Blood Type (7 page)

Olivia made a face like she didn’t really believe me. “Usually people give off signals that they want to be kissed.”

I stopped and stared at her
.
“Are you saying
it
was
my
fault?”

Olivia held up her hands. “I’m not saying it’s
anyone’s
fault. All I’m saying is that he kissed you because he most likely thought you
wanted
him to.”

I turned away from her, my face burning with anger. How dare she suggest such a thing! And yet . . . she was right. I
had
wanted John to kiss me out there on the patio. I had wanted him to kiss me more than anything
in the world
.

“Are you mad at me?” I asked Olivia,
facing her head on
.

“Mad at you? Why in the world would I be mad?”

I splayed my hands.
“Because I’ve ruined our group.
It was always you and Gabe, and me and Zach. But if Zach and I are no longer a couple, things will be weird. We won’t be able to double-date anymore.”

Olivia threw back her head and laughed, the slight Adam’s apple in her long, slender throat bobbing up and down. “Gabe and I will get along just fine without you and Zach, not that we don’t love you,” she said, when she’d finally recovered enough to talk. “But thank you for thinking of us.”

“It’s more than just that,” I said. “I’ve really made a mess of things.”

Olivia quirked an eyebrow.
“You haven’t made a mess of things. The problem is you feel guilty for having feelings for John, which is completely normal
.
Al
though I can’t understand
why him
.
He’s kind of a strange
duck
.”

“He’s not,” I muttered under my breath.

“
Whatever. The thing is
that
y
ou and Zach have been together for a long time. And while you two are, like, the cutest couple ever, you’re only seventeen. You should be dating as
many guys as possible right now and having fun. Don’t settle down yet. Do you honestly think Gabe will be the last guy I ever date?” She snorted. “God, I hope not.”

“But we were going to go to college together,” I said. “We were going to get married and buy a house.”

Olivia waved her hand
again
and
sat down
at the vanity. She unsheathed a tube of red lipstick and rolled it up all the way before applying a heavy coat to both her upper and
lower
lips. I watched in fascination as she leaned forward and kissed the mirror, leaving a perfect impression of her generous mouth.

“Get real,” she finally said to my reflection, as she ran her fingers through her long
white-
blonde hair. “Happy endings like that only happen in the movies. If it’s meant to be between you and Zach, you’ll get back together. In the meantime . . .”

Olivia swiveled on the stool
.
She
grinned
, the redness of her lips against the pale white of her skin giving her a sinister, vampire-like appearance. “You might as well have a little fun, right? Now, tell me all about John.”

I couldn’t help but smile as his name conjured a heat that flooded my entire body. But the truth of the matter was I still didn’t know much about him. “He
works at
The Marauder’s Cove
.
”

“
Does he now?
”
Her eyes twinkled with something sinister
.
My defenses went up at once.
  

“
What is that supposed to mean?
”

She leaned forward, as though about to impart some juicy morsel of gossip. “My cousin used to date the bartender. I went there once with her to play pool.
T
otal
Freakville
.”

“
Really
?”

“All I know is t
he place gave me the creeps.
You couldn’t pay me enough to go there again.
”

I blew a raspberry.
“John only buses tables. I don’t think that makes him much of a freak.”

There was a knock at my bedroom door, and my mom poked her head inside. “Are you staying for dinner tonight,
Olivia
? We have plenty of food.”

Olivia glanced at me as she rose from the chair. “I’d better get going. Mom had a really rough day with the twins, so I should get back and help her put them to bed. But thanks for the invitation.
Maybe some other time?”

“You know you’re always welcome. And tell your mom to give me a call if she
ever
needs an extra pair of hands. I’m happy to help.”

“I will,” she said
.
“I’ll talk to you later, Blake. I hope you get it all figured out. Work on that list, okay?” 

“What list?” Mom said to me once Olivia
had left
.

I threw myself back on my bed and covered my face with my hands. “It’s nothing, Mom.”

“Is everything okay?”

“
Sure. Only
that my life completely sucks at the moment.”

The bed sank
as Mom sat down next to me. She put her hand on my thigh and gave it two quick pats. “Your life does not completely suck, I assure you. Do you want to talk about it?”

“No.
Really, Mom.
I’m fine.” 

She patted my leg again.
“
I
f you say so.
Oh, you might want to change out of that,” she said with an air of distaste, indicating my wrinkled
cover-up
, “and into something a little nicer. Zach and his parents will be here in an hour. And do something about your hair, will you?”

I sat up suddenly. I had completely forgotten about our weekly dinner.
His parents and mine were
pretty tight
.
“That’s tonight?”

“
It’s Saturday, isn’t it?
” She put her hand on my forehead. “Are you feeling okay?
You don’t usually forget plans that include Zach.
”

I latched on to the not-feeling-well bit, hoping I could play the sick-card and get out of dinner. I wrapped my arms around my middle and groaned.

“Now that you mention it, I am feeling a little off tonight. I think I may be coming down with a stomach bug.
Or food poisoning.
Maybe it was something I ate at the party today.”

Mom put her finger to her chin, her forehead creasing in thought.
“Probably an undercooked
b
urger.
You have a stomach ache? What about
diarrhea?”

“
Mom!
”

“No need to be embarrassed, Blake. I’m your mother. But I’ll take that as a yes.” She slapped her hands on her thighs and stood up. “That settles it. I’m just going to have to cancel our dinner plans. Truth be told, I’m somewhat relieved. I’m tired from all that
shopping
Daddy and I did today.”

I breathed a sigh of relief but kept the pathetic expression plastered on my face. “Maybe I’ll take a bath and go to bed early.”

“How about I bring up a nice bowl of broth for you later? I don’t want you getting dehydrated.”

I gave her my best I’m-sick-so-please-take-pity-on-me smile. “That would be great. Thanks, Mom. You’re the best.”

She bent down and kissed the top of my head. “I know.”

I was on my way to the bathroom when I heard Mom’s voice
on the other side of her closed door
. I paused, listening in on the one-sided conversation. 

“No, I didn’t hear a word about that,” she said.

Little alarm bells went off in my head and I pressed my ear against the door, crossing my fingers that by some miracle she was
not
hearing the news about Zach’s and my breakup.

“Blake told me she was sick. She didn’t look at all well. Surely she would have told me if she had broken up with Zach. I mean, why would she do that anyway? Those two are
like peanut-butter and jelly
.
They just go together.
”
She chuckled.

I clutched my
pj’s
to my chest and held my breath. Crap.

“Well, yes.
Of course, Helen.
I’ll talk to her and find out what’s going on. We’ll get this whole misunderstanding straightened out right away.” There was a slight pause. “I know. It is devastating. Give Zach a hug from me.”
Another
pause.
“Okay. Bye-bye.”

I sprinted down the hall and into the bathroom, barricading the door behind me. The
knock came a few seconds later
. I raced toward the tub and turned on the water as high as it could go.

“Sorry,
but
I’m a little indisposed at the moment!”

“Blake Edwards Ehlert,” my mother said, pounding on the door with each word. “We need to talk.
Right now!”

I cringed. It was bad enough my parents had named me after
some
movie director
who not only happened to be dead
,
but also a man. Fortunately, no one except Olivia and Zach knew my middle name. Everyone else just assumed my parents were cool and trendy, which was
so
not the case.

“What? I can’t hear you,” I said, climbing into the tub and sinking below the quickly rising water.

“I said we need to talk, Missy! You have some explaining to do,
and you’re being rude
!”

She must have been really mad. Mom only ever called me ‘Missy’ when she was furious.

I nudged the spigot with my toe as hot as I could stand it. I needed this bath to last as long as possible, because that was one conversation I was not looking forward to having.

Unfortunately, the water didn’t stay hot forever and eventually I had to get out. Also, my fingers and toes look
ed
alarmingly like raisins.

Mom was in my room, waiting to ambush me when I got back. She still
had on
her nice slacks and heels, one leg draped over the other and bobbing up and down
in an expectant manner
.

“Since I doubt you’re actually sick,” she said, “I didn’t go to the trouble of preparing your soup. You can fix your own dinner tonight.”

I removed the towel from my head and let my wet hair cascade down my back. I opened the top drawer of my vanity and rummaged for the wide-tooth comb.

“Whatever.
”
I gathered
the bulk of my
thick and unruly
hair in one hand to begin working out the tangles from the ends up.
It was a job.

“Don’t be like that, Blake. You know I don’t like when you use that word or tone of voice.”

I had to consciously repress the urge to say
whatever
again. “I’m sorry.”

“And can you please look at me when I’m speaking to you.” It came out as an order; not a question.

I turned around
so I was
at least
facing her
, but very passive-aggressively gave my hair the better part of my attention. “I suppose you want to know what happened with Zach
.
” 

Mom uncrossed her legs and raised her eyebrows. “I think that’s the logical place to start.”

I shrugged. “We broke up.”

She sighed loudly. “I gathered that. What I want to know is why?”

I rolled my eyes and went back to my vanity for the bottle of moisturizer. I had just had a variation of this same conversation with Zach and Olivia. I was
not
going to rehash it again with my mother, of all people.

“Don’t worry, Mom. All I did was
tell
him I need a little space to think things over. He understands.”

Mom laughed, but it wasn’t a funny, ha-ha sort of laugh. “He understands? Helen told me Zach’s been in his room crying since this afternoon.
Crying,
Blake!”

I very uncharitably thought it wasn’t
my
fault that Zach was
being over
ly
sensitive
.
“
I’m sorry that I hurt his feelings,” I said as I rubbed moisturizer onto my arms. “But we’ve been together since freshman year, Mom. Haven’t you ever considered that I might want to date other guys?”