesome class, awesome guy!

  He raised his eyebrows. “Is it fun?”

  “Like english class, just with writing about whatever you want. And it’s certainly funner than math!”

  He leaned against the locker next door. “I guess you’re a writer, then,” he breathed. “No wonder I found you in a bookstore.”

  I laughed, pulled my home economics notebook out of my locker and threw my book bag in. Sometimes I’d rather carry books. That enables me to drop them when I see a cute guy. Then he’d pick them up and fall in love with me.

  At least, he would in my fantasies.

  “I love writing! And honestly, I think it’s painful that you have math class first thing in the morning!”

  “I don’t mind it at all. It wakes me up.”

  The warning bell rang. Noisy people crowded the hall, elbowing their way through. I shut my locker and turned the combination dial on the lock.

  “I’ll see you at lunch?” His gorgeous eyes twinkled.

  I smiled shyly. “Yeah, I usually sit in back. My best friend’s gone, and we have plenty of room at our table!”

  In an instant, Tristan Minter flung around the corner and slammed into Luke. Tristan’s a big, dark-haired, green-eyed jock who failed his last IQ test.

  Tristan swore, called back, “Sorry, man,” and went about his way, while Luke was flat against me, pinning me to the locker.

  He pulled away bashfully. “Sorry,” he breathed, his face flushed. “Got pushed.”

  I grinned. I’d just felt bulging muscles! “Don’t worry about it! The halls get way too hectic around here.”

  He nodded. “See you at lunch?”

  “See you there!”

  I was off to home economics, smelling like Luke, knowing that I won’t be able to concentrate on a damn thing. And I liked it.

  ~ ~ ~

  Home economics is a terrible class. Not because we have to balance “checkbooks” and memorize recipes, but because everyone I hate is in it. Everyone includes Jenna, and Jake’s best friend, Tom Belling. Tom’s got highlighted spiky brown hair, green eyes, and a pierced ear. His talent lies in mocking and poking fun at people, like the parasite he is. He was actually cool with me in the eleventh grade, but now he just taunts and laughs at everything I do. What’s worse, he is in every class with me this semester.

  “Hi, Shorty,” Tom mocked as I sat in my seat to his left. It’s an assigned seat, certainly not by choice. I rolled my eyes. Compared to his mom, I’m tall.

  I began my work as he and slutty Jenna talked about me behind my back. Jenna sits behind him, and uses words like “like” and “oh my God!” in every sentence. She has long, light brown hair, blue contacts over brown eyes, and ridiculously tight clothing that practically rolled up her body. She’s also taller than me by about four inches.

  Jenna’s not much different from the ditzy giggly girls at the mall. It’s shocking that I never saw her in that bookstore with them. Then again, I suppose tending to the needs of every guy on the football team is very time consuming.

  “Oh my God, Tom, did you see that blond guy by, like, Adonia’s locker? Like, what is he doing wasting time on her?” she asked like I wasn’t even there.

  She has the hots for my boyfriend, go me! And if I wore clothes that I outgrew five years ago, I bet I’d have more guys hanging around me than she does around her.

  “Heard about that dude from Jake last night,” Tom said. “Haven’t seen him yet.”

  “Like, why was Jake talking about him?” Jenna asked in a shaky tone I secretly loved. She’s worried? I laughed under my breath.

  Ms. Sanderson made her entrance. She’s ancient. And because she’d started teaching in the early 1800s, she was so old-fashioned that no one could talk without expressed permission—if they did, they’d get written up. She’s hunchbacked, small-figured, with tiny reading glasses that hung off a chain around her neck.

  Everyone groaned when she walked in.

  After dragging through attendance, she got up, just barely, closed the door and started lecturing on the proper boiling time for spaghetti.

  As Ms. Sanderson faced the board, Jenna whispered, “I think Adonia like, wants to steal Jake back. That’s why she’s pretending to be, like, that cutie’s girlfriend. Oh my God, I bet they’re like, study partners.”

  Tom laughed under his breath.

  I wish my first class didn’t require toothpicks to keep my eyes open. And I wished those two would just die!

  ~ ~ ~

  The instant class was over, Jenna grabbed Jake’s butt and shoved her tongue down his throat. I’m not sure why she thought I’d care. I mean, all she’s got is Jake, and he’s no Greek god!

  At least she’s not in my second period gym class, although Tom and Jake are. Without Lilly there, I was pretty damn miserable.

  Jake looked my way constantly. He’s way meaner in school than he is at my house; I guess he’s got an image to protect.

  “Volleyball today!” screamed Ms. Gee as she blew her horrid whistle. She’s very butch, and it seemed she enjoyed the girls’ locker room. I always feel awkward changing in front of her.

  I won’t deny my passionate hatred for gym class. It’s stupid! Ms. Gee obviously isn’t losing a pound, so what good is the class, anyway? At five-foot-one and ninety-eight pounds, my weight is one of the few things I never worry about.

  I hid in back, but for the sake of my grade, I hit the ball on occasion. The seconds dragged on. Why couldn’t Luke be in this class, too? I wouldn’t mind seeing him in gym shorts.

  Jake was on my team and Tom was on the other. People kept urging me to hit the ball and got pissed when I missed. Seriously, people take this game way too damn seriously!

  When I finally hit it, it bounced off my hands and went right over the net, splat onto Tom’s fists and back in my face—POW!

  I covered my face. It burned and it stung! I tried to contain my tears. Everyone looked. My eyes settled on Jake just as the whistle blew.

  “Tom, on the bench!” Ms. Gee screamed, poin
ting to the bleachers. “Adonia, are you all right?”

  I nodded, humiliated. I didn’t want her bringing it to everyone’s attention anymore, so I waved her off and dove for the ball again after the whistle sounded the second time.

  On second thought, maybe I should have asked to see Mr. Bias—I think I’m emotionally scarred.

  ~ ~ ~

  Our cafeteria is huge, round, and practically made of windows, but no matter how aesthetically pleasing, it’s still plagued with that nasty cafeteria-food smell.

  I paid for my tray and sat in the back. I kept an eye out for Luke, hoping he wouldn’t notice the red in my face. It’s not a story I wanted to share.

  I sat with Anna Davis, the smartest girl in school. She’s a genius. Just being around her makes me feel dumb. She isn’t in any of my classes—she’s in advanced courses—calculus, ecology, anatomy, and physics. I met her at the start of the semester, she’s a tutor in Lilly’s environmental chemistry class.

  Jake, Tom, Jenna and Tristan sat at the table across from us. Jenna sneered from what used to be my seat. I shot her a look and applied ketchup to my burger.

  “You seem down,” Anna noted, pulling a tight, curly lock out of her face. She has smooth, caramel-colored skin and a complexion to die for. It’s like she never had a zit in her life.

  “Lilly’s gonna be gone for three weeks. First day in and I got smacked over the face with a volleyball by him.” I gestured toward Tom with my nose.

  “Ick, what a jerk!” She ate like a homeless girl; practically inhaled her burger. “Lilly’s having fun now, be happy for her! She’s in a better place!”

  I sighed and nibbled on my food. “Did you guys hang out this weekend?”

  “No. I was too busy studying. She invited me ice skating, but I figured she’d be busy with her brother and stuff anyway. Have you met him?”

  “No. I don’t even remember his name.”

  She looked like she was trying to remember, but she finally shrugged and said, “I don’t think she even told me his name, she mentioned him in passing. I didn’t even know she had a brother!”

  I put my burger down. “Me neither. Isn’t that just weird?”

  Anna nodded, shoving about seven fries in her mouth. For a slim girl, she eats a lot. Being a genius must build up an appetite. “Tell me about it! But that girl’s full of surprises. It must be worse that she didn’t tell you, I’ve only known her a few months.”