Spring Fling (21 page)

“Down, boy!” she exclaimed, bopping Damian on the nose with B.W. “Your charm might work on the girls at South Ridge High, but I‟m immune to it!” Damian gave Mindy a sly smile. “Uh-huh.” He folded his arms over his chest and slid back into his corner of the car. “That kiss is coming. Soon. Very soon. And you‟re looking forward to it. Otherwise you wouldn‟t have freaked out the way you just did.”

“I didn‟t freak out,” Mindy said, trying to sound calm, even though nervous butterflies were fluttering through her stomach. She
did
want Damian to kiss her. But she didn‟t want him to know that!

“So tell me about life at North Ridge High. You must be Miss Popularity.” Mindy laughed. “More like Miss Unpopularity.”

“I don‟t believe that.”

“Why not?”

“Why wouldn‟t people like you?”

“I have this little problem called gossiping.”

Damian shrugged. “Nobody‟s perfect.”

“I‟m trying to change.”

“And you think hanging out with Wanda and her friends is going to do that?”

“I already told you. They‟re the most popular girls at North Ridge High. If I become friends with them, then
I’m
popular.”

“And that matters to you?”

“Yes, it does! Don‟t you understand? This is my chance to change things, and I‟m going to change them! I want to have friends. I want people to like me!”

“I‟ll do whatever I can to help you,” Damian promised. “You can count on me.”

“Not if Wanda catches us together!” Mindy warned. “We can‟t go sneaking off by ourselves anymore!”

The Ferris wheel started to move and their car headed back toward the ground.

Mindy stuck her head out, wanting to make sure Wanda wasn‟t anywhere in sight. “You get out first and then I‟ll follow you.”

When their car landed back on the ground, Damian opened the door. But before leaving, he glanced back over his shoulder at Mindy. “In case you didn‟t know it, you
do
have a friend. Me.”

Then he gave her a wink and left her alone with B.W.

Danielle was brushing her teeth when she heard a scream.

“Not again,” she groaned, spitting out toothpaste and wiping her mouth on a towel before leaving the bathroom.

Out in the hallway, she ran into Ava, who was heading downstairs. “Does she always have to scream?”

“That didn‟t sound like Lindsey screaming,” Ava said. “It sounded like a guy!” Danielle listened to another scream. “You‟re right. And Lindsey did say she was going to leave a surprise for Howie this morning.”

“I think he found it!”

As they approached the kitchen, they could hear the screams getting louder and louder.

It was definitely a guy.

They walked into the kitchen and gasped.

“What happened to you?” Ava laughed, clutching a hand over her open mouth.

Howie was covered from head to toe in some sort of sticky substance, with white feathers stuck all over him.

“Your crazy friend rigged a bucket of maple syrup and feathers over the back door!” Howie screeched. “That‟s what happened!”

“Would you like some pancakes to go with that syrup?” Lindsey asked, turning from the stove with a spatula and a plate of pancakes.

“Look at what you did to me!” Howie complained, waving his arms in the air.

Danielle giggled. With the way he was covered with feathers and waving his arms, Howie resembled a giant chicken.

“What
I
did?” Lindsey snapped. “I was only protecting what was ours. You‟ve been sneaking into our kitchen all week, eating all our food and not even saying thank you!”

“Sharla said I could!”

Lindsey waved her spatula in Howie‟s face. “That doesn‟t mean you can just help yourself to whatever you want! You ate the picnic lunch I made for Cooper and Ava the other day and didn‟t even say you were sorry. I slaved all night over a hot stove because I wanted their picnic to be special. But you ruined it!”

“It was delicious,” Howie said.

“You‟re just saying that so I won‟t be mad at you!” Lindsey fumed.

Howie crossed his heart. “Best fried chicken I ever had.”

“It‟s my grandmother‟s secret recipe,” Lindsey grudgingly admitted.

“I liked the cake, too.”

“I made it from scratch.”

“I could tell. It didn‟t taste like it came out of a box.”

“What‟s going on here?” Ava whispered to Danielle.

“I‟m not sure, but I think Howie‟s flirting with Lindsey!”

“Is it working?”

“I don‟t think so,” Danielle said as Lindsey continued to glare at Howie, who kept sweet-talking her.

Just then, Ava‟s cell phone rang and she answered it.

“Hello!”

“Hi, it‟s Mindy!”

“Hey, Mindy, what‟s up?”

“I‟m having a pool party today and I wanted to invite you and the girls.”

“Sounds like fun. What time?”

“Swing by at around twelve.”

“We‟ll be there,” Ava said. “Any new developments with Project Damian?”

“I can‟t talk right now,” Mindy whispered. “I‟ll fill you in when I see you.”

“Okay. See you later.”

“Bye!”

“Who was that?” Danielle asked when Ava got off the phone.

“Mindy Yee. She invited us over for a pool party.”

“We‟re going, too!” Howie exclaimed. “Mindy called to invite Damian and told him to bring us along.”

“Then I guess you better start cleaning yourself up!” Lindsey told him. “Maybe you can get one of your housemates to pluck you. Because I don‟t think Mindy‟s going to want feathers in her pool!”

“Who were you on the phone with?” Wanda asked as she walked out to the pool and lay down on a lounge chair.

Mindy wasn‟t sure if it was her imagination, but ever since yesterday afternoon, when she‟d been alone with Damian, she felt like Wanda was watching her every move. It was almost as if Wanda had some sort of radar and suspected that Mindy was interested in Damian, which was so
not
the case. Damian was a friend and
only
a friend. She had to stop being so paranoid!

“Ava.”

“Why were you talking to her?”

“I invited her to our pool party.”

Wanda made a face as she lathered her arms with suntan lotion. “Why did you do that?”

“She and her friends had us over for that barbecue the other night. I thought it would be nice to invite them over.”

“That party was a snooze fest!”

What did Wanda expect her to do? Uninvite them? And did she forget that she had met Damian at that snooze fest? Apparently! “Well, they‟re coming over.”

“You invited Damian, didn‟t you?”

“Yes.”

“And he‟s coming?”

“He said he was.”

“I don‟t want it to look like I‟m chasing after him.”

But you are! You
are
chasing after him!

And Damian seemed to know that. Which was why he was keeping his distance from Wanda. Mindy didn‟t know if he was doing it because he knew it would drive Wanda crazy or if he just wanted his own personal space, but Wanda was
not
happy that Damian wasn‟t at her beck and call. Of course, Damian
shouldn’t
be at Wanda‟s beck and call. She already had a boyfriend! But Rick didn‟t exist this week. At least not in Wanda‟s world.

“Isn‟t today a great day?” Lacey asked, joining Wanda and Mindy by the pool. She sat down on the chaise lounge next to Mindy, stretching herself out in the sun.

“Why are you in such a good mood?” Wanda grumbled.

Mindy knew why. Damian had spent some time alone with Lacey yesterday afternoon. He‟d gone on a couple of rides with her and even won her a stuffed teddy bear in one of the arcades. Lacey had told her all the details when they‟d gotten home last night.

So far, Damian had come through for her, spending time alone with Wanda, Vivienne, and Lacey.

That meant that she was eventually going to have to settle her debt with him.

The only question was when?

When was he going to collect his kiss?

“Why not?” Lacey answered with a smile. “The weather is gorgeous, we‟re still in Miami, and delicious Damian is coming over today!”

“Delicious Damian is coming over to see
me
,” Wanda reminded Lacey. “Not you.” Lacey made a face at Wanda. “Don‟t worry! I‟m only going to look, not touch! You know, you should learn to share. What‟s going to happen once we get back home? You can‟t juggle two boyfriends.”

Wanda gave Lacey a coy smile. “Says who?”

“I‟d like to see that,” Lacey scoffed.

“You will!” Wanda confidently answered.

“Think she can do it, Mindy?” Lacey asked.

Mindy didn‟t know how to answer. Wanda juggling two boyfriends? That could only mean one thing. Disaster!

“Guess we‟ll have to wait until we get home,” Mindy said.

“I guess so,” Lacey said, giving Mindy a secret smile that
instantly
made her nervous.

Lacey was up to something, but what?

Ava was the first one ready to leave for Mindy‟s pool party. While Danielle, Lindsey, Jade, and Crystal were still getting into their swimsuits, she was sitting on the steps of the front porch, flipping through a tiny photo album filled with pictures of her and Josh. Each one brought back a memory of a happier time.

And reminded her that those happy times were over.

Why are you torturing yourself this way? It’s over with Josh! Over! Throw out these
photos! You need to put the past behind you and move on!

When she heard footsteps on the walkway, she looked up and saw Cooper with his hands behind his back.

“What are you hiding?” she asked him.

“Just a little something I whipped up,” he said, presenting Ava with a bouquet of flowers made from colored tissue paper. “They last longer this way.”

“They‟re so pretty!” Ava exclaimed, putting down the photo album and taking the bouquet from Cooper.

Cooper sat on the steps next to Ava, pressing his knee against hers. “What were you looking at?”

“Nothing special,” she said, pressing back with her knee.

“Mind if I take a look?” Cooper asked, reaching for the album.

Ava shrugged. Unless she snatched the album away from Cooper, she really didn‟t have much of a choice. “If you want.”

She watched as Cooper flipped through a few pages. From the frown on his face, he didn‟t seem too happy.

“I‟m guessing this guy is Josh?” he asked.

“It‟s Josh.”

Cooper flipped through the rest of the pages, then handed the album back to Ava and rose from the steps. “I‟m going to go find Ethan. See if he‟s ready to go. I‟ll see you at Mindy‟s.” He started walking away.

“Cooper! Wait!” she cried, throwing down the bouquet and jumping up off the steps. She could see he was angry, maybe even a little hurt, but he wasn‟t going to say anything. He probably wanted to leave so he could cool off. That was just the way he was.

He didn‟t want to make her feel bad or put any pressure on her.

“I didn‟t thank you for the flowers,” she said.

He turned around. “You don‟t have to,” he said stiffly.

“I know. But I want to.”

Ava closed the distance between herself and Cooper. Then, before she lost her nerve, she wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled his face close to hers, and kissed him.

She didn‟t know what she was doing.

This was all so wrong.

But if it was wrong, why did it feel so right?

Danielle watched from behind the screen door with wide eyes.

Ava was kissing Cooper.

Ava had made the first move!

She was shocked.

Shocked!

But also thrilled!

It looked like her best friend was finally over Josh!

Cooper couldn‟t believe what was happening.

Ava was kissing him.

She was kissing him!!!

Only seconds ago she had been flipping through a photo album filled with pictures of her ex-boyfriend. Seeing those photos, he had finally decided to give up. Game over.

Josh had too strong a hold on Ava for Cooper to even have a chance.

But then Ava had surprised him.

She had kissed him.

Was
still
kissing him!

He never thought this day would arrive. Yesterday, after the Tunnel of Love, he and Ava had spent the rest of the day going on rides and avoiding all talk of romance. They didn‟t discuss dating or kissing or ex-boyfriends. They just had a good time. And when they‟d gotten home, he‟d walked Ava to her front door and given her a hug good night.

Like a brother would give his sister. He hadn‟t even thought of kissing her.

Ava broke their kiss. “I shouldn‟t have done that,” she instantly apologized, her forehead pressed against his as she stared down at the ground.

“But you did,” Cooper said, unable to keep from smiling.

“It was wrong.” Ava went back to the steps and sat down, running her fingers through her curls. “Wrong!”

Cooper followed after Ava and sat next to her, taking her hand in his and giving it a gentle squeeze. “Why was it wrong?”

“You‟re a great guy, Cooper, but I don‟t know what I feel for you. And until I do, I shouldn‟t be kissing you!”

“Maybe this will help you change your mind,” he whispered.

And then, before Ava could say another word, Cooper pulled her into his arms and gave her a kiss of his own.

At first, Cooper was doing all the kissing, but then Ava lost herself in the moment, allowing herself to kiss him again as she wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close.

Danielle didn‟t want to spoil the moment—it was so romantic!—but she could hear Lindsey, Jade, and Crystal getting ready to head downstairs. She figured the last thing Ava would want was an audience, so she clomped her feet on the floor and started to open the porch door. At the sound of the noise she was making, Ava and Cooper pulled away from each other.