Indigo Blues (18 page)

"Yes. You stained my dress."

"Thirty dollars?" I repeat. "But it was black."

"I wouldn't expect you to know much about fashion,
but it's an original Marc Jacobs."

"Like, he only made one?"

Elle clicks her tongue. "Don't even bother with her,
Krista."

The last bell rings.

Krista turns to me. "You're all mine next Monday, don't
forget that."

And for special effects, Elle makes a slicing motion
with her hand across her neck. I know it's supposed to
scare me, but she's about as threatening as my grandmother
when she says no sweets before dinner.

No wonder Elle didn't make callbacks for the school
play this year.

I climb into Darnell and turn my phone off vibrate. No
messages. It's weird that I haven't heard from Adam in a
week. I wouldn't admit this to anyone, but I kind of wonder
what he's up to. Is he not calling because he has moved on,
which is totally a good thing? Or is he not calling because
he saw the website and is really hurt? But Eli assured me
that it was only up for a day before I found out about it.
Not enough time for Adam to even realize that it was there.
Still, it's weird.

I toss my backpack into the hall closet. It feels like more than
a physical load has been lifted-I survived my first day post-
frappuccino, I have a date with Tripp tonight, and Adam has
left me alone for a whole week. I should celebrate.

"There's a voicemail for you," Mom says as I walk into
the kitchen.

"Adam's calling the house phone now?"

Mom raises her eyebrow. "No, it's Candi Campbell."

"Ugh, again." I plop down on the barstool at the counter and reach for a cookie. "I hope you erased it."

She picks up the phone and dials the message center.
"Give it a listen first."

"Why?" I shove another cookie into my mouth.

Mom doesn't answer. She just holds the phone to my ear
and I reluctantly grab it. "Hi, this is Candi Campbell from
Blitz News Magazine. I would really love to talk to Indigo.
Call me back at your earliest convenience, my number at the
station is..."

"Never." I hit end on the phone and hand it back to
Mom.

"No pressure, honey. I just thought if you give them
what they want, then maybe they'll go away."

"Have you been talking to Eli?"

She nods. "Your brother does have a point."

"Incredible. Since when did Eli get voted president?"
Doesn't she know how celebs get hounded by paparazzi
night and day?

"No one's taking sides here. We only want you to be
happy." Mom picks up the plate of cookies. I grab one more.
My last, I swear.

"I'm stressing out enough over the school TV interview next Monday, the last thing I want to do is talk to a
gossip hound."

"Okay. Anything else bothering you?"

"No, I'm cool, thanks. I've got to be at work in fifteen
minutes so I better go change." I still love my job at Rock Candy, even though some customers have started to recognize me. But for the most part, people just go there to get a
candy fix. It's a one-purpose stop. And Tony is a great boss,
totally chill.

I throw on my pink work tee and tie my hair up. It's
unusually warm today for October, so I bet we'll get more
people in than usual. Although sugar, especially chocolate,
knows no weather boundaries. At Christmastime, our hot
cocoa mixes draw plenty of people away from their fireplaces, and in the heat of the summer people tend to gravitate toward the fruit-themed jelly candies Tony makes from
scratch.

I say good-bye to Mom and hello to Darnell. Only
after I pull out of the driveway do I realize that I forgot my
iPod again, so I instinctively turn on the radio for the short
drive. "Oh, Indigo, I've got news for you ... "

"Darnell, you traitor," I yell. "You know I hate that
song." I abruptly stop short, four houses down.

Darnell answers with a screech.

I catch my breath and switch to another station. All
Oldies.

I start moving again, slowly. "Okay, so I know it wasn't
your fault, Darnell, but I was thrown off guard. Out of
all the songs you could've played, you had to choose that
one?"

I park in the back of the store and see Tony cutting
boxes and throwing them into the dumpster. I walk over to
him. "Hey, need any help?"

"Indigo, sure. I cut, you toss." He hands me a flattened
box.

I throw it into the dumpster. Then we repeat the process. I send one flying and it bounces off the side.

"You think this is a Frisbee contest?" He laughs.

I take another box from him. "Yeah, see if you can beat
this." The box makes it to the middle of the dumpster.

Tony steps back. "Not bad. Now, let her rip." He twists
his body to the right and his box goes flying. It lands at the
end of the dumpster.

"Wow, good shot," I say.

"Years of being a beach bum finally comes in handy."
Tony grew up on the Cape and spent all his summers at
the beach. "But you're not bad." He rubs his temples. "I
see plenty of Frisbee fun in your future."

"I wish I could see into the future." I toss the last box
in and close the dumpster lid. "I want to know when all of
this song crap will go away."

"Just give it time. Watch for the signs and you'll see it
fade out. Everything does."

So maybe Darnell was trying to tell me something. I
know Tony would probably think I'm crazy if I told him
my car was psychic, but seriously, Darnell has never let me
down before. Maybe by playing the song, he was just telling
me to deal with the situation. Own up to it. I know other
people were trying to tell me the same thing, but for some
strange reason, it's so much easier to listen to Darnell.

Tony holds the back door open for me. "Coming
inside?"

I pull out my phone. "Just give me a minute, okay?"

"You got it." He winks.

I might be crazy, but I hit Adam's number and let it ring.
My heart beats in tandem with the phone. On the third ring
I prepare my voicemail message. "Hi, Adam, it's Indigo. I
hope you're not..."

can't believe I'm worrying about what I'm going to wear
to the grand opening of a new bar, but Gina said the
press is going to be there. I don't want to look like a slob in
the photo or the pasty white guy flanked by sexy models.
Although it will be nice to have Hannah next to me. Gina
said she's great for my image, and I'm just thinking that
she's great for my ego.

I flex in the mirror. Oh yeah, baby, that is THE Adam
Spade. Who am I kidding? I need to go to the gym more
than a couple hours a week if I ever want to buff up.

My phone vibrates in my pocket. I hope it's not Hannah canceling, or then I'll have to ask Gina to come as my
stand-in. I don't want to show up alone, because all the other guy are showing up with beautiful girls. There's a
huge difference between enjoying being alone and being
alone in public.

Indigo? My heart skips a beat. Why is she calling me? I'm
about to pick up when I remember the website. Her rant.
Besides, the car service Gina arranged will be here soon and
Hannah is waiting. The call goes to voicemail. I shove the
phone back into my pocket and grab my keys.

"Get ready, world. Adam Spade is stepping out tonight."
I slap the front of the mailboxes downstairs for added effect.
I've heard people say that if you repeat a positive mantra
enough times, you will believe it.

My ride is already waiting outside.

"Where to, buddy?" the driver asks after I slide in. I
give him directions to Hannah's pad and then pull out my
phone. I stare at the little mailbox symbol. I'm content to
be staring at it until I spot Hannah's apartment around the
corner. I haven't seen her since yesterday, when I basked
in the pinkness of her apartment. A wave of panic flows
through me. What if Indigo is calling because something is
wrong? Sure, it's highly unlikely, but I've never been one to
take big risks. I hit the icon and dial into my voicemail.

"Hi Adam, it's Indigo. I hope you're not mad at me.
Okay, you have every right to be. That's if you've seen my
website. Or, ah, the website that Eli set up behind my back.
I just found out about it a couple of days ago, but I made
him change some things. Really embarrassing, too. I was on
a ... well, you don't want to hear all that."

The driver gets out of the car and opens the door for Hannah. She leans in. I hit end on my phone. "Thought
you were going to leave me out in the cold." She slides in.

She couldn't just open the door? "Good thing it's warm
tonight," I chuckle.

"That's not the point." She tugs at her cleavage.

"Sorry, just got a call." So Indigo made some changes to
the site? I have to check that out when I get home. Maybe
she does have a heart after all. And what's up with Eli?

A sense of panic runs through Hannah's voice. "Everything still on for tonight?"

Yup.

"Great." She plants a big kiss on my lips.

Yum. For the next ten minutes, I even forget what'sher-name. Hannah's sultry lips run the course of my face,
kissing me from side to side. She's like a wild cat, and she
looks fine, too. She's wearing a green dress that some might
call lingerie. It hugs every inch of her body perfectly.

"Okay, we're here." The driver finally breaks up the
kissing fest.

I look up and wipe my face with the side of my arm. I
don't want to go inside with lipstick splotches all over me.
I catch the driver's eye as I'm staring into the mirror. He
gives me a big smile and winks.

I wonder what he thinks of me. That I'm some guy
who has hot sex on every street corner? I also realize that
he's been watching us the whole time. Guess I can't blame
him. It's his car, his turf.

He opens the door for us. Hannah steps out first and
throws him a kiss. While I thank the guy, she quickly turns to the people mulling around outside the Blue Llama and
waves. A few wave back. She is so milking this I'm-a-celebrity
thing, and I think they're actually buying it. She pulls me
toward her and casually slings my arm around her waist.
Something tells me this is not her first grand entrance.