Authors: Suzanne Young
Tags: #Juvenile Fiction, #Girls & Women, #Social Issues, #Dating & Sex, #Humorous Stories
So Many Boys (24 page)
“Thanks,” I whispered.
“Wonderful. Now let’s go over it one more time,” Kira said, hopping down from the desk to grab her backpack from the floor and unzipping it. She’d finally agreed to help with this case, even though she clearly didn’t want to. “I have the zoom lens, the binoculars, and the infrared camera. Leona has the rope packed in her car. My course is in the rafters.”
“It’ll be perfect,” I said. Above the gym there was a walkway that the janitors had erected to get to the lights and ceiling during some recent renovations. It would be the prime spot to spy from. And since it was her boyfriend down there, Kira probably knew that.
“It’s almost time,” Izzie said, checking her watch. She and Leona exchanged a worried glance.
I took a steadying breath, glancing toward my phone where it sat on my side table. It was convenient that this year the dance would be held in the cafeteria. Not nearly as glamorous as a restaurant or even the gym, but it suited our situation well.
“Have you figured out what you’re going to say yet?” Kira asked, trying to look disinterested.
“Sort of. I’m thinking of telling him something happened with Aiden and me? I don’t know. Do you think that’ll work?”
“Just be hot,” Leona said, not looking up. “All guys care about is hot.”
“Excuse me,” Kira scoffed. “That’s my boyfriend you’re talking about.”
“Right,” Leona responded. “Then play dumb, Tessa. That seems to work.”
I was about to scold her when the doorbell rang, startling me. I looked toward the door, my dress shifting with an adorable whooshing sound.
“Were you expecting someone?” Kira asked, maybe a little suspicious.
“No.” And I really wasn’t. With my eyebrows pulled together, I walked through my house and crossed the kitchen to the front door. I swung it open and gasped.
“Hi.”
It was Aiden. He was standing there, unshaven, disheveled. Wait, was he wearing pajamas? I shook my head, as if to ask him what he was doing here.
“I know you don’t want to talk to me right now,” he said, his voice scratchy. “I know…you probably hate me. But I just wanted to see you before you went to the dance. You look beautiful.”
I felt my cheeks blush, but I quickly pushed any affection I had away. I was about to start a mission. I couldn’t let Aiden distract me.
“I can’t talk to you right now,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.
“Will you ever?” he asked back quickly. “Will you ever talk to me again?” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I’m going crazy, Tess.”
I stared at him then, looked at him for a long moment before responding. I closed my eyes. “No. I don’t think I will.”
I couldn’t see him, but I heard him let out a soft cry. There was a stabbing pain in my chest and I opened my eyes to look down at the fabric of my dress, wishing I could just spin around to watch it flow around me, forgetting about Aiden and Mary.
When I finally got up enough courage to look at him, his head was hanging, his hand was over his mouth. I saw tears drip from his cheeks to the ground. It was too much—watching this was too much right now. I needed to get back inside and call Joel.
“I’m sorry, I have to go,” I said quickly, swiping under my eyes to make sure my makeup was safe. “Thanks for coming by, Aiden. But tonight’s homecoming and…” I had started to go back inside when he reached out to take my arm.
“Tessa…”
“Have a good night,” I said, pulling my arm out of his hand and not looking at him. “Goodbye, Aiden.” My voice cracked on his name, but I swished my way through my door.
“I still love you, Tessa,” Aiden called after me before I shut the door.
By the time I got back to my bedroom, my makeup was a lost cause. Once my ex-boyfriend set foot on my property, I was a goner. But the minute I walked in my room, I grabbed the box of tissues off my desk and began blowing.
“Who was it?” Kira asked, sounding annoyed.
“Aiden,” I answered, my voice thick with tears.
“I still can’t believe he went all the way with Mary,” Izzie squeaked, getting up to come over to the bed and sitting next to Leona. She patted it for me for sit down too. I nodded, unable to talk as I blew my nose into the tissue.
“Well, Mary is pretty,” Kira said from across the room. I looked up at her, blurry eyed.
“But in a skanky way,” Leona added, smiling for support. “Like some other cheerleaders we know.” Kira narrowed her eyes but didn’t respond.
After another minute of feeling sorry for myself, I felt Leona’s hand on my shoulder. “I know you’re sad, Tess,” she said. “But it’s after seven. You have to pull yourself together. Let’s finish this assignment and then we’ll all set out on a new mission. To get boyfriends.”
“Um, hello,” Kira called. “I still have one.”
“Yeah, whatever.” Leona climbed off the bed and stood in front of me as I sat on the edge of my bed, tissue still covering my nose. “Sharpen up,” Leona said, bending down to get close to my face. “Mission starts now.”
With the Smitten Kittens’ help, I managed to look halfway decent and lose my blotchy crying skin. We tweaked the plan, and I decided to call Joel once I got to the gym, making it a little easier for the copy-Kitten to intercept. Chances were, they were already following me.
I walked into the gymnasium, my heels clicking on the wood floors and echoing in the air. It was creepy. I knew that the girls were already here, arriving twenty minutes before me, but I didn’t dare look toward them. In case the copy-Kitten was here, I didn’t want to give up our position.
I sorted through my purse and pulled out my pink phone, dialing Joel’s preprogrammed house number. He answered on the first ring, and I smiled. I loved promptness.
“Hello?” He sounded confused.
“Hi, Joel. It’s Tessa.”
“Really?” He laughed. “I thought you were avoiding me.” I shifted in my heels, surprised he had noticed.
“I wasn’t avoiding you. I was…busy.”
“Busy avoiding me.”
I twitched my nose, wondering if I’d hurt his feelings by not talking to him. I really didn’t like the idea of that. “I’m sorry,” I said.
“Fine. You’re forgiven. But you owe me a vanilla Frappuccino.”
I smiled, wishing I could just do this tonight—talk with a friend. But that wasn’t part of the deal, and after tonight, Joel might never speak to me again.
I walked over to the wall, my heels clicking. I bent down to sit against it—even in my pale yellow dress. Once on the floor, I exhaled.
“Aiden came to see me today,” I confided, only half acting.
The phone made a rustling sound on Joel’s end. “Again? What did he say? Are you all right?”
“I don’t know,” I murmured. “I don’t know anything anymore.” I almost started crying, but I sniffled and straightened my back, ignoring the slight twitch there.
“He’s being a jerk off,” Joel said, sounding authentic. “He needs to leave you alone now.”
I appreciated the protective tone in his voice. I let it soothe me.
“Is there anything I can do?” he asked softly.
Here it was, my chance. But for a second, I wanted to tell him to meet me somewhere else altogether and maybe go for corn dogs. There was a noise from above me.
I closed my eyes. “Can you meet me?” I asked, trying to focus on the mission. “I’m at the gym.”
“What are you doing there?”
“It’s a long story.” And it certainly was.
“Um…You need me now?”
“Yes. Right now.” I couldn’t believe I was doing this.
Joel was quiet. Then, “I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
ASSIGNMENT 56:50 P.M., SEPTEMBER 25
The operative bit off the ends of her red nails as she watched from the supply closet. It was a perfect view to where Tessa was standing under the bleachers. She looked nice, dressed up so delicately. It almost was enough to forget the fact that she was a liar.
The operative watched through her night-vision lens as Tessa talked on her phone, walking over to the wall to slide down to the ground. For a minute, the operative felt a small pang of regret, seeing the sadness on Tessa’s face. But she pushed it away. Tessa had brought this upon herself.
Under the bleachers, Tessa clicked off her phone and dropped it to the floor next to her feet, exhaling loudly. She looked nervous.
She should. The operative just needed to get through this, and then she had a revenge planned that would be so much worse than what happened at the party. So much more damaging.
Tessa pushed herself up off the floor. She swiped at her dress with both hands, making sure it was clean.
For a second, the operative froze as Tessa’s gaze touched on the half-open storage closet across from her. But a sound from the hallway made Tessa turn.
Just then, the door pushed open just enough for Tessa to react to who was about to enter.
She smiled.
CHAPTER TWENTY
I STOOD UNDER THE BLEACHERS OF THE HALF
lit gymnasium in my homecoming dress waiting for Joel, my heart pounding from both spy anxiety and the knowledge that I was being watched. It definitely bothered me to be on this end of the lens, and it made me wonder about all the subjects I’d investigated in the past.
lit gymnasium in my homecoming dress waiting for Joel, my heart pounding from both spy anxiety and the knowledge that I was being watched. It definitely bothered me to be on this end of the lens, and it made me wonder about all the subjects I’d investigated in the past.
Kira and the other Smitten Kittens were surely watching from above me in the rafters, but I didn’t dare look up. No. The copy-Kitten was here. I could feel it.
The gym door cracked open, sending in a streak of light. “Tessa?” It was Joel. At the sound of his voice, my heart skipped a beat underneath the flowy material of my dress and I smiled.
“Over here,” I whispered, trying to sound like this was a casual encounter. Joel saw me and nodded, walking inside and then closing the metal gym door quietly. When it clicked shut, he slipped his hands into the pockets of his suit and strolled my way.
I could tell from the grin on his face that he liked my dress. He even sighed when he paused in front of me. “Wow, Tessa.” He shook his head. “You look gorgeous.”
I widened my eyes, wary of Kira, who was hearing all this and almost certainly not liking it. “Thanks,” I said, trying to punch his shoulder playfully. It just came out as awkward. I was a terrible flirt.
“You’re welcome,
pal
?” He laughed.
pal
?” He laughed.
He was clueless as to what was going on, and I couldn’t tell him. Instead I tried to pretend like I hadn’t lost my mind. “I needed to talk to someone,” I said, glancing away from him toward the ground. “And you’re really good at listening.” Well, that part was true.
Joel shifted, his loafers scraping the floor. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but…you’re not thinking of taking him back, are you? That would be really stupid.”
My eyes snapped up as I stared at his soft hazel eyes, weighing his comments. “Why shouldn’t I take him back?” My heart began to beat faster under the bodice of my dress. Joel was gazing at me, and I was mesmerized by his compassion, by the way he cared about how I felt. About my future.
“Because there could be someone else out there for you. Someone better.”
I blinked heavily, and Joel laughed, self-consciously rubbing at his chin as he stepped closer to me. My breath quickened. He smelled good—a clean mix of soap and aftershave. His hair was brushed to the side, totally dapper.
“You look like you need a hug,” Joel whispered, holding out his hand. It was trembling slightly, and I drew in a long breath, trying to convince myself that what I was about to do was for the Smitten Kittens. For an assignment.
I reached out, sliding my palm into his, feeling his heat envelop me. Very gently, he tugged me closer until we were almost touching.
Then he exhaled and put his arms around me, resting his chin on my head. It was a sweet gesture, but intimate. I felt myself melt into him.
“Kira’s so lucky,” I murmured with my eyes closed.
Joel’s body tensed. “What do you mean?” He pulled back and looked down at me, confused.
Dang, was I blowing the mission? I shouldn’t have brought her up. “Um…”
“Tessa,” Joel said, his eyes narrowed. “You know that Kira and I broke up, right?”
I stepped away. “What? When?” My hands fell to my sides and I looked around the room, completely flabbergasted.
“Remember that day of the fair?” he asked. “That night…I told her that I didn’t think it was working out. Wait. You didn’t know? I thought that was why you were avoiding me.”
“Joel, are you serious?” I started shaking my head, trying to rethink this. Joel and Kira were still together. She said so herself.
“Yeah, Tess,” Joel murmured, moving closer to me. “I would have told you, but…I don’t know. You were having problems with Aiden, and I didn’t want to bother you with this.”
My eyes darted around the room. Kira had been so jealous tonight, so possessive of him. The last week had been absolute misery for me, and yet she hadn’t even mentioned that they’d broken up. This was a big deal. How could she not mention it? It affected the mission. It meant—
I froze. My clutch purse was lying on the floor and I picked it up, rummaging through it, looking for my phone.
“Tessa,” Joel said, sounding concerned. “What’s wrong?”
“Hold on.” I sped through the numbers in my recent calls, and when I found Mary’s, I clicked it.
“Hello?” she answered, sniffling. I cringed at the sound of her voice.
“Question,” I started. “Why did you go to the squad and tell them not to let me back on?”
“Tessa!” She sounded completely relieved to hear from me, but I had no time for her apologies.
“Just answer me.”
She paused. “I…I didn’t think I had a choice. It had nothing to do with Aiden, I promise. Oh, Tessa. I’m so sorry. You have to know—”
“Then why did you tell the girls not to let me on the squad?” My heart was racing and I closed my eyes, scared of her answer.
“Kira,” she said finally. “She told me you were out of control. Said you were running everything in the ground, but no one would listen to her. Asked me to help her. I…I believed her. Aiden said you’d changed too.”
Other books
Settled Blood by Mari Hannah
Fig by Sarah Elizabeth Schantz
The Mystic Wolves by Belinda Boring
All I Have to Give by Mary Wood
Spells and Scones by Bailey Cates
A Trial by Jury by D. Graham Burnett
Bad Girls Finish First by Shelia Dansby Harvey
Girl of Rage by Charles Sheehan-Miles
Remember Me by Sharon Sala
