Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys (11 page)

“Actually, I was talking about Miller,” Aimee said.

“Miller?” they all repeated, dumbstruck.

Aimee glanced across the cafeteria at the courtyard, where Miller was leaning back in his seat, listening to his radio. “I don't know. There's just something about him,” she said, narrowing her eyes wistfully as she watched him.

“Yeah, something weird,” Ria said.

“Ria!” her friends scolded.

“No, I get it,” Megan said. “He's like the strong, silent type.”

“Yeah,” Aimee said with bashful smile, sitting up straight. “Not that I could ever get a guy like that. Or any guy.”

“What?” Megan asked.

“Please. Look at me,” Aimee said.

“What? You're beautiful,” Megan said.

“Don't even bother, Megan,” Ria said, waving her fork around. “We tell this girl all the time that she's hands down the better-looking Farmer, but she refuses to believe us.”

“My arms are thicker than Hailey's calves,” Aimee said frowning. “Give me a break.”

Ria and Jenna rolled their eyes. Aimee had broad shoulders, a lot of muscle, and maybe a little extra meat on her bones, but she was hardly a giant.

“Whatever! You guys know I'm fine with my size. Someday some guy will totally fall in love with me. Just not in high school,” Aimee said. “Boys in high school are too superficial.”

“Well, maybe not all boys,” Megan said, glancing over at Miller, then leaning in toward the table. “Have you ever seen his smile?” she asked.

“Actually, I don't think so,” Aimee replied.

“Just wait,” Megan said. “It'll blow you away.”

Aimee bit her bottom lip and looked out at Miller again. Suddenly he raised his fists in the air and cheered, startling the goths across the courtyard. Aimee laughed and returned to her salad.

“Well, whatever. I still say it's Finn. You guys just don't have the same refined taste as me. I like the deep, soulful type,” Ria said, gazing past Megan's shoulder. “I mean, just look at the boy. Those blue eyes, that just-got-out-of-bed hair. And look at the way he dresses. Any guy that can just throw on whatever and still be that beautiful has got my vote.”

Megan glanced over her shoulder and found Finn sitting at
one of the tables by the window, wearing a faded black T-shirt, baggy jeans, and his ever-present paint-splattered boots. The sun poured in through the windows on his left, highlighting his dark blond hair and his intense expression. He was surrounded by a group of guys who were all laughing and joking with each other, but Finn's concentration was riveted on the sketchbook in front of him. His hand moved quickly across the page and even when someone threw an orange past his nose, he barely looked up.

“Well, you do have to admire that level of concentration,” Jenna said.

“Yeah, but it's totally pointless. That babe only has eyes for one girl,” Ria said.

“Really? Who?” Megan asked.

Ria pointed with her plastic fork. “Kayla Bird.”

A tall, willowy, olive-skinned beauty floated over to Finn's table in a long skirt and black boots. She lowered herself into the chair across from his and lifted her light brown, wavy hair over her slim shoulder. Finn glanced up, saw her, and instantly closed the sketchbook.

“Who's she?” Megan asked.

“Kayla Bird, junior. Artistic, beautiful, perpetually tan,” Ria said.

“The girl wears string bikinis at the town pool,” Aimee put in. “This is Massachusetts. I mean, who can compete with that?”

Megan stared at Kayla's back. There was a small birthmark right next to the strap of her white tank top and she was wearing a delicate, antique-looking gold watch on her slim wrist. Everything
about her was graceful. Even when she lifted her water bottle to twist open the top, she looked like a ballerina.

Megan glanced over at Finn and he was looking right at her. Not at Kayla, but at her. Megan's heart skipped a beat at being caught gaping and Finn shot her a quizzical look. He waved and Megan lifted a hand to acknowledge him before quickly turning back to the table. She sank down in her seat, blushing furiously. The one McGowan boy who didn't think she was a freak and now . . . well, now he did.

“Oh! I think we know which McGowan Megan likes,” Ria teased, pointing at Megan. “You're a Finn girl. I knew we'd get along.”

“No, I'm not,” Megan replied. “I am so not a Finn girl.”

“Please. Look at your face!” Ria replied.

“She's right,” Jenna said matter-of-factly. “You are blushing rather profusely.”

“Well, that's just me. I do that a lot,” Megan said, sitting up straight again and clearing her throat. “Trust me. I am not a Finn girl.”

“Whatever you say,” Ria replied, waving her fork again.

“Well, at least you're not an Evan girl, 'cuz that could be disastrous,” Aimee added.

“Yeah,” Megan replied, avoiding all eye contact. “At least I'm not that.”

 *  *  *

Megan headed for the locker room that afternoon, more than ready to take out the frustrations of the day on a soccer ball. Everyone in chemistry was refusing to partner with her because
of her first-day mishap, and Ms. Krantz had actually scolded her for working ahead of the class level in Spanish class. Apparently she was confusing everyone around her. What was she supposed to do, forget her knowledge of Spanish verb tenses?

As she came around the corner into the physical education wing, Megan heard a couple of voices talking loudly. Someone was arguing just around the next bend, in front of the school store. And the voices sounded mighty familiar. Was that . . . Evan?

“. . . know I don't mean anything by it.”

“It doesn't matter if
I
know that.
They
don't know that,” Hailey's voice replied. “Half the girls in school are looking at me like they know something I don't know. Do you have any idea what that feels like?”

“I don't understand. What do they know that you don't know?” Evan replied.

“They think that you like them, Evan!” Hailey replied. “They think they have something over me because you flirt with them right in front of me.”

There was an exhalation of air. Megan looked behind her to see if anyone was coming, but the hallway was empty. She didn't want to be caught spying, but this was good stuff. She couldn't tear herself away.

“Hailey, that's just the way I am,” Evan said. “I'm a friendly person.”

“Yeah, right,” Hailey said sarcastically.

“I am! And you knew that going in,” Evan replied. “Come on, don't you trust me?”

“Of course I do,” Hailey said. “It's just . . . well . . . imagine
how you'd feel if it seemed like every guy in school wanted
me
.”

Megan blinked as her heart squeezed. Hailey actually sounded kind of vulnerable there. She thought of Pearl's comment about her Evan-centered sexual fantasy. Maybe it wasn't the easiest thing, dating the hottest guy in school.

“Well, they do,” Evan said lightly.

Megan rolled her eyes.

“Evan, I'm trying to be serious here!”

“Fine! Fine! What do you want me to do? Stop talking to girls entirely?” Evan asked.

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Hailey replied.

Megan's jaw dropped.

“I don't believe you,” Evan said.

“Neither do I,” Megan said under her breath. Maybe Hailey's relationship wasn't easy, but she didn't have to try to
control
Evan.

At that moment she heard a bunch of her teammates coming down the hall. She lunged forward and yanked open the door to the locker room, pretending she had just arrived. Aimee, Ria, and a few of the other girls came around the corner, making enough noise to silence Hailey and Evan.

“Hey!” Megan said. “You guys ready to rumble?”

“You bet your ass I am,” Ria said. “Can I pretend the ball is our math teacher's face? Would that be wrong?”

Megan laughed. Who knew what would happen between Evan and Hailey? She didn't care. She was finally feeling like she fit in. And if that could happen, anything was possible.

 *  *  *

Megan sat on a bench in the locker room after practice while Ria worked a French braid into Megan's wet hair. Her heels bounced up and down and she glanced at her thick, black plastic watch. Her new garnet red bracelet rolled up and down her arm whenever she moved.

“How much longer is this gonna take?” she asked.

“I'm almost done,” Ria replied.

Aimee walked out of the bathroom and grabbed her backpack and gym bag. “You should let it dry like that and then take it out for the party tonight,” she said. “I bet your hair would look amazing all wavy.”

Megan swallowed against her dry throat. “Party?” she asked, leaning forward to grab her Gatorade from between her feet.

“If you keep moving, it's only going to take longer,” Ria told her.

“Fine,” Megan replied. Maybe this was why she had never had a whole troop of girlfriends before. This primping stuff was just not her thing.

“Oh, yeah. The guys' soccer team is having a party tonight,” Aimee told her, lifting the strap of her duffel bag over her head. “I thought I told you.”

“You should come,” Ria put in, leaning over her shoulder. “It's the first big party of the year and it usually ends with major drama.”

“Yeah, the cops busted it up last year,” Pearl said as she tied her sneakers. “It was so totally great.”

“Pearl, you weren't even there,” Ria said. “You were visiting your grandma.”

“Well, I heard it was so totally great,” Pearl replied, unfazed.

Ria grabbed a hair band from the bench and tied off Megan's braid. “There. Finished.”

Megan was on her feet in an instant. “Thanks,” she said, grabbing her stuff. “I guess maybe I'll see you guys tonight.”

Megan turned to walk out the door just as Hailey and her friends emerged from the second row of lockers. Hailey glared at Megan. Megan rolled her eyes and pushed through the door. Hailey jumped in at the exact same second so that their overstuffed gym bags slammed against each other and for a split second, they got wedged in.

“Rude much?” Hailey said.

Megan scrambled for a comeback, but as always, she knew she wouldn't be able to choke one out if she happened to think of one. Instead she rolled her eyes and pushed through the door.

Just once,
she thought, fuming.
Just once I wish I could actually defend myself.

“Megan! Wait up!” Aimee called out.

Megan paused just outside the door. Once again, Evan's car was parked down below. Evan stood in front of it, talking to Darnell and a couple of his friends who had just gotten out of football practice. When Megan turned around, almost the entire team had emptied out of the building.

“Here. This is Christian Todd's address,” Aimee said, tearing a piece of paper out of her notebook and handing it over. “That's where the party's gonna be, but call me if you need a ride.”

“You know, Aimee, I don't think Megan's going to be able to make the party,” Hailey said, striding up to them. “Shouldn't
you be working on your penalty kicks? We do have a game coming up.”

“My penalty kicks are fine,” Megan said flatly.

“Please. What were you, three for seven?” Hailey asked, glancing over her shoulder at Deena, the goalie. “It's hard to believe you really won the state championship with a leg like that. Or did you just make that up to impress all of us?”

Megan felt like she had been slapped. A few of their teammates twittered and a few others looked at one another uncomfortably.

“You know, if I were you, I'd take a look at your own skills and stop coming after me,” Megan snapped. The moment the words escaped her lips, she felt a rush of adrenaline. Had she really just said that?

“My skills are just fine, thanks,” Hailey shot back.

“You think so? 'Cuz I think today's practice tape would prove otherwise.”

“Ooh,” her teammates said under their breath.

Megan's heart hammered inside her chest. She could hardly believe what she was doing. Hailey opened her mouth to retort, but suddenly everyone was looking past Megan. She glanced over her shoulder and saw Evan walking up to them, twirling his keys around his finger.

“Hey, Kicks. We gotta go,” he said, barely glancing at Hailey.

Megan flushed slightly over the triumph of the moment.

“Go where?” Hailey asked.

“We have to pick up dinner for the family,” Evan said tersely.
“I can give you a ride, but you're gonna have to wait at Bamboo House.”

Hailey was clearly fuming, but she managed to keep her voice under control. “Thanks anyway,” she said. “Aimee, I'm coming with you.”

“Oh. Okay,” Aimee said. Hailey walked off and Aimee shoved her notebook back in her bag. “See you later, Megan.” She glanced quickly at Evan, confused, then scurried off after her sister.

Evan stared after them stoically. Megan's heart went out to him, even though she had no idea what he was feeling. Was he disappointed that Hailey was such a jealous nut? Was he sad because they were breaking up? What?

“Let's go,” he said finally, managing a tight smile. “We don't want the runts to get hungry. Trust me.”

Megan folded up the address for the party and shoved it in her back pocket. She could hardly wait to get home to her computer. Megan Meade had finally,
finally
stood up for herself. Tracy was going to be so proud.

TooDamn-Funky:
u told barbie off???? go Megan!!!

Kicker5525:
I KNOW! I ROCK!

TooDamn-Funky:
I have never been so proud.

Kicker5525:
Really? Also going to a party tonight!

TooDamn-Funky:
!!! mcg's have created a monster!