He's With Me Page 5

  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

  half an hour.” Mr. Willis took a train to the city every morning before the rest of

  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