The whole party joined in the countdown, but Lucy and I stood on the fringe, waiting for that stupid ball to drop so we could kiss without having to hide it.
Before they were even halfway through shouting, “One,” I had her warm lips against mine, and I could feel her tightening her grip around my body.
When I pulled away, we kept our foreheads pressed together as Auld Lang Syne played in the background, and the fireworks over the city thundered along with the music.
“You know,” I whispered, “the hottie-to-nerd thing is really in.”
She laughed, and her smile nearly set me on fire. I pulled her in for another kiss.
“Well, as long as you don’t mind dating a nerd,” she whispered back.
“I can handle it.”
Then, she turned to watch the fireworks. She rested her head against my shoulder as she whispered, “The Northern Lights were better.”
The next day our flight practically boarded before the sun. We barely slept a wink that night. After spending most of the night back on the comfy couch on the 12th floor, I think I only laid my head on my own pillow for two hours.
Poor Mrs. Stratnik looked like she was only being held up by the large coffee in her hands. Somehow, Lucy still looked flawless.
The flight was packed, so Lucy and I were stuck in a row with Tabitha, but we were all so tired that no one really cared who sat where. Lucy shared her travel neck pillow with me, and as soon as our butts hit the airplane seats, we fell toward each other and we were out in seconds.
The next second, we opened our eyes, and we were starting our descent. Lucy stirred next to me.
“Almost home,” I whispered.
“I keep wanting to check my phone,” she said while stretching. “Then I remember it’s on airplane mode. I know Nora and Addy are gonna lose their minds when I tell them.”
She smiled, and I had to stop myself from kissing her again. Tabitha had done her fair share of eye-rolling at us.
“Think they’ll be surprised?” I asked.
“Not even a little,” she chuckled.
“Poor Nora is going to feel like a third wheel when we double date with Addy and Gray,” I added.
“Well, then I guess we need to find someone for her.” She pulled out her lip gloss and used her phone’s camera as a mirror. “Too bad Daniel’s not single anymore,” she announced, looking sideways at Tabitha with a sly smile.
Tabitha, who still had her ear buds in, tried to ignore Lucy but couldn’t stop her mouth from twisting into a tight smirk. Lucy and I shared a silent laugh, then threaded our fingers together as we waited for the plane to touch down. It was a little rougher than the other flight, and I could see Lucy’s eyes get wide as the plane jerked.
She clutched my arm, and I patted her hand. “I’m glad that’s over,” she sighed. The plane pulled up to the terminal and a moment later, the overhead light pinged to let us unbuckle.
“Home sweet home,” I said as I stood.
Lucy didn’t hesitate to pull her phone out of her backpack and switch it from airplane mode with a relieved smile. “Finally.”
“Couldn’t even wait to get off the plane,” I teased.
“It’s a good thing I didn’t,” she said as her phone started buzzing and pinging like it was deranged. “I have a ton of notifications.”
“One million likes for your rooftop D.C. selfie,” I announced.
She didn’t laugh back. Instead, her eyes stayed trained on her phone, and I watched her expression drop.
“Lucy,” I muttered. “What’s up?”
Her breathing picked up speed, and she started playing with her hair as she scrolled wildly. I wasn’t going to snoop and steal a glance, but part of me wanted to.
“Lucy…”
“It’s fine,” she blurted. Then, she pasted the fakest smile I’d ever seen on her face. “Everything’s fine. Just Nora and Addy, you know. They missed me.” She shoved her phone in her backpack and stood up.
Whatever it was, I wasn’t buying it.
Chapter Twenty-One
Lucy
“You have to take it down,” said Nora.
My face was hot with frustrated tears. “Of course I have to take it down!” I cried. “But that won’t stop him from seeing it. It’s going to be just like last time. There will be screenshots everywhere.”
Nora rubbed my shoulders from behind. “I know. I guess I was just hoping it would be easier.”
I knew Nora was just trying to help, but she was not helping. It was not a day for optimism. It was a day for ultimate pain, suffering, and despair!
“It’s really kind of sweet,” said Addy. She was reading Simon’s essay. Her lips turned down in a sympathetic frown.
“Yeah, the essay is real sweet. What isn’t sweet is how it’s posted on my account along with a horrible meme accusing Simon of being obsessed with me.”
Addy let out a frustrated breath. “I still don’t understand how this got out in the first place. And on your account.”
“Oh, I know exactly how it got out,” I said, my hands balled into fists. “There is only one person with the password to my email. And he has no soul.”
“I guess that whole apology thing didn’t go as well as you thought,” said Nora, biting her bottom lip as if she were afraid I would reach out and hit her.
“I guess not,” I groaned and lowered my head into my hands.
“This is salvageable,” said Addy. “You and Simon are solid now, right?”
I looked up at her, tears burning behind my eyelids. “Were you and Gray ‘solid’ when he read your squad goals last fall?”
Addy’s face filled with tension. “Okay, I see your point but…”
“But what? I spent all term earning his trust and now he is going to think it was all a big joke.”
“We will figure something out, Lucy. I promise. Whatever it takes.” Addy tossed her phone on the couch and took an authoritative stance. “Even if it takes streaking through the school in nothing but bubble wrap. Even if we have to jump into a swimming pool filled with vanilla pudding. I swear it Lucy, if we have to tattoo My Little Pony Fans Forever across our foreheads, WE...WILL...DO...IT!”
Nora was the first to burst into laughter, followed by me, and finally Addy.
“Thanks for trying to cheer me up,” I said, wiping a laughter induced tear from the corner of my eye. “But I don’t think any of those things are going to fix what just broke between me and Simon.”
Addy shrugged, “Maybe not, but you can’t give up.”
At the top of the stairs a familiar creak followed by a thump, thump, thump let us know that Max was entering the den. Despite the ‘go away, Max’ sign Addy had hung on the door.
“Don’t shoot,” cried Max, rounding the stairway with hands up in surrender. The three of us rolled our eyes. It had been years since we ambushed Max with Nerf guns for entering the No Max Zone. We were far too mature for that now, though a little part of me was itching to see if Addy still kept a spare long shot under the couch.
“What do you want?” asked Addy, her arms folded over her chest.
“I’ve come to be of assistance,” said Max, planting himself on the den couch. He stretched his legs out to rest his feet on the coffee table in front of him.
“Oh do regale us with your great relationship advice,” said Addy sarcastically. “Your track record with the opposite sex is stellar.”
“Ouch,” cried Max pretending to clutch his chest in pain. “Next time, I’ll take the foam bullets over the emotional abuse.”
“Alright,” said Nora, holding her hands out like a shield. “Everyone play nice. We are willing to listen.” She turned to face Max. “What did you have in mind?”
“In response to #ReturnoftheevilLucy?”
“Please tell me no one is using that,” I whispered.
“Just me,” said Max with a smirk.
I looked over at Addy who was clutching her elbows so hard there were little white prints for
ming on her skin. She was using every ounce of self-control to keep from physically harming Max. As much as I wanted to join forces with her and oust him from the gym, he was a boy. And he was far closer to the nerd spectrum than Gray. Maybe he knew what he was talking about?
I took a deep breath, before shifting my attention to Max. “I’m listening.”
Max leaned forward, rubbing his hands together menacingly. “Twice now, Lucy, Simon has suffered embarrassment at the hands of your cellular phone.”
“Oh, for heaven’s sake, tone down the drama,” growled Addy, plopping down on the couch beside him.
“Ahem,” coughed Max. “If you will allow me to continue.”
“Go on,” I said, shooting a warning look at Addy.
“I think you need to apologize,”
“Well, duh,” said Addy.
“In public,” continued Max.
“I can do that—” I started.
“In costume,” said Max, leveling his eyes to mine.
“Wait... what?”
The rest of the conversation consisted of Max laying out a lengthy, albeit brilliant plan to prove to Simon that I was in no way ashamed of him. Too bad it required humiliating myself in front of the entire school.
“I think I prefer the pudding plan,” said Nora, as Max made his way up the stairs and out of the den.
Simon
Addy and Nora whisked Lucy away at the airport so fast I barely got a peck in before she was gone. It was like she flipped a switch. Everything before the plane landed was heaven. Then it was like as soon as we touched ground in Minnesota, everything changed. She couldn’t look me in the eye, didn’t want to hold my hand anymore, and certainly wasn’t pulling me into any dark corners to make out.
Sam waited in her car at the curb as I walked out. “Happy New Year?” she said in the form of a question as I dropped my bag in the trunk.
“Happy New Year,” I mumbled.
“Who peed in your sparkling cider?”
I didn’t answer. I couldn’t get Lucy’s face out of my head. Playing all the possibilities in my head, I could only come to one conclusion. She could be my girlfriend in D.C. where no one knew us, but now that we were back in Delinki...she had regrets.
“Simon…”
“Why are girls so confusing?” I asked.
She let out an exasperated sigh. “Let me guess...Lucy Caldwell is making your life hell again.”
Samantha never really warmed up to the idea of me even befriending Lucy again, let alone being her boyfriend. So, I ignored her lecture as I pulled out my phone. I wasn’t in any hurry after the plane landed and only powered it up to text Sam to pick me up. I must have been so distracted by Lucy’s weird behavior that I didn’t notice the notifications.
Gray texted me four times.
Gray: Hey man.
Gray: Addy told me to text you.
Gray: She said and I quote, “Tell him Lucy is innocent.”
Gray: Text me when you can.
“What the—” I muttered as I tried to make sense of his cryptic messages.
“What’s up?” Sam asked.
“I have no clue.”
Facebook had over twelve notifications, but when I tried to open the “Lucy Caldwell tagged you in a post,” button it only came up with a This post has been deleted message.
Whatever the post was, it had received a lot of comments and reactions. When did she tag me in a post? We had been on the plane, unconscious, all morning. I was with her most of the night, so unless she posted something after we went to bed at three in the morning, this didn’t make any sense.
Maybe she posted something about me and regretted it? None of that explained Gray’s weird messages. I decided to text him back.
Simon: I’m lost.
Nothing on Facebook was helping either. It was full of New Year’s Eve photos and memes, but nothing out of the ordinary.
We pulled up to the house before I had a chance to text Lucy. I figured I’d wait until after I showered and ate and didn’t feel so groggy and gross before I started hounding her for answers.
My mom and dad were waiting in the kitchen to greet me. My mom wanted all the details of our trip, but a knowing smile from my dad insisted that maybe I didn’t need to go into too much detail. So I told them about the tours, the cruise, and the rooftop party.
“And what about Lucy?” my mom asked, her voice going up about five octaves.
“What about her?” I responded with a blush.
“You two still just friends?” My dad nudged me in the ribs with his elbow. His deep laugh echoed through the kitchen.
I almost felt ill as I tried to smile and answer the question. “Not exactly…”
My mom nearly started dancing circles around me. This was officially the most humiliating moment of my life, and that was really saying something. She’d been rooting for me and Lucy for years, even before we started hanging out again.
“Mom...please stop.”
“I have to confess,” she said, clutching her hands together at her chest. “Mrs. Stratnik was texting me all weekend, so I knew all along, but I just wanted to hear you say it.”
I groaned. “I really need to go take a shower. And get as far away from this conversation as possible.”
My dad laughed again then put his arm around my mom. I swear I had never seen them look prouder. I was in the top 5% of students at my school, won multiple spelling bees, and volunteered over a hundred hours in the past three years, but getting a girlfriend was now my shining achievement.
When I turned to leave the kitchen and head up to my room, my sister stopped me at the bottom of the stairs with a stern expression on her face.
“Well, at least one person in this family isn’t giddy about my new girlfriend…” I joked.
“No, I can’t say I am,” she responded dryly. She held her phone in her hand and turned the screen toward me.
“What am I looking at?” I asked. It was a screenshot of some word document and a meme posted on Facebook.
“Your so-called girlfriend posted this, Simon.”
“What?” I snatched the phone from her, eager to see this mystery post that everyone was making such a fuss about. My eyes recognized the words all too quickly.
Lucy Caldwell changed my life. She taught me that no one is perfect, but it’s never too late to change. It’s that willingness to accept our mistakes that make us truly perfect.
“No, no, no, no,” I mumbled. “Why would she…”
Next to the essay that must have been screenshot and posted was a meme with the caption, ‘Why are you so obsessed with me?’
I wanted to throw up. This couldn’t be right. Just last night, we were practically glued to each other, and she promised that things between us were real and not just because we were out of town. I believed it. She seemed so genuine.
“Simon…” Sam prodded. “Say something.”
“I’m such an idiot,” I mumbled as I handed her back her phone and sulked up the stairs to my room where I promptly shut off my phone and collapsed onto my bed, desperately wishing I could erase the last three days from my memory.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Lucy
I agreed to go along with Max’s plan. But, secretly I hoped that things between Simon and I could be fixed before extreme measures had to be taken. It was a vain hope. Simon wouldn’t read my text messages let alone talk to me. Who just ignores twenty-seven texts? He had to be furious to be that adamant about not hitting open. Statistically, he should have opened one by accident by now. I was mid text twenty-eight when I felt a familiar arm sling around my shoulder.
“That is so cute,” whispered Trevor, his lips uncomfortably close to my ear. “But I heard he’s done being obsessed with you.”
“Very funny,” I said, quickly tossing my phone into my bag before he could read over my shoulder a second longer. I’d changed all of my passwords first thing when I got home from D.C., but I still felt gross thinking about how long Trevor
had been reading my emails and accessing my direct messages on Facebook. We broke up last spring. Which meant he had been waiting for something like Simon’s essay for quite some time.
“You know what I don’t get?” I asked, shrugging out from under his arm. “Why are you so obsessed with me?” Trevor’s ears turned pink. A little tell that I had gotten to him, despite the nasty look on his face.
“Revenge is sweet,” said Trevor. “Did you really think your little stunt in the cafeteria made us even?”
I laughed, even though I knew Trevor was one hundred percent serious. I couldn’t help but think he sounded exactly like the bad guy in a superhero movie, revealing his evil plan to the hostage, just in time for the good guy to swoop in and say something witty before landing a serious punch to the jaw.
“What’s so funny?” asked Trevor, that little pink in his ears growing darker by the second.
“You. You’re what’s funny,” I said. “You know for a minute there I regretted apologizing to you, but now I see you clearly needed it.”
Trevor cocked one eyebrow at me and rocked back on his heels. He probably thought it made him look more impressive, standing with his arms crossed over his chest like that. Instead, it reminded me how hard he had to puff himself up to feel good about putting me down.
“You make me sad, Trevor.” I said, giving him a condescending pat on the shoulder. “Next year in college, why don’t you try treating your girlfriend right? Then you won’t have to waste so much time stalking her after you break up.”
Trevor opened his mouth to argue, but I was already turned in the opposite direction. He didn’t come after me of course. Not Trevor. He was all pride and no common sense. I didn’t have to look back to know that he was still striking that ridiculous pose, our classmates filing past him in both directions.
I was halfway down the junior class hall when an arm popped out of the boys bathroom and pulled me in. I was one deep breath away from screaming bloody murder when I realized the hand belonged to Max.
Nerdy by New Year Page 13
