He's With Me Read online

Bree’s eyebrows shot up.

  “I asked her on Wednesday,” Jake said quickly, “but she didn’t say yes until

  Friday.”

  “Oh, how cute,” Bree said in a tone that sounded more like “of, how

  repulsive.”

  “How did he ask you?” Sally said. She sounded more interested than Bree.

  “Was it adorable? Or was it weird?”

  Hmm, let’s see. I think I’d have to go with weird.

  “You know,” Jake said, perhaps sensing Lexie’s panic.”I just asked her. No

  big deal. We should go on it, shouldn’t we?” He started forward and Bree stopped

  him with one hand on his chest. Looking straight at Lexie, she draped herself over

  his shoulder.

  “Oh boys,” she said in a teasing, aren’t-we-all-friends-here way. “They

  never care about the details. To get the real story, you have to ask the girl. Right,

  Lexie? So tell us the details. I want to hear every single thing.”

  “It’s totally boring,” Jake said. “And we’re going to be late.”

  “We have a few minutes,” Bree said, resting her other hand on his arm so

  both hands were holding him in place. “Unless there’s some reason you don’t

  want her to tell this story, Jakey.”

  Jake and Lexie exchanged glances. Hers said, She totally knows we’re lying.

  His said, Help! What do we do?

  Lexie took a deep breath. Well, she had imagined Jake asking her out a

  thousand times. She could describe the perfect scene pretty easily.

  “Um,” she said. “It was Wednesday night. I decided to walk Thorn and

  Alanna – those are our dogs – to the park on the corner. When I came out the

  door, Jake was there, on the porch. He looked like he’d been waiting for a while,

  thinking about ringing the doorbell. I thought that was weird, but he asked if he

  could come to the park, and I said sure. I gave him Alanna’s leash because she

  doesn’t tug on it as much as Thorn does.”

  “Your dogs are named Alanna and Thorn?” Sally interrupted. Bree glared at

  her, but she didn’t notice. “Seriously?”

  “It’s from this series of books I like,” Lexie said, blushing furiously. “Alanna

  and Thorn are twins, like me and Colin, so that’s why we picked those names.”

  She hadn’t ever thought about her dogs’ names being embarrassing before.

  “Go on,” Bree said. “So you and Jake walked up to the park.”

  “Yeah,” Lexie said. “And we let the dogs off the leashes in the fenced area,

  and then we sat on this bench by the fountain.”

  “I know that fountain,” Sally said. “Wow, that’s so romantic.”

  “Sally,” Bree said. “Stop interrupting. ”

  “And then he put something in my hand.” Lexie said. She had imagined it so

  many times, it was like it was real in her head. She could practically see the

  expression on his face in the moonlight. “I looked down, and it was this little

  origami whale. On one side it said, ‘Lexie…’ And when I turned it over, the other

  side said, ‘…will you be my girlfriend?”

  “Oh my God,” Sally said. “That is the cutest thing I’ve ever heard.”

  “How could you read it in the moonlight?” Bree said suspiciously.

  “There are, um, lights in the park,” Lexie said, jolted back to reality. She

  glanced nervously at Jake, but she couldn’t figure out the look on his face. Was he

  freaked out? Did he think it was weird that she had come up with that whole

  story off the top of her head?

  “Oh,” Bree said. “Well. That’s sweet.” She shoved Jake away from her. “I

  don’t know why you didn’t want to tell us that story, Jake.”

  “Guys don’t like girls to know how romantic they can be,” Lexie said, trying

  to sound like she had any idea what she was talking about.

  “But you waited until Friday to say yes?” Bree asked. Lexie felt like she was

  being interrogated. The bright lights and water torture couldn’t be far off.

  “Um. I guess I was nervous,” she said. “I haven’t – I mean, Jake’s my first –”

  She faltered. She couldn’t do it. She couldn’t say, “Jake’s my boyfriend.”

  “The important thing is she did say yes,” Jake said smoothly. He put one

  arm around Lexie’s shoulders and used this other hand to wrap her arm around

  his waist. “Now that you have all the details you need for an in-depth

  encyclopedia on the subject, may we please get to camp, Miss McKennis?”

  Bree lifted her chin so her wings of hair swung back from her face. “Of

  course,” she said, linking her arm through Sally’s. “Come on Sally.” They swept on

  ahead, down the path leading to the check-in booth.

  Lexie’s heart was racing. Jake’s whole side was pressed against hers, and his

  bare arm was resting lightly on her shoulders, and her arm could feel the muscles

  in his back through his shirt, and it didn’t seem possible that she could be

  confused and scared and thrilled at the same time.

  “Wait,” he whispered, curling his hand around her shoulder until Bree and

  Sally were out of ear-shot. As soon as they were, he nudged her forward, keeping

  his arm in place. “Lexie, that was amazing.”

  “Oh,” she said, turning pink. “It wasn’t anything special.”

  “Seriously?” he said. “I couldn’t believe it. I wish I were that cool. You

  should have been a guy. You’d knock the socks off any girl with a move like that.”

  Lexie started giggling. She couldn’t help it. “Knock the socks off?” she said.

  “How old are you, fifty?”

  “Nice,” Jake said. “I give you a compliment, and you make fun of me.”

  “Sorry,” Lexie said. “I forgot for a moment that that’s what every girl wants

  to hear – that she’d make a great boy.”

  “I mean,” said Jake, “that you’re much smarter than any boy I’ve ever heard

  of.”

  “I’m a girl,” Lexie pointed out. “So that’s true by definition.”

  “Dweeb,” he said affectionately.

  “Loser,” she said.

  “Smart aleck.”

  She started giggling again. “Oldest person ever trapped inside a fifteen-

  year-old.”

  He pressed one hand to his forehead. “Alas, how my girlfriend abuses me.”

  They’d reached the check-in counter, so he took his arm from around her

  shoulders and leaned over to sign in.

  Lexie glanced around and stopped laughing. Bree was standing halfway

  down the path to the swimming pool, her arms folded so her elbows were sharp

  points at her side. Lexie could practically feel her freezing glare from there.

  This wasn’t over. Bree wanted Jake, and she thought Lexie was the one

  standing in her way. The question was, what was Bree going to do about it?

  Chapter 3

  The good news was that the Advanced Tennis class was on a different set of

  courts, so Jake couldn’t see how terribly Lexie played. The bad news was that Sally

  was in Beginners with Lexie, except she was good, and Lexie really was terrible.

  Sally’s swings were smooth and always connected with the ball. Lexie kept letting

  go of the tennis racket by accident and nearly beaning the instructor with it. She

  was pretty sure that Sally was laughing at her, and that tales of Lexie’s

  incompetence would be traveling straight back to Bree.

  B
y lunchtime, Lexie’s arms ached and her hair was sticking to her face. She

  was so relieved when the instructor let them go, she didn’t even care that now

  she’d have to face Bree and Jake again.

  Lexie was gathering her stuff when a voice said, “Hey,” behind her, and she

  jumped.

  “Sorry to startle you,” Sally said, bouncing on her heels. “I just wanted to

  day, don’t worry, you’ll get better. I was pretty bad when I started. I’m still not

  good enough for Intermediate or Advanced.”

  Lexie couldn’t think of anything interesting to say. “Um. Thanks,” she

  managed.

  Sally kept looking at Lexie, as if she was thinking, How did a girl like you

  snag Jake Atkinson? Lexie thought, I’ll answer that if you can tell me why you agreed to be best friends with the scariest girl in school.

  “Well?” Sally said.

  “Well what?” Lexie asked.

  “Aren’t you starving? Let’s go to lunch.”

  Let’s? As in “let us”? Us? Me and Sally Kim? There’s an us there?

  Sally spun her racket impatiently and Lexie quickly grabbed her bag with

  the hat, the extra sunscreen, and the brown-bag lunch her mom had packed. She

  followed Sally up the walkway to a bunch of picnic tables under the trees. The

  other Tennis for Teens campers were gathering there, along with the lifeguard

  training class from the pool and a group of basketball campers.

  Jake was already sitting at a table, unwrapping his lunch, His hair was half-

  wet from the showers and drying in the sun, so it was kind of spiky and darker

  than usual. That day his T-shirt was light blue, making his eyes even bluer. He saw

  Lexie and waved.

  “Wow,” Sally said. “Did you see his face light up when he saw you? That’s

  so cute. My boyfriend never looks that excited to see me.”

  Yeah, I guess Jake’s a really good actor, Lexie thought.

  “You have a boyfriend?” she said, but too quietly, so Sally didn’t hear her

  and she had to repeat herself.

  “Oh, sure,” Sally said. “Ian Montgomery. Bree set us up in April.” That made

  sense. Ian was athletic and blond and agreeable and would fit in well with Bree’s

  idea of who her friends should date. For one thing, she’d never wanted to date him. Anyone she’d dated was off the menu for everyone else.

  Sally peeled off to join Bree and her Glare of Death in the line for pizza, and

  Lexie hesitantly went over to Jake’s table. See, this is why Colin should be there.

  She’d know exactly who to sit with and how. And if she wanted to spend

  lunchtime reading her book, he wouldn’t mind. But of course she had to sit with

  Jake, right? A girlfriend would normally sit with her boyfriend. That was the

  normal thing to do.

  She set her lunch bag down on the table, opposite him, and he immediately

  reached out and grabbed it.

  “Hey,” she said. “Eat your own lunch.”

  “Sit next to me,” he whispered frantically. “Or else she will.”

  Lexie looked up and saw Bree heading purposefully their way. She scooted

  quickly around the end of the table and managed to sit down next to Jake just

  before Bree plunked her tray down on the table.

  “Oh, Jakey,” Bree said, ignoring Lexie, “I saw you playing tennis when I went

  by the courts earlier. You are so talented.”

  “Thanks,” Jake said, opening Lexie’s lunch. “Wow, Lexie, your mom really

  likes carrot sticks doesn’t she?”

  “We suspect she owns stock in them or something,” Lexie joked. Jake

  laughed; Bree didn’t.

  “Not to mention,” Bree went on as if they hadn’t spoken, “you looks so hot

  in shorts. Not every guy can pull off that look – right, Lexie? It must be so hard for you to concentrate with your boyfriend right there looking that hot.”

  “Oh, we’re in two different classes,” Lexie said awkwardly.

  “So which celebrities do you like, Lexie?” Bree asked. “Any guys as cute as

  Jake? Don’t worry, I’m sure he won’t be jealous. Tell me your deep dark secret

  crush.”

  Yeah, that would be…Jake.

  “Um… I don’t know,” Lexie mumbled.”Maybe Jake Gyllenhaal.”

  Bree rolled her eyes. “Like we haven’t all heard that one before.”

  “Here, Lexie,” Jake said, and she realized he was saying her name a lot

  more than usually. He broke his cookie in half and handed her the bigger portion.

  “To make up for all those carrot sticks.”

  “Really?” Lexie said. She met his eyes as he handed her the cookie. He

  looked so worried, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling at him.

  “That is so cute,” Sally said, sliding onto the bench, next to Bree. “Ian totally refuses to share his food with me. I once ate a French fry off his plate when he

  had clearly finished eating, and he, like, didn’t speak to me for the rest of the

  weekend.”

  “He’s probably helping you watch your weight.” Bree said nastily. “I’d say

  he’s doing you a favour.”

  Sally looked hurt. She stared down at her pizza, poking it with her plastic

  fork but not eating. Lexie wished she was brave enough to tell Sally that Bree was

  being crazy – and mean for no reason – but she was too afraid to butt into their

  conversation. Bree had enough reasons to hate her.

  “So what are you going to do for your afternoon activity?” Jake asked Lexie.

  She realized there were sign-up sheets on all the tables. The list of choices

  included more tennis ( no thanks) leaning to papier-mâché ( maybe If I were still eight years old), Ultimate Frisbee, and pool volleyball. Sadly, going home and watching TV with Colin was not on the list.

  “I don’t know,” Lexie said. “None of this is my idea of fun. I guess Frisbee

  sounds the least painful.”

  “Really?” Bree pounced. “I thought for sure you’d want to be with your

  boyfriend. Unless you don’t really want to hang out with him, but I’m sure that’s not true.”

  Lexie gave Jake a confused look, and he tapped POOL VOLLEYBALL with one

  finger. “I’m a team captain,” he said. “Cynthia – the woman in charge of pool

  activities – asked me to because I’ve had lifeguard training.”

  “Oh,” she said. Now what? On one hand, if she stuck with Frisbee, she

  wouldn’t be acting like a real girlfriend, would she? But on the other hand…pool

  volleyball meant a bathing suit. In front of Jake and worse, Bree. At least the red

  bikini was safely hidden under her bed at home.

  “Come on,” Jake said, taking one of her hands in both of his. “It’ll be fun.”

  “You don’t really want me on your team,” Lexie said. “I’m totally terrible.”

  “I know,” Jake said. “I want you on the other guy’s team.”

  Lexie swatted him with her free hand. “That is no way to talk to your

  girlfriend,” she said, forgetting for a moment that Bree was right there, intently

  watching them.

  “You’re right,” he said. “My apologies, sugar plum. I’m sorry, honey pie. I’ll

  never do it again, my little pumpkin. Is that better?”

  She wrinkled her nose at him. “I feel so edible all of a sudden.”

  “Cute enough to eat,” he said. Lexie looked down at the table, turning pink

  again. He didn’t have to overact quite so much. Bree would catch on if he kept

  being ridicu
lous.

  “Adorable,” Sally said, shaking her head. “I aspire to be that adorable.”

  Bree stood up, grabbed Sally’s arm, and yanked her away. As they hurried

  off, Lexie heard Bree whisper, “Nauseating,” just loudly enough for Lexie to hear.

  Lexie pulled her hand free and wrapped up the remains of her sandwich.

  Now that they were gone, how was she supposed to act?

  “I think it’s going well,” said Jake. “Don’t you?”

  “Um, sure,” Lexie said. In the sense of my not being literally dead yet,

  anyway.

  “You don’t really have to do volleyball if you don’t want to,” he said.

  “That’s okay,” Lexie said. “I’m sure it’ll be fun. Besides, after tennis, I could

  use a swim.”

  “Have I said thank you for this?” Jake asked. “Because seriously. Thank you

  for this.”

  “I’m not sure I’m helping,” Lexie said. “She’s still paying so much attention

  to you.”

  “I’m sure she’ll get over it soon,” Jake said. “You won’t have to pretend for

  much longer.”

  So instead of pretending to date you…I can go back to pretending I don’t

  like you.

  Lexie sighed. When do I finally get to stop pretending?

  Chapter 4

  The girl’s changing room by the pool had separate stalls with doors, much to

  Lexie’s relief. She didn’t like getting undressed in front of people, plus she was

  sure Bree and Sally would be staring at her the whole time.

  As she waited for a stall, Lexie saw that most of the Beginners tennis class

  had signed up for pool volleyball, too, including Sally. Bree kept talking loudly

  about her lifeguard training, like she wanted everyone to know she wasn’t a

  tennis camper like the others. Her sixteenth birthday had been two months

  before, so she was old enough, and the pool gave special classes for it in the

  mornings.

  Jake would be turning sixteen in a week and a half, more than four months

  before Colin and Lexie. Lexie wondered suddenly if she was supposed to get him a

  present. Normally she’d help Colin pick out something funny from both of them,

  like the Extreme Worst-Case Scenario Survival Guide. But as his pretend girlfriend, was she supposed to give him something special and meaningful? Something that

  Bree would notice, that shouted, “Look, my totally-for-real girlfriend gave me