by Chris Cannon
“And I’m pretty sure you know why.” I glanced in the direction Aiden had gone.
“I don’t know how much clearer I can make this. Would it make you feel better to know that Aiden asked me to go with him to a dinner on Friday and I said no?”
Why in the hell would that make me feel better? “He asked you out even though he knows we’re dating?”
Delia’s eyes became huge. “What? No. Not as a date, as a friend, but I said no because I knew you wouldn’t like it, and I’d rather spend time with you.”
“How do you know he isn’t trying to get you back?”
“I can tell you with 100 percent certainty that he isn’t interested in dating me.”
“How can you know that? What aren’t you telling me?”
Delia closed her eyes, and her mouth set in a straight line like she was thinking really hard. “It’s hard for me to explain, because I’m keeping something from you about Aiden, because it’s not my secret to tell, and it has nothing to do with us dating. If Trevor told you a personal secret, would you share it with someone else?”
“No. But he’s my best friend. Aiden is a guy you used to date. There’s a difference.”
She took a deep breath and blinked her eyes like she was trying not to cry. And now I felt like a dick, but I wasn’t wrong. “Delia, just tell me what it is and we can get past this.”
“I can’t. I haven’t even told Zoe.”
If she hadn’t told Zoe, it must be big.
“I want to tell you, but I’ll have to check with Aiden,” she said. “I can’t tell you unless he says it’s okay.”
And that’s what it all came down to. She cared more about him than she did about me. Big surprise. I should’ve known this would never work. “Don’t bother. And you can drive yourself to work.” I turned away from her, ignoring the sniffling sounds that meant she was crying, and jogged over to my car.
I drove home on auto-pilot, not remembering the trip. I only tuned in when I hit the gravel road. This whole idea about dating Delia had been stupid. She was just a girl. Sure, she was cute and funny, but she wasn’t anyone special. It’s not like I was that into her. I’d find someone else to date after the holidays when the pressure was off. Someone who didn’t do strange things to her hair or wear weird sparkly eyeliner. Someone normal.
Buddy doing a happy-furry tap dance when I walked into the house made me feel like my entire world hadn’t gone to hell. I picked him up and let him lick my nose. “Come on, boy. Let’s get you some food.” I filled Buddy’s bowl. He made happy crunching chewing sounds as I grabbed a soda from the fridge. Then I changed clothes and headed into work. This should be fun.
Chapter Twenty-One
Delia
Why was Jack being such a jerk? Though I guess I could see his point. If he was hanging around with an ex-girlfriend and acted like they were best friends, I wouldn’t understand, either.
I smacked the steering wheel as I turned into my driveway. Damn Aiden for putting me in this situation. I should have stuck with my original response when he said I couldn’t share with Zoe. But I hadn’t. I’d tried to be a good friend, and now being a good friend to Aiden meant screwing up what I had with Jack.
Of course, there were no other cars in my driveway, which meant I was home alone—again. At least I knew there was food in the house. My mom had stocked the kitchen just like I asked. So I could deal with this.
I went inside and hung my backpack up on a hook by the door. Today’s emotional crisis called for chocolate. I poured chocolate chips into a coffee mug, added a large glob of peanut butter, and microwaved it on low for fifteen seconds. When I pulled it out and stirred it, the scent of peanut butter and chocolate bliss filled the air. I stirred it and nuked it a few more seconds until it melted together. Then I sat at the kitchen table, put my cell on speaker, and dialed Aiden.
“Hello, Delia. What’s up?”
“I am currently scarfing down a mug of melted chocolate chips, and it’s your fault.”
“Okay. I need more information.”
I told him about my fight with Jack.
“So Jack is an idiot.”
“No, genius. The root of my problem is that I’m keeping your secret. If I could tell Jack the truth, he’d understand.”
“You can’t,” Aiden said. “I’m sorry this is causing you problems, but you can’t tell him. He has no reason to keep my secret, and this is a small town, and my dad would kick me out.”
“Your mom wouldn’t let him do that.” It was ridiculous.
“My mom has no power in this relationship. He makes all the decisions.”
“Seriously?”
“He gets mad when she buys a different brand of toothpaste. He’s not a reasonable man.”
Crap. “If I don’t tell Jack something, it’s over.”
“Maybe it’s for the best,” Aiden said.
And I hated all guys at that moment. “Now you’re being a jerk.”
“Yeah, but I have a valid reason to act the way I’m acting. Jack is just being an insecure jackass. Do you really want to deal with a guy like that?”
“I gotta go.” I ended the call because I didn’t want to debate my relationship with Jack, and I needed to get ready for work.
…
Jack
At Betty’s, I kept my attention on the people checking out and did my best not to look over at the dessert case. I knew she was there. I heard her laughing and talking with customers. She even sang “Happy Birthday” to some old guy with a walker who didn’t seem to know where he was, but he was happy about the pie. It sucked that some people ended up totally out of it. Whatever my grandma’s secret was, I hoped she passed it down to me. Maybe I should leave a note for Zoe telling her that if I ended up not knowing who I was, I wanted her to take me sky diving with the provision that she let me pack my own parachute.
At this point, she’d probably push me out of a plane, no questions asked. Why was I thinking these weird thoughts? I checked the clock. Time for my break, but it was too cold to go hang around out back, so I went through the kitchens to the employee lounge, which was really an office Betty never used. I grabbed a soda and a burger on the way. The door slammed behind me before I realized Delia was in the room. I couldn’t back out now. Todd sat there, giving me a look like I’d disappointed him. Delia just looked sad.
“What?” I snapped.
“I didn’t say a word.” Todd stood. “My break’s over. See you all later.” He balled up his food wrappers, tossed them in the trash, and left.
Shit. I did not know how to handle this. “Should I go eat in my car?” I asked Delia.
“Why would you do that?” she asked. “Oh, wait. I know: because as soon as things get dicey, you run away.”
I sat in the seat farthest from her. “Fine. I’ll just eat in here. It’s not like we can avoid each other.”
“Which is why we never should have done this,” Delia said.
The bite of hamburger I’d just taken lodged in my throat. I had to take a drink to swallow. “You’re probably right.”
“No.” She sniffed. “I’m just sad and pissed off.”
I set my burger down. “Well, I’m not happy, either. You’re the one causing the problem.”
She slammed her drink down on the table. “Excuse me?”
“You did this. You’re choosing Aiden over me.”
“No, I’m not.”
How can she not see this?
“I’m not choosing him.” Her voice broke, like she was trying not to cry. “I’m just not blabbing someone else’s secret that has nothing to do with us.”
“As long as you choose to put him first, there is no us.” I couldn’t make it any clearer than that. “So this is all on you.”
The door swung open, and two of the waitresses came in carrying their food. Delia took the opportunity to escape.
…
Delia
Oddly enough, I was glad I’d run into Jack in the break room, bec
ause there was no reason for me to be miserable all by myself. It really ticked me off that he could ignore me all night by keeping his eyes on his customers. I didn’t have that luxury since he was right in my line of sight. Still…the fact that he was mad gave me hope. It meant he was still emotionally invested. I needed to figure out this thing with Aiden. I refused to give up a friend to date a guy, and any guy who asked a girl to do that was a jerk. Jack hadn’t asked me to give Aiden up. He just wanted an explanation. An explanation I didn’t feel right sharing. It was so frustrating.
Aiden had totally freaked out when I’d brought up telling Jack the truth. Today at school, he’d barely spoken to me. Which was kind of funny. I no longer felt bad about not going to his dad’s award dinner.
“Earth to Delia,” a male voice said.
I tuned back in to see Todd standing at the dessert counter. “Sorry, I spaced out there for a minute.”
“I know something happened between you and Jack and then something else happened which you think screwed it all up, but you’re wrong.”
“I am?”
“The only time it’s really over is when you give up and walk away. Unless one of the two people is an abusive psycho, which I’m pretty sure neither of you is, right?”
“Not the last time I checked.”
“So have faith, and it will work out,” he said.
“No offense, but what orifice is this logic coming out of?”
Todd laughed. “I met the love of my life in sixth grade. We’ve already been together more than a decade, and we’ve had some terrible fights. The key is you have to keep coming back and trying to make it right.”
While I wasn’t sure about his formula for a successful relationship, he was trying to help. “Thanks for the encouragement. I guess time will tell.”
He tapped the countertop like he was playing drums. “That is the sum total of my relationship wisdom. And since I’m by the dessert counter, I might as well get Vicky half of a pecan pie.”
“Why half?” I opened the case and pulled out several pieces, setting them in a to-go box.
“If I get a whole pie, she’ll complain it’s too much. If I take a piece for each of us, it will be gone too quickly. Half a pie ensures she can have a little more than she knows she should but not too much.”
“You should start a dating advice blog.” And I wasn’t joking.
“That’s not a bad idea.” He accepted the pie and nodded at me. “Have a good night.”
“You, too.”
Deep inside me, a small voice kept whispering that if Jack thought I was special, he should be willing to fight for me. To try and make it work. Apparently, that wasn’t the case, because he wasn’t trying very hard to make this right.
…
Jack
After work, I sat at the kitchen table eating cookies, which were probably meant for the flea market, but that was too bad.
My mom and grandmother joined me.
“That is not a happy face,” my mom said. “What’s wrong?”
“Delia and I had a fight.”
“I hope it wasn’t something big,” my grandmother said. “The holidays are coming, and I expect everyone to be cheerful and bright.”
I laughed. “I make no guarantees.”
“I’m not dreading Christmas this year, like I have the last two years,” my mom said in a quiet voice, like she was confessing something.
“Thanksgiving was kind of fun this year,” I said.
“I think it’s time for us to enjoy our lives again,” my mom said. “I think they’d want that for us.”
My eyes burned, but I nodded in agreement, not trusting my voice.
“I know they’d want us to be happy,” said my grandmother.
My grandma and mom headed into the living room, and I camped out at the kitchen table doing my homework. Zoe came in to grab a snack.
“In case you care, Delia called me, and she isn’t happy.”
I erased a mistake on my paper. “Not my fault.”
“How is it not your fault? You’re the one being a jerk.”
“No. She’s the one keeping a secret.”
“What does that matter if it doesn’t have anything to do with you?”
“Okay, Miss High and Mighty, if Grant was spending time with his ex, insisting they were just friends and keeping a secret for her, would you be okay with that?”
Zoe frowned. “Oh…when you put it that way.”
“Do you understand now?”
“Yes, but this is Delia we’re talking about. She’d never do anything to hurt anyone on purpose. Maybe that’s why she can’t tell you, because it would cause problems for Aiden.”
“If she doesn’t choose me over him, why should I bother with her?”
Zoe muttered something under her breath as she left the room.
This was exactly why I never should have kissed her in the first place. It was probably better that it fell apart now rather than six months from now. There wasn’t that much to get over. In a few weeks, kissing her would be a distant memory.
My cell buzzed. It was a text from Trevor with a sad face. Rocky was wearing a cone of shame, and his nose was swollen to twice its normal size.
I called Trevor. When he answered, I said, “Poor guy, what happened?”
“Spider bite. He’s on steroids. The vet said it should be better within twenty-four hours.”
“What’s with the cone of shame?” I asked.
“He isn’t supposed to scratch. I’m holding an icepack on his nose right now.”
“So Rocky had a crap day, too.” I’d meant it as a joke, but it fell flat.
“You know Delia is a pretty cool girl. Most people blab crap all over the internet. She’s keeping a secret for a guy who was kind of a jerk to her, just because it’s the right thing to do.”
“I hate Aiden.” And I wasn’t lying. “His stupid secret has screwed this whole thing up.”
Trevor was silent.
“What?”
“Nothing. I’ve said my piece. You can do what you want. Rocky’s falling asleep standing up, so I’m going to take him into the living room and help him up onto the couch before he passes out.”
I loved that dog. “Will someone be home with him tomorrow?”
“Yeah, my mom’s going to take a sick day. She says she took days to take care of me, and Rocky is her baby, too.”
“Cool. See you tomorrow.”
I picked up Buddy, who’d fallen asleep by my feet. He yawned. I thought about Delia and what Zoe had said. Had I made a mistake? It wasn’t my fault she’d agreed to keep an ex’s secret. But I’m also pretty sure there wasn’t a guy on the planet who’d be okay with a girl being that tight with a guy who’d friend-zoned her.
…
Delia
I woke up the next morning to the suckiest Friday ever. Too wound up to sleep last night, I’d started a new craft project, which in hindsight was incredibly stupid because then I didn’t go to bed until one. There wasn’t enough coffee in the world to wake me up this morning.
And I didn’t want to go to school. I didn’t want to see Jack, or Aiden, or pretty much anyone. I wanted to hide under my blankets all day. Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option.
I texted Zoe that I’d be a little late and she shouldn’t wait for me on the quad. That way, I could avoid seeing Aiden, because rational or not, I was angry at him. And I didn’t want to bump into Jack, either.
Fate mocked me as Jack pulled into a parking spot right next to mine when I was getting out of my car. He didn’t acknowledge me. He just stalked off. At least I didn’t have work with him tonight.
I went through the motions during class. I was grateful when lunch arrived and Aiden didn’t show up at our table. One less problem to deal with.
“Where’s the fourth member of the band?” Zoe asked Grant.
“A new guy started today. His dad works for the same law firm as Aiden’s dad, so Aiden was volunteered as his guide to all thing
s Wilton.”
“Maybe he’ll be cute and single,” Zoe said.
“I’m sitting right here,” Grant said.
“Not for me,” Zoe said. “For Delia.”
“Nope. I have enough guy issues. I just want to make it through Christmas without drama. People get all clingy over the holidays because they don’t want to be alone, and I don’t need that.”
Aiden entered the cafeteria, and the volume increased. The new guy was hot. He was a few inches taller than Aiden and on the slim side. His dark complexion, sharp cheekbones, and close-cropped hair made him look like a model. And he made the Wilton uniform look fashionable, which was quite the achievement.
“I changed my mind,” I said to Zoe. “I want one.”
“You and every other female in this room,” Grant said.
Oblivious to the attention they were drawing, Aiden came over and smiled as he sat down. “Time for more names, even though I don’t expect you to remember everyone. This is my best friend Grant, his girlfriend Zoe, and our friend Delia. And this,” Aiden pointed at the new guy, “is Devon.”
Devon nodded at all of us as he sat down. “Nice to meet you.” He glanced around. “How long will it take for everyone to stop staring at me?”
“Give everyone a week, and they’ll move on to something else,” I said.
“Why a week?” Aiden asked.
“Seems logical. And just so you know, you’re on my shit list.” I probably shouldn’t have said that in front of the new guy, but my filter was off due to lack of sleep.
Aiden blushed. “Sorry I was a jerk yesterday.”
Devon looked back and forth between Aiden and me. He seemed surprised. “You dated?”
“How did you know that?” I asked.
“There is a certain level of awkwardness,” Devon said. “That only occurs between people who have dated.”
“I guess we sort of dated,” I said. “But not really.”
“Interesting.” Devon leaned toward Aiden. “We should go to that awards banquet together tonight, and I can tell you about the girl I dated before I figured things out.”
Aiden froze, and then he shrugged. “Okay.”
Had Devon just asked Aiden on a date? I wasn’t sure. Grant and Zoe didn’t seem to think anything was going on, but then again, they didn’t know what I knew. I wanted to drag Aiden off somewhere and ask him what was going on, but I couldn’t do that without arousing suspicion.
