by Cecily Wolfe
Conner nodded, forcing himself not to look back as he left the library, taking the sidewalk down the block it took to reach the drug store where all the employees knew him and Maya as ‘the library kids.’ They had stopped in on the way to the library and on the way home so many times over the past six years that the employees could predict what they would buy.
“Hey, where’s your girlfriend?” the guy at the photo counter asked, teasing but now that Conner considered everything, maybe not. Conner smiled as he moved past the counter, headed towards the freezer aisle.
“Hey yourself, Jack. She’s at the library, but I’m headed back after getting us some snacks.”
He knew exactly where the ice cream shelves were, and although there weren’t as many choices as he would have in a grocery store, the important ones were there, as Maya would say.
Ice cream bars, both fudge and vanilla ice cream with chocolate coating, orange Push-Ups, ice cream cones with chocolate and nut topping, and Maya’s favorite, ice cream sandwiches. Just the basic vanilla ice cream with chocolate wafers, simple yet perfect.
Conner hoped that Steve hadn’t said anything to her about what Conner was doing, or what he was buying. He wondered if she even wondered where he was, or if she was sitting in the break room reading, happy that he wasn’t around to hassle her about prom or the job.
He opened the glass door and the frigid air that hit him caused him to suck in a breath as he took three ice cream sandwiches from the shelf. He waved to Jack as he headed towards the front cash register, paid for the ice cream as the cashier, Janelle, made small talk with him, asking about Maya first and foremost.
Conner reassured her that Maya was fine, wondering why he wasn’t able to reassure himself as well, and began the short walk back to the library, hoping that even if Maya didn’t fully accept the ice cream as a peace offering, she would be happy with it as an offering from a friend, and appreciate his desire to make her feel better.
Lindsay had rattled her, Maya knew, and there was no denying it.
She sat in the break room by herself, for once without Conner or a book. No, that wasn’t true. There had been a few times, times she could count on one hand, when Conner was sick and she was at the library, and in this room, alone. She usually had a book with her, because inevitably she would have time to read if she didn’t have one.
There was no reason for her to wreck a good opportunity because she and Conner couldn’t get along. Letting Conner get the upper hand, even if he didn’t realize he was doing it, was not part of her plan for the summer, no matter how much she cared about him.
Why did she have to choose between the job and him? Conner was usually so easygoing, and always supportive, just as she had always been on his side no matter what.
How could she tell him that she was in love with him if she was mad at him, when she was furious at the whole situation that was keeping them apart?
Would he believe her if she did tell him, considering how she had been avoiding him and when she wasn’t, riding this big mood swing that confused her as much as it probably did him?
She folded her arms on the table and rested her head on them, sighing as she wondered where he was. He had to take his break too, but was he so annoyed with her that he didn’t want to be in the same room as she was?
When he did show up, whether during their break or after, she knew she had to play it cool since Lindsay was paying such close attention. This wasn’t the place or time to hash this thing out.
She wasn’t that great of an actress, though, so making it seem like everything was fine between them when it absolutely wasn’t was a problem. Conner could be convincing because he really believed she was going to relent.
The idea made her head throb, and she took deep breaths with her head facing the table, cradled in her crossed arms, in an attempt to ease it. Her hair draped over her arms, and she was nearly asleep when she felt the weight of it shift.
“Hey, you can’t fall asleep when there’s ice cream to eat.”
She would recognize Conner’s voice anywhere, the reassuring sound of it a comfort even when he was the source of her stress.
He had moved her ponytail aside, so she rolled her head sideways and peeked out from behind her elbow. Sure enough, he was holding three ice cream bars, the regular kind with vanilla ice cream and chocolate wafers.
Three?
As if he knew what she was thinking, he held on out to her and sighed dramatically.
“Do you think I could get away with bringing two back instead of three, with Steve right out front?”
That was true, she knew. Steve ate everything, even some things that probably were not edible. Like week old donuts. Sticky popsicles left over from summer events . . . in February.
She leaned back in the chair and took the ice cream sandwich with a nod.
“Thanks. I didn’t see you leave, or I could have gone with you.”
When he took the chair beside her and sat down, he leaned in close for a moment, and Maya held her empty hand back from reaching out to touch him. What good would that do, when nothing was resolved and it would make it more difficult to have that moment close to him.
He wouldn’t mind, since they had always held hands and rested against each other, unafraid to be physically close as they were emotionally.
There was a difference now, though. That kiss . . . and her desire to repeat it. Except the slapping part.
Or maybe not.
“I saw Lindsay talking to you. Anything wrong?”
Conner had unwrapped the top part of his ice cream sandwich and held it up for a bite. Their unwrapping techniques had always been a point of friendly contention between them. She tore the paper off hers with abandon and took large bites, savoring the flavors as long as she could before it melted in her mouth.
Conner chewed carefully instead, which she didn’t understand. How could you chew ice cream?
“Maya. Are you sure you’re okay? It looked like whatever went on between you and Lindsay was pretty intense.”
She couldn’t just stare as he chewed his ice cream, Maya knew, looking down at her own. If she didn’t start eating it, the warmth of her hand would make it melt faster, so she started to pull the paper away in a spiral fashion. Conner was watching her carefully, as if he was worried about her response.
“Everything’s fine. I have a headache is all. The ice cream should help.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie, she considered. She did have a headache, and cold food and drinks did help. Conner knew this, just as he knew what her headache triggers were. She wasn’t quite prepared for what he said next, or the anger it inspired in her.
“Oh, okay. I get it,” he nodded and sat back in his chair, taking a small bite of his ice cream sandwich as he did. “That time of the month, huh?”
Why did boys blame everything on that, as if nothing else in the world could ever cause a girl to be upset? It felt like a cheap shot, although she knew that he didn’t mean it that way.
She pointed her ice cream sandwich at him like a weapon.
“Don’t you dare blame this on anything except you. It’s your fault I’m stressed out and angry, and trying to manipulate me is making it worse.”
To his credit, Conner looked confused for a moment.
“What? But I know that you sometimes get headaches when it’s that time . . .”
She stopped him, standing up and slapping the ice cream sandwich on the table in front of him. It was a crying shame to treat it that way, which was part of the reason why she felt tears behind her eyes. Tears she refused to let fall in front of him.
“First that kiss, and now ice cream. Stop trying to get me to let you win. Fight me fair for this job, or we’re through.”
Chapter Twenty Six
Fight fair? Why did they have to fight at all?
Conner was about to ask Maya exactly that, but Steve suddenly appeared in the break room, looking suspiciously like he had been running, or at least moving pretty quickl
y, to get there. He had put Steve’s ice cream sandwich in the freezer above the refrigerator before he had given Maya hers, figuring that Steve could eat it when it took his own break, or, less likely, when they all left when the library closed.
Steve wasn’t one to leave food waiting, but his expression didn’t exactly speak to a concern for the fate of his ice cream.
“Is there a problem?”
Maya was still staring at Conner when Steve asked the question, as if she didn’t even notice the librarian was there.
“Uh,” Conner began, his gaze shifting from Maya’s determined stare and Steve’s frown. “Your ice cream sandwich is in the freezer.”
Steve’s eyebrows shot up, and he shook his head.
“Seriously, you guys are too loud. I don’t know what’s going on, but you need to get your act together.”
Maya broke out of her trance and finally looked over at Steve.
“Oh, sorry. You know how we get sometimes.”
What did she mean by that, Conner wondered, watching her as she outright lied to Steve. She was a terrible actress, and she knew it, so why was she even bothering?
Steve wasn’t buying it, but before he could verbally protest, his head started to shake and Maya continued.
“We didn’t realize how loud we were talking. Not a problem at all.”
Her smile was big and fake and Conner cringed just looking at it. Steve continued to shake his head as he walked over to the freezer and took his ice cream sandwich out. He turned his back to them, unwrapping the ice cream as he walked away.
Conner figured it would be gone by the time Steve entered the public service area, in about three bites.
“I will not let you jeopardize my chance at this job. What if Steve says something to Lindsay?”
Maya’s hiss was still loud, still most likely audible from where Steve was moving away. Was that what Lindsay was talking to her about, the job? And why would she be worried that Steve would tell the manager that both of them were being loud enough for Steve to hear from the front desk? Wouldn’t that make both of them look bad?
“Why do we have to fight at all, Maya?”
She lifted her chin, her ponytail dipping behind her back as she moved, interrupting him with barely controlled anger.
“I thought about that. About waiting. You’re trying to wear me down now, so I’ll back off the job and let you have it. Well, I won’t.”
Her hand reached out and snatched the mashed ice cream sandwich from the table. She shoved it into the trash can’s metal flap, almost catching her hand in her hurry. Conner wanted to grab her and push her back into the chair, to tell her that getting upset over all of this wasn’t necessary.
But he wanted the job. She wanted the job. There was no way to get around either of those facts. Worse, she thought he was manipulating her, which wasn’t true at all.
Could he prove that, though? Was she even willing to listen to him try?
Her voice wavered, but her focus was steely, her gaze hard and accusatory.
“No more arguing. Just work. Agreed?”
Everything had happened so fast, Conner wasn’t quite sure what he was supposed to agree to. Not to fight with her? Did that mean she wasn’t mad, because she sure looked like she was, and there was no way she was going to act like nothing was wrong.
It wasn’t her style, and in a world that seemed to do exactly that, he had always appreciated that she was honest and forthright, even when the truth hurt.
Not everyone liked how direct Maya was, but Conner had always known where he stood with her, and felt secure in that knowledge. Now, he found himself perched on some slippery slope, one that no ice cream sandwich offering could pull him back from.
He reached out his right hand, hoping that she would accept it as confirmation that he was willing to put their disagreement over the job aside, and ideally, everything else that had happened over the past few days.
Maya looked at his hand, blinking as if to clear her sight to be sure what she was seeing in front of her, but slowly and steadily lifted hers to grasp it. He held on tight, as if he never wanted to let go of her.
He didn’t.
Now that it was settled, Maya figured she should be feeling better.
Standing in front of a row of Nancy Drew mysteries in the children’s fiction shelves, she stared at the spines, willing herself to focus, to be sure everything she did was perfect. More than perfect. She had to stand out, above Conner in any way possible.
When she was in elementary school, she had read all of Nancy Drew, even though a lot of the other girls her age said they weren’t cool. Whatever that meant. Nancy was clever and practical, never distracted by ridiculous things like prom and kisses and . . .
Lindsay had appeared again, magically and terrifyingly. When she spoke this time, however, she wasn’t as firm, her voice softer and with an understanding that Maya didn’t quite get but was happy to accept.
“I don’t mean to scare you, either of you. I just want both of you to be happy here, as you’ve always been. I’ll be losing you in the fall regardless of what happens in the summer, and since I don’t have children of my own, I sort of feel like the two of you are mine, in a way.”
Maya was pleasantly surprised, and while it wasn’t as if she didn’t have a mother who loved her, it was comforting to know that this woman, who had guided her and Conner together, fostering their friendship from the beginning, cared about her. And Conner, too, of course.
That made it sound like they were a brother and sister, but her feelings for him were definitely not those of a sisterly type. As if she could sense what Maya was thinking, Lindsay shook her head and sighed.
“The two of you will work out whatever it is that’s wrong. It’s none of my business, but it is if you bring it here, understand?”
Maya nodded, her eyes wide and unblinking. Here was her manager, giving her every opportunity to show her how much she wanted this job, and how hard she was willing to work for it.
So what if Conner had been sucking up when they first arrived today? She had Lindsay’s attention now, and she was going to do her best to win her over. Sure, her work should speak for itself, but when it was so close in quality to Conner’s, she had to make herself stand out.
“I want to thank you for the summer opportunity. You know that I usually babysit in the summer, but the kids are old enough to stay by themselves now, and there aren’t many summer jobs around here that the college kids don’t end up getting.”
Lindsay frowned, her lips pursing thoughtfully.
“I wasn’t aware of that you wouldn’t be babysitting. You’ve been doing that for so long that I assumed it would continue.”
She stopped speaking, but Maya could tell that she was considering what to say next. Maya held herself back from smiling, hoping that this new piece of information would sway Lindsay’s opinion in her favor.
She didn’t want to seem pushy, or as if she was looking for a handout. Sure, if it helped that Lindsay knew she needed this job as opposed to just wanting it, there was nothing wrong with Lindsay including that as a factor in her hiring decision.
It didn’t quite sit well in Maya’s head, though, that Lindsay might give her the job because she felt sorry for her.
She wouldn’t though. It wasn’t like Lindsay to do something like that, especially when there was someone else in contention. Maybe if she was the only one interested in the job . . . everything would be different then, and they wouldn’t be having this conversation.