Investigating the Hottie (12 page)

Chapter Ten

I hadn’t played well at the scrimmage, and I was glad I didn’t have to face those guys again. Will, of course hadn’t been there, and neither had his friends. I had done something last night I’d never done before in my life. I’d spaced out and forgotten to pay attention to the ball. How totally embarrassing!

And it got worse. I had spaced out about
Will!
I had this whole barf-y lovesick daydream going on right there on the soccer field. There simply was no excuse for it. And there was really no excuse for me thinking about him the rest of the night. Or me dreaming about him. And I don’t even want to go there! 

“My car’s working fine,” Will said before homeroom.

“Oh, good.” I hoped that was what someone who didn’t know what really happened would say. I couldn’t meet his eyes for very long for fear he’d see how ga-ga I was getting.

He cleared his throat. “The gang’s going to see the Will Smith movie tonight. Do you want to go?”

“Yeah, of course.” Who wouldn’t? I looked up into those sparkling pools of blue. “But shouldn’t we get to work on that project?”

Giving me that lopsided grin, he said, “We have tomorrow.”

“I don’t know if we should put it off.” I searched for a good reason. “We don’t want to make Ms. Roberson angry when she went to all that trouble for us.”

We actually had to go to Art to listen to the guest speaker. Will interrupted my third daydream of the day. “How about I pick you up at six thirty, and we can figure out what we’re doing.”

“Okay.” I struggled to sound normal. “My aunt’s condo is in Crescent Point.”

“I know where that is.”

“Call from the gate and I’ll buzz you in.” I scribbled Christie’s phone number on my otherwise useless sketchpad and handed it to him.

I knew I had to make some progress soon, but going to see a movie with Will and his friends would be awesome. Maybe I’d get lucky and get to sit next to him. Too cool. Meanwhile, I didn’t see how terrorists were going to contact him to work for them. He didn’t have a free moment between soccer, friends, school, and guitar lessons. Not to mention his family.

“Are you ready for that Biology test?” he asked.

“I have until Monday remember?”

He made a face. “Your Monday sure is going to suck.”

I nodded. “I might just have to leave town.”

“Yeah, right.” He clearly thought I was kidding.

“You’ll see,” I muttered under my breath.

I had begged Christie to spring me from school after lunch. She hadn’t wanted to, but I’d set things up for tonight, and everyone would be taking tests I supposedly would take on Monday. She had a full day ahead with her chemist but she registered me for a campus tour.

At 12:30, she signed me out for a fictional dentist appointment. I hugged her as soon as we cleared the door.

“You have no idea how bad that English class is.” I followed her toward the car.

She turned with an inquisitive look. “I thought you liked English.”

“At my school, yeah.” I winced at the thought of Ms. Brown. “Here, it’s like a trip through a mental institution.”

“Glad I got you out then.” She unlocked the door with the remote and we climbed in.

“The tour will take an hour. Then I’ll run you home.”

I nodded. “Mom’ll be thrilled that I finally saw the school.”

“I know,” she said with a grin. “She’s such an overachiever.”

“Right, Miss International Espionage. Talk about overachievers. I don’t know how you keep up this pace.” The BMW purred to life and I tensed.

“I guess you haven’t had a free moment this week,” Christie said.

“I can so not wait to spend the afternoon doing nothing in your apartment.”
If the ride doesn’t kill me first.
 

Maybe I’d take a nap. Or watch TV. Or listen to the playlist Lexi made me. The possibilities were endless.

I’d seen some of the campus, but I hadn’t been inside the awe-inspiring ancient buildings. I could totally picture myself going here for college. And not just because Will might be here. That had nothing to do with it. I felt smarter just taking the tour.

After Christie ran me home, I went inside to freedom.

I sank onto the couch planning to stay there for a long while. The cable box read 1:30. I had four and a half hours until Will picked me up.

What was I thinking? I couldn’t just relax!

Oh my God! I was going to spend my first ever Friday night with a total hottie. Even if we were studying, and even if I was investigating him for the flatulence agency... He was still a boy!

I had to look really good, and I only had four and a half hours!

Christie had fourteen pairs of jeans. I know because I tried on every single one of them. I think she had the family shopping gene, because she’d been wearing suits and dressy stuff all week. Why did she need all those jeans?

I liked two of them, but I really wished I had someone to check me out and tell me which fit best. My friend withdrawal was killing me. I finally decided on the pair that weren’t cut so low in the hips. I didn’t want my first date to involve showing my underwear when I sat down.

I’d witnessed the horror of that firsthand, and let me tell you, it wasn’t pretty. I don’t think guys think it’s as gross as I do, but come on, you totally aren’t giving the right impression when you show thong and the top of your butt cheeks. Not that I was wearing a thong, but still.

Christie’s black dress flattered my figure too, but I didn’t have the chest to fill it all the way out, even with my secret padded bra. Plus, we were just studying. I’d look like an idiot in a dress.

After thoroughly searching her closet, I found the cutest red denim jacket. I had to admit red was one of my colors. I grabbed one of her white tops and headed for the bathroom.

My conscience got the better of me, so I took a moment to call my mother.

“It’s so good to hear from you,” she said.

“Sorry. I’ve been busy.” I headed for the mirror to check out my appearance.

“Oh, I know you have. I’m glad you’re spending time with Christie. It’ll do both of you good.”

“I hope so,” I mumbled. “What are you doing today?”

She sounded pleased that I’d asked. “I caught up on my journal reading, so I’m watching
Divine Design
.” 

Her favorite show. “I should have known.” I leaned further over the counter. That zit looked a little better.

“Call me again on Sunday before you leave,” she said. “And let me know if you need anything.”

“Okay.” I needed a facial.

“Oh, and I should warn you. Your brother has a new favorite expression. V.R.”

I rolled my eyes. This couldn’t be good. “What’s that mean?”

“Very retarded, apparently.” She laughed. “I’m so proud.” Mom was the queen of sarcasm. It made it difficult to be a teenager in her house. I mean, that was my job.

“Great. Love you.” Maybe Christie had something good for skin.

“Love you, Sweetie. Bye.” She hung up and I started searching the bathroom.

Christie had a complete line of skin care products. My mom’s were covered with dust, but hers were shiny and new. I just hoped they were real.

My luck held. No alarms! The rest of the afternoon involved a mud mask, a soothing eye gel, a hot oil treatment, and a bubble bath in the Jacuzzi. Sometimes being a girl rocked.

Christie and Nic never got home to see how awesome I looked. At six-thirty, Will called from the gate. I buzzed him in and lugged my backpack outside. Flash drive, check. Program manual, check. Notes, check.

He put the Echo in park and got out to open my door for me. I stopped, frozen by the sight of Will Middleton in a pair of well-worn jeans. I mean I’d seen him in his uniform pants and in soccer shorts, but—Oh. My. God! His hottiness level soared off the charts in those jeans.

Breathe, Amanda.
“Wow. Thanks.” I climbed in, grateful that for once, I was wearing jeans and I didn’t have to concentrate so hard on getting into the car in a lady-like manner. He smiled at me as he shut the door. The jean jacket made him look broader in the shoulders. I almost felt small, a sensation which was totally new to me. 

 “I was thinking we could go see that movie after all,” he said, getting in and starting the car.

“Are you kidding me?” I motioned to the world’s heaviest backpack on my lap. I had everything ready.

“We can start at eight in the morning if you want.” He gazed right into my eyes for a moment. “I just really don’t want to work tonight.”

My body felt like it was melting. Honestly, a movie sounded good to me too. I’d never been to a movie with guy before. “Okay. But we really start at eight. I am determined not to fail at this.”

“Fail?” He glanced at me. “You said you’re pretty good with computers.”

I shifted the backpack. “Apparently not as good as you.”

“We’ll see about that,” he muttered.

“Are we meeting up with your friends?” I was totally hoping he’d say no.

“Yeah. They’re waiting for us.”

Darn. “Great.”

He gave me a funny look, so I must not have sounded convincing. “The guys like you a lot.”

“Oh, they’re great.” The guys were. “I don’t think Jenny likes me much though.”

“Oh, don’t worry about her. She’ll get over it.”

“Right.” Luckily it didn’t matter because I’d be out of here on a plane in two days. No more Jenny. No more Will. Suddenly, I was really glad we were going to a movie.

The silence dragged on, so I asked, “How long have Meg and Colin been dating, anyway?”

“Forever. They’ve known each other since first grade.”

“I didn’t know they were dating at first.” How Colin put up with her, I’d never know. “They seem more like friends.”

“They’re not real into PDA.” He braked a little when the car in front of us slowed.

“Guess not,” I said, grateful that his driving speed hovered somewhere between Christie’s and Nic’s.

“They’ll seem like more of a couple at the movies than they do at school,” he assured me.

Great. I hoped that didn’t mean I had to watch them make out while I fantasized about me and Will. This daydreaming had to stop.

“Did you eat dinner?” he asked in a way that made me wonder if this was a friend thing or a date thing.

“Yeah.” I’d mastered the microwave. “You?”

“We had Grandma’s favorite.” He laughed. “Breakfast for dinner.”

“Your grandmother seems really fun.”

He shook his head. “She’s a mess, actually. We never know what to expect from her since she retired.”

“What did she do before she retired?” I couldn’t really see her doing any job. She didn’t seem like the type to sit still.

“She was an executive secretary at Timothy’s, a big corporation. Apparently, she’s not used to having any down time.”

I couldn’t picture that. “What does your mom do?”

“She’s a nurse,” he answered. “She works at the hospital.”

“My friend’s mom is a nurse. She works long hours.”

“Mom too. But she likes it pretty well. And she makes decent money.”

I imagined his mom comforting patients. “I’m just not nice enough to work with sick people all the time.”

“Yeah, she has some kind of disgusting duties.”

“I’ll bet. What do you want to do?” Remembering my mission, I asked, “Like for a living.”

“I’d like to draw.” He actually said it without cracking up. “Think I’d have any luck?”

The image of him begging for pennies for his horrible sketches made me laugh. “No.” I shook my head. I hated to push him when we were getting along so well, but I had a job to do. “Seriously. What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.” He started to sound irritated. “You’re starting to sound like my mother.”

That couldn’t be good. I gritted my teeth and plunged on. “What about computers? Something technical?”

He shot me a funny look. “No. I don’t think so. What about you? What do you want to do?”

“I haven’t got a clue,” I answered honestly. “I’m pretty good with languages, but I’m not sure how I want to use it.”

“Really? What do you speak?”

“Well.” I couldn’t resist being a smart aleck. “English mostly.”

He groaned. “Ha ha.”

“I’m fluent in Spanish, Italian, French, and German. My Russian and Arabic are pretty weak.” I toyed with my seatbelt because sharing something so personal made me nervous.

“You’re kidding me.” He shook his head.

“No really,” I argued. “Arabic is pretty tough to master.”

He glanced over at me as if seeing me for the first time. “That’s not what I meant. I’m impressed.”

Shrugging, I said, “They started me early. No big deal.”

“Russian and German are my strongest,” he said. “And I’m picking up French.”

“Right. Ha ha.” Like I wouldn’t know if he could speak other languages.

“No, really.” He gave me an earnest look that made me think he meant it.

“For real?”

“Yeah. My dad’s mom was German, and her second husband spoke Russian.”

I think I followed that. “So you know all the bad words and how to ask for the bathroom? Or you know a lot more?”

“Oh, a lot more,” he assured me.

I’d have liked to hear something, but we pulled into the parking lot at the movie theater. And there were all his buds waiting for us at their cars.

I fumbled with my backpack to pull out a twenty so I wouldn’t have to lug the whole thing around. One good thing about Christie was that I never left the house without some cash.

I stuffed the money and the cell phone Christie had given me to use into my jeans pocket and opened the door to climb out. Meg and Colin were standing together with Jenny but she immediately made a move towards Will.

“How nice of you to bring Amanda,” she gushed. “We could have picked her up, you know.”

As if! She’d have left me standing on the curb.

“That’s okay, Jenny,” I said, smiling sweetly. “We had a project to work on anyway.”

“Right. You guys got roped into some big long ordeal.” She tossed her blonde hair.

“Yeah,” I said trying to look unenthusiastic. “We’ll probably have to spend the whole weekend together.”

Jenny narrowed her eyes and I tensed in case she finally lost her temper.