After a few moments of deep breathing, I talked myself down from the edge. It was probably one of Carter’s groupies, anxious for their turn on the Carter-go-round. They probably found the door unlocked so dug around in his room to steal a copy of his Taylor Swift lyrics or steal a T-shirt or something. That had to be it. Except, Mom was meticulous about keeping the house locked when we weren’t home.
I heard a thump upstairs and I found myself fighting off an attack. Breath was scarce and I sucked in air like it was candy. I needed a better weapon than my car keys, so I grabbed a knife from the kitchen, the sharp one that Mom doesn’t let me use on anything, not even carrots when I’m chopping them up for dinner.
With a cry, hoping to scare off any intruder, I rushed upstairs like a maniac and ran through the rooms.
They were empty.
My room looked untouched, but when I entered Carter’s that was a different story. The whole room was upturned, his clothes spilling out the drawers. I Love You was scrawled across his mirror with red lipstick. Yup this was a result of one of his groupies or a psycho stalker.
This situation was opportunity. I texted Jules instead, begging her to meet with me before school tomorrow morning.
Time to implement my plan.
***
With the bandage on, I hobbled across the parking lot on crutches my brother used last year. Mom always carries a ton of bandages, and it wasn’t too hard to wrap them around my sneaker so it looked like I’d hurt myself.
Jules screeched in next to me and stepped out of her car like she was on a movie set. She leaned against the door with a doubtful expression. Our friendship took a major hit last summer and then again when I invaded her cheerleading territory. But I knew she loved me. She was struggling with guilt. I got it.
“What happened?” she asked.
I rambled on about fighting off an intruder and twisting my ankle when he pushed me down and escaped out the window. She took it all in with understanding nods. Her doubting smile morphed to a sympathetic one that was so genuine I couldn’t handle it anymore.
I broke down in the middle of the ridiculous tale. “I’m sorry.”
“About what?” She squeezed my hand. “An intruder is scary.” She seemed to have forgotten our current tension and that made me melt into a puddle. “I’m sorry things have been so weird between us. Let’s hang out this weekend.”
“I lied, okay?” I lowered my head, the tears building. “I’m sorry about the whole cheerleading thing and I kinda lied about the intruder. I mean I thought there was one, but it was one of Carter’s groupies raiding for paraphernalia.” I lifted my head but couldn’t get a read on her. “But I never fought him, and…I didn’t really twist my ankle.”
I thought she’d be furious but instead a smile burst across her face. “Yay! You’re back!”
“Huh?”
“My real cousin. The one who tells ridiculous tales because she doesn’t know how to get attention or is afraid she’s boring and will lose her friends.” She smiled. “I missed you. I guess this means you won’t be able to cheer?”
My whole life was ripped apart in two sentences. She’d always seen through my stories. Not only that but she saw deeper and understood why. Might as well tell the whole truth. “The hurt ankle is a scheme to capture Michael’s attention again…and stop cheering.”
She masked her surprise. “I figured it was something like that, but what happened to your dream guy you met at camp?”
I waved her off. “We’re going through a cool spell. I think it was the summer heat and bonding of camp that brought us together.”
She hugged me. “I’ll break the news to the squad that you’ll be out for the rest of the season with a bum ankle.” Then she whispered, “You might want to switch the bandage to your other foot so you can still drive.”
Then she strode into school, confident her cheering life would go back to normal. As she knows, I love sacrificing myself for her but I wanted out of cheering probably more than she wanted me out. The only splits I could handle from now on were ones with bananas.
Chapter 12
Michael raised an eyebrow when he passed me in the hall. “Let me guess, you wrestled an alligator in your backyard.”
I sniffed. “For your information…” I was about to mention the intruder and that we wrestled and he pushed me down, narrowly escaping, but the doubt on his face made me realize he wouldn’t believe much. “I battled Smaug last night in my backyard. It was epic.” I laughed and pointed to my ankle. “I walked away with a sprained ankle. Wish I could say the same thing for the dragon.”
He couldn’t help but smile at my spot-on sense of humor. “Oh, sorry to hear that.” He looked at my bulging book bag and how it swung awkwardly off my arm, and I swear he was just about to ask if he could help. I was so close to getting everything I wanted, because if he asked to help then I could recruit him for the whole day. We could laugh and talk, and I could remind him all the reasons there were to like me, even if I wasn’t perfect. This was it. My golden chance shining like a ray of sunshine through a darkened forest. He opened his mouth. “I could—”
Elena flounced between us. “Cassidy! I need your help. I’m about to fail a science test.” She sucked in a few shallow breaths, bordering on panic. “My parents will kill me.”
“I can help.” All his attention went from me to Elena.
Crushed! In a span of five seconds, with one failing science grade, my plan dissolved.
“Oh, could you?” She glanced at my ankle. “Oh, my gosh, you’re hurt!”
I waved it off. “Small accident. I’m fine.”
“Well, I’d hate to add anything else to your day.” She focused on Michael, whose cheeks bloomed. “That would be great if you could help me.”
He smiled at me as if that could make up for abandoning me in my moment of need but then he turned and walked away with Elena. As I saw him hang on her every word with rapt attention, I realized what a fatal mistake it had been keeping the never-ending-kind-of-soul-mate-love I had for Michael to myself. Elena never knew his path was not destined to meet with hers, but mine. And it only meant heartbreak for her in the end. Once Michael realized his true love.
Carter bumped into me. “Foiled again, huh?”
I scowled, and it only deepened when Ava appeared at his other side. She barely looked me over, didn’t even express sympathy for my hurt ankle or anything. I didn’t get a chance to say anything else when she dragged my brother toward her locker.
I hobbled through the halls, thinking my ankle was going to have a miraculous healing in the next couple days…but would be just sore enough that I couldn’t finish the cheering season. It’s amazing what some ice and a couple days rest can do for a sprained ankle.
At the end of the day, with blisters ripping open on my hands, I slouched in the van, my head on the steering wheel. My life was such a mess.
Someone rapped at the window. I had a terrible feeling I knew who it was. Of course, I hoped it was Michael but I wasn’t that stupid—not anymore. I lifted my head to Zeke’s smile and his wave. He started in with the hand motions: rubbing his hands together, blowing on them.
I rolled down the window. “You cold or something?”
With a smirk, he said, “That was just to get you to talk to me. Mr. Grabowski sends his regards.”
“Oh, was that today?” I usually try to keep up a happy-go-lucky existence, but I had a hard time mustering up even a little bit of cheer.
He cocked his head, his eyes gazing at me with warmth and compassion. “Well, I promised Mr. G. I’d catch up with you, but we can always do this somewhere else. How about over ice cream?”
I hesitated, wondering at the wisdom behind spending time with anyone right now. In my state, I could ramble off anything—probably information I didn’t want him to know. I really shouldn’t be around anyone right now. But I wasn’t going to say no to sugar. “Fine. Get in.”
After closing the door and b
uckling up, he held his hands in front of the heating vent. “Okay, it’s cold out too.”
“Well, yeah, it’s almost winter.” My thoughts strayed to winter and all that meant. One, it meant I was part way through my glorious senior year and it wasn’t turning out anything like I’d always dreamed. Two, it meant the Christmas dance was fast approaching. Homecoming was just another dance, but at Christmas, the seniors were allowed to take over.
We were silent on the drive over. He tapped his fingers against his knee, and I snuck glances at him. If I only had an ounce of his confidence. Finally, I pulled into Ye Olde Ice Cream Shoppe again. A girl with lots of problems to solve can never eat too much ice cream.
I flashed a smile. “How about we share a banana split?” I’d been craving one ever since that morning.
“Sounds good.”
Inside, after ordering, we took a seat by the window. I wanted this session to stay away from the topic of me before I could ramble. “I know we’re part way through, but tell me how your year is going. Transitioning, okay?”
“It’s okay. I’m used to new schools, new faces, new social circles to try and break into.”
“Any success?”
He shrugged. “Not really. Not after the initial surge of curiosity.”
“Need any tips?”
“Um, sure.”
Our number was called. I gestured to my ankle. “Would you?”
“Be right back.” He returned minutes later with a grin. “All right. Let’s get eating.”
It didn’t take long and I let him scarf most of it down because it didn’t appease my mood like I’d hoped.
“You do know about the Christmas dance, right?” I asked after my last bite of vanilla ice cream, hot fudge and nuts.
“Dance? Like the kind you have to ask a girl to?”
This was serious business. As a newcomer he had to hear it from a girl’s point of view. “The Christmas dance is as much of a milestone as senior prom. Way bigger than Homecoming. We’ve heard about it from upper classmen and older siblings since seventh grade. We waited patiently for our turn to take over the gym and run a dance our way. There’s a committee and they can do whatever they want, choose any theme as long as it has some kind of Christmas twist to it.”
He nodded solemnly, and I appreciated the lack of mockery. I proceeded to tell him everything a new guy at school needed to know so his date would be happy and fulfilled. “So, if you barely know a girl or if you’re not sure how she feels about you, then try to get a group to go together because that eliminates awkward conversation and highly ups your chances of a second date or even a goodnight kiss. Then—”
“I disagree.” He took a bite of ice cream then pointed the spoon at me. “I would think that going as a group would decrease the possible romance and thus decrease the chances of a goodnight kiss.”
I considered his argument. “I guess that’s a risk you’d have to take. If it goes well, you could always get the kiss goodnight on the second date, which is probably for the better, because a kiss on the first date might give the girl the wrong message.”
“What if she was expecting the kiss? Then that might give her the message you don’t care.”
“Ah, yes, but,” I scrunched my napkin in my lap, “your text to her the following morning would take care of that. Don’t text too early or too late. I’d say right before lunch is good timing.”
“Waiting a whole day is best though.”
“Fine. Don’t take any of my advice and see how well your night goes. I’ll be available after when you need counseling. Of course, I might have to charge an—”
“Will you be going?” he asked.
“Going where?”
“The dance?”
I swallowed my nerves. When a guy asks a girl something like that you can’t help but wonder his intentions. “Um,” I shrugged, “not sure. Probably.” Hopefully, I’d be going with Michael. It was time to make an escape before anymore awkward conversations started. I hopped up again, remembering to favor my left foot. “I need to get home and do more icing.”
He held the doors for me and opened the door to my car. Not for the first time, I appreciated that Zeke was my friend.
Once inside, with the engine started, he said, “You can just bring me back to the school.”
“Sure.”
We didn’t talk too much on the way back. I was busy thinking about my next foolproof plan to snag Michael. The chances of attending senior prom with him would go up significantly if I could somehow get him to ask me to the Christmas dance.
Chapter 13
For my next attempt, I got smart.
The whole plan took a couple weeks to devise. With the inept skill that every girl has deep inside, I followed Michael, taking notes on his typical route to and from school. I chose Saturday at nine in the morning, when Michael drove to the library without fail.
Turns out one iced-tea is all it takes. I drank the whole thing first—why waste a good sugar drink? Then smashed it against the side of the road. With precise care, I lay the largest, pointiest shard on the side of the road. It only took ten times for the magical pop!
I should’ve brought hot chocolate and snacks. I should’ve brought warm clothes—like my snowsuit even though it made me look like a giant puffball. It was only late November, but the air nipped at my face like it was mid-January and a blizzard was about to hit. Thank God, Michael would drive through in exactly five minutes.
When six minutes came, sweat started leaking from pores I didn’t know I had. Maybe I should’ve swiped his phone to check his calendar. What if he had a dentist appointment? I stood at the side of the road, with the jack pointed under the car. Dad showed me once, walked me through the entire step-by-step process to changing a tire, but that was two years ago. A girl can forget these things.
An old sedan pulled up behind me. I saw the tufts of white hair and wire rimmed glasses and knew my plan was anything but foolproof. The elderly gentleman stepped out of the car. His baggy pants and zip-up jacket looked like he wore them every day. How sweet and so thoughtful to stop and help.
“Need a hand?” he asked, then before I could get in a word edgewise, he rambled on about his granddaughter and how she lives on the other side of the country and how much he misses her.
I coughed, glancing nervously down the road. Michael’s blue Civic turned the corner. Full-out panic mode hit hard. I hooked my arm through the old man’s and led him back to his car. “Thank you so much for your offer to help but I have a friend on their way. You know, modern-day cell phones and everything.”
He twirled the ends of his mustache and didn’t look convinced. “It’s a little chilly. Maybe I should wait until your friend arrives, just in case.”
I held my hand over my eyes and peered down the road. “What about that? I see him now. Thank you so much and say hello to your granddaughter. I’m sure she’s absolutely lovely.”
With a confused look, the man climbed back in the car. That’s when Michael drove right by. My heart splintered to bits just like the broken glass that pierced the tire of my car. Elena sat in the front seat. It had to be her with the flash of blonde hair that zipped by. How did she end up with him? I thought she couldn’t stand him. They didn’t even notice me on the side of the road.
I turned but the man was in his car, blinker on, and pulling out with a friendly wave.
Totally didn’t see that coming.
With all my planning and fretting and extra planning, I didn’t make any Plan B or emergency plans in case Michael didn’t even look to a girl stranded on the side of the road. Of course, he would’ve if Elena hadn’t been jingling her flashy earrings and smiling her glossed lips at him.
And I thought I’d been so smart when I purposefully left my phone in my locker at school, so I technically wouldn’t be lying when Michael questioned why I hadn’t called my dad. It was so perfect. And it so perfectly failed.
I slumped down on the edge of the jack and g
rieved my perfect plan. I pressed my fists into my cheeks causing my eyes to squint and the black-top road in front of me to blur in and out of focus. Colors flashed by every five or ten seconds. It really had been the perfect set up. My dream year and perfect prom experience that used to be so crystal clear faded and grew farther and farther away with every failed attempt to get Michael’s attention.
The crunch of glass under someone’s foot pulled me from my deep philosophical thoughts of falling in love. The footsteps stopped right next to me, and I peered up into the shining sun that turned the person into a dark shadow.
“Who goes there?” I asked, without much enthusiasm.
“Need some help?” Zeke asked. It had to be him. Fate seemed to want us together or have a good laugh at sticking us together.
“Definitely.”
His warm hands closed around mine. Surprise jolted through me, but I didn’t pull away. I soaked in the warmth spreading through my hands and reaching the rest of my body, like holding a mug of hot cocoa.
“You’re freezing. How long have you been sitting here?”
“Um, not too long.” The other fatal flaw was not checking out the weather and picking a warmer day.
“I’ll change this for you, but let’s get you home first.”
I didn’t argue. I climbed into his car and rubbed my hands together in front of the heater. The car started with a rumble and he pulled into the increasing traffic.
I gave directions to Jules’s house. Might as well live up to the image of being filthy rich he had in his head. After about ten minutes, Jules’s house rose before us, the endless windows, levels, and garages. I swallowed my nerves and prayed they were at the country club per their usual Saturday routine.
“Why don’t you park here?” I pointed a couple houses down the street. “Dad dislikes cars parked along the road or in the driveway. You know, dirt trailing in on wheels and stuff. He’s pretty picky about that stuff.”
He pulled over and didn’t question the ridiculousness of that concept.
I climbed out. “Well, thanks! See you later!”
He turned off the engine. “Could I use the bathroom?”
“Um, yeah, sure.” I walked up the stone walkway with confidence, praying no one was home. I arrived at the front door to find it locked. I jiggled the door knob hoping it would magically open. The humiliation started in my chest and spread outward as I realized I would lose all credibility with Zeke. I let out a sugary giggle. “Oops, it’s locked.” I spotted Aunt Lulu’s prize geranium bushes. “You can always go behind the bushes.”