by Amity Hope
“This feels heavenly.” Kylie moaned. “Skinny-dipping this time of year was a terrible idea.”
“Really?” I asked as memories of the kiss bobbed around in my head.
She looked at me, her cheeks turning red, and she smirked. I was sure she was thinking of the kiss, too, when she answered, “Terrible idea—and I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
Chapter Seventeen
Kylie
Every time I flipped a page in Leo’s sketchbook, I was amazed all over again. He had stopped by to visit on my break. There was a small café area at the front of the store, right off the deli. He usually took a seat, drawing while he patiently waited for the store to quiet down enough for me to join him.
“There are, what, half a dozen new ideas in here since the last time you showed me?” I asked.
“I come up with ideas way faster than I can assemble them,” he said. “My mind is flooded with designs. If I don’t scribble them out, I lose them.”
“That would be a shame,” I said. “Do you make everything you draw?”
“I wish,” he said wistfully, “but there’s not enough hours in a day. Other times there are things I’d like to work on, but I don’t have exactly the right pieces to make it work.”
I turned the page again, smiling at the detailed drawing of a metal peacock, its tail fanned out, showing off intricate plumage. How could he ever make this out of random pieces? I couldn’t even fathom, but knew he’d find a way.
“I plan on driving to the coast again this weekend,” he said. “Do you want to come with?”
I looked up from the pages. “Are you meeting with Buster?” I knew he’d been in contact with the shop owner Darwin had mentioned, attempting to get a feel for what the guy was looking for.
“Yeah,” he said. “I’ve got a few pieces ready to go, and I want to be sure they’re what he’s looking for. I don’t think it’ll take too long. Then we can—”
He abruptly cut himself off, his expression becoming grim.
“You know what?” He reached for the sketchpad and stood up. “I forgot I have a huge trig assignment to finish.”
“What?” I leaned back, startled by his quick movements. He shoved the sketchpad into his backpack. “Are you still coming back?” He had asked if we could go for a drive after my shift, so we could discuss prom. I had hoped he was warming up to the idea. Maybe he was even making some plans with Luke and Adam.
“I’m not sure,” he said. “Tonight might not work.”
I glanced toward the front of the store, searching for the clock. My break was almost over. He really couldn’t spare another few minutes? I was disappointed, especially if he’d changed his mind about meeting up later.
I blinked when I caught sight of Allie. She was with Mom who was pushing a cart toward the back of the store. Allie frantically motioned toward Leo and me.
I got it. She’d spotted us and was trying to keep Mom preoccupied.
“I’ll see you later,” Leo said. He slung his bag over his shoulder, clearly in a hurry to leave.
Mom twisted around to say something to Allie, but locked eyes with me instead.
We were busted.
I decided to make the most of it. Leo was trying to weave his way through the tables and chairs. He hadn’t made it very far.
“Leo,” I called. “Wait a minute.”
When he continued on, as if he hadn’t heard me, I darted after him, easily catching him. I latched my hand around his, tugging him to a stop. He twisted around, wearing a worried look.
He must’ve seen Mom and Allie come in. Though he’d never met Mom, it would be easy to figure out she was the woman with Allie.
They continued to head our way. Mom’s eyes dropped to our entangled hands. I let his fingers slide from mine as Allie made an apologetic face. Mom’s expression was unreadable. I wondered if my sister had texted me a warning. If she had, I’d clearly missed it because my phone was in my purse in the break room.
“That’s my mom,” I said, pointing out the obvious.
“Yeah,” he said, keeping his voice low, “I figured. Look, why don’t you pretend I’m a customer you were helping out?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m done with this. I don’t want to sneak around anymore.”
Panic flooded his expression when he glanced at my mom. “I don’t think—”
“Kylie,” Mom said, “did we catch you on break?”
I twisted around and conjured an innocent smile. “Yeah. I’m glad you’re here.” I really wasn’t, but thought maybe it would be in my best interest if I played it otherwise.
“Why is that?” Mom asked. Her gaze slid from me to Leo and back again.
Leo was standing so still he looked as though he was hardly breathing. Had I really scared him that badly with warnings of my parents? He looked as if he was afraid Mom would go ballistic on him at any second.
Poor guy.
“Mom,” I said as I tried to calm my own jangling nerves, “I’d like you to meet a friend of mine.”
“Friend?” Mom quirked a suspicious eyebrow. It was my fault, I knew, for pressing her for information the other night—I’d unintentionally set her on high alert. She gave me a knowing look. “Or boyfriend?”
Allie snorted, an unfortunate habit that crept out when she was nervous. “He’s her friend, Mom. And he’s obviously a boy. So…yeah.”
Mom gave her a disapproving look, then flashed me a look clearly stating that we would discuss this deception of mine later. Her knuckles were white as they gripped the shopping cart. I was grateful she was being outwardly discreet, because on the inside, she was definitely simmering. It would’ve been utterly humiliating if she’d started lecturing me at work. And in front of Leo.
Leo was still doing his impersonation of a statue, other than the nervous ticking of his jaw.
Finally, he forced a smile and stuck out his hand, gripping Mom’s in a cordial shake. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Likewise,” Mom said. “I’m Jeanette.”
Leo released Mom’s hand and nodded. Was he seriously this nervous? Had he forgotten the most basic rules of etiquette?
“This is Leo,” I said to Mom. “Leo Zimmerman.”
I heard Leo’s jaw click together and saw Mom’s composure slip into a look of surprise. Her gaze slid my way, and I noted the underlying anger.
“Zimmerman?” Her tone took on an unexpected bite. Only moments ago, she was being civil. With that bit of information, her calm facade was quickly beginning to crumble.
“Yes, ma’am,” Leo said quietly.
“Well,” Mom grated out, “isn’t that…interesting.”
My gaze darted between the two of them. The air suddenly seemed to crackle with tension. I turned to Allie; she looked as confused as I was.
“What going on?” I asked.
Mom ignored me, keeping her attention on Leo. “Zimmerman is an unusual last name. You wouldn’t happen to be related to Mike Zimmerman, would you?” It was as if the harshness in her tone was daring him to admit it.
“Mom,” I said under my breath, “what’s wrong?”
She turned to me, her gaze hostile. “Of all the people for you to sneak around with, you had to choose a Zimmerman?” Without giving me a chance to protest, she took a step closer to Leo. “What are you doing with my daughter? Do you think it’s funny to follow in your big brother’s footsteps? Do you think it’s funny to mess with another young girl’s life?”
“No, I don’t,” Leo said miserably. “It’s not like that. It’s not like that at all. I’m nothing like Mike, I swear.”
Mom poked him in the chest. “The fact that you have my daughter sneaking around tells me otherwise.”
“Mom.” I managed to wedge myself between them, my mind scrambling to make sense of this conversation. “How do you know Leo’s brother?”
I studied her face. Her gaze was locked with Leo’s, as if she was silently chastising him, holding a conversation I couldn’t hear.<
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“Please,” I begged, “would one of you talk to me?”
Mom sucked in a breath and turned to face me. “You really don’t know?”
I shook my head.
“I don’t know, either,” Allie complained. “I am so confused.”
“You know, don’t you?” Mom said to Leo. His face was the color of chalk, his pulse fluttering wildly in his neck. Mom didn’t give him a chance to respond. “You say you’re nothing like your brother, but you clearly have no problem deceiving my daughter. That sort of behavior sounds terribly familiar. Are you sure it doesn’t run in the family?”
“Leo wouldn’t lie to me,” I interjected.
Mom leveled him with a gaze that said I was clearly wrong.
He turned to me, looking as if the world was about to end. “I’m sorry, Kylie. I haven’t known for long. I swear.”
“Known what?” I asked the question, but the answer had already begun formulating in my head. Mike graduated the same year as Maddie; I’d learned that from Leo. But so had a few hundred other kids. How was I to know that might be important? Mom usually had a pretty even temper. There was only one thing I could think of that would make her distrust Leo on the basis of his last name alone.
“Mike? Is he the one who bullied Maddie so badly?”
Leo nodded dejectedly.
The realization hit me like a sucker punch to the heart. I took a step back as the world began to spin. Allie put a hand on my elbow, but my knees felt like rubber and I knew my hands were trembling.
I had not seen that coming.
Not at all.
“I’d like you to leave now,” Mom said.
“Kylie, I’m so sorry.” He reached for my hand, but with Mom fuming beside us, thought better of it and gripped the strap of his backpack instead. “I didn’t know how to tell you.”
I blinked hard, suppressing the tears that seemed to have gushed up from nowhere. “My mom’s right. You should go.”
This time he left without hesitation.
“We’ll discuss this tonight,” Mom said, “because you have a whole lot of explaining to do.” She gave Allie’s arm a tug. My sister cast me a worried look as she let Mom drag her away.
…
After they all left, I was still trying to grasp exactly what had gone down. At first, I was simply baffled, hurt, and completely blindsided. As the last few hours of my shift dragged on, I became more and more irate. He had lied to me; kept something from me. Looking back, his shift in attitude was obvious. He had gone from being willing to meet my parents to avoiding the topic completely.
I hadn’t pushed because I’d been in no hurry, either. I didn’t think much of his hesitation because I was reluctant, too.
As I rearranged produce and mopped the floors toward the end of the evening, I was sure I could recall when the change had come about. It had been the day I’d opened up and told him about my sister. I had described what happened with his family. He had to have figured it out right then.
Instead of saying anything, he’d hidden it for weeks.
I thought I could trust Leo. Had thought he wouldn’t lie to me.
But he had.
My mind ran away with that realization, wondering what else he’d lied about. He had said so many sweet things. But were they all lies? A way of misleading me? I ground my teeth together as I glanced at the clock.
“Are you okay?” Emily asked. She had been shooting me nervous glances since Mom had stormed out. Until now, she’d let me busy myself with closing duties while she worked the cash register.
“I’m fine.” I nodded, hoping that would reassure her.
“If you want to talk about it,” she began, “we’ve got a few minutes.”
“Thanks, but I don’t.” I really, really didn’t.
“Okay,” she said, a small wrinkle appearing between her brows. “But I hope you and Leo can work out whatever happened.”
She’d been standing close enough to hear fragments of the argument, but without background knowledge, I knew she hadn’t been able to follow it completely.
“I’m not so sure that’s going to happen,” I admitted.
Her worry line dug in a little deeper. “Whatever happened, he looked crushed,” she said. “I dated Dillon for a few months this fall. Some of his friends, other guys on the baseball team, were so arrogant. But not Leo. He was always so nice. I’m sure that—”
“Emily,” I interrupted, “I appreciate that you want to help, but you have no idea how messy this situation is.”
For a moment, I worried I’d offended her. Then she slipped me a sympathetic smile, and I knew she understood I was feeling too overwhelmed to finish the conversation.
My mind was still churning when I left at the end of the night. A dozen mixed emotions slammed around in my head as I slid into my car. I stuffed my keys into the ignition and let out a shriek of surprise when Leo knocked on my window.
I was tempted to ignore him and drive away. Deciding to be a smidge more mature, I rolled the window down and said, “I’m not in the mood to talk to you.”
“I want a chance to explain,” he said quietly.
“About how you lied to me?”
“Yes, I lied by omission. But I was afraid that when I told you, you would act this way.”
“Act what way?” I shot back.
“Can you at least try to act reasonable? Let me tell you my side of this?”
“Are you saying I’m unreasonable?”
He was unbelievable! He had lied to me. I was going to be in so much trouble with my parents. It all could’ve been avoided, and he thought I was being unreasonable?
“I don’t think we need to talk about it,” I said with as much calm as I could muster. “What’s the point? So you can try to justify keeping something like this from me?” I shook my head. “You know what? None of this matters. We both know it was all about the list for me.” I forced a smile, though it was almost painful. “So no harm done.”
I buzzed my window up before he could respond. Without looking at him, I started my car and drove away. Regret instantly spilled through my veins. I hadn’t meant to be so mean. I had let my temper get the best of me and said something hurtful—not to mention untrue—out of anger. Or maybe it wasn’t hurtful because I hadn’t meant as much to him as I’d thought. Maybe Leo hadn’t really liked me as much as everyone said. Apparently we hadn’t had the sort of connection I thought we’d had. If I’d been wrong about that, I could’ve been wrong about everything else.
This night had turned into a black hole of confusion, sucking me in until I couldn’t even think straight. And it was just getting started.
With a sense of well-placed trepidation, I headed home.
I was barely through the front door before I was ushered into the kitchen. I sat on one side of the table, my parents on the other. I vaguely wondered what type of threats were tossed around to get Allie to stay in her room.
Or maybe out of a sense of self-preservation, she chose to stay out of sight. Our parents didn’t believe in yelling, but their quiet disappointment was somehow much worse.
“This is unacceptable, Kylie,” Mom started, “and certainly not the sort of behavior I would expect from you.”
“Is it true?” Dad asked. “You’ve been seeing someone without letting us know?”
I didn’t even contemplate lying. It wasn’t worth the effort to try to fabricate a believable scenario that would eventually crumble anyway. “Yes.”
“How long has this been going on?” Mom demanded.
They continued to question me; I continued to answer.
“Kylie,” Mom said on a disappointed sigh when the inquisition came to an end, “I expected better from you. When feelings get involved, they tend to cloud your judgment of a person.”
“I’m sorry,” I said, surprised that I really did mean it. “I was afraid you wouldn’t let me date Leo.”
“Considering the boy lied to you, would that have been a bad thing?”
Dad asked. “Trust and honesty are crucial components of a relationship.”
“I know that.” I wanted to argue that Leo was honest and that I could trust him, but his actions proved otherwise and my parents knew it. I blinked hard and forced back tears. “When we first got together, he was willing to meet you. It wasn’t until after he figured out his brother had been such a jerk, and that you’d had an argument with his parents, that he changed his mind. I’m sure he was afraid of what you would think of him if you knew Mike was his brother.”
That was my assumption, anyway. Without speaking to Leo, I couldn’t be sure of anything.
“What disappoints me the most,” Mom said quietly, “is that you dragged your sister into this.”
I gritted my teeth. I should’ve known Allie would blab once she and Mom left the store.
“I—”
Mom cut me off before I could argue that Allie volunteered, practically insisted.
“Kylie, she denies it, but I’m not stupid. I may have bought your stories at the time, but after tonight, it’s all too clear what you two were up to.”
I slumped in my chair. Allie hadn’t ratted me out, though I’d almost given her away.
When they finally laid out my sentence—grounded until further notice—I didn’t even try to fight them on it.
What was the point?
Leo and I were over.
I would have to go back to hanging out with my fictional friends on the weekends.
And maybe that wasn’t so bad.
Chapter Eighteen
Leo
The next morning I got to school early, determined to catch Kylie before she went inside. I needed to apologize, to explain myself. I had a hunch I’d only have one chance to do it. I needed to get it right the first time around.
Her words from last night stung, driving home what I’d worried about most. That she was only dating me because of the list. I teeter-tottered between thinking she was lying and thinking her words weren’t really a surprise.
Either way, we needed to talk.