Natalie started jogging but slowed her pace down considerably so Leo could keep up with her. They made it around the path once without stopping before Leo collapsed on a park bench, breathing heavily. “Continue without me,” he wheezed, waving a hand in the air. “I’m wiped out.”
“But you made it around the path once!” Natalie excitedly told him as she sat down next to him. “That’s good, Leo. Very good!”
“If it’s good, why do I feel so awful?” he gasped.
“Because you’re out of shape. Your body isn’t used to it. But little by little, it will get used to it. You’ll be able to go around the path more often, as well as faster!”
“I’ll never be as fast as them,” Leo said as joggers zipped by.
“Not for awhile,” Natalie agreed. “But you can do other things. Why not try power walking? You could get some hand weights and walk around the path with them. And when the weather gets warmer, we could go bicycling. Or even hiking.” Natalie waited until Leo had caught his breath. Then she got to her feet and pulled him by the hand. “Let’s go around one more time.”
“I’m done,” Leo said. “We had a deal, remember? You told me I could try it once, and if I didn’t like it, you’d never ask me again.”
“So that’s it? You’re just going to give up? You haven’t even tried! I never would have thought of you as a quitter, Leo Barnes.”
Leo got off the bench and faced Natalie. “Why do you care so much?”
The words were on the tip of her tongue. Because I know what you’re going through. I want to help you! I know you can do it because I did it!
But the words wouldn’t come out. She couldn’t say them because she never liked thinking about the old Natalie. All she wanted to do was forget her.
“Look, I don’t mean to sound like a public service announcement, but carrying around all that weight isn’t healthy. You need to do something about it.”
Leo started walking out of the park. “That’s my problem, not yours.”
“Why are you being stubborn?” Natalie called after him.
Leo walked back to her, throwing his hands up in the air. “Because I don’t want to get too close to you! I don’t want to get hurt.”
“Why would you get hurt?”
“Because none of this makes any sense. You’re you. And I’m me! We shouldn’t even be talking to each other.”
“Says who?”
Leo pointed in the direction of North Ridge High. “That pile of bricks we go to every day! Do I have to remind you what happened on Saturday night?”
“I thought that was ancient history. That we put it behind us.”
“History has a habit of repeating itself,” Leo said. “I bet if someone caught me jogging out here, they’d come back with a video camera and by the end of the day I’d be up on YouTube in some sort of embarrassing clip. Imagine what your friends would say then.”
“I don’t care what anyone says,” Natalie told Leo. “You’re my friend. That’s all that matters. Don’t you want to be friends with me?”
Leo squirmed, rubbing a hand behind his neck. “We can be friends, but . . .”
“But what?”
“But I want to be more than just friends,” Leo confessed.
And then, before Natalie could say or do anything, Leo pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss.
Natalie didn’t resist the kiss. She didn’t push Leo away and ask what he was doing. Instead, she surrendered to his kiss, even though she knew it was wrong. She wasn’t supposed to be kissing another guy! After all, she already had a boyfriend and they were competing to be North Ridge High’s Most Romantic Couple!
Leo broke the kiss and pulled away from Natalie. “I shouldn’t have done that,” he said in a rush. “I’m sorry. But I wanted to. I had to.” Leo stared down at himself. “I’ve never had any willpower. Obviously.”
“You don’t have to apologize,” Natalie said. “The kiss was nice.”
“You don’t have to say that.”
“I’m not. You’re a very good kisser.”
Leo seemed surprised. “I am?”
“Hasn’t anyone ever told you that?”
“You’re the first girl I’ve ever kissed,” Leo confessed.
“I never would have known.”
“I’m sorry,” Leo said again. “I’ve messed up everything between us, haven’t I?”
“No, you haven’t,” Natalie said as they walked out of the park. “We’re still friends. We’ll just pretend that the kiss never happened, okay?”
“Okay,” Leo agreed, relief washing over his face. “It never happened.”
But the kiss did happen, Natalie reminded herself as she walked home to get ready for school.
And she couldn’t forget it.
Because Leo’s kiss was nothing like Tom’s kisses.
It was better!
When Natalie got to school, she hurried to her locker. She was running late and needed to get to her class before the bell rang. She had English first period today and Mrs. Ambrosia expected everyone in their seats the second the bell rang. If you weren’t, she marked you as late and gave you a detention slip.
As she raced down the hall, she could see students pointing at her and whispering. What were they talking about? Natalie stopped in her tracks as a thought occurred to her. Panic overwhelmed her. Could someone have seen Leo kiss her? Was that what they were all whispering about?
She started walking slowly, casually turning her head to the left and right, trying to hear what they were saying, but couldn’t hear anything. There was too much noise and too many conversations going on.
But she noticed something else.
A lot of the students, after staring at her, were pointing to the floor.
She looked down and was surprised to see a trail of pink paper hearts. She’d been in such a rush to get to her locker, she hadn’t even noticed them.
As she followed the hearts, she saw they were leading all the way to her locker. When she got there, she found a surprise waiting.
Hanging from the handle of her locker in a tiny pink bag was a stuffed beagle holding a little sign that said BE MINE.
Her first thought was Leo. Only he would do something this sweet. A card was attached to the bag and she opened it, expecting to find Leo’s signature.
But she didn’t.
The puppy was from Tom.
The guilt Natalie had been struggling with since Leo kissed her returned. She had tried to ignore it, but now it was back. She should have been thrilled that Tom had done something so romantic. It must have taken him forever to paste all those hearts up the stairs and down the hallway. But he had never done anything like this before. Why now? Because tomorrow was Valentine’s Day? Or was it because they were competing as Most Romantic Couple and he wanted to get votes?
She took the puppy out of the bag and stared into his droopy eyes. Why had she thought Leo was the one who had left her the puppy and not Tom?
More importantly, why did she want the puppy to have been from Leo?
When Natalie walked into the cafeteria at lunch, Mindy Yee grabbed her by the hand.
“You’re just in time!”
“For what?” Natalie asked.
“We’re going to have a little romance test!” Mindy exclaimed as she pulled Natalie to the front of the cafeteria where there were five chairs. Already sitting in them were Claudia, Jennifer, Noelle Kramer, and Celia Armstrong.
“Romance test?” Natalie repeated as Mindy pushed her into the empty chair between Jennifer and Noelle.
Mindy nodded. “To see how well the couples know each other.”
“Three guesses as to whose idea this was,” Jennifer whispered to Natalie.
“Claudia?”
“Uh-huh,” Jennifer said. “Mindy’s on the dance committee. I heard Claudia suggested it would make the competition more interesting if everyone got to know us all a little bit better.”
“Next thing you know, she’ll be paying
people for votes,” Noelle commented.
“Don’t give her any ideas!” Jennifer whispered back.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if Mindy slipped her the questions ahead of time,” Celia added. “Remember the way she gave Amber Davenport the names of those seniors when she was in charge of the Secret Santa bag with everyone’s names in it?”
Natalie did remember. Before heading off to a boarding school in Massachusetts last month — her little stunt with changing the names had blown up in her face, resulting in a very embarrassing catfight at the Secret Santa dance — Amber Davenport had been the Queen Bee of North Ridge High. Even Claudia had been afraid of her. But now that Amber was gone, Claudia had taken her place. It seemed like there was never a shortage of mean girls at North Ridge High.
But there were nice girls, too. Natalie had a class with Noelle and another with Celia. She liked them both although she had never really had a chance to hang out with them. She should do something about that.
“Okay!” Mindy announced, walking in front of them with a microphone. The cafeteria quieted down. “Now that everyone’s here, let’s get started. I’m going to ask the girlfriends questions and they’re going to give me answers. Our freshman volunteers” — Mindy pointed to five freshman girls — “will write the answers down on cue cards. Then we’re going to bring the guys back out and ask them a different set of questions. After the guys answer, the girls will lift up their cards and show their answers. Easy, right?”
Wrong! Natalie thought.
She had a bad feeling about this.
A very bad feeling.
The questions were pretty simple and straightforward: What’s the one thing your boyfriend does that drives you crazy? What’s something you know about him that no one else does? What’s the most romantic thing he’s ever done for you? What’s the meanest thing he’s ever done to you?
All the other girls instantly had an answer ready, but Natalie had to scramble. She didn’t know what to say! How could she have been going out with Tom for a month and not know anything about him?
When the guys were brought out to the cafeteria, chairs were arranged next to the girls. When Tom sat down next to Natalie, he gave her a kiss on the cheek. “Hey, babe! Ready to rack up some points?”
Before Natalie could answer, Mindy started asking the questions again so the guys could answer. As expected, Chase answered every question correctly.
When Will answered the meanest thing question, he got a big laugh when he imitated the way Jennifer had jumped out of her seat when he’d told her to open her eyes during a scary scene at a horror movie. Jennifer, who gave the right answer, swatted him over the head with her cue card. Will answered all the other questions correctly as well, admitting that it drove Jennifer crazy when he called her Red, no one knew that he secretly liked to bake, and when it came to being romantic, he was always trying to outdo himself.
Freddy told everyone that the most romantic thing he had ever done for Celia was to ask her crush to pretend to be her Secret Santa. That got a big “awww” from all the girls. Ryan also got an “awww” when he talked about the Secret Santa gifts he’d left for Noelle. Freddy and Ryan also answered the rest of their questions correctly.
Tom didn’t do as well as the other guys. When Natalie said it drove her crazy when Tom criticized what she was wearing, he said it was when he wouldn’t let her pick the movie. Natalie thought the meanest thing he’d ever done was embarrass her in front of a friend (she was thinking of Leo), while Tom felt it was showing up two hours late for a date because a football game had gone into overtime. Natalie admitted that even though Tom pretended to be a good sport, he was super competitive and hated losing. No one knew how crazy it made him, she confessed. Tom’s answer was that no one knew he really liked reading poetry.
The only question Tom got right was the most romantic one. But Natalie knew they’d get that one right. How could they get it wrong? He had left the trail of hearts and stuffed puppy that morning.
“Looks like it’s a four-way tie so far!” Mindy exclaimed. “Let’s see what happens after Round Two!”
“We’ll do better on the next round,” Natalie told Tom as she got out of her seat to follow the other girls out of the cafeteria. She could tell he was upset because they were in last place.
Tom didn’t answer. He just sulked in his chair.
When it came to the second round of questions, the guys were asked: What’s her favorite movie? How does she like her popcorn? Where does she see herself in ten years? What’s the nicest thing she’s ever done?
Claudia, like Chase, matched all her answers correctly.
Jennifer got two answers wrong. Will didn’t know what her favorite movie was and he didn’t know where she’d be in ten years. He did get another laugh, though, from the cafeteria when he asked her, “Aren’t we still going to be together in ten years? You’re not trying to tell me something, are you?” because her answer to the question hadn’t been, “Happily married to Will.”
Noelle and Celia also messed up on the tenyear question, although they got all the other ones right.
And Natalie got every single answer wrong.
“Looks like we have a winner!” Mindy announced as she pointed at Claudia and Chase, who kissed. “They are the Most Romantic Couple at North Ridge High. Don’t forget it!”
Tom threw down his cue cards and stormed out of the cafeteria. Natalie hurried after him. “Tom! Wait up!”
He stopped and whirled around, his face angry. “I can’t believe the way you messed up!”
“I messed up?” Natalie asked in disbelief. “You gave some wrong answers, too!”
“This could cost us votes!”
“You really don’t think we stand a chance of winning, do you?”
“Why not?”
Because we’re not the most romantic couple at North Ridge High! Natalie wanted to scream. Celia and Freddy are. Noelle and Ryan. Jennifer and Will. Even Claudia and Chase! Why are we competing to be Most Romantic when we’re not?
But Natalie didn’t say that.
“Claudia and Chase seem to be the favorites to win,” she told him.
“That doesn’t mean they are. You can’t think that way, Nat! If you want to be a winner, you have to think like one. You can’t think like a loser!”
“I’m not thinking like a loser! I don’t care if we win! It doesn’t matter. Aren’t I already a winner because you’re my boyfriend?”
“It matters to me,” Tom said. “And because it matters to me, it should matter to you.”
Tom headed back to the first floor, leaving Natalie alone. She couldn’t believe the conversation she’d just had. It was just another example of how competitive Tom could be.
He always wanted to be a winner.
But who was competitive when it came to love and romance?
If you found someone, you were already a winner.
Weren’t you?
Jennifer couldn’t believe her eyes. Was that Will buying a piece of jewelry in Bring the Bling?
She had come to the mall after school because she needed to kill some time before going to DeVille’s for the early evening shift and decided to pop into some stores and see if she could find a dress for the Valentine’s Day dance. She had been on her way to House of Fashion when she had caught sight of Will.
She pressed herself against the wall outside the jewelry store and peeked through the plateglass window. She knew she shouldn’t be spying on Will, but she couldn’t resist. She saw him pointing to a display case and watched as a salesclerk pulled out a necklace with a pink heart-shaped crystal. Will held the necklace in his hands and then nodded to the salesclerk, who pulled out a gift box and placed the necklace in it, before walking over to the cash register.
He was buying it!
Was it a gift for Valentine’s Day?
Could it be for her?
But they had never discussed buying each other gifts. She’d been thinking of buying Will something as a wa
y of thanking him for agreeing to go along with her charade, but she had never expected him to buy something for her.
She ducked away from the window before Will saw her and continued walking through the mall, her head spinning.
This changed everything. Will had never had a girlfriend before. Why would he start now? It was too much to hope for.
But maybe, just maybe, he had developed feelings for her.
The way she had for him.
Because she hadn’t been honest with Violet last night. She had more than just a teeny tiny crush on Will.
She was falling for him.
Big time.
There were times when he drove her crazy, but there were also times when he made her laugh. Underneath that bad-boy exterior, there was a sweet and considerate guy whom she wanted to spend more time with. Get to know better.
And then there were his fantastic kisses . . .
She got goose bumps remembering the way his lips had felt against hers.
She wanted Will to be her boyfriend for real.
That would be the best Valentine’s Day gift ever.
If Will had developed feelings for her, when was he going to tell her? Should she wait for him to confess his feelings? If he was planning a surprise, she didn’t want to spoil it. He was probably going to give her the necklace tomorrow night, before they went to the dance and found out if they’d been voted Most Romantic. Now, more than ever, she needed to find a great dress!
She headed straight for House of Fashion. When she arrived, the store was swarming with girls. Apparently, she wasn’t the only one searching for a Valentine’s Day dress. She wiggled herself between two girls who were going through a rack of dresses and started flipping through various styles and colors. Nothing was wowing her. Where was the dress that was going to make her look like a knockout?
She decided to move to another section of the store. As she walked through the crowd, she came face to face with Natalie.
Be Mine Page 15