Four Letters in Reverse (FLIR #1) (4 page)

“S
OMEONE LOOKS SLEEPY.”

As if on cue, I yawned, then glanced over at my dad across the kitchen table.

“Sinclair worked us hard yesterday,” I touched my left shoulder, giving it a rub. “I’m so achy, I can sleep all day.”

“Aren’t you the dramatic one, lovey,” Dad said in his Irish accent.

I made a face, mimicking him. “Yes, Papa. Any chance I can say home from school?”

“Fat chance,” Mom remarked, placing a hot cup of coffee in front of Dad. She gave him a peck on the lips then looked over at me with a wink, sitting down next to him.

“Yeah, fat chance,” Marie repeated, sticking her tongue out.

I glared at my younger sister. “Glad to see you’re feeling better.”

“Thanks,” she said sweetly, with a smug grin. She scooped up a spoonful of cereal, shoving the contents in her mouth, and chewed like she was attempting it for the very first time.

I shook my head. I sure hoped I didn’t look like that to Jade because that would be
way
too embarrassing.

Marie burped loudly and I winced. Dad tried holding in a laugh while Mom just shook her head.

“Slow, Marie baby. Nice and slow.”

Marie resumed chewing then finally swallowed, looking over at me. “So who’s Bruno?”

I almost choked on my own OJ. Setting the glass down, I glared over at my sister. “What?”

She looked at me like I was stupid. “Who. Is. Bruno?”

“How. Do. You. Know. Bruno’s. Name?”

“Maybe because I was listening through the door when you were talking about him when Hans and Matty were over.”

I got up from my chair, ready to fight. “Why you—!”

“Annabella. Honey, please sit down,” my mother said calmly.

I slowly sat down in a huff, crossing my arms. “This is so unfair! Marie, stop being such a sneak!”

“Well, it’s my room too but you locked me out! What else was I supposed to do besides wait it out,” she replied stubbornly.

I stared at both parents, pleading. “This is why I need my own room. I have no privacy at all. I’m almost fourteen. Please, Mom! Can I have the office?”

Mom and Dad looked at each other then back at me.

“I love my office,” Mom began.

“Mo-
om
—”

“I love my office,” she stated again. “But I love you more. Your father and I have actually been talking about this, and have already decided that we were turning the office into a bedroom for you.”

Dad looked at Marie then me. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”

I ran over to Mom and gave her the biggest hug then turned to Dad and did the same.

He tapped his cheek and I grinned, giving him a peck.

“You guys are the most amazing parents ever! I really mean that.”

“What about me?” Marie asked.

I glanced over at her. “You’re okay … in small doses.”

She stuck her tongue out again and I mirrored her face before Dad raised both hands in the air. We quickly closed our mouths.

“On to more important matters,” Dad said, frowning as he stared back at me.

“What?” I asked, confused.

“Who’s Bruno?”

The music hits my ears

And I let go of all my fears

My body grooves to the beat

The rhythm takes hold of my feet

Singing the lyrics to Jannie Tay’s latest hit,
Tempo
, in my head, I practiced the dance moves that Sinclair had taught me, Hannah and Mateo. The song was different from her emotional stuff that always made me want to cry, but I loved it just as much.

I stayed late after school and since the building was pretty much empty, decided to practice in the hallway. Unfortunately, the step team was using the dance room and I couldn’t sign it out today. Hannah was hanging out with Peter, her current boyfriend of the week, number six if I had the numbers straight. I really couldn’t keep up with that girl. I swear, it was always a new boy: Scott taking her to the bowling alley, or Jordan taking her for ice cream. Hannah was not only Jannie Tay crazy, she was boy crazy.

Period.

Mateo had to babysit his kid brother after school so he had rushed right home once class ended. Since I wasn’t really in the mood to head on home yet, dance was my next best friend.

The beat of the song matched my heartbeat as I continued dancing, feet moving in a frenzy on the ground to the pop track blasting in my ears and probably scarring my eardrums for life.

I liked listening to my music loudly, I couldn’t help it.

I remembered Sinclair’s advice to be natural and let the music control how my body moved. Years of taking ballet, and I think I finally managed to beat the rigidness of the dance out of me. I swung my hips to the left, and then to the right, the learned movements finally feeling effortless for the first time. Once the slow portion of the song filled my ears, a small smile spread across my lips as I prepared for my next moves. I loved this part. It reminded me of a train: that slow build up of the wheels over the track as it slowly increased its speed until—

Bam!

I threw my hands in the air, my feet moving faster with each beat and each step, even putting my own signature moves to it. I breathed rapidly from the exertion and when I opened my eyes, I gasped when I realized I wasn’t alone.

I had a grinning audience leaning casually against the lockers.

“Owen!” I exclaimed, immediately halting as I tore the headphones away from my ears, flushing in embarrassment.

Jannie Tay’s muffled voice played through the speakers until I fumbled to turn off my MP3 player. I stood there in silence staring back at him, the only sound came from my ragged breathing. I seriously hoped he didn’t hear my heart that was screaming at the moment as it pounded against my ribcage like a wild caged animal.

I was dressed in my gym clothes and was mortified by my state. Swallowing thickly, I wiped the sweat off my face and tried acting unfazed.

“Callaghan.”

“Why didn’t you let me know you were there?”
Did he hear the hysteria in my voice? I really hope he didn’t hear that just now.

He shrugged, not moving from his spot. “Sorry. You were so into it, I didn’t want to bother.”

“How long have you been watching?”

A smile touched his lips. “Long enough.”

Kill me now.

“So,” he starts, looking at me slyly. “Friday, huh?”

I didn’t know what he was talking about until—

“Yeah,” I said with a nod, trying to be cool. “We’re all gonna hang out at the movies.”

“That’ll be fun. I invited Carolyn but she has a thing with her family. She’s really bummed about it though.”

Carolyn? I frowned at the name. If there was a popular crew at school, Carolyn Young was a part of that crew. She was pretty much always around Owen and Bruno. Everyone knew she liked Bruno.

Or was it Owen?

My face was somewhere between a smile and growl. “That sucks.”

Where they dating? Were Owen and Carolyn dating and that was why he invited her? I didn’t know they were dating—Hannah never told me! And if they were dating, why was Owen flirting with me all the time?

He had been flirting with me … right?

“Yeah. It would be nice to hang out with you.”

Unless that was just Owen.

My heart instantly sunk.

“It’ll be fun.”

And he still might like boys.

“Yeah,” I replied faintly. Double tish. Owen didn’t like me; he was just being his awesome amazing friendly self.

I was a nobody in his eyes, just the girl that his BFF happened to like. He probably felt sorry for me because he knew the whole Bruno thing was doomed and I didn’t deserve to be with someone as amazing as his best friend.

Owen’s hand stretched toward my face and I instinctively pulled back. He touched a flyaway hair.

“I think I like your hair better curly. It reminds me of when we were kids.”

Oh God, Owen Wilder is touching my hair.

With the dance routine, my hair had reverted back to its crazy, curly self and it currently hung in a sweaty, frizzy disarray around my face.

I must have looked like a crazy person right now.

His hand lingered in my hair before he dropped it to his side. “The dance is coming up,” he said, changing the subject.

I casually tucked a curl behind my ear, hoping I looked more presentable. I still couldn’t get over the fact that my sort of crush sort of touched me.

It was my hair and my hair belonged to me so yeah, he technically touched me.

I came down from my momentary high and thought of Owen’s words. Right. The dance. The random dance with the random theme happening in a few weeks. “Yeah.”

Our dances were kind of … how could I explain it?

Lame.

First of all, they occurred right after school and ended by five-thirty maybe six if we were lucky. Second of all, no one danced. All the boys lined up on one wall and all the girls lined up on the other wall, not doing anything. It was painful to be there. I’d rather be at home with Mateo and Hannah, dancing to the stereo on blast.

That was definitely more fun.

“If you’re going, you better teach me some moves.”

I gave him a
get real
look. “You can dance.”

“No, I can’t,” he said, shaking his head sadly.

“But I saw you on your skateboard,” I answered.

Said skateboard was tucked under his arms. He patted it with affection. “On my skateboard, I have wings. I can do anything—like when you dance. Trust me when I tell you that when my feet hit the ground, when music plays and I’m forced to move, it’s not a good look for me.” He smiled and I could tell he was slightly embarrassed.

It was kind of adorable.

“I could teach you,” I blurted out before I could think.

Stupid, AB. Just … stupid.

He looked at me curiously and I wrung my hands together. “To dance, you know. So the next time you’re put in a situation when your feet are on the ground and music’s playing, like the dance, you’ll be ready.”

“I’d like that. A lot.”

We didn’t say anything for the longest time, our eyes just locked on each other like we were in a staring match or something.

“Hey, Wild!”

We both lost our concentration and looked over toward the end of the hallway. A few older guys with skateboards near the exit were standing there.

One of the guys’ eyes danced across my face before gesturing to Owen. “You ready?”

Owen looked back at me and sighed. “That’s my cue. I’ll see you around, Callaghan.”

I looked back over at the guys and nodded slowly. “Yeah sure. See ya, Owen.”

Was that his boyfriend?

“I won’t forget, you know.” He stopped, one foot on his board.

“Forget what?”

He jutted his chin toward me playfully, the side of his mouth lifting. “You owe me a lesson.”

Then he skated off down the hallway toward his friends. I realized then and there that Owen had a thing where he’d say something all flirty, then skate off like it was no big deal.

I sighed, watching as he slapped a couple high fives and then disappeared through the doors.

So not fair.

I
T WAS
F
RIDAY.

I stared back at my reflection in the mirror.

I had just showered and washed my hair. My curls surrounded my head like a limp cloud. I considered letting it air dry instead of the usual war ritual of blow drying and straightening.

I think I like your hair better curly.

I wasn’t considering the hair change because of what Owen had said. It was just time for a change in general. I got the new glasses, why not rock a new hairstyle as well? Or was it an old hairstyle since technically this was my hair as is?

Hmm.

I had to play with my looks over the next couple of months before high school started anyway—that was when I needed to be ready and put together.

So yeah, it was
so
not because of whatever Owen Wilder said.

“Good morning, honey.”

I smiled into my mom’s face as she cupped my cheeks and planted a kiss on my forehead twenty minutes later in the kitchen. Grabbing a granola bar, I ripped open the package and chewed, looking into my mother’s eyes.

“Where are Dad and Marie?”

Mom grabbed her cup of tea from the counter. “Baby girl has this huge science project and your father has been recruited to help her get it from the house to the classroom without falling apart.” She pulled on one of my curls. “Did you want me to drive you to school today?”

I shook my head. “That’s okay, Mom. I don’t mind the walk.”

“So,” my mom started conversationally, squinting her eyes at me like she was inspecting an foreign organism through a microscope. “About this evening. Do we need to talk about anything?”

After Marie’s loud mouth, I had told Mom and Dad all about Friday and the movies.

And Bruno.

Dad seemed suspicious but when I adamantly confirmed that this was no date, that it was just some friends from school hanging out, that Matty and Hannah would be there, that it would be in a public setting, he finally caved.

I did notice that Mom had been silent the entire time, just studying me.

I think she must have noticed me slightly falter when I mentioned Owen’s name.

I shook my head at the memory. “No, everything’s good, Mom. I’ll tell you all about it after the movie.” Grabbing my backpack, I swung it over my shoulder.

“Be safe, hun. Love you.”

I glanced back at my mother, giving her a kissy face. “You too,” I said with a grin.

I swear, I didn’t even remember the rest of the school day. It went by in a blur. I was nervous, real nervous, at the prospect of hanging out with Owen.

I was such a horrible person!

Bruno liked me, I liked Owen, and who knows who Owen liked!

How did I say to Bruno in the nicest way possible that I just wanted to be friends? That the only thing ever happening between the two of us that would be deemed “intimate” would be a fist bump?

After coming home from school, I contemplated this back in my bedroom as I got ready to go out. I wore dark blue skinny jeans and a light purple and white striped shirt. A pair of earrings and one of those long, silver chain necklaces were my choice for jewelry. My hair was out, its curls surrounding my face, and I smiled in the mirror, impressed with the end result.

I like.

The doorbell rang and I rushed down the stairs, immediately opening the front door without looking through the peephole.

“Hey, guys!”

Mateo and Hannah stood next to each other at the entrance.

“Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Callaghan!” called out Mateo. “We’re here to kidnap your daughter.”

Mom and Dad joined us at the front just as I was putting on my shoes.

Dad chuckled. “Just bring her back in one piece, guys.”

Hannah grinned. “Of course!”

“And be careful,” Mom added, pointing her finger at us. She turned to me. “You have your phone?”

I pointed to the cross body bag I had on me. “Yup.”

“It’s charged?”

I groaned. “Of course it is, Dad!”

“You have your wallet?”

“Yes, Mom,” I sighed.

“And what are you doing right after the movie?”

“Coming straight home,” I mumbled.

Mom and Dad looked at each other, then smiled.

“Have fun, guys.”

I took that as my cue and I rushed out of the door, pulling my friends along with me. “Bye, Mom and Dad! Tell Marie I’ll see her later.”

We made it to the end of the street before I finally allowed them to stop running and we slowed down, walking over to the closest bus stop.

“Your parents crack me up,” replied Mateo.

“Hannah’s parents are the same way. You just don’t understand because you’re a guy.”

“Thank God.”

Hans and I stuck our tongues out at him.

“But holy tish, Annabells,” Hannah remarked. “Not even my parents are that cray cray.”

“They’re not cray cray. They just don’t want to have to worry about me.”

“I think you’ve got that covered,” Hannah said as the bus approached and came to a halt. We all scrambled on the vehicle and paid our fare.

We made our way to the back, Mateo standing while Hannah and I managed to find seats side by side on the crowded rush hour bus. A twenty minute bus ride and a five minute walk later, we stood in front of the movie theater.

I looked around.

“I don’t see them.” I stared back at my friends anxiously. “What if they don’t show?”

Hannah snorted. “They’ll show. But if they don’t, we’ll go watch a movie and pig out on junk food.”

Matty nodded. “It’s a win-win scenario.”

We didn’t have to wait long, Owen and Bruno appearing before us less than ten minutes later. I tried not to stare at Owen as Bruno greeted us.

“Hey, guys!”

I gave a small wave and snuck a peek at Owen. He was staring at me, grinning from ear to ear, then he winked.

He winked!

It was weird seeing him without a skateboard; he seemed almost awkward without it. Well, about as awkward being Owen Wilder which was pretty minimal.

We made our way into the theater, Bruno trying to walk next to me but always seeming to end up behind or a couple people to the left. After buying our tickets and a truckload of food, we headed to our cinema.

I was pretty sure Bruno didn’t make the seating arrangements because somehow he ended up beside Hannah, who sat beside Mateo, who happened to be beside me, leaving me next to …
Owen
.

I looked over at Hannah and noticed her grin gleefully at me.

You owe me, missy,
her eyes said to me.

I sunk further into my seat.

We made it just in the nick of time because the lights dimmed and the music sounded. I clutched on to the bag of popcorn like it was a life jacket before the sound of a throat being cleared next to me filled my ears.

I turned to Owen. “Hi.”

“Hey, Callaghan,” he murmured softly with a smile. “Nice hair.”

I blushed. “Thanks,” I said quietly. “So where’s your skateboard?” I asked.

I didn’t really know what else to say.

He looked past me. “I promised Bruno I wouldn’t.”

I beamed. “That’s nice of you.”

“I’m a nice guy.”

“It’s just …” He tapped his ear and I knew he couldn’t hear what I was saying over the loud sounds of the movie. I scooted closer and took in a whiff of him.
Sigh.
“It’s different seeing you without your skateboard.”

“There’s a skate park near the lake. I’ll take you there sometimes,” he whispered in my ear.

“Really?” I bit my lip trying to contain my excitement. I was happy we were in the pitch-dark theater so he couldn’t see.

Did he sort of ask me out on a date while I was on a sort of, but not really, date? Because if he was, I’d just pretend he didn’t.

“I’d like that.”

“I think you’d be good,” he continued, paying no attention to the beginning movie credits. “You’re a dancer so you know how to balance. Soon you’ll be doing tricks.”

I shook my head. “Nah, I’ll leave that to you,” I murmured.

Two fingers dug into my thigh and I winced. I turned to Mateo with a sour look only to find him staring at me wide eyed with a knowing stare. Internally cringing, I turned back to the movie and grabbed some popcorn from my bag, tossing some in my mouth. I chewed, staring at the band of superheroes plastered on the giant movie screen before me.

Focus, Annabella.