The Summer of Me & You (7 page)

I searched through the refrigerator for something to eat. I was starving. Mom had apparently not been to the grocery store in a while. There was nothing in the refrigerator except carrots and celery, low fat yogurt, and tofu. Oh my God, I was going to die of starvation. I couldn't live like this. I slammed the door shut and jerked open the cabinets. Protein bars? Vitamins? I dug into the back of the shelf. Yes! We had fruit roll up, the closest thing to junk food we had in this house. It was sad at how excited I'd become over seeing it. I quickly popped open a pack and began cramming the sugary fruity goodness in my mouth. I wondered if I had any money to order a frickin' pizza or something. I looked over into the cookie jar, checking for cash. Why did we even have a cookie jar if mom never allowed any cookies in the house?

Nope. No money. I could never get lucky.

I was gazing out my kitchen window when I saw Gunner walking his dog. He and I hadn't been what you would call friends, but we lived in the same neighborhood and went to the same school, so we spoke sometimes. I went outside and stood on my front porch. Gunner looked across the street, saw me and waved. I returned the friendly gesture.

Oh God, I could smell barbeque.

A minute or so later, Gunner bolted across the street, his dog running with him. He nearly pulled the leash out of Gunner's hand.

“Hey girl,” he said. “How's your summer going?”

“It isn't,” I said. I reached down to pet Sammy. “I don't think it's officially summer yet anyway, according to the calender.”

“Yeah, but it's hot as hell,” he laughed. “Hey, did you sign up for Mr. Macon's film class. I know you're more of a theater kind of girl, but I told you to sign up. It's so boring around here, I thought it'd give us both something fun to do.”

“You're crazy, Gunner. That summer class costs like five hundred dollars. If I had that kind of money I'd buy a basket full of potato chips and cookies and store them in my room so my mom wouldn't find it. She doesn't let me eat anything good, just these nasty health food drinks.”

“Damn, Kayleigh. No wonder you stay so thin.”

“And someone's grilling! I'd kill for a burger right now.” I looked around as though I could figure out who was grilling out. “I'm like a savage right now. If I found out who's grilling, I'm gonna run through their backyard and steal a hotdog or something,” I laughed.

“Yeah, it's my dad,” he said.

“Oh I totally hate you!”

“Well hey, why don't you come on over for dinner?”

“Seriously?!”

“Yeah. Your skinny ass needs to eat, hell. And afterward we can go to Ashley's party.”

“Oh my God, thank you. I'm starving over here.”

“And hey, I'll talk to Ben about letting you in the class since you don't have anything else to do.”

“Ben?” Did he just call Mr. Macon by his first name. “Ben?!”

“Oops,” he covered his mouth. “Guess it just slipped out.”

“Gunner! Do you have a crush on Mr. Macon?”

“Oh no, it's not a crush. We're sorta seeing each other.” I think my eyes almost popped out of their sockets. “And if you tell anyone about it, I'll kill you in your sleep.” He stepped off my porch and walked back across the street, indicating that he wanted me to follow him.

“You are
not
seeing Mr. Macon.” I couldn't believe it. I walked with Gunner to his house.

“No, I mean we do other things, too.”

“Oh my God! You're so
not
sleeping with Mr. Macon! He's our teacher!”

“He
was
our teacher, past tense. And he's teaching me pretty well,” he added. He noticed I was gazing at him and he playfully pushed me. “Shut up,” he said.

“
You
shut up!”

“Well what about you? You got any hot dates I need to know about? Do tell.”

I laughed. “Dates? I can't even manage to grab the interest of one willing guy.”

“That's a lie. Kaleb seems to like you a lot. You can't pretend to not know how that boy stared you down at school. You should totally go for it. I would, I mean, if he were into guys of course. So unfair. If you don't grab it, I'm never going to speak to you again, Kayleigh.”

***

After I devoured a hamburger and half a bag of barbeque potato chips, Gunner practically begged me to go to the party with him.

“Why is it so important that I go?” I asked.

“I don't want to go alone,” he whined.

“Why do you want to go at all? You're with Mr. Macon, remember? Or, so you claim. You can't possibly be going to scope out guys.”

“You just don't understand these things, obviously. Like, I'm not going to just sit here and wait for him to call. And if you want to be boring you can just stay at home, and be all woe is me, but I'm going to this damn party.”

“I've never been to any parties.”

“Great,” Gunner said. “This can be your first one. A new experience for you.” He clapped his hands together. “But, do you have anything cuter to wear? Maybe a nice dress or something.”

“You'll take me as I am or I won't accompany you at all. You can play dress up with me later.”

“Fair enough. You'll do. Just wait right here until I get ready.”

I scoffed. “And how long is that going to take?”

“No longer than usual,” he smiled. “So—You've never been to a party before, which means you've never been drunk.”

“I've had a few sips of wine before.”

“Doesn't count,” he said, then continued. “You've never had a boyfriend—”

“Wait—who says I've never had a boyfriend?”

“It's obvious. You haven't.”

“Is that such a terrible thing?”

“Like yeah, for me it would be. It means you've never been kissed, which means you've never been laid, which means you're still a virgin, which means if I were you that would totally suck.”

“Whoa, you're all up in my business.”

He pulled shirts out of his closet, holding them up to the mirror. “No, I'm not all up in your business, because if I was that would mean that I’m straight and I'm not. But Kaleb wants to be all up in your business.”

“Sounds like you have a fixation with hooking me up with Kaleb. Why?”

“Because he's so fucking hot, and since I can't have him, I would much rather he be with someone that I actually like instead of some bitch I can't stand.”

“That's crazy. It's called free will? Kaleb can be with whomever he chooses. You don't get to decide.”

He spun around and looked at me like I was crazy. “And he's chosen you. Duh. You've been his ever since elementary school. Just wait. You can run all you want and deny how much you want him, but you two are going to end up married, and I'll be at that wedding.”

I rolled my eyes. Gunner was so dramatic. Now I saw why he was in theater for so many years. “Gunner, do you even like filmmaking?”

“I like everything. Filmmaking, theater and acting, set design. Anything that's arty and creative. That's why I'm going to art school.”

I played with the fringe on one of his pillows. “I don't really like theater. I mean, that's why I never auditioned for a role in any school play. I prefer being behind the scenes.”

“You mean, behind the camera.”

“Yeah, maybe.”

“Because you like hiding.”

“Okay, are you attempting to psychoanalyze me now?”

“Just sayin'. For once, you should just take charge and go for what you want. It's so liberating.” He was enthusiastic when he said that.

“Is that what you did with Ben? Take charge?”

“Maybe,” he smirked.

“Gunner, you seem so awesome. How come you and I have lived across the street from each other but never been friends?”

“Kayleigh, you barely come out of the house.” I frowned when he said that. “Well, it's true. But if you stick with me, I will break you out of that shell.”

“It's just that my mom—” he held up his hand and interrupted me.

“—your mom is a crazy bitch, no offense. But she's at work tonight, and you're coming with me and we're going to have fun.”

“And she's going to kill me if she finds out.”

He shrugged. “So make sure she
doesn't
find out.”

Maybe he had a point. No sense in staying home all the time. But—

“Ashley never gave me an invite.”

“The best parties to attend are the ones you weren't invited to.”

That'd
be something to see.

Listening to Gunner, I went to the party. I wasn't even a few feet through the door when Ashley approached us. “Is Kaleb with you?”

“
No,
” Gunner said. “He's not with you, either.” But Gunner meant it in an entirely different sense. He meant that Kaleb wasn't her boyfriend and she needed to stop throwing herself all over him.
 

Ashley directed her next question at me. “You two are close, like siblings, right?”

Was she talking about me and Kaleb? Because if she was trying to imply that there wasn't any attraction surging between Kaleb and me, she was wrong. There was, and I think she knew it, too.

“We're not
that
close.”
 

“Oh,” she twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “In middle school, the way he treated you, I always thought you were his kid sister.”

“You thought wrong,” I said, stepping away from her, but she asked another annoying question. One that made me want to lunge at her and attack by the throat.

“You're not into him or anything though, right?”

Kayleigh, calm down. She's deliberately trying to piss you off.
 

Gunner spoke up for me on that one. “What 'biz is it of yours if she is?”

“Oh, look. You're his pet. How cute. He speaks for you and
everything
!” She said with fake excitement. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and spoke as though I wasn't standing
right
there. “Hope she's not. She's only going to get hurt. Kaleb isn't into girls like her. Totally not his type.”
 

And what?
You
are. Bimbo.
 

“Besides,” she looked straight at me when she said it, “Kaleb and I already hooked up.”

There was an undeniable sinking feeling, like my heart had plummeted into the abyss. I bet she saw the shock mixing with the disappointment and hurt on my face. But that quickly boiled into anger.

When?
When had they hooked up? The afternoon he took her home? I wanted to know.
 

But that wasn't enough. She had to add to it. “He's been around, Kayleigh. What makes you think he'd change just for you? He was also on meth. You don't know anything about him.”

Even though I wanted to choke her, I had to admit—Ashley was gorgeous. Super model gorgeous. Perfect height, perfect size. Her legs weren't awkward like mine. And she had boobs that she basically put on display. I looked like I was twelve when compared to her. She was the kind of girl a guy like Kaleb would go for. Probably not date or fall in love with, because let's face it, Kaleb didn't date and he wasn't the guy who struck me as the kind who fell in love with girls. He had intentions of doing everything with them
but
that.  
 

What in the hell was I thinking? I'd left him my number. He was never going to call. Why would he? He only called the girls he hooked up with. Just like at the lake. He'd made plans with me, but maybe they'd been an afterthought, or a way for him to practice his charm. He already had his grin down to perfection.

If he'd wanted to spend time with me, then why had he blown me off for Ashley? He could've said
no
to her, but he hadn't.
 

I stalked away and Gunner followed me. “Don't worry about it,” he said. “She's only doing that to get to you.”

“Yeah, and it's working. Maybe she's right.”

“Doubt it. Learn to read in between the lines, girl. Doesn't matter that she's smokin' hot, you totally intimidate that bitch. She loses confidence when it comes to you being around Kaleb. That right there should tell you everything you need to know. He's obviously into you so badly it shows. She sees it. That's why she tries to kick you down.”

“Possibly.”

Seth was also at the party. When he saw me, he ambled over with another guy. “Hey, Kayleigh,” Seth said. “When are you going out with me again?”

“She never went out with you, Seth,” Gunner said. “She just danced with you at prom.”

Didn't really even do that,
I thought to myself. Seth didn't say anything about that.
 

“This is my older brother, Matt.” He pointed at the guy standing beside him. “Sorry I couldn't stay down at the lake, I had to bolt. Had work.”