Crushed (19 page)

“Oh,” was all
Cleo
could think to say because
she wasn’t sure she
agreed.
Mia obviously appealed to a lot of guys. It would only make sense that Reece had suddenly
become interested in her, too.

“
I really don’t mind giving you a ride
. Especially since the library is only a few blocks from where you’re going
today
. B
ut
I think you sho
uld have let him drive you
,” Emma said, yet again.

Cleo
shook
her
head. Not after the loud, embarrassing fit Mia had thrown yesterday when
she and Reece
had
got
ten
back to school.
They
’d made the mistake of walking in the doors together. Mia must’ve either skipped or
ducked out of class early because she was standing there waiting, just minutes before
the bell rang.
Cleo had to admit part of her
didn’t blame
Mia
for being mad.
Cleo would
probably not
have
be
en
real happy i
f she and Reece
were together and he’d run off with
Mia
. The thing wa
s,
Cleo knew she
trust
ed him enough that she never
would
have made
an issue of it.
She also would have used some discretion. There was no reason to be sure the whole
school heard about it.
Cleo
didn’t have any intention of putting him through that again. Or
herself.

“Riding with him yesterday was a bad idea. One I’
m not going to repeat,
”
she
firmly told her
best friend.

“I do
n’t think Reece would mind,” Emma
needled.

“Not the point,”
Cleo
tossed back.
Her
nose was beginning to prickle and
her
eyes were beginning to burn.
She
couldn’t
think about Reece right then. She just couldn’t. Not unless she
wanted to lose it right
t
here in Emma’s car. She
kn
e
w Emma wouldn’t mind. Or blame her. But she
was
so tired of feeling this way all
of
the time
.
She
just need
ed
to move on to something else.
“Ethan told me to tell you ‘hi’,” she said.
“He’s coming home in two weeks.”

Emma snorted. “It’s so weird that you talk to my brother more than I do.
He never calls me.
”

“You could call him,” Cleo pointed out.

“Why would I want to do that?” Emma asked with a wrinkled up nose.

Cleo shook her head, exasperated. “I have no idea. But enough about me, l
et’s talk about you. Any progress with Gavin?”

Cleo
knew there had
n’t been. Emma would have told her
a
bout
it immediately if there was
.
Emma had begun shamelessly flirting with him last spring. The boy seemed completely
oblivious. This had Emma in a bit of a tizzy over him because usually, just a little
bit of flirting was all it took to get wh
o
she wanted.
Therefore, Gavin’s apparent disinterest had her feeling a little flustered.

“No,” she said with a pout. “Short of literally falling at his feet, I don’t know
what to do to get him to notice me.”

“
I don’t think you need to do anything that drastic.
How about,” Cleo
teased, “you just ask him out? That might work.”

She crinkled up her face. “I want
him
to ask
me
out.”

“
I know you do, Em.
But worst case scenario? You ask him out, he says no. Then at least you know the boy
i
s an idiot and not worth your time
. You can move on
. But honestly, I think he’ll say yes.
” It was the truth.
Cleo loved Emma and she
couldn’t imagine anyone else
not
loving her.
“
I mean, why wouldn’t he? You
’
r
e fun
, you
’
r
e
sweet
,
you
’
r
e
—”

“If you say
‘
cute
’
, I’m kicking you out of my car,” Emma threatened.

She was
cute
. At barely over five feet tall,
with big brown eyes, a flawless complexion and her
bright auburn
hair in a pixie cut,
cute
was a completely accurate description of her.

Cleo
improvised. “You’re adorable.”

She got a good-natured glare for her
opinion
.

“
If he doesn’t see you that way, it’s definitely his loss. But I think he would.
I’m sure he’s not going out with anyone. Has he
ever
gone out with anyone?” Cleo
asked.

“Not that I know of,” Emma sighed.

Gavin wa
s quiet and Emma wasn’t usually interested
in quiet and shy. Cleo
never would’ve guessed he’d be Emma’s type but who was
she
to judge? The heart wants what it wants sometimes.

“
Soooo
,”
she
began, “if he has no experience dating, he probably has no experience asking someone
out.
In fact, your flirting seems
to
go right over his head. I don’t think he really gets what’s going on,”
she
said, unable to hide
her
amusement.
She
had seen Emma’
s efforts.
Gavin seemed embarrassingly clueless in her attempts to win him over. “
I think you should just go for it.”

She was quiet and
Cleo
could see that she was debating.

“Seriously, I don’t think he’s even aware that feminine wiles exist, let alone that
you’ve b
een trying to use them on him,”
Cleo
pressed.

Emma
pursed her lips as she continued to drive.
They
were only a few blocks from where
Cleo
needed to be.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” she
agreed.

“Awesome,”
Cleo
said with a grin.

“Just not yet.”

Cleo
groaned. “Emma…”

“These things take time!” she stubbornly told
her.

“You’re right,”
Cleo
said. “Just let me know when you’re ready
.
I’ll be there to say ‘I told you so’ when he says yes.”

Emma grinned at her
and shook her head. “You sure you have a ride back to school?”

“Yeah, Janna said I could ride with her. I just didn’t want to ask her to pick me
up because she comes to t
own from the other direction,” Cleo
explained.

“Okay, see you later.”

“See ya,” Cleo
said as
she
opened the door and slid out.

It looked like
she
was the last of the class to arrive. Reece was already c
hatting with Janna’s partner,
Liam. Cleo
gave
the
m a quick wave and headed over to Janna.

“Ugh,” Janna
moaned, “when I signed up for this, I wasn’t thinking how cold it would be in the
mornings.”

“I know,” Cleo
admitted.
She had worn a jacket but she
could’ve used a pair of gloves too. The problem was, this time of year it would warm
up in no time so it was hard to dress appropriately.
“But luckily this assignment only lasts a few more weeks.”

They
chatted about what
their
other options would be for the class.
What they’d like to do and what they
absolutely did not want to do.
They
both agreed ditc
h clean up was at the bottom of their
list
s
. Even after the nursing home kitchen.

“You know,” she finally said, “it seems like
fate you got paired with Reece.”

“Fate? Feels more like bad luck,”
Cleo
grumbled.

Janna laughed. “I don’t believe that for a second. And what I really don’t get is
why you asked me for a ride back to school when you could be riding back with
him
.”

“Um,”
Cleo
said, “did you not hear about Mia’s tirade yesterday?”

Janna shrugged. “
I was right behind you. I witnessed it.
Maybe it’s about time she learned the world doesn’t revolve around her.”

Cleo
had nothing to say to that.

“And from the way Reece keeps looking at you,” Janna said with a smug smile, “
Reece’s
world for sure doesn’t revolve around her.”

***

Reece was in a horrible mood.
Not only did Cleo refuse to ride with
him
, she seemed to be going out of her way trying to avoid
him
.
He
wasn’t at all surprised to see Emma drop her off. Then she
headed straight to Janna after barely glancing
his
way.

So much for their
convers
ation yesterday. She had said they could be friends. He
wasn’t expecting a lot to come of it, but not
feeling like she was avoiding him
would
have
be
en
nice.

He
su
re wished it were as easy for him
to pretend there had never been anything bet
ween them
.

He knew it was pointless but he
really wanted to talk
to her about the conversation he’d had with his mom. She’d get how relieved he was
to know his mom was on his
side.
To know that everything was now, finally out in the open with his
dad. She’d understand
his
frustra
tion with him about school. But he
also knew she’d be happy that
his m
om
didn’t feel the same way
.

He
f
inally had approval to do what he wanted with his
life.

When Mia
had called last night, he’d tried telling her. She’d cut him
off almost immediately, making it entirely clear that she was bored. S
he did not want to hear about his parents. He knew he
was an idiot for even trying to talk to her.

Instead, they
had a mind-numbing discussion about whether or not she should go blonder the next
time she got highlights.

He
to
ssed his rake down next to his
pile of leaves and headed off to g
et a bag for them. Janna beat him
to the box that was next to the supplies.

“You
two are so funny,” Janna told him
with a smirk.

“Who?”

“You and Cleo,” she told
him
.

He
scoffed, n
ot real h
appy anyone found his
trashed heart amusing. “Right.”

“No, I mean it. The way you two keep taking turns checking each other out,” she said
with a
giggle
.

“I do not—”

“Oh, yes
you do!” she said as she cut him
off with a laugh. “But so does she. It’s like you two are in the middle of a tennis
match. Only it’s in super slow motion. And there are no rackets. Or balls. You just
use your eyes.” She started laughing again.
Reece didn’t find any humor in her words.
“I think it’s cute.” Then she
glanced over his
shoulder and nodded her head to where Cleo was standing. “Don’t believe me…?” she
taunted.