“I’m sorry, Ivy. I can’t believe Andy’s being so rude. He was mad Friday, I get that. But it’s super lame of him to drag it out like this for so long. If he was going to dump you, he should have had the decency to end it to your face instead of hiding like a sissy.”
Jake walked into the family room and plopped down in the chair across from me, throwing his feet over the side. “It’s not like him. I don’t know what’s going on, but this is totally out of character for Andy. He never blows me off, unless he’s out with a hot girl or something.”
I groaned into my towel. Lilly plucked a throw pillow off the couch and threw it at Jake. “Way to have some tact, you moron.”
Jake, realizing his error, backpedaled. “Sophia excluded. My sister’s not hot or a girl. She’s more like a big, angry, scary monster right now. He wouldn’t take her back no matter how hard she tried. Seriously, I don’t know what’s crawled up Andy’s butt. Friday afternoon, he was gushing like a sap over how much he liked you and how hot you were in the pool on Tuesday night.”
“What’s this about the pool?” Lilly snapped upright.
“They made out in the pool,” Jake answered for me.
Lilly pouted. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It wasn’t that hot, and it was only a quick kiss…ok, a long-ish kiss. We weren’t even in our swimsuits, though. We had all our clothes on. Literally, covered neck to toe.”
“Whatever.” Jake shook his head. “It doesn’t make sense that he’d stay upset with you this long. You’ve got him so whipped. Unless he’s mad that you didn’t outbid Sophia last night, but that’d be a lame reason, too.”
“What was I supposed to do?” I cried out in frustration. “She jumped from two fifty straight to five hundred. I don’t have five hundred dollars.”
“Yeah, that was a dirty move on Sophia’s part. Smart, but dirty.” I sensed Jake had a hint of pride in his sister’s cunningness.
“That can’t be it,” Lilly thought out loud. “Andy would know you didn’t have five hundred dollars. If he’s mad at you for that, you’re better off without him.”
Just then my mom hollered down the stairs at me. “Ivy, your phone is ringing.” I looked at my friends, then dashed up to my room. I checked the screen. One missed call…from Nate. My shoulders slumped as I headed back downstairs, listening to a voice mail from my brother. He was apologizing for missing family day. You know, since he knows how much I look forward to seeing him every week. Only Nate would call to tease me while he’s barfing.
“Just Nate,” I said to my best friend, who was watching me intently. I looked at the screen again to delete the voice mail when I saw a notification that I’d missed a text, too. From Andy. It came in at two in the morning after I’d fallen asleep. My heart filled with hope as I opened the message, then drained the moment his words registered in my brain.
Boobs: Can’t you take a hint? Stop texting me. We’re through.
I felt the blood drain from my face and sat down right where I stood for fear that I’d pass out. “Ivy, what’s wrong?” Lilly asked. I held out my phone for her to read the text. She took it from me and looked at the screen. Then she scrolled back to see what I’d written. I didn’t think Lilly could get madder than the night she slapped Sophia. Boy, was I wrong. She looked like she could kill someone.
Jake grabbed the phone and read what Lilly and I just had. “This is absolute horse crap.” He grunted, then stood and handed the phone back to me. He pulled his keys out of his pocket.
“Where are you going?” Lilly asked him.
“I’m going to hunt down my d-bag of a best friend. Then I’m going to pull the stick out of his butt and beat him with it.” I couldn’t believe Jake was getting so upset on my behalf. It was sweet, and for a moment, I smiled thinking about how lucky Lilly was to have him. Jake pulled me from my thoughts.
“Do you want to come with me, Lilly? Or do you want to stay here? I can come back for you later.”
Lilly appraised me. I must have looked awful, because she answered, “I think I better stay here.”
Jake nodded once. “Call me when you’re ready to go, and I’ll come get you.” He left without another word.
“It’s going to be ok,” Lilly crooned. She came to sit next to me on the floor and wrapped her arms around me, stroking my hair like a mother would for an injured child. The flood gates opened, and the tears poured freely. I couldn’t contain myself. The longer I cried, the uglier it got. Snot running down my face and everything. Eventually, Lilly got up and went into the kitchen, returning with a quart of ice cream and two spoons. She sat on the couch and patted the seat next to her.
I pulled myself off the ground and crawled to the couch. I didn’t even have the energy to walk. I knew I was being dramatic, especially since Andy and I had only been together for a week. But I’d never been dumped before. I know I didn’t have much experience, but this dumping seemed particularly bad. I took a spoon from Lilly, and we dug in to the ice cream. She didn’t say anything else, but turned on the television and flipped through the Netflix menu before settling on episodes of The Walking Dead. If anything could make me feel better, it was Bunny Tracks and Zombies.
At some point, I fell asleep. Lilly woke me up to tell me that she was leaving, but that she’d call me later. About twenty minutes after that, my parents woke me up to tell me that they were headed to a matinee and that they’d be back in time for dinner. I was completely alone now. I knew I’d have to pick myself up and put on a brave face tomorrow, but until then I was going to close my eyes and try to forget that the past two weeks had ever happened.
Knock, knock, knock… “Ivy, open up.”
“Huh,” I mumbled, and sat up wiping the drool from my cheek.
Knock, knock… “I know you’re in there. Your car is outside.”
I shook my head in confusion. I must be hallucinating. It sounded like Andy was knocking on my front door. But he’d broken up with me last night. In a text. So, he’d have no reason to be pounding on my door at… Wait, what time was it? I looked at my phone. Four o’clock. I hadn’t been asleep very long. My parents weren’t even back from the movie yet.
Knock… Knock… Knock… The knocks were getting harder and farther apart. “Ivy, please let me in. Your neighbor is staring.” Hallucination Andy sounded frustrated. Could a hallucination get frustrated?
“Go away, hallucination Andy,” I yelled at the door. “I might be delusional, but I’m not completely crazy yet.”
My phone rang. I looked down. The name Boobs was flashing across the screen. “Hello?” I answered hesitantly. I didn’t know hallucinations could touch physical objects. I figured they were more like ghosts.
“Ivy. Will you please let me inside? I really need to talk to you, and I’d prefer not to do it through two inches of solid oak.”
Hold up, this was really happening? I sat up straight, all my anger flooding back into me. “Why should I let you in? You dumped me. In a text message, for heaven’s sake.”
“Ivy.” Andy’s voice was soft and pleading. “I didn’t dump you. I wouldn’t do that to you, especially not like that. Please open the door so I can explain.”
I hung up the phone and marched to the door, throwing it open. “What could you possibly need to explain? You’ve already said more than enough.” I folded my arms across my chest.
“I didn’t send that text.”
I looked down at my phone and pulled up my text feed. Then I held it out for Andy to see. “Unless you know another person named Boobs, I’m pretty sure the text came from you.”
“It came from my phone, yes. But I didn’t write it.”
My face scrunched up in confusion. Andy took advantage of my silence and pushed past me into the house.
“Hey.” I slammed the door. “I didn’t say you could come…” I didn’t get to finish my sentence. Andy’s lips crashed forcefully into mine. It was a passionate kiss, yet soft and sweet all at the same time. For a moment, I forgot why
I was mad at him and enjoyed the feel of his mouth moving softly against mine. He pulled away, leaving me in a daze, and grabbed my hand, leading me toward the couch. Gently, he sat me down and waited patiently for me to come to my senses. I shook my head and blinked slowly.
“I didn’t write that text. Sophia did.”
A little bit of anger flared inside me again, but I squashed it. I’d give him the respect that he’d failed to give me the night before. I’d hear him out before I kicked him out. “Why was Sophia at your house at two in the morning?” I asked.
“She wasn’t,” Andy answered, shaking his head and confusing me even more.
I was anxious, so I cut him off before he could explain further. “I got a text from you at two in the morning. It said, and I quote, Can’t you take a hint? Stop texting me. We’re through.”
Andy winced and put his index finger to my lips. “Shhhh, let me explain everything first, then you can ask questions.” He looked sheepish. “Or yell at me, if you’d rather.”
“Hmmpfh.” I leaned away from him and pulled my knees up so he couldn’t weaken my resolve with his touch. I needed to be clearheaded when I heard what he had to say.
Andy took a deep breath, then dove in to his side of the last thirty-six hours. “I was angry Friday night, so I asked Jake to drive you home, and I left. I went straight to my room and binge watched The Walking Dead until I fell asleep.”
I wouldn’t smile. No matter how much alike we were. I was still angry.
“I didn’t feel much better the next morning, so I spent all day debating whether I’d show up at the auction or not. I finally decided that no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn’t leave you hanging. Since I’m a jerk, I tried to leave in cargo pants and a button-down, but my mom caught me when I was walking out the front door and threw a fit. That’s why I was so late.”
“My parents had been leaving for the auction at the same time as me. My mom ranted about how no son of hers was going to embarrass their family by looking like a slob at a fancy fundraiser. She marched me to my room and waited outside my closet while I put on the suit. They were driving a separate car, but she still called me on the way, to lecture me. She went off for ten minutes about me making an effort on the runway because my girlfriend had worked too hard on the auction for me to ruin it.”
Andy paused to make sure I was still following. His story seemed too specific to be a lie. “Okay, continue,” I instructed. He swallowed before moving on.
“I got to the school right before Jake did his walk. I watched him make a spectacle of himself and decided that if he would do that for Lilly and she wasn’t even his girlfriend, I could do it for you, too.” Andy gave me a shy smile. “So, I risked being laughed at by the entire school, just to make you happy.”
“It was a pretty good walk,” I admitted. “Way better than Rob’s.” I smirked, trying my hardest to stay angry, though I was beginning to wonder why I wanted to.
“When I found you in the audience, I wasn’t sure if you were still mad at me. Because, I’d been kind of an idiot up until then and I would have deserved it. Everyone started bidding, but you didn’t, and I was sure you were still angry.”
“I didn’t bid, because I thought you’d broken up with me the night before,” I defended myself, frowning. “I didn’t think you’d want me to.”
“Broken up with you? What are you talking about?”
“You dumped me at Rob’s party.”
“I didn’t dump you.”
“Well, I thought you did,” I argued, sitting up straight. “You said you needed space. That’s what people always say when they want to break up. Don’t you watch any movies?”
“Ivy.” Andy gave me a flat look. “I said I needed space because I was angry. If I’d wanted to break up with you, I’d have told you I was breaking up with you.” Andy reached up and tucked my hair behind my ear, then reached for my hand. This time I let him hold it. “Just because two people fight doesn’t mean the relationship is over. If that was the case, the divorce rate would be like a hundred and ten percent.”
Now I felt stupid. Even my father understood that. I’m not good at being wrong, so what did I do? Instead of being gracious, I argued some more. “But you did tell me you wanted to break up. Last night, in a text.”
Andy looked exasperated. “I already told you, that text wasn’t from me. It was from Sophia,” he insisted.
“But it was from your phone.”
“Can you please hold your horses? I’m getting there.” Andy squeezed my hand. “When you finally decided to bid on me and bumped the price up so high, it gave me hope. I started to get excited. Then Sophia pulled that ridiculous stunt. I didn’t think you’d be able to outbid her, but I held my breath anyway. When Mr. Matt announced that Sophia had won and I saw you about to cry, I wanted to run down and apologize for being such a jerk. But by then Sophia had made it to the stage, and I didn’t want to be rude in front of the whole school. So, I posed for the pictures and tried to play nice. If I’d have known what she was going to do, I’d have left her standing alone on the stage.”
“Yes, skip to that part. You still haven’t told me why Sophia was at your house at two in the morning.”
“Patience, young grasshopper.” Andy smirked. “If you keep interrupting me, I’ll never get there. And, again, Sophia wasn’t at my house that late last night. I wasn’t at hers at two in the morning, either. I know I’ve been a crappy boyfriend in the last few hours, but give me a little credit. I’m not a cheater.”
“Unlike some people I know,” I grumbled.
Andy pursed his lips together. “Jake told you?”
“Yes. By the way, why didn’t you tell me at the park that night?”
He shrugged. “We were having a nice time, and I figured if you already knew, it didn’t matter. But if you didn’t know, you’d be upset and that’d kill the mood. I was pretty desperate to kiss you. I didn’t want you thinking about Rob while I did it.”
“Fair enough. Now get back to your story…the one that’s taking too long.”
Andy rolled his eyes at me but continued. “By the time I could pry myself from Sophia’s death grip, you were already busy getting the girls ready. I wanted to talk to you but knew we wouldn’t have the time or the privacy for a proper apology. So, I left and figured I’d stop by your house after you got home. I drove by around nine thirty, but your car wasn’t in the driveway yet, so I went to Jake’s house.”
“But when you got there, Jake wasn’t home because he was out somewhere making out with Lilly,” I interrupted.
“Yeah. How’d you know?” he asked.
“Because Jake told me you came by while he was gone. When I asked where he was, he and Lilly both got really quiet.” I laughed.
Andy laughed, too. “So, Jake wasn’t home but Sophia was, and I spent fifteen minutes laying into her about what a crappy thing she’d done. Since she’s Sophia, she didn’t really care that she played dirty, but she did insist that I make good on my date. I figured I’d do it today so I could get it over with.”
“This is all really great, but it still doesn’t explain why Sophia broke up with me from your phone at two a.m.” I knew I was being a brat, but I wanted him to cut to the chase.
“I’d set my phone and keys on the foyer table when I got there, and she must have picked up my phone when I wasn’t paying attention. I was so mad at her that when I left I didn’t realize that I didn’t have it with me. I made it halfway to your place and tried to call you, but no phone. So, I turned around and went back to Sophia’s. Of course, she said I hadn’t left it there. And why wouldn’t I believe her? What would she do with my phone? I tore apart my car but couldn’t find it. Then I went back to the school thinking that maybe I’d left it there, but the building was all locked up.
“By the time I got back to your house, it was really late. All the lights were off, and I didn’t want to anger your parents. I couldn’t pound on the door, and I couldn’t call you to see if you
were still awake. I tried throwing pebbles at your window, but you didn’t answer.”
“I probably couldn’t hear them over all the sobbing,” I admitted.
“I’m so sorry I made you cry. I’ll never do it again. I swear.”
“It’s ok.” I shrugged. “I’ve probably lost a pound in water weight over the last twenty-four hours. Do I look thinner to you?” I teased halfheartedly.
“Ivy, that’s not funny.” Andy bit his cheek to keep from smiling.
“Why didn’t you go home and call me from a different phone?”
Andy answered my question with one of his own. “Do you know my phone number?”
I thought for a second, then frowned. “No.”
“My point exactly. I’d have called you, but I don’t have your number memorized. I don’t have anyone’s number memorized. I barely have my own number memorized. The only number I know off the top of my head is 911.”
I snorted. “I guess I can’t blame you there. I don’t really know any numbers, either. Never needed to. I do know Lilly’s number, though, and my parents’.” I made a point of letting him know I thought he was a stupid boy without actually having to say it.
“Yeah, yeah. I’ll work on that later.” He waved me off. “I went home and was going to come over here in the morning before my date, but Sophia showed up at my house at nine, demanding that she get a whole day with me since she dropped five hundred dollars. It was easier not to argue, so I took her to breakfast. And it was super awkward, for your information. We barely spoke. Once we got to the museum, her phone kept dinging with text messages. I thought it was weird that she wasn’t checking them since she’s usually glued to the stupid thing. Then the phone rang…” Andy looked at me expectantly, waiting for me to piece it together.
Perfectly You (The Perfect Series Book 2) Page 22
