Four Letters in Reverse (FLIR #1) (3 page)

“A
NNABELLA!”
H
ANNAH SAID WITH
an exaggerated sigh as she landed on my bed. “Why can’t Jannie Tay ever have a concert here? How come half the singers never come to Toronto on tours? We exist up here too, you know. It’s not fair,” she huffed.

I was sitting at my desk in front of my computer, searching for any tour dates in Toronto that Jannie Tay would be having this spring or summer. I came up empty. Turning toward my bed, I stared at one dejected best friend who acted like the world was ending, then to the other, who couldn’t give two tishes.

I shrugged. “There are plenty of singers and bands that come here for concerts, Hans. But maybe it’s more lucrative for Jannie Tay to have all her concerts in the States.”

“Lucrative, my butt,” Mateo said. “Do you know how many people like her,” he pointed to Hannah, “exist up here?”

“Maybe she has a criminal record and can’t travel overseas?” Hannah said hopefully.

I glanced back at my computer screen and frowned. “She has a concert in Ireland in about a month.”

“I hate her,” Hannah spat, her long braids flying around her head like a tornado as she punctuated each word. “Hate, hate,
hate
her!”

“Calm down, Hans,” Mateo said, touching her shoulder. “She’s probably not even the one who makes the schedule, you know.”

“This wouldn’t be a problem if we had a license. We could totally drive to New York.”

“You’re fourteen, Hannah.”

She slammed her hands down on my bed, staring at me intently. “Why don’t you get Jade to drive us?”

“She’s pregnant and about to pop any minute.”

“Kimber?”

“My cousin has a kid and work.”

Hannah sulked then looked hopefully. “One of your parents?”

“Dream on.”

Mateo raised a brow at Hannah. “Do you even have a passport, Hans?”

Hannah immediately frowned then looked like she’d burst into tears at any moment.

“I hate my life!”

I got up from my chair and immediately wrapped Hannah up in my arms. I rubbed her back, consoling her. “You do not hate your life. One day, Jannie Tay will totally have a concert up here and we will have the most epic seats ever.”

She looked up at me with deep brown eyes. “You promise?”

I nodded. “Yup. Promise.”

Mateo wrapped his arms around both of us. “Now that
that
matter has been dealt with, I think we need to discuss some more important things.” He looked straight at me.

I settled comfortably on my bed, wrapping my arms around one of my pillows. “What?”

“Don’t
what
me. What’s this about you and Owen hanging out yesterday?”

Hannah immediately sat up straight.
“What?”

I ignored her outburst. “There was no hanging out. He just waited with me until my ride came.”

“That is pretty much the definition of hanging out, and Owen Wilder doesn’t just hang out with anybody,” voiced Mateo.

“I always thought he was gay,” added Hannah.

“He might still be—I don’t know!” I shrugged, getting annoyed. “Why are we having this conversation, there is nothing to talk about. Didn’t I just say there was nothing to talk about?”

“When you get all hyper and start talking in run-on sentences, there’s definitely something to talk about.”

I looked at Hannah who agreed with Mateo’s words with a nod, then stared at Mateo, the both of us in a stare-off contest. I finally blinked and he fist pumped the air.

I sighed, resting my head back against the headboard. “I might have a teeny … tiny … miniscule crush on him.”

“I knew it!” exclaimed Hannah.

I gave her a look. “Since when? We’ve just now had this conversation.”

She sat up straighter. “Well, as soon as we started talking about Owen, I knew it.”

“What’s Bruno going to say about this?”

I glared at Mateo. “What’s this got to do with Bruno?”

“He’s, like, obsessed with you.”

I adjusted my glasses on my face. “You too? Owen pretty much said the same thing.”

And what’s he got to be obsessed about?
I thought to myself. I looked liked any girl my age, acted like any girl my age.

Why me?

“Maybe he likes a more international feel,” Hannah commented. I didn’t know I had voiced the question out loud as I stared at my friend who grinned back at me. “You know, being Irish and Jamaican. He might want to vacation someday.”

“Or maybe he goes for the sweet and wholesome type,” Mateo added. “Guys love that.”

I rolled my eyes at them. “Shut up, the two of you!”

“Oh my God,” Hannah inserted. “This is so sad. You have a crush on a guy who pretty much told you his friend likes you instead. Harsh.”

“I really don’t believe Bruno likes me,” I denied. “He doesn’t even talk to me.”

Mateo smirked. “He stares at you the way Hannah stares at Jannie Tay on the cover of a magazine. Utter adoration.”

I buried my face in my pillow and mock screamed, then raised my head. “Can I go bury myself in a hole somewhere now? How am I supposed to face him at school?”

“Forget Bruno,” said Hannah. “What about Owen? What are you going to do when you see Owen?”

“I’m not doing anything. Bruno doesn’t like me and Owen is gay, remember?”

“I can’t wait until school,” murmured Hannah with a smile as she stared at me having a mini meltdown.

Mateo just laughed. “Me too, Hans. Me too.”

T
ISH.
C
ARP.
U
LLB.

Bruno
did
like me.

I felt this prickling sensation on my neck and I turned to see Bruno blatantly giving me goo goo eyes. Why I’d never notice this before, I had no clue. But it was weird.

Really weird.

My eyes briefly looked over at Owen, who casually sat beside him in our English class reading a book, then quickly faced the front before Owen noticed I was looking at him. They were seated a couple rows behind me in the back.

I heard a noise and looked up to see Mateo giving me kissy faces in the seat in front of me. I just rolled my eyes and kept my head down, wanting to disappear. I waited for the minutes to count down before class ended. We were all supposed to be reading silently but there was no way I could focus in this condition. Instead I limply held the book in my hand, wishing I were anywhere but here.

And I loved reading!

Ring.

As the bell sounded, I leaped from my seat, threw everything in my bag, and hightailed it out of there. Sorry, Matty, but I couldn’t even wait for you. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

“Annabella!”

I stopped mid stride, internally slapping myself.

Not fast enough, AB.

“Hi, Annabella.”

I silently counted to three before turning, looking straight at the guy who apparently liked me.

A nervous smile touched my mouth. “Hi, Bruno.”

He looked just as uncomfortable as I felt. I fidgeted side to side, while he scratched his thick dark brown hair, looking everywhere but at me.

“I was wondering if you were doing anything this Friday?”

I blinked, not knowing what to say. “Um—”

He finally eyed me directly. “Owen told me you aren’t allowed to date, and this wouldn’t really be a date. I mean, you can bring Hannah and Mateo and I’ll bring Owen. It’ll be like a bunch of friends hanging out. Is that alright?”

I squinted my eyes at him. “So you aren’t asking me out on a date?”

Please don’t be, please don’t be.

“Well … sort of.” I cringed. “But not really?”

I frowned. “Which is it, Bruno? I have to tell my parents.”

“This is not a date,” he said firmly. “It would just be all of us hanging out, as friends. Is that okay?”

Friends? That I could certainly do. Since learning about Jade and Reed’s relationship, I’d been daydreaming of someday having my own Reed. Someone to give me forever gifts. Someone to bring me to concerts. Someone to rescue me when I was in need of being rescued.

But the potential of that happening sooner than I had anticipated was sending me into a tailspin. I wasn’t ready to date.
No.
I was no Hannah, who could causally strike up a conversation with anybody and everybody like it was no big deal. Having Mateo and Hannah as back up would definitely work with this non-date.

But Owen?

“Sure,” I said, smiling politely. “Sounds like fun.”

That might be a problem.

He beamed in return. “Awesome. I was thinking we could go see that post-apocalyptic movie. You know, the one based off of that book.”

“I already saw it with my sister.”

“Bummer.” Bruno really did look bummed and I felt so bad, but then he immediately brightened up. “Was it good?”

“Yeah, it was,” I said excitedly, glad to be discussing things other than maybe dates. “You should definitely see it. But there’s that other movie that just came out pretty recently. The one with the superheroes?”

He snapped his fingers. “That’s right. We should totally see that one.”

“Great. It’s settled.” I glanced over his shoulder and noticed Mateo hanging out near the lockers close by. I knew his ears were probably straining as he tried eavesdropping on probably the most awkward conversation of the year. “So I’ll see you on Friday?”

“Sure thing. Is seven okay?”

“How about five-thirty?” I mumbled, squeezing the straps of my backpack.

Overprotective parents.

Gah.

He nodded understandingly. “That should be fine.”

“Good,” I replied, relieved. “We’ll meet you in front of the theater.”

“Great! I’ll see you later, Annabella.”

I grinned back and turned to walk over to Mateo when I noticed Owen down the hall staring at me, and my smile faltered. There was this weird look on his face, like he was confused, but it quickly vanished with the shake of his head. He smirked to himself then waved at me before walking through the doors.

I approached Mateo and placed my chin on his shoulder so we faced in opposite directions. I sighed dramatically. “We’re all going to the movies on Friday.”

“Are we now?”

I nodded. “Yup. Bruno asked us.”

“Bruno asked you.”

“Bruno asked
us
,” I repeated stubbornly, lifting my head. “This is not a date.”

He snorted. “Says the girl who has never been on a date.”

“Matty,” I whined. “It would have been rude to say no.”

We started walking down the hall toward the front doors of the school. “So what,” Mateo asked, opening the door for me. “Are you going to say yes to every dude who asks you out? Because I’m telling you, you will be asked. A lot.”

I stared back at my best friend. “I’m not used to this, Matty. And I will be saying no to every guy who asks me out … until I turn sixteen. Then I’ll think about it.”

We both sat on the steps, waiting for Hannah. “Your parents are so old school,” Mateo commented.

“They worry that I might end up like them … and Jade.”

“Well, they have a point, I guess.”

I hit him on the shoulder and he grinned. “Annabella, you have a better chance of becoming a nun like my Aunt Felicia than you do ending up in a situation like your parents. That I’d bet my whole life savings on.”

“Well, I have a plan. You know that. Boys are just a distraction … all that can come after.”

Mateo grinned. “And what’s this plan of yours again?”

I grinned in return. “We’ll finish eighth grade, go to high school, ace all of our classes—”

“Hannah might have a problem with that third thing—”

“Then we’ll each get scholarships to the arts program and live in a coed dorm together—”

“And dance our way to NYC!” declared Hannah at the top of the steps. She leaped to the ground and spun around with the largest grin, shimmying. “Shall we get our groove on?”

Mateo and I stood and the three of us made our way to the sidewalk, Hannah giving us side-glances.

“So what’d I miss?” she finally blurted out. Her braids were woven together in a French braid tossed over her shoulder. It was a style she saw Jade rocking in a photo of her during Mom and Dad’s wedding and she had wanted to emulate it.

Yeah, my parents were pretty late to the whole getting married business. That was a whole other story though.

“Well, Annabella has a date,” Mateo remarked.

I stopped walking and glared at the pair, my hands in fists at my sides. “It is
not
a date.”

“Says the girl who just got asked out.”

“Well, what did he say?” asked Hannah.

We resumed walking and I sighed, throwing my hands in the air. “You’re killing me, guys. Really. He just wants us all to hang out at the movies on Friday.”

Mateo stopped and stood in front of me, cupping my cheeks with the saddest look on his face. “My poor, dear friend, Annabella Callaghan.” Hannah popped her head next to Mateo so I stared back at my two besties that I’d known ever since we took our first naptime together in preschool.

“Let me give you a lesson on the inner workings of a boy’s mind.”

“Matty would know.”

Mateo glanced over to Hannah, “Thank you, Hans,” then looked back to me. “Bruno’s in like with you. Everyone knows it but you. Now Bruno would want nothing more than to hang out with you in a more … intimate capacity—”

I smacked him on the shoulder. “Matty! Take your mind out of the gutter.”

“Hey, it’s true,” he defended earnestly. “And my mind’s not in any gutter, thank you very much. Nothing but pure thoughts in this amazing brain of mine.”

“Please,” Hannah remarked.

He paid Hannah no mind. “Annabells. The only reason we’ll be going is to act as your shield and that’s okay. We’re good shields.”

Hannah nodded in agreement with a smile on her face and I hugged my two besties before we continued walking. We reached a tall, brown building a few minutes later and went inside through the double doors, racing up the long staircase.

“You’re late.”

A tall, leggy girl turned to us with a daunting frown on her face.

“Sorry, Sinclair!” we exclaimed.

“Well?” She pointed to the space in front of her and the three of us lined up, together striking a pose.

Sinclair’s stern face quickly changed as she grinned.

“Let’s dance!”