Next Door to a Star (18 page)

When I got home, Will IM’d me and asked if I wanted to go to the movies with him and his parents this weekend. I’d never gone on a date before, and I had to admit I was kind of intrigued. Will was cool and it would have been nice to have a boyfriend, but Charlotte had already said she wouldn’t ruin our friendship over a guy. I knew she wouldn’t get mad at me if I went to the movies with him, but I didn’t want to hurt her feelings or lead him on. Maybe nobody else would ask me out again, but I guess it would be okay if it meant I still had Charlotte as a best friend.

Sometimes it seemed like things were easier back when I didn’t have friends and there weren’t any guys interested in me, but I wouldn’t trade my life now for anything—even if it meant I could be Jack Brogger’s girlfriend…well, okay, maybe then, but I had next summer to work on it. By next summer, Simone might even be on TV again, and maybe she’d meet Jack. After all, he was always doing guest appearances on TV shows, so it could happen, and he and I had way more in common than he did with his video model. We both liked pizza, the color blue, and cookie dough ice cream. We were practically meant to be.

My phone rang then and I saw it was Nick. My heart jumped.

“Hello?” I said.

“Hey, it’s Nick. Do you have a minute?” he asked.

“Sure.”

“I heard about what went on with Morgan and Reagan and all that—um…stuff.”

“Yeah?”

“I also heard you didn’t have a boyfriend over the summer when we were, you know, talking.”

“I didn’t. Morgan made that whole thing up.”

“Well, I wanted you to know that I believe you, and I’m sorry I didn’t ask you about it right away,” he said.

“No, I get it. I mean, you hardly knew me.”

“Yeah, well, I should have asked. Anyway, I’m sorry about being so weird and about how Reagan was treating you. I guess she knew how much I liked you and kinda felt threatened by it.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah, we had a huge fight about it. She was telling me you did something and I defended you, and she was coming out with all sorts of crazy stuff—like that you were talking behind people’s backs, and stuff I know you’d never do. Anyway, we broke up.”

“Oh, well, I’m sorry if I caused problems between you guys,” I said while crossing my fingers and silently asking for forgiveness for the giant lie I told.

“She was super jealous of you, and I started thinking about it—why am I with this girl who doesn’t even seem like that nice of a person when the girl I really want to be with lives down the road?” I didn’t say anything and he cleared his throat. “Um, do I have to clarify again that I’m talking about you?” he asked laughing.

“Very funny…actually, yeah. I do need it spelled out,” I said.

“So…you want to hang out tonight? It’s getting to be World Series time and we could watch the game tonight.”

“I’d love to.”

“Great,” he said. “I’m mad at the whole situation for ruining our summer together. But maybe we can look forward to next summer, huh? Plus, basketball season is starting up soon. It’d be nice to watch the games together.”

It was a strange feeling being able to think about what I’d be doing next summer with my friends—and now the possibility of having a boyfriend? The idea of planning stuff was exciting. In the past, vacations were only fun if Lexi was in town. If she was visiting family, then it was me sitting in front of the TV or reading a book. Now I knew I had a winter break to look forward to where I could go ice skating with my friends, and Nick was now talking about basketball season starting up soon.

“So do you want to watch over here or should I come over there?” he asked.

I remembered then that Grandpa had said he was looking forward to watching the playoffs with me.

“I usually watch the games with my grandpa—it’s kind of our thing, but I’m sure he’d be cool with it if you came over. I’ll text you to make sure it’s fine. Is that okay?”

“Yeah, let me know what time.”

I called Grandpa and asked him if Nick could come over.

“Now is this Nick the one you sort of like or the one who you get that dopey grin over when he messages you?” Grandpa asked.

“The second one.”

“Ah, then you will need a chaperone. Okay, he can come, but I’m sitting between you two—kidding! Kidding!”

I texted Nick back.

Nick: Can’t wait. ;)

I called Simone and told her the news.

“I’m so glad,” she said. “He really is a sweetie and you guys are so cute together. I love how he blushes and gets so focused around you. He never does that with anyone else. I swear, Morgan made him nervous and even Reagan made him act all shy and weird. It’s like he’s more comfortable around you and can be himself.”

“Yeah, I feel that way too. With Will it was so awkward.”

Simone started talking about how we should save up and spend a weekend in Saugatuck next summer where maybe we’d run into Jack. I smiled as she went on about how we could check out his tour schedule to figure out the best dates. It was nice to be able to plan and look forward to stuff instead of trying to get through the day. But while Simone was already looking forward to summer, for the first time ever I was happy being where I was now. I had everything I wanted, and it was nice to sit back and appreciate it. Although I had to admit it was kind of amazing that Nick was already talking about us still being together next summer.

I got off the phone with Simone and walked over to Grandpa and Grandma’s. I was about to go in when I saw Nick walking up. His whole face lit up as he smiled at me and I saw he had picked some wildflowers.

“For me?” I asked walking up to him.

He nodded. “There’s something I have to tell you though. It could change everything.”

I swallowed. “Okay, what’s up?”

“I kind of lose it when the Tigers play badly, and I don’t want you to dump me over that,” he said, fighting a smile.

“Well, I guess I’d have to technically be your girlfriend if I was going to dump you.”

“Hmm, that’s true. I guess we better make that official so it’ll be a little more difficult to walk away after you see me cry if they lose in the playoffs.”

I smiled. “Seems fair.”

“So it’s official then?”

I nodded.

“Good, because I’ve missed you.” He looked past me and then gave a little frown. “I can see your grandma watching through the curtains, so I won’t kiss you, but know that I’m thinking about it.”

“And I’m thinking about it back,” I said smiling.

We walked into the house and sat down to watch the game. I went to help Grandpa bring some snacks in the room when I saw I had two texts. One was a pic from Simone saying she saw these cute necklaces online and wondered if Charlotte, Asia, and I might all want to get matching ones. I wrote back that I loved the idea and then saw the other message was from Nick. He sent three smiley faces giving smooches and said:

Nick: Look, I found a way around your grandma’s watchful eyes.

Forget the best summer ever. I was having the best fall ever.

Acknowledgements

A big thank you to everyone who has supported me on this writing journey. My mom and dad, Justin, Amy, the Dennler family, the Slater family, the Tuesday Writers Group, the Cincy SCBWI group, the team at Limitless Publishing, Jennifer O’Neill, Jessica Gunhammer, Lori Whitwam, Rachel Whitwam, my Clean Reads family, and the teachers, profs, and everyone who inspired and helped me along the way: Dr. Zeff, Dr. Sarch, Mary Bostwick, Bob Houbeck, Dr. Charles Apple, Dr. Luis Mauricio Santos, Suzanne Verbruggen, Tom Wearing, Susan Shapiro, Nicky Schmidt, Diana Jenkins, Linda Grabowski, my amazing street team, and the authors for kids group.

About the Author

Krysten Lindsay Hager is an obsessive reader and has never met a bookstore she didn’t like. She’s worked as a journalist and humor essayist, and writes for teens, tweens, and adults. She is the author of the
Landry’s True Colors Series
and her work has been featured in USA Today and named as Amazon’s #1 Hot New Releases in Teen & Young Adult Values and Virtues Fiction and Amazon’s #1 Hot New Releases in Children’s Books on Values. She’s originally from Michigan and has lived in South Dakota, Portugal, and southwestern Ohio. She received her master’s degree from the University of Michigan-Flint.

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