Virtually in Love (5 page)

He did sound serious. I shrugged. “Your wish is our command, I guess. Small, intimate gathering it is. Can we at least dress up for it, though?”

I could practically hear him grin through the phone. “Is the pope Catholic?”

“Cool. That's settled, then.”

When Kaz says “low-key,” it's probably not exactly how most people would define that term. More like “only fifty of his closest friends and some really great tunes” rather than “epic blowout.” So, still fun.

But I wasn't really thinking about the birthday party anymore. My mind was wandering back to the whole awkward kiss reaction. I didn't like thinking about that, so I decided it was time to put us back on normal ground before things got any weirder. I twirled a stray curl around my finger. “So, guess who called me earlier?” I said playfully. “During dinner, actually.”

“The president?” Kaz guessed. “Mick Jagger? The aforementioned pope?”

“Wrong, wrong, and wrong.”

“Too bad,” he said. “But hey, if Mick does happen to call, could you get his autograph for me?”

“Mick who?” I joked, just to annoy him. “But no, seriously, listen. It was Trevor!”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” I shivered, remembering how great it had been to see Trevor's name pop up on my phone again. “Anyway, he was calling with big news—his band might get to play at this cool under-twenty-one club near his town soon. I bet once people start hearing them, they'll get superfamous.”

“Okay.” Kaz cleared his throat. “Listen, I should go.”

Uh-oh. He sounded weird again. Had I really freaked him out this much with that silly kiss?

“Are you sure?” I said. “I mean, we could do some planning if you want.”

“Tomorrow, okay?” He sounded more normal now. “I haven't called Vanessa yet, or Maya, and I want to make sure the gang from the sci-fi club can make it on Saturday . . . .”

“Oh okay, sure,” I said. “See you at school tomorrow.”

After I hung up, I stared at the phone in my hand—Kaz's name still on the screen—feeling troubled. Since when did Kaz react so strongly to me doing something goofy like that impulsive kiss? He hadn't thought it, you know,
meant
anything, had he? No way—I was with Trevor. At least, I was pretty sure I was.

Besides, Kaz and I weren't like that. We'd never even thought about turning our friendship into something more, even if Maya liked to tease us by calling us Mr. and Mrs. Band Nerd sometimes.

Trying not to worry about it, I started Trevor's song again from the beginning. Then I leaned back and closed my eyes, the image of Trevor's face filling my mind as the familiar notes washed over me again.

•  •  •

“So, I ordered the pizzas last night, and the Aesop's guy promised to deliver them at eleven tomorrow, which means they should be there by around noon. Maya promised to pick up soda and stuff on her way over.” I ticked off the items on my fingers. “And, Vanessa, you got the napkins, right?”

“Right,” Vanessa said. “Dad had about a million packages in the basement from his last trip to Costco. Mom practically begged me to take some.”

Kaz grinned. “I always knew his Costco habit would come in handy someday.”

It was Friday, and the three of us were in homeroom. Our teacher, Mr. Ortiz, was totally old-school and insisted on seating us in alphabetical order. But thanks to our last names—Aratani, Bell, Bennett—we still ended up sitting together. It had always been that way all through school. We liked to joke it was our own little beginning-of-the-alphabet club. Just one more sign we were destined to be friends.

“Good, then I think everything's under control,” I said. “Can't believe we pulled this whole birthday bash together in, like, two days, especially at the same time we're getting ready for the dance marathon.”

“Yeah,” Kaz said. “Want to come over after school to set up? The place is a mess.”

That probably wasn't true, since the Aratanis' housekeeper always came on Thursdays. Still, I nodded. “Sounds like a plan.”

“I'm in,” Vanessa added. She glanced up as Mr. Ortiz stalked into the room, sweeping his suspicious gaze around at all of us.

I smiled back innocently and then pulled out my phone, knowing it would be my last chance to check it until the first-period bell. The only text was from Maya, checking in about the party plans.

“Hoping for a good-morning text from Trevor?” Vanessa guessed with a smile.

Kaz rolled his eyes. “I thought Trevbo was supposed to be some kind of rock star type,” he quipped. “Don't they always sleep till noon?”

“Only the ones who are, like, a hundred years old, like all your idols,” I told him. I was relieved he seemed to be over whatever had been making him act so oddly the other day. Focusing on my phone again, I quickly texted Maya back.

Vanessa leaned over for a peek at the screen. When she saw who I was texting, she looked disappointed. “I don't care what Kaz says. I think it's so sweet when Trevor texts you just to say hi,” she told me. “Hey, that reminds me—did you ever find out what his big secret was the other day?”

I blinked. “Actually, I sort of forgot about that,” I admitted. Between all the party planning, my worries over Kaz being weird, and everything else that was going on, I'd been too busy to think about Trevor's mysterious comment earlier in the week. Scrolling back over our last few text exchanges, I realized he hadn't even hinted about it since then.

“Bulldog Bell actually forgot to find out something she wanted to know?” Kaz feigned extreme shock. “Wow, this guy has you even more twitterpated than I realized!”

“Twitterpated?” I tilted my head at him.

“It's a word,” he replied. “Didn't you ever see
Bambi
?”

“Yeah, maybe when I was five.” I shrugged. “Anyway, I'm definitely not twitterpated, whatever that means.”

Vanessa smiled. “I've seen Bambi,” she said. “One of the kids I babysit for wants to watch it practically every time I come over. And
twitterpated
just means you're head over heels in love.”

“Oh.” I giggled. “Um, okay, then. Guilty as charged?”

Kaz let out a snort. “Oh man. This guy really
has
turned you into a pod person from Planet Romance, hasn't he?” He leaned over and knocked lightly on my forehead with his knuckles. “Earth to pod person! Please release my friend—you're not fooling anyone!”

I slapped his hand away, not bothering to respond. How could I even begin to explain how Trevor made me feel? It was like that line in “True Romance:”
Nobody gets it until they've been there / It's a feeling that's special, one just we two share . . . .

As the song said, there was no way to explain that to someone who hadn't felt it. I hadn't even understood it until it had happened to me. Kaz would just have to wait—he'd get it someday when
he
fell in love. Vanessa, too.

In any case, now that I'd remembered Trevor's comments from the other day, my curiosity roared back in full force. I started a new text to him.

Hey, T! Happy Friday! I just remembered u never told me your big secret or whatever. Spill it already! I'm dying of curiosity. U wouldn't want me to be totally distracted for K's bday party tomorrow, right?

I smiled and hit send. “There,” I said. “Hopefully, he'll text me back soon.”

“He'd better,” Kaz said. “Or he won't know what hit him.”

Vanessa laughed. “Yeah, once our Chloe decides she wants something, she won't stop until she gets it.”

“Or dies trying,” Kaz agreed.

Just then Mr. Ortiz called the class to order. “Pipe down, people,” he growled. “Announcements.”

I traded an eye roll with my friends. Our school's morning announcements could be a cure for insomnia. Usually all we get is the school secretary droning on for several minutes about the lunch menu and the sports team schedules. Maybe the occasional fire drill for some real excitement.

As usual I zoned out as the announcements started, slipping into more daydreams about Trevor. Could he be getting ready to declare his love, like “True Romance” said? If so, why was he being so slow about it?

Maybe he's waiting for a good reason
, I thought. Do we have an anniversary coming up or something?

I started counting back in my head. I knew it had been at least three months since I'd recognized him in that video. Could he be aiming his declaration for our four-month anniversary? When was that, anyway? Let's see, it had been a Tuesday afternoon—or was it a Wednesday . . . ?

“Ow,” I blurted out, yanked out of my calculations by a hard poke in the arm, courtesy of Vanessa.

“Did you hear that?” she whispered.

“Hear what?” I glared at her, rubbing the sore spot on my arm.

She tilted her head toward the speaker. The secretary was still droning on. But I blinked as I heard her say the word
dance.

“Was that about the dance marathon?” I asked.

“No. There's going to be a
school
dance,” Vanessa whispered, shooting a glance toward Mr. Ortiz to make sure he didn't notice us talking. “In two weeks!”

“Really?” That was huge news. Our school isn't big on dances. Normally we have the prom for juniors and seniors, homecoming for everybody, and maybe one more dance around Valentine's Day. So this was new.

“A dance, huh?” Kaz whispered. “Great, I'll be able to get myself all warmed up for it at the dance marathon!” He shimmied in his seat, his long arms and legs all going in different directions.

Finally the announcements ended, which meant we were allowed to talk out loud again. Vanessa immediately spun to face me. “This is huge,” she said, her blue eyes glowing. “A dance! Fun, right?”

I grinned. She's such a romantic! She's the one who always drags us to all the new chick flicks, even though Kaz and I prefer a good comedy or action movie. Or pretty much anything but a chick flick, for that matter.

“Totally fun,” I agreed. “Not to mention potentially romantic.” I waggled my eyebrows at her. “We'll have to get right to work landing you a hot date, hmm?”

She looked alarmed. “Oh, I don't know. I was thinking the three of us could all go together like we usually do.”

“Not if we can hook you up with Mr. Right by then.” My smile faded as I realized something. “Too bad we won't be able to double-date. Not with my own Mr. Right a zillion miles away.”

Kaz rolled his eyes. “Yeah, bummer.”

“It
is
a bummer,” I said. “But I'll just have to throw all my energy into living vicariously through Vanessa's big romantic evening.”

She giggled, her cheeks going pink. “Stop,” she said. “Still, it's going to be fun, right? Too bad Trevor can't come here for the big night, though.”

“I know, right?” For half a second I allowed myself to daydream. But then I shook my head. “Maybe next year when he has his license . . .” My smile crept back, and as the bell rang I allowed myself to sink into another daydream. Okay, this one was set far in the future—a whole year away. But true romance was worth waiting for, right? That was what the song said, anyway.

•  •  •

That afternoon Vanessa's mom picked us up from school and dropped all three of us at Kaz's house. It was quiet and deserted when we walked in—his dad was at the office, as usual.

“Okay.” Vanessa rubbed her hands together, surveying the spotless living room. “What should we do first?”

I looked around too. The entire first floor of Kaz's house has looked pretty much exactly the same for as long as I can remember. He told me once his mom had decorated it, and his dad didn't want to change anything. At least that's what his other relatives think. It should have been cozy, with lots of overstuffed furniture and a stack of magazines on the coffee table, but it always felt a little sterile to me. Maybe because that was all there was—furniture and magazines. No dog lying around on the rug. No family pictures on the walls or the big stone mantel. Not even a houseplant. The piano in the corner looked as if nobody ever touched it, even though I knew Kaz played it sometimes.

“First of all, let's liven up the place a little,” I suggested. “Otherwise, nobody's going to know this is a party. Where's the decoration stuff?”

Vanessa had raided her dad's Costco stash for some of the raw materials we planned to use to turn Boring Junction into Party Central, and I'd stopped by the local party store after school the day before for more. Vanessa is the art teacher's favorite student ever, so she'd been able to snag some additional stuff from the supply closet at school. We had plenty to work with.

“What did you guys get?” Kaz asked, peering into one of the bags we'd grabbed from the trunk of Van's mom's car. “Streamers and balloons? Very original.”

“I prefer the term
classic
,” I retorted. “Come on. Let's get started.”

Kaz brightened. “I'll put on some decorating music.”

“No!” I howled, throwing myself in his path as he headed for his dad's old-school stereo system. “This may be your house and your birthday, but we are so not listening to Gregorian chants or whatever you had in mind.”

Kaz smiled. “Dixieland jazz, actually.”

I wasn't sure if he was serious or not, and I didn't bother to ask. “But never fear, I made us a playlist during study hall.” I whipped out my phone. “Voila!”

I punched it on, and the familiar strains of “True Romance” poured out.

Kaz rolled his eyes. “Seriously?”

Vanessa was already humming along. “You should have used Trevor's band's version.” She glanced at Kaz. “Have you heard it yet? It's really good.”