She shrugged. “The public has a right to know. Don’t you want to know? I mean, I think I’ve figured out who she is but I’d love to confirm my theory.”
I studied her face to gauge if she was testing me. “How did you figure it out?”
She stared at me with sharp eyes. “It’s what she says in her responses and her writing style that makes it completely obvious who Aubrey is. It’s not like I’m dumb.”
My entire body stiffened. First, I’d lost Daniel. Now I was about to be outed. Nausea crept up my throat. How foolish of me to think the writers of our paper wouldn’t know my writing style when we’d been working together for two-plus years now. “Denise, I—”
“It’s Amber Glass,” Denise said, her eyes lighting up. “Aubrey has to be Amber, right? The first post was so obviously a way for her to break up with her boyfriend by tossing out that garbage about him cheating so nobody would blame her for dumping him. Plus, it’s her exact voice in that column. I’m just amazed she used more than one-syllable words.”
“That’s not nice.” I frowned, feeling defensive of Amber. Then I remembered she was with my best friends right now. Mason and Beth. Probably at Trish’s party with Daniel, too. My brows scrunched together and I concentrated, trying to get rid of that awful image of Trish and Daniel. How had Trish managed to take over everyone I cared about? I had to get out of here. “I’m not feeling well. Please tell William I took a cab home. Excuse me . . .”
I swung around and was headed for the door when my gaze froze on the gorgeous boy who stepped in front of me. The boy who was staring back at me as well.
Tall. Crinkles around his brown eyes. Impish grin.
Jake Taylor.
****
“You’re not leaving, are you?” Jake came over and put an arm around me. “The night’s just getting started.”
“I’m not really a late night girl,” I said, and that was so the truth.
“Hmm.” He fingered his chin and his brows crinkled as if he were deep in thought. Then he put his arm around me. “I’ll walk you out.”
“Okay,” I said, unable to figure out Jake’s sudden interest in me. Did a girl really just have to wear a sequined tank, makeup, and ditch her glasses in order to attract the opposite sex? Or was this behavior some kind of competition with Amber? She’d asked Mason out so now Jake wanted to go geek, too?
“After you.” He gestured with his arm, then followed me out the door.
I stepped outside into the cool evening air and realized I hadn’t brought a jacket. Then I had the brilliant realization that I hadn’t called a cab yet. After a deep sigh, I bowed my head. Nothing was going my way tonight. Absolutely nothing. I just wanted to go home.
“Where are you parked?”
I barely heard Jake’s words as I looked around me, trying to figure out where I’d want to meet the cab once I called one. The line outside to get into the club had died down and only a handful of kids still mingled outside the concrete building, mostly the ones having a smoke. The thought that intelligent teens would smoke boggled my mind. Was it possible they hadn’t seen the health statistics? Or, was inhaling smoke just that much fun? Not that I was going to try it.
“Poppy?” Jake waved a hand in front of my face. “Your car?”
“I just . . . need some air,” I managed to choke out. Everything I’d thought I knew had turned out to be wrong. Beth, Mason, Daniel, and even Amber, who had a softer side I’d gotten to know through her emails with Aubrey. And now Jake was paying attention to me after all these years? But he was acting so differently from the boy I knew back then. My throat tightened again. Everything was so confusing right now. A chilly breeze swept over my shoulders and goosebumps prickled my neck. I rubbed my hands up and down my arms, trying to create some heat. “Why didn’t you show up for tutoring, Jake? Don’t you care about your grades?”
Jake laughed at that. “It’s Friday night. Forget about school.”
“How can you just forget about school?” I asked, confused. “This is your future we’re talking about. Grades matter for more than just sports.”
“Don’t you get enough of school during the day?” He chuckled, shaking his head. “What’s so important about grades to my future anyway? My dad never graduated from high school and he’s doing all right. Studying takes time away from what I’m passionate about. Like basketball.”
“But don’t you want to get into a good university?” I asked.
He nudged my hands away and rubbed my shoulders himself. “You’re cold?”
“You didn’t answer my question.” I glanced at Jake’s hands on my shoulders, thinking about all of the times I’d wished he’d touch me. Now he was. But I couldn’t stop thinking about his lack of interest in his future. That didn’t compute. “Aren’t you going to college? You need to keep your grades up if you want to get into a good school.”
“You sound like my guidance counselor, but you’re so much cuter.” He planted his hands on each of my shoulders and leaned toward me. “I know one way to get you to stop talking about school. Believe me, I’d never thinking of doing this with Mr. McCrady.”
Then his mouth was on mine.
Jake Taylor—my longtime crush— was kissing me. I’d thought about this moment for seven years. Now that it was happening? His lips against mine just felt wrong. There were no sparks, no swooning, no feeling of any kind except a bit of annoyance. We were having a serious conversation and then out of nowhere he’d kissed me. Who does that?
I pulled away and stepped back. “Jake, I—”
“Poppy? Is that you?” Beth’s voice came from behind me.
At the sound of my name, I spun around and saw Beth coming toward me from the parking lot. Walking next to her were Amber, Mason, Trish, and Daniel. Wait a minute. What was Daniel doing here? He was supposed to be with Trish at her party.
Daniel’s gaze met mine and a hurt expression flickered across his handsome face. He’d obviously seen Jake kiss me but what I didn’t get was why he seemed to care. I also didn’t get why an enormous feeling of guilt washed over me.
****
Except for my current pending issue in P.E., I was an A student prepping for an education at one of the best colleges in the country. I’d just been kissed for the first time by the most popular boy in school who I’d had a crush on forever. Plus, I was a single girl, who never had a date in her life. So why did seeing Daniel at this moment feel like a dagger piercing my heart?
The new teen posse stopped in front of us while Daniel and Beth—yes, Beth!—passed right by us without so much as a hello. I caught myself watching Daniel walk away.
“Hi, Poppy.” Leave it to Mason, nicest boy in school to speak the first words. The look on his face was one of major confusion, though. Couldn’t really say I blamed him, what with my being majorly confused myself.
“Hi,” I said, giving him a pointed look back lest he forget the strange phenomenon of the most popular girl in school asking him out. The most popular girl who was staring at me as if I’d been caught kissing her ex. Which, well. . . .
“I’m surprised to see you here,” he said, looking more like shocked.
Did he think because he’d been at an It party that I was supposed to be home studying all by myself? I was a teen, this was a teen club, and my half-way decent dance moves had even started coming back to me earlier. I belonged here as much as anyone else. Er, anyone who wasn’t grounded, anyway.
“Why does it surprise you so much that I’m here?” I asked, feeling hurt and left out, like my best friends had deserted me—probably because they had thanks to my assistance. Or rather Aubrey’s assistance.
“You’ve never been to a club before.”
My brows rose. “And you have?”
“Nice job, Jake. Real nice.” Trish stepped into view and studied my makeover with a hand on her hip. “Poppy-corn Pinkleton, how did you get that nasty rash on your forehead? Putting one foot in front of the other isn’t as easy as calculus for you. Is
it?”
Wow, the gloves were off and she was coming out swinging. Did she have to bring up the humiliating nickname from grade school and my run-in with the concrete pillar in the same breath? And why could Amber take Mason out on a date, but it wasn’t all right for me to be kissing Jake? On the sidewalk. In front of everyone. Even the smokers.
I looked away. Oh, how mortifying.
“Party a bust, Trish?” Jake chuckled, but I could tell that it was an annoyed chuckle. At least he seemed to be sticking up for me, though. I appreciated the gesture. “That must be why you and everyone else is here now?”
Ugh, this was pointless.
“This is pointless,” Mason said, as if reading my thoughts. He reached down and squeezed Amber’s hand. “Why don’t we head inside?”
Amber looked up at Mason as if he were her hero. “Sounds like a great idea.”
“Fine by me.” Jake turned to face the new happy couple as they walked past. “Hope the concert was fun. Hope you enjoyed my seat. Not that I care.”
I pressed my fingers to my temples. Didn’t Jake realize that by stating he didn’t care that it showed he did care? But he’d dismissed me as his tutor so I didn’t need to explain this to him. Besides, I was so ready to go home. Then, I remembered my car problem.
“I’m going back inside and look for my friends.” I told Jake this out of courtesy since he had sort of stuck up for me with Trish.
He apparently took what I said in a way other than I intended because he put an arm around me and led me toward the entrance to Crush. “Great. Let’s hit it.”
****
Jake led me inside Crush and then started toward the dance floor, giving me a confused look when I pulled away from him.
“I’m going to find my friends now,” I said, crossing my fingers that I could find William and Denise and that they’d be ready to leave. Calling a cab had been a dumb idea, anyway. And I didn’t want to find Daniel. My feelings about him confused me, and if I got any more confused this night then I feared my brain would explode all over Crush.
Jake put a hand over his ear. “What?”
The music was blasting and the blinking lights were giving me a headache. Needless to say, I didn’t feel like shouting. So I pointed to Jake’s chest and then to the dance floor. Then I pointed to myself and then to a spot far across the room. Not sure what he understood from that, but he nodded and turned to start dancing with a pretty blonde who looked ecstatic to be dancing with Jake Taylor. Best of luck to her.
After pushing through many bodies—aka teens from San Felipe High and whatever other local high schoolers had decided to check out Crush on its opening night—I still couldn’t find William or Denise. I hoped they hadn’t left already. I also didn’t see Daniel—not that I was looking, mind you.
Even though it would probably prove useless, I decided to text William on the chance he had his cell on vibrate since there was no way he’d hear it beep above this blasting song. With music pounding in my ears and strobe lights sweeping through the room, I made my way past the dance floor to the only open seat in the refreshment area next to a boy and a girl who were currently kissing like their lives depended on it. Not that I could throw stones about PDA right now. . . .
I rotated in the chair so my back was to the couple, pulled out my cell, and typed a message to William asking where he was and what time he wanted to leave. Why hadn’t I brought my own car? Oh, right. I’d nearly forgotten about the whole covert sneaking-out-while-grounded thing. That seemed like a lifetime ago.
My screen lit up and told me I had a voicemail. Weird. I hadn’t even heard it ring. I was about to send the call to voicemail when two black-jeaned girl’s legs appeared in front of me. I jumped up, startled. My forehead bopped into the girl’s chin. Now my wound started throbbing again, and I opened my mouth to apologize to whoever this was. “Sorry, I—”
My mouth froze as I looked up into Beth’s narrowed gaze.
“What were you thinking?” she demanded.
I checked behind me but nobody was there. “Are you talking to me?”
“You kissed Jake Taylor.”
Not exactly true. He’d actually kissed me. But that wasn’t the point. “Why is it fine for Mason to date an It girl but not okay for me to date, er, kiss an It boy?”
Beth blew out a breath. “Look, Poppy. You and I both know you’ve had a huge crush on Jake since elementary school. But you can’t be serious about him.”
Yeah, I so wasn’t. “Why not?”
Truth be told, I wanted Beth to clarify it for me. Tonight had been unusually confusing and my perfectly planned life was unraveling rapidly despite the fact that my secret identity was still intact. I mean, the closest guess someone had for Aubrey’s identity was Amber which completely boggled my mind.
Beth gave me a “duh” look. “Jake cheated on Amber. He trashed Mason’s car.”
“You don’t know for sure that he cheated on her,” I said, lamely.
“Everyone knows it, Poppy. Are you really that into him that you’re too blind to see it?”
I looked away, not wanting to admit that Daniel had participated in trashing Mason’s car, too. Speaking of. . . .
“What were you doing with Daniel?” I asked, crossing my arms as I took a quick glance to the right and left. No Daniel. “Were you two on a double date with Amber and Mason?” Okay, my tone sounded a wee bit accusatory but I couldn’t stand the thought that Daniel would be interested in Beth. Or vice versa.
“No, of course not. Mason and Amber were at the concert earlier. I ran into Daniel at Trish’s party. I only came inside with him because he looked so hurt catching you kissing Jake. He said you were supposed to meet him at Crush tonight. Is that true? I thought you were grounded.”
A wave of guilt hit me. “Yes, I agreed to meet Daniel. But he didn’t show up. He went to Trish’s party instead.”
“Why would he do that if he was supposed to meet you here?”
“Because he likes Trish.” My stomach knotted as I pointed out the obvious.
She shook her head. “No, that can’t be. She kept flirting with him at her party and all he’d do is ask around if anyone had seen you. Plus, Daniel went home—”
“Daniel went home?”
“— and Trish is still here,” Beth said, ignoring my interjection. “Why would he leave the club if he liked her?”
I had no idea. And I was so done. Forget my brain exploding—my grey cells were about to atrophy on the spot. “It’s been a long night and I came with William and Denise. Have you seen them anywhere? I’m so ready to go home.”
“I can give you a ride home.” She laced her arm through mine and led me toward the entrance. “I’ll go let Amber know first.”
My feet stopped moving. “Are you insane? You’re going to leave Amber and your fun night out with the most popular girl in school to give Poppy-corn Pinkleton a ride home?”
She frowned. “Why are you calling yourself that juvenile name? Because Trish did? Just stop. I missed you tonight, okay? Amber’s nice but the party wasn’t much fun without you.”
My vision blurred. “Really?”
“Yes.” She squeezed my arm and tears brimmed in her eyes. “I even missed The Pact tonight.”
“Me, too.” I sniffled, wrapping my arm around my best friend and giving her a squeeze. “Thanks for offering me a ride. But I see William and Denise by the door. I’ll catch a ride with them. You go enjoy the rest of your night out.”
“Yeah, it’s so much fun watching Mason and Amber together.” She stared at me so long that I realized, even with him being on a date with Amber, Beth really did have a crush on Mason.
“We’ll talk more later.” I gave her a sympathetic look before I walked away. Who was I to give her a hard time about her crush? Especially after my years-long crush on Jake, which I now realized was based on who he’d been and not who he was now. Now Jake was a guy who didn’t care about school, who openly kissed his tutor out of nowhere when she wa
s waiting to meet a boy, and then who moved on to the closest blonde when I wouldn’t dance with him.
Not my type. Not even close.
I waved to Mason as I walked by him, knowing what a great guy he was and wishing he’d realize how right he and Beth were for each other. But Amber snuggled up against him and he seemed happy. I wondered if it was too late for Beth and him.
As I made my way to the door, I spotted Trish standing alone against the wall. She looked miserable. Probably because her party had been a bust—in large part due to my Dear Aubrey post—or maybe people were just tired of Trish Benson’s meanness. Either way, she hadn’t gotten Daniel to like her and her party had flopped. So why didn’t that give me a warm, fuzzy feeling? What was with the big knot of guilt in my chest?
Oh, right. Because I’d stooped to her level by using my popular advice column against her. Some psychologist I was going to make.
But the worst part of the night came after William and Denise dropped me off a block away from home and I’d snuck safely back in my room without my mom catching me. I finally checked that voicemail on my phone:
Hi, Poppy. It’s Daniel. So sorry about being late to Crush. There was a misunderstanding. . . Trish told me she’d seen you at her party and that I should meet you here. Turns out it was your friend Beth, and not you. Crazy, huh? Beth and I are heading over to Crush now. Finally, we get to meet up outside of school. Can’t wait to see you. Bye.
After listening to his message three times, a gaping hole formed in my chest. Daniel hadn’t done anything wrong. I’d mistrusted him due to my own insecurities and had blown my chance with him big time. He hadn’t been interested in Trish after all. He’d intended to meet me at Crush just like he’d planned. When I heard that Daniel was at Trish’s party I assumed the worst because I’d been jealous.
That’s when I realized I only had myself to blame for losing the boy I liked.
The Crush Dilemma (Dear Aubrey Book 1) Page 14