by Pamela Wells
When she got no answer on Raven’s cell, she decided to drive over.
Pulling up to the curb, she noticed Raven across the street at her neighbor’s house hanging out on the front porch.
Alexia parked and walked over. Blake was in the middle of a story about his visit to L.A. last week. Raven, head back, laughed at a joke about Hollywood “Bimbinos.” Blake smiled, clearly pleased with Raven’s reaction.
Rule 10 said to have a sense of humor. Guys like to laugh!
Was Raven using the Crush Code on Blake?
“Hey,” Alexia called, waving from the bottom of the porch steps.
“Alexia, right?” Blake said, nodding his head just once in a greeting. He waved her up. “Come hang. I just got back from L.A., and I’m starving for conversation with chill people.”
Raven went quiet, the smile having left her lips.
“Actually, I just wanted to talk to Raven for a second,” Alexia said.
Raven got up and tugged down her tank top. “I’ll be right back,” she said to Blake and followed Alexia to the street, out of Blake’s hearing range.
“What’s up?” Raven asked, crossing her arms defensively over her chest.
“Well.” Alexia swallowed, licked her lips. Suddenly her problems vanished, and she said, “Are you cheating on Horace with Blake?”
Raven widened her eyes, hung her mouth open in disbelief. “No. How could you even ask me that?”
Alexia shifted her weight from one foot to the other. “It just seems…I don’t know…like you’re hanging out with him a lot, and I thought maybe you’d decided to use the Crush Code on him. I know how you are, Raven. You like the thrill of the hunt.”
Brow furrowed, Raven straightened, putting herself an inch taller than Alexia. “You make it sound like I’m some…cougar or something. God, Alexia. I’m not a slut.”
“I didn’t say that—”
“But you implied it.”
“No.” Alexia shook her head, feeling the situation spiraling out of control. She didn’t know how to fix it. Or how to calm Raven down. Blake and Mil-D were suddenly quiet on the porch.
Alexia leaned closer to Raven and lowered her voice. “I just don’t want to see Horace get hurt and then have you calling me because you’re upset that you screwed up the relationship. You love Horace, Raven.”
“Yeah, Alexia, I know.” Raven’s shoulders went rigid. “And I’m not cheating on him, so why don’t you butt out of my business and go psychoanalyze someone else.”
Raven stomped across the street to her own house, opened the front door and slammed it shut behind her. Alexia stood frozen by Mr. Kailing’s mailbox, wondering what had just happened.
Her face was hot, her throat felt ready to close.
She glanced up at Blake’s house, and he and Mil-D quickly looked away. Alexia shot them a scowl before getting in her car and leaving.
TWENTY-SIX
Rule 7: Be adventurous and daring! See life as an adventure!
Rule 31: Do not send your friend to tell your crush you like him!
On Sunday afternoon, Kelly sat on one side of the living room in the cushy reclining chair and her brother on the other side on the couch. There was a bag of popcorn in Todd’s lap and a bowl in Kelly’s. The TV blared music videos. It was literally the only thing on right now.
“Ready?” Todd said, a piece of popcorn in his hands.
Kelly opened her mouth into an O, and Todd chucked the piece of popcorn at her. She leaned forward, eyeing the popcorn sailing through the air. She caught it.
“Yes!” she said, clenching her hands into victorious fists. “Now my turn.”
She threw a piece at Todd, but it sailed right over his head and disappeared behind the couch.
“Nice throw,” he said sarcastically.
“Ha. Ha. Let me try another one.” She tossed another piece to him and this time he snatched it from the air.
She clapped her hands. “Yeah! You were like a dog catching a Frisbee.”
Todd narrowed his eyes. “Aren’t you HIL-arious.”
Kelly set her bowl of popcorn on the coffee table and went over to the couch, flopping down next to her brother. “I’m bored!”
“Let’s build a castle out of cheese.”
“You are such an idiot.”
Kelly closed her eyes and instantly she thought of Drew. She’d been thinking of him all day. And all day yesterday while she worked at the shelter. And all day the day before that, too.
It didn’t help that he was best friends with her brother and at the house all the time. Something had changed between them. She couldn’t tell what. Maybe it was the fact that she’d admitted out loud to Adam that she liked Drew.
Drew didn’t know that, of course, but that had to change the way Kelly acted around him and maybe he’d picked up on it.
“Let’s go do something, then,” Todd said, chomping on a mouthful of popcorn.
“Like what?” Kelly sat up.
“Something fun.”
The Crush Code came to mind. Despite the idea behind it (forcing Kelly to go after Adam) some of the rules were fun to follow. Maybe there was an idea in the code.
“I’ll be right back,” she said and went to her room to grab her list of rules.
Rule 1: Be playful, fun, and flirty!
Nope.
Rule 6: Make him feel special—
No.
Rule 7: Be adventurous and daring!
Hmm…that had potential, but what could they do in Birch Falls that was adventurous and daring?
When she was a kid, she, Todd and Drew, and some other kids from the neighborhood would get a group together to play capture the flag.
That used to be her favorite game.
Tucking the Code back in her desk, she went out to the living room.
“I have an idea,” she said. “Let’s play capture the flag.”
Todd spit out a popcorn kernel. “Hell, yeah. I’m in.”
“Cool.” Kelly grabbed his cell phone off the coffee table and tossed it to him. “Call Drew and see if he can come.”
Kelly bent over, sweeping all her hair forward so she could tie it in a high ponytail. Drew and Todd were in front of her, Adam next to her. She’d invited him because, despite the realization that they were not going to be dating each other, they did make good friends.
Kelly liked Adam, just not like that.
With her hair tamed, Kelly took the pink rubber band off her wrist and tied it up.
Someone whistled behind her. “Nice view.”
She straightened, shooting Craig Theriot an eat-rocks-for-breakfast look. He only grinned at her.
“Who invited you?” she asked.
Todd and Craig shared a guy handshake.
“I invited him,” Todd said. “Why?”
Kelly rolled her eyes. Craig and her brother were the perfect duo; they’d make a good sideshow act at the idiot circus.
A few other people showed as the group waited in the parking lot of Eagle Park. Kelly had called her friends, but Sydney said she just wanted to hang out at home. Raven had asked if Alexia was going to be there and when Kelly said she wasn’t sure, Raven suddenly had chores to take care of. Kelly wasn’t sure what that was all about. When she called Alexia to get the scoop, her brother said she was working.
Now, looking around at the group of twelve, Kelly realized she was the only girl.
Great.
“Let’s break into teams,” Todd said. “Draw names? Captain picks the teams? How do you guys want to do it?”
“Who are the captains?” Matt asked.
“Let’s draw names for captains,” Drew said, shaking hair from his eyes. “And then captain picks.”
Kelly stuck close to Adam, trying not to look at Drew. She didn’t want him catching her staring, but suddenly she couldn’t take her eyes off him.
He was in a pair of faded, boot-cut jeans and vintage brown leather boots. It was mid-sixty degrees now that the sun had set, but he had
on a white long-sleeve shirt and a blue T-shirt over that.
Craig said something to him and Drew shook his head, laughed, flashed those pretty white teeth, and when he looked away from his friend, he turned his neon blue eyes directly on Kelly.
A week ago, she might have smiled or made a face at him. Instead, she turned to Adam, her cheeks most likely flushed. There was an odd weakness in her knees. She hadn’t felt this way since last winter when Will flirted with her in their American government class and later asked her out.
“Blue team on the south end,” Todd said, throwing Matt the blue flag. “Red team has the north end.”
“I’ll call Drew when we’re set,” Matt said. “Deal?”
Drew nodded.
“Are we ready, then?” Todd rubbed his hands together. “You’re all going down.”
“Whatever,” Kelly countered. “They have you as a captain.”
Todd rolled his eyes. “I’m the capture-the-flag master.”
“Master of losing.” Kelly laughed, giving her brother a shove as she passed him and Drew.
“Good luck,” Drew said to Kelly, grinning, “’cause you’re going to need it.”
“Have you told him yet?” Adam whispered as he and Kelly slinked through the trees.
Darkness had settled through the park. Kelly could see the trees in front of her, but little else. She tugged down the hat she’d put on at the start of the game. That’s what they used as their individual “flags.” To take out someone from the other team, you had to get their hat.
“Told who what?” she said.
Adam stopped. “Drew. Have you told Drew?”
Kelly pursed her lips and went ahead of Adam, keeping close to the trees.
“I can’t tell him,” she finally said.
“Should I, then?”
Kelly whirled around. “No! Don’t you dare.”
Adam laughed. “All right. Fine.”
She relaxed and continued walking. “He can’t ever know. He’s going out with one of my best friends. That’s like one of the mortal sins of friendship.”
“Yeah, but you can’t help who you like.” Adam hurried to match her pace.
“But I can help whether or not I ruin another relationship.”
A twig snapped somewhere off to their left. Adam grabbed Kelly’s arm and dragged her down. They used a thick tree trunk as cover, poking their heads around it to watch the surrounding forest.
“You see anyone?” Kelly whispered.
“Shh.”
A few minutes later, Kelly saw a flash of white shirt. Who had worn a white shirt to play capture the flag?
Drew had, she remembered.
He and Mike Renze crept through the thickening shadows.
“There’s the wild,” Adam said directly in Kelly’s ear.
She narrowed her eyes at him, remembering the line of poetry he’d quoted the night of the Fourth. That love was the wild that ran through the forests.
“Go get it,” he said, grinning, and then stood up, running off in the other direction.
Mike and Drew froze.
“I’ll get him,” Mike said, darting after Adam.
Alone now, Drew surveyed the area. Kelly clung to the tree in front of her, the bark digging into her forearm. She held her breath, afraid that Drew would hear it. Her heart hammered loudly in her ears.
When Drew passed her hiding spot, Kelly went around her tree to came up behind him. She lunged, but he grabbed her arm and tackled her to the ground.
She burst out laughing as Drew wrestled her hat off.
“I told you that you were going to need luck.”
Kelly met his eyes. Even in the darkness, she could see the vibrant blue color.
“I let you take it,” she countered.
Drew was practically on top of her, his face just inches from hers.
I could kiss him, she thought, they were that close.
He was warm next to her, his breath hot against her cheek. She could feel his heart beating through his shirt.
He wasn’t laughing anymore and neither was she. She was pretty sure she wasn’t breathing either.
Drew bent down. Every nerve in Kelly’s body sizzled. His lips brushed hers, and she inhaled sharply. Her fingers trembled at her sides.
Drew breathed roughly, licked his lips. He leaned down as if to kiss her again, real and aggressive this time, when his cell rang in his pocket.
He bolted up, startled by the sound.
Kelly lay there in the old, crisp leaves among acorn caps and green moss.
Drew answered his phone. “Hey, Syd,” he said, eyeing Kelly.
Kelly’s stomach churned. She swallowed down the heat rising in her throat. There was no way Sydney could know what had just happened, but Kelly felt as guilty as if Sydney were standing right there looking down at her.
Kelly scrambled to her feet, fixed her hair, and wiped the dirt from her pants. She headed off down the trail that would take her out of the woods.
Footsteps hurried behind her. “Wait,” Drew said, holding his hand over his cell.
“I have to go,” Kelly said, keeping her eyes straight ahead.
“Kelly.” He ran in front of her. “Just two seconds.” He went back to his cell phone and said to Sydney, “What? No. I’m with Mike.”
Kelly widened her eyes at the blatant lie. Drew cocked his head to the side, apologetic. She wasn’t the one he should be apologizing to.
“I’m leaving,” she whispered and hurried out of the woods.
This time, Drew didn’t follow.
TWENTY-SEVEN
Rule 13: Do not be bossy! Do not tell your crush what to do!
Rule 19: Do not allow your crush to pressure you to do something you do not want to do! Do only things that you and only you want to do and are comfortable with!
Rule 25: Compliment your crush two times a week!
Sydney poked her head inside the den. “Dad?”
He looked up from whatever he’d been doing at his desk. “Yes?”
Gray stubble covered his chin. He was still in his pajamas—a pair of blue flannel pants and a white T-shirt—and there were bags beneath his eyes.
“You’re not going to work today?” Sydney asked.
“I took a leave of absence.” He pushed his glasses back to the bridge of his nose.
“Well, I have to work today, and then after work, I think we’re all going to the carnival.”
He nodded, picked up a pen. “Have fun, then.”
The clock on the wall behind him ticked each second. It was the only sound in the house, and it’d been like that for days.
There’d been no word from Sydney’s mother. Not a phone call, a voice mail, not even a postcard.
Anger made Sydney clench her jaw. It was like they didn’t even exist. Like her mother flew off to Italy and forgot that she had a husband and a daughter.
Did she not care what her sudden departure had done to her family?
Apparently not.
Which made Sydney even angrier.
“Okay,” she said to the silence. “I’m leaving,” she added, before closing the door and looking out at the empty living room. The bare coffee table. The darkened TV screen. The couch that looked brand-new because it was hardly ever used.
Sydney lived in a movie set.
Or at least that’s what it felt like.
There were things around the living room—books, pictures, a Roman statue—but they looked like props against a fake setting, a place portrayed as a family room but without the family.
Tears bit at her eyes. She clenched her jaw again, took in a steadying breath through her nose.
No crying.
I need to dwell less on my mother and focus more on myself, because that’s what she’d do.
Sydney pulled into the Children’s Hospital parking lot and found a spot. She shut the car off and quickly called Drew while she had a few extra minutes. “Are we doing anything tonight? Like maybe going to the carnival?”
/>
“Did you want to?” he asked.
Sydney rolled her eyes. Drew had been acting weird the last few days. She supposed it had a lot to do with her attitude. She hadn’t exactly been in a good mood since her mother left. There’d only been two things that’d put a smile on her face. Work at the hospital and photography.
She brushed clear lip gloss over her lips and smacked them together.
Don’t be bossy, a voice in her head warned, the voice that was in charge of remembering the rules from the Crush Code.
“I’d like to go to the carnival,” she said softly, “but if you have something else in mind, that’s fine, too.”
“It might be fun. I hear they have a new ride this year. It’s called the Zipper.”
Sydney had heard about that ride. They locked you inside a cage shaped like a teardrop and then the “zipper” ran the cage around and around at hysteria-inducing speeds.
That kind of ride was not Sydney’s kind of ride. She much preferred something that stayed closer to the ground.
Don’t be bossy, that stupid voice said again.
When they got to the carnival, she’d nicely tell Drew they weren’t going on any crazy rides like the Zipper.
“Let’s plan to go after I get out of work,” she said, getting out of the SUV and locking it up. “I’ll come over to your house about seven?”
“Sounds good. Love you,” Drew said.
“Love you, too.”
The Birch Falls Carnival came into town every year in mid-July. When Sydney was a kid, her parents would bring her, send her on the little kiddie rides while her mother stood back, her camera in hand, snapping pictures of a laughing Sydney. Those pictures were stuffed in a tote somewhere in the attic, forgotten like the rest of her mother’s life, apparently.
“How was work today?” Drew asked, offering the woman at the ticket counter a twenty-dollar bill.
Sydney looked around the carnival, a massive affair set up in the middle of a field on the north side of town. Red and yellow and green lights shone brightly against the darkening sky. A smooth, excited voice sounded through a speaker system, “Welcome to the twenty-sixth annual Birch Falls Carnival. Carnival bracelets can be purchased at every entrance at the ticket booths.” The message went on, announcing a chain-saw-carving exhibit near the west entrance and a magic show later that night. A group of young girls ran past Sydney, headed for the roller coaster ride shaped like an alligator.
