True Love and Magic Tricks (2 page)

“
Another one, huh?” He
flicks the combination on the locker next to mine. “Girl, whoever
that boy is, he’s got it bad for you.”

“
Maybe someone is just
making my day a little bit brighter.”

“
Mmmhmm.” His dark eyes
roll, and he pulls his bright green English folder out. “I still
say we do detective work and find his sweet ass.”

“
How do you know he has
one?” I shut my locker with a smile.

“
I’ve read some of those
sweet nothings. He’s funny and ba-rilliant—like moi. So a sweet ass
comes with the territory.”

“
You are so right!” I shove
his shoulder. “You track down all the adorable male butts in this
school and let me know what you find.”

“
Gladly.”

“
All right, I gotta run. I
expect a report in fourth!”

He waves at me, and I spin the corner,
not able to stop my mind from running with my legs. I wouldn’t be
lying if I wanted the notes to be from Nate.

But I don’t want to get my hopes up
either.

Chapter 2

I lean back into the couch, holding
Kaylee’s number. Sweat beads on my forehead as I dial. My finger
trembles against the first number, and my whole hand shakes by the
second. I go to hit the third number, but the shaking makes it
impossible, and I hit the wrong one. Darn it. I hang up and try
again.

I steady my hand and dial as quickly
as I can before my brain can process, but by the fifth number the
shakes take over and my phone falls to the floor.

Smooth. Real smooth. I reach down to
grab it, but as my fingers graze the screen, I’m pulled up by my
suspenders. There’s only one person who feels the need to tug on my
suspenders whenever the opportunity arises.

“
What do you want, Nick?” I
ask my older brother, who’s home for the weekend. He decided to
spend his spring break torturing me when Mom and Dad wouldn’t give
him money to head to Cancun with the rest of his frat
brothers.

“
What are you doing down
there?” he asks and lets my suspender snap back into
place.

I wince then grab my phone before he
steals it and sends out an inappropriate mass text to everyone.
“Dropped my phone.”

Maybe I can program Kaylee’s number,
that way once it’s in I can just hit call. Problem
solved.

I should’ve just had her type her
number in to begin with. But when she bounced up to me after school
and reached her cute little hand into my shirt pocket, I froze.
Before I could suggest it, she jumped up, kissed my cheek, and took
off.

If it wasn’t for Ryan, my best friend
since third grade, I’d probably still be standing there. He tapped
my shoulder and knocked me out of my trance.

“
She kissed me,” I mumbled
just as Lexie, the girl Ryan is not-so-secretly in love with,
jumped on Ryan’s back and he pulled a runaway bull, bouncing her up
and down as he ran off toward his car.

Nick snatches the small piece of lined
paper off the coffee table. “What’s this?”

I reach for it, not that I need it
anymore. I have Kaylee’s number memorized. “Nothing,” I say, and
try to get it back, but he puts me in a headlock.

“
Did Natey get a girl’s
number?” He messes my hair up before finally letting go.

I run my hand through my hair, pushing
it back into place. I don’t answer him. The bubbly handwriting and
adorable doodles make it a dead giveaway. I especially like the
heart in the upper left corner.

“
So did you call her
yet?”

“
I was about to before you
came in and turned me into a human bungee cord.”

He hands me the piece of paper and
waves to my phone. “Then go for it.”

If it was only that easy.
For
Nick
it is.
He’s the ultimate Playboy. I can’t even bring him to my favorite
magic store without Tracy, the store manager, drooling over
him.

He might be a pain in my butt, but he
has always supported my dream of becoming the next Criss Angel.
Plus he’s always good for advice.

I scratch my chin. “What do I say when
she answers?”

“
Why don’t you start with
‘Hi’ and go from there.” He pats me on the back. “It’s only as hard
as you make it.”

Nick takes the phone then snatches the
piece of paper with Kaylee’s number. “The hardest part is dialing.”
He taps the numbers into the keypad in one fluid motion and hands
me the phone.

My heart beats an erratic symphony
when the first ring ends. I go to hang up, but just as my finger
hovers over the red circle, her sweet voice floats into my
ear.

“
Is anyone there?” she asks
when I don’t respond to her first “Hi.”

“
Uh…” My words stick in my
throat, and I try to force them out, but they are hanging on for
dear life. “Uh…” Nick smacks my back—
hard
—and the words tumble out.
“Kaylee, it’s Nate. Nate Hatfield. You gave me your number after
school. Probably not for like a date or anything, but because you
know, I asked you to help me out with the talent show and
all.”

As if I didn’t already know I sounded
like a babbling loser, Nick shakes his head, and laughs
hysterically all the way to the kitchen.

“
Hi, Nate Hatfield,” She
says, and I can picture her winking. “You did ask me to help you
out with the talent show, and I’m totally in, but I was also
wondering if…” Her words trail off and I’m left wondering
myself.

She was wondering if the chicken came
before the egg. Wondering if a goldfish’s memory span is really
three seconds. Wondering if I’d meet her under the oak tree at
school to make-out. The suspense is killing me.

“
Wondering what?” I
ask.

“
Would you be willing to
return the favor?”

“
What did you have in
mind?”

“
Swing dance
lessons.”

Come again? Dance? I don’t dance. I
can’t even handle a simple game of Just Dance. There is no way. I
can’t let Kaylee see me make a fool of myself.

No way.

***

Three days later we’re standing in the
dance studio on Main Street. Kaylee is in a white tank top that
hugs her boobs just right, and a yellow skirt that swishes back and
forth when she walks. There are other couples—not that we are a
couple—in the room, but I can’t take my eyes off Kaylee. Her big
green eyes light up when the instructor walks to the front of the
class and asks us to gather around.

She wraps a hand around my bicep and
pulls me close. My entire body goes stiff at her touch.

“
Loosen up,” she says,
shaking my arm. “It’s just dancing.”

“
Yeah, just dancing,” I
repeat, hoping maybe I’ll actually convince myself. But it’s
not
just
dancing.
It’s touching Kaylee in places I’ve only dreamed about. Holding her
hand and getting sweaty together.

I shake my head to get off the X-rated
route my brain just took and focus my attention back on the
instructor.

“
My name is Ava, and I’ll
be your instructor for the next six weeks.”

Six weeks? Kaylee must have forgotten
to mention that. Not that I’m complaining. Between these lessons
and Kaylee helping me with my act, we’re going to be spending a lot
of time together. I’m not exactly sure what it means. Are we
friends? Just two people helping each other out?

Her eyes meet mine, a slight smile
tugging at the corner of her heart-shaped lips. One thing I know
for sure… as long as I get to see that adorable smile, I’m game for
anything.

Chapter 3

This is a beginner class.
I mean
major
beginner. Ava first teaches us how to hold each other which
is like middle school dance 101, but when she forces Nate’s hand on
my waist and he looks as if she’s asking us to have sex right here
in the middle of the floor, I think maybe some of us need the
instruction.

“
I’m not like a weirdo
swing dance enthusiast,” I say to Nate once we’ve all started
practicing the box step. Ava keeps shouting, “Learn your partner!
Learn yourself!” and I have to keep biting back my
giggles.

Nate’s eyes move from his feet to my
face. “Uh…”

Okay, maybe that conversation starter
came out of nowhere. Or maybe not and he has no clue what to say.
Gar, I hate silence.

“
Like, I don’t randomly ask
people to take dance lessons. It’s just, you’re tall enough and my
dad’s like, this super huge swing dancer and him and my mom were
really good together. But now she’s you know… they’re divorced, so
he’s got this work thing that’s coming up and he’s getting this
award and I’m sort of his date and I wanted to learn. Surprise him
with it, I guess. Stupid… I know…”

Nate mumbles some sort of incoherency,
his hand growing slick against mine. Great, let’s see how many more
times my mouth will run and make him uncomfortable.

Ava clicks by on her heels, puts a
hand on each of our backs, and shoves us closer together. Nate
trips into the step, and my not-so-small chest squishes against
him.

I think his face could cook an egg. A
loud laugh flies from my mouth as she goes to another too far apart
couple.

Nate’s grip tightens on my back, and a
zillion flutters go up my spine. “I don’t think it’s stupid,” he
says, completely avoiding my eyes.

“
Oh.” I let out an
exaggerated sigh of relief. “Thanks. I don’t want to make an idiot
of myself.”

“
We’ll just leave that up
to me.” His voice is nervous, but there’s a hint of amusement there
as he turns me out and swings me back in. I fumble a little, but my
lips turn into this ridiculous smile. Without even thinking about
it, I press back against him, letting my chin hover over his
shoulder. This isn’t swing dancing… not yet. But I think I want to
practice this for a while.

***

It’s another one of those “do whatever
you want days” in gym, and it turns out Nate wants to teach me the
trick of the magic trade before we start the big stuff tonight.
Swing class runs every Thursday night for the next six weeks, and
we plan on “magic training” for every Friday. I don’t care what
anyone says, I’m counting it as date night up until the talent
show.

“
It’s all about
distraction,” he says, pulling out a quarter from I swear
nowhere
. I adjust on the
grass so I’m not sticking to it and wiggle my butt a little closer.
“An illusion is only successful if you have your audience properly
distracted.”

“
Got it.” But I’m totally
paying attention to that coin, and it’s just popping in and out of
existence.

He leans over his crossed
knees and smiles. Okay,
now
I’m distracted. I find nervous Nate completely
adorable, but confident Nate is downright hawt.

“
Watch the coin,
‘kay?”

I nod and force my eyes to his hands.
I like his hands. Sort of veined and they connect with pretty
strong arms and they look big and manly and freaking oh my gosh I’m
supposed to be watching the coin.