My Best Friend's Brother (11 page)

Luke beamed. “Isn’t this cool? I thought you’d like it.”

Like it?
I was scared stiff. My body wobbled. It wobbled worse when he opened his window and began crawling out like Spiderman! “What are you doing!”

“There’s only a foot of earth on my side, so I can’t get out through the door.”
So he
climbs
out?

Ten seconds later he was on his hood. “There’s more than a foot on your side, you can open your door and climb on,” he said, patting the hood beside him. “Come on!”

I stared at him. Was he out of his mind? How was I to be certain the cliff would even support the weight of the vehicle?

“It’s just an overhang,” he assured me. “It’s really not so bad. Not too steep, even! Come on!”

I cringed, opened my door and looked down. There was about three feet of space, then the icy ground fell about ten feet. So it wasn’t as bad as I’d imagined. But I was terrified anyway.

I stepped out carefully and moved sideways so I could shut the door. Then I crept over to him, holding onto
any
part of the vehicle for dear life. There was actually several feet of ground beyond where the front tires rested. But I still worried.

He helped me climb onto the hood. We sat with our boots on the bumper, scanning the landscape. Far in the distance we saw a frozen lake surrounded by an ocean of trees. Two bald eagles screeched overhead, dancing in flight.

“You like it?”

I hate to admit it, but I actually did. I laughed. “That doesn’t mean you’re not nuts for doing it!”

“It’s kinda like skiing. We’ve been at a higher altitude than this.”

“Not sitting on the hood of or strapped into a car!” I said sarcastically.

He laughed.

“Are you sure this huge chunk of rock won’t break off the mountain?” I asked, nervously eyeing the drop.

“It’s solid,” he promised. “You can’t tell from up here, because you can’t see it, it’s beneath us. You worry too much.”

“Well, I don’t want to plunge to my death. I can see this thing crumple up like a soda can!”

“You’re a drama queen.”

I raised my eyebrows. “Hey, I know drama queens, and I’m
not
that bad!”

He looked dubious. “Really? Like who?”

“My friend Lilly is a major drama queen.”

He laughed.

“What?”

“You’re a drama queen!”

“No, I swear, my friend’s worse than me! Just wait, you’ll meet her!”

“You would know,” he said. “I just know what I see, and I see the world’s hottest drama queen.” He smiled seductively, his eyes twinkling.

“Oh yeah, that would be Lilly, too! The world’s absolute
hottest
drama queen!”

He snickered. “Not to me!”

“You’ll change your mind when you meet her,” I assured him.

He laughed again. “I
highly
doubt it!”

I rolled my eyes.

Part of me actually worried this Greek god would up and dump me when he meets my best friend. She’d find him hot—guaranteed.

He took off his coat and jumped to his feet, cupped his hands around his mouth and screamed, “Adonia’s the world’s hottest drama queen!”

It echoed.

I covered my mouth to contain my laugh. I lightly tugged on his pant leg, not wanting him to lose his balance and slip. “Sit before you fall!”

“I want the world to know!” He grinned down at me. “Besides, I’m not afraid of heights!”

I gave him a look, still nervous.

“But I’ll do it for the sake of my hood.” He sat himself down again and wrapped his arm around me. “Hey, I still owe you ice cream, don’t I?”

I nodded. But I was just growing comfortable. There was nobody else out there—just me and him and maybe Sasquatch—it was actually kind of romantic. I nuzzled up to him. “We have time, it’s nowhere close to eight yet.” Though the sun
was
beginning to set.

He pulled me close. “So you like this, then.”

I hate being wrong about stuff. “I like being with you.”

He grew quiet. After a minute he said, “If I ask you something, promise you won’t slug me?”

I eyed him curiously. If he thought I might slug him, I figured it was probably something bad. “I won’t slug you,” I promised.

“Okay, I know I haven’t known you all that long, but I really, really,
really
like you.”

I thought he said he
loved me
? But I didn’t want to sound corny. Or desperate. Or paranoid.

“After we graduate, I’m getting my own place. And I was wondering if you want to move in with me—if we’re still together. I’ll move wherever you go to college if you want to go, as long as there’s snow. I could be an alpine skier anyplace cold.”

“Wow, my parents would
not
approve of me living with you without being married!”
I blurted.

And cringed.

“Well, I heard sometimes people get married and find out they can’t live together. Like, they don’t like the way a person holds a toothbrush or positions the toilet-paper roll.” He looked at me briefly. “So you can tell your parents there’s time. I mean, we’ll have like seventy years…”

I giggled. “I’d like that.”

He smiled. “Really?” When I nodded, he kissed me.

Things were really heating up, but he pulled away. “Hey, I wanna show you something, get in.”

“It’s not a steeper cliff, is it?” I asked stiffly.

He laughed. “No worries!” He crawled across the hood to the passenger side door, dragging his coat behind him. He crept through my door into the driver’s seat and waited for me to get in, which took forever.

He held a small velvet jewelry box. “I got this for you this afternoon.”

Breathlessly, I took it,
dying
to see what it was! It was a ring box—
a ring box!
—and given the conversation we’d just had, and the fact it was
a ring box
, you know what I was thinking!

I popped it open. And felt my smile vanish. I tried to hide it immediately. My heart sank. “Oh!”

Our eyes met. He looked confused.

I must be confused, too. Or delusional. Or both. Who the hell expects an engagement ring a few weeks into a relationship?

It was a silver necklace with a diamond heart pendant.

I like it—it’s pretty and everything—but it’s
not
an engagement ring.

I suppose it’s not his fault I’m unrealistic. But my throat began to hurt from the sobs stuck within it. I felt bad that I ended up disappointed about such a sweet gift.

“Do you like it?”

I stared at it like I lacked even basic brain function. I finally whispered, “I love it.”

He took it from me, peeled off the sticky tag and fastened it around my neck.

I pecked his cheek.

“You seemed upset for a moment, are you sure you’re okay?” He looked concerned.

“I’m fine!” I assured him.
I’m just completely out of touch with reality
.

“Is it something I did? Is it the wrong color?” His voice sounded a bit shaky.

I shook my head no. “Trust me,” I blurted, “it’s just PMS!”

Then I felt awkward.

He looked out the windshield. “Oh,” he uttered, clearly confused.

My head fell into my hands. I am
so
awkward!

He started the Jeep and backed off the edge of the cliff. We didn’t speak for a while, though he looked my way every now and then.

I wondered what he was thinking, until I realized I shouldn’t be wondering what
he
was thinking, I should be wondering what
I
was thinking. I
think
I was thinking,

Why do they sell necklaces in ring boxes?!

Again my mind began to wander. I started rethinking my
life
, like this was an appropriate time, or place.
Why do I have to decide on my life in
one
school year? And when I kind of decide, why does everyone have a problem with it?

I heaved a sigh.

I don’t get it. Lilly never has these problems. Luke knows what he wants and
he
doesn’t have these problems. Anna is a genius—she could get into Yale with her eyes closed, her ears plugged and her feet tied—so
she
doesn’t have these problems.

Who was I to talk to about this? Dad wouldn’t want to hear it. Mom’s leaving on Thursday, and she
definitely
won’t hear it. And Mr. Bias… he’d just nod at that Hawaii poster.

I really needed to get my mind off it all—it was giving me a headache.

Luke didn’t look at me. His jacket was spread across the back seat, his arms bulging out of his shirt. He was
hot
, and seemingly nervous. I felt
so
bad about my reaction.

I shifted in my seat, mulling things over.

Then, maybe on a whim, I made up my mind. My heart pounded, I could feel it.

He glanced my way, then back at the trail. A moment later, he flashed a flirtatious smile—mind-bogglingly
hot
. “Drama queen,” he whispered, making me grin.

Feeling myself tremble, I took a deep breath. “Luke? Stop the car.”

~ ~ ~

I don’t think
he
even believed it happened! When he got me home at 7:55—five minutes till curfew—he was still kind of shocked. His hair was a disaster, and my lipstick was smeared all over his neck. Did he realize his shirt was on backwards?

God, we were
so
lucky Dad didn’t come out there!

“I love you,” he breathed, nudged my cheek, and met my lips. Another breath-stealing kiss.
Like I’m going to want to leave after that!

I opened the door and peeked back at him. His mouth was hanging. “Um, night…?” he mumbled, and licked his lips.

I giggled at the sight.

In the foyer, I glanced out the window. His Jeep was still there, though I couldn’t see him well. I hurried upstairs just as Dad turned the corner.

“Is everything all right?” Dad called from the bottom of the stairs.

“Just great, Dad!” I yelled, trying to hide the quiver in my voice.

I trembled as I dialed the tiny buttons on my cell phone. I’d closed and locked my bedroom door, and turned on the stereo so no one could hear my impending confession.

It was midnight in Florida. I’d wake Lilly. She’d be mad.

Oh well.

I let it ring. Seven times.

Someone sleepy answered.

As if I had a fraction of a second to say it, I demanded, “Is Lilly there?”

“What?” asked an
irritated
, accented voice.

“This is Mrs. Jacobson?”

“Yes. Who’s this?”

“This is Adonia,” I said breathlessly “You know, from Alaska?”
Yeah, ‘cause
Adonia
is
such
a common name…

“Hi, honey, how are you?”

“Okay. I need to talk to Lilly, it’s important.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked, in a very motherly, suddenly-awake tone.

“Nothing, nothing,” I said instantly. I didn’t need her calling my parents. “I just really,
really
need to speak with her… about… school.”

I’m a lousy liar.

“She’s not back yet,” her mother said. “She’s up late with her cousin Fay.”

I stomped my foot in frustration, shaking the room.

“Honey, are you sure you’re okay? You sound shaken up.”

“I’m fine. Can you tell her to call my
cell
as soon as she gets in? It doesn’t matter what time. As soon as she can… call my
cell
.”

“I’ll do that,” she said. “You have a good night, honey.”

I hung up.

I knew full well I wasn’t going to get a wink of sleep. I needed something to do. I had plenty of unread books on my dresser, but it’s not like I could concentrate on
anything
. He was lurking in my mind!

I was actually worried. Don’t guys brag? The
whole school
might know by morning! And Lilly was
still
not there for me!

That girl seriously needs a new cell phone! She dropped her third phone on ice this past summer, it cracked and her parents are in no rush to get her a new one. I guess after
three times
I can’t blame them.

I was
so
tempted to call him. But I just stared at my cell, willing it to ring. I couldn’t miss Lilly’s call. Something
drastic
had happened—she needed to know, ASAP!

He’s still suspended.
I groaned. I couldn’t wait
another day to see him! His cologne was all over; the smell was driving me crazy.

XII

I didn’t oversleep, I intentionally walked through the school doors a minute before the warning bell. I took off my coat and tossed it in my locker, looking about nervously. It fell off the damn hook twice! God, I can’t even hang a coat! Even with an hour of sleep, a
moron
should be able to at least manage that!

I guess I was looking for him. Him and others I expected to be talking about it. But to my relief, nobody even noticed me. I grabbed my home economics notebook and slammed my locker shut.

“Adonia!” I jumped and turned eagerly. It was just Mr. Bias. “We have an appointment today! Two o’clock, sharp!” He walked toward the guidance office, tapping his watch. “Don’t forget!”

I cursed under my breath.

My head hit the locker.

That was a bad idea. Now I had head pain
and
ear pain. Ear pain because I wore large silver hoop earrings that froze to my earlobes outside. Silver sucks in sub-zero temperatures, especially when it’s attached to your body—it stings like a dentist’s drill.

Inches from my heart rested the necklace Luke gave me. I hoped it wouldn’t be my last memory of him. You know, in case he really was
only after something
, and well, now he got it.

I headed to class, past hundreds of noisy, whining people. But traffic was stalled. The warning bell rang. I had exactly four minutes.

Someone pulled my ponytail. I kept inching forward. That happened every now and then, it was probably just Jake. But just as I realized Jake wasn’t in school, it was pulled again. I turned around, all defensive.

“Hey, Beautiful!” It was Luke. His eyes twinkled. He was beaming. And gorgeous! “Going to a funeral?” he asked, pointing to my outfit.

I giggled. “No! It’s just something I tossed on,” I lied. I wore all black, so I wouldn’t stand out. Relief swept through me, like the weight of the world was just lifted off my shoulders just by him talking to me. “Um, shouldn’t you be in
prison
?”