Love and Fandoms (16 page)

"Hey, Kareem.
Sorry we're late. The parental units already had plans."

"No problem,
Noel. Glad you could make it. And I'm guessing you're Jason? Good to meet
you." He stuck his hand out, and the surfer guy shook it.

"Nice to meet
you, too, Kareem." He gave a wink that was a hundred times cooler than
anything Wyatt could ever hope to pull off. "Especially now that you're
not trying to get with my girl."

Kareem put up his
hands. "Dude, I don't do drama. As far as I knew, she couldn't date until
she was 18. I wasn't trying to move on her, just waiting and being a friend
until then."

"I told her
to tell you the truth. I'm with you on the no drama vibe." She stuck his
thumb out at Noel, who was watching the conversation with a smile. "Some
people thrive on it, though."

"Shut
up," she said, slapping Jason's arm. She turned to Kareem and said,
"I was trying to avoid drama, too. By the time I turn 18, you'll be
well-established at Stanford, and there'd be no worries."

"How'd that
turn out?" Jason said.

"Actually,
looks like it turned out okay for everyone," Wyatt said, and they all
nodded and laughed. He couldn't believe he'd said it loud enough for them to
hear.

"You have to
be Wyatt," Noel said. "I'm glad to finally meet you. Kareem always
speaks highly of you."

"Meh, he's
all right," Kareem said, while Wyatt shook her hand.

"So, what
shall we do?" she asked. "I'm assuming you're in charge."

"Clay would
disagree, but we both know he's wrong. Why don't you go around, say hi to all
your fiends, and ask if anyone needs help. We're actually in pretty good shape
for today. Luckily we had all kinds of useful stuff in storage from when they
did this a few years ago."

"Sounds
good." She and Jason took off to help.

Kareem turned his
attention back to Wyatt. "There should be some plastic shopping bags at
the table so you can carry a bunch of waters. Don't even ask people if they
want one, just hand 'em out."

"You got it,
boss."

"I'll boss
you." They both chuckled and went their separate ways. As Kareem promised,
there were a couple of bags, and they would hold plenty.

He made Allyssa
his first stop. "Hey, sweetie," she said when she saw him. When she noticed
the water, she added, "Ooh, you always know what I need." He bit his
tongue to keep from saying it was too bad he didn't always have what she
wanted. Probably best he didn't though, at least not here in the middle of all
these people. Or to ever have the conversation, really, as far as he was
concerned.

"Having
fun?" he asked.

"Yeah.
Repetitive, but it'll be worth it once it's all done." She sat up
straighter and made kissy lips, so he bent down and planted one on her.

As he walked away,
he said, "Enjoy your view."

When she called
back "What?" he didn't say anything, and was quite proud of himself.
He couldn't believe he actually had the guts to say it.

After handing out
a half-dozen more bottles of water, he came to a couple of girls about his age
he hadn't noticed before. The other guy must have been keeping them stocked in supplies.
One had short brown hair that didn't quite go down to her shoulders, while the
other wore her long blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail. Both where cute, and
he was horrible at judging such things, but he could swear they were smiling at
him in more than a simple friendly to a stranger way.

"Hi,"
the blonde girl said. "Who are you?"

"I'm Wyatt.
Kareem recruited me to help."

"Hi,
Wyatt," the brunette said. "I'm Emily, and this is Heather."

He handed them
each a bottle of water. "I come bearing gifts."

"Ooh, a guy
who knows what girls need," Heather said. The tone of her voice and her
sultry smile proved she was flirting. He should probably mention Allyssa or
somehow tell them he had a girlfriend, but he didn't feel like it at the
moment.

"I aim to
please," he said, hoping that didn't sound entirely lame. By the way they
giggled, it didn't.

"Are you
going to be back tomorrow?" Emily asked.

"And next
weekend for the actual haunted house?" Heather added.

"Yeah, I'll
be here for both." He was out of anything witty to say, so he flashed
another smile and said, "Enjoy the water," and walked to the next
group. As he went, both Emily and Heather called, "We will. See you soon,
Wyatt."

He couldn't
believe he'd actually had a conversation like that with two girls. He hadn't
really even done that with Allyssa before they dated, sticking more to flirting
with her by way of comics and fandoms. Would he have had the guts to talk so
easily with Emily and Heather if he wasn't so pissed at her? Probably not. He would
have handed them their water and run off to the next group.

Once he'd passed out
all the water, Clay called everyone together to see how everything was going.
Wyatt stood to the side, wondering what would happen if Heather and Emily came
over to stand next to him. Maybe Allyssa would be so preoccupied with Alex that
she wouldn't even notice. Instead, arms wound through his and wrapped around
his chest.

"Did you get
phone numbers?" she whispered into his ear.

"What?"

"You looked
like you enjoyed the attention of those two girls."

"I was just
passing out water and being nice."

"Uh-huh. So
which one did you like better?"

"That's
enough, Allyssa."

She nipped his
left earlobe. "I just want to know if I should cut my hair short, too, or
would it be better blonde? We already know you have a thing for blondes."

He didn't say
anything. She'd been the one to act awful this afternoon, but he was being
persecuted. Great.

She kissed his
neck and nibbled on his ear again. "Don't get mad, sweetie. I'm teasing
you. You're too easy." When he didn't respond again, she said, "I'm
sorry, Wyatt. Really. I'll make it up to you tonight while your mom's at work.
Okay?"

"Depends on
what time we get through here. I want to help Kareem make sure this all gets
done."

"Oh. Yeah.
Okay." Shock edged her voice, which he gave an inward smile at. He wasn't
sure he wanted to hang out with her tonight, let alone make-out. And she'd
already voiced to Mandy that that was as far as she wanted to go with him,
anyway. Not that he felt ready for anything more, but the option might be cool.
Her arms stayed around his chest, but she didn't say anything else or give any
more kisses.

As Clay and Kareem
started talking, he noticed Emily and Heather on the other side of the group,
both wearing disappointed expressions. This day certainly had gone to crap.

MANDY

"Good job,
everyone!" Clay called, while Kareem added, "Looks great!"
They'd finished setting up the office cubicle partitions to form the maze
inside the clubhouse. Mandy caught a glimpse of the map they'd used to put it
all together, and while on paper it didn't look very long, actually walking
through it proved to be an experience. And the frights and other spooky
decorations hadn't been added yet. Not that there would be much in the way of
big scares — it was a church event for all ages, after all — but it would have
enough. From what she'd heard, there'd be rubber and paper mache bats, spiders,
and other creepers being lowered down by people behind the scenes, or dragged
through the lines of patrons. There were a couple of other things planned,
including the show-stopper in the clubhouse kitchen, but most things weren't
definite. Knowing Kareem as well as she did now, and finding that Clay had an
excellent eye for detail, there was no way the finished product wouldn't be
neat.

Most everyone
gathered around to figure out the best way to set things up in the least amount
of time next Friday. Luckily all of the other church and city groups had no
problem letting the maze stay intact in the clubhouse, so they didn't have to
worry about setting the partitions up again. Alex and a few others — some
football players who went to another school — stood out of the way near the
parking lot since they wouldn't be there on Friday to help. She had to smile at
the way he talked and joked with them, the charm of the old Alex, her Alex,
front and center. Honestly, though, judging from this past week, the horrible
incarnation of him was gone.

Last night his
parents had allowed him to take her to dinner with the promise they come right
back afterwards. When they returned to his house, he presented her with a
Blu-ray copy of The Avengers, which they watched in his living room. He
actually seemed to enjoy the movie, occasionally asking for clarification on
some of the characters, which she, for the most part, knew how to answer. She
wished his parents weren't home so they could have a full-blown make-out
session after the movie ended, but even though his mom and dad stayed out of
the living room where they watched the movie, they didn't risk it. Of course, later,
when he dropped her off and walked her to the front door, she gave him a
toe-curling kiss before he left.

Wyatt came up next
to her and gave an eyebrow raise as way of saying hello, which was one of his
quirks she absolutely adored. She wondered where Allyssa was, as they'd seemed
the very clingy couple today. Not that she particularly cared where Allyssa was.
It wasn't  because she was jealous (okay, maybe a little bit), but because she
wished Wyatt wasn't dating her. She couldn't break them up anymore since she
was so firmly with Alex, but it didn't mean she had to like their relationship.

"What have
you been up to?" she asked.

"Mostly helping
put up the maze walls. Looks pretty cool, doesn't it?"

"Totally. I
can't believe how much we got done in two days."

"Yeah. It's
awesome how many people came to help. Sounds like the core teen group is going
decorate every night this week. Kareem may or may not join us for our study sessions."

"He seems to
be in his element here."

"He's
enjoying himself, that's for sure. He wants me to be the performer who pops out
of the wall near the end of the maze. The last big scare. It sounds like
fun."

"That does
sound like fun. I haven't heard what I'm doing yet."

"If you're a
tour guide, you get to dress up like a witch or a zombie."

"I hope they
let me do that. I haven't worn a costume for Halloween since junior high, and I
was always something girly like a princess or a butterfly."

"You were a
very cute kitty in eighth grade." She giggled, and he went beet red.
"I said that out loud, didn't I? Excuse me while I go find a rock to hide
under."

She grabbed his
arm because she thought he might actually leave. She then leaned over and
whispered in his ear. "If Alex and Allyssa weren't here, I'd kiss you for
that comment. And not just a friendly peck on the cheek." She let go of
his arm. "There. Now we both said something we probably shouldn't
have."

He let out a deep
breath, and then chuckled. It took all her self-control not to hug him, but
that wouldn't go over well if Allyssa saw. Maybe even Alex, though he probably
wouldn't notice, as there was no way he'd be able to fathom her attraction to
him. He liked Wyatt, and she had no doubt he viewed him as absolutely no threat,
boyfriend-wise.

Kareem and Clay were
still figuring out how they were going to put everything away easily, so she glanced
down at Alex just in time to see the Pigs walking towards him. A queasy feeling
invaded her stomach, as no good ever followed them anywhere.

"What are
they doing here?" Wyatt asked.

"I don't
know. Ignore them, and maybe they'll go away."

"They make my
stomach hurt just looking at them."

"Tell me
about it," she said. It looked like Kareem and Clay were about ready to
start directing traffic, so it really would be easy to ignore the Pigs. But, of
course, when it came to the Pigs, nothing was easy. As if on cue, shouts rang
out from the parking lot, and when Mandy and everyone else turned to look, all
hell broke loose.

WYATT

It had been such a
nice day before the Pigs showed up. He and Allyssa had done everything together,
which was excellent. Of course, it helped that they were hardly in sight of
Alex for most of the day, and, when they were, he kept his shirt on.

Last night she had
been true to her word when she made up for her behavior that day. Their
make-out session had been extra hot, especially since she came to the couch
without her bra, a fact she alerted him to when she grabbed his hand and guided
it to her chest. The night went from him not wanting her there to him not
wanting her to leave. And now, with Allyssa in the restroom, he stood next to
Mandy, and they flirted. As with his conversation with Emily and Heather
yesterday, who, unfortunately, hadn't even glanced his way today, he thought he
did a pretty good job. Of course, it was easier, he supposed, since she was
happy with Alex and him with Allyssa, but it was still awesome.

And then the Pigs
showed up. Mandy told him to ignore them, but that became next to impossible when
the Pigs started shouting. Everyone turned to look, and Holden Greenfield
punched one of the football players from another school. Almost everyone rushed
forward, including the two adults who'd been helping, to stop the fight. Wyatt maneuvered
a couple of steps backwards and watched so he wouldn't be in the way. Mandy sprinted
towards Alex, and Wyatt noticed Kareem had gripped Luci and said something in
her ear, probably along the lines of her staying away from it. Her fighting
skills could come in handy, but they might also escalate things, so he felt
Kareem was making the wise decision.

The Pigs began
punching and kicking everyone around them, including the adults. Mandy yelled
something to Alex, but he laughed and held her back when she tried to enter the
fray. Though Wyatt hated the look of glee on Alex's face, he was glad he kept
Mandy from the fight. She'd proven last Sunday that she could handle herself,
but in a near riot that this was turning into, anything might happen.

She could have
broken free from Alex's grip, but she obviously didn't want to hurt him.
Instead, she turned, pointed a finger into his face, and yelled. Wyatt could
see her anger bubbling over from where he stood. Alex laughed harder and shook
his head, not like he was saying no, but as if he thought she was overreacting.
With a huge grin, he yelled, "Guys! Cops!" That got the Pigs to stop,
push people out of their way, and scatter.

No one chased
them, and no police cars showed up. That must have been Alex's way of ending
things. As everyone came apart, Wyatt saw blood and bruises, but no one looked
like they were too badly hurt. One of the adults, who had a bloody lip, turned
to Alex, who was laughing like a loon, and screamed, "You think this is
funny? Get out of here! Don't come back!"

Alex stopped
laughing, but kept his smile. "Fine with me. This was getting boring
anyway." He grabbed Mandy's arm and said, "Let's go, babe."

She twisted out of
his grip and stepped away from him. "No, I'm staying. You go."

He got a nasty
look on his face but turned towards the parking lot and left. As he went, he
flipped the bird with both hands and yelled, "Later, losers."

Wyatt thought he
should probably go up to Mandy to make sure she was okay, but before he could
move, Allyssa snaked her arms around him. "That was certainly something,
wasn't it?"