Reading Between the Lines

by Katrina Abbott

  She held her palms up in surrender. “Don’t look at me like that. I’m not the one who’s been mooning over him all day and showing off her selfies with him.”

  Emmie just beamed, not even having the decency to look embarrassed. If I didn’t love her, I’d really feel like punching her in the face right about now. Selfies? Really?

  Celia tsked, shooting Chelly and Emmie looks before looking at me and saying. “We didn’t even know he was here. When did he get here?”

  Who knew my dropout of a brother would create such a stir among my friends? Okay, I guess I did, if I’d given it any thought. With a sigh, I dropped into a chair. “He just got here yesterday. I’ve been busy with classes and practice or I would have told you.” Except for that whole being scared he had been kidnapped and was being tortured thing. “Somehow, he’s talked the dean into giving him a job on campus.”

  “Emmie mentioned that,” Celia said. “Is that weird?”

  “Yes. Especially since my roommate has already dug her claws into him.”

  “I need a rebound guy,” Emmie announced with a shrug, as though Robert was a pint of Ben and Jerry’s.

  Chelly blew a raspberry. “Find someone else to be your rebound guy. Don’t damage one of the good ones. I hear Phillip Carson’s available.”

  Emmie gave her a withering look.

  “Okay, maybe not him. But someone less...” Chelly screwed up her face as we looked at her, but Emmie interrupted before she finished.

  “Someone less to your liking?”

  Chelly smiled. “I’m just saying. Brooklyn doesn’t need you messing with her brother.”

  “Thanks,” I said to Chelly, grateful for the support.

  “I got your back, sister,” she said. “Anyway, he looks like the type who prefers redheads.” She winked at me.

  “And on that note, I’m leaving.” I got up out of my seat and turned to go, but then remembered why I’d wanted to talk to Chelly in the first place. “Can you help with the food drive next Saturday at the grocery store in town?” I specifically avoided Emmie’s eyes so she wouldn’t feel weird, like I was bugging her to help out.

  Chelly lifted a perfectly waxed eyebrow. “What’s in it for me?”

  “Firefighters.”

  There wasn’t even a half second’s hesitation before she said, “Yep. I’m in. Text me details.”

  I grinned and looked at Celia. “You, too?”

  She shook her head. “Can’t. We’re catering a Junior League luncheon in town and I’ve already told them I’d help.”

  “Them?” Chelly asked.

  Celia’s flawless skin was the color of cafe au lait, but I still detected the blush in her cheeks. “Fine, Shane. I promised Shane.” Her kitchen supervisor. I wondered how that was progressing since they’d danced at the masquerade ball. Celia was pretty private about things, but Kaylee probably knew what was going on there. I made a mental note to ask her later. The blush said a lot, though.

  “Where’s the luncheon?” Emmie asked

  “At the Belvedere Gallery.”

  I’d never heard of the place, but I was still new to the area and almost never got off campus. “What’s that?”

  Emmie whistled. “It’s a really swank art gallery. People go there to be seen. My mother’s kind of place.” She said with a haughty look that she used to make fun of her upper class parents who she thought were total snobs.

  “And just a few doors down from the grocery store,” Chelly said. “Maybe we’ll drop by and see you and Shane in action.” She waggled her eyebrows, making Emmie and I laugh. Celia didn’t look quite so impressed and muttered something under her breath that Chelly happily ignored.

  “So, are you two dating yet, or what?”

  Celia’s cheeks got pinker. “No.”

  “Right,” Emmie said.

  Celia narrowed her eyes at Emmie and I was wondering if she’d just been pushed a bit too far. Emmie must have felt the same, because she quickly backed off, turning her attention to me. “So, how’s Jared?”

  My heart lurched. “Fine, I guess. But, uh...”

  My three friends stared at me, waiting.

  May as well get it over with. “We broke up.”

  Chelly and Celia’s eyes went wide and Chelly even squeaked out a “What?” but when I glanced at Emmie, she didn’t seem surprised at all. I swallowed and tried to figure out what to say.

  “Sit back down and tell us what happened,” Chelly said, pulling the empty chair out from the table.

  Nope. There was no way I was getting into this conversation here and now. Not with how guilty I was feeling and my head still a mess about Dave (and Emmie). I needed some quiet thinking time before I was willing to deconstruct my love life with friends. Especially Emmie. I ignored the chair and shook my head. “We just realized we’re better as friends.”

  “Wait,” Chelly said, looking at me sideways. “You realized or he realized. Do I need to find this guy and kick him in the balls?”

  I laughed. “No, we realized together. It’s fine. Please leave his balls intact.”

  She nodded, but her eyes told me she totally would have done it, if necessary. Scary. But so nice at the same time. I kind of wanted to hug her.

  “You’ll find someone else,” Emmie said, her eyes intent on mine. “Someone you’re really into. Abe’s nice and all, but you want someone who really does it for you, right?”

  My heart stopped at her words. I looked at my roommate and knew she was talking about herself, too; that she was looking for that special someone who she knew without a doubt was right for her. But I couldn’t help thinking at the back of my mind that maybe, just maybe, she was thinking that the guy who wasn’t it for her, was now the one who was for me.

  Before I revealed too much, I turned to the other girls. “Yeah, anyway, he’s super nice and I feel like garbage for it, but it just wasn’t going to work. I’m still going to read his book for him, though,” I said, holding up the manuscript. It was a good prop to move the conversation away from me and my love life.

  Chelly’s mouth made an ‘o’ as she eyed the manuscript. “That’ll be juicy. You going to share?”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “That wouldn’t be right. You’ll have to buy a copy like everyone else.”

  She stuck out her bottom lip. “Maybe I’ll date him and he’ll give me a copy.”

  Celia rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding? That poor guy wouldn’t know what to do with you. You’d have him for breakfast.”

  Chelly grinned. “And lunch and dinner. Have you seen those arms on him? Rowr? Believe me, I’d know exactly what to do with him.”

  “Aaaaaand I’m done here,” I said, feeling awkward about the girls ogling poor Jared; maybe I’d tell him how sexy they thought he was. The more I thought about it, the more I realized it wasn’t a good idea since none of them had ever mentioned wanting to date him and I had a feeling one more trip to the friend zone might just devastate him. “See you girls for movie night.”

  I turned to leave, but as I did, I heard them start talking about Jared. The flirty tone had left Chelly’s voice and I knew they were talking about his past life as a child actor. I tucked the manuscript back under my arm and walked quickly away, knowing whatever rumors and Hollywood gossip they were talking about, I’d learn the truth soon enough.

  Mending Fences

  I was just leaving French class on Monday right before lunch when my phone rang, surprising me. It wasn’t my parents’ ringtone, and almost no one else ever called me, so I was definitely curious. Probably a wrong number, I told myself. I got out of class and backed myself against the wall in the hallway to stay out of the rush of girls heading to the dining room as I dug my cell out of my blazer pocket and stared at the screen.

  Dave.

  I had one more ring before it went to voice mail and the coward in me wanted to leave it. The realist in me knew I was going to have to deal with him, if not now, then face to face on Saturday at the fundraiser. I sighed
and hit the green button.

  “Hey Brooklyn,” he said.

  “Hi.”

  “I need to talk to you. Can I see you?”

  I closed my eyes against the movement around me, needing a moment of quiet to deal with this. “You’ll see me Saturday,” I said, pretending to be clueless.

  “That’s not what I mean. I need to talk to you in private.”

  “Dave, I...”

  “Please.” One word. But his voice wavered and was nearly my undoing.

  “Okay, tonight in the lounge.”

  “I can’t. I have basketball practice.”

  I didn’t remember Emmie ever saying anything about Dave’s extracurricular activities or that she wanted to go see one of his games. “I didn’t know you play.”

  “Yeah,” he said distractedly. “Listen, can you come now?”

  “It’s the middle of the school day.”

  “Come to the fence, I’ll meet you there.”

  Holding the phone with my right hand, I pressed my thumb and fingers of my left into my temples, the pressure building in my head. “What?”

  “There’s a place where our campuses meet. There’s a hole in the fence. They didn’t tell you about that?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t know where it is.”

  “Ask one of the girls and come see me in a half hour.”

  Glancing up at the clock on the wall, I said, “That leaves me almost no time to get back to class.”

  “I only need a minute. Please, Brooklyn.”

  “Dave, I...” but there was no point in finishing; he’d already hung up.

  ~ ♥ ~

  I managed to find Kaylee in the dining room and somehow it was my lucky day because Emmie wasn’t with her. Celia was reading a romance novel beside her but barely looked up when I asked Kaylee if we could spend lunch in the library to go over our science homework. Being the good friend and the academic I knew her to be, Kaylee stood up and shoved her half-sandwich in her mouth before she followed me.

  I stopped at the snack counter and grabbed an apple and a granola bar before leading her out into the hall and toward the door outside; the opposite direction of the library.

  “Uh, this way,” she said.

  I glanced at her. “We’re not going to the library. I am hoping you know where the fence is to Westwood?”

  She nodded, but narrowed her eyes. “You’d better not be kidnapping me.”

  Stopping in my tracks, I looked at her full on. “What are you talking about?”

  She shook her head. “Never mind. What’s going on?”

  “Can you keep a secret?” I asked, but then felt bad for asking because I totally did trust Kaylee. Emmie was my roommate and I was close with her, but Kaylee and I were a lot more alike and I secretly thought of her as a closer friend than Emmie.

  “Of course,” Kaylee said, not looking offended.

  “You lead me to the fence and I’ll tell you everything.”

  She gave me a curt nod as we walked outside, pretending we were on a casual lunchtime stroll through the campus. It was a nice day for a stroll—sunny and warm for the season. The leaves crunched under our feet and the breeze smelled like leaves and forest.

  Once we were away from the school building, I told her everything. From my feelings about Dave (that had never really diminished even after I’d told Emmie they had) to the bed incident to what he had said in the student council room and even the whole thing about Jared and how he guessed that there was something sizzling between us.

  “Whoa,” Kaylee said once I finished. “That’s...”

  “Messed?” I said.

  She cocked her head, considering. “I don’t know. I mean, I get the whole instant attraction thing,” she said, blushing, and I knew she was thinking about Declan, her secret royal boyfriend. “But it’s Dave. Emmie’s ex. That makes it really complicated.”

  “No kidding,” I said, not needing the reminder.

  “So what are you going to do?” she asked.

  I shrugged. “I have no idea. I’m not really sure why he wants to see me, but...” Just then, a text came into my phone and my heart stuttered, sure it was Dave, either canceling or saying he was waiting for me. Either option was enough to get my heart pounding.

  But it wasn’t him. It was Jared: Warning. D. knows about you and me. have a feeling he will be contacting u. Sorry. He dragged it out of me.

  That just confirmed what I already thought. I looked at Kaylee. “He knows Jared and I broke up.”

  She took a deep breath. “How badly do you want to be with him?”

  I barely had to think about the way he’d made me feel that night he’d kissed my neck and how badly I’d wished there had been more. “Like an eight?” I said, being conservative.

  “How much damage do you think that would do to your relationship with Emmie?”

  “That’s the variable. I don’t know.”

  “You should talk to her first,” Kaylee said, always the voice of reason. As messed up as my head was, I’d made a good choice when I’d decided to confide in her.

  “I’ll see what he says first. Maybe he just wanted to return the pen I left at our meeting last week.”

  “I’m sure that’s probably it,” Kaylee said, deadpan.

  I smirked at my friend as we walked through a small grove that I thought was close to where we’d had our bonfire that night with all the boys. “Where is this fence?”

  “Not far,” she said and then stopped walking. She turned her head and frowned. “What is that noise?”

  I listened and now that the rustling and crunching of us walking over the dead leaves was gone, I heard it. “Sounds like hammering or something.”

  “It’s coming from the fence.”

  “What is he doing?” I wondered aloud. “He’s going to get us all in trouble.”

  “It definitely sounds like hammering.”

  We exchanged glances. “We’d better go see,” I said.

  Kaylee nodded and we headed toward the sound. At least I was now more curious than nervous. Had I been totally off base when I’d assumed Dave wanted to talk about us? And if it wasn’t about that, then what?

  The first mystery revealed itself when we turned the last corner around a thick patch of trees and were able to see that the sound was indeed coming from hammering. But it wasn’t Dave doing it, though it was a guy, a backwards baseball cap on his head and a tool belt slung low on his hips as he squatted in front of the fence. His t-shirt had ridden up a little and I could see a defined patch of skin showing above the waistband of his underwear and jeans. Don’t even get me started on the biceps bulging as he hammered away at something I no longer cared about.

  “Well, hello,” Kaylee muttered under her breath. I had to agree.

  But we couldn’t just stand there and gawk. Much longer.

  “Hi there. What are you doing?” I said, my voice startling him. He looked over his shoulder.

  The Bunker

  “Robert?” I choked out, suddenly wishing I could erase the last sixty seconds or so of ogling from my consciousness.

  I shot Kaylee a look at her snort when she clued in that it was my brother we’d been giving the once-over. “Hilarious,” I hissed at her drily.

  “Be careful or I’ll tell the girls that even you are after him along with everyone else. Not that I blame you, but...” she grinned at me.

  “Shut your cakehole or I’ll tell your prince you were just checking out another guy’s butt.”

  “He’s a future duke,” she muttered under her breath as Robert stood, turned around and wiped sweat off his brow with his forearm.

  He frowned as he looked at Kaylee and then back at me before he spoke. “Brooklyn? What are you doing here?” He tucked his hammer into the loop of his tool belt and walked toward us. “Shouldn’t you be in class?”

  “It’s lunch time. We were just out for a walk and heard the noise.” Which was sort of true. “What are you doing?”

  He nodded over h
is shoulder. “Fixing the fence. There was a big hole in it and rumor is that kids are sneaking across.”

  I hadn’t been one of those kids, but there was a good chance that some of them had been my friends or the guys we hung out with. And most definitely the guy I was supposed to meet here now. I figured Dave was long gone, having been scared off by my suddenly very responsible brother. The one who flunked out of college. I crossed my arms. “When did you turn forty?”

  “It’s my job,” he said, a flash of anger crossing his face but disappearing just as quickly as it had appeared. He turned to Kaylee. “I’m Rob, by the way; Brooklyn’s middle-aged brother.”

  “I gathered,” she said with a broad smile. “Though you don’t look a day over thirty-five. Nice to meet you. I’m Kaylee.”

  Ugh, was she flirting with him? Obviously being with Declan was doing something for her confidence because in the (admittedly short) time I’d known her, she’d always been more of the awkward wallflower type.

  I was about to say something but, obviously on a roll, she beat me to it. “You know,” she said, looking at Robert as though he really was forty. “You’re killing a rite of passage for future Rosewood students by closing up that hole. As long as the two schools have been here, kids have been sneaking across. No one’s ever really gotten hurt.”

  I was kind of shocked that Kaylee, of all people, was defending rule-breaking. Although maybe it had more to do with her new boyfriend who might be using that gap in the fence to sneak across to see her and less to do with preserving school legacies.

  “It makes the school less secure,” Robert said in a very unsympathetic voice, one that sounded a lot like my father’s. “One of the main reasons parents pick this school for their kids is the security.” He was looking right at me when he said it and although it sounded like he was reading the school’s brochure, I knew he was talking about our parents specifically. He was right, of course, and maybe I had become a little lax about the security thing lately, but I hated feeling caged in, even if it was for my own good.