Epic Fail (12 page)

Isaac offered to find some other planets with the telescope, and I told him I’d happily look at them. Sylvie and Chelsea were less entranced with the offer. Chelsea complained to Derek that she was freezing.

“Go wait on the bus,” was Derek’s uninterested response.

“Come with me?” You could see the nervousness in the look she gave him: she knew something was going on.

All he said was, “No, thanks.”

Sylvie said, “I’m cold, too.” Like Chelsea, she had neglected to wear a jacket. “I’ll go with you.”

Chelsea waited one more moment, but Derek didn’t show any signs of changing his mind, so she gave up, and the two girls moved off.

Derek and I stood side by side, watching Isaac fiddle with the telescope.

“So,” Derek said.

“So,” I agreed, and then we were silent again, but it felt amiable, like something had changed—yet again—between us. I didn’t know if we were friends, but we weren’t enemies, and that was an improvement over yesterday. Which made me wonder what tomorrow would bring.

Given our history, probably more enmity. We never seemed to be able to stay friends for long. At this moment, now that I wasn’t angry at him, that seemed kind of sad to me.

People were goofing off all around us. It was nighttime, we were on the beach, and the weekend was beckoning. A couple of guys had rolled up their pants and waded into the water.

“You tempted?” Derek said teasingly, gesturing toward them. “I know how much you like to get wet.”

“Only when I’m unique,” I said loftily. “Other wet people cheapen the experience.”

Cantori came racing down to the ocean, yelling at the waders to get out immediately. “Cut it out! This is a liability issue for the school!” No trace of his usual geniality. Guess he was having a rough night.

“So much for that idea,” Derek said as the boys cheerfully complied.

“I can’t find anything.” Isaac twisted around to look at us. “I think something’s wrong with the telescope.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “It’s such a beautiful night. Just enjoy it.”

Isaac wasn’t the kind of kid to stand around gazing up at the stars—he was the kind of kid to stoop, peering into a telescope at the stars. So he went back to doing that.

The moon had moved higher in the sky, and it was actually easier now to see than it had been earlier. I stole another peek at Derek.

I had disliked him so much before, and all that not liking him had been a sort of defense against his handsomeness. Whenever I used to look at his face, I’d convince myself that all I saw were the proud, pampered looks of a celebrity brat. But now that I wasn’t hating him so much—hardly hating him at all, really—I mean, almost not at all—I was suddenly aware of how his cheekbones slanted under his dark and thoughtful eyes.

It made me think that maybe I should have gone to the semiformal with him.

Cantori must have suddenly noticed the change in mood from scholarly to celebratory—half the class was now working on an enormous sand castle—because he abruptly called for our attention and told us all to get back on the bus. He stayed behind with his friends to help pack up the telescopes and wearily waved us on our way.

Derek scored us an empty bench and let me slide in first, so I could have the window seat. We put on our seat belts and listened to the bus driver’s obligatory safety speech about exit windows and what to do in an emergency.

And then . . . silence.

Awkward silence.

Really awkward silence.

All around us, people were chattering away, laughing, gossiping, screaming, whispering . . .

And we continued to say nothing while the bus rolled out of the big parking lot and onto the Pacific Coast Highway. I actually thought we’d make it the entire twenty minutes to school without either of us saying a word, and was wondering why Derek had even bothered to sit with me when he finally spoke.

“We have to get them back together.”

By the time the bus parked in front of the school, we had what you might call a plan.

Derek took hold of the seat in front of us and swung himself up into the aisle. He held out his hand toward me. I took it and started to rise smoothly to my feet—

Only to be slammed back at the waist by the seat belt I’d forgotten to undo first.

“Fail,” I said, ducking my head to cover my embarrassment as I let go of his hand and quickly unfastened the buckle.

“At least you were safe at any speed.” He grinned down at me, his hand still extended.

Derek Edwards was smiling at me again, after a week and a half of glares.

It didn’t suck.

I took his hand once more, and this time managed to get up without any additional humiliation. As I slid into the aisle, the guy behind me—a junior named Jesse—tapped me on the shoulder. “Hey,” he said. “Webster never showed and he was supposed to be on my team. You know what the story is?”

I quickly said, “No idea,” but his question had wiped the smile off of Derek’s face.

He dropped my hand and faced front.

I didn’t know much about Jesse, but he sure had lousy timing.

Chapter Fifteen

I
had called home as we were packing up to leave the beach, so Juliana was already waiting at school for me in the minivan. As soon as I opened the car door, she said, “We have to hurry. Mom’s a wreck and Dad asked me to come back as quickly as possible.”

“What’s wrong with Mom?” I asked, getting in.

“The parents of that boy she suspended—the one who was making out with Chelsea—called the head of the Board of Trustees to complain about her.”

“You’re kidding!”

She shook her head as she pulled out of the lot. “She was on the phone for two hours defending herself—like
she
had done something wrong, not them.”

“That’s so unfair.”

“I know. Her job’s tough.”

“We should be more supportive.”

“We really should.”

“On another matter . . .” I told her about Chase’s cell phone.

Like I had earlier, she took a while to absorb the information. “He definitely didn’t have it with him?”

“Definitely. Come on, Jules, think about it. It’s totally not like Chase to say those things.”

“But I’ve spent the last few days convincing myself it is.” She thought some more. “You really think it was Chelsea?”

“He left his phone at home. Who else?”

“Why would she do that? I thought we got along okay. Except for that night when—” She halted. “That’s why. Because I didn’t help her with Mom.”

“You have my permission to loathe her.”

“So he really didn’t write those things! I should—” She gasped suddenly. “Oh my God, Elise!”

“What?”

“I’ve been so mean to him since he came back!”

“Don’t worry,” I said. “Derek promised me he’d explain the whole thing to Chase. He was sure he would understand.”

“I hope so. I’ll apologize a million times over.”

“Just give Derek time to explain first. It will be easier.”

She nodded. There was a brief pause. She said slowly, “So you and Derek worked this whole thing out together?”

“Yeah.” I tried to sound casual about it. “It was funny because at first we were both so angry and defensive, but then once we realized what had happened, all he could say was how much Chase adores you.”

“That was
all
he could say?” she said, a little coyly. “Are you sure?”

“What else did you want?”

“I don’t know,” she said, “but you keep smiling like you’re not telling me everything.”

“I’m telling you everything,” I said. Smiling.

Our resolve to be more supportive to Mom was put to the test as soon as we got home. In between sips of wine, she recounted every sentence of her two-hour-long reaming-out by phone that afternoon. I felt sorry for her. I also desperately wanted to escape and think my own thoughts in peace. There was a lot I needed to think about.

Juliana was pouring Mom a refill when we all heard Layla call out, “Doorbell! I got it!” Then, a moment later, “Jules! Come quick!”

Juliana and I both ran into the foyer just as Layla opened the door to Chelsea Baldwin.

Really? Chelsea?

It made more sense when I realized that Chase was right behind her, his hand firmly on her shoulder, holding her in place.

He wasn’t looking at me, though. Or at Layla, who stood in the open doorway. Or at Mom, who had come up behind the rest of us.

No, Chase had eyes for only one person—and she was staring back at him in openmouthed surprise.

“My sister needs to tell you something,” he said.

“Not in front of the whole family,” Chelsea snapped.

“I’ll come out.” Juliana’s fingers reached out blindly and caught mine. “Come with me.”

“Can I come, too?” Layla asked.

“No,” we said in unison, as the two Baldwin siblings stepped back to let us out and I closed the door behind us.

Derek’s car was parked in front of our house, its driver still in the front seat. Our eyes met through the window. He reached for the door handle and got out.

Meanwhile, Chelsea was saying to Jules in a flat robotic monotone, “I’m sorry for any confusion I might have caused. I was fooling around with Chase’s phone this week, and I might have accidentally sent you some joke texts.” She scowled at her brother and said in her normal voice, “There, are you happy?”

“Not with you.”

“It was just a joke. You guys need to grow a sense of humor.”

“It wasn’t funny,” Chase said. “It was mean.”

“Yeah? Well, her mother suspended me and she didn’t even lift a finger to—”

Her brother whipped around. “Shut up and go wait in the car!” I didn’t know the guy had it in him to sound that fierce—nice to know he could be tough when he needed to.

Chelsea quickly backed away.

Derek was leaning against his car, arms folded, watching us. As she reached him, Chelsea stopped and said something, but he just shook his head without even looking at her. She threw herself in the backseat of his car and slammed the door.

Juliana released my hand, which was a relief since she had been gripping it tightly, and stepped toward Chase. “I am so sorry,” she said hoarsely. “You must have thought I was just being horrible to you.”

“I was definitely confused.” He touched her arm lightly with his index finger. “But now that we both know what happened—”

As they moved closer together, I slipped quietly away and walked down to where Derek was waiting. He stood upright as I approached.

“Thank you,” I said.

“I didn’t do anything except tell Chase what happened.”

“You got him here.”

I noticed Chelsea glaring at us through the car window. Derek followed my gaze, and Chelsea raised her arm to tap her watch meaningfully with her index finger. I said to Derek, “I didn’t know Chase could get angry, but just now he sounded like he was ready to kill her.”

“I had to drag him away from her when he first found out—his hands were going for her throat.”

“Yeah? Why’d you stop him?”

“Not for her sake, trust me. I just didn’t want him to end up in jail.”

“You could have let him choke her a
little
bit,” I said. “Just enough so she couldn’t, you know . . . swallow a Jamba Juice for a week, say.”

“No smoothies for a whole week?” He shook his head. “Death would be kinder.”

“Life without—” I stopped because the front door opened and my mother emerged.

“Why don’t you boys come inside?” she called out. “I’ll put out some cookies.” Her words were slightly slurred. Just slightly. Enough for me to know she’d made short work of that second (third?) glass of wine Juliana had poured for her. Enough for me to desperately not want the boys to come into our home.

Fortunately, Chase said, “Thanks, Dr. Gardiner, but I need to get my sister back.” He turned to Juliana. “I just wanted to ask you . . . There’s a premiere tomorrow night for Derek’s mother’s new movie. Can you come with us?”

Before Jules could answer, Layla suddenly pushed past my mother and came racing down the front walk. “Can I come, too?” she asked excitedly. “I’ve always wanted to go to a movie premiere!”

“Layla!” I said. “You can’t ask that!”

She rolled her eyes. “They can say no. God, Elise, you act like you’re in charge of everything.”

“
I’m
saying no.”

“No for your sister or no for you?” Derek asked uncertainly.

“Me?” I took a surprised step back. “Am I invited?”

He toed a clod of grass with the tip of his sneaker. “Yeah. You and Juliana like doing stuff together, right? And it’s no problem getting another ticket.”

I wanted to go, but not if he didn’t really want me to. “If you’re worried that Juliana won’t go without me, we’re not really that codependent. You don’t—”

He cut me off. “It’s not just that.” Quick glance up at me and then the clod of grass regained his interest. He kicked at it lightly. “I think it would be fun. Give me someone to talk to while Chase and Juliana are . . . you know.”

“Yeah—they can get distracted when they’re together.”

“Exactly. So will you come keep me company?”

“Yes, I’d like that,” I said. Since he put it that way . . . “Thanks.”

Derek and I moved up toward Juliana and Chase, and he told them that I was coming, too. Jules squealed and bounced happily on the balls of her feet.

“Great! We’ll pick you both up tomorrow around seven,” Chase said. “Come on, D, let’s hit the road.”

They had driven off, and Jules and I were heading back toward the house when Layla blocked our way. “I hate you both,” she said, stamping her dirty bare foot. “Especially you, Elise! He probably would have let me come if you hadn’t told him not to. You leave me out of everything. I hate this whole stupid family!” She ran past us and into the house, slamming the door behind her.

“Wow,” I said. “Even for her, that was over the top.”

“Oh, who cares!” Juliana exclaimed with sudden, surprising gaiety. She twirled around. “He still likes me, Elise!”

“We were both idiots to think he could have stopped. But will you finally now admit that Chelsea is the devil’s spawn?”

“Rosemary’s baby,” she agreed.

We headed up the path. “We have to find a way to make her pay for this,” I said.

Juliana opened the front door and held it for me. “You already have.”

“What do you mean?”

“By going to this thing tomorrow night with Derek.”

“He only invited me because of you and Chase.”

“Right,” she said, following me inside. “He’s never shown the slightest interest in you before. I mean, he’s never stared at you like you’re the only person in the room when we’re all together. Or sulked around for days because you turned him down for a dance. Or touched the sleeve of your sweater when he thinks no one’s looking—”

“He’s never done any of that,” I said. Then, less confidently, “Has he?”

She laughed. “You know, you’re right. He’s obviously only inviting you for my sake. It’s all for my sake. That’s the only reason. It’s—”

“Oh, just shut up,” I said. I was too confused about my own feelings to be teased about someone else’s.