The Crushes (18 page)

Sydney looked from Drew to Todd and then to Kelly. The tension was instantaneous. Even Todd must have felt it. His shoulders tensed as he stood just behind his sister and Drew, his eyes sweeping over Sydney and Quin standing behind her.

Quin, for the most part, was oblivious. He might have felt a change in the energy, but he didn’t know why as plainly as everyone else did. He kept close to Sydney, which might have made the whole situation worse.

“Hey, Syd,” Kelly said. She smiled at Quin. “I’m Kelly.”

He shook her hand. “Quin.”

Todd and Drew said nothing and made no move to introduce themselves. Drew had barely looked at Sydney since he entered the restaurant.

Sydney shifted, wondering where the hostess was. Was she lost?

“Hey, guys!” Jordan, Raven’s sister, called, hurrying up to the host podium. “I’m sorry about the wait. Are you guys all together?”

“No,” they all said in unison.

If the situation weren’t so strained, Sydney might have laughed.

“Just two, please,” Sydney said, putting her back to Drew and the perpetual scowl on his face.

Maybe she should have felt guilty for being out with Quin, but technically, they were just friends and Drew was hanging out with Kelly, after all.

Well, okay, so Todd was with them, too, but there was something about Drew and Kelly together that got under Sydney’s skin. Maybe it was the way they stood closely together, almost touching shoulders. Or the way Drew glanced at Kelly every few seconds as if double-checking her very existence.

“A table for two, then,” Jordan said, scooping up two menus. “Right this way.”

She sat them in a booth along the back wall, which gave Sydney a good view of the entire restaurant. Drew came in a few seconds later with Todd and Kelly. They were given a table in the middle.

“So,” Quin began, “was there something I missed just now?”

“What do you mean?” Sydney wasn’t sure she wanted to discuss what had just happened. Did Quin really want to hear her complain about her ex-boyfriend?

“At the front.” Quin tipped his head back toward the entrance. “With your friends.”

Sydney sighed. She leaned over the table and lowered her voice. “That guy with the dark hair, that’s Drew.”

Quin arched a brow. “Oh. That explains it.”

“And the blonde…” she paused, realizing both Kelly and her brother were blond. “The girl, that’s Kelly. One of my best friends.”

Quin widened his eyes. “And she’s with Drew because…”

“Well, the blond
guy
, that’s Kelly’s older brother and Drew’s best friend. And Kelly and Drew have been friends for a long time. That’s how I met Drew, through her. But now…”

She trailed off, glancing inconspicuously across the room. Kelly laughed at something Drew said. Todd shook his head, clearly annoyed about something.

“But now?” Quin prompted.

“I don’t know.” She pursed her lips. There was something there she was missing. She just didn’t know what. Maybe Drew liked Kelly? Or maybe Kelly liked Drew? Or maybe Sydney was just jealous that Kelly and Drew got along so well. They always had. For friends, they rarely fought.

“Did you want to go to another restaurant?” Quin asked. “We could go to Gorsh’s. The food there is good.”

“No. It’s okay. I just…”

The ringing of her phone cut her off. It was her dad calling.

“Hello?”

“Sydney. It’s Dad.”

Like she didn’t know that. Then again, when was the last time her father called her cell phone?

“Could you come home?” he said.

“Why?”

“Because your mother is here.”

Sydney’s mouth dropped open. If she hadn’t been clutching the phone so hard, she probably would have dropped that, too.

“Mom?”

Quin straightened, clearly getting the gist of the conversation.

“Yeah,” her dad said. “She wants to talk to us.”

“All right.”

Sydney hung up. “I have to go.”

“Your mom?” Quin said. “Is she back?”

“Yeah.”

Quin reached over and grabbed her hand. He squeezed. That’s all he had to do. He didn’t have to say anything.

Sydney smiled, thankful that she had him as a friend.

Kelly watched as Sydney left Bershetti’s with her friend Quin.

Who was he anyway? A friend? A boyfriend?

Kelly hadn’t heard Sydney mention him. Was she keeping things from Kelly? Maybe Sydney didn’t trust her anymore, maybe it had something to do with that meeting in the park the night Kelly had conspired to see Drew.

What had she been thinking anyway? This couldn’t work.

Drew caught her eye, gave her an encouraging wink. Kelly managed a weak smile.

After they’d eaten, Todd went to the bathroom and Kelly took the opportunity to say everything that had built in her head since Sydney left.

“This is insane!” was the first thing out of her mouth. “She probably hates me now. We can’t do this, Drew. I mean, really. We can’t!” She flailed her arms in the air. “Why do I have to like you so much?”

He smiled. “You like me ‘so much’?”

Kelly cocked her head to the side. “I’m being serious.”

“So am I.”

“We can’t do this, Drew.”

He leaned over suddenly, raking his fingers through her hair and kissed her. Right there in the middle of the restaurant. It was enough to leave her breathless.

“We already are doing it, Kel. And nothing you say is going to make me go away.”

For some reason, all the dread and doubt melted away. She smiled.

Todd came back from the restroom, making Kelly and Drew separate. But beneath the tablecloth, Drew took Kelly’s hand in his, his thumb rubbing circles on her hand. It was that small act of encouragement and the way Drew looked over at her now that made Kelly want to forget that their relationship was possibly going to cost her a friend.

Alexia picked up a box of old-fashioned chocolates and stacked it on top of the Tootsie Rolls in the back room at Cherry Creek Specialty Store. Out front, the store was chaotic, but Alexia had been given the task of “organization” so she could thankfully hide back here where it was quiet.

Of course, being alone in a small stockroom gave her a lot of time with her thoughts. Too much time. She couldn’t stop dwelling on the fact that Ben was leaving or that she’d lost her virginity to him. Had he planned on going to Pepperdine before they’d done it?

If she’d known then that he was moving to California, she might have done things differently.

“Hey, Alexia.”

She shrieked when Jonah came into the room.

“You scared me!”

He laughed. “Sorry. I just came back to see if you needed any help. It’s dead out front now.”

With a rapidly beating heart, she nodded. “Maybe you could go through the deli containers? I think we could combine several open boxes and get rid of the rest.”

“All right.” Jonah passed her and opened a box of one-pound containers.

What would Jonah do if his girlfriend was leaving him? She decided to ask him.

“Hey, Jonah?”

“Yeah?”

“Hypothetically speaking…what would you do if your girlfriend decided to go to school on the other side of the country? Would you be okay with that? Or would you be mad?”

He stopped doing what he was doing to look over at her.

Maybe the “hypothetical” route had been a bad choice. Too obvious, maybe?

Straightening, he took in a thoughtful breath and said, “Well, I don’t think I’d be mad, not if the school she’d chosen was a school she really loved. College is a big thing in everyone’s life. It has to be the right school if you’re going to spend four or more years there and thousands of dollars.”

Alexia nodded. “That makes sense.”

He swiped sweat from his forehead. “Is there…I mean…are you okay? Is your boyfriend moving somewhere far?”

She licked her lips. Bit the corner of her mouth. “Yeah,” she said. “I just, I don’t know how to deal with it.”

“I suspect if your relationship is strong enough, you guys will survive just fine. Talk to him about it.”

“Yeah,” Alexia said, but there was more to it than that. Alexia had to factor in the whole sex thing, and she couldn’t talk to a guy about that. She might have to turn to one of her friends instead.

After work and a hot shower, Alexia called Raven. They hadn’t talked since Alexia had invited everyone over to add on a few rules. Raven was probably still mad at Alexia. She had every right to be.

Thankfully, Raven wasn’t mad enough to avoid Alexia’s call altogether.

“Hello?” she said after picking up on the fourth ring.

“Hi.” Alexia draped her legs over the arm of her father’s reclining chair. She wiggled her toes as she clutched the phone, her fingers slick with sweat. What if Raven hated her?

“I was calling,” Alexia began, “to tell you how sorry I am that I butted into your business. I didn’t mean to make you mad. Obviously, I did, and I had no right to accuse you of something like cheating on Horace.”

Raven was silent for a minute and then, “It’s all right.” She sighed. “I know why you did what you did, but it still annoyed me that you didn’t trust me. I mean, if my best friend didn’t trust me, then why did my boyfriend?”

“Well, maybe Horace knows you better than I do.”

Raven snorted. “Doubtful. I don’t think he knows me well enough and the scary thing…?” She paused again. “I can’t stop scoping out other guys. Like, why can’t I just focus on Horace?”

“It’s okay to check out other guys as long as you don’t touch them. You know? Look, but don’t touch?”

“Yeah.”

“Hey,” Alexia hung her head back and looked at the ceiling in the living room, “why don’t you come over? We
can talk more. I have some stuff going on, too…I…I don’t know, I just want someone to talk to.”

“Sure. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

They hung up and Raven pulled in the driveway some twenty minutes later. They went to Alexia’s room. Alexia sat at the head of the bed while Raven spread out at the foot, her finger twirling a lock of her luscious hair.

“So how are you and Ben?”

Alexia stiffened. She’d wanted to invite Raven over to confess everything, but now the idea frightened her. What if Raven thought Alexia was crazy or something?

Raven is the least likely person to judge you, Alexia thought.

So Alexia told her everything, from losing her virginity on the Fourth of July to Ben’s decision to go to Pepperdine, to Alexia’s fears of losing Ben altogether.

“I can’t believe you’ve kept all this bottled up,” Raven said when Alexia finished. “Why didn’t you call me?”

Alexia shrugged as she picked at the lint on her black cotton shorts. “You were mad at me.”

“So.”

“So. I…I don’t know. I guess I should have.”

“Yeah.” Raven scooted up on the bed and gave Alexia a hug. “It doesn’t matter what we’re fighting about; you can call me whenever with whatever. Got that?”

“I got it.”

“So, wow,” Raven said, “this is a lot.”

Alexia grunted. “I know. I’ve been so frustrated over this whole thing.”

“Well, I don’t blame you.”

“What am I going to do?”

“Honestly? I don’t know. On the one hand, you can’t really ask him to stay here because that would be selfish, but if it’s bothering you that much, you can’t keep it locked up longer. It’ll ruin your relationship.”

Raven bit at her nail, brainstorming. Finally she said, “This might sound really bad, and I know it’s tough to think about, considering you lost your virginity to the boy, but have you ever thought about breaking it off with him when he leaves? California is a really long way away.”

Alexia closed her eyes. She had considered breaking it off, but didn’t want to voice it because the idea scared her. She loved Ben, she’d given her virginity to him, she didn’t want to lose him, not now.

But how could they work, being so far apart?

Rule 39:
Do not be indecisive. Once you make up your mind, stick to it.

Going to New York with Blake had seemed like a bad idea when Horace had agreed to it for Raven and it was even worse now that Raven was in the SUV. Especially with Blake and his girlfriend, Lana, in the backseat, Lana giggling with that sweet voice of hers. It turned out, the girl at Scrappe
was
his girlfriend. She was due back in Newport Harbor that evening and was taking a flight out of New York. At least the ride home to Birch Falls would be quiet. Not that Raven disliked Lana, it was just…awkward having her here because Raven wasn’t exactly sure what was going on between her and Blake. Did Blake like Raven? Was he trying to hook up with other girls while Lana was at home?

Just thinking about it made Raven’s head hurt.

Raven pulled out her cell phone and flipped through her contact list. Who could she text to pass the time? Horace was working. Jordan was probably still sleeping.

“What kind of music do you want to listen to?” Mil-D asked.

Raven looked over at him. At least she had Mil-D. At least she wasn’t the odd third wheel.

“I don’t care,” she said. “I like almost everything except for country.”

Mil-D chuckled as he flipped through the channels on the Sirius Satellite Radio. He stopped on a channel called Hit List, and Kanye West’s latest track blared through the expensive sound system. Mil-D bobbed his head to the beat.

“Oh, I like this song!” Lana said and started singing along.

Raven glanced at her watch. It was just after nine in the morning, which meant they’d been on the road less than half an hour. The sun shone brightly as it rose in a clear, blue sky, but the windows on the SUV were so darkly tinted, Raven didn’t even need her sunglasses.

She shifted in her seat, the leather squeaking beneath her.

“Hey, Rave?” Blake said.

She turned to glance back at him. His hat sat crooked on his head. It almost annoyed Raven how cute he looked right now.

Why couldn’t her across-the-street neighbor be ugly? It would have saved her a lot of trouble.

“Yeah?” she said.

“You doing okay?”

She furrowed her brow. “I’m fine,” she said and straightened in her seat.

Two seconds later, her cell phone chirped with a new text message.

Thank god, she thought. Someone to talk to.

She hit the OK button and checked the name. It was from Blake. She shot him a scowl over her shoulder. He couldn’t just talk to her face-to-face?

She read the message.

What’s up with u? uve been so chill lately.

Sometimes it was hard to translate Blake’s language. Did he mean chill as in “laid back” or chill as in “cold”?

Maybe she’d better ask.

Cold
, he typed back.

Lana sat forward and poked her head between the front seats, her French manicured nails scratching against the leather as she said, “I love this song, too! Who is this?”

Raven tuned into the new track. “This is Nickelback.”

“Oh yeah. I like them.”

Raven smiled. “Yeah. Me, too.”

Lana sat back in her seat just as Raven’s cell went off again.

Ur not going 2 answer?

I haven’t been cold
, she typed back, then quickly shut off her text alerts so the phone wouldn’t constantly go off.

Liar
, Blake said.

She scowled at him. He grinned back.

I’m not lying,
she said.

Yes u r.

She chewed on her lip as she tried to decide on her response. Tell him to shove it? Tell him he was delusional? Or tell him the truth?

And what was the truth, exactly?

She liked him. Or at least had a tiny crush on him and she’d been cold because the crush scared her.

There, she’d admitted it. She liked Blake.

The hair on the nape of her neck stood up. She rubbed at it, trying to force the chill from her skin.

It didn’t work.

All right
, she typed,
truth is, i sorta like u. i mean, not like that…i luv Horace and i wont ever hurt him…but i’m still attracted 2 u and that scares the hell outta me.

He got the message, read it, and smiled to himself as he responded.

While Raven waited, her stomach twisted into knots. The sixty or so seconds it took him to reply seemed more like a thousand. What if he wasn’t attracted to her? What if he thought she was an idiot?

The screen on Raven’s phone lit up when she got a new message. She took a deep breath and opened it.

U like me?

That was his reply? She furrowed her brow and punched in a new message.

Yes u idiot!

He laughed to himself.

“Who are you talking to?” Lana asked.

He looked up, shot her a smile. “Cedric. He met a new girl last night.”

Raven widened her eyes at him. Thankfully, Lana couldn’t see Raven because she was hiding behind the passenger seat.

He was blatantly lying to his girlfriend! Raven felt ill with guilt.

“Tell Cedric I said hi,” Lana said.

“I will.”

Lana reached between the seats and switched the station again.

“Hey now!” Mil-D said. “I was listening to that.”

“Yeah, but I don’t like that song.”

Mil-D sighed and shook his head.

U lied 2 her
, Raven texted.

It was a white lie.

No, a BIG lie.

Listen
, he texted,
thing is, i like u 2 and i know exactly what ur going thru. trust me. i’m on the road all the time. screaming girls, die-hard fans. its crazy and its easy 2 get swept up in the excitement. but i luv lana and i try very hard 2 b good 2 her.

Raven looked back at him now. The smile, the sarcasm, was gone, leaving his expression incredibly serious.

R u good 2 her?
she asked.

Ive been for the 6 months we’ve been 2gether.

Raven shut her phone off.

She hadn’t mistaken the attraction she’d felt between her and Blake, but she’d definitely misread his intentions. She was a friend he kept at arm’s length to keep himself safe from destroying his relationship.

He did seem to understand exactly what Raven was going through. That, and the way Alexia had put it—that it was okay to be attracted to someone else as long as you were faithful—made Raven feel a lot better.

Blake was right; you had to work hard to have a good relationship. That kind of thing didn’t come easy. It
shouldn’t
be easy. But was Raven working hard enough?