The Crushes

by Pamela Wells

  “Yes, and this”—he pointed at the boy lying in bed—“is Micah.”

  “Hi.” Sydney waved. Micah nodded, uninterested.

  Quin put his hand on the little boy’s shoulder. “Read more later, dude?”

  “Sure.” Micah reached over for his TV remote and hit the power button. Cartoons brightened the TV screen as Quin ushered Sydney into the hall.

  “So I guess I’m supposed to show you the ropes.” A piece of hair fell loose from his ponytail and hung along his temple. He swiped it back absently, tucking it behind his ear.

  “I guess.”

  “It’s not as scary or boring as it sounds. You’ll have fun here. I promise.” The smile he flashed could have brightened any room, let alone a hospital room.

  “Well, I’m looking forward to it.”

  “Let’s start with the basics, then. This whole section is the West Wing, but there’s West One and West Two. We’re in West Two right now.” He led her out into the main hallway and pointed to the nurses’ station. “That’s Station Two. They’re in charge of rooms 409 through 418.”

  They headed back the way Sydney had come and passed the elevators. They came upon another nurses’ station and more rooms with sliding glass doors. If Sydney didn’t know any better, she’d have thought this was the same nurses’ station they’d just left. The counter and rooms were set up exactly like West Two. The only difference was the nurse behind the counter had long red hair and wore black scrubs.

  “This is West One,” Quin said, “and Station One. They’re in charge of rooms 400 through 408. And if you come around this way”—they walked around the nurses’ station, where a few nurses nodded a hello—“you’ll find the media room.”

  The media room was large, with two TV centers. There were bookcases spanning an entire wall. There were books, DVDs, and VHS movies.

  “The kids can check out the movies and books while they stay here,” Quin explained. “We’re in charge of that. Getting the movies and books between here and the rooms.”

  Sydney nodded.

  “The kids can come here to hang out, too,” Quin went on, “if they’re well enough. There are video games hooked up to the TVs.”

  “Okay,” she said.

  He smiled. “Are you always this quiet?”

  “Umm…”

  “Just shy?”

  Shy? Hardly. Drew said she was born without the shy gene. Being shy was one of the rules in the Crush Code, wasn’t it? She hadn’t had the opportunity to memorize the rules yet.

  Maybe she should try holding back around Drew. Keep a little mystery in their relationship? It was certainly worth a try.

  “I wouldn’t say I’m shy,” she answered. “I’m just trying to take it all in.” It was important to her to have all the details right. There was no point doing a job if you couldn’t do it well.

  “I know it’s a lot, but you’ll do fine. And the kids are so happy to have company that they’re going to love you no matter what.”

  “I hope so.”

  “Tell you what…I think I have an idea. Something to help loosen you up. Come on.”

  Sydney didn’t like the ominous sound to that.

  “Are you serious?” Sydney said.

  Quin nodded. “The kids love it.”

  It was a big dragon costume the color of pea soup.

  “Umm…” Sydney did not want to put that stupid thing on. She would rather scrub toilets than put that thing on. Why couldn’t she be the one reading books to the kids?

  “I’ve done it,” Quin added, as if that made it any better. “And trust me, when you’re done, you’ll feel great.” He paused, then, “Well, great and a bit sweaty.”

  Sydney grimaced.

  The dragon tail swished behind Sydney as she made her way from the changing room to the kids’ hospital rooms.

  “Let’s go to West Two,” Quin said leading the way.

  Sydney could barely see out of the dragon’s head. Her eyeholes were actually in the dragon’s open mouth and it was covered with a black netting to hide her eyes. She’d only been inside the costume for ten minutes and already sweat rolled down her spine.

  “Here,” Quin said, opening the first sliding door he came to. “They’re going to love you.”

  Yeah, right. She felt like the biggest moron. She probably looked like the biggest moron. She could barely walk in this thing. It felt like she had on one of those blow-up sumo wrestler costumes. And flippers on her feet.

  When she managed to get inside the first room, the little boy in bed sat up and smiled wide. “Tony!”

  “No,” Quin said, “this is Trina. Tony’s little sister.”

  The boy’s eyes got wide. “Ohhhh,” he said.

  Quin nudged Sydney in the back. She was surprised she even felt it.

  “Um, hi,” she said. “What’s your name?”

  “Lars.”

  Sydney shuffled over to the hospital bed, hoping she wouldn’t catch her big dragon feet on any cords. The little boy’s IV stand was on the other side of the bed and all the monitor cords were behind him. Her path looked clear enough.

  She shook the boy’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Lars.”

  “You, too. Can you tell your brother I said hi?”

  “Sure.” Sydney glanced at Quin. What else was she supposed to say? Hope you get out of here soon? Is the hospital food good?

  “Hey, Lars, ask Trina what she has in her pocket.”

  “What do you have in your pocket?” Lars asked, sitting up straighter.

  Sydney glanced down at the kangaroo pocket in her dragon belly and pulled out a bag.

  “Let him pick something,” Quin whispered.

  Sydney held the bag out before her. “Pick something from my treasure,” she said, remembering that dragons supposedly collected treasure in the myths she’d read.

  Lars dug his hand inside and pulled out a golden egg. He popped the egg open and a bracelet fell out. “Cool! Thanks, Trina!”

  “You’re welcome.”

  They said good-bye and headed on to the next room.

  It took nearly two hours to visit all the children who were well enough to have visitors. They skipped a few rooms where Sydney saw children tucked in their beds, their eyes shut tight, their monitors beeping behind them. Sydney wondered if they were going to wake up eventually and wished there was something she could do to make them better.

  When she took the costume off later that day, she realized Quin was right. Putting a smile on those kids’ faces was worth stuffing herself inside that costume. And it felt good to loosen up. Drew would have been proud of her.

  SEVEN

  Rule 23: Leave some things to his imagination!

  “I miss you,” Raven said through her cell phone.

  “I miss you, too,” Horace answered, his breath sounding soft through the phone. Raven flopped back on her bed and closed her eyes, imagining his arms wrapped around her. Why did he have to go away for the first half of the summer? At least he wasn’t going to be gone for the whole summer.

  “So what have you been doing?” Horace asked.

  The first thing that popped into Raven’s head was Blake. She hadn’t been able to get him out of her head since she met him. There was something about a skater boy that…well, she couldn’t describe what it was, he just had it. Maybe she could describe it as the cool factor. Skateboarding was one of those sports that was well known enough to make you famous, but not so well known that you lost who you were because of the money and attention.

  Skaters were real.

  “Ray?”

  “Huh?” she said.

  “Did you hear me?”

  No she hadn’t. Because she’d been thinking about skaters. And a particular skater boy.

  Quit it, she screamed in her head. Focus on your boyfriend. The guy you love.

  “Sorry,” she said. “Jordan was making faces at me from the hallway.”

  “I said, I have to go, but I’ll call you later, okay?”


  She sat up in bed and sighed. “Yeah, okay.” They’d already been talking on the phone for thirty minutes and had pretty much used up all their conversation starters.

  “I love you.”

  “Love you, too,” she replied and said good-bye.

  “Hey, Ray!” Jordan yelled through the house.

  Raven came out of her bedroom. She found her little sister in the living room in a hooded zip-up sweatshirt and cutoff Abercrombie sweats. “What?”

  “Want to go for a walk with me?”

  Raven had been cooped up in the house all day. A walk would do her good.

  Outside, the sun was beginning to set, turning the sky bright orange and pink. The day’s heat had retreated and Jordan zipped up her sweatshirt. Raven was in a long-sleeve shirt, the material thin enough to let a bit of night’s breeze through.

  The neighborhood Raven and Jordan lived in was a small subdivision with light traffic and a lot of outdoor activity. As they headed down Alpine Drive, they passed a father and son in their front yard playing catch with a baseball. A woman speed-walked past them, her rottweiler surging ahead of her on a retractable leash.

  Raven looked across the street at Mr. Kailing’s house but saw no lights on in the windows.

  “So,” Jordan began, “I got the job at Bershetti’s.”

  Raven raised a brow. “Really? Are you excited?”

  Jordan nodded her head emphatically. “Totally. I mean, have you seen Nicholas Bershetti? He’s like Milo Ventimiglia’s twin brother. He’s so hot and I’m going to be working with him!”

  Raven smiled while envy knotted in her gut. She missed that crush/pre-relationship excitement.

  “So when do you start?”

  “Tomorrow, at eleven in the morning. It means I have to get up early, but that’s cool because Nicholas works the same shift. I checked the schedule when I was there yesterday.

  “What do you think I should wear?” Jordan mused.

  “Maybe—”

  Raven was cut off by the sound of skateboard wheels rolling across the asphalt. Blake flew past. He headed straight for the curb and Raven tensed, thinking he was going to crash. Instead, he jumped the curb, flipping his board as he did. He landed perfectly on the sidewalk and whirled around, tipping the board up with a foot.

  “That was awesome!” Jordan said, clapping.

  Raven agreed, but she wasn’t about to say so out loud.

  “Wait up, son!” someone called behind them.

  Raven glanced over her shoulder to see Blake’s uncle saunter up. He was so big that his arms stuck out like tree branches at his sides. He wasn’t fat, just extremely bulky.

  Blake grabbed his board and slung it beneath his arm. He was wearing baggy black pants and a white T-shirt with a black tree printed from the shoulder down to the hem. He had on a black DC hat today, but the same white DC shoes. Raven noticed a diamond in one ear.

  “I’m Blake,” he said, extending his hand to Jordan.

  She shook. “I’m Jordan.”

  “Nice to meet you. You must be Raven’s sister?”

  Jordan nodded.

  “You two look alike. You’re both beautiful as hell.”

  A blush touched Jordan’s cheeks. She looked at the pavement.

  “Come on, Jordan.” Raven linked her arm through her sister’s. “We have to go.”

  “Already?” Blake set his board down and kicked forward, following them as they turned back toward their house.

  “We just started our walk,” Jordan said.

  Raven gave her sister the shut-up look, but Jordan just shrugged.

  “Hey, Raven,” Blake began, coasting beside them on his board, “why are you giving me the freeze-out?”

  “She’s just like that,” Jordan said.

  Raven frowned.

  “Does she warm up once you get to know her?”

  Jordan nodded.

  “Hey, Mil-D!” Blake called to his uncle. “Keep up, man.”

  “Mil-D?” Jordan furrowed her brow. “Is that his name?”

  “Yup.”

  Mil-D trotted up, his chest heaving. “It’s my nickname. Short for Milton Downs.”

  “It’s cute,” Jordan said.

  Mil-D grinned wide. “Well, thanks.”

  “You’re going to make him blush,” Blake said, punching Mil-D in the gut.

  “Come on now, son!” Mil-D rubbed his plump stomach.

  Blake gave himself a few more pushes on the board so he could catch up with Raven. “So, Raven, what do you do for fun around here?”

  “I work.”

  “That’s it?”

  “She does music.”

  Blake raised a brow. “Does music?”

  “Writes it, sings it.” Jordan nudged Raven. “Tell him.”

  She’d rather keep her personal life to herself. The more she shared with Blake, the more he’d know about her and the more he knew…the closer he’d be.

  Wasn’t that one of those new rules from the Crush Code? Something about leaving things to the imagination. Maybe she should tell him about herself…that way she’d be going against the Crush Code.

  No, she should keep quiet, that’s what she should do. How would she feel if she found out Horace was in Detroit hanging out with some random chick? And having conversations about their music? Raven would be jealous, and she’d feel betrayed. Not that she didn’t trust Horace—she trusted him completely—she just didn’t trust other girls. Horace was a cutie, and he was extremely good to Raven. Any girl would kill to have him.

  And Raven didn’t want to lose him.

  When they reached the house, Raven started up the front lawn.

  “Ray!” Jordan called. “Where are you going?”

  “I have things to do.”

  Raven heard her sister say, “No she doesn’t. She’s just trying to get away from you, probably because she thinks you’re hot and she has a boyfriend and feels bad.”

  Raven tensed. How did her sister know all that? Was Raven that transparent? Or did Jordan just know her that well?

  “Anyway, I should go,” Jordan said. “See you guys around!”

  “Later,” Blake said. His skateboard hit the ground and he zoomed off down the road, Mil-D trailing behind.

  Raven watched him round the corner to the next street, from the hopefully inconspicuous spot on her front porch.

  Why were the Forces That Be screwing with her like this? Why did a hot guy have to move in across the street from her at the very moment in her life when her boyfriend—whom she loved—was out of town for a month?

  Did she have to lock herself in her bedroom? She could already feel that early crush feeling sneaking up on her. Things were not looking good.

  EIGHT

  Alexia’s phone went off in her bag playing Kay-J’s new pop hit, “Settled Over You.” She winced and dug in her bag, quieting it. It was a new text message from Kelly.

  What ru doing?

  Alexia looked around the tiny office in the back of Cherry Creek Specialty Store. There were papers stacked a mile high on the metal desk. Sample cookies filled a basket atop the filing cabinet. Some weird New Age music played softly from a CD player in the corner.

  Alexia had applied at the store just a week ago, and she was now, officially, an employee.

  I’m @ the store, she texted back to Kelly, waiting for my boss so i can fill out papers.

  It took Kelly a total of seven seconds to respond. Bummer. i was going 2 ask u 2 come 2 the gym w/ me.

  I wish I could, but u know i’m a working gurl now.

  I know! good luck w/ that!

  “Yeah,” Alexia mumbled and slipped the phone back in her bag.

  According to Alexia’s parents, a “real” summer job built character, which was why she was at Cherry Creek Specialty Store at ten A.M. on a Saturday morning. Thankfully, Alexia had a good feeling about the store. The owners, an older couple well into their sixties, were extremely warm and inviting and the store itself had a good vibe.
>
  It wouldn’t be so bad, right?

  Alexia wasn’t one to complain about hard work, but she’d wanted to work at the bookstore. She’d heard employees got forty percent off their purchases! And who wouldn’t love working around books all day long?

  Her parents, both psychologists, had quietly suggested she look elsewhere, somewhere where she’d get dirty. Character was not built on bookshelves. Alexia argued that characters were, quite literally, on bookshelves, but her parents didn’t find that amusing.

  Lately they’d been pushing her on everything. From school, to a summer job, to her relationship with Ben. When her parents were out touring, promoting the books they wrote, she got along just fine with them.

  Now they were taking a break from tours and they were in the middle of switching offices. Their lease on their old office had run out while their new one was still being built, which meant the brunt of their work was done from home.

  Suddenly they were everywhere and very much into Alexia’s business, including what kind of summer job she worked.

  Bella, one of Alexia’s bosses, walked into the office. “Okay, thanks for waiting. How about we get that paperwork out of the way and then go on a tour of the store?”

  “Sounds good.”

  Twenty minutes later, with the necessary paperwork completed, Bella led Alexia from the small office by the back door into the kitchen. “Here’s where we make our sandwiches.” There was a long white countertop with several compartments filled with meats and veggies and other sandwich necessities.

  In the middle of the kitchen was an island, pots and pans hanging above it. There were several shelves below it with more pans and utensils and other small kitchen appliances.

  Bella led Alexia to a small room off the kitchen.

  “And this is the break room. You can leave your bag in here. There are aprons in the cupboard above the sink. You’re welcome to put whatever you want in the fridge.”

  Alexia hung her messenger bag on one of the hooks behind the door, then grabbed an apron. They were forest green with the Cherry Creek logo—a river with a cherry tree—printed across the front.