by Emily Lowry
“You would fit right in with my family,” I said.
“That’s the goal, isn’t it?” He handed me a carton of milk.
My heart skipped a beat. “I suppose it is.”
We sat on the floor next to each other and tore into the tray of double chocolate cookies. Tyler found a video on his phone – one of those cheesy fireplace channels – and set it up on the counter across from us. It felt like we were having our own private Christmas afternoon, just the two of us, in the cafeteria of Beachbreak High.
In fact, it felt just like Christmas Eve. The cookies were one day old, but still soft and delicious. The only challenge was trying to dip them in our milk cartons – we had to crumble our cookies into thin strips to fit them in the opening. It wasn’t perfect, but we made do.
“So,” I said, summoning my courage. “I told you a secret about me and Parker. Why don’t you tell me a secret? I mean, if this fake relationship is going to work, I need to know some things about you that I didn’t previously get to hear about.”
“The relationship talk? I dig it,” Tyler said. “But a secret…”
“A good secret.” I shoved another cookie in my mouth. One of the best parts about spending time with Tyler was that I didn’t feel like I was constantly being judged. Around him, I could always be myself, cookie crumbs on my chin and all. Not that I didn’t take a moment to wipe them away when he wasn’t looking. I wanted to be, you know, somewhat ladylike.
“A good secret,” he said. He took a sip of his milk and wiped away the milk mustache – there was that boyish charm of his, yet again. “Okay. Here’s one.”
I waited.
Tyler stared into the fireplace on his cellphone. “I’ve never said ‘I love you’ to a girl.”
If my heart was beating fast before, now it was at rocket speed. “Like, ever?”
“Never. Not counting my mom and Zoe of course.”
“But not Parker or one of your other girlfriends?”
“Nope.”
“Why not?”
Ty shrugged. “I don’t know if I’ve ever felt it. There was one time that I thought I was close, but honestly, I’m not sure. It’s like music. I try to be this guy, this laid-back, casual guy. So I keep everything I feel, everything I think, and particularly all the embarrassing parts of myself, bottled up. I watched my parents say they love each other and they still got divorced.”
He took another sip of milk. “I know we don’t live in a perfect world. I know these things happen. Sometimes, you love someone and it still doesn’t work out. That’s just life. But when I say it, I really want to mean it. I want to say it knowing that we have a chance to be…”
“A chance to be what?” I whispered.
“Together forever,” Tyler said. He chuckled softly. “I know how ridiculous it sounds. I know how unlikely it is. But…”
“It’s not ridiculous,” I said, rubbing his shoulder. I thought it was sweet. Too many boys threw around the L word, and so many of them did it for the wrong reasons. But that was one of the great things about Tyler. He never did things for the wrong reasons. Even if he made a mistake — you knew his heart was in the right place. He probably had the best moral compass of anyone I’d ever met.
Aside from breaking into the kitchen, of course. But no one was perfect.
“So? Any response?”
“Sorry,” I said quickly. I hadn’t realized how long I’d been quiet for. “The L word is a big one. It’s a hard thing to say. But…”
“But?” Tyler asked, finishing his last cookie.
“I know you like to play things close to your chest. Keep everything inside. But sometimes, I think that you have to make an embarrassing display. You have to put yourself out there, even if it means risking getting hurt or rejected. And honestly, I think you’ll do it for the right girl.”
“Yeah,” he said. “Maybe.”
I nudged him in the ribs. “And I bet it will be really embarrassing when you do.”
“The most embarrassing,” Tyler agreed. He grabbed a napkin and wiped the cookie crumbs that had fallen to the floor.
“I don’t suppose you’re going to replace the cookies, too?”
“Kind of,” Tyler said. He pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of his wallet and put it on the empty tray. “Two dollar cookie, five cookies each, the math checks out.”
“And here I thought we were these brilliant thieves.”
Tyler laughed.
We headed for the door, but when I tried to turn the doorknob, it wouldn’t budge. I looked at Tyler, concerned. “Ty?”
He grabbed the doorknob. Tried to pull it open.
It wouldn’t budge.
We were locked inside.
25
Tyler
I tried the door again. Locked. I couldn’t believe it. When Mrs. Cortez had left, I hadn’t heard the lock turn. And, unfortunately, there was no way to unlock this door without a key. So now, we were trapped in the kitchen. Normally, I would’ve been thrilled to be trapped in a dark room with a cute girl like Nina. But not for an entire weekend.
“So what do we do?” Nina asked. There was a note of tension in her voice. “Should we make a bunch of noise until someone hears us?”
I checked my phone. “It’s 4 o’clock. She’ll already be gone.”
“We can’t wait until Monday.”
“That, we cannot.”
“I don’t suppose you learned how to pick locks in one of your many detentions?” Nina asked glumly.
“I didn’t,” I said. Then I grinned, reaching for my phone. “But I know someone who did.”
Nina and I spent the next hour waiting in the cafeteria. Finally, we heard a telltale knock on the door.
“Someone call for a rescue service?”
I slid next to the door. “Jace! How are you, dude?”
“Better than you, it looks like,” Jace said. There was a clinking sound as he fiddled with the lock. “Sorry I was late — had to get ready for work first.”
“Beggars can’t be choosers,” I said.
A moment later, the door popped open.
Jace held open the door for me and Nina. He was dressed in a hoodie, flip-flops and board shorts, a backwards ball cap hiding his messy surfer hair. The epitome of cool, calm, and casual at all times.
“Thanks, bro.” I fist bumped him. It was good to be free, to have fresh air.
“My hero,” Nina said.
Jace laughed. And so did someone else—
Callie was leaning against the wall, a smoothie in hand. She took a long, drawn-out sip, then looked at us with both eyebrows raised. “So? What were you two doing trapped alone in the dark for two hours?”
Nina blushed. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”
Callie laughed. “I definitely would.”
Nina looked to Jace, then back to Callie. “Wait. If you were on your way to work, why is Callie with you?”
“She’s testing my next big project,” Jace said.
“Which is?”
“Follow me to the parking lot and you’ll find out.”
26
Nina
The four of us scampered through the empty school, doing our best to avoid any lingering staff members. When we got to the parking lot, we realized that we didn’t have to worry – there wasn’t a single vehicle parked in the lot.
Except for whatever contraption Jace had arrived in.
“What in the world is that?” I asked.
My mind nearly broke in two trying to understand what I was seeing. At first, I thought it was a five-seated bike. But on second glance, it looked more like a restaurant with wheels. Between the bike seats, there was a table with silver bowls, which looked like they were bolted down. A cooler clung to the side of the bike and there was a roof above the table where small lanterns hung.
“I don’t understand,” I said. “What is it?”
“My own invention,” Jace said. He stood proudly by… whatever it was. “It’s a pedal restaurant.�
�
“A what?”
“A pedal restaurant.”
I stared at Jace, his words still not making sense to me. I didn’t know Jace super well — only through Callie. When she wasn’t hanging out with me, Zoe, and Kenzie, she was with him. And though he was obviously extremely cute, Callie always insisted that she had no idea what we were talking about.
Callie took a loud sip of her smoothie and grinned. “When Jace isn’t surfing, he’s inventing things. This is the latest in his long line of gadgets.”
“It’s more than a gadget. It’s an experience.” Jace waved in the air as if he were painting the sky.
We laughed.
I approached the device. It smelled strangely good – a mix of metal, electricity, and roasted garlic. The metal components were warm to the touch, probably from being in the sun all day. My brain wasn’t sure how to make sense of what I was looking at. “How does this work?”
“You and three of your closest friends take a seat. If you’ll look here, each seat has pedals underneath. Like on a bike. When you pedal, it gets your individual wheel rotating. When everyone pedals, all the wheels rotate, which makes the whole thing go. It’s basically a mobile restaurant. And there’s a battery that powers up the hot plates to keep the food warm.”
I was in shock. I was definitely looking at Jace in a new light. “How smart are you?”
Tyler threw his arm around Jace’s shoulder. “This dude is straight up the smartest person I’ve ever met.”
“That’s why I like taking him surfing,” Callie said. “Sometimes, when he eats a wave, he hits his head. I’m hoping he gets enough concussions that the rest of us can keep up.”
“That explains this morning.” Jace pointed to a slight cut on his temple and bumped his hip casually against Callie’s.
“I said I was sorry.” Callie looked away sheepishly. “I was riding a wave and lost control. I may or may not have hit Jace. The jury is out on that one.”
“There’s physical evidence!” Jace protested. He took the front seat of his mobile restaurant. “But, enough about my injuries. What are you two doing right now?”
“Free as a bird,” Ty said.
“I’m definitely up for whatever this is,” I said, gesturing toward the mobile restaurant.
Jace smiled. “Great. I need some new vict—volunteers. I need some new volunteers.”
We each took a seat at the pedal restaurant. I sat next to Callie, with Tyler across from us to balance things out. He’d have to pedal twice as hard as the seat next to him was empty.
“Everyone ready?”
“Ready!”
“Let’s go!”
Slowly but surely, our restaurant began to move.
27
Nina
We spent the next hour pedaling around neighborhoods while people gawked out their windows. Jace drove, and as he did, Tyler, Callie, and I enjoyed a smorgasbord of Greek food. Tender chicken souvlaki, roasted garlic potatoes, warm pita bread with a side of tzatziki, and kalamata olives.
Callie cracked open a can of iced tea. “So. What I want to know is how you two ended up locked in Beachbreak’s kitchen.”
“Were you making out again?” Jace shouted over his shoulder.
Tyler laughed. “Well, we weren’t actually making out the first time. We faked it. We needed to cause a scene.”
“If you really wanted to cause a scene, next time you should actually make out. Right in front of Hinshaw,” Jace said.
As if Tyler would want to kiss me.
Tyler grinned. “I’m up for it if Nina is.”
My face burned.
Callie pointed at me. “Look at her blush! Like a lobster!”
“Stop it!” I balled a napkin and threw it at Callie. She deftly plucked it out of the air, dabbed the corners of her mouth, and set it aside, a wicked grin on her face. That was the problem with having one super athletic friend – if you threw things at her, she just made a mockery of your effort.
“There’s a cooler in the back if you need to cool down, Nina,” Jace shouted as we looped around a cul-de-sac.
I opened the cooler, grabbed a Pepsi, and pressed the can against my cheek. I fanned myself, exaggerating for effect.
Ty and Callie laughed.
It was amazing how natural everything felt between the four of us. We’d spent the last hour biking through Beachbreak on Jace’s pedal restaurant, and not once had conversation lagged – not even when we were stuffing our faces with delicious Greek food. Normally, I felt a little awkward in social situations – not as awkward as Zoe, admittedly, but I worried about saying the wrong thing. But with these three, and Tyler in particular, it felt like I never said the wrong thing. And even if I did, he was so laid back, it didn’t bother him.
“When do you plan to expand your restaurant?” I asked. “Zoe and Mason would love it. Kenzie, too.”
“It’s still in testing,” Jace said.
Callie leaned over her seat and rested her elbow on Jace’s shoulder. “What do you say we take this baby out to High Street?”
“It’s not ready for High Street. Still a lot of things to improve. For instance, I’ve noticed—”
“High Street,” Callie said, swatting Jace.
He laughed and ducked out of the way.
Jace and Callie fought the way only childhood friends could. When they weren’t surfing, they were throwing seaweed at each other, making faces to make the other laugh, or bickering about who was the better surfer. They’d known each other forever. Literally – they were next-door neighbors, born one day apart, and they’d spent time in the same nursery. Callie was a day older, and she would never let him live it down. Probably because, as he said, she was about a hundred years less mature.
“It’s ready,” Callie said. “You just have to trust me.”
“Trusted you this morning,” Jace said, pointing to the cut on his head.
“Then you just have to forgive me. And then trust me.”
“That’s Callie in a nutshell,” Jace called out. “Always asking for forgiveness.”
“Better to ask for forgiveness than be declined permission.” She shook her blond braids dramatically.
“That’s an interesting way to live your life.”
“I’m curious – when you drive other people around, are you always going to give them this much lip, or are we special?” Callie asked, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
“This? This is just for you,” Jace said.
Tyler and I laughed. It was almost shameless the way those two flirted – even if neither of them would admit it.
“I think you should do it, Jace,” I said. “Let’s go to High Street.”
“Yeah, dude. Let’s rock-and-roll,” Tyler added.
Jace chuckled. “All right. But you’re all uninsured, and I claim no responsibility—”
“Yeah, yeah, we won’t sue you,” Callie said.
Jace turned the restaurant. “Then High Street it is.”
28
Nina
Surprising absolutely no one, Jace’s pedal restaurant was a major hit on High Street. When we stopped at traffic lights, people came over and chatted with us. They pointed us out from restaurants, and dozens came up to Jace to ask about booking him for an event. The only people that seemed even mildly annoyed were the people stuck in the cars behind us. Jace had to pull over every half-mile to let the cars pass. He truly had thought of everything – he even had a separate compartment built so that we could all store our phones. He said he wanted everyone to be focusing on the experience, rather than scrolling through pictures on social media.
Eventually, we pulled off into an open spot on Highline Beach.
“Might be tricky getting us out of here,” Jace said, examining the tires which were now wedged in the soft sand.
“It’s all good,” Tyler replied. “We’ll call Mason to give us a push if we need to. His ego is getting too big, anyway.”
“You’re just saying that
because he’s dating your sister.”
“I absolutely am,” Ty admitted.
“Dude, check this out.” Jace motioned for Ty to come around to the front and examine something on the front wheel.
After Ty left, Callie looped her arm through mine, and briefly rested her head on my shoulder. Then, she looked at me quite seriously – which was completely unlike Callie.
“So. What’s going on with you two?”
“What do you mean?” I asked, my voice hushed. “You know what’s going on. It’s a fake relationship. The whole Parker thing.”
“No way it’s fake,” Callie said, biting her thumbnail. Callie’s nails were always bitten to the quick. “Not with the way he looks at you. And especially not with the way you look at him.”
“It’s not like that. We’re just good at playing pretend.”
“Not unless you’re an Oscar-winning actress.”
I crossed my arms and narrowed my eyes. “You’re so snarky tonight.”
“You love me,” Callie said. “And seriously. If there was something going on, you’d tell me, right?”
“Obviously. You, Kenzie, and Zoe. You’re not the people I keep secrets from.”
“So there’s definitely not something going on? Like not even a close call?”
Ugh. How was I supposed to respond to that without lying? There’d been several close calls recently. Even today, when we were hiding together in the kitchen, our bodies pressed against each other while we laughed… it felt like we had been so, so close to kissing. But did he feel the same way? Or was it all in my head? I was about to answer when the boys returned.
Jace set a tray on the table. “I don’t know if you and Ty are ready for this after your all-cookie lunch, but—”
“ICE CREAM CAKE!” Callie shouted. Her eyes practically popped out of her head as she drooled over the cake. It was vanilla and lined with sliced strawberries. There was a dark chocolate swirl in the middle.