He's With Me (5 page)

“Towels are over there,” Sally said, pointing to a folded pile by the door.

“Unless you brought your own,” Bree said, “because you don’t care for

other people’s germs.” She wound her lavender beach towel around her waist

while Sally and Lexie each took one of the plain white ones from the pile. Then

she led the way out into the pool area.

Lexie was glad she was wearing waterproof sunscreen, even if her mom

was crazy. It was really hot around the pool, like the sun was magnified by the

chiseled, fake-looking stones. Up in the two lifeguard stations, two older guys

were sitting, looking like Secret Service agents behind their sunglasses. A

volleyball net had been set up, stretching across the middle of the pool.

Jake was standing with a couple of freshman’s talking and pointing to the

net, but when he spotted Lexie, he broke off and came over to her.

“Hey,” he said with a smile. “Long time no see.” But Lexie could tell that he

was worried about her being alone with Bree in the changing room, and that he

was really asking if she was okay.

Before Lexie could say anything, a curly-haired woman in bright yellow

culottes blew a whistle around her neck and made them all gather at the wall

furthest away from the pool. Then she spent forty-five minutes explaining all the

rules of the pool as well as how to play the game. She must have no “No running

on the edge of the pool” five gazillion times. Lexie wasn’t sure how she was

supposed to take anyone in bright yellow culottes seriously.

Finally she called the team captains forward and read off their assigned

teams. Lexie couldn’t believe her luck – she was on Jake’s team! As she headed

over, he high-fived her and winked.

“Did you make that happen?” she whispered.

“Of course,” he said. “Cynthia likes me. She’s hoping I’ll work here as a

lifeguard once tens camp is over.”

Best of all, Bree had to be a team captain, too, and Sally wound up on a

third team, so Lexie and Jake didn’t have to get too close to them for the rest of

the day.

There were six teams, so four teams would watch while the other two

played each other, and then they’d switch around. As Cynthia explained it, they’d

practice for a week, and then they’d have a tournament the next week to crown a

winning team. Lexie realized that that meant she’d signed up for two weeks of

pool volleyball. She wouldn’t get to switch to something else – like Frisbee – until

the two weeks were up. Well, maybe Bree would be over Jake by then.

To her surprise, volleyball was much more fun than she’d expected,

although she kept getting water up her nose and a couple of the freshmen on her

team were horrifyingly better than she was. She even managed to hit the ball in

the right direction a couple of times, and each time she did, Jake yelled, “Yeah!”

ad splashed her.

Her turn to serve came up. She balanced the ball on one hand and tried to

remember what she’d learned in regular volleyball in gym class.

“Here,” Jake said, coming up beside her. “Hold this arm out straight.” He

took her left arm under the water and straightened it out so it was pointing a little

to her right. “Now keep that arm straight while you hit t with your other fist.” He

reached around behind her and touched her right shoulder.

The combination of his hands, her bare arms, and the water made her so

nervous, she swung wildly and sent the ball up out of the pool, into the crows

along the edge.

“Don’t worry,” Jake said, squeezing her shoulder, “You’ll get it next time.”

Not if you keep helping me like that, I won’t
! Lexie thought, but the truth

was she’d rather be that close to Jake than hit a great volleyball serve any day,

Finally, finally, the end of the day came. Lexie didn’t want to face Bree and

Sally in the changing room again, so she toweled off her hair, pulled on her shorts

over her bathing suit, and headed straight out to the bikes.

A stranger was leaning against the rack, next to her bike. A guy about her

age. She’d never seen him before, which probably meant he either was new or

went to one of the private schools in town.

“Hey,” he said with a lazy, crooked smile. He had amazingly straight white

teeth. His hair was shaggy and dark, and his eyes were light brown.

“Um, hi,” she said. “Sorry, that’s – um, that’s my bike.”

“Oh, sorry,” he said, moving aside. She knelt to unlock it, hoping Jake would

come out soon.

“I’m Riley,” he said. “I’m just waiting for my brother. Do you go here?”

“Summerlodge?” she said. “Yeah. I’m doing the tennis camp.”

“Huh,” he said. His eyes had this faraway dreamy look, and she couldn’t tell

if he was really listening to her until he turned and smiled at her again. His smile

could really catch a girl’s attention, even if that girl had a pretend boyfriend she

was secretly in love with.

“Is it cool?” he said, but kept going without waiting for an answer. “Tennis.

Man, I’m bad at tennis.”

“Me too,” Lexie said. “It’s –“

“What did you say your name was?” he asked, shoving his hands in his

pockets. He was wearing jeans and a long-sleeved shirt, and she wondered if he

was melting in the heat but too cool to admit it.

“I didn’t,” she said. “Um. It’s Lexie.” She unwrapped the chain from her bike

wheel and stashed it in her shoulder bag. She tried to move as slowly as she could

without looking like a mentally challenged alien. She really, really wished Jake

would show up. Or else she’d have to stay and make conversation with this

strange guy, because of course she couldn’t leave without Jake, could she? That

wasn’t a girlfriendly thing to do.

“Lexie,” Riley said. “That’s cute. Has anyone ever told you that you look like

Sophia Bush?”

“Who’s that?”

“Wow, really?” he said. “Or are you just trying to trick me into admitting I

watch
One Tree Hill
?”

Lexie giggled. “My brother would kill me if he found that on the TiVo.”

“Uh, yeah, me too,” Riley said, affecting a deeper voice. “Me, I only watch

wrestling. And monster truck rallies. Grrr.”

“You’re so busted,” Lexie said. “Admit it – you stay home whenever
Grey’s

Anatomy
is on, don’t you?”

He laughed, and she found herself smiling despite her nervousness. She

liked it when people got her jokes.

“Hey, Lexie,” said Jake from behind her. She’d forgotten to keep watching

for him, but her heart still leaped into double time as he paused next to her. His T-

shirt was slightly damp from his wet hair, so it clung to his shoulders, which were

strong from all the swimming and tennis. The light blue colour made her want to

lean into it, like falling into the sky.

“Who’s this?” Jake asked. His gaze was fixed on Riley, and he didn’t look

too friendly.

“This is Riley,” Lexie said, wondering why her voice sounded higher than

normal. “We just met. He’s waiting for someone.”

“Oh,” Jake said. Riley reached out his hand, and Jake shook it, the tendons

in his arm tensing like he was slamming a hammer down.

“And you are?” Riley said.

“Jake.” Pause. “Lexie’s boyfriend.”

Lexie was astonished. Why on earth did he say that? Bree was nowhere in

sight. There was no one around to run back and report to her. There was no

reason at all to volunteer that information, far as she could see. Not that she

minded, but it was odd.

“Ah,” Riley said.

“We’d better get going, Lexie,” Jake said, touching her bike but not looking

at her.

“Yeah, okay,” she said. She pulled her bike free and stood for a moment

awkwardly, waiting for Jake to unlock his bike. Riley was still watching her.

As Jake rolled his bike free, she swung onto hers and said, “Well, see you.”

“Nice to meet you, Lexie,” Riley said. He gave her the smile again, and she

ducked her head and pushed off.

Jake was quiet all the way back to her house. She felt the wind blowing her

hair dry and she wondered what he was thinking. At the bottom of her driveway,

he braked but stayed straddling his bike.

“Don’t you want to come in?” she said. “We can make fun of my lazy slug

brother.”

“Nah, not today,” Jake said. “I’ve got stuff to do. Tell him I said hi.”

“Oh, okay,” Lexie said.

He ran his hand along the top of his hair, looking like he was going to say

something else, but in the end he just stood up on the pedals and rode away. She

watched him ride to the end of the block, where he glanced back and waved at

her, and then she rolled her bike into the garage and went into the house.

Colin was lying on the floor in front of the couch, where she’d expected him

to be. As she went into the den, he quickly slid something underneath a pile of

cushions.

“What was that?” she said.

“What?” he said, pretending to be focused on a plate on the coffee table.

“Here, Mom made snacks. It’s basically peanut butter on celery, but cut into slices

so it’s prettier and harder to eat. Have you ever noticed that she’s weird?”

“Colin, come on,” Lexie said, flopping down on the couch. “What were you

hiding when I came in?”

“Nothing,” he said. “Where’s Jake?”

Lexie was hurt. Colin never kept anything from her. What could it be?

“Jake decided not to come in,” she said. “But he says hi.” She waiting for a

minute, but Colin kept moving the celery around the plate without saying

anything.

“So...did you have fun today?” she tried. “Tennis was so lame. I’m a total

menace with a tennis racket. What did you do?”

“Nothing,” he said again.

“I’ll bet,” she said, reaching for the remote control and flipping the TV to

their favourite game. To her surprise, none of the scores had changed. Either he

hadn’t played very well that day, or he hadn’t played at all.

“Was Bree there?” Colin asked.

“Of course,” Lexie said. “She’s so scary. And now she seriously hates me.”

“But she’s really hot,” Colin said. “I don’t get why Jake wouldn’t just date

her. I would, if I weren’t too stupid and boring for her to like me. It sounds a lot

easier than pretending to date you.”

“Oh, thanks!” Lexie said, pushing herself off the couch. She headed for the

door in a huff, but he didn’t stop her. In the doorway, she turned and glanced

back. He was staring down at the table, rolling a pencil absentmindedly back and

forth along the carpet.

Her mom was coming down the stairs as Lexie went up.

“Oh, Lexie!” Mrs. Willis said happily. “How was Summerlodge? Did you

have such a lovely time? It wasn’t so bad without your brother was it?”

“It was terrible, like I thought it would be,” Lexie said. “And I think

something’s wrong with Colin. I’m going to take a shower.”

Her mom looked disappointed, but she stepped aside without pressing for

more tennis details. At least she didn’t ask about the bikini, safely hidden under

Lexie’s bed.

In her room, Lexie lay down on her bed, feeling tired. It was kind of

exhausting being a pretend girlfriend. First there were Bree and Sally; then there

was all the complicated Jake stuff, plus that guy Riley; and now Colin was acting

strange and keeping secrets. She felt all mixed up, with no one to talk about it.

And it starts all over again tomorrow.

Chapter 5

The next day was even stranger than Lexie had expected, mainly because there

was a surprise newcomer to her tennis class. He was leaning against the fence of

the tennis courts as she walked up, swinging a racket in one hand.

“Hey, Lexie!” Riley said enthusiastically. “Where’s your boyfriend?”

Lexie nearly said, “Who?” but remembered in time. “He’s in the Advanced

class,” she said. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, you made these tennis lessons sound so fun,” he said with his

crooked smile. “I figured I’ll sign up and join in.”

“I did?” Lexie tried to remember anything she had said that might possibly

have been misunderstood as “tennis is fun.”

“Sure,” Riley said. “And maybe if you’re as bad as I am, we can be

partners.”

“I’ll be pretty impressed if you’re as bad as I am,” Lexie said.

Sally was on the court already, bouncing a ball off her racket into the ait.

Lexie wasn’t sure, but she got the feeling Sally was watching her and Riley.

“Don’t you need to change?” Lexie said as Riley started to follow her

through the fence. He was wearing jeans again, although at least he’d switched to

a T-shirt.

“I already got the lecture from Sergeant Shorts over there,” Riley said,

jerking his thumb at Mr. Giambi, the instructor. “But what’s he doing to do? This

is how I am.”

“There’s a lot of running around,” Lexie said worriedly. “Especially when

you play with me.”

“Don’t worry,” Riley said, smiling again. “I’ll be fine.”

He wasn’t fine. By 10:00 A.M., when they switched from drills to practice

matches, he was sweating so much that his shirt stuck to his back, and he looked

exhausted. Lexie felt bad for him, so when they were paired up, she tried to be

the one to run after the ball as much as possible. Each time she did, he would

collapse down on the court and lie there until Mr. Giambi yelled at him to get up.