True Love and Magic Tricks (15 page)

He smiles, and that’s it. He’s got to
be freaking kidding. My eyes narrow, and I refuse his hand,
crossing my arms in my lap.

“
I don’t know,” I snap.
Gone is the girl who was going to bite her tongue. “You might kill
me too.”

His stance falters, then
it’s like he puts up a force field between us. “It was an
accident
. Will you just…
I don’t know… stop freaking out about it? He was a
gerbil
, not a
person.”

My armor shoots up now. “He was my
only friend!”

He furrows his brow. “What the hell am
I?”

“
You’re an expiration
date,” I say, slapping him with my words. Words I’m not even sure I
mean. “We’re in high school. Like that’ll last.”

“
Then what are we doing?
And don’t say ‘having fun’ because I know it’s more than
that.”

I was falling in love. Falling in mad,
true, deep, can’t believe this is happening love. But my mind hits
repeat on the engine growling to life, taking away the only thing
that I could depend on, and I can’t even look at Nate without
wanting to blame him.

“
We aren’t doing anything.
I’m sixteen. No one falls in love, like
real
love at sixteen. So it
was
fun
for me,
and that’s it.” The words fall out like they aren’t mine, like I
never meant or felt them, but there they are, in between us,
twisting his features, visibly hurting his heart, destroying his
smile. And I hate it all and don’t know how to take it back so I
slap my hands over my face, too cowardly to watch his.

“
Was?” he croaks. “You
seriously want to just forget about this, us, because of an
accident? Don’t you think that’s a little dramatic?”

I don’t know what I want. If I need
space or time or whatever the heck else people need when they feel
like this.

“
Can you just leave? I want
to be alone.”

He stands in front of me a good ten
seconds before sputtering a “fine” and marching across the grass to
his car. The tires chirp as he speeds off, and a fresh wave of
tears pour down off my chin. I think I lost more than one friend
today… and even though I blamed Nate, it’s entirely my
fault.

Chapter 16

Kaylee doesn’t answer her phone all
weekend. I show up at her house, and her dad tells me she isn’t up
for visitors. I have a feeling she just isn’t up to see me. I leave
her voice message after voice message. Text. IM. Even send flowers,
but still not a single word from her.

It was an accident. She can’t hold
that against me forever. Can she?

I stand in front of my mirror and
cross the longer side of my bowtie over the shorter side. Kaylee
once told me how my bowties make me look like a sexy professor and
according to those magazine tests she always takes, sexy professor
is her type. They don’t have a sexy magician option because if they
did I know she would’ve gotten that every time.

I tighten the ends and roll my fedora
down my arm before placing it on my head. All my other attempts
have failed so my only option is going the shallow route and making
myself too appealing for her to ignore.

My suspenders snap into place, and I
give myself a last once over then head out the door.

It’s not a hot day, but I swear to all
that is holy, I walk out my front door and onto the sun. The closer
to school I am the hotter I get. My armpits are like faucets, and
my brow is a dripping mess.

So much for being all Rico
Suave and wooing her back to me with my looks. Not that it would
work anyway. I killed her best friend. Nothing I do or say will get
her back. But I have to
try
. Because the last few weeks with
her have been the most amazing weeks of my life.

She gets me. Not many people do. She
finds my magic intriguing and my suspenders adorable. Her laugh is
the perfect combination of cute and sexy, and her smile is brighter
than Vegas lights. Everything about her is perfect. The way her two
braids are always exactly the same. The way her big eyes get even
bigger when she gets a new magazine.

She has to forgive me. If she doesn’t,
I may as well dig myself a spot next to Mr. Pippi because life as I
know it is over.

I tuck my keys into my pocket, grab my
books off my passenger seat and head across the parking lot. I get
all of two feet when Lexie jumps in front of me with her hand out
like a stop sign.

“
What’s going on?” She
crosses her arms and gives me that look. The one that makes me feel
like a five-year-old who just got caught in the cookie
jar.

“
Nothing. Just heading to
first period.”

“
My ass,” she says, moving
with me like a darn mirror. Right, left, back, forward, she blocks
my every step.

“
Why is Kaylee so
upset?”

“
I don’t know.” The
last
thing I’m going to
do is admit to killing her gerbil. But I have to tell Lexie
something. The girl deals with a drunken mother on a daily basis.
She’s tougher than any girl I know and to top it off, she’s
persistent. Either I tell her something or I stay in the parking
lot for the rest of my life.

“
She…um…I…it’s like
this…”

Ryan comes up behind Lexie covering
her eyes. “Guess who.”

Saved by my best friend.

“
A loser.”

“
Takes one to know one,”
Ryan says and drops his hands. Lexie turns around and smacks him on
the chest, but he just smiles. “So what’d I miss?”

“
I was talking to Nate
before you so rudely interrupted.”

“
You weren’t talking to
him. You were demanding answers.
Big
difference.”

“
Is there?”

Ryan pokes her in the side, and she
twists his finger until he breaks free.

“
Yes,” he
squeals.

“
By the way. Kaylee is on
her way to her locker. You know. In case you wanted to know.” Ryan
nods toward the school and before Lexie can go back into
interrogation mode, I take off.

My feet smack the pavement, and I
swear as the outside turns into lockers and hallways, I just broke
a Guinness World Record. I come to a stumbling stop, latching onto
the corner of the wall to keep me from going down.

There she is. Perfect and beautiful
like always except now there’s a sadness in her gaze, a brokenness
in the way she puts her books in her locker. The ray of happiness
she exuded with no effort at all is dull, darkened. And it’s all my
fault.

I take my hat off, ready to accept
defeat, when her big green eyes catch mine. We just stand there,
staring at each other, neither one of us taking a step toward the
other.

The only thing I want is to hold her
in my arms. Pull her close, kiss her head, and tell her just how
sorry I am. But there’s one thing holding me back—the fear that she
won’t want to be there. That she’ll pull away and beat my chest
again, tell me she hates me and never wants to see me. I don’t
think my heart can take that.

So instead of going to her, I offer
her up the slightest of smiles, tip my hat at her and head to first
period. Alone.

***

I see Kaylee in the hall and go up to
her, but as the first word leaves my mouth she mumbles something
and takes off. She should be in lunch, and I could try again. But
she never shows.

According to Lexie, she isn’t feeling
well and went home early. She’s convinced Lexie she’s come down
with something and doesn’t want to get anyone sick which is why she
isn’t talking to me.

Lexie believes her just because she
doesn’t think Kaylee can be within ten feet of me without jumping
my bones. If she only knew that now it’s the total opposite. The
sight of me probably disgusts her.

I sit at our lunch table and try to
act as normal as possible, scribbling in my notebook. Only problem
is, there’s not much you can hide from the ones who know you better
than they know themselves. Kaylee may have fooled Lexie, but
there’s no way I can. I’m a magician not an actor.

Lexie takes a big bite of her turkey
sandwich while Ryan picks at his fries. “So are you going to tell
us?” Lexie asks around the food in her mouth.

“
No.”

Lexie goes to talk but Ryan holds his
hand up. “Lex, if he doesn’t want to talk he doesn’t have to
talk.”

“
Fine then. I’ll just stop
at Kaylee’s after school.”

“
And how are you getting
there?” Ryan asks.

“
You.”

“
We have to walk
Brewster.”

I say a silent prayer for
Lexie’s dog walking job. I honestly don’t know why I care so much
about Lexie not finding out. Kaylee needs someone. Lexie could be
there for her. But that’s just it.
I
want to be the one that is there
for her.

“
After we walk Brewster. We
have to pass her street anyway.”

“
Actually,” I say a little
too loud. Lexie steals a fry off Ryan’s plate and looks up at me,
her eyebrow cocked. “I kind of need a new magician’s assistant.
Would you be interested?”

“
Hell no,” Lexie
says.

“
But the talent show is
only a week away and—”

“
Lex, how can you say no to
that face?” Ryan grabs my chin and turns it toward her. I pout my
lip and bat my eyelashes.

“
Ugh! Fine!”

“
Now was that so hard?”
Ryan asks her.

“
Yes,” she
mutters.

Ryan gives her an exaggerated hug then
turns to me. “I’ll drop her at your place around four.”

I hate to replace Kaylee, but I have
no choice. She won’t talk to me.

Lexie spots Sean douchebag Dixon, and
her gaze darts to him. Ryan’s eyes drop for a brief second before
he shakes it off and looks at me.

He nods his head toward me. “What’s
wrong?”

“
It’s just that I have a
partner now, but Kaylee…”

Understanding flashes across Ryan’s
face.

“
Swing dancing isn’t easy.
I don’t know how she’ll find someone so last minute.”

Ryan smiles. “Don’t worry about it.
I’ll take care of it.”

***

“So you just get in the box, squeeze against the side after I close
you up, and then don’t move. Pretty easy,” I say to Lexie and hold
the door open for her.

She crosses her arms over
her chest. “Easy for the guy in charge of the sharp objects
and
not
stuck
inside this death trap.”

“
No one has ever died in
the zigzag box.”

“
Can I quote you on
that?”

“
Yes.”

Instead of moving toward the box she
takes a step back.“So if I Wikipedia this I won’t find any cases of
death by zigzag box?”

“
No. Now can you just get
in?”

She sighs loudly
then
finally
steps into the box. I shut the door, and she sucks in a deep
breath.

“
You okay?”

She wiggles around. “How the hell did
Kaylee fit her boobs in here?”

I honestly don’t know. And the last
thing I want to think about is Kaylee or her amazing body. How she
is the perfect assistant and the reason my act was going to kick
major butt. Or how, even if you take the show away, we are still a
perfect match.

A blood curdling scream comes from the
box, and Lexie starts banging on the door. “Spider! Let me out!
Omigod. Omigod. Omigod. Out. Out. Now. Now. NOW!”

I rip the box open, and Lexie jumps
out, screaming and swatting at herself. “I’m gonna die. Get it off.
Get it off.” She smacks and swats the back of her arm so I spin her
around, knowing damn well if I don’t kill this spider, Lexie will
have a heart attack. I know CPR, but it doesn’t mean I ever want to
use it.