by Amanda Abram
He stared down at me, a thoughtful expression on his face, as though he were actually compiling a list in his head.
“I don't know,” he said finally, shrugging. “She just is. Isn't that enough?”
“No, it's not,” I replied, wondering why my voice suddenly sounded bitter. “You turn into a completely different guy when I even mention this girl, and as your pretend girlfriend, I deserve to know why.”
He raked a hand through his hair. “I don't know. She's beautiful. She's sweet. Caring. Funny. Smart. She's every guy's dream girl. She's...perfect.”
I stood there for a moment, not knowing what to say to that. Seriously? I could admit Kylie was a lot more tolerable than the average run-of-the-mill popular cheerleader, but he was making her out to sound like some sort of a saint or something. She was hardly perfect. And it was unlikely she was “every guy's dream girl”. I mean, who was he to speak for the entire male population like that?
“Are you okay?” Jase asked, interrupting my thoughts. “You look sick.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled. “It's just that your Hallmark card spiel was a little hard to swallow.”
His eyes slowly formed into a glare. “Nice. You ask me to open up to you, and then when I do you make fun of me.”
I sighed. “Sorry. I'm just a little agitated right now. I mean, our plan is starting to work for you, which—don't get me wrong—makes me really happy for you, but at the same time I'm just a little disappointed it doesn't seem to be working in my favor as well.”
His expression softened at my words. Reaching out, he placed a gentle hand on my shoulder. “Don't worry. We just need to step it up a notch or two, which we'll do at the party. Trust me, you will get what you want out of this.”
I gave him a lopsided grin and nodded. “I really hope so. I mean, I—”
“Hey.”
The sound of a cool, deep voice behind me stopped me mid-sentence. When I recognized the voice as belonging to Jeffrey, my hand instantly shot up to cover my mouth as I stared wide-eyed at Jase.
Oh God. Jeffrey hadn't heard any part of our conversation, had he?
Jase gave me a slight, subtle shake of the head, as if he were answering my unasked question. Either that, or he was shaking his head as if to say, “The jig is up, we've been caught.”
“Hey, Jeffrey,” I said cautiously, spinning around to face him. “How's it going?”
But Jeffrey wasn't even looking at me. He was glowering over at Jase. “Holloway, get lost.”
“Hello to you too, Weston,” Jase said, draping an arm across my shoulders.
With a sneer, Jeffrey finally looked at me. “Can we talk?”
“Absolutely,” I said, at the exact time Jase said, “I don't think so.”
“Jase,” I hissed up at him. “You should really go catch up with your friends.”
“Nah, they can survive without me,” he said, but then I shot him a death glare and he seemed to take the hint. Slowly he removed his arm from me. “But just to be safe, I suppose you're right.” He shot me a look that clearly said, “you owe me”, as if he were doing me a favor by leaving. And he was, but certainly not a favor I should have to repay.
Once Jase was out of the cafeteria, I turned back to Jeffrey and our eyes locked. I really hated how looking at him still gave me butterflies in my stomach. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't still in love with him. But, I mean, he was my first love. He would always be my first love. And I would always have a special spot in my heart with his name on it.
“So,” he said.
“So.”
“So...our project,” he continued, but then stopped.
“Yeah. Our project.” I studied his face. At the moment, he looked displeased, and I had no doubt it had something to do with the fact Jase had just been standing there moments ago. And as I watched him, I silently urged him to say something about it. To say he disapproved of me hanging out with Jase. That it drove him absolutely mad to see us together and that he wanted me back.
Okay, maybe not the last part. But I wanted him to at least address the fact, so I could know our plan was at least getting to him in the slightest bit.
“Do you think we could work on it tomorrow?”
I frowned at his suggestion. Not because I thought it was a bad idea, but because it pissed me off that all he wanted to discuss with me was schoolwork. Jase could have stayed around for that conversation.
“Sure. Fine. Whatever,” I replied, hoping my voice didn't sound as disappointed as I felt.
“Great.” He turned to leave, but then stopped and spun back around. “Hey, Lexi?”
This was the moment, I just knew it. He was going to say something. He was going to forbid me from seeing Jase. Here it comes. Wait for it. Wait for it...
“I'll call you.”
Wait for—huh? That was it? That's all he had turned around to tell me?
“Okay,” I said, trying to hide the disappointment in my voice.
So he still didn't seem all that fazed by me and Jase. No problem. I would just have to, as Jase put it, “step it up a notch”. And Zach's party was the perfect opportunity to do just that.
And if by the end of the party Jeffrey still seemed unaffected by my relationship with Jase, then I would end it all. The plan, that is. I'd let Jase go on his merry way with Kylie, and I'd find some other way to get my revenge.
I just hoped it wasn't going to come to that.
Chapter Fourteen
“I can't believe you're spending your Saturday afternoon with your ex-boyfriend,” Trish said, turning onto her street. We had just spent the last three hours at the mall shopping for clothes to wear to Zach's party. Or, more accurately, Trish was shopping for clothes for three hours. I just grabbed the first thing I saw that I thought looked cute and called it good.
“It's strictly business, Trish. It's not like I want to.”
With a roll of her eyes she said, “Yeah. Sure you don't.”
We pulled into her driveway a few seconds later and as we did, I glanced over at Jeffrey's house and noticed something a bit upsetting.
“His car's not in the driveway.”
“Huh?” Trish unbuckled her seat belt, opened her door and jumped out.
“Jeffrey's car is not in the driveway,” I repeated, pointing across the street.
Trish glanced over and shrugged. “Hmm. Maybe Mrs. Weston is using it or something.”
“I hope so,” I mumbled. “I guess I'll go find out. Can you take my clothes in, and I'll just get them when I come over later?”
“Totally,” she replied with my bag of purchases already in her hands. “You should come over before six so we can start getting ready.”
“Sounds good.” I waved goodbye to her as I proceeded to cross the street.
I had a bad feeling as I neared the house; a bad feeling that Jeffrey was not home. Glancing down at my watch, I saw that I was few minutes early, so it was entirely possible that perhaps he had gone out to run errands and would be back soon.
I kept assuring myself that was the case as I walked up the driveway and onto the porch and rang the doorbell.
Less than ten seconds later, the door opened up to reveal a young girl with glasses and pigtails holding a book under her arm. When she saw me, her face lit up as she began jumping up and down.
“Lexi!” she squealed.
“Julie!” I squealed back. Julie was Jeffrey's little sister. She was ten years old, and totally awesome. I used to play dolls with her a lot when I came over to visit Jeffrey, which made her love me because apparently nobody else in the house would play with her. “Is your brother home?”
Scrunching up her nose, she replied, “No. His stupid girlfriend called him up and wanted him to take her somewhere. I don't know where, but he left about fifteen minutes ago. Omigosh, when are you gonna start going out with him again? Because I really don't like his new girlfriend. I think she takes baths in perfume every morning and I think I'm allergic to her, because I sneeze whenever she comes
over. And also, she—”
“Julie!” came a voice from inside the house. I recognized the voice and instantly smiled. Mary Weston, Jeffrey's mom, was one of the nicest people I had ever met, and she was always like a second mother to me. It had only been a couple of weeks since I'd seen her, but I had begun to miss her already.
“Who's at the door?” she inquired as she suddenly appeared behind her daughter.
“Lexi!” she gasped when her gaze landed on me. “Sweetie! Come in!”
She quickly ushered me through the doorway, and no sooner had I step foot onto the linoleum floor did she pull me into a big hug. “How have you been?”
“I’ve been good, thanks,” I managed to get out, even though her tight embrace was squeezing all of the air out of me.
“Let me look at you.” She released her grip from me and held me out at arms length, examining me from head to toe. “You're still as cute as a button.”
She was complimenting me, but I was seventeen years old, so “cute as a button” didn't exactly give me much of an ego boost. “Thanks,” I said sincerely as she shut the door behind us.
“Can I get you anything to eat or drink? Would you like some tea?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but before I could answer, Julie jumped into the conversation with, “Do you wanna play?”
First I turned to Mary and said, “No thanks, I'm not thirsty,” and then I turned to her daughter and said, “I probably won't be staying for long.” Turning back to Mary I asked, “When will Jeffrey be back?”
She looked taken aback by my inquiry, almost as if she hadn't even considered the possibility I was there for her son. “I'm not sure. That new girlfriend of his—I don't like her, by the way—tends to keep him out for long periods of time. I'd be surprised if I see him again at all today.”
Well that was just great. “Son of a...” I began to utter under my breath, but then I realized that Mary was still standing in front of me and I blushed when I realized I had essentially been about to refer to her as a bitch through insulting her son. “I'm sorry. It's just that he told me to come here at one o'clock this afternoon so we could work on our health class project together.”
It was rather freaky watching her expression go from soft and pleasant, to hard and angry. It happened so fast, I couldn't quite determine when exactly the transformation had taken place. “He ditched you and schoolwork for her?” She sounded angry as well.
With a nod I said, “I guess he did.”
“I'm so sorry. I'm going to go call his cell and give him a piece of my mind.”
“No!” I exclaimed. “No, don't do that. It's okay. And you know, the more I think about it, the more I'm realizing he probably said Sunday we'd work on the project, not today. My mistake.”
My mistake my ass. I knew darn well Jeffrey had said Saturday, and I should have let his mother call him and ream him out. But it was Jeffrey. That special place he still seemed to occupy in my heart was preventing me from letting him get into trouble with his mother.
Luckily though, she seemed to buy it. “Oh. Well, I'm glad you made the mistake, because I got to see you. We all miss you in this household, dear.”
Yeah. Everyone but Jeffrey, the one person I really wanted to miss me.
“I miss you all, too,” I said, glancing over at Julie who, having apparently gotten bored of my conversation with her mother, was back to reading her book. “Well, I should get going.”
I was afraid if I stayed too long, I wouldn't want to leave.
“Okay, dear.” Mary leaned forward to give me another hug. This one didn't last as long. “Don't be a stranger, alright? You are always welcome here. Always.”
I was sure Jeffrey would disagree, but I didn't tell her that. “Thanks, Mary, I'll see you later. Bye Jules.” I mussed up her hair as I walked past her. She just beamed in response as I headed out the door.
I was so busy silently cursing Jeffrey in my head as I made my way down the driveway, I didn't even notice somebody was watching me from across the street until I set foot onto the road in the direction of the Holloway house. And when I heard a familiar voice call out my name, I stopped dead in my tracks and groaned.
Apparently in the short time between me leaving Trish's driveway and then having a loving reunion with Jeffrey's mom, Jase had made his way outside and was currently popping open the hood of his car.
“Hey,” I said, my voice rather lacking in the enthusiasm department.
“Hey,” he said, ignoring his car and starting down the driveway. “Can you cross the street by yourself, or do you need me to hold your hand?”
I sighed as I looked both ways down the quiet street and began to cross. “I need a lot of things, Jase. Your hand holding any part of me is not one of them.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Somebody sure is cranky. I'm guessing the fact your ex-boyfriend stood you up is playing a factor in your foul mood?”
“How did you know Jeffrey stood me up?”
With a shrug of his shoulders, he headed back toward his car. “It's not rocket science. I knew you were supposed to meet him this afternoon to work on your project, and I saw him leave just a short while ago with Amber-Lynne Rose. So I did the math in my head.”
I couldn't help but snort. “It's nice to know you're using that brain for a change.”
Jase threw back his head and laughed. “You know, Turner, being your boyfriend is turning out to be a huge blow to my ego. You're just so mean to me.”
“Boohoo, Holloway. Go cry to someone who gives a damn.”
His laughter had since subsided and morphed into a simple smile. God, he had a gorgeous smile. And it was amazing enough just to see it out of context, but when it was directed at me...
“So what are you going to do?”
“Huh?” I blinked at him in confusion.
“About your project.”
“Oh. That.” I shrugged. “I dunno. I could go work on it myself, but I don't have a camera, I don't have anyone to interview, and I don't have a car...”
“Go ask Mrs. Weston to borrow their camera. She loves you to death, so she'll probably insist you even keep it. As for people to interview, you just need to go to any mall and hang out near the dumpsters and wait for cashiers to go out on their smoke breaks.”
“The mall is quite a walk from here. And to be perfectly honest, I'm not all that motivated.”
“I'll drive you.”
I pointed to his opened hood. “It looks like you're having car trouble.”
“Nah.” He promptly lowered it back down. “I was just going to check the oil. It's nothing that can't wait until later.”
I glanced sideways at him and studied his face for a moment, trying to detect whether or not he was being serious. “Jase, it's a beautiful Saturday afternoon. You don't want to spend it driving me all around town to work on my school project.”
“Actually, I do want to.”
“Oh really?” My voice full of doubt. “Why would you want to?”
“Because,” he replied, opening up the driver's side door, “ever since we started 'going out', we haven't really spent a whole lot of time together, alone. I think it would be fun for us to hang out, don't you?”
“Oh yeah. It would be a blast.”
“Besides,” he said, ignoring my sarcasm, “I want to help you out. It's what good boyfriends do. They help their girlfriends in their time of need.”
“You're not my boyfriend,” I reminded him.
“And neither is Jeffrey, but I'm sure you would jump at any offer of assistance he gave to you.”
He wasn't lying. “Thanks, but I think I'll pass. I'll just ask Jeffrey if we can work on it tomorrow instead. After all, it would be entirely unfair for me to work on any part of this project alone.”
He appeared to think it over for a moment before nodding in agreement. “I suppose you're right.” He paused for a moment and then said, “Hey, are you hungry?”
Despite the fact I'd consumed two cinnamon buns at t
he food court in the mall only a little over an hour ago, I actually was a little hungry. “Yeah, why?”
“You want to go grab a bite to eat?”
“With you?”
“Yes, of course with me.”
“Why?”
Now he was beginning to look a little irritated. “Because. I'm hungry. You're hungry. Therefore, it would be fairly logical to eat together. Is this making any sense to you at all?”
“Not really, no. But whatever. Sure.”
“Great,” he said with a lopsided grin. “Then get in the car.”
I gave him a mock scowl. “You're too controlling.”
“And you're too easily controlled,” he said with a wink. “We're like a match made in heaven.”
I couldn't help but chuckle as I climbed into the passenger seat.
Five or so minutes later, as we set foot into the burger joint of Jase's choice, I realized exactly why he wanted to grab a bite to eat with me. The realization came in the form of the person standing behind the counter, waiting to take our order. Her name tag read “Kylie”.
Here was another thing about Kylie: her parents were fairly well off, yet she still worked a part-time job on the weekends to earn money of her very own. And apparently, working in the fast food industry was not beneath her.
“Oh my gosh, you guys!” She beamed as soon as she saw us enter. “How are you?” Even though she was addressing the both of us, her question was mostly directed at Jase.
“Hey, Kylie,” Jase responded with one of those special smiles of his, making me having to refrain from gagging. “I didn't know you work here.”
I held back a snort as I hooked my arm around his. “Yeah, it's totally a small world.”
Her gaze flickered over to me and her smile wavered. “Indeed. So what can I get for you guys?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but Jase beat me to it. “I'll take a number 3 with a Coke, and Lex here will have...”
He glanced over at me questioningly and for a moment I was confused. But then I realized he wanted to put our two orders together, most likely just for show.