Andrea and the 5-Day Challenge

by Cindy K. Green

“If you need an escort, I’m sure we have more than enough to go around.”

  “Don’t even start.” I glanced around the room and tried to replace my displeasure with something more pleasant. My gaze stopped on Dion, talking with Luke near a table laid out with snacks.

  “By the way, why don’t you fill me in on what’s going on between you and Dion.”

  “Oh that.” She grinned without an iota of shyness. She peeked over at Dion. He looked at her and smiled.

  Oh, my word! They were like—I don’t know—totally crushing over each other. It couldn’t be. I mean, when had they even gotten together? I doubt Dion frequented literary discussions at the local community college or caught the latest foreign film at the independent theater downtown.

  “Dion’s the best. He asked me to homecoming. Isn’t that perfect?”

  After finding a way to close my gaping mouth, I told her it was great, although my voice lacked any kind of enthusiasm. “How did you guys even…”

  “Come on,” she nudged me forward. “We’re being rude.”

  The next minute I found myself standing in front of the snack table with everyone else. Amy, Seth and Dion were off to the side with cups of soda in their hands and laughing and yakking it up together. It was normal to see Amy and Seth paired off. They had the worst arguments about things like the true meaning of a Jack Kerouac novel. Not real arguments, mind you—literary discussion is what they called them. And at the end, they’d agree to disagree and go off and listen to music or watch TV or something. What could they possibly be talking to Dion about?

  On the other side of the room, Alisha and Mike looked bored sitting together on one of the couches. They weren’t saying a word to each other. So, again, I wondered, why Alisha had agreed to go with him to homecoming.

  Angie and I stood in front of the snack table with Josh and Luke on the opposite side from us. This could be bad. Angie and Josh in the same room were like oil and water. No, it was more like the process of when you split the atom. Kaboom! I hoped they would behave themselves because this was not the time for detonation.

  With all these thoughts going through my head, I hardly had a chance to think about the fact that Luke stood right in front me. We’d had fun private messaging, but now I had to actually look at him and make coherent verbalizations.

  “This is a cool place Amy has down here.” Luke said to me as he picked up a potato chip. He threw it into his mouth followed by a whole handful of M&Ms. This was topped off by a big gulp of soda. I’d never watched Luke eat before (OK, there was that one time, but it was just fascinating the way he wound spaghetti noodles around his fork), but was this normal for him? I didn’t think so. And when he finished and looked at me, his Adam’s apple bobbed up and down like he was having a hard time swallowing. Well, after all that junk was it any wonder?

  “How’s it going, Beanpole?” Josh said to me.

  Anger spiraled in my chest, but I contained it. No need to set Angie off.

  Luke’s shoulders stiffened back and his mouth pulled down into a frown.

  “Knock it off, Josh,” Alisha chided her cousin from the couch.

  “Not to worry, cuz. We’re all friends here, right?” He grinned at me the whole time.

  “Where’s your partner in crime?” Angie asked Josh. “I hear you almost caused a big accident downtown today…Bean-dip,” Angie lifted the container and offered it to Josh on the other side of the table. Her eyes crinkled up as she said the last words. I highly doubted she’d actually been referring to the condiment in her hand.

  Josh didn’t think so, either. His mouth turned down on the right side. “Don’t worry, Ang, there’s enough of me to go around.” As if her comment had been an invitation.

  I didn’t think so.

  Angie’s face started to turn a little red, and it wasn’t from embarrassment. She really hated the guy. “There will be after I throw your lousy excuse for a human being into the chipper.”

  “Harsh,” said Mike from behind.

  Josh wasn’t disturbed at all, from the grin on his face. “The estrogen is sure rolling today.” He leaned toward her over the table. “It’s nice to know you still fantasize about me.”

  “What are you even doing here? Why don’t you dissolve or…” Her hands started flailing toward him, and I thought for sure she was going to slug him right in the face.

  “Or what?” Josh was so smug. This time, I almost hoped she would hit him.

  “Back off, Josh.” It was Seth. He made a threatening figure at six feet tall and broad across the shoulders, with the same auburn hair and flashing hazel eyes as Angie. A freshman at UNC, he was home for an early weekend. On the inside, Seth was totally sweet and easy going. You might say he’s the complete opposite of his sister. For example, he has tons of school spirit and even played basketball in high school when he was at Aubrey. But the one thing they have in common is their need to stand up for the little guy. In this case, his younger sister.

  Amy came to the rescue and pulled Angie away from the table.

  I left Luke to see if I could help out. When I got there, Angie looked like she’d break out into tears any second. This was worrisome as she rarely, if ever, let herself go to that emotional of a place.

  “Why do you let him bait you like that?” Amy was asking.

  “It’s OK, Angie,” I told her. “Everyone knows he’s a total jerk.”

  Alisha joined us just then. “I’m so sorry, Angie. I wouldn’t have brought him, but he asked to come and my dad made me bring him.” Her blue eyes looked a little moist as if she might start crying, too. “Sorry.” Then she escaped up the stairs, probably to find the restroom and fix her smeared mascara.

  “It’s not Alisha’s fault her cousin is such a heinous troll.” Angie snuffed in a breath and wiped her damp eyes. She looked right at me. “Don’t trust him. Ever.”

  “Why do you hate him so much?” I asked.

  “He’s a class-A jerk.”

  “A given. But it’s more than that for you.”

  “Just trust me, OK.” Her eyes were so intense. I wasn’t sure what Josh had done to her, but it must have been pretty bad. Angie never cried.

  “I’ve just got to remember to ignore him. He’s like an annoying gnat encircling my head.” Angie lifted her chin and straightened her t-shirt into place.

  “Don’t believe anything she says about me,” Josh yelled over at us. “It’s just jealousy.”

  “Whatever, Josh,” Angie threw back. “And you haven’t matured since your first growth spurt. Oh, wait; you haven’t had one, yet.”

  “Oh, I don’t know…if I can…recover…from the verbal sparring.” He playfully clutched at his chest like he’d been stabbed. He better be careful. It just might come true.

  Amy walked toward the TV. “I think it’s time for the movie.”

  Luke came to stand next to me. “Is she OK?” He nodded toward Angie.

  “Yeah, she and Josh don’t get along too well.”

  “No kidding. Why is he such a jerk?”

  “I don’t know. When we were younger, he was actually cool. Then he got to high school and starting hanging with another crowd.”

  As everyone gathered around the couches, Luke and I sat together on the smaller of the two.

  Amy started the movie, and then took her seat along with Alisha, Mike, Dion and Seth on the long couch. Angie took the recliner—as far away from Josh as she could get. The DVD came on and it was then that I saw we were watching the latest comic book film. Fitting, since it had been superhero day at school, but not what I’d expected. Of course, I’d been expecting a chick-flick and a leisurely night with my girls. I definitely did not expect to be sitting on a couch with Luke.

  We weren’t alone long as Josh came to sit beside me, which just so happened to be right in the line of sight of Angie. Coincidence? I think not. At least, he stayed quiet even if he was sitting a little too close.

  He knew it, too, because each time he inched closer, he’d grin at
me, and then rotate his gaze to Angie. I sometimes wondered if he liked her and just did these things trying to make her jealous. Oh, it’s hard enough figuring out normal boys like Luke. I didn’t need to delve into the bizarre ones like Josh.

  I, however, had tired of Josh and his overtly friendly approaches. If I could move away from him, I would, but that would mean moving closer to Luke. Uhh, I inwardly groaned. When had this become a couples’ party, anyway? My parents would flip.

  Josh must have picked up on my unhappy vibes because he backed off. That was better. I sat back in the seat and tried to enjoy the movie. It was actually pretty good. Luke and I laughed in the same places over and over. When we did, he’d look at me and smile like it pleased him as much as me that we had the same sense of humor. Why did it please me so much? I’d already decided I didn’t have the heart or the time for him, but it was really hard when flashes of light from the TV lit up his stunning smile and made his brown eyes glow.

  The joy of the evening didn’t last long as Josh moved close again. I guess he noticed that Luke and I were getting a little chummy. He rested his arm over the seat, touching my hair until he slowly started to move it down to my shoulders. That was it!

  I jumped up and went up to the main level of the house.

  Gloria Appleby must have been watching TV in the living room. From the hallway, I could hear the latest edition of some reality show. After wasting a couple minutes in the bathroom and washing my hands, I returned to the basement. I stared at Luke and Josh and the empty space between them. No way was I going back there. I’d deck Josh if he touched me again. Besides, it was getting late. Almost nine-thirty. I should start for home since I had to walk.

  I crept over to the back side of the couch to Amy’s spot. I tapped her on the shoulder. She turned to me with a confused expression. “Is something wrong?”

  “No,” I whispered. “I’m going to head home now.”

  Amy looked alarmed. She got out of her seat and walked with me to the staircase. “What’s the matter?”

  “Nothing,” I whispered and peered over at Luke who happened to glance over his shoulder just then. I waved goodbye to him and returned my attention to Amy. “I’m just tired, and you know I have my recital Saturday. I need to be well rested. Then there’s my curfew.”

  “Oh, right, your curfew. When are your parents going to realize that you are almost seventeen and deserve to stay out longer than nine-thirty on a school night, especially when you are just down a couple streets at my house?”

  “Oh, I don’t know. How about never.” Then I felt guilty that I hadn’t told Amy my curfew had in fact been lengthened for the night. “Actually, my dad said I could stay out an extra hour tonight.”

  “Wait, it’s not even nine-thirty. You have over an hour until curfew.”

  I didn’t even try to come up with a response. Instead, I just looked at her as resolute as I could with my arms at my sides like one of those soldiers who guard Buckingham Palace.

  “Just promise me you aren’t doing this to avoid Luke.”

  My face must have expressed exactly what was going through my mind. To say I’m bad at hiding my emotions would be a huge understatement.

  “You know, I think you’re afraid to allow anything good to happen to you.” Amy crossed her arms over her ample chest, looking way exasperated with me.

  “I’m not afraid.” Liar! Liar! Liar! “Just realistic. I’m trying to be responsible. I have a lot going on this week.”

  “I hate to break it to you, but realistic and avoiding life are not the same thing. Besides, Luke really likes you.”

  “How do you know?”

  “He might have mentioned something to Dion.”

  “Really.” My heart did the proverbial skipping a beat thing.

  “I mean, not anything specific. He is a guy, but I guess he’s just curious about you.”

  “Oh, well, I really don’t have time for his curiosity.”

  “Andi, you need to give yourself a break and have fun for once. You might like it.”

  “Is that what you’re doing with Dion, trying it out like some kind of test drive?”

  “Look, Andrea, this isn’t about me. This is about you. It’s not like I’m telling you to marry the guy. Just go to homecoming with him, and if things work out you guys can be good friends and see what happens. You know, have fun. Do you remember how to have fun?” She was right…again.

  I hadn’t exactly been much fun lately. I examined her face in the dim light, trying to decide if she really just wanted me to loosen up, or if she had some other angle as to why I should go to homecoming with Luke. “I’ll think about it.”

  “It’s all I ask.” She smiled, and I escaped up the stairs.

  A slight wind blew when I made it outside. Thankfully, I had plenty of light to find my way home with the moon shining full and bright and the occasional street lamps littered along the way to my house. I pulled the red hoodie from my sweater over my head and started down the driveway.

  “Hey, Andrea, wait up.” I swiveled around to see Luke darting out of the house and heading right for me.

  I pushed the hoodie back down. What did he want? My heart pitter-pattered, something it had been doing a lot of, lately. I tried to remain calm with an inky night sky and loads of moonlight shimmering overhead. Just breathe.

  11

  “Luke, what are you doing out here?” I wrapped my arms around myself to fight off the chill of the wind. OK, it might be that my blood pressure had dropped, and any second now, I’d be experiencing complete system shut down. What was he doing coming after me like this? And in the dark?

  “Just making sure you’re OK.” He made it to where I waited and slipped his hands into his black leather jacket.

  “I’m fine. A-OK.”

  “I mean, you know…safe.” His gaze met mine, and he had this shy kind of smile on his face.

  Uh! Did he know what he was doing to me and how adorable he was, worrying about my safety? I didn’t know what to say so all I did was smile at him. I hoped it didn’t look as dopey as I felt inside.

  Luke went on. “It’s dark. There might be weirdoes around.”

  Now I had to laugh. “You’re not in California anymore, Dorothy. We have a population of just over 36,000 and a crime rate that is one of the lowest in the state.”

  “Well, you’ve made me feel better about parking my car on the street.”

  We shared a chuckle, but when it died out, we both stood there and didn’t know what else to say.

  Luke finally took on a more serious expression. “I, uh, had a good time messaging tonight.”

  “I did, too. You know a secret about me now.” I playfully pointed at him. “I’d hate to kick your butt if you squeal.” See, serious situation, and I have to make a joke.

  He held up one hand. “It will go with me to the grave.” His mouth formed a straight line as the moonlight flickered off his dark eyes. “I really hated to see you go so soon.”

  “I just need to get home early.”

  “Yeah, I figured.” He kicked a stone on the driveway.

  “Faint heart never won fair lady…er…boy.” Maybe Amy was right. It’s not like we were getting married. Seriously! Change wasn’t such a bad thing, was it? It could be really good. Besides, I needed to let go of some of these worthless fears and just have some fun and relax. My heart did a double beat as I opened my mouth. “Well, there is a coffee house around the corner from here.”

  His gaze shot back to my face as if waiting to hear me actually offering to go somewhere with him.

  Like a fool I kept going. “I guess I could stay out a little longer before going home if you’d like to go.”

  “All right.” He nodded his head. “Wait here a second. Let me run inside and tell Dion I’m leaving.”

  With Luke gone, I started to really think about what I’d done. I’d just asked him to go have coffee with me. Was I ready for this? What if he asked me to homecoming again? For the third time! No
, he had to have too much pride. I mean, what kind of guy asks a girl out numerous times to the same event? A stalker perhaps…or maybe the RIGHT guy.

  No, tonight was just about having some fun—a diversion before the big recital. Nothing more than that. It wasn’t a date. It wasn’t an opening to further homecoming discussion.

  Despite that, my parents would so hate it, especially with so much on the line with my recital. Any second it would hit nine-thirty. I was expected home in exactly sixty minutes, and my parents didn’t know Luke, and without that they would never allow me to go out with him even for a simple cup of coffee around the corner. Guilt squirmed in the pit of my stomach.

  Luke returned, and I started to have second thoughts. I may not like my parents’ rules, but I had to respect them and I knew Luke wouldn’t want me to break their trust. “Luke, I…I…”

  We were interrupted by Luke’s cell phone. He looked at who was calling. “It’s my mom. I better get it. She worries.” He smiled, and then answered it. “Hey, Mom…yeah, I’ll be home soon…I’m sorry Dad called you, but…It’s OK, Mom, I’ll take care of it…all right. See you later.” He hung up, but his whole demeanor had changed. It was as if he carried the world on his back. I could see things were tough for him with his parents still fighting.

  “Um, don’t worry about going for coffee. If you need to get home, I totally understand. I should probably…”

  “No, I really would like to get some coffee with you.”

  I could tell that Luke needed a friend at this precise moment and so I nodded.

  We jumped into his car, which I hadn’t noticed before because it was parked next door behind a big white truck. The same held true with Josh’s vehicle. Then we drove one and a half miles to the Coffee Cup.

  As we walked side by side to the front door, my hand bumped into his (perhaps not accidentally on my part), and all of a sudden I felt the gentle warmth of his fingers wrapped around mine. My heart revved up. I do believe spending time around Luke Ryan might turn out to be detrimental to my health. In fact, if I didn’t watch out, I might have heart failure before even reaching adulthood. And I really thought I was in good shape because I do a lot of swimming and running, but nothing had prepared my heart for this kind of a workout.