The Way to Game the Walk of Shame (11 page)

Brian stopped in his tracks when he saw us sitting together. He gave me a questioning look, but I couldn’t do more than shrug. Especially since there were a bunch of people surrounding us. Carly had to tug on his arm to get him to sit down. His jaw tightened, but he didn’t say anything and sat down across from me, since Evan was already sitting in Brian’s usual seat beside me.

Not noticing that anything was wrong, Evan munched on his barbecue chips and turned to talk to Carly about the drama club. Or rather, he asked what they had planned, and she started rambling a mile a minute about the upcoming musical they were working on.

“So, Brian, I think the original layout for the arts department is pretty good. But what do you think about the other clubs?” I asked, trying to act like having Evan sit with us for lunch was no biggie.

Brian gave another glance toward Evan. “What do you mean?”

“Well, the smaller clubs can’t all be squished on only four pages. But there’s no more space for them anywhere. We barely have room to add a thank-you to the teachers in the end.” I chewed on my lip and tapped my pen against the table, trying to figure out a solution. The yearbook budget was already pushed to the max, so we couldn’t add even a single page.

Nodding to himself, Brian leaned forward on the table until he was hovering over my notebook and wrapped his hand around mine to guide the pen, drawing lines to connect certain groups. “We could always move the Honor Society to the front and combine the Poetry Club with the
New Voices
group. I don’t think they’d mind.”

“But we still—ouch!“Someone kicked my knee underneath the table, making my hand slip out of Brian’s grasp. At first I thought it was Carly, but she looked as shocked as I was. And her eyes were glued to a certain someone, who was shaking his bag of chips even though it was empty. I glared at Evan and rubbed my leg. “What was that for?”

“What? I didn’t do anything.”

My gaze turned to Carly when she snickered, but she just shrugged and gave me an innocent smile. Too innocent.

“Okay, so I think…” I trailed off, distracted as Evan picked the mushrooms off his pizza with a fork. One by one. When he was done, he laid the tiny pile on my own pizza like a peace offering. “Now what are you doing?”

“Hm?” He took a big bite of his pizza before looking at me.

I jabbed a finger at my plate. “You don’t like veggies?”

“Oh, I like them. But I know you like mushrooms the most.”

That was true. I did. My mom used to say I was born in a mushroom field, even though there isn’t such a thing—is there? I needed to visit if there was.

Either way—whether it was on pizzas, salads, or even in spaghetti sauce—I’d always eat the mushrooms first. It was just weird that
Evan
knew that. Nobody else noticed or cared. Until now. Which was both surprising and sort of creepy at the same time. Even Carly looked surprised at this revelation.

Brian jabbed at the list on the table with an annoyed expression on his face. I felt bad for him. Deadlines always stressed him out.

I didn’t know what to say, so I offered Evan the rest of my fries. He gave me a wide grin and popped one in his mouth, making me wonder if that was his intention all along.

“How did you know I like mushrooms?”

Evan coughed and looked away. His hand swept through his dark-blond locks. They were less spiky and gelled than usual. Probably because he had to wake up early to drive me to school. There was even a little bit of a curl to them. “Uh, I saw you stealing them from Carly’s plate once during lunch.”

“You did what?” Carly glared at me.

“Oh please, you never even noticed they were missing.” I stuck out my tongue at her before turning my attention back to Evan. “And why were you watching me at lunch?”

Instead of responding, he avoided my eyes and looked down at his invisible watch on his right wrist. “Oh, look at the time. Is that my class? I should go…” Within a blink of an eye, he jumped up from the table and practically ran out of the cafeteria.

My eyes narrowed.
Oh, he wasn’t going to get away that easily.
“I’ll be back.”

Brian was already picking up my stuff for me, since we usually spent the period after lunch planning the yearbook. “But Taylor, we were supposed to—”

“I know. I’ll only be gone for a little bit.” Before he could say anything else, I was gone. Darting around people, I finally caught up to Evan just as he got to the library at the end of the hall. He glanced over his shoulder and saw me, but he didn’t say anything. Nor did he slow down.

Staying close on his heels, I glanced over my shoulder to make sure Mrs. Stills, the librarian and head of study hall, didn’t see me. She was busy checking out books for some freshman. Hidden behind the large magazine rack, I slid into the seat across from Evan. He let out a loud groan and reached over my head to grab a random magazine, then began flipping through it. I knew he wasn’t
actually
reading it, though. Not unless he really was interested in ten different ways to wear a scarf, as the cover claimed.

“Don’t you have class?” he muttered without looking up.

“So you noticed me, huh?” I leaned on my elbows toward him. “Since when?”

Instead of making some smart remark like I expected him to, Evan ducked his head deeper into the magazine. “Since I saved you at the pool.”

Okay, I wasn’t expecting
that
answer. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” He purposely angled the magazine so I couldn’t see his face anymore, but the tips of his ears were turning suspiciously pink beneath his deep tan. It was kind of endearing. “I guess you made an impression.”

That was the nicest thing anyone had ever said to me. I knew I should meet Brian, but I couldn’t make myself leave Evan’s side. I nudged his arm, poking harder and harder until he looked up. His eyes were wary over the pages.

“Guess what I did today?”

“You met Madonna? No, Bill Gates?” He snapped his fingers. “I got it! Jesus!”

I snickered. “How did you know? I had a near-death experience, and Jesus told me that Madonna and Bill Gates were looking for me in the backyard.”

His eyes twinkled with so much amusement, they seemed to be a lighter shade of gray than usual. “I knew it.”

Shaking my head, I pulled out the brochures and applications I had gotten from the counselor’s office before lunch. All filed according to the difficulty of the essays. I spread them out in front of him. “I know you said you didn’t care about any of this
stuff
.” I made finger quotations when I said the word
stuff.
“But I figured it doesn’t hurt to think about it, right? Just something to look at when you’re bored. There were even some colleges with late application deadlines. Plus, I made some notes about which ones have the best marine-biology classes.”

The magazine dropped, and his fingers flipped through the papers. “Does this obsession with me going to college have something to do with the Reformed Rake thing Carly was talking about earlier?” he asked, leaning forward until our noses were almost touching.

I sucked in a deep breath at his sudden closeness, but I didn’t back away. In fact, I may have leaned in just a tiny bit. “I just had some spare time.”

His lips jerked into a half smile, making my gaze slide down, and I couldn’t look away. “Maybe we should be doing something else with our spare time instead of researching about a bunch of dumb colleges.”

“Like…?”

“Ms. Simmons?”

Rats. I had forgotten to stay hidden. I snapped back into my seat as though pulled by an invisible bungee cord. “Yes?”

Mrs. Stills frowned down at me. Even her wrinkles looked menacing. Unlike the other members of the faculty—who loved me—she never treated me with more than reined-in politeness. I never knew why. I wasn’t proud to admit it, but I really was the biggest suck-up ever. In kindergarten, I would spend my recesses sharpening pencils for my teacher. Yeah, I was
that
student.

Still, the way Mrs. Stills treated me was actually a step above the way she talked to other students, so that was something to be thankful about. “I don’t believe you’re supposed to be here. Did you need my help with something?”

“Uh, no.” I quickly got to my feet.

“Then I suggest you leave.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I stacked all the papers and brochures together, only stopping to fan my face with them to cool off.

Evan reached out and took my hand before I could dart away, squeezing lightly. “You could leave these here. I’ll throw them away for you later.”

Surprised, I stopped and stared at him, but he was glancing down at the brochures. His other hand shuffled through them a bit.

I bit back the smile that threatened to burst forth. The more I got to know Evan, the more I saw that the playboy facade was really just that. A facade. He really wasn’t that bad. God forbid I ever tell him that, though. His head was big enough as it was. “If you’re sure…”

“Yeah, thanks, though. And it was nice of you to get me all this. Even though I don’t need it,” he quickly added.

“No problem.”

Not sure if it was the mushrooms or the college applications, but on an impulse, I peeked behind me to make sure Mrs. Stills was back at her desk. Once the coast was clear, I leaned over his left shoulder and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. He jumped and turned his head to look up at me. His eyes narrowed in question.

I gave him a wink. “See you later, sweetie.”

9

-Evan-

Within days, we fell into a comfortable routine. I’d pick Taylor up for school, we’d go to class, we’d eat lunch together, and then I’d take her back to my place.

It was not as exciting as it sounds.

Like today, I was sprawled out on the couch as I battled aliens on my Xbox. Taylor sat in the kitchen working on her homework. I invited her to join me, but she declined. Without looking up from her report, she just asked me to promise to save her when there’s an alien invasion or a zombie apocalypse. Whichever came first. The girl could be pretty funny when she wanted to be.

Going to my house after school was my idea, and it was a damn good one, too. Especially since my neighbor was none other than Alesha Brant, head of the school’s gossip column. I’m pretty sure that’s how our hookup came out so quickly.

Any doubting Thomases about our relationship shut up the next day. I just had to take Taylor home by six thirty each day before my mom and Brandon came home.

Taylor did have one stipulation, though. Even though she’d been in my room before—obviously, since she woke up in my bed—she refused to go up there now. So we compromised—and by compromised, I mean, I was suckered into giving in—and I brought my Xbox down to plug into the living-room TV while she studied and did her homework in the kitchen.

I was seconds from taking down the mother ship when a car door slammed outside. It sounded like it came straight from my driveway. This wasn’t good.

A feeling of dread swept over me. I put the game on pause and leaned forward on the arm of the couch to peer outside. No, not good at all. Through the large front windows swathed in cream lace curtains on either side of the front door, I could see two shadowy figures walking up the pathway, arms full of groceries. “Damn it!”

Taylor appeared at the door. “What’s wrong?”

“My stepdad and mom are home.”

Her eyes widened in her pale face. She stood frozen in the living-room doorway. “But—but you said they never come home before seven on a weekday!”

I turned off my game reluctantly. I had been so close to finishing the level, too. “Well, obviously today is an exception. And we’re about to be screwed.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning that my mom is the biggest gossip at the PTA meetings, and if you don’t haul your ass and get over here to cuddle with me, then our cover is blown!”

At my words, Taylor skidded over to the couch so fast that I half expected smoke to come out of her feet.
Jingle. Jingle.
The keys were unlocking the door.
Thud.
My arm dropped down around her small shoulders and pulled her close to my chest. She barely had time to curl her legs beneath her butt and drop her head on my shoulder when the door opened.

Realizing too late that we couldn’t pretend to be watching TV since it was off, I turned my head and pressed my lips against hers. Her eyes widened, and she stared up at me, but she didn’t move away. Even though I knew Mom was right there, I couldn’t help noticing how soft Taylor’s lips were. My fingers dug into the couch cushion, and I fought the urge to deepen the kiss.

“Honey, we’re home. I’m going to start dinner soon, so I hope you remembered to put the chicken out to defrost—oh!”

I pulled away just as Mom stopped in her tracks. Brandon stumbled into her back and had to juggle the bags in his arms. “Oh, hi, Mom. Yeah, sorry, I forgot to put the chicken out.”

Her voice grew a bit high-pitched. “That’s okay, I can see that you were … that you’re busy.”

Brandon brushed past her and headed toward the kitchen without saying anything. Being a typical ass as usual. I thought he would have at least
pretended
to be civil with Taylor here. I guess that was just too much to ask of His Royal Highness.

I took Taylor’s hand and pulled her to her feet before pushing her toward my mom. Her cheeks were still flushed from either embarrassment at meeting my mom or at being caught
kissing
me in front of my mom. “Mom, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Taylor. Taylor, this is my mom.”

“Hi.”

At the sound of her name, my mom’s eyes widened with interest. “Taylor? You mean, Taylor Simmons? Aren’t you the valedictorian?”

“Well, that hasn’t been decided yet. The school year’s still not over.”

Mom snapped her fingers. “Right, you’re still fighting with Brian Long for that position. But I heard that you’re applying to Columbia. Have you gotten the acceptance letter yet?”

Taylor’s eyes narrowed, but the polite smile on her face never wavered. “I’m hoping for it any day now.”