Meet Me There (Ridgewater High Romance)

by Judy Corry

  This girl was Ashlyn Brooks.

  Crap! My stomach shrunk in on itself. Had she been crying because of my prank this morning? She'd seemed fine when I talked to her. Maybe her tears were because of my friends' texts? I'd told them to keep it clean—to just have fun with her. But I should have realized that was impossible. Kellen and Jake had a few too many concussions to follow my directions very well.

  "You don't even know which jerk I'm talking about." She laughed again.

  Oh, but I did. She was talking about me. I needed to get out of there before she figured out who I was. I snuck a peek in her direction and was grateful I could barely make out her silhouette. If I couldn't pick out much about her, then hopefully she couldn't see much of me. I moved my leg closer to the sliver of light coming from under the door, just in case.

  "Sorry about tripping over you," she said like she still had no idea who I was.

  I cleared my throat and focused on maintaining my British accent. "Sorry about blocking the door." Okay, Luke, it's time to leave now. You’re pushing your luck every second you stay in here.

  But my legs seemed to be frozen to the tiled floor. Plus, if I did leave, I'd have to open the door and the light would give away who I was. And then she would hate me even more for disguising my voice. So I sat there.

  "Are you from England or something?"

  Definitely or something. "Uh, yeah. I moved here over the summer."

  "What part of England?" she asked like she thought it was so cool. Or hot. My ex-girlfriend always said my impression of a British guy was sexy.

  "I'm from London."

  "That's so cool! I've always wanted to visit."

  "You should. It's nice…and overcast?" You're an idiot, Luke. I needed to stop pretending like I knew anything about England when the extent of my knowledge came from the Pride and Prejudice-type movies my mom had me watch with her when she was sick.

  "Is it weird that I want to sit in the dark for a while longer?" she asked.

  "Depends."

  "Depends on what?"

  "Depends on whether you think it's weird that I want to stay in here too." Which was so strange because it was true. Ashlyn and I were supposed to be sworn rivals.

  She laughed. Maybe that was a good sign? I heard her shift on the tile floor like she was getting comfortable.

  "What were you doing sitting here in the dark anyway?" she asked.

  I bit my lip, trying to decide if I wanted to tell her the truth or not. There was something about the anonymity that made me feel like I could tell her anything. Here in the dark, I could be anyone.

  I could be myself.

  Or at least my real self who also happened to have a British accent and a really deep voice.

  "I was hiding," I said.

  "Hiding from who?"

  Reality.

  I shook my head. "Doesn't matter. I just need to lay low for a few minutes."

  "Looks like neither one of us wants to say much about why we're in here," she said. "I guess I better get going anyway."

  "Wait!" I said, surprising myself.

  She seemed to startle. "Why?"

  "Because I-I still don't know anything about you," I lied. Why was I doing this? I should be relieved she wanted to go, not suddenly interested in getting to know Ashlyn better.

  I expected her to stand. But she didn't. "What do you want to know?" she asked in a soft voice.

  I thought about it. "Hmmm. It's kind of fun not knowing who I'm talking to, so let's set up some rules."

  "Rules?"

  I smiled, though I knew she couldn't see it. "Yes, rules. This is likely the only opportunity we'll ever have to get to know someone without seeing them first. It's like the ultimate clean slate, aside from the fact that I know you're a girl, and you know I'm a guy."

  "And that you're from England."

  Right.

  I continued, "We should make a rule that we can only speak the truth in here. No saying something just because we think that's what people want to hear. Wouldn't it be nice to get to know someone with all the walls down?" The irony of my whole honesty comment was not lost on me as I used my fake accent.

  She was quiet for a moment. Then she said, "That would be nice. There're no pre-judgments based on looks, reputation, or anything. We can get to know the real us." I heard a smile in her voice. "I kind of like that idea."

  "Good." I found myself smiling as well. "So, tell me about yourself, Mystery Girl. Tell me things you don't tell anyone else."

  "Mystery Girl?" She laughed. "I'm not that interesting."

  "Oh, but you are. I'm already intrigued." What could Ashlyn Brooks darkest secrets be?

  She laughed again. "Are we talking surface-level stuff or deep stuff?"

  "I'm tired of the surface level. That's all anyone wants to hear these days. Let's go scuba diving."

  "Scuba diving?" Her voice was covered in disbelief. "Are you sure?"

  "Definitely."

  "Okay, you asked for it," she said in a low voice. She was quiet for a long time, but then she let out a tiny giggle. "I really, really like the color blue. Like, every time I'm outside I look at the sky and sigh."

  What? "Are you for real?"

  It sounded like her shoulders were shaking against the cupboards, almost as if she was suppressing her laughter. "Sorry, I had to. Things were way too serious in here."

  I shook my head and smiled at this version of Ashlyn that I'd never known was there.

  "How about I go first then," I said. But as soon as I said that, I had nothing interesting to say. Nothing that would fit this all-important moment of finally letting someone know who Luke Davenport was beneath all the layers and masks…and fake accents.

  "It's harder than you thought, huh?" she said, seeming to understand my hesitation.

  "Yeah." I sighed. "The only thing I could come up with was that my favorite food is pizza."

  More laughter from her. Score! Maybe scuba diving wasn't that important anyway. She'd been on the verge of crying when she first came in here…because of me…and now she was laughing…also because of me. If anything, that made this interaction a success.

  Her phone buzzed from inside her bag, and she pulled it out. The screen lit up, which let me see her profile better: Perfectly straight nose. Full lips. Dainty chin. Yep, it was definitely Ashlyn.

  She groaned, and then said, "I better go. Maybe we should try telling our deepest darkest secrets again sometime."

  My breath caught in my throat. Really? She wanted to meet me again? "Yeah, that would be cool. Wanna try again tomorrow? Same time, same place, same lighting?" My pulse throbbed as I waited for her to respond. Who knew the possibility of being rejected by Ashlyn could be so scary?

  "I can't tomorrow, but how about Monday?" she said to my relief.

  "Monday would be great."

  "Okay, I really do need to leave now. Promise you won't look?" she asked.

  I smiled. "I'll even wait a few minutes before I come out, for good measure."

  She stood, and I moved my legs out of the way so she wouldn't trip over them again. I heard her hand fumbling around before she opened the door. When the light from the hallway poured in, I lifted my backpack in front of my face in case she glanced back.

  The door shut behind her and the room was dark again.

  I sighed, leaning my head against the cupboard. I had no idea what I was doing, or if I could even keep this fake British guy act up, but I hoped she’d come back, because that was the first real conversation I'd had since my mom died.

  3

  Ashlyn

  After school, in the parking lot, several guys surrounded my car. From seniors and all the way down to freshmen, though most of them were Luke's friends from the football team.

  Luke's best friend, Kellen Berkey, was leaning against my door. "You didn't respond to my text, so I'm here for my interview."

  "Sorry, which message was yours? My phone has been busier than normal for some reason."

  "I'm
the 'Call Me for a Good Time' guy."

  Gag. Yeah, no. "And you can't imagine why I didn't respond?"

  He shrugged. "It usually works for me."

  I rolled my eyes and pushed past him. "Not interested."

  His best friend, Jake Haley, sidled up to me then. "What about me? I waited in the maintenance closet all during lunch."

  My heart jolted at that. I thought I'd been in the Chemistry lab, but was it possible I'd been wrong? Jake couldn't have been the British guy I'd talked to, could he? I'd been listening for a British accent all afternoon but hadn't heard one yet. Could Jake have pretended to be from England to try to romance me since he knew all girls thought accents were hot?

  "Did anyone show up?" I had to ask him, just in case. Jake was pretty cute after all, even if his choice of texts left something to be desired.

  "No. And I missed part of my next class because I was still waiting for you."

  Okay, good. I really had talked to a British guy with a deep voice that made me want to sigh.

  I shook thoughts of my lunchtime experience away. "Don't blame your tardiness on me. Maybe you should have written a more compelling text message."

  "Nah, if you don't like my style it wouldn't have worked out between us." He elbowed his friend on the side. "We better get going to football practice anyway. Can't have you making me late for that too."

  Kellen and Jake left with the rest of their football buddies, leaving me behind with just one more guy standing in the way of me escaping into my car.

  I didn't recognize this boy. He might have been a freshman, standing about two inches shorter than me. Probably hadn't met his growth spurt yet.

  He eyed me nervously, looking like he was about to puke. "I—I saw your flyers this morning. You might have missed my text. I'm the one who asked if you wanted to go to the skate park this weekend with me. It could be a lot of fun."

  My heart went out to him. While the other guys had been joking around, this guy was sincere.

  But I wasn't ready to date again, so I said, "That's really sweet, but I'm actually taking a break from dating. I just broke up with my boyfriend over the summer, and I need to work on myself for a while."

  The boy looked down at his shoes and nodded. "I understand. I figured it was a long shot anyway."

  He left me, and I escaped into my car. I sighed and leaned back into the leather seat, locking the doors, just in case. I was so going to kill Luke Davenport.

  As I pulled my car out of its parking spot, I noticed Luke standing beside his Sahara Orange Jeep Wrangler with his football bag slung over his shoulder. He slipped his smirky smile onto his face when our eyes met. I really needed to think of a good way to get him back.

  Thursdays were my longest days. I started off the morning with drill team practice at six-thirty a.m., went to school all day, and then had to go back for our evening drill practice from five to eight. I was starving by the time I got home.

  I parked my car in my garage and headed into our two-story Tudor-style house. My parents had fully gutted and renovated our home ten years ago while we spent the summer in Martha's Vineyard, so even though it was over a hundred years old, it was like a brand-new house inside.

  The warm smell of my mom's favorite vanilla-scented candle greeted my nose once I stepped into the mudroom. I hung my keys on a hook by the door then went down the hall to see what I could scrounge up for dinner. Mom was standing in the kitchen in her red Louis Vuitton's, with her blonde hair pulled back in a bun, wiping invisible dust off the cupboard doors. I checked the clock on the wall. Eight-ten p.m. Yep, she was right on schedule with her evening routine.

  She puffed a piece of hair out of her eyes and glanced back at me as she rinsed off her dust rag. "I left a container of salad for you in the fridge."

  Yay, salad. Again. My mom was a health nut, so salads were an everyday occurrence around our house. If I didn't have one for lunch, I could count on getting one for dinner. But at least she let me have dressing on mine. She was crazy and always ate hers without it.

  I grabbed the container of salad, thanked my mom, and went upstairs to my bedroom to eat while I finished my U.S. History assignment. I dropped my drill bag onto my queen-sized bed then sat down at my desk with my dinner and books.

  An hour later, I was putting my notebook away when my phone pinged.

  I groaned. That better not be another guy pretending to be interested in dating me.

  Eliana: Do you still want to plan your revenge on Luke tonight?

  Me: Just finished my homework so come on over!

  My phone's battery was almost dead, so I plugged it into the charger on my antique-white nightstand, and then sat on my bed to wait for Eliana to walk over from her house next door.

  "Is Eliana coming over tonight?" Jess said, knocking on my bedroom door. He must have just gotten home from his study date with his latest girlfriend, Stacy. Or was Stacy last week's girlfriend? I shook my head. Keeping up with my brother's dating schedule was too time-consuming. Though it did pay well—Eliana and I had a betting addiction, trying to guess how long each of Jess’s relationships would last. I usually won.

  "She's actually on her way right now. We're gonna make plans for tomorrow. I'm thinking we should do something to humiliate Luke at the game."

  Jess grinned and leaned against the door frame. "I have the best idea."

  "That's what you said last time. And no, filling his locker with teddy bears was lame. I think he actually liked that one, with how he carried the big fluffy brown one around all day."

  "No, this one is really good. I promise."

  Eliana stepped up behind Jess then. "Hey, guys."

  "Come on in." I patted a spot on my pink-and-gold comforter for her to sit down. "Jess just told me he has the most amazing idea for tomorrow's prank."

  Eliana smiled at Jess. "You aren't thinking about putting stuffed penguins in his locker this time, are you?"

  Jess blushed—he'd been doing that a lot more around Eliana lately. "No, I was thinking we could put some Icy Hot in his jockstrap before the big game tomorrow."

  "Luke's jockstrap. Eww!" I made a face. "Even if that’s not the grossest prank ever, how would I even get the Icy Hot in there? I'm pretty sure he'd notice me standing behind him, and there's no way I'm going into the boy's locker room."

  "We'll have to do it when he's not around," Jess said as if it was obvious. "I'm pretty sure he leaves his Jeep unlocked, with his football bag in the backseat. We could get to it during the pep rally tomorrow."

  I bit my lip. As disgusting as it was, it did sound like an awesome way to get Luke back. And he needed payback for what he'd done that morning.

  "Okay, let's do it!" I said. "We might as well give the football fans a good show for their opening game."

  Jess's phone rang in his pocket. He pulled it out, checked the screen, and groaned. "It's Stacy."

  "And why is that a problem?" Shouldn't he be excited that his girlfriend was calling him?

  "She wants me to go to some play tomorrow night instead of the football game. I'm gonna have to tell her I'm going to the game with you guys, and then she's gonna tell me how I should put her needs first."

  "Well, maybe that's a sign that she's not for you after all. It’s only been a week, and most couples stay in the 'my girlfriend is the best' stage for at least a month." It would be amazing if he ever made it that long. Seriously, a gallon of milk left on the counter would probably stay good longer than Jess's relationships.

  "You're just saying that so you can win your bet with Eliana."

  I grinned. "Maybe. But it's still true regardless."

  "And how many days did you bet this one would last?" Jess asked Eliana.

  "Fourteen." She peeked up at him with a guilty look.

  Jess's expression sank. "So I guess you don't have that much more faith in me than my sister."

  Eliana shrugged. "I was just being realistic."

  "I'll prove you both wrong. In fact, I'll tell Stacy I'd lo
ve to go to the play on Saturday instead, since I have special plans for us at the game. This way both of us will get what we want. I mean, Stacy is pretty cool most of the time."

  He played with his phone for a moment to call her back, walking down the hall to his bedroom.

  "My brother has issues," I said to Eliana.

  "Yes, but that's why we love him so much." She smiled. "At least he keeps his love life fresh and exciting. I'm definitely not one to pretend I'm an expert in love."

  "Too bad Ryan Miller had to move away last summer, huh?" I grinned. Eliana had been in love with Jess's buddy, Ryan, for years.

  "Yeah, well. It was pretty hopeless anyway, since he barely noticed me the four years he lived here. It's probably time for me to find a new crush. Too bad the guys at our school don’t even realize I'm alive."

  I was pretty sure my brother noticed her, in more than the "we're just best friends" kind of way, but Eliana was somehow still blind to it. She had no idea that his string of girlfriends had nothing to do with the actual girl, and everything to do with the fact that they weren't his best friend: Eliana.

  Instead of saying anything about my brother, I shrugged and said, "If you're serious about finding a new crush, I have a whole list of guys looking for a girlfriend on my phone. Maybe we should text them back." I laughed.

  Eliana pushed some of her dark hair behind her ear. "How did your interviews go after school, anyway? Were there tons of guys hanging around your car?"

  I rolled my eyes. "I'm pretty sure Luke put the whole football team up to it. Though I did have a little freshman boy waiting for me too. I felt horrible saying no to him."

  "Oh, sad." Eliana frowned.

  "Tell me about it."

  "So, you aren't interested in any of the guys you talked to today?"

  The memory of the British guy in the Chemistry lab came to my mind. "There might be one guy."

  She sat up straighter, suddenly animated. "Really? Who?"

  "I actually don't know."

  "How can you not know? Did he just send a bunch of mysterious texts or something?"