Swept Up Read online

  “Just Dad, and we left right after,” I said. “We walked to the park and hung out for a little while.” I thought of the ladybug incident. I still wasn’t sure if that was a true story or a cover-up for what expectations Kyle might have. Did he expect me to fork over a kiss now that we were sort of, kind of, pretty much, definitely together? I realized that here in Jonah I had a real, live boy to ask such things—if I had the guts. I figured, like usual, I’d start by easing him in. “I totally embarrassed myself when I thought he was leaning in for a kiss but really he was just trying to flick a bug off me. I kind of freaked out.”

  “Why?”

  “Because,” I said. “I’ve never kissed a guy.” I know Jonah is my best friend and all, but he’s still a guy, and this was already an embarrassing conversation.

  “I’m sure it’ll be fine,” he said, almost dismissively.

  “Yeah, I know. I just . . . I don’t know. About kissing. You know?”

  He looked at me sideways. “If you’re asking me to show you how to kiss, you can seriously forget it,” he said, inching away from me the slightest bit.

  “Jonah, please!” I said, gagging on the inside. “That is not what I’m asking.”

  “Then what are you asking? There’s nothing to it. You just put your lips together and . . . I don’t know, kiss.”

  My face heated up. This was not at all how I wanted to talk about this. Best friend or not, I needed to talk to a girl about this—that much was crystal clear. I had a ton of questions. Do we just mush our mouths together? Wiggle our lips? Open our mouths . . . ?

  Ack! I couldn’t bear it. “It’s fine, forget it,” I said. “What about Eve? I mean, are you guys going to the dance together?”

  “Not if I can help it.” He bent to pick up a stick on the sidewalk, then tossed it into the street.

  I really missed Eve.

  “So you’re not going? What about Eve?”

  “She’s got her friend in town. So that means I’ve—” He crouched and leaned quickly to his right, quickly to his left, and back again.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Dodging bullets!”

  We started walking again. “Jonah, can you be serious?”

  “About a school dance? No.”

  “Then how about be serious about me and Eve?” I asked.

  He bent to pick up another stick, but this time he didn’t throw it. “Okay,” he said. “Talk.”

  I loved how Jonah could flip from his obnoxious boy self to his good friend self so easily.

  “It’s just that . . . well, first of all, that was weird of you guys yesterday at lunch.”

  He broke the stick in half. “I know.”

  “We all knew you weren’t studying or whatever you told us. It’s because Eve doesn’t want to be around me, isn’t it?”

  “I’m sorry, Mickey,” he said, tossing half the stick into a yard we passed. I’m sure their lawn mower would be thrilled to find it. “I didn’t mean to lie to you. It’s just that . . . well, you’re pretty much right. She’s still mad.”

  “Did she tell you I met her friend yesterday? Marla?”

  “She mentioned it,” he said. Then nothing.

  “Did she say anything else?” I had to know everything she said about me and how she said it.

  “She didn’t, I promise. She just mentioned it, like, in passing,” he said. “And if it makes you feel any better, we’re not for sure not going to the dance. She has to see about Marla first. But you really should talk to her. Make the first move. I’m sure she’ll come around.”

  “I’ve already tried,” I said. “Now she’s so busy with her friend.”

  We approached the school, and finally I admitted, “I just feel weird around her. Them. Marla and Eve.”

  “Just remember,” Jonah said. “Eve is still your friend.”

  But as we walked into the school, I wondered if that was still true.

  I decided I needed a new plan. I’d up my efforts to be nice and normal with Eve. She had to feel comfortable around me again, and there was no better way to do that than by having some easy, casual conversation with her.

  But when I walked into the cafeteria, I stopped dead in my tracks. What was Marla doing there? In our school? Sitting next to Eve for lunch?

  I slowly walked to our table, noticing with an intense pang of jealousy that Marla was sitting in my seat. In the seconds-long encounters I’d had with Marla, I knew she was wary of me. I knew Eve had told her what I’d done.

  I slipped into a seat next to Jonah and across from Eve and Marla. “Hey, guys,” I said, forcing a smile as if I weren’t being kicked in the gut. “Hey, Marla. What are you doing here?”

  “Hey,” she said, a steady look in her eyes. “Just having some lunch.”

  “Cool,” I said, looking between her and Eve. I didn’t know random people could just show up at school for lunch.

  “The school doesn’t care as long as you ask,” Eve said as if knowing what I’d been thinking.

  We sat silently for a moment as I took out my lunch. I had the feeling that if I weren’t there, they’d be talking. Not necessarily about me, but it seemed clear that my presence made things awkward. Where were Kristen and Lizbeth when I needed them? They were probably off cornering the boys in some dark hallway, forcing them into committing to the dance.

  After taking a long gulp of water, I asked Eve, “You excited about the dance on Friday? Marla, will you still be in town?”

  Eve shook her head. “She’ll be in town but I don’t know if she’s coming.”

  Kyle came over to our table just then, noted our seating arrangement and new guest, then sat beside me. I smiled and said, “Hey.” In the midst of the stilted conversation, it was even better to see him than usual.

  Kyle smiled back. “Hello,” he said in a quiet voice, meant just for me to hear. Blood rushed to my head and my heart raced. He leaned around me and said, “Hey, guys.”

  Bags thumped onto the table, and Kristen and Lizbeth both sat down with a heavy thud. I guess my moment for a friendly chat with Eve had passed.

  “We’re finished,” Kristen said, disgusted. She did a double take seeing Marla sitting at our table. “Hey,” she said.

  “Guys, this is my friend Marla,” Eve announced. “She’s in town from Ridgeley seeing family and also hanging out with me. It’s her spring break,” she clarified.

  Everyone said hello, and I could just feel Kristen’s and Lizbeth’s eyes shooting toward me for my reaction.

  “So,” I said to Kristen. I needed the attention to be off me. “What are you finished with?”

  “Tobias,” Kristen said, practically spitting his name. “We broke up. He acted like such a jerk when I told him he needed to ask me to the dance. He got all, ‘Why are you telling me what to do?’ And I was all, ‘I’m not telling you what to do, I’m telling you what you should have already done.’ He refused to ask me but get this—he said it didn’t mean that we weren’t together. I was just like, ‘You know what? I don’t need this in my life. We are so over.’” She pushed her lunch away and leaned her elbows on the table. “So that’s that.”

  Normally, I would chuckle a little at Kristen’s antics, maybe reach out and touch her wrist while plastering on a concerned face, all because I knew this would blow over by the end of the day. The difference today was Marla. Judging by the way she reacted to meeting me yesterday, I had a feeling she thought I was a terrible friend. I had to show her otherwise.

  “You must be in so much pain,” I said to Kristen. Worrying I sounded like a soap opera actor, I said, “I mean, are you okay?” I gave her an extra look of concern.

  “I will be as soon as he gets a clue,” she said.

  “I’m here for you if you want to talk about it,” I said.

 
Kristen looked at me and said, “That’s what I’m doing, Mickey. Talking about it. Which, by the way, won’t make Tobias use his brain. When will he figure out that if he just does what I tell him, everything will be fine?”

  “What about you?” I asked Lizbeth. “Are you out, too?”

  “Matthew hasn’t asked me yet,” Lizbeth said, sealing and unsealing her bag of strawberries. I knew she wanted him to ask her and was probably getting worried that he hadn’t yet.

  “I’m sure he will,” I said. “Some guys just take a little longer.”

  “She won’t demand an answer from him like I did,” Kristen said. “But listen: Just because Tobias and I are through doesn’t mean I’m not going to the dance. Please. I am so going and looking hotter than ever. He’ll be sorry he didn’t ask me.”

  To Eve I said, “Now you have to come to the dance! We can’t leave Kristen alone.” I thought of last night with Kyle, and the fool I made of myself when he tried to kiss me—or brush the bug off my shoulder. The dance seemed like just the place he’d actually try to kiss me and if I still wasn’t ready by then, I’d need my friends to help keep us from being alone. “Maybe we should all go together. It’ll be much more fun that way. And Marla, you can come, too!”

  “To the dance?” she said skeptically. “I don’t think I want—”

  “I’m not even sure if the school will let her,” Eve broke in. I had the sinking feeling that even when Marla didn’t finish a sentence she was on the verge of insulting me. I guess it was a good thing that Eve interrupted—she still liked me enough for that. “Since she’s not a student here. Anyway, I just want to get this science project done. Then I’ll think about the dance.”

  Jonah said, “Hey, whatever you want to do is cool with me. Dance, no dance, as a group, alone. Whatever. Tell me what you want and I’ll do it.”

  “Eve, you’re so lucky,” Kristen said. “Why can’t Tobias be more like Jonah?”

  Eve smiled, her cheeks and across her forehead blushing bright-pink. “He’s okay, I guess,” she said, giving him a smile. “Hey, does anyone else have Ms. Howard for science?” We all shook our heads no. “We have to come up with an invention by Friday. I have no idea what I’m going to do.”

  “I told her I’d help her with it,” Marla said. “She keeps saying she’ll get it done. We don’t have to go out every night, Eve.”

  “But I want to hang out with you,” Eve said.

  “I can help you,” I said. “We can work on it at lunch. Go to the library and brainstorm or something.”

  “We could just as easily work in the evenings,” Marla said. “If Eve weren’t such a good host, that is.” The girls smiled at each other. It looked like at any second they’d hug it out and have a moment right there at the table. Ugh.

  “I’ll try to think of things for you,” I said.

  “That’d be cheating,” Marla said.

  “No, it wouldn’t,” I said, bristling at the accusation. “It’s just that it’s clear she’s distracted in the evenings.”

  “Eve, you’re smart,” Lizbeth broke in. I realized everyone was looking between me and Marla. “You’ll come up with something.”

  “Yeah,” Kristen said, taking Lizbeth’s cue, trying to calm the conversation. “By Friday at the dance it’ll all be done and we can just relax and party.”

  Kyle shifted in his seat, and his thigh brushed up against mine. He left it there, our thighs touching, and my face heated up.

  “I have an idea!” I said, casually shifting my leg away. “We should all get dressed together at the salon. I bet my mom would let us use the products. Oh! That reminds me, Eve, Giancarlo said he’d do your hair. Mom is giving me a blowout—it’s going to be all long and straight, and Giancarlo said he’d make yours curly. How cute would that be?”

  “What about Marla?” she said.

  Oops. I honestly hadn’t meant to not invite her, right to her face. “You’re invited, too, of course,” I improvised. “I’m sure we can get you an appointment if you want one.”

  “Um, maybe,” she said, clearly unsure. “But I really don’t want to bother Eve with this too much right now. She’s really stressed about her science project, so maybe we can just get back to you on the whole dance thing?”

  “Yeah, she’s right,” Eve said. “Is that okay?”

  “Of course,” I said. “Absolutely. Whatever you need.”

  As lunch ended, I got the distinct feeling that Marla and I were playing a high-stakes game at who was a better friend to Eve. And she had just won this round.

  CHAPTER 9

  Eve and Marla left the cafeteria with Jonah, and I walked out with Kyle. He didn’t say much. We just walked to my English classroom, and he said he’d find me after school.

  Eve was already at her desk when I got to class. She smiled at me as I walked to my seat, and I tried not to smile back too eagerly. I needed to calm down. No one liked a desperate friend.

  She leaned over and asked, “So how’s it going with Kyle?”

  “Great!” I cheered. “It’s going good.”

  She nodded and got out her notebook and pen as the class settled in. I wanted to ask her if she and Jonah had kissed yet. Probably. Maybe I could ask her advice on the whole thing as a way to get things back to normal and to gather the info I needed. I should just do it, I told myself. Just ask her.

  “Hey,” I said, leaning toward her a bit. In the moment it took Eve to turn to face me, I got a flash of an image of her and Jonah kissing and oh my gosh that is just not something I wanted to see, even in my head. And then suddenly, the image was burned there. I couldn’t get it out.

  “Yeah?” Eve said, waiting.

  “I just, um . . . do you want to do something together after school? Marla, too, of course.”

  It was a decent save, but then I realized Eve had just been worrying about getting her project done.

  “That’d be awesome,” she said, “but I’m meeting her at the Berkshire Museum, plus I really have to work on my project.”

  “No! Right, of course!” I said. Eve probably thought I was a terrible listener, which would also mean I was a horrible friend. I may have been trying, but clearly I wasn’t trying hard enough. Or maybe I was trying too hard? Was that possible?

  “Lizbeth! Hey—wait up!”

  The moment I saw Lizbeth down the hall, I knew she was the one I had to talk to.

  “I have something serious I need to talk to you about,” I said to her. “Can you go to the diner after school? Cheese fries and milkshakes on me.”

  “Ooh, my favorite foods plus total intrigue? How could I say no?” she said. “But can it be a half hour after school? I have to meet with my history teacher about a project we have coming up. Want to wait for me here or meet me there?”

  “I’ll meet you there,” I said. “And thanks.”

  “Anytime,” she said.

  After school, before I could even get out the front door, Eve caught up to me.

  “I’m glad I caught you,” she said.

  “Hey,” I said. Seeing her flushed face, I continued, “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah, it’s great,” she said. “It’s just, um . . . are you going home?”

  “Not quite yet,” I said as we walked out the doors.

  “I was wondering if maybe you wanted to go with me to meet Marla,” she said, and I was struck by how nervous she seemed. She looked like I’d felt earlier in English class. “The museum is supposed to be pretty good. I thought it might be fun.”

  I slowed my walk. Was she asking me to go with them now? Why hadn’t she in class? Had she talked to Marla and gotten it cleared with her first? I didn’t like the idea of that—not at all.

  “Um, well . . . ,” I began, my brain scrambling. I couldn’t ditch one friend for another.
/>   “I mean, if you can’t it’s no big deal,” Eve said, her face burning pink. I couldn’t believe it—she really was nervous.

  “No, I’d like to, it’s just, I already have plans,” I said. “Lizbeth and I are going to the diner to hang out. You guys could stop by later? Maybe we’ll still be there.” Totally unlikely, but if she was inviting me to hang out I wanted to say yes.

  “It’s okay,” she said. “We’ll do something some other time.”

  “Thanks for asking me,” I said. “Really.”

  “Yeah, sure,” Eve said, looking off toward the road like she really wanted to bolt.

  “Hey! Mickey!” We turned to see Kyle running toward us. “I thought I’d missed you.”

  “Hey, Kyle,” I said. If there was such a thing as grinning on the inside, I was totally doing that.

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” he said, glancing to Eve. “I didn’t mean to interrupt. I was just going to see if I could walk home with you. I’m heading in that direction, anyway—to Jonah’s.”

  “Yeah, sure,” I said. Then noticed Eve’s face—her mouth dropped open. She looked at me like I had just told her a big, fat lie about the diner. “No! Sorry, I mean I’m not going home,” I said to Kyle. “I’m going to Camden Way. To meet Lizbeth. Want to walk me there?”

  “Sure,” Kyle said. “Wherever you’re going.”

  “I gotta go,” Eve said.

  Oh my gosh. Eve totally thought I was a huge liar, I just knew it.

  “No, wait,” I said, although I wasn’t sure what I wanted her to wait for. “Let’s make plans to do something later this week.”

  “I have that science project,” she said.

  “Okay,” I said. “Well, maybe if you need help or anything just let me know.”

  She looked between me and Kyle. Finally, she nodded and said, “See you guys tomorrow.”

  I watched Eve go, feeling like I had just made things worse between us.

  “You okay?” Kyle asked.

  “Yeah. I don’t know,” I said as we started our walk to Camden Way. “It was weird. In English I asked if she wanted to hang out, but she said she couldn’t. But then, just now, she invited me to hang out with her and Marla, but I’ve already made plans. I think she’s upset—maybe she thinks I’m jerking her around?”