Fifteen Lanes (4 page)

Bosco lifted his head and dropped it in my lap.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. Kyle says I have to be more outgoing but when I try to join in, it never works out.” I buried my hand in his soft white fur and scratched his ear.

“Do you think I should apologize again? I could text her right now. But what if she didn’t answer? I wouldn’t know if she was ignoring me or just hadn’t seen my text.”

Bosco stood up and resettled himself on my lap.

“What do you think, Bosco? Time to start on my Asian History paper? I’m pretty sure the Mughal invasion of India isn’t going to be any more confusing than Madison.” I gently slipped out from under him and scooted to the edge of the bed to take my laptop off the bedside table.

I was doubtful that Mughals were going to distract me, so when my cellphone bleated from my schoolbag several hours later I was almost as shocked by the fact that is was nearly eleven o’clock as I was by receiving a text on a Friday night.

Bosco, who was pressed up against me, raised his head and growled.

“Who do you think it is? Tina’s too busy with her new boyfriend to be texting me on the weekend. Do you think they broke up? I don’t wish that on her, but we were
both
supposed to get boyfriends this year and I’m not even close.”

Bosco gave me a thoughtful stare.

“I know. It’s weird, right? Who could it possibly be?”

I had a flutter of anticipation as I slid off the bed and walked to my bag to dig out my phone. I carried it back, clicking through to the message at the same time. It was from an unknown caller. I opened it.

Hi. What u up 2?

Could it be someone I knew? That seemed unlikely. I could probably count on two hands the number of people who even had my number.

“What should I say?” I asked Bosco. “Should I ask who it is? It must be a wrong number. Should I admit I’m chatting with my dog and doing homework on a Friday night? I’m not sure which part of that would sound more pathetic.”

Listening to music
, I typed.
What are you doing?

I waited.

Thinking about u.

I smiled. “That’s so cheesy it’s sweet. But he’s definitely got the wrong girl, if it is a
he
.”

Do u know who you’re txting?

The girl I’m crushing on

“The wrong girl all right.” I sighed and tried not to feel jealous of the girl who should have been getting these messages. Bosco put his head in my lap again and I stroked his head as I thought about whether to fess up. It was so nice to actually be communicating with another human being. It had been weeks since I’d done anything in the evening other than watch TV and do homework. But it was only going to get more embarrassing if I let it continue.

Its Grace
, I texted finally.

McClaren
, I added.

I waited again.

Gracie ive waited 2 yrs to tell you I like u. I no who u r!

I stared at the name, Gracie. Only my family called me that.

Who is this?

Don’t u no?

I stared at Bosco as if he might have a suggestion. “I have no idea who it is. Do you think I could have a secret admirer?” As unlikely as that was, I couldn’t help but feel a warm glow of excitement. In my head I knew it had to be some weird mix-up, but what if it wasn’t? What if someone actually did like me? Tina liked me. Could lightning strike twice?

Sorry I really don’t know who u r.

Its todd

No freaking way, positively no freaking way! I didn’t think there was more than one Todd at our school but it was just too coincidental. I had to be sure.

Todd who?

There was a long pause this time.

Gracie, ur killing me. I w8t 2 yrs till yr brothrs out of the way to finally get up the nerve to ask u out and u say todd who?

I gave this some thought. I’d always thought there was bad blood between Todd and my brother. Could this have been why? Did Todd want to ask me out and Kyle didn’t want him to? But why? Kyle wanted me to have a social life. He was always bugging me to be more sociable. He’d even tried to drag me to a couple of his cool-kid parties. I’d chickened out, of course, but that wasn’t his fault.

“What do you think, Bosco?” I gave him a questioning look, only to discover he’d dozed off. “Some help you are.” I ruffled his ears. He opened an eye and closed it again.

None of it made sense, but what if it was true? Guys can be weird about other guys. Maybe Kyle thought Todd was too old for me. Todd was a jock, and from the little I knew he’d had a number of girlfriends. Maybe Kyle thought he was too experienced for me, or a bit of a player. I felt the tiniest flame of annoyance as I considered the possibility that Kyle was being overprotective. It wouldn’t have surprised me. No one in my family trusted me to do anything on my own.

Why would Kyle stop u?
I had to ask.

Dunno u hav 2 ask him. What music u listening 2?

Crap! The truth was, I listened to angry indie girl bands. I didn’t want to tell him that. It’s not that I was trying to impress him. I just didn’t want to un-impress him so quickly.

What music do u like?
I was pleased with myself that I’d managed to dodge his question without lying.

U listen to indie doncha?

Crap again! Another message came in before I could figure out how to respond.

U want to watch me play sometime? We hav r 1st match nxt Sunday.

I tried to remember what season we were in. Cricket, maybe?

Wat u playin?
I decided to be honest. Perhaps he’d find it charming.

Ha! Wat u do for fun?

Read, swim, movies.
I was honest again.

Want 2 see a movie sometime?

He couldn’t begin to imagine how much I wanted that. Ever since Tina left, the only people I’d gone to movies with were my parents. Even Kyle never wanted to go with just me, and I refused to go with his gang of boisterous friends. I’d had some hope at first that Madison’s group might invite me some weekend—they often talked about going to movies right in front of me—but the invitation never came. After today, it wasn’t likely it ever would.

Was I doomed to spend the rest of my high school years with no one to hang out with but my parents? Was Todd offering me an alternative? If so, it couldn’t have come at a better time. As bad as I’d felt when Tina left, today had been a new low. It was one thing to miss my best friend but quite another to feel like a social pariah.

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to date Todd. The fact that Madison was under the impression they were starting something gave me serious qualms. I had no desire for revenge. Quite the
contrary, I still clung to the faintest hope we could somehow make up. At the same time, she couldn’t have been clearer that she had no interest in being friends. And Todd did. Maybe I didn’t have to spend the year lonely and bored.

I needed to clear up a few things though.

R u goin out with anoosha?

No! Not since last year. Why, do u want to go out with me?

R u asking?

I looked at the screen. I wasn’t really going to send that, was I? Of course I only meant it as a joke. I added a happy face.

R u asking?
I typed

It still looked like an invitation. From a desperate girl. Who had no friends. I deleted it.

Maybe to a movie sometime … 
I hit send.

U dont like me?

Didnt u just ask Madison out?

Madison who??

Ha! After the grief she’d put me through, he didn’t even know who she was! My phone tweeted again.

So u dont like me?

Surely a guy like Todd wasn’t really worried that an average-looking, morbidly shy girl wouldn’t like him. He had to be fishing for compliments, not reassurance. Despite that, his question stirred something in me. What if he wasn’t as confident as he pretended? I’d seen Kyle fake it enough times to know that some guys were good at hiding their insecurities.

It was a relief that Madison’s relationship with him was all in her head. That didn’t stop me from feeling guilty though. Obviously she had a crush on him. But I couldn’t help feeling a glimmer of satisfaction that the very guy Kelsey said would
never be interested in me was the guy who was. The symmetry of it was almost poetic. And wildly coincidental. Unfortunately, the wildly coincidental aspect didn’t occur to me until later.

I do like u.
I typed it and hit send before I could change my mind. I gave a little squeal at my own boldness. Bosco pricked an ear and woofed.

“I don’t really know if I like him,” I confided to Bosco, “but I think I could. He’s really cute, and Kyle said I need to take more risks.”

U don’t really like me. u r just sayin that

I shot Bosco a guilty look. Bosco flipped onto his back for a belly rub. I laid the phone on the bed so I could text and rub at the same time.