Kiss & Sell

by Brittany Geragotelis

  When I finally snuck away—which was hard to do with everyone focused on me—I practically had to run home in order to get there before Cade. And then I still had to clean my room, since I hadn’t done it the night before. I quickly surveyed the damage before picking up the clothes that were littering my floor and bed, and then tossing it all into my closet. Sprinting over to my bed, I pulled my comforter up over my cushy mattress, a half-assed attempt to make it presentable.

  With the cleanup done, I pulled off my shirt, which was officially soaked through with sweat after sprinting home, and then stood in front of my closet. Casual or dressy? Hot or chill? What were you supposed to wear in a situation like this? not that I really knew what this was. Growing frustrated and knowing I was losing time, I put on my softest tee and stepped into a pair of jean shorts.

  Then I ran into my bathroom and slicked on more deodorant, blotted my face with a little powder and twisted my hair up into a messy bun on top of my head. I had just enough time to dab on some gloss and spritz myself with perfume before the doorbell rang.

  Taking the stairs two at a time, I hustled to the front door and sucked in some much-needed air before pulling it open.

  “Hey, Cade. Come on in,” I said breathlessly.

  “Thanks,” he said, before making his way into the entryway. I could smell his cologne as he passed and briefly wondered what kind it was. “As promised, I’ve got food. Where do you want it?”

  I checked out the two big bags that were taking up both of his arms, and looked back toward the kitchen, and then up in the direction of my bedroom. If we ate downstairs and my mom came home, she’d want to chat with us and we’d never get anything done. She’d also likely embarrass me. But if we ate in my room, we’d be alone.

  “Um, let’s grab some plates and take it upstairs,” I said. Realizing what that might have sounded like to Cade, I added, “My radio and computer and stuff are up there.”

  Cade didn’t seem fazed though and followed me upstairs, still carrying our indian food with him, which I noticed actually smelled pretty good. Whatever it was. I set our dishes on the floor and then plopped down across from him, leaning back against my bed frame. Cade placed the two large bags between us and sat down as well.

  “So, what do we have?” I asked, pointing at the bags.

  “First off, I have to tell you that this is the best indian food you will ever eat,” he said, his face dead serious. “It might even be the best food you’ve ever eaten.”

  I laughed. “Really? Where’s it from?”

  “Sorry, but I can’t reveal my source. If word gets out about this place, then everyone will start going and it just won’t be the same.”

  “But what if you’re right and this Is the best indian food I’ve ever had? How am I supposed to order it again if I don’t know where it’s from?” I argued.

  “I guess you’ll just have to stay on my good side, and maybe I’ll order it for us again sometime,” he said, with a sly smile.

  Was Cade…flirting?

  With practically perfect timing, my stomach grumbled loudly, and Cade gestured for me to dig in. I didn’t want to seem like a pig, but it smelled so good that it was like torture not tearing into the bags. In the end, starvation won over ladylike behavior.

  “You drive a hard bargain, Jones,” I said, opening up the first container.

  Five minutes later, there was a lavish spread in front of us that included a dish of spicy chicken called tandori, another that looked scarily like baby poop but was actually a mixture of spinach and cheese, and this doughy bread he said was called naan (but pronounced ‘non’). I could’ve kissed Cade for opening my eyes to such amazing food. But of course I didn’t. One, because I still wasn’t sure if Cade was into me or not. And two, I had the eBay thing to think about. Which I had to admit, hadn’t been on my mind much lately.

  When we were both disgustingly full, we boxed up what was left and then stood up to find more comfortable spots to brainstorm. I ended up sprawling across my bed while Cade reclined in my desk chair, arms linked behind his head lazily.

  “I think I’m falling into a food coma,” I moaned, closing my eyes.

  Cade just laughed. Finally, I forced myself to pick up my notebook and pen so we could actually get some work done. Flipping to a clean page, I wrote, “Homecoming” across the top and then underlined it.

  “Okay. So, decorations,” I said.

  “Decorations,” Cade repeated.

  “Opposites attract,” I said. I tapped my pen against the notebook as I tried to think of ways to decorate a gym according to our chosen theme. “How about black and white for colors?”

  “Simple, yet effective. They’re definitely opposites,” Cade said, nodding.

  “We could get a bunch of shiny black balloons and some matte white ones, so it’s shiny and dull,” I continued. “Maybe half the floor could be like that fake plastic grass and the other half can be the gym floor, that way it’s rough and smooth.”

  “And we should make sure the refreshments are salty and sweet, hot and cold, healthy and junk food,” Cade said.

  “Ugh. Don’t even mention food right now,” I said, making a face before pushing on. “So now we just have to actually get everything.”

  I walked over to where Cade was sitting and leaned over his shoulder, gently brushing his arm with mine as I reached for my keyboard. “Sorry,” I said, though I wasn’t really all that sorry.

  “No problem,” Cade answered.

  I could’ve sworn I saw the corners of his lips turn up into a smile. He swiveled around in the chair as I started to type, not seeming to mind at all that I had to lean over him to get at the computer sitting on my desk.

  “Let’s see where the closest Party store is,” I muttered to myself as I waited for Google to do its thing.

  Within minutes, I was printing out a list of places that sold the decorations we needed for the dance. One was even within walking distance of our school.

  “You wanna hit this place after school on Monday?” Cade asked, pointing to the screen and practically reading my mind.

  “Sounds like a plan,” I answered. “And oh, look! They have puppy dog costumes! Your date could go as a cat….”

  “Cats and dogs. Very clever,” Cade said sarcastically. “And you and your date could go as einstein and President Bush.”

  I acted shocked and knocked him with my hip. He pushed me back gently. “I’m not sure my date would agree to dressing up like Bush,” I said, thinking of Ryder. “He may be an actor, but he’s not that good at Bs-ing.” I moved to bump Cade again, but he moved at the last minute and I lost my balance.

  And then fell right into his lap.

  “Whoa, sorry about that,” I said, both embarrassed and slightly exhilarated by where I’d landed.

  Cade reached over and brushed a piece of hair that had come loose from my bun behind my ear. I shivered at his touch, but tried to hide it by laughing nervously.

  “You already have a date for the dance?” he asked, sounding surprised.

  Feeling the moment getting awkward, I pulled myself up off of Cade’s lap and moved back over to my bed. I crossed my legs and tried to appear calm, even though my heart was now racing

  “Um, yeah. Sort of,” I said shyly. “This guy, Ryder, asked me the other day.”

  Cade’s face didn’t change, but I could tell that his mood had.

  “That guy from the vampire show?”

  “It’s more of a teen drama…” I started, but gave up when I saw his face. “But, yeah. See, he’s sort of a friend of mine now—a new friend, actually—”

  “So, he’s just a friend?” Cade cut in.

  “Uh huh,” I answered, because technically it was true. Besides, Cade hadn’t asked me if I wanted to be more than friends with Ryder. “He asked me earlier this week. See, he’s never been to a school dance before on account of his acting career and all, and he really wants to see what it’s like…”

  “He asked you earlier
this week,” Cade repeated slowly.

  I nodded. “I’m not even sure if it’s going to happen, though. He’s in the middle of taping Night Light right now, and if they need him to work or something, he’ll have to cancel. But if that doesn’t happen, then yeah, we’ll go together. It’s kind of weird to say it out loud, you know? Me. Going to a small-town school dance with a TV star.”

  “Yeah, crazy,” Cade said, running his hand through his hair.

  We sat there for a moment in silence, me on my bed, and my now brooding buddy sitting in my desk chair. I faintly heard the front door open and close downstairs, but I didn’t bother getting up to see who it was. There was only one person it could be anyway. As mom began to hum to herself as she walked through the house, I turned back to Cade who was now standing up.

  “So, who are you taking?” I asked, trying to salvage our conversation.

  I watched him put on his jacket. “Huh?”

  “Who are you taking to Homecoming?” I repeated.

  “Oh,” he said. “I’m not sure yet. I had a few people in mind, but haven’t asked anyone. I’m not even sure I want to go.”

  “Come on! It’s Homecoming. And you’re on the dance committee. You should at least get to enjoy the fruits of your labor,” I said, giving him a goofy smile and then touching him lightly on the arm.

  Cade looked at my hand on his arm and then back at my face. We were just inches from each other and I could feel his breath lightly on my face. I wondered if he wanted to kiss me as much as I wanted to…

  “Arielle—” my mom said, sounding surprised. I turned to see that she’d appeared in my doorway. Cade took the tiniest step away from me, and then shoved his hands deep into his pockets. My mom looked from me to the boy she’d never met before, and then around my room. It was like she was trying her best to piece together the night’s events. And even though we hadn’t been caught doing anything, I still felt guilty. And kind of embarrassed.

  “Hey, Mom,” I said, innocently. “Uh, this is Cade. We’re on Homecoming Committee together. We’ve been coming up with decoration ideas.”

  “Uh huh,” she answered evenly, crossing her arms and examining my study buddy. “It’s nice to meet you, Cade. So, what have you guys come up with so far?”

  I wasn’t sure if she was asking because she was genuinely interested or if she was just grilling us.

  “Our theme’s ‘Opposites attract’…”

  “Arielle actually came up with it, Mrs. Sawyer,” Cade added.

  “Very clever, Arielle,” my mom said.

  “Anyway, so we’re decorating with black and white balloons, and we thought we’d serve hot and cold food…that sort of thing,” I finished, cheerily.

  “Sounds like it’s going to be a good time,” she said. “Do they need any chaperones?”

  Cade had somehow made his way toward the door and was standing slightly behind my mom now. So when he smirked at this, I was the only one to see him. I made a mental note to scold him later.

  “You know, I think they have enough, but I’ll let you know,” I said in my best devoted daughter voice.

  Cade lifted his bag over his head, the strap hitting just in between his well-toned pecs. He gave me a smooth smile as he stood by the door and I felt my knees almost buckle under his stare. He was the epitome of cool. Bad on the outside and sweet on the inside. Deliciously gorgeous.

  Sigh.

  “I should get going,” Cade said, interrupting my crush session.

  I looked around at all the leftovers spread across my floor, and bent down to start gathering the takeout containers.

  “Here, let me get some of this for you,” I said.

  “They’re yours. Enjoy,” he said. “Who knows when you’ll have something that good again.”

  I could tell he was joking, but it was also just a little bit suggestive. Borderline flirty, even.

  “Well, in that case, I think I could have seconds,” I countered. Realizing my mom was still in the room and staring at us curiously, I cleared my throat and broke our gaze. “okay. So, see you at school on Monday then? We’ll get the decorations after the last bell?”

  Cade nodded and said a polite goodbye, insisting he could let himself out. Once he was gone, my mom walked over to my bed and sat down next to me. When she still hadn’t said anything by the time we heard the front door open and close, I started to get fidgety.

  “What?” I asked her.

  She just smiled and shrugged her shoulders. “Nothing.” But I could tell it was something, because she had “Something face.”

  “Go ahead. Say whatever you’re thinking,” I demanded, lying back against my pillows and throwing my arms up and behind my head.

  “He’s a good-looking kid, that’s all,” she finally said, her smile growing bigger. “So, you’re working on the dance together?”

  “Yep.”

  “Does he have a date, yet?”

  “Why? you wanna go with him?” I asked, jokingly. When she gave me the parental warning look, I lowered my level of sarcasm and answered her. “No, Cade doesn’t have a date for the dance yet. But he’s planning on asking someone.”

  My mom was starting to look like she did after she had a break-through with one of her couples. “You?”

  I snorted. “Hardly. We’re just on dance committee together. Besides, I already have a date.”

  “What?” now she was officially surprised. “Since when?”

  “Gee, Mom. Don’t seem so shocked,” I said slightly hurt by her reaction. “I may not have kissed anyone yet, but it doesn’t mean I’m an l7.”

  “An l7?”

  I rolled my eyes. As hip as my mom thought she was, she was always a step behind cool.

  “L,” I said, making the letter with the thumb and pointer finger of my right hand. “Seven,” I continued, turning my left palm toward me and showing the number to her. I put the two together, fingertips touching. “It’s a square?”

  the light turned on in my mom’s head and she beamed as if she’d just learned the location of the Holy Grail.

  “That’s so crafty,” she said. “l7. Huh. I’ve got to remember that.”

  “Anyway,” I said, as she continued to make squares with her fingers, “I’m going to the dance with Ryder.”

  She stopped what she was doing and blinked at me. “The boy from the TV show? What’s it called? Night Ryder?”

  “Night Light,” I corrected. “Night Ryder is a show from your day.”

  “Ah, yes. That Hasseldorf guy who drove the talking car,” she said, pulling the name out of her limited celebrity pop culture file. I was always shocked at how little she knew about Hollywood, considering that twenty percent of her clientele were in the entertainment industry. “What’s Ryder’s show about?”

  “It’s Hasselhoff,” I said. “And Night Light is about teen vampires.”

  “So, you asked him? I didn’t know you two were friends,” she said, folding her arms across her chest curiously.

  “Well, he sort of asked me and I said yes. And I guess we’re friends. We swapped numbers that day on the show and we’ve talked a couple of times on the phone.”

  I started moving around my room, pulling out all the stuff I’d hidden in the closet before Cade had shown up. I hoped that my mom would see that I was busy and cut our mother/daughter bonding sesh short. not that I didn’t like talking to my mom. For the most part, she was really fun to be around. Definitely cool for an adult. I mean, I don’t know any other moms who’d let their daughters sell a kiss on eBay.

  It was just that I knew if we kept chatting, she’d ask me if I liked Ryder. And after that, she’d ask if Ryder was into me. And the thing about it was…I didn’t know the answer.

  I pulled my homework out of my messenger bag and lay it out on the bedspread in front of me. I quickly counted up how many hours of homework I had to do before I could pass out, and the number filled me with stress. I looked up at my mom, who’d grown quiet herself, and saw that she was lost
in thought.

  “Hey, Mom, you mind if we talk about this later? I’ve got like, four and a half hours of work here, and then I still have to check on this eBay thing.”

  Mom’s face softened and she smiled at me understandably. “Of course, sweetie. I do want to hear all about this, though,” she said as she walked toward the door. “You know, I hope you feel like you can come to me to talk about anything. That includes boys and dating. I was a young bachelorette myself at one point, you know.”

  “I know,” I said, forcing my own smile. “Now, you’re just a mature bachelorette.”

  “Ugh. The only thing worse than being mature is being old,” Mom exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air, defeated.

  “Well, you’re certainly not old,” I said trying to make her feel better.

  “Thanks hon. But I’m old enough to know that you and Cade weren’t just working on a project.”

  “But we were—”

  “It’s okay. You don’t want to talk to your mom about this stuff and I get it. Just as long as you know I’m here for you if you decide to share.”

  I knew there was no point in trying to fight her on the subject, so I conceded. “I know, Mom. Thanks.”

  I watched her walk out of my room and listened as she went back downstairs. A few minutes later, she was puttering around our kitchen. Reluctantly, I turned my attention to my homework. But before I could get completely lost in american History, I found myself drifting back to my conversation with Cade.

  Had Mom been right? Was there something more going on there?

  I SPOTTED MCCARTNEY almost immediately as we pulled up to the south Kennedy Mall. It was 7:45 on a saturday morning and I was not at all happy about the fact that I was up so early. I’d always been of the opinion that weekends were meant to be spent sleeping in, then lounging around in your pajamas until at least noon, while you watched your favorite cartoons (which are not just for little kids anymore; have you heard some of the jokes on them lately?) and stuffed your belly with sugary treats like donuts, cinnamon rolls or chocolate chip pancakes.