Hallie Hath No Fury . . . (5 page)

It helped that my mother was away on a retreat so that she could figure out her next project. Our housekeeper was staying with us so I'd have some supervision, but since I rarely came home before five anyway, I knew I was in the clear. And the guys in the garage in our building had been more than happy to get my mother's car out for me, assuming I was just pulling it around for her. It had just been an hour drive from New York City into suburban Connecticut, and even though it had been pretty, with bright-green leaves starting to appear on the trees on the side of the highway, I'd barely noticed. My thoughts had been on what had to happen, what I needed to remember, all the parts and pieces that needed to come together just right. I knew this afternoon, today, was my best shot.

When I'd determined that the best way to hurt Gemma was through Teddy, I'd made sure to look at every aspect of their relationship that I could find. And one thing that had been a source of frustration was that they were almost never apart. If I was going to meet Teddy—and have it seem like it was by chance—it had to be at a moment when Gemma wouldn't be there. I had a feeling she'd recognize me in a heartbeat and then my entire plan would fall apart.

I let out another breath, then got out of the car, grabbing my duffel bag from the backseat and heading inside the coffee shop. This wasn't my first time in Putnam—I'd done a dry run the week before, taking the train from Grand Central while my mother thought I was studying at the library. I'd figured out how to get to the park, and that the coffee shop would be a perfect staging area. I'd been seeing Gemma and her friends—because now I was Friendverse friends with most of them—talk about Stubbs for years, so actually being there was kind of like walking into a place from a movie or book, something I'd heard about but not actually experienced in real life. And when I'd recognized the barista making the drinks—she was a friend of Sophie's, who changed her profile picture at least three times a day—I'd greeted her by name, without thinking. It wasn't until she shot me a baffled look and said, “Um. Hi?” that I realized what I'd done. I'd forgotten that I actually didn't know this girl, or Sophie, or Teddy. I just knew a lot
about
them. And I would need to remember that if this was going to work.

I walked inside the coffee shop and headed straight for the bathroom, stepped inside, and locked the door. I'd done my makeup and hair this morning, but hadn't wanted to drive in the clothes I was going to be wearing for this. I needed everything to be perfect, and a wrinkled skirt did not fit that bill. I pulled the outfit out of my bag and gave it a critical look.

It was one of the things I'd spent quite a long time debating—exactly who I should pretend to be when I met Teddy for the first time. I was going to go under my own name, and keep all my real information the same, but I needed to have a persona, someone slightly different from who I actually was, that would be calibrated for maximum effect. Gemma seemed to mostly dress for comfort, in jeans and T-shirts and the occasional skirt, for special occasions. So I'd decided to go the opposite route. I was going to be preppy, polished, and a little bit dressed up, all the time. It wasn't necessarily how I would have chosen to dress—though I actually wasn't sure what that would look like anymore. I'd started dressing the same way the girls at my school dressed, and couldn't remember the last time I'd dressed just for me.

But this was not about me. This was about getting Teddy's attention. I pulled on the dress, which I'd bought last week for this occasion. It was long sleeved and belted, with a slightly fuller skirt, and I was wearing it with heels that were higher than the ones I normally wore. With my hair done and full makeup on, I looked much more like what people wore in movies or ads about teenagers, and not what people actually looked like. But that was pretty much the whole point.

I stepped into my shoes, gave myself one last look in the mirror, and tried to silently tell myself I could do this. The girl looking back at me actually didn't look anything like the Hallie Bridges I was used to seeing look back at me, which actually helped. Maybe this Hallie would be able to pull this off. I looked into my own eyes for a second longer, and then headed out.

*   *   *

Ten minutes later, I had picked out my spot in Putnam Park. Teddy had told Gemma that he'd be here from three onward, and that she should join him when she was finished. I'd have to make sure there was no overlap, but there was a solid window of time in which I had to make this happen.

I was sitting on a blanket, my skirt spread around me, a cup of coffee from Stubbs in one hand and a book in the other. I knew enough about Teddy now—his interests, his hobbies, what he thought of the movie he and Gemma saw last weekend—that I could have just done everything geared toward what he liked. I could have been holding the book I knew that he was currently reading (
For the Birds: Saving our Fine Feathered Friends
) and could have been drinking fair-trade coffee with almond milk (his drink of choice). But I'd actually decided to go the opposite way.

It wasn't anything I was sure of, but observing Gemma and Teddy and their relationship for the last two years, it seemed like this was what Gemma did, constantly. She did whatever Teddy did and never seemed to venture her own opinions. I'd actually had trouble figuring out who she was now, because it seemed like once she started dating Teddy, her entire personality disappeared. The list of Gemma's interests and activities was now just identical to his. And I knew I needed to do something to stand out from his long-time girlfriend. It couldn't only be how I dressed—it needed to be more than that. If he was going to be interested in me, I needed to be something other than what he currently had. And it really seemed like what he currently had was a girlfriend who went along with whatever he wanted to do. I'd had some friends at school like that, girls who didn't want to make waves, and were happy just to follow along. And though at first this seemed amazing—nobody to challenge you, and you always got to do what you wanted to do—it invariably got annoying. So I would need to be the opposite of that.

I smoothed down my skirt and tried to stop my heart from pounding. I tried to tell myself that I was ready, that I was prepared. But there was a piece of me that was terrified. If I botched this, I wasn't sure when I would get another chance. If I messed this up, I might have to come up with some other plan entirely—and I'd already spent two years working on this one. Also … what if he didn't like me?

I hated that this thought was swirling around in my head, but I couldn't seem to get it to stop. I'd never really had a boyfriend—there had been guys I'd met over the summers that I'd crushed on, and I'd gotten my first kiss from one of them, but I didn't have all that much experience with guys. And what if I wasn't going to be able to pull this off?

I realized I no longer had time to worry about hypotheticals when I saw a silver Prius swing into the parking lot. My heart was beating so hard, I made myself take a deep breath in and hold it for ten seconds before letting it out, the way Josh told me he always did when he got nervous before a big game.

As I watched, Teddy Callaway got out of the car and started walking toward me.

For a moment, I desperately wished I'd worn sunglasses, something that would let me really take him in without him being able to see me doing it. But since I hadn't, I pretended to look down at my book, glancing up at him only when I thought I could get away with it.

It was a little jarring, seeing him in real life like this—like a character from a TV show you've watched obsessively suddenly showing up next to you. He looked the same as in his pictures—but, I had to admit, a little better in person. He was wearing a yellow T-shirt I recognized from his profile picture, the one that read
Occupy Putnam
, and his hair was a little more tousled than I'd seen it in his pictures. It was also a little longer, and I realized he might not have updated his profile pictures in a few weeks.

He glanced over at me, and I felt my breath catch in my throat as I realized that none of the pictures had done him justice. His eyes were so blue, it was like they'd been Photoshopped. I lost myself in them for a moment—and it was like everything I was there to do totally disappeared. He gave me a smile and took a step closer, and I made myself focus. So what if he had the best and most dreamy eyes I'd ever seen? I had to concentrate here.

“Hi,” he said, with a smile that let me know just how confident he was. I'd known that he was class president, of course, but this was the first time I understood how that fact fit in. He was ceasing to be just a series of pictures and lines of text on a Web site and turning into an actual person—one with enough confidence to walk up to a strange girl in a park, all smiles.

“Hi,” I said, making sure to keep my voice a little bit cool. I didn't want to seem too interested too soon, and one of my revenge lessons popped into my head—
always make sure they think it's their idea.

“Sorry to bother you,” Teddy said, his smile still in place. “But I think you're in my spot.”

Bingo
. It was the ice breaker I'd been hoping for, and he'd just played his part perfectly. “Your spot?” I asked, arching an eyebrow. I hoped I sounded confused by this. I actually knew all too well that this was the spot Teddy always gravitated to in this park. I'd seen multiple pictures of him leaning against this tree, and many exchanges planning on meeting Gemma here.

“Well,” Teddy said with a good-natured shrug, “there isn't like a sign or anything. But that's my favorite spot in this park.”

“So I guess I picked well,” I said, giving him a small smile back. “Though to be fair I didn't realize there was anything that special about it.”

“It's totally special,” Teddy said as he let his messenger bag swing to the ground and crouched down next to it. He wasn't sitting, not yet, but I had a feeling we were almost there. “You've got the perfect blend of light and shade. Easy access to the parking lot, but not so close that you're breathing in exhaust fumes. And an excellent trunk for tree-napping.”

I laughed at that, and it wasn't even like I had to pretend to find it funny, I realized with some relief. “Good to know,” I said. I smiled at him, and even though my heart was still beating hard, made myself hold his eye contact for just another moment. “I'm Hallie.”

“Teddy,” he said easily. He held out his hand for me to shake, but as he did, lost his balance and tumbled forward, almost crashing into me but catching himself at the last minute.

“Are you okay?” I asked. He had braced himself with one hand on the tree trunk, which meant that his arm was above my shoulders and his head was next to mine. I blinked, trying to adjust to this new perspective. He was so close, I could see the faint freckles that covered his nose and cheeks. I could see his eyelashes, darker than you'd expect with his blond hair, so long they were practically casting shadows on his cheeks. And I could see his lips, which were close enough to mine that I could have raised my chin slightly and kissed him.

“Yeah,” Teddy said, though he didn't move right away, just looked down into my eyes for another moment longer. Then he pushed himself away, a faint blush coloring his cheeks, and sat down at the edge of my blanket. “Sorry about that. Should we try this again?” He extended his hand to me, and I reached out to shake it.

His hand was warm as it closed over mine, and I felt a shiver pass through me as his palm pressed against my own. “Nice to meet you,” I said, drawing my hand back as I tried to remember my plan. I was on a mission here, and I couldn't let myself get distracted.

“You too,” he said, and I noticed that he was settling in on the edge of my blanket, like he was preparing to stay for a bit.
Perfect
. “I'm surprised I haven't … Do you go to Putnam?” he asked, sounding genuinely baffled, and I knew it was because he prided himself on having spoken to every student at Putnam High. I knew this because it had been part of his campaign platform when he'd run last spring.

“No,” I said, setting my book aside, wanting to let him know I was also ready to settle in for a longer chat. “I live in New York. My mom's just in town on business, which meant I ended up tagging along.” I'd practiced this enough that I hoped it didn't sound like I was lying, and I was relieved when Teddy just nodded.

“Got it,” he said with a smile. “Well, if you're not a local, I guess I can forgive you for stealing my tree.”

“
Your
tree?” I asked, with another genuine laugh. “I happen to think that nothing in the natural world should belong to anyone.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I realized what I had done. Those were Teddy's words—he'd written an op-ed for the
Putnam Post
, decrying the commercialization of the Putnam waterfront. I'd read it, of course, but hadn't realized I had passages memorized—much less that I'd be able to recite them back to their author. I looked up at Teddy, worried that I'd just blown it. That after all my planning, I'd slipped up just when I needed to bring my A-game.

But Teddy was looking at me with surprise but not distrust. In fact, he looked thrilled. “That's what I think too,” he said slowly, a smile forming on his face. “But … wow. Nice to hear you do as well.”

“Yeah,” I said, smiling back at him. “It's…” I took a breath to say something else, continue the conversation, when suddenly I had a flash of my notebook, the lines I'd written there, underlined and starred.
Don't press your luck. Don't overstay your welcome. Leave when they're still interested.
And I realized that I would have wanted to stay and talk to Teddy not to advance anything, but just because I was having fun talking to him. And that was a problem. “I should go,” I said, drawing back slightly and dropping my book into my bag.