by Maurene Goo
I lifted my chin, looked back at Violet, and said, “I’m sorry, did I ask you to block my view of these magnificent creatures?”
Without her Ray-Bans on, Violet was able to fix her steely eyes directly on mine. “Stop pretending to draw.”
Cassidy threw up her arms. “Enough, Violet! Geez, let’s go find him.” She looked at me apologetically. “Sorry, Desi, do you mind?”
I did not mind. At all. I smiled and waved them off. “No, go find him, good luck!” Violet made a face, then grabbed Cassidy roughly to her feet.
When they were out of sight, I jumped up and gathered my things. This was my chance. Somewhere Luca was alone.
I saw Art Club kids sketching in various areas of the zoo: The sea lion pool. The bear den. The reptile tanks. But no sign of that gray beanie. I took the path toward the entrance of the zoo, but still nothing. I was about to head back to the giraffes when something caught my eye by the entrance. Hidden behind a few eucalyptus-tree branches was an old-fashioned brass plaque welded onto a gate. It looked so out of place in the pristine and remodeled zoo that I walked over to read what it said.
Historical site of the original South Orange County Zoo. Built in 1932, this beautiful park was hailed around the nation as one of America’s first modern zoos. It suffered a fire in 1994 and was fully rebuilt and remodeled in 2001. The only remaining group of original buildings and animal pens is located near the south exit, down the trail by the giant rainbow eucalyptus tree. Please take care not to disturb any of the fragile structures or the surrounding plant life.
Hm. If I were an artist type, where would I go to find something more interesting than the bored, sedentary animals that everyone else was drawing?
I peered down at my zoo map and headed for the south exit. Glancing at my phone, I realized I only had an hour before the bus would head out. I set an alarm on my phone just in case. You better be there, art boy.
You couldn’t miss the eucalyptus tree—about sixty feet tall with really cool rainbow-striped bark. It’s also the only eucalyptus species found naturally in the northern hemisphere. (Yes, I am the treasurer for the Arbor Society’s Monte Vista chapter.) I spotted a trail right at its base.
I walked down the path, between thick groves of live oak and sycamore trees, their dropped leaves crunching under my feet. It was beautiful here, but no hot guy to be seen. Then I spotted what looked like ruins in the distance and sped up.
“Whoa,” I breathed.
Surrounding me in a big clearing were rock caves and rusty cages covered in thick and stringy moss. The plants surrounding them were overgrown and had a junglelike quality, only bits of filtered sunlight making it through. There was a paved path that wound through everything.
I pushed aside branches to climb into one of the open cages. The walls inside were rusty and mossy like everything else, but they were also covered in graffiti. I wrinkled my nose. I was headed toward one of the caves when I heard a hissing noise. I froze. Holy crap, was that a snake? Were there now wild animals roaming this postapocalyptic-looking zoo? The hissing paused, then started again. I tilted my head—no, it didn’t sound like an animal.
“Hello?” I called out tentatively.
The hissing immediately stopped. Then—crunching leaves. Someone … something was moving through the trees. Oh God, why oh why did I decide to do this? Stupid idiot K drama steps!
“Desi?”
A familiar, very low, very boy voice.
Luca walked out from between a couple of run-down Spanish-style buildings. “What are you doing here?” he asked.
I clutched my chest, waiting for my heartbeat to slow down. “I saw a sign for the ruins of the old zoo and got curious.” Hm, lay it on thick, Des. “Also … I was a little embarrassed to draw with the others. I thought I’d try out buildings instead of animals.” I saw a flash of genuine pity cross Luca’s face. Okay, he bought it, then. “What are you doing here?”
He adjusted his backpack. “Got bored, wanted to look around.” We stared at each other for a second.
“Well—” I started.
“So why are you so embarrassed to draw? You’re not that bad.”
“Pff. Yeah, not bad for a kindergartner.”
He walked over to me and held out his hand. “Let me see.”
“See what?”
“Your drawings.”
My instinct was a giant no freaking way, but I knew that would kill any momentum I was gaining. So I reluctantly pulled my sketchbook out of my backpack and handed it to him.
He flipped through it, and I felt the seconds pass like years. When it was almost too unbearable to stand anymore, Luca finally stopped on one of my horrid giraffe drawings. “Okay, this one, it’s not bad. But can I teach you a trick?”
The patient and considerate tone in his voice melted all self-consciousness into a puddle at my feet. (Um, like a pair of sweatpants.)
“Mm-hm, sure,” I squeaked.
Luca dropped his backpack and sat down cross-legged on an area overgrown with flowering sage bushes and tall grasses, patting the ground next to him. I sat down, carefully scooting my butt closer to him an inch at a time until I felt like I was sitting at an acceptable distance.
“So you’re getting caught up in the details, which are hard for anyone to draw, you know?” He pointed at all the spots I had painstakingly sketched and then eventually given up on, creating a scribbly mess.
“When you look at something, anything, you should first see it as a bunch of shapes that create an object,” he said, gesturing with his hands. He had nice hands. Long fingers, short clean nails, and the right amount of veins and boniness.
He was looking expectantly at me. “Got that?” he asked. Uh … what?
My confusion was obvious, so he turned to a new page in my sketchbook and handed me a pencil that had been tucked behind his ear. “Okay, look at that pine tree over there,” he said, pointing.
“Um, actually, that’s a deodar cedar, they’re often mistaken for pines.”
Luca blinked. “Why do you know that?”
Drats, a slip of nerd. I shrugged, oh so casual. “Oh, just … I’m a member of the Arbor Society.” No need to mention I’m the treasurer. I braced myself for derision or teasing.
But instead he looked me in the eyes a beat longer than necessary. “Of course you are.” My heart thumped. Was that a good thing or a bad thing?! He smiled with a little head shake. Good thing.
Then he glanced back at the tree. “All right, study that deodar cedar and draw the basic shapes that it’s made up of.”
I tried not to get too excited by the mere fact that this pencil had been resting on that precious skin, and squinted at the tree. Hm, okay. So I started sketching the tree from the top, every little line representing a needle. When I finished, it looked like a hairy blob.
“Er, let’s try this.” He reached over and placed his hand on mine, which started sweating immediately at his touch. He kept his hand on mine and drew a rough, large triangle and then a little rectangle below it.
“Um, that looks like a cartoon tree,” I said.
His face was so close that I could feel his warm breath on my cheek when he sighed in exasperation. “Miss Literal, can you wait a second before jumping to conclusions?” I refrained from calling him Mr. Abstract.
“Do you see how it felt to make that nice loose shape? Warms up your hand, right?” Yeah, I would say my hand was warm. Real warm.
He continued to draw while holding my hand, making smaller triangles within the tree. “Then you can focus in more on each area, and get more detailed as you go.” When he finished, he let go of my hand, and there was a tree on my page. And it was just a lot of loose shapes, but it was one hundred percent recognizable as a tree. Way more so than mine was with all its needles.
“Cool!” I grinned and looked up at Luca, who was grinning back at me.
Zap. Another bolt of that something shot through me.
And then my phone alarm went off, shrill and jarri
ng. “Oh crap, the bus leaves in ten minutes!”
We quickly gathered our things and bolted down the trail. There was a bit of an incline before we hit the concrete path leading to the normal part of the zoo. When we reached the eucalyptus tree, I turned around to see Luca struggling to keep up. “Wait … I need … a sec.”
I looked at him, amused. “We ran, like, twenty yards.”
He waved his hand up at me, catching his breath. “I have no idea how to measure in yards. What a jock.”
I laughed. “Well, clearly anyone who doesn’t go into cardiac arrest when jogging for thirty seconds is a jock.”
He finally caught his breath and straightened up—awfully close to me. He tilted his head to the side, scrutinizing me. “So what’s a jock like you doing in Art Club anyway? I thought you weren’t into it?”
I heard the slight tease in his voice—almost daring me to be honest and say that I joined because of him. I bit my lip. Here’s where an Oscar-worthy performance needed to kick in. I tried to make my voice sound wistful. “Well, um, when you noticed my doodle, I just … I realized I’m always doodling.” Who doesn’t, dummo? “And that, um, it’s just something I’ve always wanted to do. Draw.” Shameless, flat-out lie.
He looked at me for so long that I was sure he was on to me. This was pure idiocy! But then something shifted in his expression. The corners of his mouth slowly lifted until a huge, gorgeous grin broke across that unbearable face. “Cool, glad to see you here. Let me know if you need more help with anything.”
You know that feeling when it’s been a crappy overcast day and then suddenly the sun peeks out, right onto your face? That’s what Luca’s smile was like. Like it was beaming straight from outer space onto my face specifically.
I turned my head so he wouldn’t see me blush. “Thanks.” When I felt my face cool off, I glanced over at him again, upright and so at ease in his own body. (Who could blame him, really?) “Hey, so why aren’t you in AP English anymore?”
“Oh, that. With my grades, there’s no way I should have been in that class.”
My brow furrowed. “Why didn’t you say anything?”
And again, that smile. Zap. “It was fun to see what you nerds were up to.”
Confidence boosted, I decided to actually try flirting. Lord, here I go. I gently bumped my hip against his. He looked over at me lickety-split, surprised. I smiled. “I’m a nerd that can clearly outrun you. Can you handle the rest of the walk back to the bus or do you need me to carry you?”
He raised an eyebrow and I flushed—had I gone too far? Had I offended his manhood? But then he threw his head back and laughed—this for-real laugh complete with signature honk. He grinned and replied, “Yeah, actually, can you?” I cracked a huge smile, not even thinking about whether I had food in my teeth or if I was at a flattering angle so that my cheeks wouldn’t puff out too much.
It was only when we got to the bus that I realized I’d never asked him if he had drawn anything at the abandoned zoo. But at the exact same moment, Violet and Cassidy found us.
“Where have you two been?” Violet demanded, running her hand through her hair with agitation. Ah, subtle as always.
Luca glanced at me then, the quickest little intimate look.
“I just ran into him, calm down,” I said while breezing by her. I didn’t want Violet to know. The old zoo felt like a secret place, special to us.
Her glare burned a hole in my back as I walked up into the bus ahead of her.
Violet was your classic K drama bitch, but if ever there was a sure thing in dramas, it was that the good girl always won in the end.
STEP 7:
Mystery Surrounds the Guy but Find Out More
The next day, Wes, Fiona, and I were crammed into Penny, headed to Fiona’s house to study for our calculus test. Even though Wes drove an SUV that could fit two entire families in it, our preferred mode of transportation was always Penny. I suspected it was because we got a secret thrill from nearly dying every time we got in it.
From the backseat, Wes leaned forward so that his head was two inches away from mine in the passenger seat. “I commend your effort, Des. I, too, think one should get laid before entering college.”
“Oh my God!” I yelled, along with Fiona. He got a pummeling from both of us, Fiona using her right arm to reach behind her and smack him in the cheek.
“Hey, just being totally real here.” He sat back in his seat. “But also, aren’t you worried that you’ll be caught? If he ever finds out you’re using him as some sort of boyfriend experiment—”
“What the hell, Wes? I’m not doing this as an experiment!” I exclaimed. I looked at my two friends, staring especially hard at Fiona, who was suddenly unusually focused on her driving. “Um, Fi, did you not fill him in on why I’m doing this?”
“Nooo, I mean … I didn’t know how private our discussion was?”
“Oh, but not so private that you didn’t mention the plan to Wes?”
Fiona just shrugged.
“So wait. Then why are you doing this?” Wes asked.
I sank back into my seat. “What do you mean?! I like him!” I paused for a second. “I mean, somehow it feels like more than a crush. There’s something about the way he’s so calm and confident about art—his patience and kindness when he was helping me at the zoo the other day…”
Wes scoffed. “Yeah, so hard showing off in front of a girl.”
“It wasn’t like that! He actually wanted to help me. It was really nice.” I glanced at Wes and Fiona nervously. “In fact, I’m pretty sure I want him to be my first boyfriend.”
Fiona cleared her throat. “Des, the leap from crush to boyfriend … maybe you should take it slow—”
Wes interrupted her abruptly. “Oh God, I don’t wanna see flailure heartbreak. I was hoping it was just you needing to round out your high school years with a good old-fashioned devirginizing.”
“Gross. Also, geez, what kind of emotionless robot do you think I am?” A conspicuous silence permeated Penny. I huffed. “You guys, there’s something really interesting about this. This is my way out of flailure. When I know I have a blueprint for this, I remain normal Desi. I was able to hang out with him yesterday without any incidents! In fact, I think we flirted.”
Fiona glanced over at me in the passenger seat. “So no flailure moments?”
“No! Like I said, when I have a plan—all’s well.” I shook my head, amazed yet again at how my past flailures could have been avoided.
Wes kicked the back of my seat. “Well, just don’t let him find out. It’s kind of creepy what you’re doing.”
“You’re a creep!” I barked.
Fiona laughed. “Aren’t you so glad you missed that Phoenix concert to help us study for calculus?”
“Yeah, super-happy about that decision!” I turned around and held a fist threateningly over Wes’s head.
We pulled up to Fiona’s house in a cul de sac that basically looked just like mine. In fact, our houses were the same layout. Monte Vista architecture was very cutting edge.
“Lita! We’re home,” Fiona announced when we stormed the house. I sniffed the air. Yesss, it was starting. Fiona’s grandmother, who lived with her family, was making us pork mole poblano tacos as a study reward. As in, tacos with a chocolaty sauce. Served with pickled onions on fresh-made corn tortillas. Going to Fiona’s to study over a concert was really a no-brainer.
A vision of elderly elegance appeared from the kitchen—wool trousers, silk rose-colored blouse, sleek white bob, and impeccable pearls. No lace shawl for this grandma. Fiona’s Lita (short for Abuelita) looked like she ran a global makeup corporation.
Balancing a tray of iced teas, she lifted her cheek up for a kiss from Fiona, then stepped back to examine Fiona’s tropical-print shorts-and-shirt combo with a floor-length crocheted sweater. She looked like a Golden Girls–themed human. Lita’s delicate eyebrows lifted while she handed the tray to Fiona. She turned to Wes and me with a smile. “Hi you t
wo, ready to study your little brains out?” She reached over and ruffled Wes’s hair, something no one else in the world was allowed to do.
“Yes,” we both answered obediently. Lita’s mere presence commanded straightened spines and clear enunciation from everyone.
“Okay, tacos will be ready in three hours, so work hard until then.” With an air-kiss she was off into the kitchen again.
We spread out in Fiona’s living room with our drinks, pushing aside piles of toy trucks and picture books. Teddy and Nicky, Fiona’s twin brothers, basically owned the house. Luckily they were at a play date, so we could actually get work done without them quizzing us on our favorite Avenger. Wes plopped down onto the sofa and Fiona sat on the floor at his feet, her back pushed up against the sofa. I lay belly-down on the living room rug with my calculus book opened. But after a few minutes of staring at the same equation, I slammed it shut.
“You know what, Wes? That’s sexist crap. When a guy goes through obstacles to get a girl, it’s considered ‘romantic.’ Think climbing through a girl’s window unannounced to watch her sleep. However, when it’s a girl making dramatic gestures for a guy, it’s creepy. Double-standard bullshit!”
Wes laughed from the sofa. “Are you still thinking about Luca? Damn, you are crazy.”
Fiona frowned and threw an ice cube from her iced tea at him. “Shut up, Wes. Why do you even hang out with a bunch of girls, anyway, you caveman douche?”
Wes threw an ice cube back at her, which she deftly knocked away. “I like being the only voice of reason surrounded by irrational females,” he replied.
People often wondered why I didn’t date Wes. Yes, he was cute and funny and charming as hell but he was also the most annoying brother I never had. Also, fully witnessing his player ways since middle school had made me lose all attraction to him.
Flipping Wes off with one hand, Fiona started swiping furiously on her iPad with the other, announcing, “Hey, before we start studying, let’s do something more fun.” The corners of her hot-pink lips curved into a smile and she held her iPad face-out for us to see.