Puppy Love (20 page)

It turned out the Doberman always insisted on riding shotgun,
so I ended up in the far backseat with Muckle and the corgi. The other two humans sat in the middle with the border collies and chattered nonstop with Adam about the day's competition, only occasionally remembering to include me in the conversation.

I slumped in my seat, feeling vaguely disappointed. Still, no biggie—after we dropped the others off, Adam and I could get this date back on track. Maybe even recapture that moment that Tabitha had interrupted.

To my surprise, I soon realized Adam was pulling into my neighborhood. He stopped in front of my house and hurried around to let me out the side door.

“Oh,” I said. “I thought we were going to grab something to eat?”

He looked sheepish. “Sorry, I thought we'd have more time. I still have to drive these guys home, then go get Jinx before flyball. Rain check?”

“Sure.” I forced a smile.

Muckle and I watched from the sidewalk as the minivan pulled away in a cloud of exhaust. Okay, that definitely hadn't been the kind of first date I'd been expecting. I pulled out my phone, my finger already moving to the preset for Robert's number. Then I remembered: We still weren't speaking.

With a sigh, I stuck the phone back in my pocket and headed inside with Muckle.

Chapter
Eighteen

I
spent most of Sunday
morning moping around the house, wondering if Adam was going to call to ask me out again. Or just to say hi. Wasn't that what was supposed to happen? I wasn't sure, since I'd never been out on a real date before. Robert was right—the seventh-grade dance didn't count.

Speaking of Robert, I was really hoping he'd call too. I knew him—he had to be dying of curiosity wondering how things had gone yesterday. Wasn't that reason enough to get over himself and call to make up?

But when the phone finally rang, it wasn't either of them. It was Rachel.

“Hey, Lauren,” she said. “I got your number off my phone from when you called before. Hope you don't mind.”

“No, it's cool,” I said. “What's up?”

“I was calling to see if you're doing anything this afternoon,” she said. “Because Jamal and I and some other people from school might try to catch that zombie movie. Want to come?”

My first instinct was to say thanks but no thanks. I had very important sitting-by-the-phone plans, after all. And I didn't want to be a third wheel on their movie date.

But maybe that was the wrong attitude on both counts. Rachel had mentioned that “other people from school” were going too. If she and Jamal were testing the waters in a group setting, I wanted to support them. As for Adam and Robert? Sitting by the phone wouldn't make either of them call any faster.

Besides, I did want to see that movie. And even if Robert and I made up in the next ten seconds, there was still no way he'd go with me. While his hatred of horror was all-encompassing, zombie movies were probably his least favorite. Not only were they full of blood and guts, but tattered clothes as well, which was even more terrifying and horrific in Robert's eyes.

“Sure, that sounds great,” I told Rachel. “Thanks. I'm really glad you called.”

*  *  *

“I can't believe I'm the only one here who's never seen a single zombie movie,” Rachel said as our little group walked away from the snack bar bearing drinks, candy, and popcorn. “Should I be worried?”

The group included me, Jamal, and the “other people from
school,” who had turned out to consist of Jamal's friend Kenny and Rachel's friend Addie. Kenny was the guy Jamal had told me about—the one who'd tried to talk him into getting a big, tough, macho dog. He was pretty much the opposite of big, tough, and macho himself. Actually, he reminded me a little bit of Muckle. He was short and lean and happy-go-lucky and seemed physically incapable of remaining still and quiet for more than a millisecond.

Then there was Rachel's friend Addie, a bigmouthed, boisterous redhead with a loud laugh and a sarcastic wit. She wasn't anything like the type of friend I would have pictured Rachel having, but I liked her immediately.

At first I was afraid I'd feel like a fifth wheel in the group—after all, I was the only newbie, the only County Day kid, the not-quite-not-shy girl who didn't do well with strangers. But that concern faded after the first thirty seconds or so. All the MVHS kids were so nice and friendly and cool that they would have made a hermit feel comfortable hanging out with them.

“You'll love it, Rach. You haven't lived until you've watched a zombie eat a human brain.” Addie elbowed me. “Am I right?”

“Totally.” I grinned at Rachel. “Don't worry, nobody will be able to tell if you close your eyes at the gory parts.”

“But don't be a wuss,” Kenny put in, scooting forward to open the door for the rest of us. “You've got to watch the whole thing or it doesn't count.”

“Doesn't count for what?” Jamal asked him.

Kenny shrugged and grinned. “Just doesn't count, dude.”

“Good to know.” Rachel walked past them into the theater.

I followed, mentally calculating the best way to make sure she and Jamal ended up sitting next to each other. So far, they weren't acting particularly couple-y. That wasn't really a surprise—Rachel was pretty shy, and Jamal probably didn't want to scare her off by being pushy. I figured sitting beside each other in the dark for a couple of hours might help them feel closer.

Somehow, though, it didn't work out that way. I tried to herd the two of them in ahead of me so they'd be stuck at the end of the row together, but then Rachel decided she needed to go out and grab more napkins. She wiggled out back past us, and somehow I ended up sitting between Jamal and Addie with Rachel out by the aisle beside Kenny. Oops.

“So this should be epic, right?” Jamal said, settling back in his seat and smiling at me. “I heard the special effects are killer.”

“Yeah.” I decided I might as well make productive use of this time to talk up Rachel a little more. “I hope Rachel likes it. She's really cool, isn't she?”

“Sure.” Jamal tossed some popcorn into his mouth. Then he glanced over at me. “Oh, sorry. Want some?”

He held out the box. I took a couple of kernels. “Thanks. So do you and Rachel have many classes together?”

“Just English and gym.” Jamal crunched on more popcorn. “So what classes do you take at County Day, Lauren?”

“Oh, just the usual.” I tried to think of something else to say about Rachel. But at that moment, the lights dimmed and a cheer
went up from the audience. For the next hour and a half, I forgot all about Rachel and Jamal—and even me and Adam—as I watched zombies eat the world.

*  *  *

“Seriously, how can you guys think about eating after watching that movie?” Rachel exclaimed, pushing away her menu.

We were all crowded into a booth at a local diner. This time I'd succeeded in arranging things so that Rachel and Jamal were seated together. They were squished next to each other on one side of the booth, with Addie on Rachel's other side. I was across from Jamal, next to Kenny.

Kenny licked his lips noisily. “The movie made me hungry,” he declared. “Since there are no brains on the menu, I'll have to settle for a nice, juicy burger.”

Addie laughed as Rachel shuddered. “Grow up, babe,” she told her friend with a grin. “The movie wasn't real.”

“Duh.” Rachel rolled her eyes at Addie. “Anyway, I'm full from the popcorn. I'll just have a soda, I guess.”

After we ordered, we spent the next few minutes talking about the movie. Then we moved on to other topics. Once again, I was amazed to find myself totally comfortable talking to these guys. Maybe I wasn't quite as not-quite-not-shy as I'd always thought. Maybe hanging out with someone so truly not shy as Robert had just let me get away with it. Or something. I was too busy having fun to psychoanalyze it, though I planned to think about it later.

I was disappointed when Kenny checked his watch and announced that he had to get going because he was supposed to babysit his little sister while his parents went out to dinner. Jamal was the only one with a car, so he offered to drive us all home. We all went out and piled into his car, which was a cool purple vintage Volkswagen hatchback. Somehow I ended up riding shotgun. I wished there was a way to switch places with Rachel, but I couldn't think of a way to do it that wasn't likely to be super obvious and embarrass her. And being easily embarrassed myself, I wasn't about to do that to her.

As Jamal headed down a side street leading to the local two-lane highway, Kenny leaned forward and poked him on the shoulder. “Why are you going this way, bro? It's shorter to take Main Street over to the west side of town.”

“Can't.” Jamal didn't take his eyes off the road. “I heard there was a bad accident over that way this morning. I figured I'd just avoid that mess by taking the highway to your place first and then circle back around.”

“But there wasn't—” Addie cut herself off and shrugged. “Okay, if you say so, J. Hope you don't mind a long ride home, Lauren. Guess you'll be getting dropped off last.”

“No problem. It's way better than taking the bus.” I was a little disappointed; I'd been hoping he'd find an excuse to drop off the rest of us first so he could spend some alone time with Rachel. But traffic was traffic, so I didn't worry about it.

Soon we were saying good-bye to Kenny, and then to Rachel
and Addie, who both got out at Addie's house. “Nice meeting you,” I said as Addie climbed out of the car.

“Yeah, ditto,” she said. “We should do this again.”

As we drove off, Jamal glanced at me. “They're nice, aren't they?”

“Definitely.” My heart jumped. He looked so serious and thoughtful all of a sudden—was he thinking about how sweet and pretty Rachel was? Maybe even thinking of asking my advice about how to ask her out again? I just might have been better at this matchmaking thing than I thought.

We stayed silent while he pulled back out into traffic. Once we were cruising along, he looked over at me again. “I'm glad we got to see that movie together,” he said. “There aren't many girls who appreciate a good brain-chewing scene.”

I grinned. “Yeah. I'm thinking it's pretty much just me and Addie.” Not wanting him to think I was criticizing Rachel, I quickly added, “But hey—everyone's got their own taste, right?”

“Sure.” Jamal steered around a scrap of tire in the road. “Anyway, it was fun. We should do it again sometime.”

I nodded, thinking about how Addie had just said the same thing. Would it happen? I hoped so. If Robert was never going to talk to me again, I'd need some new friends.

“How about Tuesday after class?” Jamal added.

I blinked, glancing over at him. “Sure. That sounds cool.”

But now I wasn't really thinking about that anymore. Hearing Jamal mention our puppy class reminded me of Adam. Had he
called? I'd switched off my phone ringer during the movie, and I'd forgotten to turn it back on at the diner. Pulling it out, I checked my messages. The only one was a text from Mom, wondering what time I'd be home.

Nothing from Adam. Nothing from Robert. Oh well.

“Cool.” Jamal cleared his throat. “Um, sounds like a plan.”

He spun the wheel to make the turn onto my street. When he pulled to the curb in front of my house, he cut the engine and turned to face me.

“So this was a lot of fun,” he said with a smile. He leaned a little closer. “Seriously. I'm glad we finally got to—”

He was cut off by the sound of barking. I recognize Muckle's high-pitched yapping immediately and had a moment of panic. What was he doing outside? Had Mom finally snapped and kicked him out of the house after yet another accident involving her stupid rug?

That was indeed Muckle racing around the side of the house onto the front lawn, but he wasn't alone. “Whoa,” I said, my brain struggling to make sense of what I was seeing. Or rather who I was seeing, clinging on to the other end of the leash. “This is weird.”

“What?” Jamal asked.

“That's my mom—and it looks like she's walking Muckle.” I blinked a few times, wondering if all the grease, sugar, and caffeine I'd just consumed was making me hallucinate or something. “She never does that. She's never done that.”

But she was doing it now. Mom looked breathless and a little
overwhelmed as Muckle dragged her toward Jamal's car, barking nonstop.

“Oh, dear,” she exclaimed, tugging on the leash. “He's awfully strong for such a small dog, isn't he? You'd better get out here and grab him before he scratches your friend's car, Lauren.”

“Coming.” Rolling my eyes at Jamal, I hopped out of the car. “You didn't have to walk him, Mom. I was going to do it as soon as I got home.”