somewhere without any parents yakking at us the whole way. Ian’s not a big fan
of my mom.”
“The one in town sounds fine,” said Lexie. “I’ve been wanting to see the
Pixar movie, too.”
“Finding Nemo was so funny,” Sally said, and Lexie would have agreed, but Mr. Giambi called them back to the court to keep practicing.
On the way to lunch, Riley caught up with Lexie and Sally.
“Okay,” he said, “lesson learned. No more jeans. I’m afraid you’re going to
think my cool factor is plummeting, but you know, if the choice is shorts or death,
I guess shorts wins by a tiiiiiiny margin.”
“I won’t think you’re less cool,” Lexie said.
“I’ll think you’re a heck of a lot smarter,” Sally said. “Hi, I’m Sally.”
“Riley,” he said.
“Oh, Lexie,” Sally said, “I forgot to mention – don’t say anything to Bree
about our double date. I’ll tell her later, but she can be weird about stuff like
that.”
Clever, Lexie thought. Make me think Bree doesn’t know about it when
she’s really the one who masterminded the whole thing.
“No problem,” she said.
“Double date?” Riley said.
“Maybe,” Lexie answered. “I have to check with Jake.”
“Oh, right,” Riley said. “Your boyfriend.”
They got in sight of the picnic tables, and once again, Jake was already
there. He raised his hand to wave at Lexie but stopped when he saw Riley.
“And there he is,” Riley said.
“You can, um, sit with us, if you want,” Lexie said.
“Great, thanks,” he said. “First, hot dogs.” He headed off toward the lunch
line. Sally raised her eyebrows at Lexie and followed him. Lexie wondered if that
was a girl-code expression that a normal girl would have been able to translate.
With a sigh, she headed over to Jake.
This time she remembered to sit next to him instead of across from him. He
smiled at her as she sat down, and it was such a different smile from Riley’s. It
made her calmer instead of more nervous, and it said, I’m happy to see you,
instead of, I know something about you. He smelled sharp and clean, like apple shampoo.
“Hi there, girlfriend,” he said as she sat down. She wondered how long he
was going to find that funny, but she liked the way he said it, kind of warm and
teasing at the same time. She was glad to see he seemed to be in a better mood
than he had been when he’d dropped her off the day before.
“Hey,” he added, “you’re wearing the necklace I got for you.” He reached
out and touched one of the glass beads. His fingers brushed the side of her neck
like a whisper of wind, and her heart sped up. Hadn’t he ever noticed that she
wore it all the time?
“Yeah,” she said awkwardly. “I love it.”
“That’s so cool,” he said, removing his hand. “Go, me. What do you have for
lunch today?”
“I, um,” Lexie said, clearing her throat, “well, I’m guessing more carrot
sticks.”
Jake laughed, but then his face changed, closing down again. Lexie turned
to see Riley smiling down on the other side of her.
“Hi,” Jake said. “I thought you didn’t go here.”
“I do now,” Riley said. “Hello again, Lexie’s boyfriend.”
Bree and Sally plunked their trays down on the other side of the table, and
Lexie felt a weird tension between Riley and Jake, and sitting in between them
made her nervous.
“Hi there,” Bree said, leaning toward Riley like a leopard sniffing out her
prey. “I’m Bree. I’m a lifeguard, or I will be soon.”
“Hey, Bree,” Riley said. “A lifeguard? That’s awesome.”
“Yes, well,” Bree said, shooting a look at Lexie and Sally, “I thought it would
be a good way to help my community. Better than tennis, for instance.”
“Oh, I’m doing tennis,” Riley said, and Lexie nearly giggled at the “oops”
look on Bree’s face.
“Really,” Bree purred. “Sally, you didn’t tell me about any gorgeous guys in
your tennis class.”
“He just started today,” Sally said, stabbing a fork into her salad like she
was hoping it would die and turn into a hamburger.
“And what’s your name, handsome?” Bree asked.
“Riley,” he said. “What’s yours?”
She wrinkled her nose like she was trying to hide her real expression. “I
already told you,” she said. “It’s Bree.”
“Oh, right,” he said. He gave Lexie a huge obvious wink. It took her a
minute to realize he was saying, the one we’re not telling about the double date.
Which reminded her. But she couldn’t ask Jake there, in front of everyone.
“Hey,” she said, turning to him. He was moodily shredding her brown paper bag.
“Um, Jake. I forgot to get a soda. Want to come with me to...um...buy one?”
Jake looked confused. He knew her mom didn’t like her to drink soda.
When he paused, Riley jumped in. “I’ll come with you,” he said. “I’ve got tons of
change for the vending machine.”
“No, that’s okay,” Jake said quickly. “I can buy my own girlfriend a soda,
thanks.” He took Lexie’s hand and tugged her away from the bench. His hand was
cooler than hers, and much bigger.
As they walked away, Lexie head Bree purr, “You can buy me a soda, Riley.”
“Nah, I’m good,” he said.
Lexie hid a smile. Bree wasn’t going to like that! But maybe if she turned
her attention to Riley, she’d lose interest in Jake and leave him and Lexie alone.
“What kind do you want?” Jake said, feeding quarters into the slot.
“Cherry Coke,” she said. “I can pay for it, Jake.”
“No, no,” he said, waving her hand away. “Let me, since I don’t have a
cookie to split with you today.” He grinned at her, then glanced over her shoulder,
back at the table. “I don’t like that guy,” he said, punching the Cherry Coke button
a little too hard.
“Riley?” Lexie said. “Why?”
“Well, why didn’t he start tennis camp at the same time as the rest of us?”
Jake said. “Why doesn’t he have any of his own friends? And his smile is all
lopsided.”
“That’s true,” Lexie said. “He is a little weird – he wore jeans to tennis this
morning. But he seems nice enough.”
“Hmm,” Jake said, turning to head back.
“Wait,” she said, catching his sleeve. “Actually, I needed to ask you
something.”
“Aha,” he said. “I thought the soda thing was out of the blue.”
“Well, if you help me drink it, I figure I’ll only be half breaking my mom’s
rule, right?” He smiled, and she told him about Sally’s double date offer. “I know
it’s strange,” Lexie said. “Maybe we could tell her you already have plans, or that
our parents won’t let us go, or something.”
“Are you sure?” Jake said. “I think it could be fun, don’t you?”
“Oh,” Lexie said, “well, I mean, if you –”
“Why not, right?” Jake said. “I want to see it; you want to see it.”
“But with Sally and Ian?”
“Well, we don’t have to talk to them during the movie. But we also don’t
have to g
o,” he said. “I mean, if you don’t want to, I can totally say no for us. I’m
sure you don’t want to go on your first date with a guy who’s just a friend, like
me, right?” He was looking at her really intently. You have no idea, she thought. I want to go on my first date with you, plus every other date for the rest of my life.
“No, I mean, sure,” she said. “We can go. Let’s do it. Besides, if Bree is
behind it, this should help convince her we’re really dating, right?”
“Right,” he said. “That’s why we’re doing it. Of course.”
When they got back to the table, Bree was explaining lifeguard training to
Riley, who looked fascinated. Sally looked bored, but when Lexie caught her eye
and gave her a thumbs-up, her face brightened.
“I’ll call you,” she mouthed while Bree wasn’t looking.
The afternoon went a lot like the previous afternoon, except that Riley
joined pool volleyball and was put on Bree’s team. Seeing him in his swimsuit
made Lexie realize why he liked jeans better than shorts: His legs were thin and
paler than his arms, which looked sort of odd. But he turned out to be a lot better
at this sport than tennis, and he made a lot of energetic leaps and dives in the
process. Whenever he saw Lexie watching him, he gave her his crooked smile.
At the end of the day, Jake hustled out of the changing room almost as
soon as he went it, catching up to Lexie while she was still on the path to the
bikes.
“Hey,” she said. “That was fast.”
“That guy was annoying me,” Jake said. “He keeps asking questions about
our relationship, like how long we’ve been dating and stuff.”
“Really?” Lexie said. “That’s weird. I wonder why.”
“Uh, yeah,” Jake said, spinning the combination lock on his bike. “Weird.
Let’s go before he comes out.”
As they rode back to Lexie’s house, she wondered if she should talk to Jake
about Colin. Maybe he could help her figure out what was wrong with her twin
brother. She decided to wait and see if Jake noticed anything himself. But when
he came inside with her, Colin seemed more cheerful than he had the day before.
The three of them spent the rest of the afternoon trying to set up and film gory
special effects from a book Jake had found. It didn’t work very well; they ended
up with ketchup all over the kitchen and several bits of carrot that didn’t look
anything like severed fingers.
“Better luck tomorrow,” Jake said, heading out the door. “See you in the
morning, Lexie.” She stood at the screen door and waved as he pedaled away.
Thorn and Alanna nosed their way into the kitchen and snuffled across the floor,
licking up spattered ketchup and carrot bits.
“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Willis said, coming into the kitchen. “I gather we’re having
takeout for dinner.”
“We’re cleaning it up,” Colin said. “Don’t worry.”
“I’m quite sure you are,” his mom said. “Lexie, Sally Kim is on the phone for
you. When you’re done, ask her if I can speak to her mother.”
Colin gave Lexie a curious look. He knew as well as she did that a phone call
from Sally Kim was not at all the normal event their mother seemed to think it
was.
Lexie picked up Alanna for moral support, took the portable phone into her
room, and shut the door.
“Hi, Sally,” she said into the phone, lying down on the bed. Alanna curled
up beside her and began licking her fingers with energetic snorting sounds.
“Hey, Lexie,” Sally said, as if she called her every day. “So let’s figure out
Friday. Ian’s being a pain about it because he’s going on a camping trip with his
family the next day or something. But he’ll come. It’ll be fun, don’t you think?”
“Sure,” Lexie said.
“I’ve been wanting to go on a double date for ages,” Sally said, “but Bree
hates them. She likes to keep her boyfriends to herself. Anyways, I don’t really
want Ian to model himself on any of her relationships. But I figure he could pick
up some tips from Jake, right? I’d love it if he treated me a bit more like Jake
treats you.”
Lexie thought that was funny. The whole time Jake had been dating Amy
Sorrento, Amy had complained nonstop (Jake’s word) about what an
unenthusiastic, uninspired, boring, neglectful boyfriend he was (her words).
Maybe he was just better at pretending to be in a relationship than at actually
being in one.
“Are you excited?” Sally asked. “Dinner and a movie, totally romantic,
right? Is it okay if I have my mom drop me off at your place beforehand, so we can
walk together? It’s closer from your house.”
“Yeah, okay,” Lexie said, and then, because she felt bad about how excited
Sally seemed (even if it was a trick (, she added, “I’m excited for this movie.”
“Me too,” Sally said, and that started her off on a comparison of Cars and Monsters, Inc. They ended up talking for half an hour – well, Sally did most of the talking – and by the time Lexie got back downstairs, Colin had finished cleaning
the kitchen. Mrs. Willis was standing at the counter, sorting takeout menus.
“Here you go, Mom,” Lexie said, handing her the phone.
“Oh, thanks, Lexie,” her mom said. “Pick a menu and order, would you? You
both know what your father and I like. He should be home from work in about
his family got up, and often came home late at night. Lexie didn’t understand
exactly what he did – something to do with numbers and law and banks and
contracts.
As soon as Mrs. Willis had wandered out of the kitchen chatting away with
Mrs. Kim, Lexie pulled herself up to sit on the counter and whispered, “Colin,
guess what?”
“I don’t get it,” he said, studying a carrot. “Why did it look so fake? We
were using the black-and-white setting, so it’s not the color. Even I’m not dumb
enough to think we can get away with bright orange fingers.”
“Colin, listen,” Lexie insisted. “I’m going on a date on Friday.”
That did get his attention, if only for a moment. He put the carrot down and
picked up the pile of menus. Thorn butted at his knees, demanding more carrot
pieces with a small woof.
“With who?” Colin asked.
“With Jake, of course,” Lexie said. “Remember the traumatizing soap opera
you volunteered me for?” Which you haven’t even asked me about. Like you don’t
care if Bree McKennis murders me in my sleep.
“Oh,” he said, sounding relieved. “So it’s just a pretend date.”
“Well, it’s a double date with Sally Kim and Ian Montgomery,” Lexie said.
“But, Colin, I have no idea what I’m supposed to do. Or say. Or wear. Oh my God.”
“Who cares?” Colin said. “It’s just Jake. He doesn’t care what you wear.”
Sadly true, Lexie thought. “Okay,” she said, “but Sally will be reporting right back to Bree. So I have to at least pretend to care.” That’s my story, anyways. So Colin doesn’t notice how much I actually do care.
“You’ll figure it out,” Colin said. “You don’t need your dumb brother’s help.
I vote for Indian or Mexican. You decide.”
&n
bsp; He dropped two menus on the counter next to her and left the room, Thorn
and Alanna pattering along behind him. Lexie stared at the door. What on earth
was wrong with Colin?
Chapter 6
Colin wasn’t the only one acting bizarre. Mrs. Willis kept giving Lexie tiny smiles all through dinner Tuesday night. On Wednesday she left a pile of nail polish and
makeup on Lexie’s desk. And on Thursday evening she suggested a shopping trip,
“just us girls,” even though she knew Lexie hated shopping. Lexie wasn’t about to
be bossed into tennis and shopping in one week, so she said no.
“Are you sure, sweetheart?” her mom said. “We could get you something
nice to wear. In case you need it sometime soon. For anything.”
Aha. Lexie’s mom was on to her. Mrs. Kim must have told her about the
double date. Lexie was kind of impressed that her mom had managed not to ask
Lexie a million questions right away.
“Oh, no, I don’t need anything,” Lexie said. Her mom’s face fell, and Lexie
felt a twinge of guilt. “Besides, Mom,” she added, trying to be nice, “you’re a
much better shopper than I am. I like the stuff you get me.” It was true. With the
exception of the bikini, Mrs. Willis’s taste in clothes was remarkable. Sometimes
Lexie thought it was the only thing keeping her out of the ranks of the true dorks
of the school.
“All right,” Mrs. Willis said, hovering in the doorway. “If you’re sure.”
“Uh-huh,” Lexie said. “Thanks.”
As her mom closed the door, Lexie crawled over the bad and knocked three
times on the wall, the signal for Colin to come over. Then she started pulling
clothes out of her closet.
“What?” Colin said, opening the door and poking his head around.
“Come help me decide what to wear tomorrow,” Lexie said.
“No way,” Colin said.
“Colin!”
“That’s girl stuff.”
“And where am I supposed to find a girl to help me with this?” Maybe if
Karina weren’t all the way in China... although Karina had never really cared about clothes, either.
Colin shrugged. “Ask Mom.”
“Yeah, right,” Lexie said. “So, should I lie to her and say I’m suddenly dating
Jake, who’s been our friend for three years, or should I explain that I’m only