Accidental Crush (12 page)

Chapter 9:
Things are Getting Interesting.

I am so happy Shane is the first one at the lockers this morning. I can’t wait to tell him about the conversation at my kitchen table yesterday. I wanted to ask Ryan more about it, but he locked himself in his room for most of the day and when he did come out it was clear he didn't want to talk about the dance.

"Shane! I have so much to tell you. I wanted to text you
, but thought this was a better in person conversation."

"What? I'm dying
." Shane asks perking up.

"Well
, the bad news is Todd and Rebecca might be official."

"Really? Sorry
, Ash!"

"Well
, he was sort of all over the place when Sid asked him, but he said ’
um... I guess?
’ I'm taking it as a maybe, which is closer to a yes, but then Todd made it seem like something happened with Ryan and another girl."

"Get out!" he
says as he shoves my shoulder.

"I know! He didn't say who
, and Ryan clearly didn't want to talk about it. He said everything is fine and Todd is just over-exaggerating, but he seemed upset."

"It has to be Blythe!" Shane
says as he packs his books into his bag.

"That's what I was thinking
, too. I mean, after what we saw on the dance floor, it would make sense."

"Wow! Did he say anything else? Like any clues to what happened?"

"None"

"So frustrating."

“But we need to find out," I say it very matter of factly.

"Of course. Well
, the really good news is, and this is top secret,"—he lowers his voice—"the Sour Lollipops are starting rehearsals for the school pep rally before the district championship game in two weeks."

"That is great news! Ok
ay, your job is to work Todd for information, and of course, give me updates on Todd and RTS."

Shane
smiles. "I'll see what I can do." He slams his locker door shut, he’s about to start off toward his first class when Blythe passes us and Gretchen is at the other end of the hallway with her girls. It is suddenly like the WWII of body language.

Gretchen
gets really stiff and quickly looks the other way while Blythe increases her natural strut and stares at Gretchen; she is not backing down. Sara, one of Gretchen's girls, whispers something and they all start laughing obnoxiously loud. They certainly aren't going to win Oscars for these performances, but they get their point across. Blythe continues glaring at Gretchen even as she passes while Gretchen continues to stare at the wall in the opposite direction until she knows Blythe is gone. RTS and Gretchen’s other girls are shooting Blythe daggers with their eyes the entire time. As soon as Blythe passes, all of Gretchen’s girls start whispering.

"What was that?" Shane
asks.

"I have no idea
, but something is definitely up."

"You think?" Shane
’s grin is full of sarcasm. Sid walks up behind us, she just missed everything.

"Hi
, guys!” She takes one look at our faces, "What's up?”

“We just witnessed an interesting Blythe, Gretchen interaction."

"What happened? Did you find out any more info?" Sid asks, excited.

"No, but there were major hateful looks being flung all over the hallway. Did Todd say anything to you?"

"Nothing. Ryan?"

"Not a word. He locked himself in his room."

"It's like they have some secret pact." Sid opens her locker and starts exchanging books.

"What else is new?" I clos
e my locker and quickly peer into Sid’s locker mirror for last looks. "Okay, see you guys at lunch. Sid have you seen Simon yet today?"

"No
, but he texted me and asked if I wanted to eat lunch with him today." She giggles. "Do you guys mind if he eats with us?"

Shane and I
glance at each other and shrug at the same time.

"Great!"
She says as she closes her locker door, “See you at lunch.” Then she turns and walks away.

"This should be fun
," Shane says under his breath.

By second period the rumors
are flying about everything that happened at Olives. Ryan has been mentioned in pretty much every conversation. I can’t wait to see Shane and Sid at lunch so we can try to separate fact from fiction. As luck would have it, Ryan, Todd and Brian have our same lunch schedule and so does Blythe and Gretchen. This should be interesting! Lunch cannot get here fast enough.

***

Finally, Sid, Shane and I are at our usual lunch table, and luckily, Simon isn't here yet so we have some time to talk. "Okay, I heard Ryan and Blythe made out at Olives," I say before we’ve even sat down.

"Same
," they both say as they pull out their chairs.

"So that must be true, he kissed her?" I
say, a little too excitedly.

"Well
, not exactly; I also heard he pushed her away. So if he initiated, why would he push?” Sid starts picking at her lunch.

"Good point
, but we don't know if that last part is true. Or any of it, for that matter." Shane is always the voice of reason.

"Any of what?" Simon
asks as he pulls out a chair to sit down. We are so deep in conversation that I already forgot Simon is sitting with us today. That’s going to make this conversation a little more difficult. I look over at Ryan’s lunch table where I see him holding hands with Gretchen. As usual, Gretchen isn't really eating, she’s more interested in Ryan. They are pretty deep in conversation, it looks serious and maybe a little heated. Todd is talking to Brian and RTS is sitting next to him, but he seems more interested in what Brian is saying, which makes me happy. I wish I could hear what they’re talking about.

“It looks to be life as usual over there.” Shane
gestures towards Ryan’s table with his head.

“Oh
, the whole Olive’s rumors.” Simon finally catches on.

“You’ve heard them?” Sid
asks.

“Um
, I go to this school, too, you know?” Simon says jokingly. “I would think you two would have some insider scoop.” He points to Sid and me.

“Please
. They tell us nothing,” we say at the same time.

“What have you heard?” Shane
asks, not losing sight of the goal.

“Blythe and Ryan kissed and Ryan pushed her away
,” Simon repeats basically everything we’ve heard.

“For a rumor
, it seems to be pretty consistent.” Shane makes yet another valid point as he takes a bite of his cheeseburger.

“Yeah, I know.” As happy as I
am that the Gretchen days could be coming to an end, I’m a little disappointed in Ryan. I may not like him with Gretchen, but I don’t want to see anyone get hurt, either.

The rest of the day
flies by and the rumors don’t seem to change. At the end of the day, I’m at my locker when I hear Ryan’s voice. I look up to see Ryan and Blythe approaching the empty Quad that is, by some misfortune, within sight of my locker. It is usually a tease—being so close to The Quad without being allowed to hang out there—but today, it could prove to be a blessing. Blythe and Ryan are whispering, but I’m close enough that I can hear. They have no idea I am standing here or I’m sure they wouldn’t be talking so openly. 

“I’m sorry
, I couldn’t help it,” Blythe says to Ryan.

“Blythe, I’m really flattered. It’s not that I don’t think you’re great
, but I’m with Gretchen right now.” Ryan sounds as sincere as always. “You got me in a lot of trouble, you know,” Ryan says, smiling.

“Listen, I’m not sure what you see in her
, but I get it.” Blythe’s southern accent slips through. “I shouldn’t have kissed you, but you can’t say you didn’t enjoy it.” Blythe is full of confidence. 

Ryan
laughs. “Brian is one of my best friends.”

“I like Brian a lot, but not in that way. We’re just friends. We like hanging out together.” Blythe
smiles a smile that says she wants to be more than just friends with Ryan.

“I’m not sure Brian feels the same way
and I can’t do that to him, either.”

“Just answer me
; did you enjoy it?” I wish I could be that confident.

Ryan
gets really quiet and looks down. When he glances back up, he smiles a smile that says yes.

“I thought so.” Blythe
stands up on her toes and kisses Ryan on the cheek. I am so caught up in listening that I accidentally hit one of my books on the locker door and it makes a loud clanging noise.
Crap!

Ryan and Blythe
turn in my direction, startled. I try to look like I just got there.

“Oh
, hey, guys.” I fumble a little, I wish I was better at this acting thing.

“Hey
, Ash!” they both say as they quickly put space between themselves.

“I’ve gotta get to the field.” Ryan
looks at his phone to check the time. “Ash, I’ll meet you after practice.”

“Bye
, Ryan, let’s continue this conversation later,” Blythe says low, but still loud enough for me to hear then smiles the same I-want-you smile at him as he walks away. “Bye, Ash!” she calls back to me.

I
feel a little bad for eavesdropping on their conversation, but it was so full of information. I think Ryan might really like her, but he’s too good of a guy to hurt Gretchen or Brian.

Since I
have to wait for Ryan to go home, I figure it’s the perfect excuse to go watch football practice and, since Simon is in the school band, Sid is finally easy to convince to go to the field. Luckily, this time Sid is in on the Sour Lollipops performance so that makes life much easier. No more Shane theories. I get to the bleachers first, or so I think until I spot Sid down at the chain link fence that separates the field from the bleachers. Simon is on the other side of the fence talking to her and she is laughing as if he has  said the funniest thing she's ever heard.

"Mr. Clark
, would you like to join us?" A voice rings out loudly through an electronic bullhorn from the side field where the band is waiting to start practice. Both Sid and Simon jump and I can see Sid's face turn red from here. Simon quickly joins the rest of the band as I wave to Sid and she starts walking up the bleachers toward me.

When she finally makes it up the bleachers
, she sits next to me and buries her face in her hands. "I'm so embarrassed."

"I can see that
."

"Very funny. I guess Todd and Shane are still at pep rally practice?"
she asks with her face still buried.

I look out at the field
where the varsity football players are on the other side running drills with no Todd in sight. The cheerleaders are right in front of us, unfortunately. At that moment, the band starts playing so loudly, Sid and I have to shout over them. They are practicing for the halftime show at the district championship game against our biggest rivals.

"Isn't Simon so cute with his big trombone?"
It’s not really a question she wants me to answer.

"You really like him, don’t you?"

"I do. I like that he's so honest. I was afraid when we got to school it would be a different Simon from the dance, but it wasn't. He is exactly the same. He even asked if he could hold my hand on the way to the field. Oh yeah, sorry, I didn't wait for you, Ash. Simon wanted me to walk over here with him and he was so cute and shy when he asked if he could hold my hand that I couldn't say no."

"It's ok
ay. You didn't miss much. Walking over with Simon is a much better offer." I think of telling her about the Ryan, Blythe conversation I’ve overheard because I know Sid will die since it proves all the rumors are true. Yet I can’t do that to Ryan. I know he doesn’t want to talk about it, so I’m not going to make it any worse for him, even if it is Sid. At the end of the day, Ryan is my brother and, as much as he drives me crazy, he's always been there for me.

"Hey
, what do you think of Rebecca?" Sid asks. It’s a completely unexpected question and I’m not sure how I should play this one; truthful or supportive?

"Why?" I ask, going with neither.

"Well, since her and Todd are official now I wanted to see what you thought of her."

"Um
, I don't really know her that well." I try to think about my opinion of her a few weeks ago before it became clouded by my crush on Todd. "I think she's a little pushy and not the nicest person."

Sid
looks at me surprised "Yeah?" She clearly wants me to elaborate. "She's pretty tight with Gretchen, right?"

"Yes
and I’m not sure who's worse."