“Yeah.” He sits up and shakes his head back and forth slowly. His skin is still slightly pale.
“Put your head down,” I instruct, “Between your legs. I think you fainted.” He does as I tell him, dropping his head down below his knees. “Now take deep breaths.”
He does, and when he looks up a few moments later, the color’s starting to return to his face.
“I don’t know what that was,” he says, “I just… started feeling weak.”
He tries to stand up, but I put my hand on his arm, stopping him. “Don’t,” I say.
“You need to just sit here for a few more seconds, wait until you feel better.”
“I feel fine,” he says, but he stays sitting. The evening sun is shining through the bushes that line either side of Raine’s backyard, and the rays glint off his hair, making it shine. I resist the urge to reach over and push a lock off his forehead. I already have my hand on his arm, and the heat that’s radiating up my fingers from his skin is almost too much to take. “Where is everybody?” he asks.
“I don’t know. I was in the bathroom, and then I came back out, and everyone was gone.” I leave out the part about how Brody kissed me and the part about how I freaked out.
“They probably went to the front yard when Raine’s parents started going ballistic,” he says, “I think I’m going to try to stand up now.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah.” He stands up slowly, and his legs seem sturdier, but I stoop down a little and offer my shoulder, and he wordlessly drapes his arm around me. I still have my hand on him, and all the contact is making my heart race. Once he’s standing up, he looks at me, his blue eyes locking right onto mine. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” I say, somehow knowing he doesn’t want me to make a big deal out of it. “Do you need some water or something?” I look over my shoulder back toward the house. I so don’t want to go in there, especially if Raine and her parents are still screaming at each other in the kitchen, but if Cam wants me to, I will.
“No,” he says, “I’m fine.”
“What the fuck?” Brody comes running into the backyard, his face flushed.
“Where the hell have you guys been?”
“Where have we been?” Cam asks. “Where the hell have you been? We came out and everybody was gone.”
“We went into the front yard,” Brody explains, “After Raine’s parents came out and caught Becca with the beer.” Cam’s hand is now on mine, and Brody’s eyes take it in, and he looks at me, questioning.
I’m about to tell him Cam fainted, when I feel a soft squeeze of pressure on my hand. Cam. Telling me not to say anything.
“Anyway,” I say, pulling my hand out of Cam’s and turning to Brody. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yes,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest and looking at my hand pointedly. “Are you ready to go?”
I turn to Cam, wanting to ask him if he’s okay to drive, wanting to insist that he should ride with us. But he’s giving me that same look, and so all I say is, ”See you later?’
“Yeah,” Cam says, “Later.”
And then I follow Brody to his truck.
***
I’m expecting the whole ride home to be pretty awkward, because hello, Brody kissed me and then I freaked out -- what teenage guy really wants to talk about something like that? But Brody’s full of surprises, because as soon as we’re out of Raine’s driveway, he says, “So let’s talk about the kiss.”
“The kiss?”
“Yeah.” He glances at me and grins.
“Why do we have to talk about it?”
“Why not?”
“Usually kisses are better left unspoken about,” I tell him. The light on the dash beeps for me to put my seatbelt on, because I’m so frazzled that I forgot to put it on when I got in. I slide it over and buckle it. “It’s more romantic that way.”
“That makes sense,” Brody says, nodding. “Or at least it would, if it were a normal kiss.”
“Are you saying my kisses aren’t normal?”
“I’m saying that when I kissed you, you kind of freaked out.”
“I did not!”
“Natalia, you ran inside the house and didn’t come out for fifteen minutes.”
“It wasn’t fifteen minutes.”
He raises his eyebrows skeptically. “All right,” he says, “Fine. I can see you need some time to process this.”
“Don’t be a smartass,” I say.
“We can talk about it tomorrow. At breakfast.”
“Breakfast?”
“Yeah,” he says, “I’ll pick you up at ten.”
“Who says I want to go to breakfast with you?”
“Don’t you?”
I think about it. “Okay,” I say finally, “I’ll see you at ten. But you’re buying, and we can’t spend the whole time talking about the kiss.”
“Can we spend half the time talking about the kiss?”
“How about ten percent of the time?”
“What if I try to kiss you again?”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself.”
We’re in my driveway now, and I say goodbye and then jump out of his truck.
But as I’m walking up the driveway and into my house, my phone starts ringing, and so I pull it out of my bag as I shove my key into the lock and open the door. It’s a number I don’t recognize, and for a second, I think about not answering it.
“Hello?” I say, stepping into my foyer.
“Hey. It’s Cam.”
“Oh,” I say, dropping my bag onto the table near the door. “Hey. Uh, how’d you get my number?”
“Took it out of Brody’s phone.”
“You stole my number out of Brody’s phone?”
“Not stole. Borrowed.”
“Right. I forgot you’re a master borrower.” He has a sexy phone voice, and I think again about how it felt to have my hand on his arm a little while ago. That same rush of heat fills my body.
“Yeah. So um, listen…I just wanted to say thanks. For not making a big deal out of what happened.” His voice is lower now, quieter, and I wonder if he’s still at Raine’s house.
“No problem.” I walk into the kitchen, then open the refrigerator and pull out a bottle of water. My throat is dry, and I down half the bottle in a few gulps. “What did happen, anyway?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean have you ever fainted before?”
There’s silence and then he says, “No.”
“Oh.”
“It was probably low blood sugar or something.”
“Probably.” I think about telling him he should get it checked out, or at least tell his parents or something, but I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to hear that.
“Anyway, um, I wanted to make sure that you don’t…I mean, that you understand that I don’t really want anyone knowing about it.”
“About what?”
“About how I fainted.”
“Oh, okay. But why not?”
“Because if my coach finds out, he might not let me play. And we have a really important game coming up.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry,” I tell him, “Your secret’s safe with me.”
“Thanks, Natalia,” he says, “And we should all hang out again sometime.”
“All of us? Like me, you and Raine?” Is he crazy?
“No, I mean… I just meant that you should come around sometime. Like, to another party.” I put my water down on the counter. So that’s why he’s calling. To try and get me to keep his secret, which is fine. But now he’s pretending to be all nice and acting like we should all hang out so that I’ll be sure to keep my mouth shut.
“Sure,” I say. “Of course, I’m not sure Raine’s really going to be inviting me over again after she put that note in my locker.”
“What note?”
“Oh, she didn’t tell you? She put a note in my locker that said ‘Stay Away.’”
Th
ere’s a pause and then, “That doesn’t sound like something Raine would do.”
But I can tell he doesn’t really believe it. He knows it sounds exactly like something Raine would do. “Anyway, like I said, we should all hang out again sometime. You’d like her if you could get to know her.”
Suddenly, I’m pissed. He wanted me to keep the whole thing about him fainting a secret, and now he’s taking Raine’s side, telling me that I should give her another chance.
Then I remember how it was with him and Brody at the vending machine this morning, and so I fight back the only way I know how. “Sounds great,” I say, “Maybe this weekend? But I’ll have to ask Brody. We’re going to brunch tomorrow, but he didn’t say anything about tomorrow night, so we might be free.”
For a second, I think I’ve done what I set out to do, that I’ve hurt him, because there’s silence on the line. But then he says smoothly, “I love brunch. In fact, brunch sounds great. Me and Raine could join you two.”
“Perfect,” I lie, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of telling him they can’t come.
“Great,” he says, “So I’ll call Brody, and get us invited.”
“Great!”
“Great!”
“Great!” I force my voice to sound cheery, but as soon as I hang up, my anger dissipates and all I can think about is that tomorrow morning me, Cam, Brody, and Raine, are all going to be hanging out. Together. In the same room. Just the four of us. I sit down at the kitchen table and bury my head in my hands.
Chapter Two
Campbell
When I get off the phone with Natalia, Raine’s coming out of the living room where she was once again talking to her folks, and I wonder what’s going on. There hasn’t been any screaming and yelling for a while now, so I couldn’t hear what they were discussing.
Becca and Teri took off a few minutes ago and so it’s just us now.
But Raine sees me putting my cell away and her eyebrows raise.
“Who was that?” she smiles, keeping her tone light, like it’s no big deal.
I shrug. It’s already seeming like a really dumb idea to have invited me and Raine along to brunch tomorrow. But something about how Natalia was acting, throwing Brody in my face like that, like I even give a shit, really pissed me off.
“Brody and Natalia want us to come to breakfast with them in the morning.”
Raine folds her arms and her eyes narrow. “Please tell me you’re joking.”
“Technically it’s brunch, not breakfast.” I flash what I hope is a winning smile.
“So that was Brody you were talking to?”
I sort of grunt and nod my head.
“I don’t want to go.”
“Come on,” I say, “It might be kind of funny, watching those two try to hit it off?
Pretty ridiculous couple if you ask me. We’ll have enough gossip for days.”
Raine walks closer, her high heels clacking on the hardwood floor of the sun porch. “Well, she’s definitely not hot enough for him, that’s for sure. But—I don’t know.” She cocks her head, thinks about it. “They might actually be okay together.”
I smirk. “You think?”
“Why, are you jealous?”
“Of Brody? Hell no.” I grab her by the wrist and pull her toward me. She falls onto my lap. “So you’ll go with me?”
“Sure,” she says, sighing. “I guess I’m going to have to get to know the new girl better if she’s going to be dating your best friend.”
“That’s what I told—“ I catch myself at the last second. “…Him. I was telling Brody it would be cool for us to all hang out.”
Shit, I’m really getting myself into a hole on this one.
But If Raine knew that I was actually talking with Natalia just now…it wouldn’t be pretty. Especially after she left that note in Natalia’s locker, which, let’s face it, sounds exactly like the kind of fucked up ridiculous shit she’d do.
Raine holds onto me and rests her cheek against my shoulder, then whispers in my ear. “You look so hot tonight.”
A wave of dizziness crashes over me and I feel for a moment like I might faint again. “Whoa.”
She leans back and looks at me. “You okay?”
“Yeah. Just…my rib. I got a nasty hit in football practice yesterday. Still hurts.”
The spell is passing but my heart’s still beating fast. And I’m sweating.
For a moment it occurs to me that I felt better when Natalia was around. Even when we were on the phone arguing a minute ago. I wasn’t all spazzy and nervous like I am right now.
Whatever, I think. It’s totally a coincidence. I must be dehydrated or something.
I’ll pick up some Gatorade on my way home and I’ll be fine.
“Maybe I should get you an icepack or something?” Raine asks.
“No. I’m okay. Really.”
“Good. Want a beer?”
“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.”
She cocks her head. “Why not?”
“Because. We’re in your house and your parents were really pissed off about the drinking.”
She laughs and claps her hands together. “Oh Cam. You’re the most funny boy I know. Like for real. My parents don’t even care.”
I laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous, they were just freaking the fuck out. Your dad was so pissed I thought he was going to give himself a heart attack.”
She puts a hand on one hip and now an eyebrow arcs, as if to say, ‘I’m totally for real and hotter than ever’. It’s a sexy look. I wonder if she’s practiced it before. “You don’t believe me?” she says. “Watch.”
She turns and yells towards the living room. “Mom, dad! Come here, right now.”
Her voice is strong and commanding.
I sit up straighter and Raine gets up and perches on the arm of the couch next to me. “Hey, hey, Raine—what the hell are you doing?” The last thing I need is her parents coming in here and everyone starting to fight again. I’m not really up for a round three.
She looks at me with a sly grin. “Proving it to you. I mean what I say, Cam.”
This chick is wild. I mean, not forty minutes ago her parents were giving her the rundown like I couldn’t believe. They were roasting her, telling her she was going to be grounded, going to lose her car for a week, all kinds of stuff. They weren’t playing around.
And now she’s calling them in to…do what exactly? Maybe it’s a big joke and she’s just going to ask them if I can have a Diet Coke or something.
Her mom and dad come into the room looking haggard, like they’ve both been awake for a few days. Her dad’s eyes are dark and baggy, her mom’s face pale.
“What is it honey?” Her mother says. Neither of them so much as look at me.
“Cam wants a beer. Is it all right—“
“No I don’t,” I say, holding my hands up. “I’m fine, Mister and Mrs. Marsden.”
“No, he’s not fine, he wants a few beers. Can he have the last of your Sam Adams, dad?”
“Oh. Sure. Let me go get them. Is three all right, Cam?”
“What?”
“Three. Or four. I think I have a Pale Ale left as well.”
“Sir, honestly—“
“Yes, daddy, please bring all four.”
I stare at her. “Raine, come on.”
“Relax, I told you they’re cool. Right mom?”
Her mom nods tiredly. “Yes, darling. But we are exhausted. It’s been a long night.” Her mother just stands there with her arms dangling limply at her sides.
A moment later, Mr. Marsden appears, and he’s carrying four bottles, two in each hand. He places them on the ornate glass and iron table in the center of the porch.
“Good?”
“Very good. Okay you two, run along to bed!” Raine says, waving her fingers and dismissing them.
“Thanks honey,” her mom says, and then she and Raine’s dad leave the room.
I stare at the empty doorwa
y. “What. The. Fuck.”
Raine is still sitting on the arm of the couch. She smiles down at me. “Told you.”
“I saw them yelling at you, threatening you…just like half an hour ago.”
“Cam, you don’t know my parents. They’re so into playing up how serious and strict they are when everyone’s around. But once it’s just me and them, they’re totally different.”
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