by Pamela Wells
Just as she tied the apron on, the back door opened and closed. Several voices rose and fell as the new arrivals made their way to the kitchen.
“Oh, and here’s the rest of the morning crew,” Bella said as they filed into the break room.
“This is Nancy,” she said, nodding at the fortyish woman. “Rachel.” She was the one with long blond hair. “And Jonah.”
Jonah was about Alexia’s age, if she had to guess. He had sandy blond hair and a warm smile.
“Hi,” Alexia said, nodding at everyone.
“Nice to meet you,” Jonah said, ducking behind her to grab an apron.
Alexia didn’t recognize him from school and wondered if he went to Chisholm Academy.
“Well,”—Bella clapped her hands together—“you guys ready for another busy day?”
By the end of her shift at four o’clock, Alexia’s feet felt like they were going to fall off. Her forehead was slick with sweat, her apron covered in purple onion juice and avocado mush.
If this wasn’t a “real” job, she didn’t know what was. The lunch rush had been chaotic and the cleanup afterward lasted even longer. Who would have thought so much went on behind the scenes?
Alexia tossed her dirty apron in the hamper and grabbed her bag.
Jonah met her in the break room. “How was your first day?”
Alexia thought about her response. She didn’t want to come across as whiny. “It was tough,” she said. “It was a lot more work than I thought it’d be.”
He nodded, blond hair falling over his forehead. He swept it back with quick fingers. “It’ll get easier,” he said, giving her an encouraging smile. “When do you work next?”
“Um…Monday.”
“Me, too. I’ll see you then.” He said good-bye.
Alexia grabbed her things and hurried home to put her feet up.
Every muscle in Alexia’s body was screaming. She felt like she’d run a mile, biked two, and balanced a basket on her head for another four.
She lay back on her bed, relishing the soft comfort of her pillow-top mattress. If she didn’t move for the next twenty-four hours, it still wouldn’t be long enough.
Eyes closed, she listened to her breathing, feeling sleep slinking in just as her bedroom door burst open.
“Lexy?” Ben said.
She opened her eyes and smiled at him as he looked down at her.
“Tough day?” he asked.
She managed to nod.
“Well, I brought something to make you feel like royalty, which would make me the slave and you can totally order me around so long as it includes making out with you.”
She laughed as he sat down beside her.
“Here.” He handed her a plastic bag and she dug inside.
“Aww, Ben!”
There was a Subway sandwich and a chocolate chip cookie the size of a hamburger.
“And ice water, too,” he said, nodding at the plastic mug on her dresser.
“You’re too good to me.”
“Yes I am.”
She ribbed him and he yelped. “I wasn’t serious.”
He leaned down to kiss her softly on the lips. “And neither was I.”
“Mmm, I liked that.”
He quirked an eyebrow. “Yeah?”
She nodded and he bent over to kiss her again, this time lingering longer on her lips. She pulled him closer, weaving her fingers through his messy hair. He put an arm over her, his hand reaching beneath her T-shirt.
Tingles erupted at the contact of his skin against her tummy. And then all her nerves seemed to light with fire.
Ben slipped his tongue along her lips, and she did the same, pulling him more on top of her. He pulled back, breathing hot and heavy.
“You have to stop teasing me like this,” he whispered, pushing against her. “You’re going to drive me insane.”
That was an early crush rule, Alexia thought. It said to tempt and tease the crush, but she hadn’t meant this when she wrote it, which is why she deleted the rule. Somehow the deleted rule still lingered in her mind.
“You’re right,” she said, shrugging out from beneath him. “I’m sorry.”
He lay back against the pillows, closed his eyes and rubbed at his brow.
“I really am sorry, Ben.”
“I know.” He didn’t look at her yet. “I just…” He sat up. “I love you and I want to share everything with you and you’re so damn hot.”
She grinned, face hot with flattery and something else.
He scooted off the bed. “I should go anyway. More family stuff tonight. I just wanted to bring you over a treat, but then you tried seducing me.” He came around the bed and kissed her atop the forehead. “I’ll come by later tonight and massage your feet for you. I bet they hurt.”
“They do, but you—”
“Shh.” He put a finger against her lips. “It’s my job to take care of you, and I take my job very seriously.”
Smirking, she nodded. “All right. I’ll see you later, then.”
“Love you.”
“Love you, too.”
She followed him downstairs, and she watched him leave from the living room window. When he reached his car, he stopped at the front bumper and bowed in her direction.
She giggled and waved as he got inside his car.
Everything about their relationship was perfect.
Everything except for the whole situation with It.
NINE
Rule 1: Be playful, fun, and flirty! Boys like girls who know how to have a good time!
Rule 18: Respect yourself! Demand that your crush respects you as well!
Kelly’s brother, Todd, took in a deep breath as they entered the Family Center Gym. “Ahh,” he said, “smells like rubber mats and sweat.”
“You’re such a pig.” Kelly rolled her eyes.
“Yes he is,” Drew added, sharing a knowing smile with her.
“Aren’t you two cute?” Todd said, sauntering ahead.
Kelly swallowed, and felt her face warm with unease. Whenever someone grouped her with Drew, she got uncomfortable. It was only a few, short months ago they’d shared a moment. Kelly didn’t know what it was or where it would have gone had she explored it further. She’d ended it before it even started.
She shook aside her thoughts before they went too far. She and Drew were friends, and more importantly, he was going out with Sydney.
“I’m just going to pretend I don’t know you,” Kelly said to Todd. “So stay far away.”
“Good idea,” Drew said as he signed Kelly and himself in at the front desk. With that taken care of, they entered the main gym area together. Kelly slowed once she’d passed the threshold and looked around. A very small part of her (well, okay, maybe a medium-size part of her) was hoping she’d run into Adam.
She still thought the Crush Code was silly and that even if it did work, Adam was so out of her orbit he might as well be Saturn to her Earth.
At any rate, she’d told Alexia she’d give it a try but had been putting it off since they developed the new code on Friday.
Now, here she was at the gym bright and early the following Saturday. She’d been in the school’s gym, but until last week, she’d never been inside this one. There was a sea of white machines before her, the mirrored walls reflecting everything so that the room looked ten times bigger and that much more intimidating.
When she’d complained to her brother and Drew, they’d agreed to accompany her. It was really Drew she’d wanted along since she knew Todd would be a total dink anyway.
Drew was always helpful.
“Where do I start?” Kelly asked him.
He dropped his truck keys in his gym shorts pocket and led Kelly to the row of treadmills that spanned an entire wall. Each machine had its own flat screen TV attached above it. The Discovery Channel was playing reruns of Deadliest Catch.
“Warm up first,” Drew said, hopping on a treadmill. “Ten minutes of walking fast or jogging, then we’ll start with weig
ht training if you want.”
“Sounds good to me.”
Kelly got on the treadmill next to Drew and started out at three miles per hour. At two minutes into the workout, she upped the speed to four miles per hour and jogged slowly. Drew upped his treadmill, too, but completely outpaced her. She’d forgotten how good a runner he was.
Using the mirrors, Kelly scanned the gym behind her, looking for Adam. Every few seconds she’d check the entrance and then the locker room door. So far, no sign of him.
Five minutes into the workout, sweat beading on her forehead, Kelly decided to kick it up more and went to five miles an hour. Her legs screamed in protest, her lungs tightened. It’d been a week since she’d exercised. She was so going to pay for this tomorrow morning.
She looked up when movement at the front door caught her eye.
Adam walked inside looking even better than he had the last time she’d seen him. Was that possible?
Staring at him in the mirror, she lost her balance. One foot stepped off the treadmill, causing her to stumble and lose her footing entirely. She went down on the conveyor belt, and it winged her off the treadmill onto the floor.
“Kelly!” Drew jumped off his treadmill.
Adam ran up.
Todd burst into raucous laughter.
“Are you okay?” Adam asked.
Mentally or physically? Because physically she was fine, mentally she felt like she was about to die.
The Crush Code popped into her head. She only knew rule number one by heart.
Be playful, fun, and flirty! Boys like girls who know how to have a good time.
Now was as good a time as any to try out the Code. She really needed something smart to save herself in this situation.
She turned to Adam and gave him a demure smile. “I’m fine, thanks. I just saw you walk through the door looking gorgeous as ever, and I couldn’t seem to focus.”
Adam’s face turned a bright shade of red. He dodged her attention, averting his gaze to the floor. “Well, thanks…I guess.”
Had she really flustered him? Or was it an act? It didn’t seem like an act, but how in the world could someone as good-looking as Adam get embarrassed at a little flattery? He had to know he was hot. Probably he heard that kind of thing all the time.
Drew cleared his throat and hoisted Kelly to her feet. “You sure you’re fine?” He ran his fingers over her cheeks, pushing hair away from her face as he looked her over closely.
“I’m fine. Really.”
Except she felt like a moron because she’d fallen in front of Adam and Drew and…maybe a bit embarrassed that she’d flirted with Adam so blatantly.
When the attention on her started to wane, Adam introduced himself to Drew. The boys started chatting and Kelly escaped to the bathroom to make sure she didn’t have skid marks on her face or something.
Satisfied with her appearance, she returned to the main area of the gym. She overheard Drew invite Adam to the next poker night.
“Yeah, that sounds cool,” Adam said. “I’ll be there.”
And so would Kelly.
TEN
Rule 24: Become his friend! Talk to him but do not become one of his boys!
Sydney plopped down on a bench in the back lobby of Children’s Hospital, her cell phone up against one ear, her other hand holding tightly to an 8x10 photo she’d had printed out last night at a copy shop.
On her first full day at the hospital, she’d seen a flyer announcing an amateur photo contest. At the time, she hadn’t given entering a second thought, but the contest had stuck with her, and the deadline to enter was today.
The photo she’d picked was one taken earlier this year of Drew’s friend Kenny running through the park, the sun shining muted rays on him. It was by far one of her favorite pictures, and she’d always wanted to share it with someone, someone who was honest and would tell her whether or not it was good.
A panel of judges on a photo contest would be honest, but did she really want to know? She liked the picture, wasn’t that enough?
“Hello? Syd?” Kelly said through the cell phone.
“Oh, sorry.” Sydney turned away from the photo and looked out the lobby windows at the people rushing left and right. Some wore business suits, others colorful hospital scrubs.
“You said you had something to talk to me about,” Kelly said. “What’s up?”
Sydney glanced again at the picture of Kenny. She’d called Kelly for encouragement because Sydney knew Kelly, out of all her friends, would push her more than anyone. Raven wouldn’t care one way or the other. “Just do whatever you want,” Raven would say.
Alexia would come up with something neutral, like, “Do what feels right to you.”
But Kelly, she’d shriek and cheer Sydney on and tell her she was being silly by not entering. And that’s what Sydney needed.
Sydney told Kelly about the contest and the picture she’d taken of Kenny.
“I just wanted your opinion,” Sydney said, “should I enter?”
“Well, yeah! Of course you should! What can it hurt, right? Besides, you’re perfect at everything. I highly doubt the judges would laugh you right out of the contest.”
Perfect? Hardly. Sydney’s love life was certainly not perfect.
Nothing about her life was perfect right now. But Kelly was right, Sydney had little to lose if she entered the contest, and she only had until seven o’clock tonight to make a submission. If she let the deadline pass and held onto her picture of Kenny, she’d always wonder, What if? Sydney hated What ifs.
“Thanks, Kelly, for listening.”
“Hey, no problem. So does that mean you’re entering?”
Sydney stood up from the bench and headed toward the front of the hospital where the photo drop box was located. “Yeah,” she said, “I’m entering right now.”
Sydney eyed the clock that hung on the wall behind the nurses’ station in West Two. One thing Sydney hadn’t figured on was working just a few floors above the contest submission box. She had an hour before the deadline, before someone swooped in and emptied the box, taking Sydney’s photo with them.
That would be it, no going back. She would be subjected to a panel of judges, her picture analyzed and scrutinized and…
“Muffin duty today, Sydney,” a heavyset nurse said, rolling a muffin cart in Sydney’s direction. “It’s tonight’s after-dinner snack. Pass one out to each child and any of the parents who are visiting. The only rooms you should skip are 403 and 408, since those children are on strict diets.”
In school, Sydney was used to being in control. She knew the work and she knew it well. Here, it was a completely different situation. She was at the mercy of the staff to help her along. One little slip and these kids would suffer because of her.
She hated feeling out of control.
After writing down the restricted room numbers, Sydney wheeled the cart away from the nurses’ station and headed toward the first room. The little boy was sleeping and his mother declined a muffin. In the next room, the little girl, clutching to her stuffed rabbit, nodded emphatically when asked if she liked chocolate chip muffins.
“Here you go, then,” Sydney said as she handed the muffin over along with a napkin. Her mother and older brother both took one, too.
So far, so good.
Sydney went back to her cart and rolled along to room 403.
Strict diet, she thought, remembering the nurse’s orders.
Sydney glanced inside the room. The little boy was on his side facing the hallway. The blanket was kicked off his legs. Tubes snaked from his hand and his mouth. The machines behind his bed beeped and whirred.
And, sitting close to the child’s bed, holding his tiny hand, was Quin. His back was to her and his black hair was untied, creating a curtain between his eyes and Sydney.
But if he’d been able to see, he’d have most definitely caught her staring.
There was something awe-inspiring about a guy Sydney’s age who sat in a P
eds ICU room with a little boy who was a stranger to him, holding his hand while he slept.
Sydney finished passing out muffins just in time for her break. Plopping down at the round table, she brought out her cell phone and hit number two on speed dial. The phone rang several times before Drew’s voice mail picked up.
Sydney hit END and then number five on speed dial. Kelly answered on the third ring.
“Hey, Syd. What’s up?”
Sydney clacked open a can of Sprite. “Is Drew over there?”
“Umm…”
Sydney could hear music playing in the background. It was that new singer, Kay-J. She’d apparently gone double platinum, or whatever it was, and was on all the top billboard charts.
“Hold on a sec,” Kelly said, turning the music down. “I’m in my room. I heard a car pull up not too long ago. Maybe it was Drew.”
Sydney pulled an orange from her bag and peeled back the rind. Her day so far had been pretty uneventful except for entering the contest. She really had nothing to talk to Drew about, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to talk to him. Just hearing his voice on the phone made her happy. And she figured, the more they communicated, the stronger their relationship would be.
Like Rule 24 said, Become his friend!
Sydney figured a good relationship started there, with a friendship. She and Drew, they’d skipped that part and gotten right to the making out. If their relationship was going to survive this time, she had to be his friend and his girlfriend, someone he could trust, someone he felt he could talk to.
And most importantly, someone he could count on to listen, to be understanding.
That was the new and improved Sydney.
“Yup, he’s here,” Kelly said a minute later. “Hold on.”
The phone switched hands. Drew came on the line. “Hey. Did you get off work early or something?”
“I’m on break.”
“Oh. Everything okay?”
“Fine. I just…I don’t know, I missed you.”
“Oh.” He sounded surprised. A good surprised. Maybe Sydney needed to do this sentimental thing more often. “Well, I miss you, too.”
