He's With Me

by Tamara Summers

  “It wasn’t hard to figure out,” he said. He kicked off his sneakers, pulled off

  his socks, and dried his feet.

  “Who’s this?” Colin said again, coming up behind Lexie.

  “This is Riley,” Lexie said. You’d know all about him if you ever bothered to

  ask me how tennis camp was going. “Riley, this is my twin brother, Colin.”

  “Twins,” Riley said, nodding thoughtfully. “That’s cool. You don’t see a lot

  of girl-boy twins.

  Ha! Lexie thought. Wrong thing to say!

  “Are you kidding?” Colin said. “There are plenty. Alanis Morissette has a

  twin brother.”

  “Wade,” Lexie supplied. She’d heard all this before.

  “Giovanni Ribisi has a twin sister, and so does Kiefer Sutherland.”

  “Marissa and Rachel.”

  “And Scarlett Johansson has a twin brother.”

  “Hunter,” Lexie said. “Aren’t those the best names? Scarlett and Hunter.

  Much better than Alanis and Wage.”

  “Whoa, whoa,” Riley said, waving his hands. “I yield already! You win. I

  guess there are millions. I had no idea.”

  Colin looked smug. He liked showing off the stuff he knew.

  “Here, if we put your shirt here, it’ll dry faster,” Lexie said. She took Riley’s

  shirt from him and draped it over the porch railing, in the sun. He dropped his

  socks and sneakers on the step.

  “So what are you doing?” he said. “Apart from soaking innocent

  bystanders?”

  “We’re washing the car,” Lexie said.

  “Want to help?” Colin offered.

  “Colin!” Lexie said. “I’m sure Riley doesn’t want to wash our car with us.”

  And she wasn’t sure she wanted him to stick around that long, especially shirtless.

  He kept giving her this slanty look and smile, like he thought she had deliberately

  gotten him to take his shirt off. As if! Sure, he was cute, but she’d seen him and

  Jake next to each other at the pool, and Jake was much cuter. In her opinion,

  anyway.

  “I’d love to,” Riley said. “Hand me that hose.” He smirked.

  “Don’t even think about it,” Lexie said, backing up. “Riley, don’t you dare!”

  She sucked behind the car just as he grabbed the hose from Colin and turned it on

  her. He chased her around the car and she fled shrieking down the driveway,

  straight into Jake’s arms.

  “Whoa,” he said, catching her elbows, and they were both caught in the

  spray as Riley deluged them.

  Lexie shoved her wet hair back, laughing. Jake was looking over her

  shoulder at Riley, and he wasn’t smiling.

  “Oops,” Riley said. “You caught us.” He grinned and spread his arms like he

  was being held gunpoint.

  “Caught you doing what?” Jake asked. Lexie wondered the same thing. Why

  would Riley put it like that?

  There was an awkward pause. Jake was still holding on to Lexie’s elbows.

  Colin glanced at each of them, looking confused.

  “I got Riley wet by accident,” Lexie said. “He just stopped by, and he

  wanted to help wash the car...um...” Why did it suddenly sound lame and

  unbelievable?

  “Yeah, man, sorry,” Riley said. “We were just having fun. It’s not what it

  looks like.”

  Not what it looks like? Lexie thought. Doesn’t it look like we’re washing the car? There’s nothing to feel weird about here. Right?

  “What are you up to?” Lexie said, trying to sound casual, although it was

  difficult while Jake still had her pinned.

  “Maybe I can stay and help, too,” Jake said. “After all, now I’m as wet as

  you guys.” He glanced down at Lexie and finally smiled. “Hey, girlfriend.” He gave

  her a wet, squichy hug and she hid her smile in his chest.

  “I saw Riley ride by in this direction,” he whispered in her ear. “So I figured

  I’d come to make sure he wasn’t bothering you. Hope that’s okay.”

  “Of course,” she said softly. “As long as you had a good, heroic reason for

  coming. We wouldn’t want you to stop by just to say hi or anything crazy.”

  Jake winked at her and then slung his arm over her shoulder as they went

  back up the driveway. He and Riley exchanged dark glances as they passed, but

  Jake bent down and grabbed a sponge without commenting.

  “Hey, Colin,” he said. “I’ve been reading about The Matrix some more. Did

  you know that some of the scenes in the movie are based on scenes in Japanese

  anime movies? I think we’re going to have to rent Ghost in the Shell and Akira to compare. Animefest, what do you think, Lexie?”

  “Sure, sounds awesome,” she said. He tossed her a sponge and then threw

  another one over to Riley, a little harder, so that soap bubbles spattered across

  Riley’s chest.

  “Come on, Riley,” Jake said cheerfully. “Let’s wash this car.”

  Between the four of them, it took almost no time at all. Lexie noticed that

  Riley was a lot more subdued now that Jake was there. He didn’t try to spray her

  again, and he mostly acted like he really wanted to get out of there. But whenever

  he saw her looking at him, he’d given her that crooked smile and he kept edging

  over to work closer to her.

  “Oh my heavens,” a voice said behind them. Lexie turned to find her

  parents standing on the porch. Mrs. Willis put her hands on her hips. “How did

  you all get so wet?”

  “Serves me right for putting teenagers and a hose together on a hot day,”

  Mr. Willis said with a grin.

  “I didn’t get wet,” Colin pointed out in a superior voice.

  “We could always fix that, you know,” Lexie threatened.

  “I think that is quite enough,” Mrs. Willis said quickly.

  “Yes, good work, kids,” Lexie’s dad said. “The car looks great.”

  “Jake, would you like to join us for cookies?” her mom added. “Freshly

  homemade!”

  Riley popped out from behind the car and Lexie’s mom jumped.

  “Cookies?” Riley said. “Did someone say cookies?”

  “Who is this?” Mr. Willis asked. Neither he nor Lexie’s mom looked thrilled

  about having a strange, shirtless boy in their driveway.

  “That’s Riley,” Lexie said. “He’s in the tennis camp with us.”

  “Oh,” Mrs. Willis said, mortified. “That’s nice. Come on in.”

  Lexie was relieved to see Riley put his shirt back on before they all trooped

  into the house. He was sort of jumpy around her parents, like he wasn’t sure what

  they would think of him, but e said all the right polite things about the cookies. He

  bolted out of his chair as soon as he was done.

  “Well, I gotta run,” he said. “See you tomorrow, Lexie.”

  “Yup, we’ll see you tomorrow,” Jake said, scooting his chair next to Lexie’s.

  Lexie risked a glance at her mother, who was washing dishes in the sink and

  pretending not to pay attention. Lexie was sure she spotted a tiny smile on her

  face.

  “Bye, Riley,” Lexie said.

  The screen door banged behind him.

  “Have I mentioned I really don’t like that guy?” Jake said.

  Chapter 9

  On Monday, Bree was leaning against the check-in booth as they came up the

  path from the parking lot. It was a horribly hot day; Lexie already felt tired and

 
sweaty from the bike ride. But Bree looked cool and crisp, like a tall glass of evil

  lemonade. She was wearing her lacy bikini, with a white sarong looped around

  her waist and white slip-on sandals on her feet. Her sunglasses were giant and

  reflected the light in a metallic way, hiding her eyes. Even so, Lexie could feel

  them on her, a grim stare full of scheming and revenge plans, as she walked

  closer.

  “Oh, hi, Lexie,” Bree said with a sweet smile as they walked up. “Can I talk

  to you for a second – just us girls?” She wrapped her hands around Jake’s upper

  arm and leaned playfully into him. “You don’t mind if I steal your girlfriend for a minute, do you, Jakey?”

  “Uh,” Jake said. Lexie could tell he was as confused as he was. Were they

  supposed to pretend the fight with Sally on Friday night hadn’t happened?

  “Just for a minute,” Bree said, tousling his hair. “I’m sure you two can be

  apart for one minute without your cuteness dropping to dangerously low levels.”

  She linked her arm through Lexie’s. “We need some girl time.”

  Jake stepped forward as if to pull Lexie away, but Bree marched her off

  down the path toward the tennis courts too fast for either of them to object.

  “Lexie,” Bree whispered with fake enthusiasm. “I heard a rumor that Jake’s

  birthday is this Wednesday! Oh my God! You must be so excited. What a great

  opportunity to show what a terrific girlfriend you are, right? I’m sure you have

  something really amazing planned, don’t you?”

  Lexie’s heart sank. She had managed not to think about it all weekend, but

  now Jake’s birthday was only two days away. And she still didn’t have a present

  for him. Bree had zeroed in on her biggest worry.

  “Um,” she said, “well, I – “

  “I just wanted you to know,” Bree said, “that I am here to help. I love party

  planning and I am so good at it. I mean, you are throwing him a party, right? Guys love parties, especially surprise parties! Is it going to be at your house? Because if you want, we could have it at my house. My house is enormous and my parents

  are never home so they won’t care.”

  “Oh, I don’t –” Lexie started.

  “We have a ton of food, so don’t worry about that. And I can take care of inviting

  everyone. I’ll make sure it’s the right guest list. All you have to do is find a way to get him to my house. You’re clever; you’ll think of something.” Bree shook her

  hair back from her face and smiled, the sunlight glinting off her sunglasses. “And

  buy him a perfect present, of course. But I’m sure you already have that covered.”

  “But wait,” Lexie said, “what if – I don’t think he –”

  “Wednesday, six o’clock,” Bree said brightly. “Everyone will be there, so

  don’t forget. It’s going to be a great party. He’ll feel so lucky to have you for his girlfriend.” She patted Lexie once on the head and then turned and swept back

  down the path. Sally passed her on the way, but Bree tilted her nose up and

  looked away as if Sally were too insignificant to notice.

  “What was that all about?” Sally asked, coming up to Lexie. “Are you okay?

  You look kind of pale.”

  “Can I borrow your cell phone?” Lexie asked.

  “Sure.” Sally fished it out of her bag and Lexie dialed her home number

  quickly.

  Her mom answered. “Hello?”

  “Hey, Mom. Can I talk to Colin?”

  “He’s not here, dear. What’s wrong?”

  “He’s not there? Where is he?” Lexie was puzzled. Colin never got up that

  early on his own, and as far as she knew, he didn’t have anywhere to go. She

  wondered if this had anything to do with whatever he’d been hiding from her the

  other day.

  “I can tell him you called,” Mrs. Willis said. “But maybe I can help with

  something?”

  “No, that’s okay,” Lexie said. “I’ll talk to him when I get home. Bye, Mom.”

  Her mom sighed. “Bye, Lexie.”

  Lexie handed the phone back to Sally. How could Colin not be there? She

  needed his advice so badly. Or Karina’s. That was who Lexie really wanted to talk

  to – a girl who understood how complicated this was. What was Lexie supposed

  to do now? She didn’t want to lure Jake to Bree’s for a surprise party. But if they

  didn’t show up, it would be weird and embarrassing. And she had to come up

  with an idea for a present - an idea that said “girlfriend,” not “best friend’s sister.”

  “Come on,” Sally said, slipping the phone into her bad. “Tell me all about it

  as we walk. What’s Bree done now?”

  Lexie found herself explaining Bree’s whole party scheme. By the time they

  reached the tennis courts. Sally was shaking her head.

  “That is so typical of Bree,” she said. “She thinks she’s being generous, but

  she just ends up being controlling and scary.” Lexie somehow doubted that Bree

  was trying to be generous with this plan, but she didn’t say anything. Sally and

  Bree might still make up and be friends again, after all.

  “And don’t ever try to tell her you want to do things your own way,” Sally

  continued. “She can’t comprehend people disagreeing with her.” Sally put down

  her tennis racket and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “I don’t know, Lexie,

  you might have to go.”

  “Seriously?” Lexie said. Somehow she’d expected Sally to tell her not to go.

  “Well, unless you want to tell her yourself that you don’t want to,” Sally

  said. “Or just let her plan it and not show up, which would be kind of rough. But

  listen, it won’t be that bad. Her parties always have great food and they have

  Ping-Pong and foosball in the basement. You could show up for a couple of hours

  and then take Jake out for ice cream afterwards, just the two of you.”

  Lexie felt ill. That sounded like some serious Bree time, which meant a ton

  of opportunities for Bree to do something mean to her.

  “Don’t worry about it,” Sally said. “Bree’s crazy, but she’s not evil.”

  I’m not so sure about that, Lexie thought.

  “Hey,” Riley said, slouching up to them. “I had fun on Sunday,” he said to

  Lexie.

  Sally raised her eyebrows.

  “Washing my parents’ car,” Lexie said quickly. “With Jake and Colin.”

  “Yeah, too bad,” Riley said. “We might have had more fun just the two of

  us.” He gave her arm a quick squeeze and then meandered away.

  “What a flirt,” Sally whispered. When Lexie’s eyes widened, she added, “I

  mean him, not you. Like, she’s taken, pal, back off. Right?”

  Lexie rubbed her arm and stared at Riley’s retreating back. Did he really like

  her that way? He seemed to... but why? He thought she was with Jake, so he

  shouldn’t be flirting with her. It was all very confusing.

  That afternoon they began the water volleyball tournament that Cynthia

  had been talking about. Lexie’s team won their game, which made Jake splash

  around triumphantly in a totally adorable way.

  As he dropped her off at home, Jake said, “Hey, Lexie, ask Colin about

  watching those anime movies thie weekend, okay?”

  “Sure,” she said. She watched him pedal away, waving when he looked

  back before turning off into his street.

  To he
r surprise, Alanna and Thorn were on the porch. Their leashes were

  tied to the railing, and their squashed little faces were pressed against the screen

  door as if they’d been yearning to go back inside for days and days.

  “Hey, guys,” Lexie said, crouching down and unclipping them. “What are

  you doing out here?” She scratched behind their ears and they both tried to climb

  on her knees to snuffle at her face.

  The instant she swung the door open, both pugs bolted toward the living

  room. There was a yelp and then a thud. Lexie ran after them and found her mom

  in a contorted position on the carpet with the dogs clambering all over her.

  “Mom?” she gasped. “Are you okay?”

  “Yes, yes,” Mrs. Willis said, untangling herself. She reached for the remote

  and paused the DVD. Lexie realized that the people on-screen were all in leotards

  and were now frozen in the same weird position.

  “What are you doing?” Lexie asked.

  “I’m trying to do yoga,” her mother said. “But certain dogs were making it very difficult.” Alanna snorted and wagged her tail triumphantly.

  “Yoga?” Lexie said, dropping her bag inside the door. “I thought you went

  to a class for that.”

  “Well, I got this DVD, so I thought I’d try it. It’s very good if you can get

  through it without having your face licked off.” Her mom gave Thorn a stern look,

  but the pug just sat there with a goofy expression.

  “Can I watch?” Lexie said. “Maybe I can distract the dogs.”

  “Of course,” her mother said delightedly. “You can ever join me if you like. I

  just started.”

  “Um...okay,” Lexie said. She had to admit she was curious. She sat down on

  the carpet next to her mother as Mrs. Willis skipped back to the beginning of the

  DVD.

  “So how was tennis today?” Mrs. Willis asked.

  “The same,” Lexie said. She imitated her mother’s cross-legged position,

  trying to sit up tall and keep her back straight. The woman on the TV was

  yammering about breathing.

  “Anything exciting happening?”

  Lexie debated with herself for a minute and then decided to share a small

  part of her problem with her mom.

  “It’s Jake’s birthday on Wednesday,” Lexie said, “and I have to get him a

  present.”

  “Ah.” Her mother shook her head. “I made the same mistake with your