Unspeakable (13 page)

“Yes?” I looked up at her.

“Whoever has you drowning your sorrows in chocolate and caffeine probably isn’t worth it.”

I smiled at her. “Thanks.” Turning, I came face-to-face with Brody. He looked down at me, and his lips tipped in a grin.

“Got a sweet tooth?”

“Ah, yeah, a little. Did you get dinner?”

“Are you worried about my eating habits?” Brody asked with a quirked brow. “How sweet and totally unnecessary.”

Sighing, I tried to walk around him. “Forget it.” I couldn’t figure him out. This afternoon he was sweet and friendly, and now he was back to antagonizing and irritating.

I walked through the concession stands on my way back to the bleachers when someone grabbed my arm and pulled me into the shadows behind one of the concession booths, making me drop my Coke.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be a jerk back there. I just didn’t want anyone overhearing us actually talking like… we like each other,” Brody murmured.

“Oh.” I hated how my voice sounded all breathy and my mind spun from the closeness of him. “You made me drop my Coke.”

That’s what I say? Deep. Real deep. Earth shattering, actually.

Brody laughed. “I’ll buy you another.”

I shrugged. “At least it wasn’t my chocolate.” I smiled.

“So, to answer your question, no, I didn’t get to eat. Do you think you could get away for a while?”

“Um.” I drummed my fingers against my leg, opening my mouth to answer, and then closing it again before finally asking, “Why?”

“’Cuz I could grab us a couple of burgers from the concession stand, and we could eat them in my Jeep. You do owe me a burger,” Brody reminded me, like I’d actually forgotten.

“Ah, where are you parked?”

“Way in the back. I decided to come at the last minute, so I think I got the farthest parking space there is. In fact, I think it’s actually in another county.”

I laughed. “Okay. I need a minute to see what I can do.”

“I’ll get the burgers. What do you like?”

You. Oh, crap, where did that come from? I’m seriously walking on a very thin line.

“No, don’t get them yet. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to come back or not.”

“I’ll take my chances. I’ll meet you over there?” He nodded at an unlit part of the parking area behind the last concession stand.

“Okay, but if I’m not back in five minutes, you’ll know I couldn’t get away.” I forced myself to walk calmly to where Jenna and Tim sat on the bleachers. As I walked, I opened one of the candy bars and threw the candy under the bleachers, keeping the wrapper. I did the same with half of another. I sat down between Jenna and Tim.

“Got your candy fix?” Jenna said with a laugh, looking at the chocolate bars.

“Yeah.”

“Uh-oh. I know that look. You’re gonna hurl, aren’t you? You ate too much of that crap and nothing else.” She picked up the empty wrappers and looked at them.

“Yeah, I’m not feeling too hot.” I purposely talked loud enough that Karen, who was sitting a row behind us, would hear me. She would tell Jaden everything as soon as the game was over. “Do you think you can take me home?”

Jenna gave me a funny look. “Yeah. What about Jaden? He’ll be looking for you.”

“I’ll tell Karen to tell him I’m sick and had to leave. He’ll be fine with it. He won’t have to worry about my curfew and can go to Jamieson’s party after the game.”

“Okay.” Jenna grabbed her things.

I turned to Karen, who, like I figured, was listening to our conversation. “Karen, I’m not feeling so great. Too much candy, I guess. Can you get a message to Jaden that I went home and tell him I’ll text him after the game?”

“Sure.” She studied my face. I tried to look sick.

“Tell him I said to have fun at Jamieson’s party.”

“I’ll tell him.” She watched Jenna and me walk down the bleachers after we said goodbye to Tim and the others in our group.

As soon as we rounded the stands, Jenna grabbed my arm. “Spill. Now.”

“I’m having a burger with Brody. You were the only cover I could think of. I know you don’t really like the games anyway, so I didn’t think you’d mind leaving early.” I cringed, waiting for her to say something.

“Nope, don’t mind at all. He’ll give you a ride home?”

I nodded. “I think so.”

“Well, have fun.” She winked and walked to her car. “I expect a full and very detailed report. It’s the least you owe me.”

“You’re the very bestest friend a girl can have, you know that right?” I gushed with a smile, swinging my clasped hands back and forth and batting my eyelashes.

“Of course,” she said and waved.

I ran to the back of the last concession stand where I was meeting Brody. He stood with his shoulder leaning against the wall, one thumb hooked in his belt loop. His other hand held a tray of drinks and a bag. He smiled when he saw me.

“I was just about to give up,” he said quietly and pushed off the wall.

“Sorry. I tried to hurry.”

“No problem. Let’s go. When do you have to be back?”

“Here, let me carry something.” I took the drinks from him, and my stomach growled.

Brody laughed. “You sound as hungry as I am. So? How long do we have?”

“Oh, um, I don’t have to be back. I said I was leaving because I was sick from too much junk food.” I smiled.

“Ah, three chocolate bars and a Coke on an empty stomach can make anyone sick.”

“Yeah, well, I’d already had two things of cotton candy, an ice cream cone, and a bag of chili cheese corn chips. Oh, and that was my second Coke.” Brody looked at me with raised eyebrows. And I shrugged. “I eat when I’m nervous,” I said.

“Are you even gonna have room for a burger?”

“Oh, yeah, I’m hungry for something that’s not full of sugar.” I grinned. “Something dripping in fat sounds good.”

Brody laughed and unlocked the passenger door to his Jeep, holding it while I got in and shutting it after me. I groaned. The Jeep smelled like him—oh so good. It surrounded me like a cloud. I wanted to open a window and let in fresh air because I knew I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on anything but his smell as long as I was in his Jeep. Brody opened the door and climbed in the driver’s seat. The smell of burgers filled the space, masking his smell, and I could breathe again. My head started to clear and stopped spinning.

“I didn’t know what you liked, so I had them put everything on the side,” he said, pulling out a tray full of lettuce, tomato, pickles, and cheese, putting it on the center console before reaching in and grabbing a handful of condiment packets. He took out a burger and held it out to me. I couldn’t stop staring at the mini buffet of burger toppings. “Hey, earth to Willow, do you want this?”

“Huh? Oh, sorry.” I took the burger and unwrapped it.

Brody started piling his burger with lettuce and tomato. He stopped when he noticed I just watched him. “Do you eat yours plain? Or did I not get what you like? ’Cuz I can run up there and get whatever you want.”

“No. No, this is great.” I put a piece of cheese on my burger, looked at it, and then grabbed another. I piled my burger with lettuce and squirted mustard all over it before taking a bite. “This is so good,” I said when I swallowed, chasing it down with a gulp of Coke. “Jaden always orders my food for me, and it’s never what I want. I like mustard—he orders mayo. I want onion rings—he orders French fries. I can’t believe you did this.” As soon as the words were out, I wanted to suck them back in.

“He doesn’t let you order your own meals?” Brody asked around a bite of burger.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t have said anything. Let’s not… I don’t want to talk about Jaden.”

“No problem. So, how long have you played chess?”

“Fourth grade.”

“No wonder you’re so good. I used to play in middle school,” Brody said, before taking a sip of his Coke.

“Why don’t you play anymore?”

“We moved around a lot. It made it tough to do any extracurricular activities.”

“Ah. And now? Does your family still move around or are you going to be in Middleton for a while?”

“I think we’re here to stay.”

“Then you should join the chess club. I mean… ah, never mind.” I shook my head, taking another bite of my hamburger.

“What? Tell me what you were going to say.”

“Well, the chess club isn’t exactly something that would… your reputation isn’t one that would suggest… I’m not sure you’d enjoy chess club, that’s all.”

Smooth. Way to stick my foot in my mouth. Never mind just one foot—I just shoved them both in there. Jeez.

Brody looked at me for what seemed like hours before he spoke. “And you believe everything you hear about reputations? You judge people based on them?”

“I wouldn’t say I judge them—”

“Why are you here? If my reputation is such an issue for you, why are you here? Oh, wait, I get it. We’re in a car in a dark parking lot where no one can see you slumming it with the bad boy of Cassidy High, right?”

“No! That’s not it at all.”

“Then enlighten me, Willow. Why are you here?”

“You asked me.”

Brody blew out a breath and looked out the window. Throwing his half-eaten burger in the bag, he started clearing the remnants of the toppings and condiments from the Jeep’s console.

I opened my door and slipped out of the Jeep, throwing what was left of my sandwich into the field behind the parking lot. “I’m sorry… I…” I shook my head, turned, and walked toward the stadium.

Brody got out of the Jeep and called after me. “Where are you going? I thought you told them you were leaving?”

I shrugged. “I’ll tell them I’m feeling better and decided to stay. No big deal. I’ll see you Monday, Brody. Thanks for the burger.”

“Willow,” he called, just loud enough for me to hear. “Don’t go.”

I stopped with my back to him. “Give me one reason to stay.”

“Because I don’t believe you care about reputations, and I don’t want you to go.”

“That was two.”

“Then I should get extra credit.” I could hear the smile in his voice.

“I can’t, Brody. This was a mistake. I’m sorry.” Back in the stadium, I sat down next to Tim.

He looked over at me. “I thought you weren’t feeling good and were going home?”

“I’m feeling better. I didn’t want Jaden to worry, so I decided to stay.” I was surprised at how easily it was becoming to lie to everyone. I hated myself for it.

I pulled out my phone and texted Jenna.

Me: Are you home?

Jenna: Had to pull over. Was driving. No. Not home. Why?

Me: Didn’t work out. Still at the game. Come back?

Jenna: Yeah. Be right there.

Monday. I dreaded seeing Brody. I thought about texting him a million times over the weekend. If I had known what to say, I would have, but I didn’t, so I didn’t.

I stood in front of my closet, trying to decide what to wear. Make a statement and wear a T-shirt with a message on it or dress in something normal, as Jenna would call it? I opted for the message. I was in a crappy mood. It was a Monday, after all. So I pulled on a pair of black jeans and a black tank that read,
I’m allergic to stupidity so I break out in sarcasm
. I wore a long-sleeved, red button down that matched the lettering on my tank. Tying it at the waist, I left it unbuttoned so people could read the tank. I slipped on my red plaid converse tennis shoes that Jenna despised, but I loved, and grabbed my messenger bag, darting out my bedroom door.

I came face-to-face with my mother. Her breath smelled like stale alcohol and cigarettes. Her long, bleached-blonde hair was matted to one side of her head and hung in knots, like she’d just rolled out of bed. “Watch where you’re going, Willow,” she snapped.

“Yes, ma’am. Sorry.”

She pulled the collar of my red shirt back and looked at my chest and shoulder. “When’d you get that one?”

“Friday night. He was mad about curfew.”

“Well, you have to do better to stay on his good side, won’t you?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Make sure it stays covered. Better get before you’re late and he sees fit to give you another one.”

I hurried down the stairs and out to my car. When I was inside and the doors were locked, I let out the breath I was holding.

Breathe. Just breathe.