More than Friends - Monica Murphy (36 page)

I
spent the night at Liv’s Friday and while we groaned and bitched at getting up so early this morning, we did make it to the caf by nine. Both of us are clutching venti PSLs in one hand and a warmed croissant in the other, surveying the mess that is the cafeteria.

“We are total clichés living the high school dream,” Liv mutters just before she takes a big chug of her coffee. “Who the hell is in charge of this nightmare anyway?”

That would be yearbook editor Elaine Kingston. She’s barely five feet tall, but she is a powerhouse of organizational skills and a take-no-bullshit attitude.

And she is nowhere to be seen.

“Don’t tell me we’re going to have to take over this project.” I’m still half-asleep, and it feels like no amount of Starbucks coffee is going to get me going. I didn’t sleep that great. Kept having weird nightmares with Tuttle in the starring role. The last one was the worst. Would you like to hear about it? I know people telling you their dreams can be kind of boring, but this is a good one.

I promise.

I’m at the Halloween carnival, and I’m wandering lost among the rows of games and food booths. There are all of these familiar faces, but not one of them is a real friend. I finally spot Tuttle, and when I run up to him, he grabs hold of me and kisses me. Right in front of everyone, and they all start cheering.

But when I pull away, it’s not Jordan holding me any longer—it’s Eli. He has this evil grin on his face and then he starts laughing at me. They all start laughing. It’s all I can hear, the echo of their laughter as I try to struggle out of Eli’s arms. He’s holding on too tight, though, and I can’t get away. No matter how hard I struggle, I can’t get away…

And then I woke up, a sweaty, trembling mess. I glanced at the clock, saw that it was five a.m.—we stumbled into bed around one—and I couldn’t go back to sleep.

Yeah. That nightmare is still clinging to me.

“Hey girls!” Elaine’s perky voice breaks through my thoughts and I’m so relieved she’s here, I almost hug her.

“You’re late, Elaine. Sure you’re feeling okay?” Liv teases.

“I’ve been here since eight,” Elaine says with a scowl. She’s holding a clipboard and there’s a pen stuck behind her right ear. She’s wearing a black T-shirt with a witch on a broom on the front and it says,
Yes, I can drive a stick
.

“Nice shirt,” I tell her.

The scowl disappears and she smiles. “Thanks, Amanda. How long are you girls staying today?”

“I’m here as long as you need me, though I have to drive Amanda to work,” Livvy answers.

“I have to leave around 10:45,” I tell Elaine.

“Less than two hours for you, then. Hmm.” She grabs the pen and taps it against her lips. It’s black with tiny orange pumpkins scattered all over it. Girl has some serious Halloween spirit going on. “I’m going to have the boys start hanging the black tarps right away. Help direct them and then come see me when you’re done.”

She bustles off to go boss someone else around.

“Let’s go, soldier.” Liv snaps her fingers, and we’re off.

Surprisingly, the haunted house is really coming together by the time Livvy and I leave so she can drive me to work. The yearbook staff is huge and almost everyone is there to help out. Under the efficient command of our leader, we are seriously getting stuff done.

It’s the perfect distraction I need, after what happened last night with Eli and Tuttle. I’m kept busy at the cafeteria, and by the time Livvy’s dropping me off at the shopping center, I feel pretty good. When I walk into Yo Town, I’m happy to see it’s busy there, too. Sonja is in the back working at her computer, and she calls me into her office when she sees me pass by.

“Have a seat.” She waves at the chair on the other side of her desk.

I settle in, trying to fight the unease that threatens to grab me. “Everything okay?” I ask.

“Everything’s fine. You’re doing a tremendous job, Amanda. I’m so glad we have you as an employee. You’re such a hard worker and you never complain.” She shoots me a sympathetic look. “But I’m afraid I’m going to have to cut your hours after November 15th.”

Blake warned me this was coming, and now the moment is here. “By how much?”

“Well, currently I schedule you anywhere from twelve to fifteen hours a week. After the fifteenth, though, I’m probably not going to be able to give you any more than ten hours a week.” She gives me a bleak smile. “I know that’s not much, and I’m so sorry I have to do this. But business slows way down once the cold weather is upon us, and we’re pretty much there.”

It’s a clear, sunny day, but it’s brisk outside. Everyone’s over frozen yogurt, I guess. “I get it. I do.”

“If you need to find more hours elsewhere, I completely understand, but if we get to keep you through the winter, that would be great too. Just know I will respect your decision no matter what.”

“Thank you for the heads up, Sonja. I really appreciate it.” I stand. “I don’t plan on going anywhere, but I might have to find another part-time job once football season is officially over.” I really don’t want to, but what choice do I have? I can’t do much with ten hours a week. That’s barely four hundred dollars a month after taxes, and I need more if I want to save up for my future.

“I understand,” she says with a nod. “Just keep me posted.”

I go into the bathroom, quickly change into my Yo Town shirt and then clock in before joining Blake out in the store, which is now empty.

Blake’s cleaning up the topping station and he glances up when he spots me. “My mom already give you the bad news?” he asks.

“Yeah.” I go to stand beside him, noticing that the frosted animal crackers are black and orange and white. Halloween colors. Everyone’s got the Halloween spirit. Sonja put up decorations in the window a few weeks ago. “Kind of sucks.”

“I know, sorry. I warned you, though.” He tries to cheer me up by saying, “We only opened an hour ago and we’ve been pretty steady, so that’s good.”

“I’m glad. I don’t want the shift to drag. I need to go back to school once it’s over.” At Blake’s confused look, I explain further. “The Halloween carnival is tonight. The yearbook staff is hosting a haunted house. Aren’t you coming?”

“Nah.” Blake’s cheeks turn ruddy. “That’s kids stuff.”

“No it’s not. It’s fun.” I nudge him. “Have you ever been?”

“Only during my freshman year, and I hated every minute of it.”

“Aw, you should give it another chance and go, Blake. Won’t some of your friends be there?”

“I don’t know. Maybe—maybe Kyla’s going,” he mumbles, turning away from me to straighten up the cup display.

My ears perk up. “Wait a minute, did you say Kyla?”

He keeps his back to me. “I don’t think so.”

Liar pants.

“Um, I do think so.” I tap him on the shoulder and he whirls around, looking defensive. “Are you talking about Kyla the water girl? Short, medium-length brown hair, pretty brown eyes?”

He says nothing, but he doesn’t have to speak. The answer is written all over his embarrassed face.

“I know her, we’re friends!” Well, a slight exaggeration, but we’re getting there. “I’m a water girl too, remember? We spend a lot of time together at the games and at practice. How do you know her?”

Blake shrugs, his expression pained. “We have a couple of classes together.”

“Is she going to the carnival tonight?”

“I don’t know.” He heads to the back of the store without another word.

Clearly he doesn’t want to talk about it, so I let it go.

Customers stream in steadily throughout my shift, a lot of them people from school. I see Lauren Mancini and her posse, which isn’t a surprise because remember, she just loves this place.

But what is a surprise is her demeanor. She approaches me as I stand behind the register, and there’s almost a—shy expression on her face.

Say what?

“So, hey, Amanda. What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” I say warily. “How are you?”

“I’m good, I’m good.” She pauses, then leans in closer. “Um, can I ask you a question?”

I calculate the weight of her frozen yogurt cup and then key in the price on the register. “Four dollars and sixty two cents.” I hesitate when I catch the expectant look on her face. I don’t know what her plan is, but I’m not in the mood to be messed with today. “As long as it has nothing to do with Tuttle, then sure. Ask away.”

She looks slightly taken aback but she forges on. “What’s the deal with you and Eli Bennett?”

Okay. That was unexpected. Where’s the punch line? I’m waiting for her to accuse me of poaching a freshman. Or being a cradle robber. Whatever mean thing she can say about Eli and me, I’m prepared.

But I see nothing on her face but genuine curiosity. Which of course, leaves me curious too.

“There’s no deal with me and Eli,” I tell her. “We’re just friends.”

“Really? He said you two broke up last night, and that you were really upset over it.”

“Did he tell you that himself?” I’m half tempted to beat that kid up, I swear. Again with the violence, but I guess when you’re dealing with idiots, you can’t help it.

“Well, I wasn’t the one who actually talked to him.” She shifts her feet, clearly uncomfortable.

“Who did then? One of your friends?” Was he at the party spreading rumors to everyone or what? Stupid Eli. I knew he would run with this, but I didn’t realize just how far.

“I heard a rumor, okay?” Her voice is full of irritation and she shakes her head. “Nothing confirmed.”

“Oh.” This entire situation is only getting weirder and weirder. “Okay, fine. Eli and I were kind of hanging around.”
For approximately thirty minutes.
“And yes, we had some good times.”
They lasted three minutes, tops.
“Before everything fell apart.”
Thanks to his running away from Tuttle. Heaven forbid he risks getting his ass kicked.

Why am I covering for him again? I have to admit—there’s something about Eli Bennett that’s charming. He’s crass and overeager and he says really dumb things, but he’s also really cute and kind of sweet. He’s harmless.

“Short and sweet then.”

“That’s all you need with Eli,” I assure her.
Listen to me.

What am I doing?

Lauren wrinkles her nose and lowers her voice. “He’s kind of cute, though, don’t you think?”

“He’s really cute,” I stress. Not a lie either. The boy is hot, but definitely not for me. I’m in love with someone else. “So tall too.”

“Taller than his brother.”

“And Eli’s a great kisser.”

Lauren’s eyes go wide with surprise. “You really did kiss him?”

I give a short nod, but say nothing. Let her imagination run wild. It makes the story that much more interesting.

“How do you catch all of these elusive hot guys, Amanda? I don’t get it.”

“I don’t get it either,” I say with a soft laugh. Her other friends approach and she shoots me a look that tells me to be quiet.

So I am. I don’t reveal her interest in Eli, and she’s not mean to me, so I guess we’ve come to some sort of truce.

“Going to the carnival tonight?” I ask them as I’m handing over their change.

“You know it,” Lauren says with an arrogant little smile. “We’re running a kissing booth.”

Figures. “A kissing booth during Halloween? Isn’t that more appropriate for Valentine’s Day?”

“Kissing is appropriate year-round. Besides, we’re dressing up as sexy witches. It’ll be fun!”

They grab their yogurt and leave the shop in a whirlwind of whispered words and not so discreet giggles.

“I hate those girls,” Blake says the moment they’re gone.

“Have they been mean to you?”

“Nah. They don’t even know I exist. They’re just so self-absorbed.”

He’s right. I think we all become self-absorbed. It’s like we can’t help it. We’re in our own little world, surrounded by our friends and family and interests, and after a while, we don’t even notice anyone else.

“They’re not so bad if you know how to deal with them.” I smile at Blake. “Maybe I can give you lessons on how to deal with bitchy cheerleaders.”

He cracks a smile. First one I’ve seen from him all day. “Sounds like a plan. Though I’d rather you give me a lesson on how to talk to Kyla.”

Now we’re talking. I rub my hands together greedily. “I need more details first before I can start teaching. You ready to talk?”

“Not really.” Blake swallows hard. “But I can try.”

“That’s all I can ask for.”