Sing to Me (3 page)

Colby was right next to me, watching. He pulled another blanket up from the foot of her bed and tucked it in around her. Th
en he bent and kissed her cheek.

I was completely unprepared for the twinge of jealousy
that shot through me. He was being incredibly sweet and tender
, so what was it about me that brought out his mean side?

And why did I
suddenly
care so much?

I was still trying to puzzle it out when I realized Colby was motioning that
we should go. Jolted out of my thoughts, I went to the window and closed the blinds while he picked up his guitar. He motioned for me to go out first
then
followed, shutting the door softly behind us like a pro. He’d clearly done this many times before.

Standing awkwardly in the hall, I said, “I know your mom said to let her cry it out, but…”

“Yeah,
I can’t do it either. I don’t rock her or anything, but I sing her to sleep a lot.”

“
I didn’t know you played the guitar.”

“There’s a lot you don’t know abou
t me,” he said, a hint
of his usual sarcasm returning.

Flustered by the cha
nge of mood, I looked for some way to escape. But until his dad and stepmom got home, I was stuck
.
Maybe if I tried talking to him, he would lighten up a little.
“So, w
hat time is it? I didn’t think you’d get
home
before your parents did.”

A shade of som
e
thing that might have been embarrassment flashed across his face. “Yeah, well, they must be having more fun than I was.
It’s only about 9:30.”

I raised my eyebrows, wondering if he was going to offer any more information.
Apparently not though.
What guy got home from a date so early on a Friday night? I couldn’t help the perverse feeling of satisfaction that flooded me
.
“
Well, thanks for helping me with Abby. I’d better go pick up our mess.”

I
didn’t wait for him to respond before I turned to go downstairs. I went
to the kitchen and started cleaning off Abby’s highchair tray. I put her plastic cup and plate in the dishwasher, and put a package of snack crackers in the cabinet where I’d found them. W
ith
the kitchen in great shape again, I went to the living room and
found
Colby pick
ing
up the building blocks that Abby had thrown all over the room.

“You don’
t have to do that,” I said, kneeling down to help him finish.

“I don’t mind,” he said.
He picked up a few more blocks,
then
said,
“
So, I
didn’t know you were a babysitter,” Colby said.

“There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” I said, mocking him.

He rolled his eyes and said, “Ok. I guess that was fair. But really, do you do this a lot?”

“
No.
I mean, I’ve watched my nieces and nephews before, but this is the first time I’ve been paid to babysit.
I’m
trying to earn money
for prom.”

“
Oh.
” He was quiet for a minute as
he worked, then he asked, “So you’re probably going with
Brian Gibbons
, huh
?”

Our hands brushed as we both reached to drop a block in the tub at the same time, and I pulled back, startled - as much by his question as the unexpected contact.
How did he know about Brian? “Ye
ah.
He asked me
a few days ago,
”
I answered.

“Took him long enough.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, you’v
e been throwing yourself at him
all year.
What finally did the trick? That picture on Sienna Whitfield’s blog?”

By now, I was nearly bursting with embarrassment and something perilously close to rage. “I haven’t been
throwing myself at him
!” Ok, I had been, but how dare he say so. “And who says he didn’t notice me before the photo?”

“Well, did he?”

My face
flushed as I realized that I shouldn’t have gone there.

Sienna’s photo blog was known for making people more popular, so I hadn’t hesitated to ask her to
help me get Brian’s attention. Sure, it
kind of bothered me that
Brian had only asked me after my social status was a little closer to his, but I’d gotten what I’d wanted. It didn’t necessarily mean he was a snob. I was probably just invisible before. After all, there were a lot of other girls who liked him too. Why would he notice me just because I was in a lot of his classes and talked to him every chance I got?

Ok. So, apparently I was kind of sensitive about it.

We were both still kneeling on the floo
r, staring at each other over a
tub of building blocks. Colby’s eyes burned into mine, daring me to answer honestly. Something about him compelled me to say what I didn’t want to admit to anybody, even myself. “No, he never paid much attention to me bef
ore. I wasn’t cool enough
.”

Ugh! Why had I just said that?

The fire i
n Colby’s eyes burned brighter
. “See. You deserve better than that.”

“That’s funny coming from you. You
aren’t exactly
nice to me.
”

“Maybe I would be if you’d give me half a chance.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“
Nothing
,
” he said, standing
abruptly
and walking out of the room.

I stayed where I was, stunned, blindly feeling for blocks on the floor. My fingers found one and I dropped it into the tub.
No matter what he’d said, I could
tell it was
something
. A crazy suspicion had taken possess
ion of my mind, and I had to know if I was right
.

*****

The next Friday, I rang the Adam’s doorbell again with my heart beating like a jackhammer. The only thing that kept me standing on the porch
was knowing
another $30 would be in my pocket when I went home. Ok, that and a disturbing need to see Colby again
-
the
sole reason for the uncomfortable commotion in my chest
.

Much to my disappointment, it was
Marcy
who
opened the door
.

“Come in
,
R
ylie
. I’m
glad you’re here a li
ttle early. It’s so hard
to get dressed with Abby following me around wanting attention. Do you think you could keep her occupied for me?”

“Sure. That’s why I’m here. Can I take her into her room to play? I would love to skip the whole melt down at the front door thing this week.”

Marcy smile was
sympathetic
.
“I don’t blame you. Here, I’ll kiss her goodbye now and sneak out while she’s not looking. I’m meeting Gerry at the restaurant and Colby is out, so consider
yourself
on duty.”

“Sounds great, Mrs. Adams.”

“Call me Marcy. All Colby’s friends do.”

I almost corrected her, but what did it hurt to let her think we were friends? The truth was, I didn’t know
what
we were. Up until last Friday, I would have said we were mortal enemies. At least he’d
been talking to me then though -
even if it was only to annoy me. Surprisingly, it was way worse to be ignored.

So, I wrestled
with my disappointment that Colby was gone while
Marcy
picked Abby up and gave her a hug and kiss.
Unlike the dramatic struggle to tear herself away from her daughter last week, Marcy barely glanced at her as she sat her down and hurried off to her room, her high
heels clicking across the tile as she walked past the stairs and around the corner to the master bedroom.

When Ab
by
realized her m
om was
leaving, she started
crying
for her, but being the intelligent girl I am
,
I’d brought help.

I put a sock puppet I’d made at home on m
y hand and
crouched down
to get her attention
. Then in a squeaky voice, I said.
“Hi
,
Abby!
Will you come play with me?”

It did the trick. She
jumped
for me and
almost knocked me over
, but I recovered
and p
erch
ed
her on one hip
as I straightened
.
I took her upstairs
, using the puppet to distract her
, and sat down on the floor to play with her. I thought I’d gotten used to all the pink in her room last week, but I had to adjust myself to it again. I wonder
ed if Abby ever
felt smothered by all the
frou
frou
in this room
, but she didn’t seem to be aware of anything but my puppet.

Sh
e w
as
still having a good time with the puppet when
I heard
the front door shut below. I was
kind of surprised it had taken so long for
Marcy to leave. I’d assumed she
had managed to sneak out a long time ago. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to look at the time and saw that I’d already been here for forty minutes. I guess Marcy didn’t mind being late.

I
worried Abby would figure out her mom had left, so I pretend
ed
to have the puppet try to eat her tummy. She laughed
and shrieked as she tried to push it away
. I went to do it again, and she took off
,
running out of the room. I wasn’t really prepared for that, so it took me a second to scramble up and run after her. I made it to the hal
lway just in time to see her dart
into another room.

I followed, but
hesitated
in the doorway. She
’d
run
into Colby’s room
-
a place I would have completely avoided on my own. Now that I was here, though, I couldn’t help checking it out. Abby was lying face down on his unmade bed
, giggling and peeking around at me occasionally. Seeing the tangled sheets and indention in the pillow did funny things to my pulse, so I looked away.

An acoustic
guitar
was in a stand next to the dresser, which was covered with a few notebooks, sheet music, a pile of change, and various charging cords.
There was also a photo frame with a picture of a pretty woman. The frame was carved with the words, “In loving memory.” It was then I realized his real mom must have passed away, and I was filled with a deep sympathy for him. Looking at her picture
,
I felt like I was prying into something very personal, so I glanced away quickly.

His room was pretty neat, but
there wasn’t much in it really
. There
was
a pair of shoes and crumpled up plaid something in the corner that I was afraid might be boxers
though
. My cheeks flushed and I knew I had to
get out of here. I
was totally invading his privacy
– even if I hadn’t meant to
.

“Come on
,
Abby. Let’s get out of here.”

“No!” She squealed as
I
came closer and I realized she was still trying to get away from my puppet.

I reached over to grab her, but she wiggled away and burrowed under the pillow in the far corner of Colby’s bed. Since
it
was a queen
sized bed and backed up into a corner of the room, there was no way I could get to
her without crawling across it
. I
stood
dithering about what to do, but I finally realized I had no choice. It wasn’t like he’d ever know I’d been on his bed.

I put one knee up on the mattress and reached for her.
My fingers barely
brushed her side, and when she felt me touch her, she shrunk away,
laughing and squ
e
aling again.
I realized I’d have an easier time if I took the puppet off. I stripped off the sock and crawled closer to her, trying to ignore the scent drifting up to me from the bedding. It was a delicious mix of clean laundry and Colby. It wasn’t until then that I even knew I was familiar with how he smelled.