The Lost Boys (34 page)

He seemed to get calmer after that. His breathing slowed down and he drifted into sleep. Sometimes he would wake up, mumbling incoherent nonsense, and then he’d drift back to sleep again. One time he awoke, tossing his head from side to side, and grabbed the sheets with his clenched fists. “No, no, not the clowns!” he kept muttering under his breath.

I raised my eyebrows and smiled. Was he still feverish?

“Don’t worry about the clowns, Tris,” I said passing my hand over his head. He was slightly less feverish now.

“But … but they’ll get here! It’s so … unnatural …” he continued rambling. Unnatural clowns. I chuckled. Teasing him about this later was going to be so much fun!

I stifled a laugh. He seemed to be getting seriously agitated over this. Was he really freaking out over clowns? Everybody has an irrational fear, I guess …

“Don’t worry, Tris. I’ll take care of those clowns for you. You don’t have to worry about them any more,” I said reassuringly.

“Okay,” he mumbled, turning over.

He had his eyes still closed, but there was a small smile on his lips now. He looked so beautiful. So … sweet. I gave in to an impulse, and kissed him lightly. When I broke the kiss, he sighed softly and whispered so quietly I wouldn’t have heard if I hadn’t been so close to him.

“… love you, Joe,” I heard him say. I realized this was the second time he had said he loved me. Only the first time he’d done so, he’d broken my heart. And now he was kind of delirious. But still … twice it was. Maybe the third time would be for real, with no lies, no subterfuge, no fever, no hallucinations. Third time’s the charm, wasn’t that what people said? I needed to make the third time happen.

But first things first. To begin with, I needed to make him confess all when he was himself again. I’d make him buckle and cave and confess he loved me. I already had the most brilliant plan. I almost didn’t get any sleep that night, thinking about my evil plot to make Tristan crack. His fever vanished in the middle of the night, and he slept like a rock after that. When morning came, I was already up and about, rummaging in my bag. Tristan stirred in his bed and woke up sluggishly, leaning on his elbows and blinking at me, truly confused. He opened his mouth and then closed it again, without saying anything.

“Hey! You’re up,” I greeted, and walked over him, sitting on his bed. He continued blinking at me. “How do you feel? Better now?” I asked.

He tried to lean away from me and flinched, grimacing in pain. I guess he was still paying the price for our separation.

“Well, I guess not that better, huh?” I teased him. “Good, that serves you right for not calling me earlier!” I said, putting the palm of my hands to his face. I couldn’t feel any pinpricks any more. I guessed that whatever needed to be recharged was fully charged now.

He eyed me cautiously. He didn’t understand my sudden change of mood. He looked like he didn’t remember a thing about last night, either.

“I’m going to see Mom today. Would you like to send her a hug?” I asked, standing up and walking over to my suitcase.

“Huh?” was all he could say.

“Rose. Remember her? I’m off to see her for the weekend. As long as you feel well enough? I’ll say you sent her a hug, okay?”

“Okay,” he mumbled, still trying to figure out what the hell was happening.

“And please don’t be that stupid again and not call me next month. You weren’t being very smart keeping this from me,” I said. I guess he would take it that I was talking about his monthly illness. But I was also talking about everything else. See? I could do this double-meaning stuff that he excelled at too! Take that, mysterious-ex-ghost-boy! I chuckled quietly to myself and grabbed my bag, turning to leave.

“And, since I’ll be gone this weekend, band practice is today at four. Now your fever has broken, you’re well enough to be there. Two Grays missing won’t be acceptable, and you’re in the band too, even if you seem to be forgetting about it. They’ve been asking about you all the time. They miss you,” I said, opening the door.

He sat on the bed, baffled. “They … d-do?” He really looked surprised.

What? Did he think they didn’t care about him? That just because we’d had a fight, his friends had forgotten him? He was my Tristan, and he was adorable and sweet and all, but it turns out he was such an idiot too. I’ll have to remember to smack him in the head repeatedly when all this secret business was over.

I shook my head, chuckling again, making him even more baffled. “Of course they do, Tris! They are your friends! And your band. So be there. Four o’clock. And practice. I gotta go, see you Sunday,” I said, and walked out, laughing a little. He looked so cute when he was clueless!

I went to Tiffany’s room to finish packing. While I stuffed my clothes into the bag, I told her about my evil plan. I actually needed her help to get things into motion.

“You’re gonna what?” she shouted, surprised.

“You heard me. And I need your help to do it. You’re going to be my special adviser,” I said beaming at her. I was in a very cheerful mood today.

“Are you serious, Joey? You’re gonna seduce him until he caves and admits he has feelings for you? He’s with Caroline now!” she said gently.

“Not for long. I’ll make sure of that. Come on! You know me. I’m … persistent,” I said.

She laughed loudly. “Yeah, that’s a swift way of putting it. You’re the most stubborn, strong-minded person I have ever known!” She shook her head, amused.

“Well, thanks … I guess. But I still need your help. Boys go wild about you … I need to learn a few of your tricks to pester Tristan now!” I said with a laugh.

“Okay. I’ll do my best to help you. I already told I could have Caroline expelled if you wanted to! You didn’t even let me kick her out of cheer squad!” she whined.

“No, Tiff. It’s not her fault. She’s just head over heels for him, but let’s be fair, what girl wouldn’t be? He’s the one to blame! He’s the one who must suffer! “I said, smiling evilly.

“That reminds me … and I’m just realizing this now, but Seth didn’t return to our room at all! Where did he …? Wait! Did he stay here all night? Did you and he …? Did you guys?” I said, squinting my eyes hard at her. She turned a deep shade of red. “Oh my God,” I mumbled.

“I was going to tell you! It’s just … I’m kind of … embarrassed about it … ahem.” She coughed and blushed again.

“Embarrassed? About what, pray tell?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Well … I sort of tackled him last night,” she mumbled, shuffling her feet.

“Tackled?”

“I jumped his bones, okay? There! I said it! Happy now! I’m a big pervert!” she shouted, throwing her hands up in the air for dramatic effect. She was such a drama queen!

“He snuck into my room all worried, and I convinced him to stay for the night, to give you guys some privacy. But then he was all cute, and geeky, and I love when he gets geeky on me” She blushed again. “So I jumped on him. And he spent the night. And I can’t believe I actually did this! He’s gonna pester me for ever now, saying I can’t resist him and can’t keep my hands off him …”

“Well, he does have a point,” I said, stifling a laugh.

Tiffany ended up coming with me to my mom’s house for the weekend, and she even helped me go shopping for some new special outfits for my evil plan.

We had fun with my mom and when we got back late at Sunday, I grabbed all my clothes that were in her room and moved back in to the boys’ dorm room. Seth and Tristan were in our room chilling out. I guess band practice on Saturday had done Tristan some good; he looked a lot happier having his friends back. I guess he’d been feeling lonely this past month. But then I remembered he had Caroline to keep him company, and I didn’t feel that sad about his loneliness any more.

As soon as I stepped into the room the atmosphere changed, and they both tensed, anticipating the possibility of another fight. They didn’t know I was done fighting. I had my evil plan now.

“Hi, boys! Missed me much?” I entered beaming widely at them. Tristan eyed me suspiciously from his bed. He was trying to figure out my game. “How was band rehearsal? Did you guys work on my new song? It still has a lot of tweaks to be done.” I dumped my bag on the bed.

“Yeah, we worked on it a little. Harry wasn’t in the mood to play … He gets awfully lazy when you’re not there, you know?” Seth answered.

“Oh, I’ll have a word with him about it, don’t worry!” I said, winking at Seth.

Tristan started to rise from his bed, getting ready to leave. “Tristan, you don’t need to leave because of me. We need to get past this. In fact, I want to apologize for any yelling I may have done. I’m moving back in now, and I wanted to tell you I’m okay with you and Caroline, so stay, will you? There’s no need for you to leave every time I’m around now!” I said, still in a cheerful mood.

I was really impressed with my acting skills! I didn’t even stutter or pause after saying Caroline’s name!

“Hey! I even got you guys presents!” I said, opening my bag. “This is for you, Tris. I think you needed another one of these.” I tossed him the package. He eyed me even more suspiciously before opening it. I had bought him another blue T-shirt, this one a very deep, dark blue. “It might make your eyes look as blue as Sammy’s,” I said, smiling at him.

“And this one is for you, Seth!” I said, tossing him his present. “It’s actually from Tiffany. She told me to give it to you and record your reaction, so … wait just a second, need to grab my camera to film this!” I pointed my cell phone in his direction.

He looked at me with an even more suspicious, puzzled look than Tristan’s.

“Hey, I’m just the messenger. Just open the thing already!” I said, laughing.

He unwrapped it and took out silk Superman boxer briefs. He looked at them, wide-eyed, and then at me, and turned all pink. His mouth was hanging open too. I cracked up laughing at his face. He turned a deep shade of red, pink, purple and then violet. It was freaking hilarious! Those two crazy blonds belong with each other, all right!

He stuffed the underwear back in the box, and frowned at me. “Joey! Cut it out! And please, don’t let this video end up on YouTube, or I will kill you! You hear me?” he shouted.

I laughed even louder. Tristan was trying to be serious, but the corner of his lips twitched slightly.

“Okay, then. I need to grab some dinner. Who’s coming?” I asked, after I managed to stop laughing. I closed my bag and headed to the door.

Tristan shook his head and leaned back on his bed. “I’m not hungry. Maybe I’ll grab some with Caroline later,” he said, testing me.

“Okay. Have fun,” I said, smiling softly. “Oh, wait, I need to take my cell phone and show this to Tiffany at dinner!” I said, turning back to grab my phone.

“Oh, no you won’t!” Seth shouted, running after me. “And don’t you dare show this to anyone else, Joey!”

We ran outside the room together, leaving Tristan behind. I sprinted fast, holding my cell phone tight in my hand with Seth went running after me. He eventually caught up with me, and snatched the phone out of my hands, deleting the video. At dinner he acted all cool and thanked Tiffany for his sexy gift, and I laughed the whole time, because I knew what his true first reaction was. Tiff and Seth kept teasing each other during the whole meal. It was a fun night. Not as much fun as the week was going to be, though. I had my evil plan to work on now! I was going to drive Tristan crazy. I felt a little mean about Caroline, but I knew now he didn’t love her. He loved me.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Game On!

Monday came and
The Plan
was set into motion. I had Tiffany’s coaching during our weekend at home and a new killer wardrobe to add to my arsenal. I had bought some low-cut shirts, and even a few dresses.

I also bought a few outfits in a “rock chick” style, for band performances and rehearsals. I was more comfortable keeping the tomboy attitude in place for shows, but this was at least a little sexier. I liked those outfits far more than the dresses, because they were more my style. But this week I wasn’t going for tomboy; I was going for driving boys crazy!

I would tease, and flirt and provoke Tristan in every possible way, until he cracked and caved, and confessed he was crazy about me! And after that he would have to confess his idiotic plan to make me move on and forget about him. But I decided to start gently at first, so as not to make Tristan suspicious. I put on my brand new low-cut cherry tank-top for first class, and my tight black jeans, and cherry lip-gloss. I was kind of nervous about doing the teasing thing because it was so out of my comfort zone, and totally uncharted territory, but I guess all’s fair in love and war. I had watched Tiffany doing this very same thing with Seth a lot of times before, so all I needed to do was copy her moves and see how I faired. I was no Tiffany in the looks department, but I had something to work with.

Tristan was already inside the classroom, sitting and talking to Tiffany about something. I sat by his side, and greeted him with a soft smile, winking playfully at Tiffany. Tristan turned his head and looked at me with this usual blank stare. That was my cue to “accidentally” drop my pencil on the floor, and then lean over slowly to pick it up, exposing a lot more of my cleavage area.

I felt so stupid doing this! It was never going to work! I fought back the urge to blush or giggle, but when I looked up, I saw Tristan’s eyes glued to my chest, the blank stare completely gone from his eyes. Then he snapped his eyes up, lingering momentarily over by my lips. I guess the cherry lip-gloss was a hit too, because his eyes shone intensely for a brief second. Then he blinked and diverted his gaze fast, staring hard at the blackboard.

Holy crap! It had totally worked! He was really checking out my boobs! I glanced quickly at Tiffany, and she was stifling a laugh on the other side of him, and then she gave me a nod of approval. I had passed my first test!

So the
lean-in-cleavage-move
totally worked. I stared ahead, smiling widely. This was going to be so easy! I couldn’t believe it had actually worked! But I tried again later at the lunch table, and I actually caught Tristan
and
Sammy glancing down, and Josh stretching his neck a little, trying to sneak a peek.