Building on Lies (13 page)

I looked around when we got to the bathroom corridor. My other friends…Ana, Emanuela and the rest…were nowhere around. They’d probably headed over to the Harbor Restaurant for Ana’s birthday already.

“ Go, go, go!" Bethany said, pointing to the back door. “You only have a few minutes to talk to him”.

I raced to the back door, once again looking around for any Cove kids. Then I walked outside. Bethany was right. The parking lot was dark, and relatively empty, with just a few people walking hurriedly to the front entrance to get out of the cold.

I tried to remember what kind of car Ty drove as I made my way down the rows of parked cars. It was freezing, and I’d left my jacket inside.

I saw Chan leaning against an SUV, and I had to physically stop myself from running into his arms. I made my way up to him, shivering in the cold.

He opened the passenger door without saying a word, and I hopped in. The SUV was cold, but it was a lot better than standing in the icy night air.

Channing came in through the drivers side. “ Are you cold?" he asked, but he still wouldn’t look at me. “ I can turn the car on”.

“ It’s okay, don’t ," I said softly. “ I can’t stay long anyway. The others will miss me”.

He finally looked at me, and even though it was dark in the car, I could see his beautiful green eyes. He looked so forlorn, my heart melted.

“ I miss you," he murmured, rubbing his thumb across my cheek.

“ Really? You could have fooled me. You didn’t call me, you didn’t text me. You didn’t even look at me today in class," I said, trying to sound distant, but my voice broke. My eyes started watering, and before I could stop them, I could feel hot tears splashing down my cheeks.

“ Nellie," he whispered. “ Don’t cry”.

“I’m not crying," I said, feeling foolish.

“ Look, we can’t talk here. Can we meet up later?" he asked, wiping my tears away. “ I’m really sorry for flipping out on you over Joaquim. You know what? If you want to see other people, that’s fine by me. I can’t force you to not to see anyone else when I’m still with someone”.

“ Chan! Joaquim and I are just friends," I cried. “ I told you that. Yeah, he likes me, and he wants more from me, but I don’t like him like that. I like you. I want to be with you!”.

“ Damn, Nellie, these have been the longest three days of my life," he said.

“ Why’d you have to go and break up with me for?”

“Why’d you have to act like such a jealous jerk?”

“ Any guy would get jealous over you, Nellie. You’re just…amazing," he said, and then yes! He was kissing me. It wasn’t as deep a kiss as I would have liked, because even though it felt safe, we were both aware we weren’t entirely alone. It wasn’t Old Dowd farm, or his bedroom.

“ Meet me later?" he asked, when we were done. He held my face in his hands and rubbed my nose against his.

“ I’ve got a party I’m going to down at the Harbor Restaurant. Maybe we can meet after? I’ll see if I can get Ro to get a ride home from her boyfriend," I said.

“ What time do you have to be home?" he asked.

“ One," I replied, “ but I can probably sneak in a little later. You know my mom never waits up”.

“ All right. Then, I’ll keep my phone on. Call me when you’re ready to leave the party," he said.

He kissed me again, a little more passionately this time… a taste of what was to come. It was strange how moments before I’d been feeling so low, but now I felt like I could fly. Judging from the huge grin on Chan’s face, I could tell he felt the same.

“ I hate you have to walk back out here in the cold," he said, opening the door for me.

“ It’s fine," I said, but I’d already begun to shiver.

“ Come on, Nellie, before we turn into icicles. You walk ahead of me," he said.

I practically ran for the back door, where Bethany was waiting for me. Chan came up behind me, his handsome face pink from the cold.

“Chan? Where’s my sweater?" she asked.She’d asked for it in front of the other guys, and it would be weird if Chan walked back without it.

He cursed under his breath, then went back outside.

Bethany laughed, then turned to me. She cocked her blond head to the side. “ Everything all better?”

I nodded happily. “ Thank you!” I gave her a quick hug.

“ You’re welcome," she said, and she really did seem happy for me, for us. “But hold on. Your nose is red, it’s obvious you’ve been outside. Warm up a bit, then we can head back”.

I rubbed my hands together to get the feeling back in them, and then rubbed my cheeks.

We headed back, and Bethany started chatting about bowling strategies, as if we’d been talking the whole time.

“ You guys sure took long enough," Tommy said.

“ They were stalling. It’s a tactic people use when they know they’re going to lose," Ty said, and had everyone laughing.

Joaquim looked at me strangely, but he didn’t say anything.

“ Was I gone too long?" I asked Ro, pulling her to the side.

She shook her head. “ Nah. But where’s Channing?”

“ He went to get a sweater for Bethany," I said. I looked over at Bethany who was teasing Joaquim. It was as if she knew he needed to be distracted.

“ She seems like a really cool chick," Ro remarked.

“ Yeah, I think so," I said. I never thought I’d be feeling grateful toward someone like Bethany Grant. She was the classic Ardsley Park girl…from her designer clothes, to her expensive looking hair and her “ I own the world” attitude. But then, I never thought I’d fall in love with an A-boy, either.

The boys won the second round…Ty Sutton and Tommy were like possessed demons the way they rolled the balls…and after more gloating and showing off, Ty Sutton looked down at his wrist, and declared he had to go. It was kind of funny because he wasn’t wearing a watch.

Channing hadn’t participated at all. He’d sat quietly watching, and avoiding making eye contact with me, or with anyone from my group. He looked kind of snobbish and stuck up, totally different from the sweet guy I’d just kissed in the parking lot.

“ That guy seems like a real asshole," Joaquim said, as Channing, Ty and Bethany left the alley.

Tommy agreed. “ He sat there and didn’t say one word the whole time”.

“ Why would he talk to a bunch of Cove kids like us, right?" Joaquim said, shaking his head.

“ Will you guys just stop? Maybe he’s just shy!" I snapped. I was sick and tired of the whole Cove kids/A-kids thing. Hadn’t they all just had a great time with Ty and Bethany?

I grabbed my bomber jacket off my chair, and started walking toward the shoe rental to give back my bowling shoes. I was pulling on my boots when Joaquim approached me.

“ Nellie, are you mad?" he asked.

I shrugged. “ No. Just kinda tired of you and Tommy judging a guy you don’t even know”.

“ I wasn’t judging him. I just don’t like how he sat there the whole time looking like he was smelling something foul!”

“ Like I said, maybe he’s just shy. Some shy people come off as conceited. I didn’t see you try and make an effort to talk to him”.

“ Why should I ? He’s at our alley, in our side of town. He’s the one needed to be friendlier!" Joaquim said, running a hand through his dark hair. He looked at me quizzically. “ Why are you defending him, anyway? How well do you know him?”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “ I barely know him. But that’s not the point. The point is you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.”

“ What’s this? Lover’s spat?” Tommy came up behind us, his arms wrapped around Ro.

Joaquim was silent, and I could tell by the way he kept running his hands through his hair he was annoyed. I looped my arm through his, and put my head on his shoulder. He’d been so nice to me, and we’d had a lot of fun together. I didn’t feel right arguing with him, especially over Chan.

He looked down at me, and smiled. He pulled me closer, and I was glad Channing and the rest were gone. Joaquim was definitely a little too close for comfort.

We got to the parking lot, shivering the whole while. I have to admit I snuggled in closer to Joaquim because of the chill. It was too cold to worry about whether I was giving him the wrong idea.

“ Joaquim, let me drive your truck?" Tommy asked, when we reached our separate cars. He looked meaningfully at Ro, who avoided meeting my eyes.

If she went off with Tommy, then I’d be stuck in my car with Joaquim!

Joaquim eagerly tossed him the car keys. I had no choice but to wave goodbye at Tommy and Ro, who were probably going to get in some make-out time before heading to Ana’s party.

Joaquim and I got into my car, my creaky little Honda that was definitely on its last leg.

“ You should bring your car by my brother’s shop," Joaquim said, when my car gave the usual hard time starting.

“ Yeah? I doubt it would do any good. I just need to scrap this thing”.

“ No, it’s got some life in it still. Just bring it to Joao’s, and he’ll take a look at it”.

Joao was Joaquim’s brother, and also the best mechanic in Egg Cove. I gave Joaquim a grateful smile. “ Thanks”.

We drove in a somewhat awkward silence down to the Harbor Restaurant. It was as if our little argument in the bowling alley had made us uncomfortable with each other.

“ You know, Nellie, I was kind of hard on Channing Sutton," Joaquim admitted, after a while.

I didn’t say anything. If I agreed with him, he would wonder why I was so gung-ho defending Channing, and if I disagreed, he’d wonder why I’d made such a big deal in the alley.

“ It’s just I’m a guy, and I know what guys want," Joaquim continued.

I took a slow breath. “ What are you talking about?”

“ He likes you, Nellie. I was watching him the whole time. He was trying to act like he was watching the other bowlers, but he wasn’t. He couldn’t take his eyes off you”.

I gave a nervous giggle. “ That’s crazy, Joaquim. I am so not an A-guy’s type”.

“ Nellie, you’re gorgeous. Come on, you know that," Joaquim said, winking at me.

I just laughed again. “ OK, if you say so. But even if I am
gorgeous
, as you put it, it’s still doesn’t mean Channing Sutton likes me. Not when there are a hundred other Ardsley Park girls who would kill to go out with him”.

“ Doesn’t mean anything. Anyway, it all adds up. The lunch room, the phone call, showing up tonight. That guy has you in his sights.” Joaquim nodded as if he was absolutely certain of what he was saying.

Darn it, why did Joaquim have to be so perceptive? It wouldn’t be cool at all if he figured out there was something between Channing and I.

“ I just don’t think so. Anyway, Channing goes out with that redhead. Samantha St. John. They’ve been dating forever," I told him.

“ Doesn’t mean anything. You know all those A-guys think Portuguese girls are easy. I just want you to be careful around him”.

“ Bite your tongue, Joaquim. That’s not right to say," I said, and tried to think of something to change the subject.

Luckily, he started talking about the Winter Dance, which was just a few weeks away.

“ Do you think I need to get a haircut?” he asked me, looking at me through his shaggy bangs.

Joaquim wore his hair sort of longish, and I thought it was very cute. Joaquim looked like a young Johnny De pp, with his dark hair, and chiseled jaw. He was definitely hot, but he didn’t make me feel like Channing did. Not at all.

I reached over with my free hand, and fluffed his hair. “Nah, you look hot with your hair like that.”

We reached the Harbor Restaurant, and I parked my car. We got out and were immediately hit by the biting ocean breeze. The water looked beautiful, though, and the air smelled crisp and salty.

Joaquim came around, and pulled me into his arms. “ You really think I’m hot?”

I swallowed, and looked up at him, trying to put on my friendliest, “we’re just friends” face.

I guess my face gave off more of a “kiss me” vibe because Joaquim leaned down, and started kissing me softly on the lips.

Funny how kisses can feel so different. Whenever Chan kissed me, whether it was a soft simple kiss or a long passionate kiss, I always felt like a million butterflies were fluttering around in my stomach. With Joaquim’s kiss, it felt like more like spiders were crawling all over me. Yeah, it was that bad.

And it wasn’t because he was a bad kisser. He was actually kind of good. It was because I felt zero attraction toward him. Joaquim would never be anything more than a really cool friend, and making out with him was like making out with Ro!

I started shivering, and used that as an excuse to pull away from him.

“ Gosh, it’s cold out here!" I said, rubbing my arms.

Joaquim tucked my hair behind my ears. He looked at me with such tenderness I almost wished I could feel the same way toward him.

“ You look really beautiful tonight," he said.

“ Joaquim, you’re going to turn me into a very vain girl!" I said lightly. I wagged my finger at him. “ Quit it with all the Nellie you’re gorgeous, Nellie you’re beautiful. I’m just short little Nellie Depaola you’ve known all your life”.