He's With Me

by Tamara Summers

  Mom-like?”

  “You mean nosy?”

  “I mean cheerful,” Lexie said.

  “You tell me and I’ll tell you,” he said.

  She peeked over her arms at him. Thorn seized the opportunity and lunged

  at her forehead, but she managed to block him in time.

  “Are you serious?” she asked. “If I tell you why I’m upset, you’’ tell me the

  big secret you’ve been hiding all summer?”

  “It’s not a big secret,” he said. “But I guess, okay.”

  Lexie grabbed Thorn and sat up. He settled down to lick her hands instead.

  “Promise not to tell anyone,” she said.

  “Of course,” he said. “Who would I tell?”

  “True. But it has to do with Jake.”

  “Ah,” he said, knowingly tapping the side of his nose.

  “You know?” she said.

  “Know that he likes you?” Colin asked. Lexie stared at him.

  “No, that I like him,” she said.

  “I was starting to guess that, too,” he said.

  “Colin, you didn’t set up this pretend-dating thing on purpose, did you?”

  Lexie asked.

  “No way,” Colin said, shaking his head vigorously. “I had no idea then. You

  guys always acted so normal around each other. I didn’t think pretending to date

  each other would be a big deal. Then you had that date and I was like,

  ‘ Ooohhhhhh, I see how it is.’”

  “Really?” Lexie said, blushing. “It was that obvious?”

  “That he wants to really date you?” Colin said. “Totally.”

  “Stop saying that,” she said, shoving his knee. “I’m the one who likes him.

  And now I’ve told him I can’t do it anymore, that I don’t want to be his pretend

  girlfriend, so I’m sure I’ve wrecked everything. I’m sorry.” She looked down at the

  fluffy yellow bath mat. “It’ll probably make things kinda awkward for a while. Oh,

  why am I such a loser?” She lay back down, letting Thorn flop over on her

  stomach. “Why couldn’t I just pretend and let him kiss me and act like everything

  was fine?”

  “Because you like each other,” Colin said. “I don’t know why you have to be

  such morons about it.”

  “Colin, he doesn’t like me that way,” Lexie said. “I’ve had a crush on him

  forever, but you’ve seen the girls he’s dated. I mean, Amy Sorrento? She’s nothing

  like me. He’ll be with somebody new by next week.”

  “I don’t thonk so,” Colin said. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

  “But I’m moping,” Lexie objected. He got up and stepped over her, and she

  followed, rolling Thorn onto the floor. The pug snorted indignantly, shook himself,

  and trotted after them into Colin’s room. As she passed the window, Lexie saw

  that the afternoon shadows were much longer, she’d been hiding out in the

  bathroom for at least an hour.

  Colin sat down at his computer and plugged the video camera in. Lexie

  flopped onto his bed, covering her head with a pillow.

  “Watch this,” Colin said. “The night of your date. Remember, when we all

  came back here with Sally?”

  Lexie peeked out. The camera was on her and Sally. They were rolling balls

  of dough and getting flour everywhere. They were both laughing, with smudges of

  white on their faces. The camera panned over to Jake, who was pulling raspberry

  jam out of the fridge. As he straightened up, he looked back at Lexie and Sally

  with a smile.

  “Hey, girlfriend, get over here,” he said, unscrewing the top of the jam jar.

  “You’ve got something on your nose.”

  “Oh, no, do I?” Lexie said, touching her face and getting more flour on it.

  “Yeah, come here,” Jake said with a grin. Lexie came around the counter

  and stepped closer to him. The Lexie lying on Colin’s bed could see the look of

  that Lexie’s face, and she thought, Man, can’t the whole world tell how much in love with him I am?

  Jake leaned forward, studying her face, and then he said, “Yes, yes, there’s

  something...right...here,” and with a studious expression, he reached out and

  dabbed raspberry jelly on the tip of her nose.

  Lexie shrieked and jumped back. “Jake, you dork!”

  Jake was cracking up, leaning on the counter for support. The Lexie on

  camera plunged her hands into his hair and mussed it up, leaving streaks of white

  flour in it. “That’ll teach you,” she said, giggling and jumping out of reach again.

  “Oh my God,” Sally said in the background. “Colin, stop them before they

  get so sweet out teeth fall out and we can’t eat these cookies.”

  “Don’t worry, it’s over,” Lexie said. “Because I won. I’m going to wash my

  face.” She headed out of the kitchen, still laughing.

  But the camera stayed on Jake, zooming in as he watched Lexie go.

  Lexie in real life sat up.

  “You see it, too, right?” Colin said.

  “Play it again,” Lexie said. He rewound a few seconds and once again Lexie

  watched Jake watch her.

  He had the same look she’d seen on her own face earlier. The same half

  smile, the same starry eyes. Like he wanted to chase after her and hold her and

  kiss her and perhaps spend every waking minute if the rest of their lives together.

  Woe.

  Maybe...just maybe...Jake was in love with her, too.

  Chapter 16

  “Ha,” said Colin. “The camera reveals all truth. I win.”

  “That doesn’t prove anything,” Lexie said.

  “Proves enough for me,” Colin said.

  “Then why did he let me run away from him today?” Lexie said. “Why

  didn’t he tell me any of this?”

  “Maybe you didn’t give him a chance,” Colin said.

  Lexie pulled the pillow back over her head. This was weird. This was hard to

  wrap her brain around. She’d spent so long being convinced that Jake couldn’t like

  her that it was incomprehensible to think that he really might. It was like suddenly

  meeting a dolphin with wings. What was she supposed to do now?

  “Okay, fine,” she said. “So tell me your secret.”

  Colin actually looked embarrassed. “It’s not as good as your secret,” he

  said.

  “I don’t care,” she said. “Spill it.”

  He picked up a pencil from his desk. “I’m in summer school.”

  Lexie sat up again. “Summer school? But, Colin, you’re so smart.”

  “Yeah, right,” he said. “I failed math last semester.”

  “No way!” Lexie said. “Why didn’t you tell me? How did I not know this?”

  “It wasn’t exactly something I wanted to talk about,” Colin said.

  “But I’m your twin!” Lexie said. “You’d think I would have noticed. I feel like

  such a bad sister.”

  “It’s okay,” Colin said. “I asked Mom not to tell you. That’s why I’m not at

  Summerlodge with you.”

  “Suddenly it all makes sense,” Lexie said. “Colin, you could’ve told me. I still

  think you’re smart. Now I just think there’s something wrong with our high-school

  grading system.”

  “There is,” Colin said with a smile. “They have this crazy notion that we

  should be taking notes on geometry instead of building model airplanes.”

  Lexie searched his face. “But you don’t seem upset anymore, like you have

  b
een the last couple of weeks.”

  “Yeah,” he said, tugging a sheet of paper out from under the camera.

  “Look.”

  It was a math quiz. A bright red 100% was emblazoned at the top.

  “Ms. Campbell says I just need to focus, but that I’m very bright,” he

  boasted.

  “Well, I could have told you that anytime, silly,” Lexie said, batting his head

  with the quiz. “You didn’t have to be a major grouch for two weeks to find that

  out.”

  “Sorry I didn’t tell you,” he said.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Jake,” she said.

  “That’s okay,” he said. “If you told me too much of that stuff it would get a

  bit girly for me.”

  Lexie glanced behind him at the screen, where the camera was now

  focused on Sally, who kept looking up at it and laughing.

  “Hmm,” she said, raising her eyebrows at Colin. “Maybe the camera does

  reveal all truth.”

  “Shut up,” he said, flicking it off.

  “You should ask her out!” Lexie said. “She would totally say yes.”

  “Yeah, right,” he said.

  “Would you rather pine over her for three years like I’ve been doing?” Lexie

  said.

  “You’ve been pining over Sally Kim?” Colin joked.

  She threw his pillow at him. “I think she likes you,” she said. “She’s much

  more normal than we thought. It can’t hurt to ask.”

  “Easy for you to say,” he muttered.

  “I could ask her for you,” Lexie teased in a singsong voice.

  “Don’t you dare!” Colin said, picking up Thorn and shoving him along the

  bed at his sister. Lexie shrieked as Thorn knocked her over and started covering

  her face with wet doggy kisses.

  “What is going on in here?” Mrs. Willis said from the doorway. Alanna

  poked her nose in, too, wagging her tail.

  “Colin threw Thorn at me!” Lexie squealed, wrestling Thorn under her so

  she could pin him down.

  The pug snorted and finally lay still, panting happily.

  “She totally deserved it,” Colin said. “Hey, Mom, look.” He held up the quiz.

  “Oh!” Mrs. Willis said with a quick glance at Lexie.

  “It’s okay, I told her,” Colin said.

  “That’ great, honey,” the twins’ mom said, coming over and taking the quiz

  from him. “This is terrific.”

  “Guess I’m not so dumb after all,” Colin said.

  “Duh,” Lexie said.

  “Of course you’re not dumb,” Mrs. Willis said, tousling his hair. He ducked

  away from her hand but smiled.

  “Lexie, how was the volleyball game?” her mom asked, sitting down on the

  bed beside her.

  Lexie’s face fell. She’d nearly managed to forget for a moment all the

  horrible events of the day.

  “Oh, you lost?” her mother said sympathetically, patting her knee.

  “No, we won,” Lexie said. She could tell there were awkward questions

  coming, so she said quickly, “Thanks for bringing me the bikini. It fits perfectly.”

  “Really?” Her mom beamed.

  “Yeah, you totally saved me. I think I’ll take Thorn and Alanna for a walk,”

  Lexie said, scrambling to her feet. She wanted to think about Jake, and she didn’t

  want her mom to ask about him, because she’d have no idea what to say. We

  broke up? We were never really dating? I still want to really date him? It was too complicated. She needed to think.

  “All right,” Mrs. Willis said. “And by the time you get back, your father

  should be home, so we can go out to celebrate Colin’s quiz grade.”

  “And Lexie’s volleyball win,” Colin said loyally.

  “Absolutely.”

  Lexie bundled Thorn off the bed and grabbed her sandals from her room,

  the dogs trotting excitedly behind her. Downstairs, she dug out their leashes from

  the basket by the door, hooked them onto their collars, and opened the door to

  the porch.

  Jake was sitting on her front steps.

  Chapter 17

  Lexie would have jumped back inside, but Thorn and Alanna were already

  galloping over and climbing on Jake with enthusiastic yips.

  “Hey, guys,” he said to them, tugging on their ears. His cute smile made her

  want to gallop over there and climb on him herself. He looked up at Lexie. “Going

  for a walk?”

  “Um – yeah,” she said. What could she say – no, they weren’t? The dogs

  put the leashes on themselves?

  “Can I come?” he said, standing up and sort of awkwardly slouching against

  the porch railing.

  She looked down at the leashes in her hands, blushing. Wouldn’t he rather

  go inside and hang out with Colin?

  “I guess, okay,” she said. She handed him Alanna’s leash, and their fingers

  brushed as he took it from her.

  The dogs scrambled madly down the porch steps, yanking Lexie and Jake

  along behind them. They turned left out of the gate and the pugs led the way

  down the street, snorting and panting and sniffing at everything.

  After a moment, Jake said, “Want to hear something funny?”

  “Sure,” Lexie said.

  “After you left, I saw Riley’s dad picking him up. Riley said that he wanted

  to quit tennis and switch to lifeguard training, and his dad started yelling at him

  that this was what he’s signed up for, that they’d paid for a tennis racket and

  lessons, and dagnabbit, he was going to stick with the whole program for once

  and not quit when things got tough like he always did. They were still shouting at

  each other when they pulled out of the parking lot.”

  Lexie couldn’t hide her smile. “Poor Riley.”

  “Poor Riley! I’d say he deserves it for what he did to you.”

  “He didn’t really do anything to me,” Lexie said. “I wasn’t interested in him.

  I don’t care that much about what he said. I know he’s one of those guys who let

  girls like Bree yank them around and tell them what to think.”

  “An idiot, you mean,” Jake said.

  Lexie smiled again. “Not like you.”

  There was a pause, and then they both started to say something at the

  same time.

  “Go ahead,” Jake said, but before she could, Thorn lunged at the bushes as

  Alanna sprinted into the park. The leashes tangled together and around Lexie.

  “Thorn, get back here,” Lexie said, tugging on him.

  “Whoops,” Jake said. “Here.” He unwound his leash and lifted it over

  Lexie‘s head. For a moment, his arms reached around her, and she closed her

  eyes. If only...

  “Let’s set them loose,” Jake said. She opened her eyes to find him kneeling

  next to Alanna. “That’ll solve the problem.”

  “Okay,” she said, pulling Thorn closer so she could unclip his leash.

  They herded the dogs into the fenced dog run and then shut the gate.

  Thorn ran to the other end and then back while Alanna sat and looked up at

  them, panting.

  “Can we sit down for a minute?” Jake said. He pointed toward the fountain.

  Lexie nodded. She didn’t trust her voice enough to speak. She suddenly

  remembered something... something she’d said two weeks before. Had Jake

  remembered it, too?

  They sat down on a bench where they could still see the dogs. The sun was

&nb
sp; setting, turning the sky and the clouds pink and gold and purple. The drops of

  water in the fountain sparkled as they caught the fading light.

  Jake took a deep breath. Then he reached into his pocket, pulled out

  something, and put it into Lexie’s hand.

  It was a small red origami whale. On the side facing her, he had written,

  LEXIE. .

  She turned it over. The other side read, WILL YOU BE MY GIRLFRIEND...FOR

  REAL? She looked up in surprise and found Jake’s blue-gray eyes only a few inches

  from hers. He reached over and took her free hand.

  “Before you answer,” Jake said, “I want to tell you how sorry I am about the

  last couple of weeks. I didn’t know Bree would be so awful to you. I’ll get you a

  new necklace, an even better one, I promise. I didn’t know how horrible she could

  be.” He looked down at her hand, running his thumb over her knuckles. “And I

  didn’t know I’d end up falling for you.”

  Lexie opened her mouth, but he put his fingers on her lips to stop her. “I’m

  crazy about you, Lexie Willis,” he said. “I think I always have been. But maybe I

  was too dumb to know it. I want to do all those things for you that I never wanted

  to do for me other girlfriends, like buy you flowers and call you every night and

  tell you you’re beautiful and stuff.”

  “But – really?” she said. “Why didn’t you say anything sooner?”

  “I guess it kinda caught me by surprise,” he said. “It took me a while to

  figure out that I really liked pretending to date you. And when I thought about

  anybody else dating you – like Riley – it made me feel all weird and mad and crazy

  inside. Is that dumb?”

  Lexie shook her head, remembering how she had felt when he’d started

  dating Amy.

  “And I’m sorry I kissed you at the pool,” Jake said, “but I swear it wasn’t

  because Bree was watching. I forgot she was there – I forgot anyone else was

  there. You have no idea how cute you are in that bikini, Lexie. And I’d been

  wanting to kiss you for days and I guess... I guess I kind of forgot we were only

  pretending. But I’m sorry if you hated it.”

  “I didn’t hate it,” Lexie said, looking down at his hand holding hers. “That’s

  the problem – I liked it too much, and I thought I wasn’t supposed to.”

  “Then perhaps I’m not sorry,” he said. They smiled at each other.