by Judy Corry
My ears pricked up when I heard a girl in the front call out, “I bid one hundred dollars.”
I squinted to see whether I could tell who had yelled out the bid. I recognized the tall, blonde-haired girl in the front: Rachel, from English. My stomach hardened. Of course. I should have known she’d try to get a date with the hot new guy at school.
“We have one hundred dollars. Can I get one hundred and ten?” Mr. Naylor asked.
A few girls raised their hands. Mr. Naylor continued raising the bid, and a group of ten or more girls from school continued to raise their hands, Rachel being one of them.
I couldn’t help but notice that Arie seemed to be holding back a grimace just as badly as I was. Maybe I was wrong about him. Maybe none of the high school girls in Maplebridge were good enough for him after all. But another, more pleasant thought followed just as quickly. Maybe he wasn’t interested in the cheerleader and drill-team type that was currently trying to win a date with him.
In the end, Rachel won the bid for Arie for a whopping $287. Rachel jumped up and down when Mr. Naylor announced her as the winner. Arie smiled as he walked down to meet her, though it wasn’t the type of smile that reached his eyes.
“We have a last-minute entry,” Mr. Naylor said at the end of the night. “I’d like to call Maya Brown to the stage.”
A huge smile spread across my face when I saw a shocked-and-bewildered Maya shuffle out from backstage. She looked so confused.
Mr. Naylor held his arm out and gestured for Maya to stand by him. “Now this young lady is quite the catch.” He smiled at the audience. “I have it on good authority that any guy would be lucky to get a date with Maya. But I don’t need to tell you myself; she has quite the introduction.”
Mr. Naylor gave the audience a lopsided grin before looking down at the stack of papers in front of him.
He cleared his throat. “Maya Elise Brown is a girl unlike any other,” he read. “She may only be a senior in high school, but with the list of talents she beholds, you would think her much older.”
Maya pasted a nervous smile on her face as she smoothed her black pencil skirt.
Mr. Naylor continued, “Maya is an accomplished bassoon player and enjoys serenading her dates with the romantic music she’s written over the years. Her most requested tunes are, I’m Secretly in Love with You and Do You Wanna Taste My Lipstick? When she isn’t practicing her bassoon, she can be found rescuing ant colonies from the stomping feet of preschool children and reading bedtime stories to the animals at the zoo.”
A low rumble of laughter passed through the audience. The smile that had been on Maya’s face was now replaced by one of horror.
“Maya’s favorite mythical creature is the unicorn,” Mr. Naylor continued while trying to suppress a smile. “She loves to draw unicorns in-between homework assignments and proudly displays them all over her bedroom walls. When she isn’t busy with her other hobbies, she sews various lizard costumes, which she dresses up in when she has special errands to run, like grocery shopping for her mother or taking mail to the post office. Her dream date would be to dress up in her purple dragon costume and go out with a handsome man to scour the local creek for pollywogs.”
The crowd burst into laughter and applause when Mr. Naylor came to the end of Maya’s introduction, and I was relieved to see that Maya was laughing as well. I’d been worried that Arie and I might have gone a little overboard.
“I had no idea Maya was so cool,” Brian whispered to me.
I looked at Brian with wide eyes, unable to believe someone would actually be impressed by that ridiculous intro. Instead of telling him it was fake, I simply smiled and said, “Yeah, she’s pretty awesome.” I just hoped she wouldn’t kill me the next time we were alone.
CHAPTER TWELVE
EMMA
ON MONDAY AT LUNCH, I was hoping no one would ask about my date with Brian. I didn’t even want to ask Maya how much money they raised, for fear it would come up. But as soon as I sat at the table, Kathryn asked about my date.
Kathryn and Conner were officially dating now, so he and Troy ate lunch with us today.
“Um, it was all right. We ate dinner and then hung out afterward.” I didn’t want them to know what “hanging out” with Brian Dastrup was like. To redirect everyone’s attention away from me, I turned to Maya. “Sooo . . . how do you think the night turned out?”
“It was great . . . until the big surprise at the end when I was auctioned off.” She eyed me suspiciously. “I wonder how that happened.”
I worked hard to keep a straight face. “Who would possibly want to enter you in the auction?” I peeked at Arie, who was fighting a smile as well. “How was your date anyway?”
“It was good,” she said. “I still can’t believe John Stakner bid on me.” John Stakner was Mr. All-Star Quarterback at Maplebridge before he graduated last year. Maya shook her head. “I mean, why would someone in their right mind bid on a girl whose dream date includes dressing up like a dragon and looking for pollywogs? Eww!”
Troy burst out laughing and slapped his knee. “That was, like, the best part of the whole night.”
I had to laugh, too. “Sorry, Maya. Arie and I couldn’t help ourselves. We had one chance to get you back, and we had to make it count.”
Maya pouted for a second. Arie leaned over his lunch tray. “You know it was funny.”
A slow smile spread across Maya’s lips. “Okay, fine, it was funny. But in front of Mr. Lund? You guys, you’re seriously cramping my style. Now Mr. Lund’s gonna think I’m an immature kid who still plays with frogs at the pond. Geez!” She pointed a finger at Arie, then me. “Next time, pick on someone else, will ya?”
“Okay, I’ll try not to do it again.” That seemed to appease her, so I turned my attention to Arie next. “And how was your date with Rachel?”
He took a sip from his water bottle before answering. “It was fine.”
“What did you guys do?” I prodded.
He shrugged. “We ate dinner at the Mexican place on Main Street, and then Rachel offered to take me to Duncan Hill.”
My eyes widened, and an audible gasp escaped my throat. “Duncan Hill?” He wouldn’t go there with her, would he? My insides bubbled at the thought.
“That little skank,” Maya muttered under her breath. I guessed she was remembering the time Rachel took Maya’s last crush to Duncan Hill.
Arie laughed. “Luckily, I already knew what Duncan Hill was popular for, so I got her to go to the movies instead.”
Whew, I thought. Though I didn’t know why I should even care.
After lunch, I walked to choir with Arie. He asked, “So how did your date with Brian really go? I’m sure there was more to it than going to dinner and hanging out like you said at lunch.”
Why did he have to be so observant sometimes?
I drew in a deep breath. “He took me to dinner and talked for thirty minutes about some video game he’d beaten. So that was interesting.” I didn’t want to go on with the details, but Arie seemed to be waiting for me to continue, so I did. “Then he took me to his house to carve wands out of the tree branches he’d collected.” I clamped my mouth shut. Why in the world was I telling him about this?
“Wands? Are you serious?”
“Well,” I said, scratching my forearm, “I didn’t really mind the carving part. I used to whittle wood when I went camping with my dad. But then Brian wanted us to pretend we were wizards with our new wands.”
“Wow.” Arie shook his head and grinned.
“I didn’t know what to do, so I went along with it. I hope the neighbors didn’t see us. It was so embarrassing.”
Arie tried to control his laughter but failed. “Where’s a video camera when you need one?”
I had to laugh, too. “I know. It was ridiculous.”
“I didn’t say that.”
I bumped shoulders with him. “You didn’t have to.”
“I’m guessing there won’t be a second date?”
“You guessed right. I hope he got the hint when I jumped out of the car as soon as he pulled up in front of my house.”
“Poor guy,” Arie said, feigning sympathy.
I rolled my eyes.
We walked into choir. Arie continued to tease me about it in class and the whole way to English. He even tried to trick me into thinking Brian was coming our direction a couple of times, and even accidentally called me Hermione.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
ARIE
“WHY DIDN’T you and Jason tell me about Emma’s wand carving?” I asked Sophie that evening. I was sitting at the table, typing up my report from last week as she made dinner. She and Jason had told me about the stick carving, but they hadn’t mentioned the sticks were supposed to be wands—or that Emma had pretended to be a wizard on a date. It was hilarious! I really wished I could have witnessed that spectacle—too bad I’d been stuck on a date with Rachel.
“I guess we didn’t think you’d be interested.” Sophie shrugged as she stirred the soup she was cooking. “Plus, she’d probably think something was up if you didn’t act surprised when she told you.”
“That makes sense. Have you guys been able to find out more about Brian?”
“Yes, a little.” She set the wooden spoon on a plate and leaned against the counter. “He’s been in Maplebridge for one year. He’s an only child.” She shrugged. “Everything seems to check out fine. We have noticed his blue car driving down her street slowly a couple of times.”
“That’s weird. Do you think he’s a threat?”
“I’m not sure yet. He could be a lovesick teenager, stalking his crush. But then again, he might not be. Jason plans to keep a closer eye on Brian for a few days. Hopefully, we’ll soon know more. For now, though, we’d like you to stay close to Emma, just in case.”
“I’ll do my best.” Yes, I’d definitely do that. I wouldn’t let anyone slip through the cracks.
Sophie opened the freezer and pulled out a bag of frozen broccoli. As she dumped it into a pot on the stove, she asked, “How’d it go with Rachel today? Were you able to keep her from pursuing you further?”
“I tried.” I sighed. “But I have a feeling she’s the persistent type. Won’t give up until she gets what she wants.”
Sophie tsked as she tapped the spoon on the edge of the pot. “We can’t have you dating another girl at Emma’s school.”
“I know. And I’m not interested at all.” Definitely not.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
EMMA
IN ENGLISH THE NEXT DAY, Mrs. Hendrix announced that our class would be partnering up for our book reports on Jane Eyre. For the assignment, we were supposed to write a paper together, discussing some of the main points in the book. I had enjoyed the book, so I was eager to discuss my opinions with someone else.
Arie turned in his seat and looked back at me as if to ask whether I wanted to be his partner. I nodded, feeling breathless for some reason.
I tried not to smile when Rachel asked him to be her partner, only to be turned down. She pouted in her seat for the rest of the class period.
After class, Arie and I arranged to work on our book report at his house right after school since we had to get it done before we left for the All-State choir trip Thursday morning, even though it wasn’t due until Friday.
Arie was waiting for me by my locker after the final bell, and we walked to his black Chevy together. When we reached it, he was sweet and opened the passenger door for me to climb in.
The vehicle was a few years old, but it was nice and clean inside.
He glanced at me as he drove. “Been playing wizards with Brian lately?”
“Ha-ha, very funny.” I glared at him. “It may surprise you, but I made it through the day without casting a single spell. I seem to have forgotten to bring my wand to school today.”
“Maybe tomorrow, then. I’m sure Brian has an extra if you lost yours already.”
“What a brilliant idea! Then I’ll be able to turn you into that pet chimpanzee I’ve always wanted.”
He turned his attention back to the road and chuckled.
Arie was an excellent driver, not crazy like my brother. I had dealt with motion sickness my whole life and always got carsick while driving with Carter. He liked to wait until the last minute to stop at a stop sign, and when it was his turn to go, he accelerated as quickly as possible. I could relax while Arie drove, and that earned him brownie points in my book.
Arie’s aunt was out running errands when we arrived, and I assumed his uncle was at work. So we had the house to ourselves for the time being. Arie grabbed his laptop from his room, then we settled in at the kitchen table.
He picked up his copy of Jane Eyre and fanned the pages absentmindedly. “What did you think of the book?”
“I really liked it.” I set my copy on the table. “It’s an old book, so I had to get used to the language, but after that I couldn’t put it down.”
“Really?” He sounded skeptical.
“Absolutely.” I probably sounded like a nerd to him. “What about you?”
He folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair. I tried not to think about how the way he was sitting emphasized the size of his biceps. “It was all right. No big action or suspense scenes, so it wasn’t my typical read, but it was fine. I thought Mr. Rochester was entertaining.”
“What was so entertaining about him?”
“Oh, you know, just the way he liked to tease Jane all the time. He didn’t seem as stuffy as other characters from classic literature.”
“That’s true.” I had thought the same thing. “What did you think about him keeping his first wife a secret from Jane? Do you think it was okay for him to try to marry her before telling her about his past?”
For some reason, I really wanted to know his answer to this question. How Arie answered would tell me a lot about what kind of guy he really was. If he thought it was completely fine, then I would know for sure he was the type to play with a girl’s heart before grinding it into the ground beneath his shoe. And the thought of that being true disappointed me.
He looked thoughtful for a moment, rubbing his chin. “I don’t think it was necessarily okay, but I understand why he did it. I’m not so sure I wouldn’t have done the same thing. He made a mistake early on in life, but I think he deserved a second chance at happiness.”
That was an okay answer, but it still made me wonder whether honesty was as important to Arie as it was to me. “Mr. Rochester should have at least told Jane. She might have understood. I mean, I think if I were Jane, I would have tried to work through it with him. It’d be much better than being lied to the whole time.”
“Do you really think so? Look what happened when Jane found out. She ran away.”
I held up a finger, feeling somewhat emotional about the subject. “That’s because he hadn’t told her before. He waited for someone else to spill the beans on their wedding day. If he had told her from the beginning, or at least when he knew he wanted to marry her, I think they could’ve worked it out together. Instead, he lied and made her look like a fool when she found out on her wedding day. No one should have to find something out like that.” I settled back in my chair, not realizing how I’d leaned way forward as I’d spoken. I seemed to be a lot more passionate about this topic than I’d thought.
“Maybe,” Arie said. “But sometimes things are kept secret for good reasons.” The way he said it made me wonder what kind of secrets he had. Everybody had a few.
“Do you have some deep dark secret, Arie?” I asked, somewhat serious, somewhat in jest. He still seemed to be a little too perfect to me; there had to be something wrong with him.
He looked startled and uncomfortable at my question, but then he recovered quickly. “Oh no, uh . . . nothing like that.”
“Are you sure?” I cocked my eyebrows.
“Of course.” He laughed awkwardly. “I can take you up to my tower if you really want me to prove I�
�m not hiding my crazy first wife up there.”
“That’s okay,” I said, giving it a rest and bringing my heart rate back to normal. “I believe you.”
“Good.” He scooted his seat a little closer to me and spoke in a low voice that caused my heart to pick up the pace again. “What do you think about the age difference between Mr. Rochester and Jane?” A flirty smile played on his lips, but I couldn’t understand why he’d find that question amusing.
“I think it was fairly common back then to marry someone older. I don’t think I’d go for anyone that much older than me, but a few years older would be fine.”
“What about someone who just graduated from college? Or is that pushing it?”
“I don’t know.” Why was he asking me this? “I mean, I’m in high school—it’s not like I spend much time around guys like that.” Wait. My eyebrows drew together when something occurred to me. “You’re not trying to find out if I’m part of Mr. Lund’s fan club, are you?”
He looked confused for a moment. “No. Wait, are you?”
“Of course not!”
“Okay.” He grew quiet for a moment. “What about when you graduate? You’ll be going to college with guys of all ages, do you think you’d consider it then?”
I thought about it. “If I met an amazing guy, age wouldn’t be that big of a deal. I don’t think I’d go for anyone ten years older or anything. For a guy to say, ‘Hey, I was in fourth grade when you were born,’ would be kinda awkward.”
Arie laughed. “Yes, that would definitely be robbing the cradle.”
“What about you?” I asked.
“I think I could date a girl four years younger than me.” He smiled a crooked smile. “Any younger might be weird.”
“So you’re saying you’d feel fine dating a fourteen-year-old right now, but dating a thirteen-year-old would be pushing it?” I knew he was probably talking about dating someone so young in the future, but I couldn’t help but tease him.
“What?” He wrinkled his forehead. “No, I meant I could date someone that much younger than me when I’m older. Of course I wasn’t thinking about dating a fourteen-year-old. I’m not a pedophile!” He shook his head. “I meant to say that if I were twenty-one or twenty-two, I might consider dating an eighteen-year-old.”
