Shatterproof (5 page)

We sit down on the bench together. I keep my arm around Spring. My fingers stroke her amazing hair. She doesn’t object.

“So anyway,” she says, snuggling close. “You wanted to tell me something?”

“I did?”
Tell her, tell her, tell her
. But all I want to do is kiss her.

“Before that nasty girl with the makeup advice came along,” she says. “You were about to say something important.”

“Oh, that.” I need to handle this right. I take my arm from her shoulder to help Tree play with his toy cars. We push them up and down on the bench. That buys me some time to think. But no good way of admitting what I’ve done comes to me.

“Yes, that,” she says. “What did you want to tell me, Bo?”

“Um, well, see, what I wanted to say was—oh, look, there’s Dakota.”

“Dakota?’ Spring glances around.

“Yeah.” I have a sinking feeling. This is not good. “Dakota is Laurence’s older sister.” I shouldn’t have drawn attention to her. But I wanted to distract Spring.

Dakota is with a guy who is probably her boyfriend. Or one of them. They’re outside the phone store next to Marlena’s.

I hold my breath. Maybe she won’t see us. Maybe she won’t see Lug in front of Marlena’s.

But she does.

The guy goes ahead into the phone store. Dakota calls to Lug, “Hey, loser! What’s up?” She saunters over to where we are.

Lug follows her, acting all casual. “Nothing,” he says. “Just hanging out.” He’s a master at staying cool. He doesn’t look or sound guilty.

I’m starting to sweat. I’m tempted to run. But I don’t want to leave Spring.

Dakota stands there with her hands on her hips, staring at me. “Thought you said you didn’t have a girlfriend?”

There’s nothing I can do to save this situation.

But I have to try. “Hey, Dakota,” I say. “This is my new friend, Spring.” I sling my arm around her shoulder again. “Oh, and her little brother, Tree.”

“Really.” Dakota raises her eyebrows. “You work fast.”

Spring says brightly, “Have you signed up yet?” I can feel Spring admiring how good Dakota looks. I want to warn her that Dakota’s not nice. That this isn’t going to end well. But I can’t find the words. I’m too scared.

Dakota squints at Spring’s scar. “Signed up for what?”

“To be an extra on
Shatterproof
. They’re filming in North Van next weekend. Laurence and Bo are signing up extras.” Spring stops when she sees the surprised look on Dakota’s face. “But I guess you already knew all that?”

“Sure, but not the details,” Dakota says. “I don’t work in the industry, and Laurence never tells me anything. He wouldn’t want his big sister to be part of the show.”

So Spring fills her in.

I sit there shuddering while she gushes on and on. This can’t be happening.

Dakota listens like she believes every word. “Omigod,” she says when Spring’s done. “That’s incredible!”

“I know, right?” Spring says. “It’s such a great chance to be on
TV
and also make some money.”

Dakota takes her time breaking the news. First she checks her phone again. Then she straightens her shirt and pushes the sleeves back. And then she says, all sweet and innocent, “Yeah, but see, there’s only one problem.”

Spring looks puzzled. “There is?” She picks up a toy car Tree dropped and hands it back to him. “What’s that?”

“What’s that?” Tree repeats. But nobody laughs.

Dakota points one of her long black nails at Lug. “Laurence over there is not a production assistant.” Then she stabs
me in the chest with her talon. “And this guy? He’s not Bo Blaketon.”

“Yes, he is.” Spring doesn’t get it yet. She turns to face me and says, “You are, right?”

I don’t answer. The words won’t come out. And I can’t look her in the eye.

“Bo?” she says. “You did tell me that’s who you are.”

“Uh, no,” I mumble. “I never actually told you that.” I point at Lug like Dakota did, minus the long ugly fingernail. “He did.”

Lug just stands there smirking. Like he can’t wait to see how this plays out.

“Are you kidding?” Spring says. “Please tell me you’re kidding.”

“I wish I was,” I say.

“Sorry. But no,” Dakota says. “He’s cute and all, but he’s definitely not Bo Blaketon.”

“Then who is he?” Spring sounds like she’s going to cry.

Dakota delivers her punch line. “He’s just my dorky little brother’s dorky friend Nate.”

“Is that true?” Spring asks me.

“Yeah, it’s true.”

Spring moves away from me. She stands, gathers Tree’s toys and takes his hand.

“Sorry to burst your bubble,” Dakota says to her. “But you shouldn’t believe everything guys tell you.” She leans in and studies Spring’s scar. “Oh, and one other tip? With a face like that, wear makeup.”

There’s a beat of silence while her words sink in. I’ve no idea what to do or say.

Then Dakota says to Lug, “Wait till our parents find out what you’ve been playing at.”

“Aw, come on, Dak,” he whines. “You don’t have to tell them.” His earlier confidence is gone. Now he just sounds worried.

“But why wouldn’t I?” she says. “Every time you mess up, it takes their focus off me.”

Lug groans. “Okay, how about we cut you in? We’ve made almost four hundred bucks today. You can have fifty if you keep quiet.”

“You’ve got to be joking,” Dakota says. “Me get involved in one of your sick, creepy schemes? Didn’t you learn anything from your grad-party photo thing?”

Then she shrieks with laughter and heads for the phone store. “You guys are so busted!”

After Dakota leaves, Lug says, “What a bitch. I hate her.”

“No duh. She’s a piece of work,” I say.

Spring just stands there in shock.

I don’t know what to do except start apologizing. “Spring, I’m so, so, so sorry.”

She stares at me like I’ve murdered somebody. “That’s what you wanted
to tell me?” she says. “That you’re not really Bo Blaketon?”

“Um, yeah, it is.” Why oh why didn’t I do it sooner? Like, before Dakota showed up? “I’m really sorry. I should have told you myself.”

“Too bad you didn’t,” she says. “Too bad I had to hear it from her.” She tugs on Tree’s arm. “Come on, we’re leaving.”

“No, please don’t go!” I follow them toward the mall entrance.

“My dad will be here by now,” she says. “Thank heavens I called him to come early.”

I trail after her, begging, “Please, wait a minute. I can explain.”

“No, you can’t,” she says. “You lied to me!”

“Not on purpose.”

“What?” She stops short and whips around. “How else do people lie?”

“I mean, it’s not like that. I didn’t mean to. I didn’t want to.”

“But you did. You sat there in the food court and let Laurence tell me you were Bo Blaketon. True or false?”

“True, but I had a good reason.”

“Oh, please!” Spring turns and tugs on Tree’s arm.

I can’t let her get away. I hurry after them again. “It’s true I did pose as Bo Blaketon this morning,” I say, catching up. “But it wasn’t planned. It was totally random. These girls thought I was him and it just kind of morphed from there. I never felt right about it, and I really wanted to quit, but Lug took incriminating videos of me. He said he’d tell my mom what I did and then he said he’d post them online if I didn’t keep helping him. And my mom doesn’t even know I’m here today. She thinks I’m at a cross-country meet in Victoria.”

Spring won’t look at me. “So you had to lie to me because you’d already
lied to your mother? That’s supposed to make me feel better?”

“Um, yeah, I guess,” I say. “I mean, I hope so.”

“Well, it doesn’t. That’s so twisted!” She breaks into a run to get away. Tree howls as she drags him along.

I chase after them. A couple of people turn to watch. I hope nobody calls security.

Tree stumbles, and Spring is forced to stop again. “Please,” I say. “You have to listen. Lug was blackmailing me. That’s why I did it.”

Now she faces me. With a scowl. “Who’s Lug?”

“Laurence. Lug’s his nickname.”

“Suits him. What a creep. You’re both creeps!”

“No, he is. I’m not. But anyway, I couldn’t let my mom find out because she’s had a really hard time lately. She had a bad accident and she’s in a
wheelchair and she lost her job and then my dad left and I wasn’t supposed to be hanging out with Lug at all, because of, um, that other thing Dakota mentioned.”

Tree’s shrieks fade to sobs. Spring kneels down to comfort him and wipe his nose. When she straightens up, she says, “And what exactly did Dakota mean about that other thing?”

“That wasn’t my fault. Lug was responsible. He took photos of girls and Photoshopped them so it looked like they were doing bad stuff.” She gives me a look. Like she’s waiting for the whole story.

“Okay, I was there and I didn’t stop him from taking the photos. But I didn’t know he was planning to blackmail those girls. And he’s not my friend anymore.”

“Why should I believe you?” Spring starts walking again.

We’re almost at the mall entrance. “Because I really like you. I want to see
you again. And I just hope you’ll give me another chance.
Please
.”

Spring doesn’t answer that. Instead she says, “I can’t believe you said I could interview you! As Bo Blaketon!”

I try to defend myself. “I said maybe!”

“Same difference! You’re a con man!”

“Not usually. Mostly I’m just Nate.”

“Well, just Nate, you’re sick!” she says. “I thought you were a nice guy! I trusted you!”

“I am a nice guy. You can trust me!” I grab her by the shoulders. “Please let me explain why I did it.”

“Back off!” Without letting go of Tree, she pushes me away. “You let me help you get money from those girls! You made me a criminal too!”

I grab hold of her again. “Spring, please. Give me another chance.”

“No way!” Her voice rises in anger. “Get lost, jerk!” She shoves me harder this time.

A security guard is on us in seconds. “Is he bothering you, miss?”

I step away from her, hands at my sides. “No, sir, I’m not. It was just a misunderstanding, but it’s all good now.”

Spring glares at me as she tells the guy, “That’s right. He’s not bothering me anymore. Ever!”

“Are you sure?” The guard isn’t giving up easily. But, of course, that’s his job. “Did he hurt you in any way?”

“No, really, he didn’t. It’s all fine.” Spring peers out the entrance doors. “My dad’s here to pick us up.” She and Tree go hand in hand to the waiting car. They climb in, and it drives away.

“Okay, son, move along,” the guard says.

“Yes, sir.” I turn to go find Lug. He’ll either be at the game store or RadRide. “I’m just leaving.”

“Not that way, you’re not.” The guard grabs me by the shoulder.
“This way.” He escorts me out of the mall. “And don’t come back,” he says. “I see you here again today, I call the cops.”

I stride out into the parking lot so it looks like I’m really leaving. But I have to get back in there. I have to find Lug and get his iPad.

It’s risky, but I don’t have a choice.

Lug could still post those videos.

I circle the mall in a panic. I don’t have any time to waste. My bus to the ferry is in half an hour. But I can’t go back inside right away in case security is watching for me.

I dodge shoppers and cars, trying to think things through. How can I get Lug to delete those videos? How can
I make things right with Spring? How can I not miss my ferry?

I can’t wait any longer. I go back in by another entrance and text Lug.
where r u?

RR
, he replies.

I rush to RadRide. He’s at the checkout, paying for a ton of clothes.

“Whoa!” I say. “What is all this?”

“What’s it look like?”

I see he’s got those Vans and a hoodie I wanted. “Like you’re buying half the store.”

The cashier takes Lug’s money. “Thanks for shopping at RadRide.” She puts everything into bags. We both stare at her arms, inked wrist to shoulder with flowery vines. “Hey,” she says to me. “You look familiar. I’m sure I’ve seen you on
TV
. Are you, um, oh, you know, what’s his name?”

“No, I’m definitely not.” I rush past Lug and out of the store.

“Hey, we could sign her up,” he says, following fast. “I bet she’d want to be an extra.”

“Are you crazy? Dakota’s going to tell your parents!”

“Yeah, well, she might. Or she might just hold it over me.” Lug heads for the food court. “But she probably will. That’s why I spent all the money. If I wear everything right away, my parents won’t be able to make me return it.” He sits down at a table and puts on the Vans. “There’s a start.” He pitches his old sneakers into the garbage.

I can’t believe this guy. “So where’s my money from this afternoon?” I don’t know how to convince Spring to give me another chance. But I figure doing something good with the cash will help.

“Sorry, Bo. Spent it all.” Lug snaps the tags off the hoodie before pulling it on.

“What? That’s not fair!”

“Seriously? What’s not fair is that you spent all your time with Freakface. I signed up six girls while you were hitting on her.”

“I wasn’t hitting on her. And those girls wouldn’t have signed up if they didn’t think I was Bo Blaketon.”

Lug removes the packaging from some Shoe Goo and grip tape. “Yeah, you were.”

Okay, I was. But I’m not admitting that to him. “No, I was impersonating a
TV
star so you wouldn’t rat me out to my mom or post those videos online.”

Lug grins like he might still do both. “Sucks to be you.”

Why did I ever think Lug was my friend? But now’s not the time to get into it with him. “Okay, so you got what you wanted,” I say. “With my help, you made more money this afternoon. So now I want you to delete those videos.”

Lug gets his iPad out of his backpack. He sets it on the table and brings up the screen. “These are so great,” he says. “You really do look like Bo Blaketon.”

“But I’m not him,” I say. “Delete those. Please.”

Lug takes three new T-shirts from his RadRide bag. He cleans the gunk off the table with them. “Oops, those got dirty. Can’t return them now.”

“And besides the videos,” I say, “you should delete the personal contact info for all the girls.”

“Except Freakface? I’m sure you want her number. Oh, unless she already wrote it on your hand?”

I glare at him. “Not funny.”

“You said it! Nothing funny about Freakface. She’s just, you know, a friggin’ freak!”

No point arguing with him. He’s jerking me around. And I realize he’s not planning to delete anything.

I’ll have to do it myself. I almost reach for his iPad. But I don’t want to clue him in. I’ll have to get it when he’s not looking.

I check the time on my phone. I’ve got ten minutes to catch my bus. The stop is across from the mall, but the street is crazy busy. It’s almost impossible to cross without waiting for the Walk sign.

There’s only one thing to do. Make him let down his guard. Beat him at his own game. “Actually,” I say, “now that I think of it, you’re right. Spring is really weird looking. I’d rather call one of those other girls. So you should keep all their contact info.”

“Now you’re talking,” Lug says.

“And don’t delete those videos either. We could maybe sell them to the girls. I bet they’d pay for a video of themselves with Bo Blaketon.”

“Wow! You’re way ahead of me, Bo! That’s genius!”

“Yeah, but I have to catch my bus,” I say. “I’m getting a drink to go. Want anything?”

“Sure, but let me get it. I owe you that much.”

“Okay, thanks.” We both stand to head for the snack bar. I let Lug go ahead of me. As soon as he’s distracted, I grab his iPad.

Then I run.

It’s a few seconds before he gets that I’m not right behind him. “Hey,” he shouts. “Stop that guy!” He charges after me. “He stole my iPad!”

Folks turn to look, but nobody does anything. Just like when Spring was chasing Tree. “It’s mine,” I yell. “He stole it from me.”

I race to the nearest exit, hoping security doesn’t notice. Hoping nobody’s
got their phone out recording this. That’s all I need.

Lug’s still coming after me, but luckily he’s not as fast. Thank goodness I’ve been training for cross-country.

I speed out of the mall and through the parking lot. When I reach the road I see a bus coming to the stop. I take a chance and dart across the traffic. Horns blare and brakes squeal.

But I make it.

Lug’s still on the other side as I board. He looks majorly pissed off. I wave, and he gives me the finger.

I find a seat at the back of the bus and get to work.

Luckily, Lug’s iPad isn’t locked. The videos of me are still open. I delete them.

I send Spring’s contact info to my phone. Then I delete everything about the girls we signed up. Everything Lug could ever use against me.

I breathe a huge sigh of relief. I’m saved. Everything’s going to be fine.

The bus stops at the next corner. And the next. And the next.

That’s when I realize this isn’t the express bus.