Lindsay's Surprise Crush

by Angela Darling

  Lindsay laughed. “It’s because she’s so cute.”

  Two minutes later, Sam showed up in the pickup. “Hop in, guys!” he said cheerfully. “Hope you don’t mind my dog, Monty. He loves little kids.”

  Ellie was already clambering over the tailgate of the truck to join Monty, who was waiting expectantly, his tail wagging back and forth.

  Nick and Lindsay exchanged glances and climbed on after Ellie.

  The truck had a layer of hay bales on it, so there were comfy seats.

  “I’m sitting next to Monty!” announced Ellie, who had taken a seat next to the dog. She threw her arms around him, and Monty began licking her ear, making Ellie giggle.

  Nick and Lindsay sat side-by-side on a hay bale near the rear.

  “Here’s a blanket for you guys,” said Sam, tossing them a rolled woolen blanket. It landed neatly at their feet. “It’s getting colder out, so get cozy.”

  Lindsay flushed with embarrassment, but she leaned down and unrolled the blanket. She was glad to have it, now that the sun was getting lower in the sky and the wind was picking up. Ellie was all bundled up in her lavender hooded parka and didn’t seem to mind the wind a bit.

  The truck started moving slowly.

  “Hey, let me have some of that blanket too, blanket hog,” said Nick playfully, moving closer to Lindsay and tucking a corner of the blanket around himself.

  Lindsay grinned. As they rode ever so slowly along the bumpy edge of the field, her mind began to whirl. She’d been this close to Nick about a million times in her life, but now it felt so different. Every time his long leg brushed against hers, it was as though she’d been jolted with electricity. But in a good way. Then they went over a bump, and she felt his shoulder touch hers. Another jolt.

  Was he still that mad at her? Was she, for that matter, still mad at him? From the way they were sitting, it didn’t feel at all like two people who were mad at each other. It was so confusing.

  She might as well get it out in the open. Make it like old times. Like when they used to be able to talk to each other about anything.

  “So,” she said, her voice coming out a little too high. “Are you, um, going out with Cassidy? That’s what everyone is saying. It’s fine if you are. Obviously. It’s not like I care or anything like that. I just wondered.” Her words came out in a big rush.

  Nick hesitated. “Well, see, here’s the situation,” he said, as though measuring his words carefully. “I’m—”

  His phone buzzed again. He checked the message, sighed, and shoved it back into his pocket.

  Lindsay pulled the blanket more closely around herself, feeling a new chill. Why did it annoy her so much when he got texts? He was allowed to get them.

  He cleared his throat and turned to look at her. “Okay, so you know the harvest dance that’s happening in two weeks?”

  Lindsay nodded quickly, bracing herself. He was going to tell her he was taking Cassidy, of course. She could deal with that. It’s not like it was a huge surprise.

  “Well, Troy Lewis has been texting me all day. He wants to know if you want to go. With him. To the dance.”

  chapter 8

  LINDSAY’S JAW DROPPED OPEN. SHE CLOSED IT quickly. That was the last thing she’d expected Nick to say.

  “I guess he likes you and wants to ask you out or whatever.”

  What was it about that name that rang a bell? She couldn’t think where she’d heard it. “Troy Lewis? Do I even know him?” was all she could stammer out.

  He shrugged. “He knows you. He and I are on the soccer team together. He’s in eighth grade. Tall kid? Plays sweeper? Good left foot?” He looked at her and shrugged. “Never mind. I forgot you never come to my games.”

  “You’ve only had one so far, plus the tournament,” said Lindsay a little defensively. “I’m planning to come to your next home game.”

  “Well, whatever. Anyway, Troy and I were at soccer camp together this summer, so we kind of got to know each other. He found out you and I were, well, were friends, so he asked me to ask you.”

  Suddenly she remembered why that name was familiar to her. Troy. That was the guy Rosie had a crush on, wasn’t it? Obviously Lindsay wasn’t interested in going to the dance with him, especially if it was going to upset Rosie. But she had to admit, it was pretty flattering that an older guy, a really popular jock older guy, would be interested in her.

  “Wow, that’s kind of cool!” she said, grinning. “It’s not every day you get asked out by a popular eighth-grade guy.”

  Nick smiled tightly. “Yeah. Cool. How ’bout that.”

  “But I barely know who he is. Why would he want to go with me?” Her voice came out all giddy-sounding.

  “Because you’re—” Nick stopped and closed his mouth. “He just does, is all. So what should I say to him? Should I tell him no? That you don’t even know who he is?”

  “No!” said Lindsay quickly. “I mean, no, don’t say no. And don’t tell him I don’t know who he is. I mean, now that you mention him, I do kind of know who he is. He’s pretty cute.”

  Nick waited. A muscle in his cheek twitched.

  Lindsay sat back, intrigued. Obviously she didn’t like Troy, because she barely knew who he was. And, of course, there was the fact that her best friend had a crush on him already, so there was no way Lindsay could even really consider him in that way. And didn’t she really want Nick to ask her? Oh, she thought. Did she? She knew she didn’t want Nick to go with Cassidy. But did she want Nick to go with her? All this was so confusing. But it was pretty awesome to have a popular eighth-grade boy interested in her.

  And if she was being really honest with herself, Lindsay had to admit that it was satisfying to be able to show Nick that he wasn’t the only kid at Central Falls Middle School who was All That. She, Lindsay, had popular guys interested in her, too.

  “Okay, so don’t say anything to him yet,” said Lindsay. “I need to think about it.” A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

  “What’s to think about?” said Nick, his eyes flashing. “Either you like the guy or you don’t.”

  Lindsay looked at him in surprise. He had some nerve, when he hadn’t even bothered to tell her he was taking Cassidy to the dance. What right did he have to be so judgmental about her?

  The truck slowed to a stop. She hadn’t even noticed they were back where they’d started, and that the parents were all standing there waiting for them. She and Nick climbed out in silence.

  The car ride home was awkward. Nick had grown moody. Ellie fell asleep almost immediately, a half-eaten apple in her hand. Lindsay delicately extracted it from her grip and placed it in the drink cup next to her, and then stared out the window, lost in thought. On his side of the car, Nick was busy with his phone, checking sports scores while alternately texting back and forth with someone, probably Cassidy.

  When Lindsay got home, she went straight to the piano and played stormy, agitated music for a while, ignoring the dynamics and playing the chords triple forte the whole way through. Playing music to suit her mood always seemed to make her feel better, and it did this time. She closed the lid and then sat down at the computer. She’d barely logged in when Rosie sent her an IM.

  Where have u been all day?

  Went apple picking today with Nick and his family. Can you say ‘awkward’?

  You know how many girls from school wish they were you?

  Yeah, whatever. He may suddenly be Mr. Hot but I think he must have had a brain transplant over the summer ha ha.

  Ha ha LOL

  Was Cassidy her usual charming self at the tournament yesterday?

  Ugh. She barely even makes conversation with seventh graders now, except for NL of course. I heard her talking to Corinne on the bus about the dress she wants to wear to the harvest dance. She saw it in some catalog and she was talking about how great the color would look with her hair—makes me gag.

  Ha ha

  She’s really spoiled. Her parents must let her buy whatev
er clothes she wants. And she’s traveled to really fancy places. She even went to Europe last summer with her fancy soccer team.

  Lindsay tapped her lower lip and thought about the best way to feel out Rosie on the subject of Troy Lewis.

  So who do you like?

  You know. TL, remember? He scored two goals yesterday even though he plays sweeper. He is so awesome!

  Awesome. Oops, got to go. ttyl!

  That settled it. She had to let Troy know ASAP that she couldn’t go to the dance with him.

  Drumming her fingers on the desk, Lindsay thought about it a little more. On the other hand, it was kind of fun to see Nick a little steamed up about it. Obviously he wasn’t jealous, because he didn’t think of Lindsay that way. But for whatever reason, he seemed not to be that psyched about the fact that Troy wanted her to go to the dance with him.

  Maybe she wouldn’t tell Troy no right away. What was the harm in waiting a little bit? It’s not like Rosie would find out that he wanted to ask her. Rosie didn’t even know him, really. Maybe she could get Nick to see her and Troy together just once or twice before she turned him down. And to further annoy Nick, she would ask him for Troy’s cell phone number. She wouldn’t tell him why she wanted it. Let him wonder.

  She texted Nick and asked him. He didn’t respond.

  With a sigh she put down her phone and went upstairs to do her homework. Her All About Me project was mostly done, but she had several subjects to go.

  An hour later her phone buzzed. It was a text from Nick.

  It was a phone number and nothing else. No hey, here you go, or it was fun today or anything. Just the number, which she assumed was Troy’s. She didn’t respond to Nick.

  She typed a message to Troy, wording it carefully so she didn’t appear too pushy or too flirty—just friendly.

  Hey what’s up. Heard you guys played great yesterday.

  Almost immediately, she got a response from Troy.

  Yeah we did pretty well ha ha.

  That’s awesome well c u tomorrow at school maybe. g2g

  Ok c u.

  She clicked off her phone and smiled. Flirting was kind of fun. But she would keep it casual like that and not let things progress too far. She would never break Rosie’s heart by actually saying yes to Troy for the dance. But maybe just a little more flirting—next time in front of Nick—wouldn’t do any harm.

  Her phone buzzed, causing her to jump. But it was just Rosie calling.

  “Hey,” Lindsay said cautiously. Had Rosie somehow heard about Troy? Her stomach felt like she’d swallowed a coiled spring.

  “Hey,” said Rosie. “There’s something awkward I need to tell you.”

  Lindsay swallowed. “Oh . . . kaaaaay,” she said. “What’s up?”

  “Well you know how you and I said we might maybe hang out together this Friday night? Well, now I can’t. Because, see, there’s this party? On Friday? And the awkward thing is, I don’t think you’re invited and I didn’t want you to find out and be upset.”

  The spring in her stomach uncoiled, but only partly. All thoughts of Troy vanished from Lindsay’s mind. “Oh. Okay. Thanks for telling me,” she said. Her mind was roiling. Had she done something really terrible she wasn’t even aware of? Was the whole grade mad at her for some reason?

  “See, it’s a soccer team party. Sort of,” said Rosie quickly. “But see, it’s . . . it’s at Cassidy’s house. And she’s invited the girls’ team and the boys’ team so for sure Corrine and Ava and I will be there, but I heard that a few of her other nonsoccer friends are also invited. And I guess her house is really fancy and they’re going to cater it with real waiters and they’ve got a DJ and dancing and she has a huge pool that’s heated so we’ll be able to go swimming even if it’s cold.” She stopped, perhaps thinking she’d shared a little too much information. “Anyway, I just felt bad that you might find out about it and wonder why I was going.”

  “That’s fine. Thanks for telling me, Rosie.” Lindsay spoke the words with effort, but she forced her voice to sound casual, unconcerned.

  “Oh, good, so you’re not mad?” Rosie sounded relieved.

  “No, of course I’m not mad. Why should I be mad?” lied Lindsay. “Oops, gotta go, my mom’s calling me. See you tomorrow.”

  “Bye.”

  She clicked off and just sat there quietly, but her lips quivered a little. Who cared? Who cared if Cassidy was having some big party that sounded like it would be extremely fun, and that Nick would be there, and that Rosie was going, and Ava and Corrine for sure, and probably also Sasha and Bella and Chloe and Jenn, because they were really popular but she wasn’t? Was it the end of the world that she wasn’t invited?

  Kind of.

  chapter 9

  THE SECOND WEEK OF SCHOOL HAD NONE OF THE excitement and novelty of the first week, and twice the homework. For the first few days, Lindsay avoided Nick as best she could. Luckily they only had homeroom and lunch together. A few times she overheard kids talking about Cassidy’s party, but she tried not to pay attention. So what if there was a big party for mostly the soccer players? She didn’t even like soccer very much. She knew that Rosie was trying to be sensitive and to shush people up when she drew close, and while she appreciated Rosie’s effort, it didn’t help much. It really stunk to be excluded. Because Troy was an eighth grader, she had no classes with him, and on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, she saw Troy only in the lunchroom. The first time, at lunch on Monday, she barely registered who he was until he had passed by with his tray, and then she kicked herself for not saying hi. He hadn’t even looked her way, though. She wondered if Nick had been playing a mean trick on her or something. What if it was all a hoax? What if Troy had never even said that to Nick about wanting to ask her to the dance? She dismissed that. Nick might have turned stuck-up, but he wasn’t mean. He wouldn’t set her up for humiliation like that.

  The second time she saw Troy, at lunch on Tuesday, she was standing next to Rosie and didn’t even see him coming, until Rosie drew in her breath sharply and clutched Lindsay’s arm so tightly Lindsay almost dropped her tray. Then she realized what was happening. The two girls stood stock still as Troy passed by with a group of eighth-grade boys.

  This time he looked up as he passed by and jerked his chin up, by way of greeting. “ ’Sup,” he said in their general direction, not looking directly at either girl, and kept going.

  “He said hello!” squealed Rosie in Lindsay’s ear. “And here I thought he didn’t even know I was alive!”

  Lindsay shifted uncomfortably. Maybe she should tell Rosie about Troy and how he might possibly be asking Lindsay to the dance but that she planned to say no. No, she couldn’t do that. What if Rosie thought she was doing it just to get back at her about the party? She really didn’t blame Rosie for wanting to go, but maybe Rosie would think she did. Plus, he hadn’t actually asked her. It wasn’t really an issue yet. She’d wait and see what happened.

  On the way to social studies on Tuesday afternoon, Cassidy stopped Lindsay in the hallway. She looked amazing with her glossy hair bouncing around her shoulders. She had on a perfectly cut white T-shirt, jeans, and a thick belt. Lindsay was pretty sure the T-shirt hadn’t come out of Cassidy’s dad’s drawer. It was probably designer.

  “Hey, Lindsay, Corrine told me she heard that you are an awesome piano player,” said Cassidy. “Is that true?”

  Lindsay narrowed her eyes. Was Cassidy making fun of her? Being a classical musician just wasn’t something really popular kids did, and Lindsay and Cassidy both knew it. All the band kids sat together at lunch, and even though some were really nice, and a few were really smart, they were just hopelessly unpopular. Was Cassidy about to ask her why she didn’t sit with them at lunch?

  “Yeah, I guess,” she said with a shrug.

  “That’s so cool. I wish I could play,” said Cassidy. “Guess I’ll stick to soccer, though,” she added. “The guys are way cuter than the ones in the band!” She giggled and kept moving.

>   Lindsay wanted to call after her to tell her that piano wasn’t even a band instrument, but she thought better of it. Why start another conversation with her when Cassidy would probably just turn it into a reminder of how she got to spend all her time with Nick, and Lindsay didn’t? Lindsay was cranky. Why was Cassidy asking her about piano anyway? Did she want to know if Nick liked piano?

  That Thursday Lindsay found the perfect opportunity to be seen with Troy in sight of Nick.

  The boys’ team had a game across town against their biggest rivals. She knew they’d all be assembling at the end of the parking lot closest to the gym. She worked out the whole “chance encounter,” even going to her locker before last period to collect her stuff so she wouldn’t have to take the time after the bell rang at the end of the day.

  That gave her a full seven or eight minutes to happen to pass by the boys’ team before her bus left. They’d been excused five minutes early, so she knew they’d be there.

  She dashed toward the hallway leading to the gym, heading down the stairs and out that exit door. Sure enough, there were the boys, standing around in their uniforms, joking and laughing with one another. She spotted Troy right away. He was teaching some new soccer kick to Nick. She slowed down and caught her breath, and then walked slowly and casually past the boys toward where the buses were lining up.

  Troy saw her and stopped demonstrating whatever kick he’d been showing Nick. He said something to Nick and trotted across the grass toward her. She pretended not to see him.

  “Hey,” he said.

  “Oh! Hi!” she said, pretending to be surprised. “I had to, um, do something at the gym so I came out that way. Looks like you guys have a game today. Who are you playing?”

  “We play Crosby. They’re good but we can beat them.”

  “Oh! Well, good luck. Guess I should hustle off to my bus.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Nick had moved over to another clump of his teammates. He was standing next to them quietly, not participating in their conversation. He looked annoyed. Good.