Me & My Invisible Guy

by Sarah Jeffrey

  Just as I was heading to bed, Darby knocked lightly on my door and stepped inside.

  She grinned. “I didn’t want to say it in front of everyone until I talked to you. The studio has been fielding phone calls from agents and publishers all day. They want us to write a book.”

  “Us?”

  “Well, I know you didn’t want to do the interview, but your story, well, it’s a part of my story now. I couldn’t do it without sharing your part of the story.”

  “Share away.”

  “You still don’t want to be involved?”

  I shook my head. “No. But I’ll help you in any way I can. Maybe I could design your logo and website.”

  “My logo and website?”

  “Yeah. You need a name for what you’re doing. Like that Barbara chick who came to my school. If you’re gonna write books and go around and speak and all of that, you’ll need a really cool website and brochures and stuff.”

  Darby sat on my bed. “I didn’t even think about that, but you’re right.”

  “Things with Brian look good, too.”

  “Things with Brian are wonderful. It’s still awful about…”—her voice caught in her throat—“…the baby thing, but the doctors didn’t say it was impossible. Brian says he’s thrilled as long as he has me. Isn’t that sweet?”

  “Pretty sweet.”

  “And you and Liam?”

  “It’s good. Undefined. But good.”

  Darby fell back on the bed, her hands on her head. “It’s all happening so fast.”

  “But you can do it, right?” I thought she could.

  “With God, all things are possible,” she said.

  I had a feeling that Darby and God would make a pretty good team. Me, I was just glad to have my sister back.

  At school I ignored all the jeering. It was sad that this had become the norm.

  I enlisted Tess and Liam to help me take an informal poll about the school newspaper. At lunch we sat together and tallied our results.

  “I asked thirty-eight guys today. Twenty of them didn’t read it, fifteen didn’t even know we had a school newspaper, and three were confused by the question,” Liam said. He was eating fried chicken again. He held out a leg. “You’ll try it one of these days.”

  “Ew, slacker,” Tess said. “I talked to sixty-three people.”

  “How is that even possible?” Liam asked.

  “I’m incredibly efficient. Twelve said they read it but only the front page. The rest either didn’t read it or didn’t know about it. And two art students confessed to stealing the stacks for projects.”

  “Same here,” I said. “Of course, I could only ask the people who would actually talk to me.”

  “It’ll stop eventually,” Tess said. “Everything does. When are you going to talk to Samantha?”

  I held up my thumb drive. “After school.”

  It bothered me how nervous I was as I walked to the newspaper office. If they didn’t want to do it, so what? But at some point, while sitting in front of my computer imagining the possibilities last night, it had started to matter a lot.

  Samantha looked up from a desk when I stepped into the doorway.

  “Hey, Mallory.”

  “Can I show you something? It won’t take long. I promise.”

  She nodded, and I went back to one of the Macs and turned it on. I popped in the thumb drive and pulled up the web pages I had designed. Samantha put on her glasses and watched over my shoulder, leaning in as I ran the slideshow of pages.

  She began asking questions, and after an hour of explaining how it worked and what they could do, she sat down and frowned.

  She still seemed skeptical, so I decided to push harder and tell her about the poll. “A lot of the students we talked to don’t read the paper. But they should, and this is just a different way to deliver it to them. What’s more important: having it in paper form or having students read it?”

  She kept frowning, and I couldn’t figure out what she was thinking. Then she suddenly stood up and called the staff over to the computer. My stomach churned as she scrolled through the pages for everyone in the room to see.

  “She said they’re going to talk about it as a team and decide.” I climbed into Liam’s car.

  “So you’re offering to run the whole web portion for them?”

  I paused. “I guess I am.”

  Liam pulled out of the parking lot. “What about cheerleading?”

  “I don’t know. Tara said I can go back next week.”

  “If you do both I’ll never see you.”

  “Well, I don’t even know yet if Samantha will agree to it.”

  Liam shrugged. “Why wouldn’t she? Newspapers are archaic. They should have done it years ago. But we’re both going to be busy because—I joined Ben’s band. I’m going to have rehearsals and who knows what else.”

  “You did? Liam, that’s awesome, but… what about your dad?”

  Liam shook his head. “I didn’t even tell him. But my mom’s excited for me. I’m not sure where my dad’s head is at right now. He hasn’t talked to me at all since I moved in with Brian.”

  “Maybe he’ll come around.”

  “So you’re okay with having a boyfriend in a band?”

  “Did you just define our relationship?”

  Liam looked confused. “What do you mean?”

  “You said boyfriend.”

  He crinkled up his eyebrows. “What else would I be?”

  “I just wasn’t sure.”

  He seemed to get it finally. “Mallory, would you be my girlfriend, and will you go to homecoming with me?”

  I laughed out loud and leaned over and kissed him. “Yes and yes. I thought you’d never ask.”

  I noticed the news van as soon as Liam turned onto our street. Darby had said something about the local news, and I spotted Christi Rea on the porch with her crew hauling lights inside.

  I promised to call Liam later and climbed out of the car. Christi held out her hand when I got to the porch.

  “Good to see you again. Your sister said she didn’t think you’d be joining us today. It’s just a quick follow-up to everything that’s happened since her New York trip.”

  “I think Darby can handle it. But I do have a favor to ask. My friend Tess is having a toy drive in November for the local domestic violence shelter. Do you think you could let people know about it? If you mentioned it on air, it would really help.” I pulled out a flyer from my bag and handed it to her.

  “Sure. We could probably do that. And I’ll make sure it goes on our website, too.”

  “Really? Thank you, that would be so great.”

  “Always willing to help a good cause,” Christi said. “I’d better make sure we’re all ready in here.” She shook my hand again. I reached for my phone to call Tess, then stopped.

  I’d let the news coverage be a surprise.

  CHAPTER 24

  Within the first hour of school the next day, Samantha had said yes to the redesign, and Tara asked me to come back and cheer for the game on Friday. Tess told me it was because Pia sprained her ankle and couldn’t stunt.

  Liam laughed. Which was completely unhelpful.

  “So now I either have no life or I have to choose?”

  “Were you cheerleading because you love it or because it’s fun to do?” Liam put his arm around my shoulder. It distracted me from his question.

  Here I was, walking down the hallway at school with a guy. A real boyfriend. Such a strange thing. I still couldn’t believe it.

  Maybe I don’t have to choose. The fall cheering season was only a few more weeks. So, with the redesign, cheering, and the fund-raiser, it would be an intense few weeks, but it was possible. Wasn’t it?

  Liam stopped me and led me over to an empty doorway.

  “I need to tell you something,” he said, a nervous look on his face.

  I couldn’t help it—my heart sank. It was bad news whatever it was.

  “I was talking
to Ben last night at rehearsal about the stuff they already have booked, and I… well, I messed up the dates.”

  “What dates?”

  “That concert I told you about? I thought it was the week before homecoming, but it’s… the same night.”

  “So…”

  “So I can’t take you to homecoming. I feel awful, but it’s too late to change it and…” He sighed heavily.

  I was quiet. I knew how important the band was to him. And really, it was just a silly dance. But it was my first homecoming with a real boyfriend, and now I was going to miss it.

  As disappointed as I felt, though, I knew what I needed to do.

  “Well, you have to do the concert,” I said.

  “I feel terrible.”

  “Don’t. It’s not your fault. And it’s just a dance.”

  “I’ll make it up to you,” Liam said.

  I smiled. “Oh, I know you will. And I already have an idea.”

  He grinned and kissed me. “Lay it on me.”

  At lunch we sat with Tess, who was completely distracted. She had thrown herself into prepping for the fund-raiser, a not-so-veiled attempt to avoid her life at home, which was both better and more difficult at the same time. With social services involved, Tess was getting frustrated with having to deal with so many other people.

  I hated that it was still a bit of a wedge between us.

  But I also thought that if I could just get her through the fund-raiser, we could deal with it afterward.

  “So,” I started. “I was thinking Liam’s band could play at the fund-raiser. Christmas music would add a nice atmosphere and—”

  “They’d do that?” Tess interrupted.

  Liam said, “We wanted to see what you thought before I asked them.”

  “Yes. Go call. Now. That would make the event so much more epic.”

  Liam took out his cell phone and walked away.

  “You okay?” I asked.

  Tess poked at her food. “What am I going to do with myself when this is all over?”

  “Probably find some other crazy project,” I said.

  “They want us to do family counseling with my mom.”

  “Maybe that will be a good thing.”

  “I’m just so mad at her. And I don’t want to sit around talking about it.” Tess sat up and gestured with her chin, signaling that Liam was back.

  “Ben’s checking with everyone else, but he sounds stoked about it. He wants to know if we can advertise the event.”

  “Advertise away.” Tess launched back into planning mode. “Okay, so I drew a layout of what I’m thinking we’re going to do with the space. They won’t let us move in until Saturday morning, so we’ll only have a few hours to get ready. We need more help.”

  Tess unfolded a piece of paper and took charge.

  Later I walked down to the newspaper office to let Samantha know that I’d do the redesign but that I’d have to work from home until cheerleading ended. She was fine with it. I was relieved to hear that she wanted to launch in January, because that gave me more time.

  “Before you leave I wanted to run something else by you.”

  “Sure.” I glanced at the clock; I could spare five minutes if I sprinted to practice.

  Samantha walked to her desk, and I followed.

  “You said we’re going to have a lot more space to fill, so I wanted to see if you would do a weekly column—starting in January, of course.”

  “A column? I’m not really a writer.”

  “I think you could manage this. Your story made me think about how everyone has their own secrets, and it’s the secrets that make us think we’re all alone, that no one else in the whole world could understand how we feel. What if you did a ‘High School Confessional’ column and let people anonymously share their secrets?”

  “So it would be other people’s stories?”

  Samantha nodded and adjusted her glasses. “I think it could be really eye-opening. And if you rewrite their stories in your own writing voice, then it would protect their privacy while at the same time letting others know they aren’t alone.”

  “How am I supposed to get people to share their secrets?”

  “You don’t have to convince them. Look.” Samantha handed me a stack of papers. “We’ve been getting these ever since that article ran about you. And always in hard copy—I’m assuming it’s because no one wants their e-mail traced.”

  I took the papers and began reading:

  I’ve been stealing since I was 6 years old. I know it’s wrong, but I can’t stop. I think I need help, but I’m afraid to ask.

  My dad just lost his job again, and I think we’re really going to lose our house this time.

  I feel like everyone in this school hates me.

  The guy I’ve been in love with for the past three years doesn’t even know I exist. Maybe that’s why I can’t let go.

  I didn’t stop until I had been through the whole stack. Even then I wanted to start over. I had no words.

  “I know. I felt that way, too. You could take a secret, rewrite it, and then respond to it in some way. Point them in the right direction. What do you think?”

  In the same way that I knew interviews were not for me, I knew this was. This was my Step 12.

  Life became a blur, and I was too busy even to care that I was still being propositioned in the hallway—usually by Greg and his friends—or getting scowls here and there. I accepted the title of the Virgin Cheerleader. I was going to have to live with it.

  We spent hours putting up flyers and working out a thousand little details for the fund-raiser, so I didn’t have much time to feel sorry for myself. But I found myself a little sad during the homecoming parade and game, because everyone was talking about the dance.

  Tess got asked to the dance several times. But in her solidarity with me, she opted not to go so she could come to Liam’s concert.

  Tess picked me up even though Brian and Darby were going to the same place. Liam was playing at some big youth event. His whole church was going—maybe his mom, too.

  I finally settled on my best pair of jeans, knee-high boots, and a belted sweater that was new. I had to go back inside to grab my camera bag because I had promised to record the event for Liam.

  I was out of breath by the time I settled in the Jeep next to Tess.

  “Got everything this time?”

  “I think so.”

  “It will be fine. Meeting the parents is never as bad as you imagine it.”

  “Not sure that helps.”

  “Well, imagine trying to introduce a guy to my mom. Hmmm, should I try when she’s drunk or hung over?”

  “Liam’s already met my mom and dad, but it’s because he keeps coming over. Which is nice.”

  “Yeah, you should keep him.”

  I hoped so. I had no idea what a long-term relationship would look like. But it felt good to try.

  We arrived an hour before Liam’s band was supposed to play. The place was already packed. It was at a church, but they had moved all the chairs so everyone was mingling in a wide-open space. The lights were down, and colored lights swirled around the room. It wasn’t homecoming, but it looked fun. Plus, I was here with my best friend, and my boyfriend was in the band. Not too shabby.

  The low light wasn’t ideal for taking pictures, so I spent some time adjusting the settings on my camera.

  Then I told Tess I was going to look for Liam. My guy. I liked the sound of that.

  I headed for a door near the stage, but a tall, skinny boy with jet-black hair stopped me.

  “Sorry. Band only.”

  “I’m with the band,” I told him.

  He looked me up and down, then shrugged and let me through. I followed the music and found them all in a classroom warming up. Liam grinned and set down his guitar when he saw me. I said a quick hello to the other guys and got a kiss from Liam.

  I took some pictures of them all together and got a few of Liam warming up. I loved how he l
ooked when he was concentrating.

  When a girl opened the door and yelled “Five minutes!” into the room, everyone started gathering their stuff and leaving. Liam got his guitar and put his arm around me as we walked from the room. In the hallway, we saw a woman with reddish hair and glasses. She looked nervous, but she smiled when she saw Liam. He grabbed her in a hug.

  She seemed relieved by his reaction.

  “Mom, this is Mallory.”

  I held out my hand, but she hugged me instead. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

  “Dad’s not here.” Liam said it more as a statement than a question. She shook her head and folded and refolded her gloves.

  “He wanted to, but he couldn’t get away.”

  Liam drew his lips in a tight line. “I really think it would help if he could see for himself… never mind. I have to get ready. I hope you enjoy it, Mom.” Liam waved and ran off, leaving me standing there with his mom.

  “I guess we better go on in,” I said to her.

  “Yes, I should find Brian. I believe he’s already here.”

  It was only a minute or so before we reached the crowded room. I spotted Brian and Darby toward the back and pointed them out to Liam’s mom. She squeezed my arm and leaned in toward my ear to say thank-you.

  It took me a lot longer to find Tess, and by the time I did, someone was onstage introducing the event.

  Tess pulled me toward a far wall where it was a little easier to talk. “So?”

  I shrugged. “I met his mom. It was quick, and she seemed… uncomfortable.”

  “No Dad?”

  “No, and Liam seemed upset.”

  Tess pointed. The band had just come onstage. “He looks okay now.”

  And she was right. Liam’s grin was back as he messed with his guitar and microphone. We listened as Ben introduced the band and explained the long story behind their name: The Yellow Turnips.

  “He’ll be all right. Look at how things turned out for Darby.”

  “True.”

  With a loud opening, they began to play a song that I wasn’t familiar with. It was really catchy. The crowd loved it, and I felt this swell of… pride, I guess. That was Liam up there. My boyfriend.