Arcadia's Gift (Arcadia Trilogy) (18 page)

One side of his mouth curled up into a grin. “Are you kidding? Kissing you was the most fun I’ve had all year.” To prove it, he leaned down and gave me a soft, lingering peck on the mouth, sending my pulse into a stampede. “I just have to explain something to you. It’s not that big of a deal, really.”

“Okay. I won’t worry about it then. See you at lunch?”

“Yeah,” he replied, giving my hand a squeeze before dropping it.

We headed off in different directions, me walking on clouds the whole way to second period, my botched quiz long forgotten.

As I stood at the cafeteria salad bar trying to decide between limp romaine and limp spinach, Bronwyn approached with a playful glare on her face.

“So,” she said, “when were you going to tell me you and Bryan are dating? I’m your best friend, and I had to hear it from the gossip chain?”

“We’re not dating…exactly. That is…I don’t know what you call it.” I decided on limp spinach, but drowned it in ranch dressing.

“But the two of you were making out against your locker today?”

My head snapped up in surprise. “We weren’t making out! We barely kissed!”

She chuckled at my reaction.

“I can’t believe you even heard about that. Dang. I don’t know why the school invests in an intercom system when all they have to do is send the morning announcements out through the grapevine.”

She laughed and the florescent lights glinted off of her retainer wire. “So it’s true? That’s so cool! How long has this been going on?”

At that moment, I honestly don’t think anything could have wiped the smile off my face. “Oh, Bronwyn! He’s so incredible!” As we stood in line at the check-out, I filled her in. “We had our first official date last night, but you know we’ve been talking for a few weeks now. And when he dropped me off, he gave me this good-night kiss that was so hot, it practically peeled the paint off the front door.”

Bronwyn stared off dreamily. “Sounds wonderful!”

“It was! But you know, I’m not exactly sure what this means. I mean, it’s not like he asked me to be his girlfriend or anything. I just don’t know where it stands right now.”

“But you are going to go out with him again, right?”

“That will be $4.15,” the lunch lady sporting a hair helmet said as she weighed my salad. I handed over exact change, and we made our way to our usual table in the back.

“Of course, I’ll go out with him again. In fact, he asked me to have coffee with him after school today. It will have to be fast though. I’m working at the shelter this afternoon.”

When we got to our table, Shawn was already there with Angelique Rasmusson, a senior girl who hangs out with him once in a while. I don’t know her all that well, but she’s in the drama club with Shawn.

“Hi, Ang,” I said as we sat down. I made sure to keep the spot next to me open for Bryan. “What’s up?”

“Bonjour,” she replied. Angelique has this whole French thing going on. She dresses like Audrey Hepburn and smokes unfiltered cigarettes. “Colin and I broke up, so Shawn agreed to stand in as my Homecoming date. We’re trying to figure out what to wear. I want to do a whole 1940’s theme. What do you think?”

“Oh, that’s this weekend?” A little knot formed in my gut. If Lony had been alive, she would’ve been talking about the dance non-stop.

“Yeah,” Angelique replied. “It’s kinda last minute, so we have to hit the stores after school today. There’s this really chic vintage place down in the Cable Car Square that I want to check out.”

With a model perfect body like Angelique’s —rail thin with legs that went on for miles —she could wear a trash bag and make it look like something off the cover of Vogue. “I’m sure you’ll find something.”

A warm hand touched my shoulder. I looked up to see Bryan beaming at me. He set his tray down next to mine. On it was a plate with a pile of overcooked spaghetti.

“Hey,” he said in a general greeting to the table as he slid in next to me. Shawn flashed me a knowing grin and my cheeks pinkened.

“Hi, Bryan,” Bronwyn replied. She quickly introduced him to Angelique.

Angelique tucked a lock of her short dark bob behind her ear, drawing attention to her long graceful neck and gave him a smile that managed both flirty and pouty at the same time. “Hello,” she said, “I don’t think I’ve seen you around here before. I would have remembered.”

I ground my teeth together. Do guys really go for such obvious flirts? Yes, actually, they do.

Not Bryan though. As he said, “Nice to meet you,” he gave my shoulder a light squeeze, giving the not so subtle hint that he was already taken. I warmed at the brief touch. Angelique’s stupid grin faded and she turned her attention back to Shawn.

“So, are you going to be able to get your dad’s car, or will I have to drive us?” she asked Shawn.

“I’ll ask,” he replied gulping a big swig of milk from the carton. “I’ve had my license for a month already and he’s still afraid to let me drive.”

I don’t think I blamed Mr. Cole for not wanting Shawn to go off alone in his Lexus. Let’s just say that Shawn passing his driving test must be proof of divine intervention.

A couple of senior girls called out Angelique’s name and waved her over. “I have to run. Meet me by my locker after seventh period,” she said to Shawn before rushing off.

“So you’re taking Angelique to Homecoming?” Bronwyn asked. “What happened to Carlos?”

Carlos Espinoza was a really cute senior that Shawn had been “talking to” for a while.

Shawn rolled his eyes. “Who knows? One minute he acts interested and the next he avoids me like the flu.”

“He’s a jerk,” I said.

Shawn sighs. “No. No, he really isn’t. It’s just that he’s closeted with his family still. How they can’t tell is beyond me! That queen can set off gaydar alarms ten blocks away.”

“Sometimes parents don’t really want to see their kids for who they really are,” Bryan said, twirling his fork to roll the long noodles up into a bite-sized nest.

“I know mine don’t,” Bronwyn agreed. “My parents still think I’m ten years old.”

I smirked, remembering the dollhouse Bronwyn received for her fifteenth birthday. The miniature hand-carved furniture pieces were cool and everything, but what was she supposed to do, play with it? It’d been taking up a whole corner of her bedroom ever since.

“So,” Shawn said, obviously wanting to change the subject, “you two are going to Homecoming, right? If my dad won’t let me have the car, maybe we can double together.”

A shot of fear hit my chest like a bolt, and I realized it was coming from Bryan, whose knee was resting against mine. I glanced up to see a him biting his lip and looking pale. What was the big deal? Why didn’t he just tell Shawn that he hadn’t had a chance to ask me? It’s not like I wanted to go anyway. I’d rather have him come over to watch a DVD or something.

“Um…well…” Bryan hedged. “
I’m
going…but not with Cady.”

I felt like the bench I was sitting on dropped out from under me, sending me into free fall. A pained look crossed his face as he tried to explain to me, but his words made no sense. Girlfriend? Flying in from Portland? Planned months ago?

My belly roiled and the smell of the ranch dressing was making me want to hurl. I mumbled an excuse and left the table, dropping my lunch —tray and all —into the garbage can.

I burst through the bathroom door, nearly hitting some girl in my rush to get to a stall where I locked myself in and sat down hard on the seat.
What in the hell just happened?
I asked myself, hot tears dripping onto my lap.
How could I be so stupid?
Here I thought Bryan was this great guy, but really he’d been playing me.
He has a girlfriend back in Portland? Don’t you think he could have told me that before ramming his tongue down my throat?
I sobbed silently, feeling my life slide back down into the shit-pile it had been ever since my sister died. Maybe this was karma’s way of biting me back for trying to be happy before my sister was even cold in the ground.

When I heard Bronwyn come in asking if anyone had seen me, I tucked my feel up out of sight until she left. Girls came and went from the bathroom through the rest of the lunch hour. I knew there was a line waiting to use the toilets —I could sense their impatience —but I refused to vacate my stall. The bell rang indicating the end of lunch. Five minutes later it rang again signaling the start of sixth period. I was alone at last.

I wadded up a bunch of toilet paper and wiped at my face. I dropped it in the bowl and flushed. As I left the stall, I met my gaze in the mirror, cringing at the sight of my red-blotchy face under the harsh florescent lights. No way was I going back to class.

Leaving the bathroom, I walked to my locker to get my backpack from where I’d stashed it before lunch. On my way out of the school, I passed Ms. Schilton, my freshman English teacher. She opened her mouth as if to ask for my hall-pass, but something in my expression must have warned her to back off.

When I got in my car, I turned the ignition and let the engine idle. Where would I go? It was too early to go to the shelter. I didn’t have to be there until four. No way was I going home. A note from my mother left on the kitchen table this morning told me that the cleaning lady was coming in, and I should gather up my laundry. The last thing I wanted was to have my pity party interrupted by some stranger vacuuming my bedroom.

I put the car in gear and drove out of the lot. Without really thinking about it, I found myself pulling up in front of Jinx’s house. As I walked up her sidewalk, she opened the door for me.

“Must’ve heard me coming, huh?” I said with a forced, humorless laugh.

“Oh, honey, what happened?”

I flopped down on her couch, not bothering to move the newspaper that was left there. The dog yipped and cuddled next to my feet. I wanted to tell her, but my mouth refused to form the words.

“Oh, no!” Jinx exclaimed sitting down beside me. “He has a girlfriend?”

“Well, that’s one benefit of having a friend who can read minds,” I muttered. I reached down to pet the dog. He snuggled in closer, laying on top of my sneaker now.

“That makes no sense. You should have heard his thoughts last night. He was so into you! And that kiss…”

“You eavesdropped on our kiss?” I stared at her wide-eyed.

Jinx fiddled with clasping and unclasping her charm bracelet. “Well, it was hard not to. You two broadcasted your thoughts so loudly.”

I wanted to be mad at her for invading my privacy, but who was I to judge? I’m sure people wouldn’t like knowing that I could read their emotions either.

“So, are you going to tell me what he was thinking about?” I asked.

Jinx shook her head. “No way. I learned a long time ago to keep the details of people’s thoughts to myself. Let’s just say he wasn’t thinking about anyone but you.”

I wanted to press her, but I understood she was trying to respect Bryan’s privacy. What would it matter anyway? He has a girlfriend, so it’s not like I have any future with him now.

“What’s your dog’s name?” I asked as a way to change the subject.

“Pavlov.”

“Nice.” I scooped Pavlov up and hugged him to my chest. He wiggled and wagged so excitedly you’d think he’d just won the lottery. “He’s a Pomeranian, right?”

“Pom-Poo…half Pomeranian, half Poodle. So how was school today? I don’t mean the Bryan stuff...I mean the empathy.”

I set the dog down and watched it trot off toward his leopard print doggie bed. “It’s still really annoying, but I think I’m starting to understand it a bit more.”

I filled her in about my experiment at the pizza parlor. “I figure my range is about ten feet. I also notice that the sensations are more intense if I’m touching a person.”

Jinx nodded. “That happens with me too. When I make direct contact, it’s like tuning a radio and all of a sudden you hit the perfect frequency. That one message is so strong that it blocks out the messages from everyone else around me.”

From the pocket of my jean jacket Florence Welch sung out. I fished my mobile out and checked the caller ID. It was Bryan. Lit class just got out. My finger hit the button to silence the ringer without answering.

“Not going to talk to him?” Jinx asked, a wrinkle of disapproval forming between her brows.

“No, he can wait. I just don’t want to think about him right now.”

She sighed. “Okay, then, how much time do you have? We could work on teaching you how to create blocks to keep emotions out if you want.”

“Sure, I have two hours before I have to be at work,” I replied.

“I’ll go get us some sodas and then we’ll get started,” she said patting my knee as she bounced off to the kitchen.

A short vibration buzzed from my phone, indicating a text message. I peeked at the screen.

“WE NEED TO TALK.”

I ignored it. I knew on some level that I was acting childish. It’s not like he’d been my boyfriend or anything. He could go to the stupid dance with anyone he wanted. It’s just that I really thought he liked me. Now, I had to wonder whether he was just being nice to me because Lony died and he felt sorry for me.

“IF YOU DON’T ANSWER, I’M GONNA HAVE TO TXT THE WHOLE STORY TO YOU & WILL TAKE ALL DAY…”