Resisting the Rebel

by Lisa Brown Roberts

  “Keep on doing that closure thing?” J.T. said between gasps of laugher. “Dude, that was cold.”

  “I know, I know. But damn. You saw how crazy she is!”

  “Yeah. Wow. She makes Mandy look boring.”

  Caleb stopped laughing. “You did not just slam your friend and my girlfriend.”

  J.T. grinned. “You mean fake girlfriend.”

  Caleb turned away and scowled out the windshield.

  “Kidding,” J.T. said. “I know you like her. For real.”

  Caleb glanced at him. “You do?”

  J.T. rolled his eyes. “Benefits of a gay friend. I don’t miss much when it comes to that stuff.”

  Friend? Caleb turned to stare out the windshield again.

  “Anyway, you don’t need a stalker. That was just getting in the way.”

  Caleb turned back to him. “But it was my excuse for the whole idea. How I got Mandy to agree to be my fake girlfriend.”

  J.T. leaned back to study him. “Excuse? So you’re saying you were into Mandy from the start? This didn’t just happen because you guys started the fake thing and you accidentally fell for her?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe. Yes. Damn it. I’m so confused.” Caleb blew out a long breath.

  “Well, then. It’s a good thing the Blue Ranger is here to save your ass and help you get the girl.”

  Caleb locked eyes with him, and then he grinned, daring to hope that maybe it was true. “Yeah. Maybe it is.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  Lies

  Thursday, September 27

  Mandy hovered at the edge of the parking lot watching Elle and Caleb. That was some serious drama going down. Her stomach twisted in knots as she wondered if maybe they were getting back together. Just thinking about it made her want to…to…

  “Hey, Mandy. You working tonight?”

  She whirled around to see Gus approaching, his crooked grin making her forget about Caleb for a second.

  She nodded, tugging at her hair. “From five until closing.”

  “Cool. Mind if I come by?”

  Her heart rate picked up considerably. She glanced toward Caleb and Elle, who were still in high drama mode, Elle’s hands flying around and Caleb stepping away from her.

  “Sure. Oh, but there’s a birthday party from six until seven thirty. Don’t come then—it’ll be crazy.” She smiled.

  Gus nodded. “Awesome. Maybe you can take a break with me?” He kicked his feet on the ground. “I just…sort of need to talk to someone. Someone nice, like you.”

  Her pulse fluttered. This was what she needed. Sweet, adorable, perfect little Gus. Not smart-ass, broody, hot-kissing Caleb. She nodded. “Sounds great.”

  He shot her another grin. “Hey, do you need a ride home?”

  Wow. Totally unexpected. “Uh…Cammie’s giving me a ride.” She glanced around, for once wishing her best friend didn’t have a car.

  “Okay, cool. I’ll see you later.” He lifted his chin and strolled away, whistling. Which was so dorky and cute…just like him.

  She stared after him, wondering how her day had turned so crazy. Kissing Caleb this morning and now…this. She took a deep breath. Things were getting out of control. She had to fake break up with Caleb, especially now.

  She glanced across the parking lot and saw J.T. and Caleb practically sprinting to Caleb’s car. Huh. That was weird.

  “Mandy? Can I talk to you for a minute?”

  She flinched at the sound of Kay’s voice, then turned to face her.

  “I heard from Neuro Blastr. He’s confirmed for the dance.”

  “That’s great.” Kay looked almost nervous. “I know…” She cleared her throat and started again. “Look, you and I aren’t really friends, but I wanted to warn you. About Gus. He’s not…”

  Mandy felt her hackles rise defensively, but she waited.

  “He…uh…let’s just say, he’s not such a good guy when you’re on a date with him.” She frowned. “Do you get what I’m saying?”

  Righteous anger boiled inside Mandy. How could Kay do this? Kay had major gossip reach, which was probably why her lies were spreading. Mandy glared at her. “I can’t believe this, Kay. Why are you spreading lies about Gus? Is it because he broke up with you? You don’t want to see him with someone else?”

  Kay stepped back, looking as if Mandy had slapped her. “No! That’s not it at all.” She stuck her hands on her hips, glaring. “Look, Mandy, the truth is Gus is only interested in one thing from you. He doesn’t actually like you.”

  Mandy felt like she’d been sucker punched, almost crumpling from Kay’s words. Then she reminded herself that Kay was just jealous. That Kay had always hated her. She stood up straight, inhaling and exhaling like she did when she meditated. She would not go ballistic on her, because that was totally bad karma.

  Anger only leads to more anger. Deflect and redirect it, and peace will take its place.

  “I’m sorry you’re so hurt from the breakup, Kay. But it’s not okay for you to spread lies just because you’re not over him. I know Gus. I’ve known him since kindergarten. He’s a great guy. You may have convinced other people in this school, but you’re never going to get his oldest friend to turn on him. Give it a rest.”

  Kay’s mouth dropped open. “It must be nice to live in that dreamy little hippie bubble of reality, Mandy. He’s not a great—”

  Mandy put up a hand. “We’re done here, okay? And please stop spreading lies. It’s totally bad karma, in case you didn’t know.” Then she spun around, making a beeline across the lot toward Cammie’s car. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed Caleb’s car tear out of the lot. It almost looked like he and J.T. were laughing together. But that didn’t make sense…

  She shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. This had been the craziest day ever. The thing was, she’d given Kay a hard time for lying, but she needed to stop lying, too. Stop pretending to be Caleb’s girlfriend. She had to break up with him, no matter what he said about Elle stalking him.

  No matter how special their snow globe day had been.

  No matter how much that kiss had almost convinced her to stick around for another taste…or made her wonder if he might actually have feelings for her.

  The whole thing was a total fiasco and had to stop. She’d call him tonight after she got off work and convince him that they had to fake break up, before things got any crazier.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Through Being Cool

  Tuesday, September 27

  Caleb and his dad sat across from each other at their long dining table, eating a casserole Helen had made and wilted salad from a bag. His dad drank scotch on the rocks and Caleb drank water, wishing he could have a scotch, too, because dinners with his dad were always painful.

  “So how was the baking on Sunday?” His dad sipped from his glass, eyeing Caleb over the rim.

  This was the first dinner they’d eaten together in over a week, which in a normal house might mean they’d have a lot to talk about it. But their house wasn’t normal.

  Caleb shrugged. “Okay.”

  “Just okay? Helen told me the kids were nice, that it was a lot of fun.”

  Helen. Always trying to find a way to force a connection between him and his dad. He loved her, but he wished she’d stop trying to force something that wasn’t ever going to happen.

  “Yeah,” Caleb said, deciding to give an inch, but no more. “It wasn’t as awful as I thought it would be.”

  His dad set his glass on the table with a thunk. “Caleb. Why is it so hard for you to get along with people?”

  And they were off to the races.

  “It’s not hard. I just prefer being by myself.”

  “Just like your mother,” his dad muttered under his breath, and Caleb’s fists clenched under the table.

  They sat in silence, chewing and swallowing, staring at the table instead of each other, until his dad spoke again.

  “How’s calc going?”

&nbs
p; Another crappy conversation topic. “It’s going. Not great, but I’ll pass it.”

  His dad frowned. “I’ve told you I can help—”

  “I don’t want your help. I’m not going to be an engineer. Writers don’t need calc.”

  His father drained the last of the scotch from his glass and sighed. “Caleb. You still want to get into a decent college and—”

  “If I go to college. Maybe I’ll just hit the road and—”

  “You’re going to college, Caleb. You can do whatever crazy road trips you want during the summers, but you’re—”

  “I think you forgot this is my life we’re talking about, not yours.”

  “And you’re not going to ruin it before it’s even started.”

  They glared at each other across the table, and Caleb wondered if he’d look like his dad when he was fifty—wrinkles around his eyes, strands of silver in his dark hair, and a face as determined and pissed off as he knew his own was.

  Caleb pushed back from the table, grabbing his empty plate and glass. “I’ve gotta be somewhere.” He turned to leave the dining room, but his father called after him.

  “This conversation isn’t finished, Caleb.”

  “Yeah,” Caleb muttered. “It is.”

  The mall was surprisingly busy for a weeknight. Caleb took in the groups of giggling girls carrying tiny shopping bags with tissue paper peeking out of the tops, moms pushing strollers, senior citizens power walking, and tourists wandering wide-eyed, hand in hand, like they’d never seen an Urban Outfitters or a pretzel shop before.

  Maybe he’d write a story about this later, the way people congregated in these shrines built to spending money, instead of doing something real.

  Yeah, he was in a lousy mood, judging hundreds of people all at once. Whatever. He wasn’t even sure why the hell he’d come here after he’d stormed out of the house, pissed off at his dad. But when he stopped to study the mall directory, he knew exactly why he’d come here. Because he was stupid.

  Stupid in love.

  Build-a-Buddy was smack in the middle of the mall, by the indoor play area full of screaming kids and exhausted parents lounging on benches, ignoring their offspring. If the government needed to get secrets out of foreign spies, this would be the perfect place to take them, because this place was a freaking nightmare.

  His gaze zeroed in on the brightly lit store packed full of kids and parents smiling indulgently as their evil spawn tore through the aisles clutching tiny clothes and creepy unstuffed animal carcasses.

  How the hell did Mandy stand working there?

  He spotted her right away; as usual she was hard to miss with that fiery red hair. She wore a blue polo shirt and khaki pants, which he knew she must hate. He smiled, imagining how much it must gall her to trade in her disco clothes for that awful uniform.

  Cammie was there, too, her hair piled on top of her head, a pencil sticking out of it. She looked frazzled as swarms of little kids danced around her, shoving limp animals in her face.

  Caleb moved closer, hovering in the entrance. This must be the crowd from the birthday party. Some of the little kids wore party hats and one girl whose hair was as red as Mandy’s had a giant “I am 6!” button on her T-shirt and chocolate icing smeared on her cheek.

  “I want the raccoon and the bear!” the little girl demanded, stomping her foot. Mandy smiled at her, not losing patience the way he would.

  “Hey, Gilly, take a chill pill.”

  Caleb glanced toward the guy who’d just reprimanded the little kid. He lounged against the wall, his arm draped around a girl with short spiky dark hair. He recognized them from school. Lifeguard dude. Weird name—Suede? Slade? The girl was one of those overachiever types; he was surprised she hadn’t been at his house baking on Sunday.

  Maybe the little redhead was related to one of them. He didn’t have any cousins, but he imagined that chaperoning a birthday party might be something people with actual families did for each other. The tiny redhead looked up at Slade and grinned, looking sort of misty-eyed like Mandy did when Gus was around. Okay, so definitely not Slade’s little sister.

  “Gillian,” said Slade’s girlfriend. “What did we talk about? Best behavior, remember?” She glanced up at Slade and they shared one of those disgusting couple smiles, the kind that usually made him roll his eyes.

  Annoyed, Caleb refocused on Mandy, who hadn’t noticed him yet. She knelt down to talk to the birthday girl. “You’re having a great birthday, aren’t you?” Mandy asked, sounding like she was the excited six-year-old.

  The girl nodded. “But I want two animals, not just one.”

  A dark-haired little boy wandered over, holding out an unstuffed bear to the girl. “You can have mine if you want,” he said.

  No way, little dude, Caleb thought. Do not let that chick walk all over you.

  Mandy glanced up at Slade and his girlfriend, who were frowning like they wanted to open a can of whoop-ass on the little redhead. Caleb glanced around, wondering where the birthday girl’s parents were.

  He remembered the last birthday party his mom had arranged for him. Chuck E. Cheese’s. Totally unoriginal, but it was what he’d wanted when he turned seven. J.T. had been there, along with a handful of other kids from the second grade. He squeezed his eyes shut, shoving away the memory of his mom carrying out a chocolate cake covered with candles, singing off-key and making him laugh.

  “What are you doing here?”

  He opened his eyes, startled to find Cammie staring him down, arms folded over her blue polo shirt, which couldn’t hide her impressive rack. Which he totally shouldn’t be noticing since he was here to see his fake-need-to-make-it-real girlfriend.

  “Just came by to say hi to my girlfriend. Didn’t know I needed your permission.”

  He glanced at Mandy, who’d just now noticed him, her eyes wide with surprise. She frowned, then refocused on the birthday girl, who was launching into a nuclear meltdown. Slade and his girlfriend rushed over to help, and Caleb decided there wasn’t enough money in the world to make him work at a place like this.

  “Don’t mess with my girl, dude,” Cammie said, her voice full of I-will-kick-your-ass warning. “Maybe it’s time for this stupid fake thing to end and for you to back off. I don’t want to see her get hurt.”

  He closed his eyes, frustration snaking through him and making him want to lash out, but instead he faced Cammie head-on, deciding he didn’t care if she could read him like a book. “I would never hurt her,” he said through gritted teeth.

  Her eyes widened and she stepped closer. “Holy crap. You really do like her.” She darted an annoyed glance at Mandy. “That girl’s an idiot sometimes.”

  “Don’t call her that,” he snapped. He glowered at her, and she grinned.

  “Maybe there’s hope for you yet, Torrs.”

  A scowling older woman appeared from the back of the store motioning Cammie to get back to work.

  “Come back around eight forty-five,” Cammie whispered. “Our manager will be gone and you can hang out while we close up.”

  Surprised by the invitation, Caleb watched Cammie rush back into the fray of hysterical kids. Mandy sat at the giant stuffing machine now, her foot working the pedal as she stuffed the wild birthday girl’s raccoon.

  Slade and his girlfriend watched, laughing together, their arms wrapped around each other, and Caleb’s gut clenched.

  He turned and left the store, glancing at his phone. He had a lot of time to kill before closing time. He decided to get something to eat, even though he wasn’t really hungry.

  There was a line at the pretzel shop, so Caleb opened the Kindle app on his phone and resumed reading a depressing novel about a guy whose family had abandoned him as a child, leaving him to make it on his own. Perfect for his mood.

  As he moved closer to the counter, he glanced up and saw Gus paying for his purchase. Shit. He shoved his phone in his pocket and glared at Gus’s back until he turned around, carrying two drinks and a
bag.

  Gus hesitated when he saw Caleb, then a smug smirk spread across his stupid face.

  “You don’t seem like a mall guy,” Gus said, pausing next to him.

  Caleb narrowed his eyes, imagining doing all sorts of un-Mandy-approved things with the lemonade.

  Gus shifted his feet, and Caleb hoped that meant he was feeling intimidated. “So…you taking Mandy to homecoming?” Gus asked, and something about the look in his eyes really made Caleb wish they were alone in a parking lot.

  “Yeah,” Caleb said, hoping to convey all sorts of back-off messages with one word.

  “Huh. Haven’t seen you do a prom-posal.” Gus’s eyes narrowed.

  Shit. Back to that stupid stuff. Not to mention the fact that he’d just told the guy Mandy wanted to go the dance with that she already had a date. With him.

  “Not my thing,” Caleb growled.

  “That’s too bad, since it’s definitely her thing. You’d think her boyfriend would know that.”

  Caleb stepped out of the line, getting in Gus’s face. “You don’t know anything about Mandy and me, dude. So back the hell off.”

  Gus swallowed and blinked, but then that stupid smug look was back. He shrugged and stepped back. “Whatever. Just looking out for my friend.” Then he turned and walked away, whistling.

  Caleb contemplated what he’d just done.

  Crap. Mandy was going to kill him.

  …

  Mandy wiped a hand across her damp forehead. Tonight had been exhausting. That birthday party had been crazy, especially the birthday girl, who’d been hell on wheels. Trina, the birthday girl’s babysitter, had warned her but she’d still been surprised.

  At least everyone was gone now, including their cranky manager. She couldn’t wait to get out of here and maybe stop by Starbucks with Cammie on their way home. And talk about why Caleb had shown up, and what he and Cammie had been whispering about before he left.

  Mandy went to lower the metal gate closing the store off from the mall and almost screamed when Caleb appeared, ducking under the gate.

  “What are you doing here?” she gasped.

  He shrugged. “Teddy bear emergency. I hear you can hook me up.”