Becca: Had to run. Call you later.
Tori: Couldn’t even say good-bye. I see how it is.
Becca: Sorry.
I put the phone away and drive home, wanting to get as far from Toby as possible. I’d say my crush is officially done now.
***
I don’t want to be a liar, so I watch TV with Mom and Dad before going up to my room for the night. I slip into my fleece pajamas and get into bed. I promised Tori I’d call her, and if I don’t, I’ll never hear the end of it. Forget that I don’t want to talk to anyone right now. I pick up my cell, but before I can dial, I get a text.
Unknown: Everything ok? You seemed weird 2night.
I don’t recognize the number.
Becca: Who is this?
Unknown: It’s Toby. Got ur number from Tori’s phone. Hope you don’t mind.
Toby is texting me? Why? He just told me he likes another girl.
Becca: I’m fine.
I don’t hear anything for a minute. Maybe that’s the end of it. He just wanted to make sure I’m okay. He must know I have a crush on him and the guilt of letting me down, even if it was gently, is too much for him so he checked up on me.
Toby: Don’t worry about trig. You’ll do great.
Becca: Thanks.
It’s probably best to keep my responses short. Don’t let him know my heart is in a million pieces.
Toby: I’m glad you didn’t let Tori make you over.
What made him think about that?
Becca: Thanks for being honest.
He can take that however he likes. I can’t blame him for how I feel. He’s been upfront with me—other than the detention lie—but he was only trying to make me feel better, so I can’t be too mad at him for that.
Toby: I meant it.
God, I want this conversation to end! I don’t want to hear about his new girl, whoever she is. I don’t reply, hoping he’ll get the hint.
Toby: I really do like the way you dress.
What? I thought he was talking about what he said in his room.
Becca: Thanks.
Toby: Wow, you’re talkative tonight.
Becca: Sorry. Tired.
Toby: Want me to let you go?
Yes. No. I don’t know.
Becca: It’s ok.
Toby: Good.
Good?
Becca: Did you just want to check up on me?
Toby: Yes and no.
Becca: What does that mean?
Toby: Yes, but that’s not all.
Okay, now he’s the one with the vague answers.
Becca: What else?
Toby: Probably shouldn’t say.
Becca: Then why did you bring it up?
Toby: Touché.
Becca: I’m waiting.
And I’m totally confused.
Toby: I was wondering if you wanted to hang out 2morrow.
Becca: You mean study?
Toby: No. Unless that’s what you want.
He’s never asked me to hang out before, and what about the girl he likes?
Becca: What were you thinking?
Toby: Something Tori would hate.
Becca: Why?
Toby: She wouldn’t like us hanging out.
Becca: Right.
Are we friends now? Is that what’s going on? God, there are so many questions and no answers at all.
Toby: I’ll think of something. Just come up with an excuse for why you can’t hang out with Tori.
Becca: You want me to lie to her?
Toby: Only if you want to hang out with me.
Of course I do, but I don’t want to lie to Tori.
Becca: Make it something she’d never want to do, so I won’t have to lie.
Toby: You got it. Night.
Becca: Night.
Do I have a date with Toby tomorrow? A real date?
Chapter 6
After I ace another trig class—well, I’m able to keep up at least—I’m ready for whatever Toby has planned. Except I’m nervous, confused, and feeling like the worst best friend ever. Not only am I hanging out with Toby behind Tori’s back, but I never called her last night and I’ve been avoiding her all day. I’m lugging around the entire contents of my locker just so she can’t corner me, and I even skipped lunch.
I take the back way out of school and rush to my car. Only Tori’s leaning against the driver’s side door.
“Where have you been?” She stands up and gestures wildly. “I’ve been looking for you all day, and why is your cell turned off?”
So you can’t get a hold of me. “Sorry, the battery must be dead.”
“Yeah, well, that doesn’t explain the disappearing act you pulled today. You didn’t go to your locker once.”
No, I went once, about forty minutes before school started when no one else was around. “I had a busy day.”
“Doing what?” She adjusts her shoulder bag and crosses her arms. I’m so on her list right now.
“Um, make-up stuff for trig. Toby’s tutoring is helping, but I needed to go back a few units and catch up.”
“Well, don’t ever scare me like that again. I thought you’d been kidnapped or something. I almost called your mom.” She’s being overly dramatic, but I know it’s only because she was worried about me. “You’re coming over, right?”
Damn it! I turned my phone off, which means I never got Toby’s text telling me what we’re doing. I don’t want to lie again to Tori. “Hang on a second.” I pull my cell out and turn it on.
“I thought the battery was dead.”
“It is, but sometimes I can get it to turn on for a few seconds. I’m expecting a text.”
“Yeah, well you’ve got about ten from me.”
She’s right. I scroll through them, looking for Toby’s. It’s buried at the bottom of the list.
Toby: Bowling. Tori hates it. Thinks bowling alleys give you diseases. 3:45
I haven’t bowled since I was nine. But it’s time with Toby, so I’m not complaining. “I have plans to go bowling.”
Tori’s eyes widen. “Bowling? With who?”
Crap. So much for not lying to her. “Dad says he wants me to join a school team. He used to bowl, so…” At least that’s true. Although I have no intention of joining the bowling team. “Want to come?” I hope Toby’s right about Tori hating bowling alleys.
“Not in this lifetime. You’re on your own. Feel free to stop by later though—after you’ve showered all the germs and nasty diseases off you from the rented shoes and dirty—” She shivers. “Ugh, I can’t even think about it. See you later.” She waves and walks away.
I get in the car and text Toby.
Becca: Which bowling alley?
It feels like an eternity before he texts back.
Toby: Thought you’d bailed on me.
Becca: No. My phone was off.
Toby: Avoiding my sister?
Becca: Yes. I hate lying to her.
Toby: You’re not. You’re withholding information.
Becca: Same thing.
Toby: Technically not.
Even though he can’t see me, I roll my eyes.
Becca: Which bowling alley?
Toby: The one on 1st and Elm.
The really skeezy part of town.
Becca: Classy.
Toby: You want to risk Tori’s friends being there?
Becca: No. See you soon.
I still have no idea what this even is. Maybe it’s completely harmless. Maybe it’s somehow a trig lesson. No, that’s just stupid. Something’s up. I’m not sure what, but I’ll find out.
I drive to the bowling alley and park around back so no one sees my car if they drive by. As soon as I walk inside, I see Tori’s point about bowling alleys. When you’re little, you don’t really notice how disgusting these places are. But at seventeen, it’s clear as day. Cigarette butts are all over the entrance carpet, which is completely worn and looks like it hasn’t been vacuumed in a decade. A shady guy eyes me up and walks to
ward me, but an arm pulls me toward the shoe rental counter.
“There you are.” Toby smiles at me. “You’ve got to be careful who you make eye contact with in this part of town.”
“Thanks.” I stare at his hand on my arm.
“Sorry.” He pulls away. “Um, I already paid for two games, so we just need to get shoes.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks.” He paid. Like a real date. No. Stop it. It’s too soon to know if that’s what this is.
“What size are you?”
“An eight.”
Toby gets our shoes and carries them over to the very last lane. “So.” He hands me my shoes and sits down.
“So.” Yeah, this is awkward. I change my shoes and wait for him to do the same. I can’t think of anything to say because the only thing on my mind is “Is this a date?” and I can’t exactly come out and ask him that.
Toby sets up the screen with our names. “You’re up first. Pick your ball.”
For a second I consider playing the girly card, pretending I don’t know what I’m doing. But the truth is, I’m a decent bowler. Or I was at nine. I get a ball that’s pretty light and step up to the line. Eyeing the pins, I line up my shot. I’m a little rusty, but I knock down all but three pins.
“Not bad.” Toby nods as I wait for my ball to return.
“My dad was on the bowling team. I guess it’s in my genes.”
“Then I fully expect you to get a spare with your next shot.” He smiles and my stomach flips. Does he have any clue the effect he has on me?
I take my ball and line up my second shot. I don’t get a spare, missing by one pin. I shrug and sit down.
“I’m still impressed.” Toby gets a ball, but instead of walking up to the lane, he stops in front of me. “You know some girls wouldn’t be caught dead in a place like this.”
What does that mean? “Then why’d you ask me to come?”
“Relax, Daniels. I meant that as a compliment. You read into things too much.” He walks up to the lane, and I wonder if he means I’m reading too much into this outing.
An hour later, we’re finished with both games, each winning one.
“You’re good,” Toby says, changing back into his shoes.
“Yeah, well, don’t tell my dad, okay?”
“I can’t. Tori might find out.”
I put my rental shoes on the seat next to me. “You’re really worried about her knowing we’re hanging out, huh?”
“She’s your best friend. I don’t want to mess that up.”
Me either. “What about your relationship with her?”
He shrugs. “We’re twins. She can’t stay mad at me.”
It seems like there’s more to the story. Like maybe this has happened before. “What aren’t you telling me?”
“Do you remember Allison Woodbury?”
“Wow, I haven’t thought about her in years. She moved away after junior high.”
“Yeah, well, remember how close she and Tori used to be?”
“In elementary school. We all used to hang out.” I squint, remembering how Allison just stopped hanging out with us all of a sudden. “But then one day, it was just me and Tori. It has been ever since.”
“Yeah, well…” He sighs.
“What?”
“Allison told Tori she had a crush on me.”
“And Tori dumped her as a friend because of it?” How did I not know this? Allison was one of my best friends. Wouldn’t she have told me?
“This was before Tori enforced the ‘no hanging out with her friends’ rule. Allison asked me to teach her how to skateboard. So I did.”
“That’s it? You hung out once and Tori defriended her?”
“Yup. She told Allison it was me or her. Allison didn’t want to have to choose, so Tori stopped talking to her.”
I shake my head. “But why did Allison stop talking to me?”
“Because Tori said you two were a package deal. She thought Allison would choose you guys. She was wrong.”
“Wow.” It was years ago, but still, I’m pissed. “That really sucks. I can’t believe Tori did that to me.”
He reaches across the aisle and places his hand on mine. “Please don’t tell her I told you. She’ll kill me.”
“And probably defriend me.”
“No, she wouldn’t. But like I said, I don’t want to cause problems for you two.”
I can’t stand this. I can’t take not knowing what this is. What I’m risking my best friend for. “Toby, why did you ask me to come here today?”
He lets go of my hand and looks away. “I guess I thought it would be fun to hang out.”
“Oh.” So it is about being friends. My stomach lurches.
He meets my gaze. “Do you wish you hadn’t come?”
“No.” I don’t even have to think about it. I want to be here with Toby.
“Good. Then it’s our little secret.” He winks.
***
After the bowling alley, I drive home more confused than ever. I don’t pay attention at all through dinner, and Mom and Dad are convinced I’m having boy trouble. If they only knew. I go to my room and flop on my bed. I have to call Tori. I can’t put it off, especially since I have no intention of going to her house tonight.
She picks up on the first ring. “About time. I thought the diseases from the bowling alley had already hospitalized you.”
“Not yet.” My attempt at humor is pathetic, but I’m still pissed with her about the whole Allison thing. And it’s not even like I can confront her about it without her finding out Toby told me. That would lead to an even bigger problem. I swallow my feelings…for the moment.
“So, do you really have to go out for the bowling team?” She crunches in my ear, probably eating pretzels in bed again.
“Nah. I’ll get out of it.”
“What time are you coming over?”
“Um, I don’t think I am.”
The crunching stops. “Why not?” I hear her shuffling on the other end. “Becca, what’s going on? Are you avoiding me?”
“No. Not at all.”
“Sure seems like it.”
“I swear I’m not.”
“Then why are you blowing off your tutoring session with Toby?”
“We didn’t have plans to study tonight.”
“Not what he said.”
Toby told Tori we were studying tonight? He never mentioned it to me. “Guess I forgot.”
“Well, get your ass over here.”
“Twenty minutes.”
I hang up and stare at the wall. Seeing Toby twice in one day? Maybe I wasn’t wrong to read into us hanging out. He’s risking a lot to spend time with me. We both are. This can’t just be about being friends. There has to be something more going on. I know there is on my end. And what about the way he touched my hand? The way he paid for our “not a date?”
I have to find out how he really feels about me. Because I’m falling for him. Hard.
Chapter 7
“Does that make sense to you?” Toby asks, but I’m so lost in his blue eyes that I’m not processing anything.
“Um, sort of?”
He laughs and puts the book aside, leaning back against his headboard. “Let’s take a break. You deserve it.”
No, I don’t. I haven’t been paying attention at all. “How come you didn’t mention us studying tonight to me? You only told Tori.”
He shrugs. “I figured it was a regular thing.”
Makes sense. “Did Tori ask where you were earlier?”
“Nah. She never cares where I go.”
“Okay. Good.”
“You worried?” He turns on his side, and he’s so close I can barely breathe. My heart pounds inside my chest, and I’m suddenly worried that my minty gum has lost its flavor.
“A little, after what you told me about Allison.”
“We don’t have to hang out anymore if you think it’s a bad idea.”
“No,” I answer way too quickly.
/> He laughs. “Good.”
“You always do that.”
“Do what?” He shifts closer to me. God, he smells good. A combination of mint and shampoo.
“You’re…” Why am I such a chicken? I should just say it and get it out there. Then I’d know how he feels.
“Flirting with you.” He smiles.
Holy crap! I swallow and look up at the ceiling.
“Sorry. I’ve been told I’m a flirt.”
So he does this with everyone? That would put me back where I was twenty seconds ago. “How’s that girl you were telling me about?”
“What girl?”
“The one you said you liked. The one who’s standing in Meredith’s way.”
He laughs. “There’s a lot more than a girl standing in Meredith’s way.”
That doesn’t answer my question at all. I’m about to burst. Just tell me who you like and put me out of my misery already! “But there is a girl.”
“Yeah.”
“Then why would you admit to flirting with me? Wouldn’t she mind?”
“I’m trying to figure that out.” He sits up slightly and tilts my chin toward him with his finger. I forget how to breathe. His lips are so close to mine, and his eyes are slowly going back and forth between mine and my mouth. Oh God! Is he going to kiss me?
Crush: A YA Romance Collection Page 95