Connection (Le Garde) (13 page)

“
Holy shit, I left you guys for like two seconds!” Steven said, grinning.

Anna ran at Steven with a handful of flour, and he dodged her by going around the island. They chased each other around the kitchen. While I was staring at Anna and her gleeful, slightly insane expression, Sam suddenly threw some at me. Some of it hit my dark blue shirt, but most of it floated up into the air.

“
Hey!” I yelled as Kaylie cackled by the fridge.

“
What?” Sam asked. “I dare you to do something.”

I saw a bowl of flour behind her and I went for it. She tried to push me aside, but I was stronger than her and got around her. I grabbed a big handful. She made a run for it and collided directly into Kaylie.

“
Geez, watch where you’re going!” Kaylie said, grinning. “Oh, and Sam—” She attacked her with a handful of flour, shoving it down her shirt. I joined in and clapped mine down on top of her head. She screamed, lashing out at both of us. She slugged me in the stomach, then went for the flour behind me.

While I was trying to breathe—I forgot how strong that girl was—I was totally unprepared for when she got me on the back. I spun around and burst out laughing when I saw her. She looked like a ghost, her blonde hair and face completely white.

“
Shut up!” she said, smearing more flour on my shirt.

“
Your teeth match your skin!”

She pushed me up against the counter, her hands still on my chest, and I grabbed her wrists.

“
Stop feeling me up,” I told her, raising my eyebrow.

Her smile turned flirtatious. “Or what?”

I shook my head at her. “You’re crazy.” I looked beyond Sam. Steven had Anna in a headlock, and she was trying to tickle him to get out of it, laughing so hard her words made no sense. “Come on, let’s team up on Anna.”

Sam’s smiled faded, and I let go of her to go back to the flour. “Keep her there, Steven,” I called.

“
No!” Anna squealed. “No, don’t come near me!”

Kaylie and Sam joined in, and we all jumped on Anna with flour. I got her back, and Sam went for her hair. I wasn’t sure what Kaylie was doing, but Anna squirmed and yelled at us nonetheless. After a few seconds, I think Steven started to feel bad for her because he let her go and pushed her behind him, away from us.

“
I hate you all!” Anna said, breathless with laughter.

“
You wuss,” I said, grinning.

“
No, no, I’m seriously—I’m covered, I need to take a shower.” She disentangled her arms from Steven and shoved me in the chest as she walked by. She grinned back at us before leaving the kitchen.

“
We should attack her in the shower,” Sam said, that maniacal look from yesterday returning.

“
Uh,” I said, “be my guest. For some reason I don’t think she’d be happy if I barged in on her shower.”

I studiously avoided Steven’s eyes as I tried to not imagine Anna in the shower. Naked. “So, whose pizza’s first?” I said loudly, clapping my hands. Flour fell from my sleeves.

We stuck Kaylie’s in, then she, Steven and Sam left to change. I took my shirt off to shake it off while they were gone. I shook my head over the sink and got my hair a little wet.

I felt Anna getting closer—coming down the steps, through the living room. I turned the water off and reached for my t-shirt. She came in before I got a chance to pull it on, and she stopped in the doorway.

Her gaze went straight to my chest, and her thoughts were a mixture of surprise, approval, and
stop checking him out.
She turned away, clearing her throat. “Sorry, I—”

I pulled my shirt all the way down as my cheeks heated up. “No big deal. Trying to get some of that flour off me.” I looked down at my chest. Still a lot of flour. But hey, Anna seemed to like what she saw. I definitely wasn’t as built as Steven, but I’d lost some of the chub of middle school.

Anna thought of saying something, but she went back into the living room, determined to ignore it. Probably the best policy, considering the boyfriend in the house and everything.

Once Kaylie and Sam had changed, we started playing video games. Kaylie and Steven were soon racing in some kind of MarioCart game. I sat on the smaller couch, and Sam took the spot next to me.

“
Where’s Matt?” I asked.

“
He’s at school,” Steven said. “His Spring Break was last week.”

“
He went to Mexico!” Sam said. “Wouldn’t that be fun?”

I shrugged. “I guess. I’d rather go somewhere where I knew the language.”

“
Oh, somewhere boring like England?” Sam raised her eyebrows.

“
No, somewhere like.
 
.
 
.” I trailed off, realizing I didn’t know French when I wasn’t around Anna. She smirked at me. “England isn’t boring.”

“
How do you know? Have you been there?”

I rolled my eyes, smiling. “I just know these things.”

Sam laughed and nudged Kaylie in the shoulder, who sat in front of us on the ground. “What foreign country would you want to go to?”

“
Um, maybe.
 
.
 
.” Kaylie said, staring at the TV and turning to the left as her car turned. “I can’t think about it right now, I’m racing!”

“
I’d go to Senegal,” Anna announced. She was on the big couch with Steven, her feet resting on his lap. “Or the Congo, if I felt like it was safe. Or Morocco.”

“
Morocco would be cool,” I said.

We talked about traveling, and the girls made a promise to travel out of the country together, even if it was just to Canada or Mexico. Sam started fantasizing about a trip to Tijuana, and Anna asked her why would she want to go to Tijuana. To her, it sounded dirty and overrun with drunk college kids. I smiled, inwardly agreeing.

“
Aaron agrees with me,” Anna said, motioning to me.

“
How do you know?” Sam looked at me. “Do you, Aaron?”

“
Yes, as a matter of fact, I do,” I said.

Sam pushed me in the shoulder. “Fine, I’ll go to Tijuana by myself. Or with Matt.”

“
I’m sure he’ll love that,” Anna said, winking.

Sam gasped and glanced at me.

I laughed. “You and Matt?” I asked. It’d be awesome if she went out with Matt, even though the guy was a little full of himself.

“
No.” She shook her head. “Matt likes Kaylie.”

Kaylie’s face went red. “Hello? I’m right here!”

“
I’m going to check the pizza,” Sam said, jumping to her feet.

Steven cheered, throwing up his hands. “I win again.”

Kaylie threw her controller in Anna’s lap. “Thanks for distracting me.”

“
Hey, Aaron, come here,” Sam said from the kitchen.

I hesitated and felt Anna’s amusement. I shot her a look before walking to the kitchen. Sam stood by the open oven with a steaming pizza in her hands. “Will you make me a clearing?” she asked, nodding to the island.

I chuckled as I pushed aside all the crap on the counter: bags of flour, a dough roller, the cheese. I picked up a hot pad and stuck it on the wood for Sam. She smiled at me and put another pizza in.

“
Whose is this?” I asked, looking at the pizza Sam had just taken out.

“
All veggies? That’s Kaylie’s.” Sam closed the oven door and put the timer on. “It smells amazing, doesn’t it?”

“
Yeah, it does. I can’t wait for mine.” I motioned to my pizza, which was covered in pepperoni and onions.

Sam smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear.

Oh, no.
I knew what that meant.

“
So, Aaron.
 
.
 
.” she trailed off. “I’ve had a lot of fun these past few days.”

“
Me, too,” I said, putting my hands in my pockets.

“
Maybe once we get back home, we can.
 
.
 
.I don’t know, see a movie or something.”

I stared at the fridge, which was completely bare except for a calendar for three years ago. “Yeah.” I met Sam’s eyes. I just had to do it. “Do you mean just me and you?”

Sam shrugged, doing that hair thing again. “Maybe. If you wanted to.”

I took a deep breath. “Well.
 
.
 
.I kind of.
 
.
 
.I still feel the way I did when we broke up.”

Her face fell, and she took one step back. “Oh.” She stared down at the island. “Right. I just thought that the last few days.
 
.
 
.”

“
I had fun,” I said. “I like hanging out with you, just not, you know, that way.”

Sam sighed, crossing her arms. “Right.” She glanced toward the living room. “Do you like Anna?”

Taken aback, I stared at her for a moment. There were a lot of things I could say, and I struggled over various responses—one confessing I did, one saying that even if I did, it wouldn’t matter because she was going out with Steven. “No,” I lied. “No, we’re just friends.”

Sam pursed her lips and squinted at me as though my face would tell her the truth. “Well, she told me everything about the two of you.”

At first I thought she meant
everything
, but then my brain caught up. Anna wouldn’t do that. So, she must be talking about Jordan. I scratched the back of my neck. “Yeah?”

“
Yeah, and if you think you’re going to have a chance with her, you’re gonna have to apologize.”

I scoffed. “Oh, well, that’s not really any of your business.”

“
Yes, it is,” Sam snapped. “Anna’s my friend, and she deserves someone who’s not going to flake out on her when she needs him.”

I clenched my teeth. I turned her down, and now she was going to be a jerk about it. Once I thought about it, I hadn’t been any better last year when Anna had turned me down. “What happens with me and Anna is between the two of us.”

“
Well, good thing you don’t like her.”

Before I had a chance to respond, Kaylie waked in. “Is my pizza ready?”

The rest of the afternoon was off. We ate our pizzas and played more games—first video games, then we dug out some ancient board games. I knew Anna could sense the tension between Sam and I, but we couldn’t have a real conversation with both Steven and Sam around. What would I tell her, anyway?

When Matt got home, both Sam and Kaylie were flirting with him, but Sam was more forward about it. By the time I was ready to leave, Kaylie had given up speaking to Matt at all.

“
I think I’m going to go home,” I announced. “It’s nearly four, and Tara should be off work soon.”

I was expecting some protests, but everyone started to say goodbye. I guess I wasn’t as popular as I thought. I went to the kitchen to clean up my plate, and Anna came in after me. “Thanks for coming,” she said. “It was fun.”

“
Yeah, it was,” I said, smiling. “Maybe I’ll see you again later on this week.”

Anna shrugged. “Maybe.” I knew she wouldn’t feel as comfortable inviting me since Sam wouldn’t be here.

“
I’d be kind of a fifth wheel, anyway.” I motioned to the others in the living room.

She chuckled as I rinsed off my plate and stuck it in the sink. “We’ll see.” 

Back in the living room, I asked Sam when she was leaving. “In a couple hours,” she said shortly.

“
Okay, well, have fun at your cousin’s wedding,” I said.

“
Is Tom picking you up?” Anna asked.

“
Tara. But I’m going to go to a music shop a couple blocks from here and call her from there.”

“
Oh, cool,” Anna said, smiling at me. “See you around.”

Everyone called their goodbyes as I went to the door. I glanced over my shoulder and caught Anna’s eyes on me. She grinned and waved me away.

Outside, I took in a deep breath of fresh, brisk air. I zipped my jacket up all the way and took off down the hill toward the north, where I knew the collections of shops were that included the music store. This neighborhood was nice. Every lawn was manicured to perfect, and I passed a silver sports car that could have been racing in Monaco. Maybe. Look, I didn’t know much about cars.

As I walked, I pulled up a map on my phone to the music store. It ended up being a twenty minute walk, and by the time I got there, it was raining. I ducked inside of the store, shaking off my damp jacket.

I looked around a little bit, played with an electric guitar or two, wished I had more money. I seriously needed to get a job.