Second to No One (19 page)

“Hey, Gemma,” Jess said just before I closed the door behind me. His head was pitched forward with anticipation. “We’re okay, right?”

I bit my lip and forced a smile. “We’re good.” I said it because good was all I could expect right now. Good was all I could hope for. Good friends was all I was going to get from Jess Tyler. I closed the passenger door and headed into my house. I dropped my bag on the couch and walked into my kitchen, and sitting at the counter talking to my mom was…Lauren.

Chapter 14

“L
auren,” I said while glancing
out the kitchen window to see if there was any way she could have seen me and Jess together. I wasn’t sure why, but I felt like somehow we had been cheating on her. “What are you doing here?”

Lauren seemed oblivious to everything around her. “Gemma,” she said desperately as she lunged toward me. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“What’s wrong?” My heart was pounding. I hadn’t even thought to invite Lauren to the photo shoot that afternoon, but if I was being honest, I loved not having her there.

Lauren’s eyes filled up with tears, and it was obvious that it wasn’t the first time that day. “My mom promised that she’d go dress shopping with me this morning for the dance tonight, but her car needs a new battery, and now she can’t afford it.” She wiped at the tears with both palms of her hands. “I know it’s such a stupid thing to cry about, but the dance is in three hours, and I have nothing to wear.”

I stepped forward and touched her arm. “It’s not stupid. Um…” I bit my lip and mentally scanned my closet for possible dance options. But since I had never been to a high school dance, the options were coming up blank.

“Bridget might have a dress she can wear,” Mom offered.

I looked Lauren up and down. “You’re taller than she is. But it’s worth a try.” I left Lauren with my mom and ran up the stairs to Bridget’s room. When I opened the door, she was sitting on her bed, reading a giant book about public speaking.

“What’s up?” she said, laying the book on her lap.

“You’re never going to guess who’s here,” I said in a quiet but urgent voice.

She sat forward, intrigued. “Who is it?”

“Lauren.”

She slammed the book shut and smirked. “What’s that little boyfriend stealer doing here?”

I closed the door behind me and stepped closer to Bridget’s bed. “She needs to borrow a dress for the dance tonight.”

“The one she’s going to with Jess?” Bridget’s eyes narrowed, and her jaw was propped wide. “I can’t believe the audacity of that girl coming to you for help.”

I took a deep breath. “Do you have something in your closet she can borrow? Can I check?” I pulled open her closet doors.

“There is no way I’m going to let that snooty girl wear one of my dresses. Not after the way she talked to you in the parking lot. She’s got an ulterior motive here, Gemma. You have to see that.”

“I need to stop telling you every detail of my life,” I said as I flipped through the dresses in the back right side of her closet. There was only one, and I could tell that it was going to be way too small for Lauren. “Do you only have one dance dress?” I asked flipping through the rest of her clothes.

Bridget sank into her pillows. “I had a 4.0 the entire time I was in high school. I didn’t have a lot of time for boys.”

“Okay, this isn’t going work.” I stepped away from the closet. “Think, Gemma, think.”

“Why are you helping her? She’s been such a brat to you. She’s taking over your life, Gemma, and I don’t think it’s an accident.”

“You’ve been watching too much
Bachelor
,” I said as I crammed my brain for more options. “I haven’t been that great of a friend to her either. This is the least I can do to make it up to her.”

“Well, you’re a better person than me.” Bridget picked up her book again. “If it were me, I’d buy her a hideous dress that smelled like garlic.”

“That’s it.” I reached into my back pocket and retrieved Tag’s envelope. “I’m going to buy her a dress.” Before Bridget could stop me, I darted out of her room and down the stairs. I grabbed Lauren by the hand and ordered her to come with me; then I dragged her out the front door. “Where’s your car?” I looked up and down our street. It hadn’t occurred to me before that I didn’t see it when Jess and I pulled up to my house.

“I walked,” Lauren said sheepishly.

“You
walked
? From your house? You live five miles from here.”

“Well, I was so mad at my mom that I told her I was going for a walk. So I walked over to Drew’s, but she wasn’t home. So then I thought I’d walk to town just in case by some miracle someone would sell me a dress for the amount of money I had in my pocket, which was ten dollars. But once I got there, I realized that was just stupid. So I came here.” Lauren looked over her shoulder. “Can we just hurry and get in your car? I don’t want Jess to see me like this.”

We got in my car, and I drove us back into town. When I told Lauren my idea about Tag’s money, she refused, but I insisted, and by the time we got to the dress shop, she had relented. We found her a dress that was on sale. It was an eclectic mossy green color with weird lace around the edges. I thought it was disgusting when I first saw it, but it was the only one in our price range, and of course, when Lauren put it on, it looked amazing. After we bought it, I drove her home. “Hope you have fun tonight,” I said as Lauren pushed her way out the passenger side door. “Bye.”

“Bye?” The same desperate look from earlier swept across her face. “Jess is going to be here in an hour. You have to come help me get ready. You can do my hair while I do my makeup.” She looked at the clock. “My mom’s at work. Please, Gemma, I need you.”

I considered this carefully. Jess was going to be here in an hour, which meant I had to be out of there in less than an hour. There was no way I was going to be caught watching the two of them prance off together into the night.

“Gemma,” Lauren pressed. “Please.”

“Okay, okay,” I said, scurrying out of the car. I followed her inside and up to her room. While Lauren showered, I picked out a pair of shoes and some jewelry to go with the dress. While she dried her hair, I painted her toenails; and when she was putting on her makeup, I was curling her long, auburn hair into loose curls that fell flawlessly around her shoulders and back. When we were done with her, she looked like royalty. We still had two minutes to spare.

“Okay,” I said, grabbing my purse off her bed. “I’m going to go.”

“No, wait.” She reached for me across the room. “Please don’t leave. I don’t want to be alone when he comes.”

My shoulders fell with the weight of her pleading eyes. I couldn’t stay. Seeing her and Jess together would be the worst thing I could possibly think of. “I really need to go, Lauren. My mom’s going to flip if I’m not home before dark.”

“Thirty seconds.” She took hold of both of my hands. “Please don’t leave me alone.”

I reluctantly dropped my purse back on her bed and plopped myself down beside it. “Okay,” I said, “thirty seconds.”

Lauren looked pleased that she had won the battle. She turned back to her mirror to double check every last inch of her dress, hair, and make-up. “You were with Jess today, weren’t you?”

“Yeah,” I said hesitantly as I wiped at some nail polish that had dripped on my arm. “But it was just to take some pictures. We came home right after.” As if I had to defend myself to her.

“He showed me his project.”

I froze midwipe. “He did?”

“We were hanging out at his house last night, and I told him he had to show it to me or else I’d leave.” She twisted her earring around with her fingers. “I was mostly joking, but now I kind of wish I didn’t push it.” She sat up straight and ran both hands over her long, lean stomach. “I didn’t realize you two were so close.”

I kept wiping at my arm even though the nail polish was long gone.

“You’re his best friend,” she continued. “You’ve been there for him, and he’s been there for you. You two have a history that I can’t compete with.”

I wasn’t sure where she was going with that, so I remained silent and allowed her to finish.

“But I really, really like him Gemma, and I think he likes me too.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I think you’re right.”

“So if you could just stay out of the way for a while, just keep your distance until he and I have a chance to make this work, then I’d really appreciate it.”

I nodded once more, not knowing exactly what she did or didn’t want me to do or whether I was willing to actually oblige either request.

Before another word was said, the doorbell rang and Lauren stood up to straighten her dress, “Can you go get the door?”

“Me?” What happened to me staying out of the way?

“Please, Gemma. I can’t open the door for my own date.”

I looked down at my shabby sweatshirt and worn out jeans. I was sweating from all the running around and the heat of the hair dryer and curling iron. Next to Lauren I looked like a hired hand. I figured that was why she wanted him to see me. Maybe that was her ulterior motive. Maybe she wanted him to know for certain that next to her I was a no body. I was sure it was information that he already knew so I relented. “Fine.”

When I opened the door Jess was standing on the front porch. He was wearing tan slacks and a deep blue dress shirt and tie. He looked crisp and clean and in his hand was a small box with a red rose corsage inside. Jess looked at me confused then darted his eyes at the house in front of him, “Am I at the right place?”

Hearing his familiar voice in such a strange, awkward situation made me fold my arms over my chest and recoil into the door pain at my side. “Lauren’s upstairs. She’ll be down in a minute.” I moved to the side so Jess could step in.

“So,” Jess said while passing the corsage box from one hand to the other, “What are you doing here?”

“I came to help Lauren get ready for the dance.”

Jess nodded skeptically, “Yeah, I’ve heard about girls doing that but I didn’t peg you as the type.”

“I’m not.” I assured him, “But Lauren apparently is and Drew was busy so…”

We both heard Lauren’s footsteps on the stairs. Jess turned to watch her and I turned to watch him. He bit his lip and shifted nervously. I had never seen him like that before. “You look really nice.” He said stepping toward her and handing her the box. “I hope this matches your dress.”

“It’s perfect. I love roses.” Lauren said elegantly and I almost forgot how disjointed and out of sorts she had been just minutes ago.

I became aware of how awkward I was just being there let alone watching and staring with intense jealousy in my ratty clothes and greasy hair. “I’m going to go now.” I said and I stepped in the great room to retrieve my coat.

Jess stepped aside so I could move through the door. Then he smiled and half waved but Lauren didn’t say anything nor did she look up from the corsage that she was pulling up over her wrist. I slipped out the door without another word being exchanged between any of us, then I got into my car and swore to myself for maybe the millionth time that year that I was really, truly and officially over Jess Tyler.

Chapter 15

C
lark Nobottom was exactly what
you’re thinking. A nerd. If Bridget would have mentioned that her online date’s brother’s name was Clark Nobottom, I probably would have regrounded myself for an extra twenty-four hours. He showed up at my house on New Year’s Eve with his cute (and quite possibly adopted) older brother, Rick. Bridget was ecstatic to find out that Rick looked just like his picture on Facebook. I, on the other hand, was staring into the face of a kid my exact same height, laced with oversized glasses, a red band holding them together around his head, and four ball-point pens sticking out of his front pocket. I had never seen such a typical dork in my entire life. Up to that point, I had actually thought they died out with the welcoming of the twenty-first century. Apparently I was wrong.

Bridget chose the restaurant since the Nobottom brothers were from Highlands and didn’t know Franklin very well. She thought it would be fun to go to Marc’s Pizza Arcade, which was notorious for its cheap, cheeseless pizza and kid-infested arcade games. I tried to get her to reconsider, but she was convinced that a fun, playful atmosphere was the best option for this kind of date.

“So, do you come here much?” Clark politely asked me while Bridget and Rick flirted on the other side of the table. They had barely touched their food all night while Clark and I downed half the pizza and three root beers each simply because we had no idea what else to do other than eat. Despite Clark’s nerd motif, his voice was surprisingly low and mature and if I had only talked to him on the phone, I would have thought he was a male model.

“I used to when I was younger. Do you like living in Highlands?” I offered, even though I knew it was the dumbest question in the world.

Clark smiled politely. “It’s a nice town. But I’ve never lived anywhere else, so I don’t have anything to compare it to. I like Franklin though.” He looked around the red-checkered restaurant. “We don’t have any good arcade places like this.” I had to give him credit. He really was one of the nicest boys I’d met. He gave me one hundred percent of his attention every time I opened my mouth, and he didn’t seem to be looking for a cuter girl in the room like so many boys did when you tried to have a conversation with them. But as far as sparks went, there were none in sight.

A few seconds of awkward silence passed between us before I nodded toward the arcade area of the restaurant. “You want to go play a game? They have a killer race car machine here.” Okay, it wasn’t that killer. But I couldn’t stand to watch Bridget blush at another one of Rick’s putrid compliments, and playing a game was my only chance for escape.

It was a double chair game. Clark put in four quarters, and the machine beneath us began to rumble and shake. The screen in front of us showed Clark as a blue BMW and me as a hot pink Ferrari. We were racing on sandy terrain off some coast in Hawaii. He was killing me. For a guy with a green button-up, short-sleeved shirt tucked into a pair of brown cargo jeans, he was an amazing arcade driver.