Candid (True Images Series) (19 page)

I watched as her eyes swept her competition, smiling at them in a friendly way, but I could see the contempt that lingered on her face when her smile faded.

 As the cheering died down, Evan announced the next candidate. “Cecilia
Maycomb
.”

I nearly laughed out loud when Jordan’s mouth fell slightly open at the roaring cheer that erupted in the gym. As Cecilia walked to half-court with the easy grace of an athlete, Jordan didn’t even bother to smile. She looked like she was eating something really bitter and her eyes sparked with the fire of battle.

I watched this all playing out with satisfaction.
Perfect.
When Evan announced, “Katie Edwards,” there was some great applause and cheering for her too, but most importantly, Jordan never paid much attention. She’d decided that Cecilia was her biggest competition and no one else mattered.

“Now what?”
Lee asked.

We were sitting together in the bleachers, probably closer than we should have been. I didn’t have to speak loud for him to hear me, even in the middle of the noisy crowd. “Now we make sure Cecilia keeps all of Jordan’s attention while we work behind the scenes to get votes for Katie. Have you got the basketball team on board?”

“Mostly.
I’ve got a few I’m still working on.”

“Great. Marisol has about half of the girls’ basketball team, all of her friends, and everyone she’s related to – and that’s a lot of people. Olivia got us the entire choir, most of the band and orchestra, and a lot of the drama crowd. Parker has every nerd in this place on high alert and ready for revenge. Now, if you’ll just sweet talk all those girls that like you so much, we should be able to pull this off – especially when I do some heavy campaigning on my blog later in the week. I can’t do it too soon, or Jordan will catch on.”

“Are you sure that Cecilia is going to drop out of the race? Everyone seemed really into her and she might decide she likes it.”

“I’m as sure as I can be I guess. She says she hates the whole homecoming thing and would rather eat her toenails than put on a frilly white dress and tiara.”

Lee chuckled and said, “Okay, that’s gross, but I get her point.”

As the pep-rally continued, we watched quietly as the captains for tonight’s game were announced and Coach Hatfield gave his pep-talk. Then Caleb Murphy, as one of the captains, gave his own – yelling and pumping his fists in the air like he was literally going into battle.

I was clapping half-heartedly when Lee leaned close and whispered, “I wish we could go do something else tonight besides take pictures of the game.”

“Well, you can, but I’m committed. Mr. Greeley’s cast isn’t coming off for a while still.”

“I know. Don’t worry I’ll be there. It’s not like we could go anywhere else anyway. Hey, at least we’ll get to spend some time alone driving to the game. I’m glad it’s an away game. ”

“Me too.
I’m kind of surprised my mom is letting me go.”

Lee nodded and said thoughtfully, “You know, this probably ends up being a good deal for Mr. Greeley and your mom.
Whatcha
want to bet that while you’re gone at all these football games, they’re enjoying their Friday nights together?”

“I’ve thought of that. It’s either then or while I’m at work.”

“It’s probably both.”

“You know, I don’t even care if they’re dating anymore. I just wish she’d tell me.”

“Have you asked about going to the homecoming dance with me?”

“No. She’s going to say no. We haven’t talked about her
no
dating rule since Sunday, but I don’t think she’s ready to change her mind yet. Maybe we can just meet each other there. I don’t know why you want to go anyway.”

“I don’t know. It might be fun.”

“Or totally lame.”

“It can’t be any lamer than spending your Friday night at your laptop working on pictures.”

I rolled my eyes. “Whatever. I guess you have a point though. But I’m bringing my camera.”

“I figured you would. I’m pretty sure it’s going to fuse to your skin any day now. I never thought I’d be jealous of a camera.”

Chapter 13

So, who cares if I’m a stick in the mud for spirit week? Nobody ever had before – except maybe my mom.
Until now.

I mean, seriously. Where did all of Lee’s school spirit come from anyway? Over the weekend, he did his best to talk me into participating. He said that he was trying to help me loosen up and have a good time, but I could do without this kind of fun. Finally, on Sunday night, he texted me just after I got in bed and told me that I’d better fix my hair crazy or he was going to. The next morning, I decided that since my hair was always crazy, I was going to wear a hat. I could take it off if I wanted to.

Lee and I had carefully talked my mom into letting him pick me up for school in the mornings since my car now resided in a scrap metal graveyard somewhere. He made it sound like it was just a favor he was doing me as a friend. It helped that Marisol took me to work after school. Still, every morning, she warned me not to be late for school like we were going to sneak off somewhere together.

Maybe she had reason to, considering how buzzy I felt inside every time he pulled up in my driveway. This morning, as I walked towards his truck, I saw a cowboy hat on his head and a disappointed look on his face. I shrugged and laughed at him.

“What’s that?” he asked as I got in.

“This is a bucket hat. I usually only wear it in the summer, but it’s the only hat I own so I put it on.”

“Lame.
I was hoping you’d have pink hair or something.”

“You’re wearing a hat,” I pointed out.

“Really?
I wondered what that thing was on my head.”

“Funny. Where’d you get it?”

“I borrowed it from a guy on my team. Like it?”

 “It actually looks really good on you, city boy.”

 “And what are you?
A country girl?
Even though you’ve lived your whole life in the Haskin’s city limits?”

“I don’t know. I feel like I have a little country in me. I mean, it’s not like you have to go far to feel like you’re in the middle of nowhere around here.”

“Yeah, I know. I keep dreaming of wide open fields and a certain boulder next to a creek. We should go back sometime. You know, nature is good for your soul.”

“I’m sure that’s why you want to go back,” I said, with teasing sarcasm. I felt my cheeks turn pink as I remembered his kisses that morning. Man, I wanted him to kiss me like that again. Our eyes met and it was like our thoughts merged. We both wanted the same thing, but we weren’t going to let it happen. No more kissing – at least for now.

Lee broke eye contact with me and put his truck in reverse. “So what are we going to do for Twin Day tomorrow?”

“How about nothing?”

“What will it hurt you to wear the same color shirt as me?”

“Ok, fine. Let’s wear pink.”

His expression was pained. “Come on, Sienna.
How about black?”

“I look terrible in black.”

“Not as bad as I’d look in pink. Look, if you don’t want to dress up with me, I bet I could find someone else who would. In fact, Robin Gold asked me to already. Do you know her? She’s…”

“I know. She plays basketball and she was all over you that Friday you went to practice to meet your coach – you know, when you first moved here. Marisol told me all about it.”

“Oh. Yeah, well, she’s still
all over me
– your words, not mine- so, if you’re going to make me wear pink…”

“You’re rotten.”

“Exactly.
Are you going to wear black tomorrow?”

I was pretty cranky by now and thoroughly annoyed, so I answered, “I think I’ll ask Michael Fine what color he’s going to wear tomorrow.”

“Oh, so it’s going to be like that, huh? Well, you just made Robin a happy girl.”

“Fine.”

By now, he was parking his truck, and before it had pulled to a complete stop, I jumped out and headed inside. I secretly hoped that Lee would come after me, but he didn’t so I spent the rest of the day seething. To show him that I was mad, I went and ate lunch with Parker and some of his friends. I watched to see if Lee looked for me at our usual spot under the tree, but he didn’t. In journalism, he asked Mr. Greeley for a pass to go to the library and he didn’t show up for yearbook at all. By the end of the day, I was furious with him and even more so with myself.

Why hadn’t I just said I’d wear a black shirt if it would make him happy and be done with it? I was miserable as I realized that we were now thoroughly in the middle of a big
stinking
fight and it was over something completely stupid.

Marisol and I were walking out to her car after school, and Robin passed me with a smirk on her face that could only mean one thing. Lee had asked her to dress up with him tomorrow.

“So, what is going on with you and Lee?” Marisol asked. “Robin’s been bragging all over school that he dumped you for her.”

“Dumped me? He can’t dump me because we aren’t dating.”

“Oh, whatever.
Everybody knows you’re a couple.”

“Apparently he doesn’t think so. But he’s not the only one who can play this game. Will you wait for me for a few minutes?”

“Sure,” she said, shaking her head and grinning at me. “Go get him, girl.”

I hurried off to the gym. I didn’t have Michael’s number, so if I was going to ask him to dress up with me tomorrow, I had to catch him at practice.

As I went toward the gym doors, I wasn’t sure how I was going get Michael’s attention while he was in practice. I peeked in and watched the team running through some drills. The salty smell of sweat, the squeak of shoes on the clean floor, and the crisp rattle from the coach’s whistle made me feel a little sorry that I had quit playing basketball a few years ago. I didn’t really regret my choice, however. Photography was more important to me.

I was lost in thought until I realized that the coach had given them a water break. Several of the players grabbed for water bottles or jogged out to the water fountain in the hall where I was standing. Luckily for me, Michael was one of these.

I waited for him to get a drink and then got his attention.
“Hey, Michael.”

He looked up, obviously surprised, and flashed his charming smile at me.
“Hey, there!
What’s up?”

“I wanted to ask you something really quick.” Why did I have a sick knot in my stomach? I ignored it and managed to say, “Do you want to dress up with me for twin day tomorrow?”

His surprise grew. He glanced into the gym and I followed his eyes to see that Lee was watching us with narrowed eyes. He turned back with a devilish expression. “Shoot, yeah. I’m yours, baby.”

That made me a little uncomfortable, but I forced myself on. “There’s just one thing. Will you wear a pink t-shirt?”

He considered it for a moment and shrugged. “Whatever. I don’t have one though.”

“I’ll get you one. What size?”

“I wear a medium.”

I glanced at his largish frame doubtfully but said, “Ok, I’ll meet you in the parking lot before school tomorrow. Cool?”

“Sure, baby. See you then.”

He ran back into the gym and I had a chance to look for Lee. He was over under the goal, casually throwing up a few shots. I could tell from his body language that he wasn’t happy though, and that made me feel better. I hoped he felt as awful as I did.

A few minutes later, I was getting back in Marisol’s car. “We’re going to have to hurry or you’ll be late for work,” she said as I put my seatbelt on.

“It’ll be worth it even if I am.”

“So what happened?”

“I asked Michael Fine to dress up with me tomorrow.”

“Dang,
chica
, you don’t mess around, do you?”

The next morning, I got up early so I could catch a ride with my mom since I was pretty positive that Lee wouldn’t be coming to get me, and almost as sure that I didn’t want to ride with him anyway. My mom didn’t say
anything,
though I’m sure she noticed how crabby I’d been since yesterday.

Just before we were going to leave though, I got a text from Lee saying that he was going to pick me up a few minutes early so we could talk. My first impulse was to tell him not to waste his time, but since I wanted to make up with him more than anything, I didn’t. Instead, I told my mom, “Never mind. Lee can come get me after all.”

“All right, but remember, don’t be late.”

I rolled my eyes, but luckily she didn’t see me since she was gathering up her jacket and purse. “I’ll get there on time.”

Since I had time now, I went and poured myself a bowl of cereal. I had only taken a few bites when the doorbell rang. When I opened the door, Lee was looking so
good,
it felt like something was squeezing all the air out of my chest. His breath was freezing in the cold air and his grey pullover blended into the morning mist behind him. I saw a hint of a black t-shirt at the neck of his pullover though and I felt crabby again.

“What are you doing here already?”

“I told you I was coming early to talk.”

“I didn’t know you meant this early.”

“I can leave if you want.”

There were sparks in both our eyes by this point. What was going on with us?

“No, come in.”

He followed me into the kitchen and I sat down to finish my bowl of cereal.

Lee watched me for a moment, but I didn’t stop eating even though I knew it was frustrating him – maybe
because
it was frustrating him. I wasn’t hungry anymore.

“Look, Sienna, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”

I dropped my spoon and said, “Didn’t you? You’re the one who asked Robin to dress up with you today. I didn’t do anything until I heard that.”

“You didn’t do anything? Who stormed out of my truck and ditched me for lunch?”

“How would you know? You didn’t even come to the tree.”

“I didn’t have to go to the tree to see you were eating lunch with Parker.”

“Well, you used Robin Gold to manipulate me, so you deserved it.”