Not that I’d admit it to Spencer, but I did maybe think my soul was crying out for help. My once orderly life felt like someone had come in and tossed it like criminals looking for valuables.
If I had to pinpoint where things went Kaboom, I’d say it was the kiss from Spencer. Ever since Spencer had pressed his lips to mine at the corn maze, I felt like I was in a rockslide, scrabbling for purchase while the ground fell out from under me.
Yeah, it was much easier to focus on my ad campaign and ignore everything else.
“If you’re getting a few strange looks, it’s probably due to the new set of posters advertising the upcoming lacrosse scrimmage. I plastered them all over the school and in town.”
“Great. That’s awesome.”
“Oh, you might not want to thank me too soon,” I said. “You see, Rhys, Cody, and I put a large poster of the team up in the cafeteria.”
“That sounds like a great idea,” Spencer said. “I hope it’s bigger than the football team’s poster so kids will notice it.”
“Oh, they’ll notice it alright. There will be no problem with that.” I avoided looking directly at Spencer. “You know I have some pretty mad photoshop skills, right?”
“Yeah?” Spencer stopped walking to wait for an explanation; only it turned out he didn’t need it from me.
“Dude! Tacos and lacrosse? I am so going to be there,” a student walking by said as he pointed at Spencer.
“I’m trying to imagine it.” Spencer stood with his hands on his hips and looked at me. He tried to hold back his laugh but was unsuccessful. “I probably do not want to see this poster, do I?”
“It’s not bad; it’s simply eye-catching. It’s the photo from last year’s end-of-season pool party. Everyone has swim trunks on, but they aren’t the focus of the photo. So your eyes sort of do a double take. Across the top, it says, ‘I just want to eat tacos and play SMH lacrosse.’ That’s it,” I said. “I think I can say with confidence, too, that a large part of the student body will attend the scrimmage.”
Spencer grinned, shook his head and turned around to head in the opposite direction.
“Hey, where are you going?” I asked.
“Back to Principal Gentry’s office,” he said as he walked away. “Because really, it’s only a matter of minutes before she hears about the poster, isn’t it?”
“You have a point.” I sighed and fell in beside him with my art portfolio in hand since I had a feeling the principal would want to see all the posters I’d put up.
We passed Ms. Coltrain on our way to the front office, and she stopped me with a wink.
“Nice work, Tessa. I assume you’re on the way to Mrs. Gentry’s office?” She looked darn excited that I was possibly getting in trouble. Again. “Great art grabs your attention, and if you can make people laugh—even better. Exactly what you want for a PR campaign. It was worth it even if you have to serve another detention.”
“Thanks, Ms. C.” I doubted my parents would see it that way.
“Another detention?” Spencer said as we kept moving toward our reckoning. “Now I’m afraid to see these posters.”
“Honestly, most of them are funny. Only a couple are a little—a very little—on the sexy side.”
When we got to the front office, it was like they had the red carpet rolled out for us, and we were ushered right into Mrs. Gentry’s office.
“Tessa Martin, just the person I was looking for.” She sat back in her chair and sighed. “We’ve really got to stop meeting like this.”
“Tell me about it,” I mumbled. I handed my portfolio across to her before sitting down. “The new posters begin on page ten. The concept was to recreate some of the most iconic posters. Once again, ma’am, the idea is to gain attention for the lacrosse team, but also use pop culture to help make connections.”
Spencer moved over to stand next to Principal Gentry and get his first glimpse of the posters, too.
“The players—dressed in their lacrosse uniforms—helped recreate some iconic photos such as Marilyn Monroe over the street vent, Einstein sticking his tongue out, the Rocky pose at the top of the stairs, Freddy Mercury in his white tank top and mustache, and of course the ‘Got Lax?’ play on the ‘Got milk?’ ads. Two of the quirkier players recreated the Jack and Rose ‘I’m flying’ pose at the bow of the Titanic, just to name a few.”
As they flipped through, most of the posters made them laugh. Mrs. Gentry took a very long look at the most risqué photo (the “tacos and lacrosse” poster hanging in the cafeteria, which showed off my photoshopping skills) before flagging it and one other with a sticky note and handing the portfolio back.
“Again, I’d like to point out that every player has their uniform on. Only a few are missing their jerseys.”
“I noticed. I see where you were going with this. I will allow it, except for the ones with the post-its. Those will have to come down. You’ve wisely kept from crossing into inappropriate. They’re simply causing too much of a commotion.”
“Yes, ma’am.” I cleared my throat. “What about detention?”
“Not this time, Tessa. You may go on to class, both of you.”
“Thank you.” This time, I grabbed Spencer’s arm and pulled him from the office. “Well? How mad are you?”
“I’m not mad. Partly because my photo is one that’s coming down.” He slid a sly look over to me. “That was some photo.”
“Right? That photo is from your mom. She took it on the last day of your lacrosse camp at the end of summer.” Those were some muscles he had. I will go to my grave, never admitting how many hours I had stared at this photo. “You’re very photogenic, especially with those new muscles in your chest.”
“You’re doing an amazing job, Tessa. Pretty gutsy move for a risk-averse girl.”
“Yeah, I guess.” His compliment spread through me like warm honey through my veins. “Wait until I roll out the ‘Adopt a Lax Player’ campaign.”
“Wait, what?” He stopped in his tracks, looking worried again.
I grinned and kept walking. Sure, Spencer may have saved my senior project by suggesting the ad campaign for the lacrosse team. But I wouldn’t thank him for that until I had exacted my revenge for the way he’d gone behind my back to do it.
23
Tessa
Why had I agreed to go on a fake-date with Spencer? There were so many reasons why it was a bad idea. But at the top of the list was that helping Spencer make Ashley jealous with a fake date was not only idiotic, it was masochistic.
What the heck was I doing? I mean, I knew what I was doing—going to a party with Spencer—but what the heck was I doing? This wasn’t my crowd. I had next to nothing in common with them, so it seemed like a bad decision to go.
But it was Spencer.
But it was Ashley and her crew. The idea of hanging out with them on a Friday night was about as appealing as a close encounter with a copperhead snake. I lived in North Carolina, so believe me, I’d done that a few times, and fun fact: it was downright awful.
But still . . . Spencer. And I trusted Spencer’s judgment. At least up until Ashley.
Right. So, I wasn’t excited about the actual party, but I was looking forward to spending some time with Spencer. He was always fun and funny, and after those months when I pulled back, I’d missed him.
When it was time to get ready, my hand reached for one of my funky dresses—but then I pictured Ashley and her friends and instead reached for a pair of jeans and a pink, long-sleeved V-neck sweater.
It was definitely one of my tamer outfits. I’d even toned down my hair. My shoulder-length hair was back to its natural blonde, although I’d left a few streaks of pink highlights. Tonight, I’d pulled it into two low ponytails behind my ears. It wasn’t that I wanted to blend in with Ashley’s crowd; I just didn’t want to stick out and cause more problems for Spencer.
I’d just finished dabbing on a coat of clear lip gloss when the doorbell rang below. Spencer. Butterflies did a loop-de-loop in my belly
. I liked that Spencer got along with my parents, but I also didn’t want to give them the wrong idea.
Whoa, wait. Spencer had been over at my house thousands of times over the years. Just like I’d hung out at his house. That’s all this was to my parents. I was the one who better not get any ideas about what this was.
He still liked Ashley.
I hustled down the stairs to the front door, hoping to rescue Spencer from my parents. Don’t get me wrong. I loved my parents, but they had a tendency to overshare. With anyone and everyone.
If you were to make the mistake of innocently ringing our doorbell, my parents would invite you in, hand you a cold beverage, a slice of cake, and show you all my school pictures from elementary school through middle school. Even my naked baby pictures and the “adorable one” when I’d been trussed up in a carrot suit for my pre-school nutrition play.
I wasn’t even close to fast enough because, sure enough, there sat Spencer in our living room, looking happy-as-a-clam with a glass of water in one hand and a dessert plate with a piece of cake in the other. Oh, no! Mom had the photo album in her hands and was moving in for the kill.
“Mom! Spencer has seen all my baby photos already.”
“They never get old.” Spencer grinned. “That one, when you were three with the naked butt, makes me laugh every time.”
“She had such a cute butt.”
“Mom!”
“Totally agree.” Spencer reached over and fist-bumped my mom before he sliced off a bite of cake and shoved it into his laughing mouth.
“We’ve got to go.” I grabbed the plate out of Spencer’s hand, unloaded it on my mother, and hauled him up off the couch.
“Hang on.” Spencer turned to my parents. “I wanted to let you know there won’t be parents at the party we’re going to.”
What?
“No parents?” My father’s eyebrows rose.
“No, sir.” Spencer reached into his back pocket and pulled out a sticky note, handing it over to my mom. “Which is why I’ve written down the address and phone number of the house. Tessa and I will leave if there’s drinking or anything else sketchy.”
“We trust you both.” My mom beamed at Spencer. She’d always loved him. Pretty sure it was his dimples.
“Okay, we’re heading out. Love you!”
“Be home by your curfew!” Dad called, his voice friendly yet firm in that way dads have.
I speed-walked us to Spencer’s truck before my parents could yell some dorky parent remark like, “You two look cute together.” Been there, done that before.
“What the heck, Spencer?” I turned to him once we were safely inside his truck. “Trey’s parents aren’t going to be there? Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I just did.” He sat back in his seat, waiting. “I didn’t think it would be a big deal since I figured—like I told your parents—we could simply leave. But if you’d rather not go, I get it.”
“No, I’ll go.” I grabbed my seatbelt and clicked it in. “I’d rather a little more notice, though. You know I hate surprises.”
“I do, but I also know you’ve got an active imagination, and you’re at the top of your class when it comes to worrying.” Spencer buckled his seatbelt and started the truck. “I was simply trying to save you some stress.”
“Ha. I’m totally bailing if anything sketchy starts.”
“Sounds fair. I’ll even take you to Pizza Place for a slice.”
“That sounds like a plan.” Another knot in my stomach released. “Oh, wow, I sound like you now.”
“It’s always good to have a plan.” He grinned as he put the truck in gear and headed out of our neighborhood and toward The Heights.
It only took a few minutes to get to Trey and Ashley’s neighborhood. The first time I’d visited a friend who lived in The Heights was in elementary school, and I felt like an astronaut who had landed on another planet.
Reaching out his window, Spencer punched a code into the gated entry, and we waited while the gate rolled open.
His phone signaled a text, and he grabbed it up from the middle console to look.
“It’s Ashley. She says it’s already crowded, and we should park on the driveway.”
Guess those were the perks of dating the most popular girl in school.
“Do we know where Trey’s parents are?” I kept my eyes on the manicured lawns and large houses as we wound our way through the wide, sidewalk-lined streets. “Dinner at Charter? Or off to their lake house, maybe?”
“Cancun.”
“Mexico? They’re freaking out of the country?” Oh, no. I’d heard stories around school about some of the “in” crowd’s parties. Wild ragers. “Okay, now I’m worrying.”
“Tessa.” Spencer drove his truck slowly past the long line of cars already parked on the street and pulled in the driveway. “It’s just a party. It’s not Fight Club.”
“Ha! It might be if Trey has anything to say about it. You do know when you walk in, you’ll be like chum in a shark tank.”
“I’m figuring. That’s why I’m glad you’re here. Cody’s meeting us here, too.”
“Good. Okay, let’s go and get this over with.” I jumped down from his truck.
“I’ve got a question.” He clicked his truck locked. “What’s with the outfit?”
“What’s wrong with my outfit?” I looked down at my clothes and back to Spencer. What the heck? I’d put a lot of thought into this outfit. “I dressed down tonight on purpose.”
“That’s what I’m saying. I’m wondering why? I love how you dress. Seeing what funky thing you’re wearing at school is a highlight of my day.”
“I don’t know.” I fiddled with one of my ponytails. “I guess I was nervous about being here.”
“You look pretty.” Spencer’s eyes flashed quickly over my jeans and sweater. “Just not quite you.”
“Thanks.” I definitely felt a little out of my element. Okay, a lot out of my element. And a lot like a third wheel. This isn’t about you, Tessa. You’re here for Spencer. “Let’s do this.”
I sucked in a breath as Spencer’s large hand wrapped around mine. We walked up the brick sidewalk and into my first cool-kids party.
When a kid said, “no parents” in my crowd, it meant the parents had gone to the Burger Bar with the Joneses down the street where the men would have a Blue Moon and the women would have one glass of white wine, and they’d be home in two hours. Not this group. In this group, it meant Mom and Dad flew to Cancun, Mexico for a three-day weekend, leaving their teenagers the house, a luxury car, and the opportunity to make stupid choices. This really, really wasn’t my idea of fun. I willed time to fly like never before.
Walking into Trey’s house was like entering an alternate universe. The place was huge. The ceilings were either vaulted or dripping in crystal chandeliers. Every room could have graced the pages of House Beautiful.
The place was packed already. Not many kids wore costumes, but it wasn’t actually Halloween. Cody, Spencer, and I always waited for the thirty-first; it was part of our tradition.
I ran my gaze around, looking for trouble. Ashley and her friends were in the backyard doing cheers on the lush lawn. While some of Trey’s friends hung out in the Jacuzzi, others sat around his built-in fire pit or played corn hole.
Inside, a throng of kids, mostly girls, were dancing to some Taylor Swift song in the two-story great room. A group of guys was playing cards in the formal dining room while other kids descended on the spread of takeout food and desserts on the huge granite kitchen island.
“Well, look what the Spencer dragged in.” Cody came up behind me, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.
“Hey, Cody.” Spencer tipped his chin at him. “Have you been here long?”
“Not long.” He grinned. “Long enough to piss off Trey, but he just makes it too easy.”
“Amazingly, I don’t see any alcohol,” I said. “So that’s a nice surprise.”
“That’s because Trey�
��s dad installed a new eye-scanning lock on his liquor cabinet, and the keg is late.”
“Ah, that makes more sense.” I turned to Spencer. “That means you better go get your flirt on.”
“Yeah, I’ll go find Ashley,” Spencer said, giving us a nod and working his way through the crowd and out the back door.
“Hey, Cody! Come fill in for Mark at the poker table.”
“Go ahead,” I nudged him when he looked like he needed to babysit me. “I see some girls from the soccer team I know. I’m going to go hang with them.”
I caught up with Katie and Sonya, two girls from the soccer team I had math with last year. We mingled, danced a little, and even fought our way into the kitchen for chocolate chip cookies. But the majority of kids at the party weren’t my people. No artsy kids. No nerds. This was mostly the jocks and the cheerleaders and kids from The Heights.
I talked to a few of them, and they were nice. But if I had to have one more conversation about a fabulous sale on whatever popular item of clothing everyone was wearing this week, or who cheated on who, or which football stud was rumored to be a great kisser, I was going to throw up.
Every so often, I’d go stand next to Spencer and make goo-goo eyes at him until Ashley’s eyes narrowed like an angry cat. It was a double-edged sword. While I liked helping Spencer, I hated his goal. Charles Dickens would totally get it.
A few times, I heard Trey running his mouth, insulting Spencer and trying to make him look bad. Luckily, it didn’t look like Ashley was paying any attention to Trey.
“We should probably leave now,” Cody said, moving to hold up the wall next to me as Spencer found us. “You ready? Trey keeps looking over at you, grinning like a weasel, like he’s ready to spring something sneaky and nefarious.”
“You noticed that too?” Spencer frowned at a commotion in the kitchen. “Looks like the keg just got here.”
“Perfect timing,” I said. “Let’s go. I’ll lead the way.”
“One problem.” Spencer huffed out a breath. “Trey’s car is blocking mine on the driveway. And he’s refusing to move it.”
My Totally Off-Limits Best Friend: A YA Sweet Romance (Sweet Mountain High, Year 2: A Sweet YA Romance Series) Page 11