Life in the No-Dating Zone (21 page)

He stopped his swing. “What for?”

I stopped too but then wished I hadn’t. What was I thinking? If I told him, he’d think I was being mean—a stereotypical manipulative high school girl. Which was kind of true.

“Claire?”

Great. I had to tell him now. There was no getting around it. I couldn’t think of a lie fast enough. “Um, remember how I don’t like Adam very much?”

“Yeah.”

“News of a guy talking to Lindsey outside her window at night would probably get back to him, which would cause trouble, and maybe Lindsey would realize what a jerk he is and they’d break up.”

Gray tilted his head. “You really want them to break up that badly?”

I twisted my swing so I wouldn’t have to focus on the confused look in his eyes. The chains crossed overhead. I continued to twist around.
What should I say?
I really didn’t want to analyze the situation. I just wanted Adam gone.

When I didn’t answer, Gray spoke up. “I mean, she really likes him. Don’t you think it’d be better to let the break-up happen on its own?”

No.
I tightened my grip on the swing’s warm metal chains. “I guess. It’s just … I don’t know.”

“Maybe you could hang around Lindsey only when Adam isn’t there.”

For some reason, that comment made my face go hot like when I was about to cry.

Gray must have realized something was wrong because he backtracked. “I’m not saying you should ditch your friend, just avoid Adam.”

I already do. And I’d like one friend to hang out with who wouldn’t rather be with her boyfriend.
Ugh. I needed to get away from that feeling as quickly as possible. I let my swing unwind until it jerked me to a stop. “So that’s a no on the grand gesture?” I tried to keep my tone light, but my throat burned from holding everything in. I sounded like I was about to lose it.

“Listen.” Gray gently pried my hand off the chain and engulfed it in both of his. Like he cared. He caressed my knuckles with his thumb, sending electricity skittering up my arm. “I don’t like Castro much either, but no, I don’t think I can do the grand gesture thing.” He cleared his throat. “And I have a good reason besides th—”

“Look out!” a little kid yelled, seconds before a softball banged into Gray’s ankle.

He dropped my hand and bent over. “
Fuffshhzzz
.”

I jumped up. A little boy jogged toward us but slowed to a walk when he saw me. “Be careful!” I said in my best mad-babysitter voice.

“Sorry,” the kid mumbled, then snatched up the ball and ran back to his waiting friend.

I squatted down beside Gray, who was rubbing his ankle. “Is it bad?” I asked.

He shook his head.

“Liar.”

He expelled a big breath, puffing out his cheeks. “It hurts, but not like it’s broken or anything.”

“Let me see.” He moved his hands away to reveal a nasty red mark on his outer ankle bone. “Wow. I didn’t think the ball was coming that fast.”

“Me neither. Took a lucky bounce, I guess.”

That made me smile—it was so Gray. “Sorry I didn’t fly in and save you.”

We laughed together, hunched down and squatting in front of the swing set. We must have looked weird—awkward position, grinning like fools—but I could’ve stayed like that forever. Just staring into his sparkling blue eyes, comfortable being near him. He was so easy to be with. Would we stay friends now that he didn’t need me anymore? With Lindsey out of the picture, we might not have anything to talk about.

Gray must have been having serious thoughts too because his smile faded, his face turning intent. “Claire, I …” He placed his fingers on my shoulder.

What was he doing? A shockwave of tingles rolled down my back. I jerked, knocking myself off balance and landing on my butt in the dirt. “Dang it!”

He let out a brief laugh. “You okay?”

“Yes.” Heat raced up my neck. I jumped to my feet, my legs prickling awake, and started brushing the dirt off my rear. “Remind me not to wear white shorts to the park.”

He stood slowly. “Don’t wear white—”

“Thanks. Got it.” I twisted, trying to see the damage. What had he been about to say? It didn’t matter now, thanks to my clumsiness. I so needed to get out of this situation. “Think I’d better go.”

He raised both eyebrows. “Already?”

“Yeah. My mom made me promise I wouldn’t be gone long.” I headed up the hill toward the parking lot.

Gray fell into step beside me, limping a little. “Could you maybe stay another five minutes?”

“I guess so. Why?”

“There’s still something I want to talk to you about.”

He sounded so serious that a sense of dread pressed against my chest. Had I done something he didn’t like? Was it because I wanted to get rid of Adam? I didn’t think I could take him being disappointed with me. I had to do something to wipe the serious expression off his face.
Light. Keep it light.
“What is it? Do you need help with another girl? Just make sure she’s local. I can’t help much with movie star crushes.”

He grinned, lifting the weight of my dread. A bit. Instead, I could feel my pulse bang in the hollow of my throat. “Nah,” he said, “I don’t pay much attention to movie stars.”

“But you work at the theater.”

“Exactly. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.”

“Wow, you sound so jaded. I’m glad I don’t feel that way.”

“Oh, so you have a celebrity crush? Who is it? Channing Tatum? Ian Somerhalder?”

“Ha. No. I don’t want to tell you.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’ll think I’m weird.”

He smiled slowly. “No, I won’t. I’ll tease you, but that’s a given for anyone with a celebrity crush.”

I trained my gaze on the deep green grass in front of us, glad I’d gotten his mind off whatever major topic he’d wanted to talk about. I didn’t care if he teased me about a celebrity crush, but I still wasn’t going to tell him. “It’s not important.”

“I didn’t say it was.” We stopped at the sidewalk next to the parking lot. Gray nudged me with his elbow. “C’mon, you can tell me.”

“Nope.”

He leaned closer. “I have ways of making you talk.”

The air between us grew so hot I could hardly breathe. Part of me wanted to throw myself at him—the other part felt like it’d gotten lost in a maze. What was happening? It was a good thing I wasn’t dating during high school because I sure didn’t understand boys. I let out a stupid-sounding laugh, followed by a stupid statement. “Right. What did you want to talk about?”
Claire, you loon!
I’d brought the conversation exactly where I didn’t want to go.

Gray straightened. He stared at the sidewalk with an absorbed look—almost as if it held the answer to my question. “I was thinking how glad I am we’re friends.” He looked up. “I really like you.”

He meant as a friend, right? My heart leapt into overdrive. What if he didn’t? What if he meant as more than a friend? I couldn’t tell. He just stood there wearing an easy smile as if nothing momentous had just happened. His tanned cheeks might’ve been a little redder than usual, but that could’ve just been from our walk up the hill. I had to stay relaxed about it all. There was no need to slide into some embarrassing weirdness.

I punched him lightly in the shoulder. “I like you too, sugar lump.” His lips parted, but before he could speak, my phone dinged with a text. Thank goodness. Maybe I could escape this awkwardness. I pulled out my phone. “Sorry, it’s my mom. Jack woke up early.”

“Oh, okay. Guess we’ll talk later?”

“Sure. See ya.” I walked off as fast as I could in my thin sandals, forcing myself not to look back. I had to be imagining the regret I saw in his eyes. And I couldn’t take the chance he’d see how much regret was in mine.

Thirty-Seven

Gray

I totally screwed that up.

Claire waved out the car window as she drove away from the park. It was all I could do not to jump in my car and follow her home to tell her what I really meant. Why did I have to mention being friends right before I said I liked her? I suck, that’s why.

Maybe I
should
follow her home.
Before I lost the need to tell her and dropped back into the old waiting, watching, and hoping—just like I’d done with Lindsey. And there was Berger’s asking-her-out threat to consider. I headed for the car. But when I touched the warm door handle, I hesitated. The awkwardness of what might happen ran through my mind—a confused look when Claire answered the door with Jack in her arms, her mother watching from the kitchen. Yeah, that would be just perfect.
Hey, I meant I really like you and would you go out with me?

No. That would suck. I needed to get creative here. Think romance. All girls liked romance, right?

I headed across the park, slowly because my ankle still hurt like a mother. But moving helped me think. What could I do that was romantic? Flowers? A singing telegram? I really didn’t want to do something that anyone else could do. Or something that just wasn’t … me.
Right, Gray, because this is all about you.
Okay, so I needed to make it about Claire. What did Claire like? LEGOs. I could buy her a new set, but I didn’t know what she had already. And I was guessing she had a lot.

She liked to read, but again, I didn’t know what she already had. And buying her a book didn’t sound so romantic. I needed to do something big. Something she’d remember for a long time. Something like the gesture thing she’d wanted me to do for Lindsey.

I leaned against a tree to give my ankle a rest. Maybe I could just use that idea. Go to Claire’s house tonight, stand outside, and tell her how I feel. Not too original, though. She might be disappointed. Or worse, laugh at me.

Crap. I was making myself crazy. I wiped sweat off my forehead. All I wanted was to tell her I liked her and to see how she felt about me. I just needed a creative way to do it.

What if I did something for her? Like take care of Jack so she could have time off. Or run an errand that she couldn’t. Or do—
Wait
. I bolted away from the tree and started pacing. Screw the ankle.

Claire had asked me to do that Lindsey big gesture thing even though I didn’t like her anymore. And I’d said no. But what if I did it and just changed it up? Like in the middle of it, turned to Claire and told her what I was feeling. It might be really romantic. And I’d be doing something she wanted me to do. Two birds. One stone.

This could work.

I whipped out my phone before I could change my mind.

“Hey,” Claire answered. “I just got home. Did I leave something at the park?” Loud baby crying filled the background.

“No, no,” I said, clenching my phone so I wouldn’t drop it. Because something thrummed through my veins like any second I was going to jump out of my skin. What was I doing? I forced myself to keep talking. “Just wanted to tell you I’ve changed my mind. I’ll talk to Lindsey outside her house at night if you still want me to.”

“Just a second, Mom.” Footsteps and then the sound of a door closing came through the phone. “Really? You will?”

“Yeah. If you want me to.”

“Wow, Gray, that’s … thanks. That’s really nice of you.”

“No problem. When do you want to do it?”

“Tonight.”

Uh-oh.
I had no clue she’d meant so soon. “Tonight?”

“Is that a problem? It’s just that Adam gets home tomorrow. Tonight’s our best chance.”

“I have to work.”

“That’s okay. It needs to be late so it’ll be really dark outside. What time do you get off?”

“Ten thirty.”

“Perfect. Lindsey’s house is between the theater and my—”

“I know where she lives.”

She let out a hiccuping kind of laugh. “Oh, right. Of course you do.”

“I
was
kind of obsessed,” I said, hoping she got the emphasis on was. If she did, she didn’t say anything.

“Right. So I’ll meet you there sometime after ten thirty.”

“I’ll text when I’m leaving work.”

“Sounds good.”

“Yup. And Claire?”

“Yeah?”

“No costume.”

She laughed. “Are you sure? It’d make a big impact.”

I smiled even though she couldn’t see me. “I’m happier with a small impact.”

“If you insist.”

“I do.”

“Okay, no costume. See ya tonight.” Her voice sounded light and happy.

“Bye.” I clicked my phone off and stared down at its black screen. This could be the most brilliant idea I’d ever had or the worst. But it was in motion and there was no room for second thoughts. I wanted to come through for Claire.

My sandpapery throat signaled the need for a Coke. After that I needed some way to waste time. I headed for my car. I didn’t want to spend from now until tonight wrestling with the thought that this was the worst idea ever.

Thirty-Eight

Claire

I punched the button to turn off the car radio. It was too hard to concentrate with music on. Though why I should concentrate, I didn’t know—other than the fact that Gray and I were about to do something really crazy.

I still couldn’t believe he’d agreed to go through with it. What had changed his mind? I’d already analyzed that question into a coma and had come up blank. Maybe after he “wooed” Lindsey, I’d get up the nerve to ask him. And we could laugh about it all. After we left, of course. Lindsey probably wasn’t going to be happy about the whole thing. But it was too late now. Gray could show up any minute.

If only I could’ve figured out a way to let Amy Acton know what Gray was about to do. Then the whole Lindsey/Adam breakup would happen much sooner. But Amy and I weren’t best buds, and it would’ve seemed pretty sketchy if I called her out of the blue. Now I’d have to wait until school started and somehow let her “overhear” what had happened. That would kick the rumor mill into a froth, and she’d definitely tell Adam. I felt a pinch of guilt when I thought about him, but I ignored it. Lindsey would thank me someday. Eventually. Maybe.

Dim yellow light glowed from the front living room of Lindsey’s ginormous red brick house. But that wasn’t a problem. I knew for a fact that lamp was on a timer. Lindsey’s parents hardly ever used that room. The real issue was how many lights were on at the back of the house. Talking to Lindsey through her bedroom window could get tricky if her parents were still up. But it was closing in on eleven o’clock and her dad had to get up early for work. Hopefully he was already in bed. In his bedroom. On the opposite side of the house from Lindsey’s.