by A. Destiny
“So this should be epic, right?” Jamal said, settling back in his seat and smiling at me. “I heard the special effects are killer.”
“Yeah.” I decided I might as well make productive use of this time to talk up Rachel a little more. “I hope Rachel likes it. She’s really cool, isn’t she?”
“Sure.” Jamal tossed some popcorn into his mouth. Then he glanced over at me. “Oh, sorry. Want some?”
He held out the box. I took a couple of kernels. “Thanks. So do you and Rachel have many classes together?”
“Just English and gym.” Jamal crunched on more popcorn. “So what classes do you take at County Day, Lauren?”
“Oh, just the usual.” I tried to think of something else to say about Rachel. But at that moment, the lights dimmed and a cheer went up from the audience. For the next hour and a half, I forgot all about Rachel and Jamal—and even me and Adam—as I watched zombies eat the world.
* * *
“Seriously, how can you guys think about eating after watching that movie?” Rachel exclaimed, pushing away her menu.
We were all crowded into a booth at a local diner. This time I’d succeeded in arranging things so that Rachel and Jamal were seated together. They were squished next to each other on one side of the booth, with Addie on Rachel’s other side. I was across from Jamal, next to Kenny.
Kenny licked his lips noisily. “The movie made me hungry,” he declared. “Since there are no brains on the menu, I’ll have to settle for a nice, juicy burger.”
Addie laughed as Rachel shuddered. “Grow up, babe,” she told her friend with a grin. “The movie wasn’t real.”
“Duh.” Rachel rolled her eyes at Addie. “Anyway, I’m full from the popcorn. I’ll just have a soda, I guess.”
After we ordered, we spent the next few minutes talking about the movie. Then we moved on to other topics. Once again, I was amazed to find myself totally comfortable talking to these guys. Maybe I wasn’t quite as not-quite-not-shy as I’d always thought. Maybe hanging out with someone so truly not shy as Robert had just let me get away with it. Or something. I was too busy having fun to psychoanalyze it, though I planned to think about it later.
I was disappointed when Kenny checked his watch and announced that he had to get going because he was supposed to babysit his little sister while his parents went out to dinner. Jamal was the only one with a car, so he offered to drive us all home. We all went out and piled into his car, which was a cool purple vintage Volkswagen hatchback. Somehow I ended up riding shotgun. I wished there was a way to switch places with Rachel, but I couldn’t think of a way to do it that wasn’t likely to be super obvious and embarrass her. And being easily embarrassed myself, I wasn’t about to do that to her.
As Jamal headed down a side street leading to the local two-lane highway, Kenny leaned forward and poked him on the shoulder. “Why are you going this way, bro? It’s shorter to take Main Street over to the west side of town.”
“Can’t.” Jamal didn’t take his eyes off the road. “I heard there was a bad accident over that way this morning. I figured I’d just avoid that mess by taking the highway to your place first and then circle back around.”
“But there wasn’t—” Addie cut herself off and shrugged. “Okay, if you say so, J. Hope you don’t mind a long ride home, Lauren. Guess you’ll be getting dropped off last.”
“No problem. It’s way better than taking the bus.” I was a little disappointed; I’d been hoping he’d find an excuse to drop off the rest of us first so he could spend some alone time with Rachel. But traffic was traffic, so I didn’t worry about it.
Soon we were saying good-bye to Kenny, and then to Rachel and Addie, who both got out at Addie’s house. “Nice meeting you,” I said as Addie climbed out of the car.
“Yeah, ditto,” she said. “We should do this again.”
As we drove off, Jamal glanced at me. “They’re nice, aren’t they?”
“Definitely.” My heart jumped. He looked so serious and thoughtful all of a sudden—was he thinking about how sweet and pretty Rachel was? Maybe even thinking of asking my advice about how to ask her out again? I just might have been better at this matchmaking thing than I thought.
We stayed silent while he pulled back out into traffic. Once we were cruising along, he looked over at me again. “I’m glad we got to see that movie together,” he said. “There aren’t many girls who appreciate a good brain-chewing scene.”
I grinned. “Yeah. I’m thinking it’s pretty much just me and Addie.” Not wanting him to think I was criticizing Rachel, I quickly added, “But hey—everyone’s got their own taste, right?”
“Sure.” Jamal steered around a scrap of tire in the road. “Anyway, it was fun. We should do it again sometime.”
I nodded, thinking about how Addie had just said the same thing. Would it happen? I hoped so. If Robert was never going to talk to me again, I’d need some new friends.
“How about Tuesday after class?” Jamal added.
I blinked, glancing over at him. “Sure. That sounds cool.”
But now I wasn’t really thinking about that anymore. Hearing Jamal mention our puppy class reminded me of Adam. Had he called? I’d switched off my phone ringer during the movie, and I’d forgotten to turn it back on at the diner. Pulling it out, I checked my messages. The only one was a text from Mom, wondering what time I’d be home.
Nothing from Adam. Nothing from Robert. Oh well.
“Cool.” Jamal cleared his throat. “Um, sounds like a plan.”
He spun the wheel to make the turn onto my street. When he pulled to the curb in front of my house, he cut the engine and turned to face me.
“So this was a lot of fun,” he said with a smile. He leaned a little closer. “Seriously. I’m glad we finally got to—”
He was cut off by the sound of barking. I recognize Muckle’s high-pitched yapping immediately and had a moment of panic. What was he doing outside? Had Mom finally snapped and kicked him out of the house after yet another accident involving her stupid rug?
That was indeed Muckle racing around the side of the house onto the front lawn, but he wasn’t alone. “Whoa,” I said, my brain struggling to make sense of what I was seeing. Or rather who I was seeing, clinging on to the other end of the leash. “This is weird.”
“What?” Jamal asked.
“That’s my mom—and it looks like she’s walking Muckle.” I blinked a few times, wondering if all the grease, sugar, and caffeine I’d just consumed was making me hallucinate or something. “She never does that. She’s never done that.”
But she was doing it now. Mom looked breathless and a little overwhelmed as Muckle dragged her toward Jamal’s car, barking nonstop.
“Oh, dear,” she exclaimed, tugging on the leash. “He’s awfully strong for such a small dog, isn’t he? You’d better get out here and grab him before he scratches your friend’s car, Lauren.”
“Coming.” Rolling my eyes at Jamal, I hopped out of the car. “You didn’t have to walk him, Mom. I was going to do it as soon as I got home.”
“Well, he was actually behaving nicely today while you were out. I didn’t want him to pee on the rug and ruin everything.” As soon as I took the leash, Mom leaned down to peer in at Jamal. “Hello, young man,” she said. “Thanks for getting Lauren home safely.”
“Uh, you’re welcome, ma’am.” Jamal glanced at me. “I’d better get home and walk my own puppy. See you Tuesday, Lauren?”
“Yeah.” I was too busy wondering if the aliens had come along and turned my mother into a pod person—a pod person who actually seemed to like Muckle—to pay much attention to Jamal. “See you Tuesday.”
Chapter Nineteen
Surprises
I was in a mildly cranky mood when I arrived at school on Monday. Partly because the school bus had been extra smelly and crowded that morning. But mostly because Adam had never called or even texted. What did that mean? Hadn’t he had a good time on Saturday?
; When I neared my locker, I saw Robert waiting there. He rushed over and flung his arms around me.
“I can’t stand it anymore, Parker,” he exclaimed. “I hate fighting with you. I absolutely insist we make up right this second, and I won’t take no for an answer. I swear, I’ll hold my breath until I turn blue if I have to. And you know I don’t look good in blue.”
I hugged him back, too surprised and relieved to do anything else. My mood soared. “Okay,” I said. “Done. We’re officially made up.”
“Thank God.” After one last squeeze, he let me go and stepped back to survey me. “You look good. Although I wouldn’t have suggested that belt with those shoes.”
I gave him a shove. “Never mind the fashion tips—I’ve been dying to tell you about Saturday.”
“Saturday?” He raised an eyebrow. “You mean your date with Dog Boy?”
I quickly spun my combination lock, grabbing a notebook I needed and tucking it into my bag. “What else? So we went to the agility competition. Which was actually super fun . . .”
I went on to give him a summary of my day at the agility competition with Adam. When I finished, Robert didn’t look terribly impressed.
“So he dropped you off first? Lame,” he pronounced. “I’m telling you, Lauren, this guy seems completely clueless. You can do better.”
Better than a hot older guy with an Irish accent? Better than Adam, the most amazing guy ever? I doubted it. But I was too glad to be talking to Robert again to get into an argument so soon, so I decided to let it drop.
“So did you study for the French test?” I asked instead.
That did the trick. We quizzed each other on verb conjugations until the bell rang.
* * *
“Are you sure the eye shadow isn’t too much?” I flipped down the Volvo’s sun visor and peered at myself in the mirror. It was Tuesday afternoon, and we’d just pulled into the Maple View Shopping Center.
“It’s perfect.” Robert found a parking space right in front of PetzBiz. “Very subtle. Trust me, you look gorge.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Given his comments about Adam the day before, I was still surprised by how enthusiastic Robert had been about helping me get ready for today’s puppy class. But I wasn’t going to worry about it. He was probably just trying to make up for missing out on helping me get ready on Saturday. Anyway, he loved makeovers, no matter what the reason.
When I reached the training ring, Jamal and Rachel were already there. Jamal spotted me first and patted the empty seat beside him.
“Hey!” he called out with his usual friendly smile. “Saved you a seat, Lauren.”
“Thanks.” I sat down while Muckle greeted the other puppies. I couldn’t help noticing that Jamal looked extra good today. Instead of his usual jeans, he was wearing khakis and a button-down shirt. I even thought I detected a hint of cologne. Was he trying to impress Rachel?
I didn’t have time to think about it much. Adam was hurrying toward us.
“Lauren,” he said. “Hi. Talk a sec?”
My heart thumped so loudly I was sure everyone could hear it. “Sure.”
I handed Muckle’s leash to Rachel and followed Adam to an empty part of the ring. He turned to face me, his hands stuffed into his jeans pockets.
“So,” he said, clearing his throat. “I wanted to thank you for keeping me company on Saturday.”
“Oh.” Keeping him company? Okay, that was kind of a weird way to put it, but maybe it was an Irish thing. “You’re welcome. I mean, it was fun.”
“Yeah? You had a good time?” He looked pleased. “Because I was going to take my dogs to the dog park today after class. Want to come? They need some exercise, and I’d love the company.”
“Okay!” I wanted to do a he-asked-me-out-again dance right there and then but managed to control myself. “Sounds great!”
When I returned to my seat, Jamal smiled at me. “So, we’re still on for today after class, right?”
“Huh?” Belatedly, I remembered that we’d made plans. “Oh, wow, I totally forgot. Um, I can’t make it today.” I flashed him what I hoped was a properly apologetic smile, though my mind was so filled with Adam that I could hardly focus on anything else. “Sorry! I’m sure you guys will all have fun, though. Rain check?”
“Yeah,” he said slowly. “Sure. No problem.”
Just then Adam called for class to begin. I quickly texted Robert, telling him he wouldn’t need to pick me up after class.
Then I just sat there, drinking in the sight of Adam. How many dates would it take before I could start calling him my boyfriend? Did he have to kiss me first? If so, maybe we could work on that this afternoon. I spent most of the rest of class daydreaming about that, only vaguely aware of what I was doing. Luckily, Jamal didn’t have much to say for once, and of course Rachel was always pretty quiet. Muckle also behaved himself for the most part.
Before long I found myself back in Adam’s minivan with all three of his dogs. Plus Muckle, of course. We chatted about that day’s class during the drive over to the dog park, then unloaded the beasts and headed in.
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting. But the next hour wasn’t it. There was no hand-holding, no dreamy looks, and certainly no kissing. Instead I spent about half an hour trying to hang on to a very worked-up Muckle’s leash while we watched Adam run around the big lawn with his dogs. It was tempting to let Muckle run with the other three, but I was afraid I’d never catch him again even with Adam’s help.
After that, we headed into one of the agility enclosures. Okay, that was more like it, right? Maybe Adam would help me with Muckle again, our hands touching, our bodies close together. . . .
But no. This time he mostly focused on Lark, trying to get her jumps cleaner. Or something. After twenty minutes watching the border collie take the jumps over and over, I kind of tuned out what Adam was saying.
I tried not to lose heart, though. Adam had said his dogs needed exercise. After they got it, he’d be able to focus on me. Right? Otherwise, why would he have bothered to invite me?
The thought made me feel slightly more hopeful. When Adam finally released Lark and turned toward me, I wet my lips and pasted a pleasant smile on my face.
“That last run was better, eh?” he said, a little breathless. “She’s coming along.”
“Yeah, she looks great,” I said brightly. “Looks like she wore you out, though. Sit?” I patted the bench beside me.
He sat down. Shasta immediately ran over and buried her face in his lap. He fondled her head, smoothing back her ears. Uh-oh. I shouldn’t be jealous of a dog, right?
What would Robert tell me to do if he was here? Okay, he’d probably start blabbing about how Adam was too clueless to bother with. But if he was in the mood to help, he’d tell me to go for it, right?
I scooted a little closer on the bench, until our shoulders bumped. Adam was still playing with Shasta’s ears and didn’t seem to notice. Would he notice if I grabbed his head and planted a wet one right on his lips? Probably, but I definitely didn’t have the guts to go that far.
“So,” I said instead. “This is nice, huh?”
“What?” He glanced over. “I mean, yeah, it’s great. Nice to have company.” He laughed. “I mean human company, eh?”
He was finally looking at me now, his blue eyes friendly. And close. So close. Really, how hard would it be to lean forward a bit, close my eyes . . . ?
“Adam! I thought I saw you in here!” a loud voice boomed out.
I jumped back, as flustered as if we really had been kissing instead of me just imagining it. A paunchy, middle-aged man in an expensive designer Windbreaker had just let himself into the enclosure. A dog came with him—a large, half-grown Irish setter that immediately bounded up to Shasta and knocked her over.
The man glanced that way. “Easy, Rascal,” he called mildly. Then he hurried over to us. His eyes swept over me, and he gave me the briefest of nods before focusing on Adam.
“Hi, Mr. Kearns,
” Adam greeted the man, standing and shaking hands. “How’s it going?”
“Listen,” Mr. Kearns said. “Rascal’s still having some trouble playing nicely with others. Some woman just went off on me because he scared her Peekaboo or Sneakapoo or something.” He rolled his eyes. “Since you’re here anyway, got time for a session?”
I’d been watching the dogs, a little concerned. Rascal had Muckle cornered over by the A-frame. Adam’s dogs were milling around nearby, all of them seeming wary of the newcomer, though Jinx occasionally darted forward and barked at him.
But now I focused back in on the conversation. Adam was already nodding.
“Of course, Mr. Kearns,” he said. “Why don’t you grab him and get him back on the leash? I’ll be with you in a sec.”
The older man hurried off. Adam turned to me with an apologetic look.
“Sorry, Lauren,” he said quietly. “This guy’s one of my richest clients, and he’s not a super-patient guy, if you know what I mean. I can’t afford to turn him down.”
I shot a look across the ring at Mr. Kearns, who was chasing his dog around and under the dog walk. It might have been a comical scene if I wasn’t standing here getting blown off because of it. Then I returned my gaze to Adam. Suddenly I was over it. Maybe it was the boredom, or maybe I’d finally come to my senses. Either way, I wasn’t particularly hurt or upset or even surprised. Just numb.
“Whatever,” I said. “That’s fine. Go ahead.”
“Thanks, Lauren.” He flashed me a brief smile, then hurried off to help Mr. Kearns collect his dog. Soon they were gone, along with Jinx and the border collies.
That left Muckle and me alone in the enclosure. After a moment of distressed barking and pacing when his friends left without him, Muckle went back to running around, sniffing at stuff. I was sitting there staring at him when the gate opened again. It was Tabitha.
“Hi.” She came up to me while her dog trotted over to say hi to Muckle. “Sorry, I swear I’m not some crazy stalker. But I was in the next pen, and I saw what just happened.” Her mouth twisted into a sympathetic half smile. “It looked like you just got Adamed.”