The Oracle Rebounds (17 page)

“Hi. My answer is yes.”

His eyes widen. “Yes? You’ll take me back?”

I smile. “Yes means yes.”

And then I feel his warm lips cover my smile, and our mouths fuse together in a long, breathless moment. When he finally pulls away, I’m downright dizzy. There was more I wanted to say but hormones have hijacked my brain.

He’s hugging me tight, so tight we breathe together. God, it feels so good to feel his heart beating against my chest. This feels right. This
is
right.

Minutes pass without words, just holding and kissing each other.

“I was sure you were going to say no.”

“I wanted to say yes this whole time, but something was holding me back. Fear, I think. I was afraid that if we got back together you’d break up with me again.”

“I told you, I’m not going to do that.”

“Not soon, you won’t. But you can’t promise you’ll never do it. I don’t want you to promise that. I can’t say I won’t change
my mind one day either. Let’s just be honest about how we feel. If we’re having doubts, we have to tell each other.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t more open with you before.”

“No more apologizing, Jared. We’re starting over.”

“Okay. I won’t apologize to you anymore. But I think I’d better apologize to your friends. Either that, or hire a bodyguard.” He laughs. “Hey, did you ever hear our new song on MySpace?”

“Yeah.” I squeeze his hands. “I bet you wrote it.”

He smiles. “I hoped you’d figure it out. I wanted to sing it myself, but the guys voted me down. We all know Tom’s a much better singer.”

“He’d be more likely to win
American Idol,
sure. But your voice is far sexier.”

His mouth curves up. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yeah.”

He whispers the lyrics in my ear.
“I want you, I need you back in my life. Take me back, angel. Don’t leave me here in hell.”

I shiver at his words and the feel of him so close. It’s like when we first got together, this incredible electricity.

He pulls back, brushing a few strands out of my face, his expression rueful. “Maybe I wouldn’t win an award for original lyrics, but I meant every word.”

“I know.” And I kiss him again.

The next morning, when Jared and I lock eyes in the hallway, I feel myself melt. But we can’t approach each other for a good-morning kiss, since I haven’t told my friends yet, and I don’t want to startle them with the news. I have plans to watch a movie with them at Viv’s tonight, so I’ll break the news then.

Throughout the day, last night plays in my head like a romantic movie, complete with declarations of love and
passionate embraces. Although Jared invited me in, I said no because I knew that once I got comfortable in his bedroom, it would be doubly hard to leave, and I didn’t want to get home too late. We have plenty of time to get to know each other again, to get close again. There’s no need to rush it. Not that thoughts of being in his arms don’t excite me in an unholy way!

At lunchtime in the caf, I can feel his eyes on me, and I return his gaze when my friends aren’t looking. His eyes are smoldering, and his smile is subtle and wicked. He’s trying to drive me crazy, and it’s working.

When I get home from school, Mom and Erland are both home, so I figure it’s as good a time as any to tell them the news. I’m not as nervous telling them as I will be telling my friends, because they never bashed Jared after the breakup, and Mom even said once that she missed him. So I tell them, explaining how it happened and how I took my time in making the decision. Their reaction is to smile and give approval.

“If you’re happy, we’re happy,” Mom says, and Erland echoes that with a nod. “Jared’s welcome for any Sunday dinner. Just give me some advance notice so I can get a pie. We haven’t had key lime pie in a while, have we, Erland?”

Mom and I will have to talk about that sometime. Boyfriend or not, this girl deserves her key lime pie.

I do a little yoga breathing, but it doesn’t help. What does help, though, is that I know Sharese supports my decision to get back together with Jared and has promised to unhate him right away.

I expect a collective “Are you insane?” and I’m ready for it. Unfortunately, before I can work up the courage to speak, they put on a movie, so I have to wait two hours before I tell
them. When the movie ends and Viv starts flicking through the channels, I say, “I’ve got news.”

They turn their heads my way. I have everyone’s attention.

“This is something I’ve thought through for weeks. It’s not an impulse decision.”

“You sound like you’re going to have a sex change,” Amy says. “Just tell us already!”

“Jared and I…”

“I knew it!” Viv exclaims. “I knew you were going to get back together. It was just a matter of time. Didn’t I tell you that last week, Ryan?”

“You did. You saw it coming.” Ryan turns to me. “How’d this happen?”

I tell them the story, emphasizing how Jared had just needed time to figure things out in the first place and never meant to hurt me. When I’m through, Ryan shrugs. “I guess we can forgive him. It’s not like he cheated on you.”

Amy bristles. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

“No. I’m just saying.”

“How do you know he’s not going to change his mind?” Viv asks. “We don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

“He might change his mind someday, but I don’t think he’ll do it soon. I know he’s serious about this, so it’s worth giving it a shot.”

“Do you love him?” Amy asks.

“Yes.”

“Okay then,” she says. “I’ll accept it. I guess he wasn’t that bad.”

“It sounds like he’s matured,” Sharese points out. “He’s learned his lesson.”

Ryan agrees. “He’s seen the light.”

Were they being sincere? I wondered. I thought they’d be
fiercely against us getting back together. “So you’re not all against it?”

“Of course not,” Viv says. “We’re glad he came to his senses.”

Amy adds, “If he breaks your heart again, I’ll smash his kneecaps. You can tell him that. Then tell him welcome back.”

On Monday after school, I get an email with the subject line: An opportunity for you.

Dear Oracle of Dating,

I’m a contributor to
Seventeen
magazine and I’m very impressed by your website. It seems to have gained a following, not to mention sparked a little controversy! I’m writing to ask if you’d like to be featured as one of our cool teen entrepreneurs for our Back to School issue. The catch is, for this to be interesting for our readers, I feel we’d need to feature you—the girl behind the website.

Of course, this is all assuming you really are a teen giving advice to fellow teens.

Are you willing to give up your anonymity for a little publicity?

Please let me know within a couple of days either way. I’ll need to book a photographer ASAP. Sorry for the deadline, but if it’s not going to be you, I’ll need to find someone else soon.

Warmest wishes,

Deb Cossell

Is this for real? I read the email twice, then run a search for her name. I find several articles she’s written for various magazines, including
Seventeen.

It’s the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s exposure beyond my wildest dreams.

And yet there’s a catch. My anonymity. I’d have to give it up, something I’ve never thought of doing. Something I’ve never really needed to consider before.

Oh, my God. I have to tell someone. I call Jared.

“You won’t believe it.”

“Are you okay? You sound like you forgot to breathe.”

“You won’t believe who I just got an email from!”

“I have no clue. Don’t make me guess.”

“
Seventeen
magazine. They’re doing a story on teen entrepreneurs and they want to feature the Oracle of Dating.”

“That’s great, Kayla! How’d they find out about you?”

“I don’t know. But she mentioned the controversy on the site, so maybe she found out about it because of that.”

“So all of that stuff you went through really did pay off.”

“Apparently.” I still can’t wrap my mind around this. “But there’s a catch. If they’re going to profile me, she wants to use my real name and picture. She says anonymity won’t appeal to the readership.”

“Makes sense. Do you have a problem with that?”

“I haven’t had a chance to think about it. Being anonymous is so…”

“Safe?”

“I was going to say easy. But yeah, it’s safe. I can say what I want without feeling people will judge me personally.”

“Isn’t that what you said about that teenmoi girl—that she didn’t have to be held accountable for what she writes?”

“That’s a good point. It’s just…this is scary. It’s a risk, isn’t it?”

“Everything is a risk. Getting up in the morning is a risk. You can slip and bang your head in the shower. But you’re not afraid of risks, are you?”

“No. I mean, maybe. It’ll just be so strange for everyone to know I’m the Oracle. Especially everyone at school. I’m used to flying under the radar, and I like it that way.”

“Well, you’re going to have to get used to a little attention. I know you can handle it. Think of it this way—putting your identity behind your words will give what you say more power.”

“You’re right but…”

“You always say ‘but.’ This is the opportunity of a lifetime. Go for it, Oracle. Now, I’m off work at nine. Can I stop in and see you after?”

“Sure.”

We hang up, and I lie back on my bed, thinking.

Jared’s right. Anonymity is a luxury I can’t afford if I want to get somewhere with my business. My whole purpose is to help as many people as I can, and this article could bring me lots of new clients. I’d be a fool to let this opportunity pass me by.

I go over to the computer and press reply.

Dear Ms. Cossell,

I’m honored to have been chosen for your list of young entrepreneurs. Yes, I’m a teen—I’m sixteen actually. I will happily accept your offer to be featured in
Seventeen
magazine. Please let me know what I should do next.

Thanks so much!

Michaela Cruickshank

Over the next few days, I try to put the
Seventeen
thing out of my mind and focus on exam prep. I’m missing Jared, though. We’ve only hung out a couple of times since we got back together and it’s driving us crazy. But it’s probably a good thing that we’re making a slow start. We don’t want our relationship to totally consume us this time around. I’ve worked too hard on the Oracle of Dating—and myself—to go back to my BF-centered ways.

When Jared gets word that he’s gotten a scholarship for full tuition to the Manhattan School of Art, we’re both over the moon. Then he shocks me by suggesting we celebrate on a
double
date. He used to be anti double dates, saying that he didn’t want to share my company with another couple. This one he’s set up himself, and he won’t tell me who the other couple is.

We arrive at the restaurant just after seven, met by the scent of paprika and garlic. Felena’s is a well-known Spanish place in Brooklyn Heights, but I’ve never been inside before. The ceilings are low, the lighting from wall sconces is dim, and the walls are covered in mosaics. We bypass the hostess and look around for familiar faces. Jared told me that I know the couple we’re meeting, but that’s all he let me in on. If it was one of my friends or his bandmates, there’d be no reason to keep it a secret, so my guess is Evgeney and Naomi. Jared knows that I consider Evgeney my star pupil. Tonight I’ll get to see him in action—if I’m right.

Jared isn’t usually into surprises, but judging from the smile at the edge of his mouth, he’s enjoying this. We don’t spot the mystery couple in the front section of the restaurant, so we go up some steps into the raised section at the back.

“Maybe they aren’t here yet,” I say. And then, through a cloud of paella smoke, I spot them. Tracey and Rodrigo are next to each other in a booth, heads bent in conversation.

“You set them up!” I throw my arms around him. “That’s so sweet of you!”

He hugs me back, then grabs my waist and pulls me to the side as a waiter comes through with a huge tray. As we get closer, I see Tracey nuzzle Rodrigo’s neck. He brushes a lock of hair off her forehead and kisses her there tenderly.

Then it clicks. I mean, really clicks. Tracey and Rodrigo haven’t just been set up tonight. He’s the guy she’s been dating; the one she wasn’t ready to tell me about. The one she thought was too good to be true.

They look up at us, beaming. I’m speechless.

“Sit down, sis,” Tracey says. “We’ll tell you everything.”

Rodrigo gives me a warm smile. “Nice to see you again, Kayla. I feel like I know you already, what with Jared and Tracey talking about you so much.”

“Thanks.” I sit down, reeling, but happy. Ridiculously happy. I turn to Jared. “How did you…?”

“Um, well, I set them up—the rest is all them.”

“When?”

“About a month ago.”

“Five weeks tomorrow,” Tracey says with a giggle. “Not that we’re keeping track.”

“I most certainly am.” Rodrigo squeezes her to his side. “Jared told me that women like to have an excuse to celebrate, so it’s a good idea to have frequent anniversaries in the first year.”

Tracey nudges him. “And I thought celebrating our anniversary last week was your idea!”

“Maybe it wasn’t my idea, but I’m smart enough to know how to follow good advice. I take my cues from Jared, who’s learned the rules from the guru herself. I told him to give me any tip possible to hang on to you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask Jared.

“I didn’t want you to know until you’d made your decision about me. I wasn’t sure if it would work out anyway. It could’ve totally backfired.”

“It almost did.” Rodrigo slants a glance at Tracey. “She stood me up on the first date.”

Tracey tosses her hair. “So I confused the Black Tomato and the Green Tomato. It was an honest mistake.”

And from there the night’s all chatter and laughter. I don’t need to drag Tracey to the bathroom to quiz her on Rodrigo because all I need to know is right in front of me. He’s crazy about her, and not in the flighty, temporary way of so many guys she’s met. I can tell that something deep and wonderful is happening here—on both sides of the table.

When I wake up the next morning, I feel a flutter of nervousness. Tonight’s the night I’m going to tell my friends that I’m the Oracle, and I have no clue how they’re going to react. Telling them that Jared and I got back together was one thing—it turned out they’d anticipated that—but this?

To prepare them for the news, I send a text:
I have something to tell you guys tonight. See you then.

I spend the day studying, which involves reading through my notes and making little cheat sheets. I don’t take the cheat sheets into the exam, of course, but writing the material really small and in the fewest words possible helps me remember it.

The plan is to meet up at Load It Up, a so-called gourmet burger place, where no burger topping is too unusual. Part of the fun is outdoing each other with our choice of toppings. Ryan usually wins. Last time his burger was a triple threat, with peanut butter, bacon and a fried egg.

I’m the last one to arrive. They fall silent as I walk up. “Hey, guys.”

“Hey,” they all say, looking at me with sympathy.

“You said you had something to tell us.” Sharese gives my shoulder a squeeze when I slide into the booth next to her.

“You shouldn’t blame yourself,” Viv says. “Most of the time when people get back together, it doesn’t work out. At least you gave it a shot.”

I stare at them. “You think this is about Jared?”

“So, if it isn’t, what is it?” Ryan asks.

Amy claps her hands together. “I knew it—she’s pregnant! Ryan, you owe me ten bucks.”

“I am so not pregnant,” I say. “I’m not even doing anything that could get me pregnant—sorry to disappoint you. My news is nothing like that. Um…you know that website, the Oracle of Dating?”

My friends nod around the table.

“I’ve got to confess something. I’m the Oracle.”

I look around at my friends, whose expressions register varying degrees of shock.

“You’re kidding,” Sharese says.

Ryan doesn’t believe it either. “Yeah, right. You? A fountain of wisdom?”

I clear my throat. “Yes, me. I’m really sorry to keep it from you guys, but when I started the website, I was so afraid it would fail that I didn’t want anyone to know. And after that, I was embarrassed, I guess. I’d heard you guys making fun of it.”

Sharese turns to Viv. “You knew, didn’t you? That’s why you started that Facebook group to bring back the Oracle when she went offline last fall.”

Viv nods guiltily. “Kayla felt she had to tell me. It was the Oracle who gave me the advice to date Max secretly. When Kayla realized that her advice got me grounded, she confessed that she was the Oracle.”

Ryan narrows his eyes. “I bet Jared knows, too.”

“Yeah, but he guessed. I’d written a blog after our first date and he figured it out.”

“So are you making lots of money?” Sharese asks.

I wish
. “No. Just enough to keep going. Hopefully that’ll change sometime.”

“Hey, I’ve got an idea for you,” Amy says. “You should let people put up profiles and find dates through it.”

“I wouldn’t dare. A site like that could get out of control. Adults could be posing as teens.”

“Does this mean we’re going to get free advice?” Sharese asks. “Not that I need it, but still.”

“You get free advice already. I just didn’t say it was coming from the Oracle.”

“I don’t get why you didn’t tell us before.” Ryan’s obviously not sure if he should be mad at me or excited by the news. “I know we made fun of the website, but we wouldn’t have if we’d known it was you.” He pauses. “Okay, so maybe we would have, but we would’ve supported you.”

“I know. I was too sensitive. But I’m not as sensitive anymore. My website’s taken a lot of flack lately, and in the end, it’s toughened me up. I’m not afraid to let people know what I do anymore.” I realize that it’s true; I really am ready for my identity to be exposed. “I’m proud of my advice, and I’m standing behind it.”

It’s a bright blue-skied day, and I’m having lunch on the school lawn with my friends. The sun feels good on my skin. I tilt my head back and let it reflect off my sunglasses. Jared is beside me, his hand entwined with mine.