He's With Me (10 page)

Jake next to each other at the pool, and Jake was much cuter. In her opinion,

anyway.

“I’d love to,” Riley said. “Hand me that hose.” He smirked.

“Don’t even think about it,” Lexie said, backing up. “Riley, don’t you dare!”

She sucked behind the car just as he grabbed the hose from Colin and turned it on

her. He chased her around the car and she fled shrieking down the driveway,

straight into Jake’s arms.

“Whoa,” he said, catching her elbows, and they were both caught in the

spray as Riley deluged them.

Lexie shoved her wet hair back, laughing. Jake was looking over her

shoulder at Riley, and he wasn’t smiling.

“Oops,” Riley said. “You caught us.” He grinned and spread his arms like he

was being held gunpoint.

“Caught you doing what?” Jake asked. Lexie wondered the same thing. Why

would Riley put it like that?

There was an awkward pause. Jake was still holding on to Lexie’s elbows.

Colin glanced at each of them, looking confused.

“I got Riley wet by accident,” Lexie said. “He just stopped by, and he

wanted to help wash the car...um...” Why did it suddenly sound lame and

unbelievable?

“Yeah, man, sorry,” Riley said. “We were just having fun. It’s not what it

looks like.”

Not what it looks like?
Lexie thought.
Doesn’t it look like we’re washing the
car? There’s nothing to feel weird about here. Right?

“What are you up to?” Lexie said, trying to sound casual, although it was

difficult while Jake still had her pinned.

“Maybe I can stay and help, too,” Jake said. “After all, now I’m as wet as

you guys.” He glanced down at Lexie and finally smiled. “Hey, girlfriend.” He gave

her a wet, squichy hug and she hid her smile in his chest.

“I saw Riley ride by in this direction,” he whispered in her ear. “So I figured

I’d come to make sure he wasn’t bothering you. Hope that’s okay.”

“Of course,” she said softly. “As long as you had a good, heroic reason for

coming. We wouldn’t want you to stop by just to say hi or anything crazy.”

Jake winked at her and then slung his arm over her shoulder as they went

back up the driveway. He and Riley exchanged dark glances as they passed, but

Jake bent down and grabbed a sponge without commenting.

“Hey, Colin,” he said. “I’ve been reading about
The Matrix
some more. Did

you know that some of the scenes in the movie are based on scenes in Japanese

anime movies? I think we’re going to have to rent
Ghost in the Shell
and
Akira
to compare. Animefest, what do you think, Lexie?”

“Sure, sounds awesome,” she said. He tossed her a sponge and then threw

another one over to Riley, a little harder, so that soap bubbles spattered across

Riley’s chest.

“Come on, Riley,” Jake said cheerfully. “Let’s wash this car.”

Between the four of them, it took almost no time at all. Lexie noticed that

Riley was a lot more subdued now that Jake was there. He didn’t try to spray her

again, and he mostly acted like he really wanted to get out of there. But whenever

he saw her looking at him, he’d given her that crooked smile and he kept edging

over to work closer to her.

“Oh my heavens,” a voice said behind them. Lexie turned to find her

parents standing on the porch. Mrs. Willis put her hands on her hips. “How did

you all get so wet?”

“Serves me right for putting teenagers and a hose together on a hot day,”

Mr. Willis said with a grin.

“
I
didn’t get wet,” Colin pointed out in a superior voice.

“We could always fix that, you know,” Lexie threatened.

“I think that is quite enough,” Mrs. Willis said quickly.

“Yes, good work, kids,” Lexie’s dad said. “The car looks great.”

“Jake, would you like to join us for cookies?” her mom added. “Freshly

homemade!”

Riley popped out from behind the car and Lexie’s mom jumped.

“Cookies?” Riley said. “Did someone say cookies?”

“Who is
this
?” Mr. Willis asked. Neither he nor Lexie’s mom looked thrilled

about having a strange, shirtless boy in their driveway.

“That’s Riley,” Lexie said. “He’s in the tennis camp with us.”

“Oh,” Mrs. Willis said, mortified. “That’s nice. Come on in.”

Lexie was relieved to see Riley put his shirt back on before they all trooped

into the house. He was sort of jumpy around her parents, like he wasn’t sure what

they would think of him, but e said all the right polite things about the cookies. He

bolted out of his chair as soon as he was done.

“Well, I gotta run,” he said. “See you tomorrow, Lexie.”

“Yup, we’ll see you tomorrow,” Jake said, scooting his chair next to Lexie’s.

Lexie risked a glance at her mother, who was washing dishes in the sink and

pretending not to pay attention. Lexie was sure she spotted a tiny smile on her

face.

“Bye, Riley,” Lexie said.

The screen door banged behind him.

“Have I mentioned I really don’t like that guy?” Jake said.

Chapter 9

On Monday, Bree was leaning against the check-in booth as they came up the

path from the parking lot. It was a horribly hot day; Lexie already felt tired and

sweaty from the bike ride. But Bree looked cool and crisp, like a tall glass of evil

lemonade. She was wearing her lacy bikini, with a white sarong looped around

her waist and white slip-on sandals on her feet. Her sunglasses were giant and

reflected the light in a metallic way, hiding her eyes. Even so, Lexie could feel

them on her, a grim stare full of scheming and revenge plans, as she walked

closer.

“Oh, hi, Lexie,” Bree said with a sweet smile as they walked up. “Can I talk

to you for a second – just us girls?” She wrapped her hands around Jake’s upper

arm and leaned playfully into him. “You don’t mind if I steal your
girlfriend
for a minute, do you, Jakey?”

“Uh,” Jake said. Lexie could tell he was as confused as he was. Were they

supposed to pretend the fight with Sally on Friday night hadn’t happened?

“Just for a
minute
,” Bree said, tousling his hair. “I’m sure you two can be

apart for
one
minute without your cuteness dropping to dangerously low levels.”

She linked her arm through Lexie’s. “We need some
girl time
.”

Jake stepped forward as if to pull Lexie away, but Bree marched her off

down the path toward the tennis courts too fast for either of them to object.

“Lexie,” Bree whispered with fake enthusiasm. “I heard a rumor that Jake’s

birthday
is this Wednesday! Oh my God! You must be so excited. What a great

opportunity to show what a terrific girlfriend you are, right? I’m sure you have

something really amazing planned, don’t you?”

Lexie’s heart sank. She had managed not to think about it all weekend, but

now Jake’s birthday was only two days away. And she still didn’t have a present

for him. Bree had zeroed in on her biggest worry.

“Um,” she said, “well, I – “

“I just wanted you to know,” Bree said, “that I am here to help. I love party

planning and I am
so
good at it. I mean, you
are
throwing him a party, right? Guys love parties, especially surprise parties! Is it going to be at your house? Because if you want, we could have it at my house. My house is enormous and my parents

are never home so they won’t care.”

“Oh, I don’t –” Lexie started.

“We have a ton of food, so don’t worry about that. And I can take care of inviting

everyone. I’ll make sure it’s the
right
guest list. All you have to do is find a way to get him to my house. You’re clever; you’ll think of something.” Bree shook her

hair back from her face and smiled, the sunlight glinting off her sunglasses. “And

buy him a perfect present, of course. But I’m sure you already have that covered.”

“But wait,” Lexie said, “what if – I don’t think he –”

“Wednesday, six o’clock,” Bree said brightly. “Everyone will be there, so

don’t forget. It’s going to be a
great
party. He’ll feel so lucky to have you for his girlfriend.” She patted Lexie once on the head and then turned and swept back

down the path. Sally passed her on the way, but Bree tilted her nose up and

looked away as if Sally were too insignificant to notice.

“What was that all about?” Sally asked, coming up to Lexie. “Are you okay?

You look kind of pale.”

“Can I borrow your cell phone?” Lexie asked.

“Sure.” Sally fished it out of her bag and Lexie dialed her home number

quickly.

Her mom answered. “Hello?”

“Hey, Mom. Can I talk to Colin?”

“He’s not here, dear. What’s wrong?”

“He’s not
there
? Where is he?” Lexie was puzzled. Colin never got up that

early on his own, and as far as she knew, he didn’t have anywhere to go. She

wondered if this had anything to do with whatever he’d been hiding from her the

other day.

“I can tell him you called,” Mrs. Willis said. “But maybe I can help with

something?”

“No, that’s okay,” Lexie said. “I’ll talk to him when I get home. Bye, Mom.”

Her mom sighed. “Bye, Lexie.”

Lexie handed the phone back to Sally. How could Colin not be there? She

needed his advice so badly. Or Karina’s. That was who Lexie really wanted to talk

to – a girl who understood how complicated this was. What was Lexie supposed

to do now? She didn’t want to lure Jake to Bree’s for a surprise party. But if they

didn’t show up, it would be weird and embarrassing. And she had to come up

with an idea for a present - an idea that said “girlfriend,” not “best friend’s sister.”

“Come on,” Sally said, slipping the phone into her bad. “Tell me all about it

as we walk. What’s Bree done now?”

Lexie found herself explaining Bree’s whole party scheme. By the time they

reached the tennis courts. Sally was shaking her head.

“That is so typical of Bree,” she said. “She thinks she’s being generous, but

she just ends up being controlling and scary.” Lexie somehow doubted that Bree

was trying to be generous with this plan, but she didn’t say anything. Sally and

Bree might still make up and be friends again, after all.

“And don’t ever try to tell her you want to do things your own way,” Sally

continued. “She can’t comprehend people disagreeing with her.” Sally put down

her tennis racket and pulled her hair back into a ponytail. “I don’t know, Lexie,

you might have to go.”

“Seriously?” Lexie said. Somehow she’d expected Sally to tell her not to go.

“Well, unless you want to tell her yourself that you don’t want to,” Sally

said. “Or just let her plan it and not show up, which would be kind of rough. But

listen, it won’t be that bad. Her parties always have great food and they have

Ping-Pong and foosball in the basement. You could show up for a couple of hours

and then take Jake out for ice cream afterwards, just the two of you.”

Lexie felt ill. That sounded like some serious Bree time, which meant a ton

of opportunities for Bree to do something mean to her.

“Don’t worry about it,” Sally said. “Bree’s crazy, but she’s not evil.”

I’m not so sure about that
, Lexie thought.

“Hey,” Riley said, slouching up to them. “I had fun on Sunday,” he said to

Lexie.

Sally raised her eyebrows.

“Washing my parents’ car,” Lexie said quickly. “With Jake and Colin.”

“Yeah, too bad,” Riley said. “We might have had more fun just the two of

us.” He gave her arm a quick squeeze and then meandered away.

“What a flirt,” Sally whispered. When Lexie’s eyes widened, she added, “I

mean him, not you. Like, she’s taken, pal, back off. Right?”

Lexie rubbed her arm and stared at Riley’s retreating back. Did he really like

her
that
way? He seemed to... but why? He thought she was with Jake, so he

shouldn’t be flirting with her. It was all very confusing.

That afternoon they began the water volleyball tournament that Cynthia

had been talking about. Lexie’s team won their game, which made Jake splash

around triumphantly in a totally adorable way.

As he dropped her off at home, Jake said, “Hey, Lexie, ask Colin about

watching those anime movies thie weekend, okay?”

“Sure,” she said. She watched him pedal away, waving when he looked

back before turning off into his street.

To her surprise, Alanna and Thorn were on the porch. Their leashes were

tied to the railing, and their squashed little faces were pressed against the screen

door as if they’d been yearning to go back inside for days and days.

“Hey, guys,” Lexie said, crouching down and unclipping them. “What are

you doing out here?” She scratched behind their ears and they both tried to climb

on her knees to snuffle at her face.

The instant she swung the door open, both pugs bolted toward the living

room. There was a yelp and then a thud. Lexie ran after them and found her mom

in a contorted position on the carpet with the dogs clambering all over her.

“Mom?” she gasped. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes,” Mrs. Willis said, untangling herself. She reached for the remote

and paused the DVD. Lexie realized that the people on-screen were all in leotards

and were now frozen in the same weird position.