Four Letters in Reverse (FLIR #1) (2 page)

C
LICK
.

I snapped a photo of four gray baby rabbits nibbling on some flowers nearby from where I sat on a bench outside on the school grounds. It was after school, the buses had left full of kids, and I was waiting for Jade to pick me up. We were going to have a girl’s day out, just the two of us. Marie wanted to come but she was sick with the flu and was currently being waited on hand and foot by Mom and Dad.

I strongly believed it was karma for the whole “Four Eyes” comments.

Since the parents were spoiling Marie rotten, it was only fair that I would be spoiled too by another member of the family.

Jade was my sister but I’d only known her for not even a year. Mom and Dad had given her up for adoption when she was a baby when they were teenagers themselves, and had only recently been reunited with the family. I always knew about the sibling that I’d never met and wondered about her all the same: what she was like, what she looked like, if she would even like me.

Finally meeting her made me
so
happy about the whole thing because it was fun talking to someone that I was sure would show me the ropes when it came to life. It was also pretty amazing to be the younger sister for a change.

I stood from the bench and gingerly made my way closer to the bunnies, camera phone in front of me, finger hovering over the red button on my screen.

Click.

Rabbits were the cutest things ever. I wondered if Mom and Dad would notice if I brought one of them home, then laughed quietly at myself.

Yeah, right.

Marie wouldn’t be able to keep a secret and Mom would definitely kill me, or at the very least ground me for life, if she found out.

I continued snapping pictures of everything and nothing, passing time and in no way in the mood for doing homework. I had been released from school early because the teachers were having meetings about something or another, and Jade wouldn’t be here for another half hour. Hannah and Mateo, my two BFFs, had left me all alone to go hang out at the mall because it was Mateo’s mother’s birthday and he needed a female opinion on what to get her.

They were my only two real friends and I was totally fine with that.

But it sucked sometimes when I was left all alone.

“Callaghan!”

I startled and turned at the sound of the male voice, heart hammering in my chest. I knew that voice from anywhere.

Owen Wilder. He was probably the most likable guy at school. He wasn’t the hottest, he wasn’t the tallest, or the biggest, but there was something about him that made every girl, from sixth grade to eighth, swoon at even the mention of his name.

Including me.

Maybe it was his quirky grin, or the fact that he’d always pick the smallest kid when picking teams. Or the air of confidence that he took with each step, which was crazy for someone our age to have. But there was something about Owen that made everyone pause as you tried to figure him out.

We were at the stage in life where everyone seemed to have a boyfriend or girlfriend. Hannah was currently seeing Scott (boyfriend number five). Despite being fourteen, Hannah was a serial dater and I could never keep up with whether Tim had been last week’s or last month’s boyfriend. According to her, she had to practice dating now so she’d be ready for when it was really important.

Mateo had recently been dating Kiera before she kissed another guy at the talent show and they had quickly split, leaving Matty crushed for weeks. He presently wanted to experience the “single life”, not particularly in the mood for backstabbing girls.

But I had never seen Owen with anyone.

I wondered if he was gay like Star, my cousin’s BFF, and just didn’t want to say anything to anyone yet. But no matter what kind of rumors circulated about Owen in school, he was as popular as ever with the girls, perhaps even more so with the possibility that he might be gay.

Many would envy the girl or guy who would snatch Owen Wilder.

I stood from my crouched position in front of these purple tulips and tried my darndest not to show how nervous I was.

“Hey, Callaghan,” he said, approaching me. “What are you doing?”

He dressed simply in a graphic t-shirt and jeans, holding his skateboard at his side.

I held up my phone. “Taking pictures.”

He nodded, noticing the rabbits nearby then grinned, eyes back on me. “Where are your sidekicks?”

I sighed. “They’re not my sidekicks, they’re my friends. Hannah and Mateo are at the mall.”

“And why aren’t you with them?”

“I’m waiting for my sister.”

He nodded then paused, brushing his dark hair off his face. “You want me to wait with you?”

My shoulders raised in reflex despite feeling nervous as ever inside. “If you want.”

He sat down next to my feet, laying down his skateboard next to him. I felt uncomfortable just standing there so I sat down as well and rested a hand on the grass, the other firmly holding my phone. He picked up a shard of grass and started playing with it, then glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. “You know, Bruno has a crush on you.”

My eyebrows rose. “What?”

I didn’t expect that.

Bruno was Owen’s best friend since … forever. If Owen was the most likable guy at school, Bruno was a close second. He probably wasn’t as outgoing as Owen but he was really good at sports and, for some reason, was obsessed with chemistry, even forming a club after school.

I shook my head. “No, he doesn’t.”

“Yes, he does.”

“What, did he tell you?”

He smiled mischievously. “No.”

“Then how are you so sure that he likes me?”

“It’s the way he looks at you.” Owen commented. “In case you haven’t noticed, he’s been looking at you a lot lately.”

He saw the confused look on my own face. “You really haven’t noticed?” He appeared genuinely surprised and rubbed the side of his face.

I slowly shook my head, clutching the phone in my hand even tighter. I crossed my legs together then unfolded them, not knowing what to say. I was the daydreamer of the group; I wasn’t one for noticing anything, least of all the attentions of a boy.

“How does he look at me?” I asked curiously. I stared back at Owen sideways through strands of my hair.

“I don’t know.” Owen fiddled with the silver stud in his left ear, one eye half-closed in concentration, and sighed. “He stares at you like he’s never seen you before even though we’ve known each other practically our whole lives. He looks at you as if you were an … alien.”

“An alien?” I couldn’t help but laugh at that. I started to feel slightly better.

He grinned and it dawned on me that I liked his smile. A lot. “You know what I mean, Callaghan. He’s totally crushing on you.”

“Well, I’m not interested.”

“Harsh.”

“I mean,” I tried again. “I’m not allowed to date until I’m sixteen and that’s years away and even if I were, boys are not a priority right now and I’ve never thought of Bruno in that way. Ever.”

“Never?” he whispered.

I shook my head. “Ever.”

“Well …” He leaned close like he wanted to tell me a secret. “How would you react if I told you
I
liked you?”

I gasped, surprised, and my face instantly reddened. Owen grinned and pulled back, chuckling. “I thought so.”

Oh. My. Gawd.

I didn’t have time to respond to his startling revelation. A large vehicle pulled up and at the sound of a honk, I looked up and saw Jade waving a hand at me out the window.

Owen noticed my ride and stood. He appeared so calm and relaxed, like the last thirty seconds didn’t just happen.

“Looks like your sister’s here. See you around, Callaghan.”

Maybe it didn’t.

He picked up his skateboard and walked toward the sidewalk, placing it on the ground. He positioned one foot on the board and looked just about ready to leave.

“By the way.” Owen stopped and turned around. He stared at me for the longest time and a smile crossed his face. “I really like your glasses.”

Or maybe it did?

Then he skated off like it was no big deal, waving at Jade as he passed, rocking out to some song that only he seemed to hear. I stared after him, hand touching the side of my glasses, wide-eyed, as my heart thumped a mile a minute against my chest like a broken drum set.

Forget Bruno. The way Owen just looked at me?

Sigh.

“W
HO WAS THAT CUTEY?”
instantly greeted me as I slammed the door shut to my sister’s SUV.

I turned to see a smirking face.

“Nobody,” I mumbled.

She laughed evilly, backing out of the parking lot. “That didn’t look like nobody. That definitely looked like somebody.”

“No comment.”

“
Aww
. You getting shy around me, AB?” Jade ruffled my hair and I made a face. “Don’t make that face at me, sister. I’m the queen of face making. And you’re totally rocking those glasses by the way.”

“Thanks.”
Owen seems to think so too.
I touched the middle of my glasses, proudly perching them higher on my nose, then turned around to stare out the rear view mirror. I saw Owen on his skateboard getting smaller and smaller as we drove away, and bit my lip. “He’s just a boy I go to school with.”

“Name?”

“Owen Wilder.”

“Age?”

I glanced over at her. “Same as me.”

She returned the look. “Just checking. Wasn’t sure if you went for older men as well.”

I looked at her gigantic stomach, with my future niece or nephew inside, and balked. “Oh my God, this is not a Jade and Reed situation. He’s just a boy. That is all.”

That I may or may not have a teensy weeny crush on.

“You keep telling yourself that.”

“So where are we going?” I asked, trying to change the subject. “The mall? My friends are there. The movies?”

“Gag me, AB. Just gag me.” She narrowed her eyes. “Did you just say mall? Have I not taught you anything these past months? The mall is
evil
. They exist merely to make you mad that you can’t find anything then take away all your money.”

I shrugged. “I like the mall.”

“You’re just like Kimber,” she huffed, referring to our cousin. “Next, you’ll tell me you still like the color pink.”

I
did
still like the color pink but I said nothing. She didn’t have to know that. “So the movies then?” I asked hopefully.

She eyed me suspiciously but remained silent about the matter, and slowly nodded.

“Sure thing.”

To my delight, we ended up going to the drive-in and I was
so
stoked about that. The weather was thankfully amazing, despite the heaps of melting snow, and I was definitely looking forward to summer.

We stood in line at the concession stand together and ordered a humongous bag of popcorn, large drinks, and nachos with cheese. Just cheese, salsa was
eww.

I was glad Jade agreed.

We got comfortable in the car and I turned to find Jade staring off into space. She did that a lot, stare off into La La Land. I had asked Mom about that once and she had mentioned something about baby brains.

“Jade?”

“Huh?” She turned to me, one brow raised. “What’s up?”

“You know how I like when you tell me stories about you and Reed?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, do you mind telling me another one before the movie starts?”

She studied me. “It sounds like you’re looking for something in particular.”

I scrunched up my face then finally blurted, “How do you know that Reed likes you?”

This was the first time I had seen Jade look dumbfounded. She glanced down at herself. “We are seriously not about to have the birds and the bees convo right now, are we? Don’t they teach you that shit in school?”

I blushed. “Jade!” I slapped my palm against my forehead in embarrassment.

She shrugged. “What? I’m inept at this.”

“Yes, they teach us that tish at school.”

“
Tish?
I’m not following.

“You know,” I said with a shrug. “I’m trying to swear without actually swearing. Tish.”

“You mean shit,” she said bluntly.

I winced. “I think I have a better way of saying it.”

“Tish,” Jade repeated like she was trying foreign food for the very first time. “I’ll have to work on that.”

“And I’m not talking about the
physical,”
I said, trying to get our conversation back on track before the whole
shit/tish
discussion. “I’m talking about the emotional. How did you know he
liked
you?”

“Wow,” Jade said. “You sure like to ask me deep questions, don’t you?”

“You’re my sister. You’re supposed to provide me with all the answers to the world. I’m at a very impressionable time in my life right now, and I need guidance.”

“Do I have to?”

“Yes,” I answered firmly.

“Gah.”
She stuck her tongue at me and I returned the favor.

Then her face got serious as she looked reflective. “I love Reed, always have and always will. There’s something about having that person in your life that knows everything about you without you having to explain anything. It’s this comfort, that despite of all the,” she paused, staring at me hard, “
tish
going on, you know in the end that everything will be okay. Reed has seen the worst of me and he still loves me, and vice versa. And when he looks at me I instantly turn to mush. It’s the way he looks at me,” she sighed, smiling softly to herself. “Like … like—”

“Like you’re an alien?”

She eyed me like I had two heads. “Well, I never thought of it quite like that, but sure. Whatever floats your boat, AB.”

The movie finally started and we turned to look out the front window, the audio of the film entering the car once Jade changed to the correct radio station. My mind was deep in concentration, thinking of Jade and Owen’s words.

I still didn’t believe Bruno had a crush on me; Owen was definitely pulling my leg there.

But Owen himself was a total different thing.

If I didn’t know any better, I could have sworn he looked at me like I was an alien before he skated off on his board.