The Bookworm Next Door: The Expanded and Revised Edition (19 page)

That weekend several things happened. David and Delilah both finished their copies of
Rebecca
. David, mostly out of curiosity, grabbed and started reading his mother's copy of
Wuthering Heights
.  He struggled through the first two chapters before deciding to replace the book without his mother ever knowing that he had borrowed it.

Mrs. Carver had asked to borrow
Rebecca
from her son and he willingly gave her the book.  He used the excuse that her bookshelves needed more books even though they already were filled beyond capacity. She was already placing books in front of and on top of other books.

The shock of the town – at least the high school residents - was when on Saturday during their normal shopping trip Aimee Kirkland, Hannah Stanfield, and Kelly Johnson were spotted in The Book Nook where Aimee had then bought a copy of
Pride and Prejudice
. Her reasoning was that if the girl that David liked loved this book then maybe if she pretended to like the book he would start to like her again.

She failed to realize that this made her seem even more like the Caroline Bingley character than ever before.  She had also never watched any of the movies before that weekend.

              Pacing back and forth in her room on Sunday night, “Brady, I think you fail to realize just how worried I am about this.”

              Watching her carefully, Brady patted on the bed next to him, hoping that he could help Hannah calm down.  “Sweetie, it’s not a big deal; Aimee and Kelly cannot make me break up with you.  Not after everything we’ve done and been through.”

              Hannah thought about all of the times that his exes’ homework assignments and textbooks had gone missing.  She still remembered the day when she had walked into a restroom and found Kelly trashing one of the projects that Brady’s previous ex had worked on for two weeks.  Aimee was propped against the wall cheering her on while painting her nails.

              The girl failed the project causing her average of an A to drop down two letter grades.  It had ruined her chances graduating in the top five of her class and cost her some much needed scholarship money.  

              “No, but they can make my life miserable until I end it with you.”  She sat down next to Brady.  “Aimee promised me to Will Cooper even though she knows we are together.”  Hannah started to cry.

              Pragmatically, he responded, “Then stop being friends with her.”

              “I can’t.   If I stop being friends with Aimee then Kelly will follow her lead.  I cannot afford to have Kelly and Aimee do some of the things that they’ve done to your exes.  I can’t afford to replace textbooks or lose points on homework or projects.  I cannot afford for her to make things seem like I did them when we both know I didn’t.” 

              Wiping away a tear, she turned to look at him before asking, “Do you remember what they did to Savannah?”

              Brady shuddered, remembering the damage that had been done to Mr. Wallace’s car.  Nobody could prove that Savannah hadn’t busted out the windows to the car, but they couldn’t prove that she had either.  It was even more condemning when a baseball bat and a mostly-used can of spray paint were found in the trunk of her car.  Nobody could prove that it had been Aimee and Kelly either; both girls had been accounted for in their classes.  But Brady knew that his old baseball bat had gone missing.  He had seen the red spray paint can in Kelly’s room the weekend before the “Car Incident” had occurred.

              To make matters worse, they had already broken up not long before the vandalism occurred.  It was damning either way.

              Hugging his girlfriend closer, “We’ll figure this out.  Aimee has to slip up eventually.” 

              Tucking her head against his shoulder, Hannah whispered, “But will it be too late and what if somebody gets physically hurt when it happens?”

              The announcement about group presentations in U.S. Government caused Grace to start thinking about a few things.  First, she looked around the room to figure out who would be the best people to have in her group.  Looking at Wesley, she nodded towards Kyle and Wesley nodded back an affirmative and she started to hope that Mr. Redding’s presentation would be a ‘decide your own group’ project.  Grace knew she needed people around her whom she wouldn’t freeze up around while working. 

Secondly, she looked around the room and hoped that she wouldn’t end up with Hannah or Kelly.  She doubted she could work with two of Aimee’s minions reporting everything back to their queen. 

              In the long run her recon barely mattered.  Mr. Redding already had the groups selected and had paired her with Hannah, Kyle, and somebody Grace had never talked to before.  It was going to be a long week and a half. 

Hopefully she would be able to talk to Kyle, and the others, without the buffer that Wesley would have provided. 

              Wesley was assigned to a group with three other people he also rarely spoke to.  He chuckled at the faint flush painted across Grace’s face as she sat down next to Kyle.  If the football player actually noticed his friend then things could be interesting.  Too bad Kyle was still in the noticing Jennifer phase.

              Closing his eyes, Kyle could already feel the pressure getting to him.  It didn’t help that Mr. Redding was as tough as nails and had assigned a group presentation already.  Football practice had run long and then his father had insisted on them running three miles before dinner even though Coach insisted that they rest after practices.  All he wanted to do was sleep and his math homework was calling to him.  It was the beginning of a long semester. 

              Aimee was staring blankly at the pages of the book she had bought four days earlier.  It was Wednesday and she had barely gotten fifty pages into the story.  What was really so wrong with Lydia’s playful spirit and the way Kitty followed her younger sister blindly?  What was wrong with having people catering to your every whim?  She had to get attention somehow since her mother and older sisters were so busy trying to get Jane married off to Bingley. 

              Tossing the book away, she quickly sent a group text to Kelly and Hannah. 

Aimee: Do u both hate this book 2?

Kelly: Yes!!!!!

Hannah: It’s not so bad.  I kind of like Elizabeth’s no nonsense attitude. 

Aimee: …

Aimee: Please tell me u are joking.

Hannah: Of course.  I watched the movie. 

Kelly: Hey! That’s a great idea!

Aimee: This weekend we’ll watch the movie.  Hannah can bring it.

Kelly: I’ll bring popcorn!

Hannah: It’s a plan.

              Hannah looked down at her phone and then at the book that she was almost halfway finished with.  Letting out a sigh, she folded down a page, closed the book, and carefully hid it under her bed with the other contraband items that Aimee would never approve of her friends reading. 

              Sometimes it sucked hiding her intelligence around people like Aimee and Kelly, but she knew that if she wanted to continue to date Kelly’s older brother that she had to keep Kelly on her good side.  In order to keep Kelly on her good side she had to remain on Aimee’s good side. 

She remembered with fear what happened to a few of Brady’s ex-girlfriends who just happened to get on Kelly’s bad side.  She didn’t fancy seeing Aimee throwing herself at Brady or finding her car scratched or windows broken with very little or no proof of who was behind the damage.

              Sometimes, and not for the first time, she wondered if Brady was worth it. 

              “Mom, I need to borrow a movie,” she shouted down the hallway as she went in search of her parent. 

              “Which one?”

              “Pride and Prejudice?”
              “1995 or 2005?”

              “2005, I’m afraid.  I doubt Aimee could sit still long enough watch the entire BBC version.” 

              “I really don’t know why you are friends with that girl; she’s no good,” Mrs. Stanfield commented, handing over the DVD.  “You need to spend more time with your theater friends.” 

              “As long as I’m dating Brady I need to stay on Kelly’s good side,” Hannah said for the millionth time.  “Aimee, sadly, is part of that package.”

              “Just, be careful,” her mother warned her.

              Holding back her sigh, Hannah reminded them both, “We just have to make it until May when I graduate and then Brady and I are gone.”

              Aimee fell asleep in the middle of the movie.

The girls, except for Delilah, crammed their heads around Delilah's locker the next week.  They were hoping to see what new book Delilah's secret admirer had left her and what this note would read.  Wesley and Kyle, after deciding that they wanted to watch the ‘drama’ unfold, stepped back and waited for David to make his appearance; they knew he had to arrive soon. He wasn’t about to miss watching Delilah opening her present.  Penny and Jennifer nearly pushed Delilah out of the way once a simple, small, dark green gift bag with white tissue paper was spotted. A squeal of excitement coming from the usually tomboyish Jennifer was enough to get Kyle chuckling as the closet hopeless romantic begged her friend to open the bag.  Only Wesley noticed Grace’s expression as the introverted girl watched Kyle instead of Delilah.

“Come on dammit, open it,” Jennifer pleaded.  “I want to know what it is!”

“It’ll be a book,” Penny stated, rolling her eyes.  “This is Delilah after all.” 

Sending a quick glare and Penny and wondering, not for the first time, why they were friends, Jennifer pointed out, “Maybe not.  We won’t know until she opens it.”

“The last three presents were books,” Wesley pointed out.

“What do you know?  You’re a boy,” Jennifer pouted, knowing he was right.  After all, like Penny said, this was Delilah.

“What does that mean?” Wesley asked.

“We don’t know how well this Secret Admirer knows Delilah,” Jennifer reasoned.  “He could be a real dickhead.”  She had her own suspicions about the identity of the gift giver.

She missed the shared look between Wesley, Penny, and Kyle.  Kyle noticed the thoughtful expression on Grace’s face as she started to think seriously about who could be the Secret Admirer.  They all missed the small grin that Delilah directed at the gift bag in her hands. 

              “That’s a good point,” Delilah conceded.  “We don’t know how well my Secret Admirer knows me.” 

Despite her friends’ impatience at the book reveal - what else could be in the bag? - Delilah had other plans and secretly enjoyed soaking up the attention from her friends. Taking her time, she sat the bag on the floor causing a gasp from several of the nosy girls nearby, not all of them her friends.  She put some of her textbooks into her locker, took some more books out, and pretended to take her time getting ready for class.  It was enjoyable making her friends suffer. 

She was actually waiting for David to arrive so that she could show off that somebody obviously liked her and that this mysterious person was taking the time and effort to befriend her without ignoring her ruthlessly like he had done for so many years. 

At least that was the impression that she wanted to give him; he didn’t need to know that she had figured out that who had returned her copy of
Pride and Prejudice
.  The only thing she hadn’t figured out was who had given him her locker combination even though she suspected that it had been Wesley.  The added bonus of new books also kept her quiet.     

It only made sense for him to see her opening the present.  He was the person who kept giving her the books and she knew it.  She might as well let him give her some books in an attempt to get back into her good graces. 

"What's going on?" David asked as he finally approached the group.  He had been hoping to avoid the squealing and giggling that the girls would certainly, hopefully, be doing over the secret admirer gift.

"Delilah is torturing the girls by not opening today's gift and revealing what book her secret admirer left her," Wesley answered as he tilted his head towards the normally calm Penny and tomboyish Jennifer.

“We don’t know that he left her a book,” Jennifer insisted.

“It’s Delilah; what else would somebody give her?” Grace breathed, unable to speak louder thanks to her nervousness around Kyle.

Kyle tilted his head thoughtfully as the others fully listened to Grace’s quiet question, comparing it to how often people have ignored Jennifer and her loud, crass statements.  It was interesting how something spoken so softly could completely gain everybody’s attention when something voiced loudly was thoroughly ignored. 

“Exactly,” David agreed.  “So, what book did you get this time?”

The group, and a few on lookers, watched as Delilah silently and casually read the note attached to the bag.  She barely had time to finish before having it jerked away, and almost torn into two pieces in the process, by her impatient female friends. "I hope you enjoyed the last book," Penny read aloud, "but I hope you enjoy this one even more. I heard it was a good one."  Turning to look at Jennifer, “Told you it was a book.”

Rolling her eyes, Jennifer answered with, “I never doubted it wasn’t a book.  I just wanted to throw out the possibility that it could be something else.” 

Delilah pulled
The Mayor of Casterbridge
from the bag and smiled.  "I have wanted to read this for months, but I’ve never remembered to get it!" 

David held back his grin, being led smartly away by Kyle under the guise of having something to discuss about a class they shared: weightlifting.