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“Ooh! I got a better idea. We’ve got a twenty-minute drive. Why don’t you call Tony and ask him what movies are playing.”

“Tony?”

“Yeah, he’s home right now. He can look it up for us.” She handed me her phone. “Just look up call history. He should be the first or second call on there.”

“Okay.” It took me a minute, but I was able to find Tony Russo. I pushed the button, and he picked it up on the third ring.

“Hey, Nor. How’s it goin’? Are you still with Claire? Has she mentioned me at all?”

Huh? Oh my gosh. Now what do I do?

Nora studied my shocked face. “Claire? What’s wrong? Did he pick up?”

I nodded and then handed the phone over to her.

“What did you do to Claire?” she accused into the phone. “She can’t even talk right now.”

Yikes.
I covered my face with my hands and willed myself not to think of Tony actually thinking about me and interested enough to ask if I mentioned him. I didn’t succeed.
Maybe Cassidy was right. Maybe he
does
like me.

I heard Nora laugh and looked over to see her rolling her eyes. She whispered, “He’s so embarrassed right now. The dork.”

I grinned. The thought of him embarrassed because of me seemed cute somehow.
Man, I’m evil.

“Do you think you can handle talking to Claire now?” Nora teased. “What was that? You do? M’kay, let me see if she wants to talk to you.” She beamed over at me. I nodded. “Here she is. Now be nice.” She handed over the phone.

“Hello?”

“Sorry about that.” Tony sounded sheepish.

Okay, so how cute is he?

“So, what did you need? I promise this time I won’t ask you anything awkward.”

“Actually, we were wondering if you could help us with something.”

“Sure, no problem. What’s up?”

“Well, we wanted to go to the movie later, and—”

“And you needed a really hot guy to take you?”

I smiled into the phone. “Well, there is that. Hmm . . . I’ll have to think about it.”

He laughed. I loved the way his laugh sounded. “What? That wasn’t it? Okay, you better give me a heads-up before I make a fool out of myself for a third time today.”

“We just wanted to know what movies were playing and what time.” I giggled. “And since you’re home and all—”

“Oh, I get it. I’m just your information service.”

“Yeah, something like that.”

“Fine. But it’ll come with a charge.”

What is it with me and guys today?
“Let me guess. You want a kiss too?”

“Uh . . .” Tony chuckled into the phone. “I was thinking more along the lines of letting me go with you so I don’t die of boredom here in the house all day. But hey, if a kiss is part of the deal too, who am I to complain?”

Good grief.
I could feel my face go bright red.
Why did I even wake up today? I really don’t think I was meant to go anywhere or speak to anyone
.
I bet if I had read my horoscope that morning, it would’ve said something like:
A friend may plan an outing with you today. Decline. It is not in your best interest, or theirs. Also, try to keep from mingling with the opposite gender in any way. If you do, you may live to regret it. Also, avoid all purchased beverages. If you must, buy water.

“Claire?” Tony’s deep voice reminded me that I was still on the phone with him. “You got kind of quiet after I mentioned the kiss. You’re not planning to murder me now, are you?”

He surprised a giggle right out of me. “Why would I be planning a murder?”
Like I could murder a vampire if I wanted to, anyway.

Tony laughed at my response. “Well, it’s just more or less a habit with me, you know? Call me suspicious, but whenever anyone gets real quiet, I have to wonder if they’re planning my demise.”

I cracked up. “Your demise? What a word.”

“Hey, you’d be surprised how many evil-tormenter-doomsday types live in the world today. And frankly, I don’t know you from Adam. And even though I can’t think of anything, I’m sure you could find a reason to get back at me. That is, if you wanted to.”

“So, are you trying to tell me you’re some sort of superhero, and I’m your nemesis?”

“Nemesis, huh? I like that word. It sends out all sorts of danger signals.”

Danger signals?
All at once, I pictured Tony kissing me, and I wondered briefly if his lips would be like Edward’s—cool marble. And then, the silliest thing happened. I said something so completely baffling and unlike me. Maybe it was the recent conquest of Jaden, or the realization that Tony was interested. But whatever it was, I found myself going all movie star and using the most flirtatious line built into my subconscious that related to danger signals. “So, do you like playing with fire?”

Tony groaned temptingly. He fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker.

Fire and ice. What a concept.

After he had promised to get back to us with movie info, I hung up and went to hand the cell phone back to Nora, but she refused to take it. Actually, she looked downright peeved.

“Is something wrong?” I asked, trying to replay the last ten minutes to see if I’d said anything about her.
Did I offend her somehow?

“You could say that.” She stared straight ahead, her eyes never leaving the highway.

Great. Now what have I done?
“Want to tell me about it?”

“Yep,” she responded, tight-lipped. “Give me a moment, and I’ll let you have it. I’m just trying to calm down first.”

Calm down?
I thought briefly of the facetious horoscope and growled. I
would
pick today of all days to venture out into the world.

Nora must’ve heard the growl, because her head whipped around and she studied me for a second before snapping her eyes back to the road. “So, what’s the deal with you anyway, huh?”

“Deal?”

“Yeah. Are you just trying to get as many guys as you can while you’re here, or what?”

What in the—?

“Because, you know what, if that’s your game, then lay off my brother, all right? Find some other guy to bury. Because he doesn’t need this, okay?”

Holy cow. Is she serious?
“Nora, wait—”

“No, Claire,
you
wait! Tony is one of the best guys you’ll ever meet. The most protective, nicest, caring guy ever. And if you’re just trying to get him to fall for you, then congratulations, you’ve done it. I don’t know how, when heaven knows loads of other girls have tried—but you have. So there. Game over. Now you can walk away.”

“I’ve never really—”

“Don’t give me that junk, okay?” Nora was really ticked. “I heard you on the phone. As a matter of fact, I heard you on the phone just minutes after you let Jaden kiss you—almost twice!”

“Hey! I didn’t—”

“You weren’t stopping him the second time, were you?”

No.

“Look, Claire, I know we just met. And I’m sorry if I read you all wrong, especially since I don’t know what you guys are like down in New Mexico. But here, we play it pretty straight. So, whether you’re intentionally trying to go around breaking hearts or not is beside the point. The point is, you
are
breaking them, and you’re messing with my family. I don’t really like people messing with my family. So, if you like Tony, I suggest you figure it out quick and then stick with it. But don’t be playing two fields at once—not with people I care about, at any rate.”

“Whoa. You’re serious.”
Now I know how Joe must’ve felt when she yelled at him.
I decided to grovel. “Nora, honestly, I don’t even know what’s come over me today. Please believe me when I say guys have never noticed me before, and I have no idea what to do with this kind of attention, at all. What I do know for sure is that I like your brother. He has definitely intrigued me. I also haven’t seen or heard from him since Saturday. So, when today comes around, and I’m completely free and unattached, and this totally cute guy attacks me—I mean, you were there, what would you have done? And he . . . well, he can kiss. Really nicely. And he said the most amazing things to me and, well, I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m just way over my head.” I slumped into my seat.

Nora didn’t say anything. She didn’t even look at me.

Ugh
.
“Look, when I talked to Tony just now, and he flirted with me, I did something I never do—I don’t even know how to do—I flirted back. He was so cute about it, too. He totally had my heart racing and everything. Just hearing you say that he likes me makes me totally freak out inside. But do I know which guy I like more? Sheesh. I have no idea. I’m not trying to break any hearts, that’s for sure. But I really don’t know either of them well enough to decide. Besides, why do I have to? I’m sixteen. It’s not like I’m engaged to them. At most, they’d only be boyfriend potential for the summer, anyway.”

The phone rang. It was Tony, and we both knew it. Nora looked at the cell phone sitting on the console between us and then up at me. I faced the side window.

Let her talk to her own brother. Heaven forbid, I get accused of flirting with him. If I’m lucky, he’ll say the movie theater burned down so I can just go home.

Paranormal Activity

“I’m sorry.”

I looked over at Nora. She’d just hung up the phone with Tony.

“I’m sorry. I totally overreacted. It’s just—I get a little defensive of my brother. Maybe it’s because we’re twins. I don’t know.” She sighed and set the phone between us again. “Maybe it’s because every friend I’ve ever had has only been my friend so she could get to know him better.”

“Really?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Apparently he’s got some sort of fan—uh, mysteriousness—that draws females to him.” She shrugged. “I don’t see it, but that’s what they all tell me.”

I’m not the only one?
“So, wait—are you saying he has tons of girlfriends?”

“No! Not at all. That’s probably why I freaked out, actually. I’m saying I’ve never seen him really notice a girl until you.”

“What?”

“Don’t get me wrong. He’s gone on dates and did the whole prom thing—mainly because my mom would kill him if he didn’t—but other than that, he really doesn’t attach himself. He says he’s too busy with his career—er, I mean, school stuff—to really think about getting involved.”

“No way.”

“Yep. It drives girls crazy, too. I guess you could say he’s sort of a challenge.”

“I don’t get it. If he’s like that, what makes you think he’s falling for me, anyway? I mean, seriously, why would he? It makes no sense.”

She laughed. “Probably because you’re the first girl who didn’t fall all over him when you guys met. We all noticed that straight away. Even Mom and Dad teased him about it when you weren’t around. It was kind of refreshing, actually, to have you want to sit next to me during the tour and not hang on him.”

“But what makes you think he likes me? Sorry, but he hasn’t really sent off the best signals. Besides, I wouldn’t have even thought it was true until he asked about me on the phone.”

“Oh, you want to know how I know he likes you.” She laughed. “I forget you don’t hang out at our house, so of course you wouldn’t know what we all talk about—especially since you can’t read minds, can you?”

Can’t read minds?
“Uh, no, I can’t.”

She giggled again. “Duh! What was I thinking? Of course you can’t.” She glanced over at me, her smile a direct contrast to just moments before. “We all can at home.”

“You can do what?”
Sheesh. People in Seattle change subjects faster than a racecar needs its tires changed.

“Read minds, of course.”

“Are you serious?”

She laughed as if it were no big deal. “Well, that’s what Mom says, anyway. We’ve been doing it for years.”