Don't Kiss Him Good-Bye (15 page)

Chapter 30

Later that night Louanne was still moping around. She’d been faithfully collecting my copies of the Wexburg Academy
Times
, and I was starting to worry that she was developing a hoarding disorder.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” I asked her. “I mean, that’s what big sisters are for, you know. To help.”
Wish I had a big sister
, I thought. I was on my own. “Want to talk about the dog show? I could take some new pictures of Growl—Giggle.”

She shook her head, went to the bathroom, got a tissue, and blew her nose. I noticed she had a couple of tiny, veiny scratches on the back of her right hand. She saw me looking at them and put her hand into her pocket.

“Want to play a game, then?” I asked. “Monopoly? Scrabble?”

She looked up. “Scrabble would be okay.”

“Good!” I reached into the armoire below the telly—it was still on and blaring
Top Gear
—and pulled out our Scrabble board. “You can even go first,” I said.

I dumped all our tiles into a bucket—we had combined three games’ worth so we’d have lots of letters—and then we each chose our stack and spread them across our racks. Louanne spelled her first word across the red star in the middle.
W-O-R-R-Y.

“Good job!” I said. “Lots of points there.”

She smiled and drew five replacement tiles while I puzzled out my word.
W-R-O-N-G,
I spelled down from her
W
.

F-E-A-R
was her next play, using one of the
R
s in
WORRY
.

Y-O-K-E-D,
I put down. A sense of dread began to steal across the room as twilight fell.

Louanne played
D-I-E-
and then looked at me. “Are you having fun, Savvy?”

“Sure . . .” I looked her in the eye, a little shocked at her last word. “Well, not really.”

“Me neither,” she said, upending the board. “Let’s play another time, okay?”

Just then my phone beeped. I had a text message. From Rhys. “Sure,” I answered my sister before looking at the text. “Ice cream in half an hour?”

Louanne nodded, and I left, taking my phone with me. The room seemed brighter, and my head was a little light. Rhys hadn’t contacted me for a long time. What could he want?

Do you have time to talk? I could call you.

My fingertips tingled as they hung over the dial pad for a minute before I texted back.

Okay.

I headed upstairs and barely made it into my room before the phone rang.

Chapter 31

“Hi,” I said, shutting my door.

“So I was just checking in,” he said.

Rhys never just checked in.

“I’m fine.”

I was trying to think of small talk to lighten things up. Talking on the phone seemed way more serious than texting. “Just getting ready to work on science. We’re culturing bacteria.”

He laughed, but his laugh had a sharp edge. “So appropriate. Reminds me of a lot of people at this school. Bacteria is the only culture they have.”

I didn’t say anything.

His voice softened. “How was your April Fools thing the other night? I’m sorry I couldn’t make it.”

I noticed he didn’t say why, and I didn’t ask. “It was good,” I said. “I think we raised a lot of money for good organizations.”

“Was anyone a fool?” His voice had a hint of sarcasm to it. I wasn’t sure if he was referring to my faith, but in case he was, I thought I’d address it right away.

“Not that I know of,” I said. “But I don’t mind being a fool for Christ.”

“I like that about you, Savvy. You’re different—you’re strong. Which is why I’m calling you. I was wondering, well . . . do you have a date for the May Day Ball yet? And if not, would you consider going with me?”

I sat there waiting for a few seconds before finally speaking up. “Wow, Rhys, I’m really surprised. Surprised you don’t already have a date . . . and surprised you’d ask
me
.”

“I could have asked other people, Savvy—I still could. But you’re my first choice. I like you . . . a lot. Think about it for a few days. And then let me know, because it’s getting pretty close and I can’t wait forever, all right?”

“Right,” I agreed. That seemed fair. I wondered who else he could ask. Who else wasn’t going? It didn’t really matter. What mattered was . . . did I want to go with him?

“I’d best get going. Got loads of homework to do,” he said, laughing lightly. “I’m sure you do too.”

“Okay. Talk to you soon,” I said.

“I’m hoping so.” Then he clicked off.

I just sat there on my floor. Did I want to go with him? There was nothing wrong with going as friends, right? Yeah, there might have been a little bit of a draw toward more—one I didn’t necessarily want but couldn’t get rid of. But I was pretty confident I could keep things at “just friends.” I was sure he’d totally understand that, and he probably only thought of me as a friend too, which is what would make it fine.

But were we actually friends?

Maybe not exactly . . . but I felt like we probably
could
be. Besides, I knew he wasn’t really my type, but there was a little thrill when I was with him because I never knew what he was going to do or say next. He was nice looking. A little dangerous, maybe. And other girls envied me.

I shook my head to clear my thoughts and texted Penny. Maybe she’d have an idea of what to do.

Hey, Penny. What’s up?

A few minutes later my phone vibrated.

Can’t text now, with Mum. Check this out, though!

A minute later I got a picture message of the beautiful teal dress with silver strappy shoes and a pair of dewdrop earrings.

So, so pretty. I was kind of happy she was too busy to answer.

I didn’t text Supriya.

Chapter 32

I headed downstairs to eat some ice cream with Louanne only to find that she’d already gone to bed. I scooped a bowl of chocolate brownie delight for myself and took it back to my room.
Might as well look at some of the Asking for Trouble letters
, I thought.
And tidy up a few things to give to Natalie tomorrow.

I’d put together a big packet of information on Be@titude, profiling one of the moms they’d helped. I also looked up the history of May Day, staying away from the Communist implications, as I’d been warned to stay away from politics. I also ignored all the pagan junk. Instead, I focused on the celebration of spring—and new life—after a long, wet winter. And the Maydayrun motorbike race that took place every year. Big bikes, fabbo helmets, loud engines, and speed. I wouldn’t mind seeing it someday.

I logged into my e-mail system. Wow! There were about ten letters to choose from this week. I quickly scanned the subject lines and then the senders’ addresses. I always wondered if Ashley or Penny or even Hazelle would ever send a letter.

What?
I enlarged my screen to 125 percent. I couldn’t believe my eyes. But there it was.

A letter from my sister—Louanne! I clicked it open.

Dear Asking for Trouble,

I have a big problem and I don’t know what to do. It’s not dangerus, but it could be a bigger problem really soon. My family is nice, but if I tell anyone, they’ll make me do something I really can’t do and then I would have to disobey and get in even more trouble. What should I do?