Not Your Villain (Sidekick Squad #2)(43)

His DED jolts with a new message: Emma’s on her way.

His nerves jump, and his heart flutters as he wears a hole in his living room floor. It’ll be fine. It’ll be fine. He’ll just… say his piece, and things won’t ever be the same. He’s miserable, keeping his feelings to himself. And if he doesn’t tell her, he’ll never know.

From: Emma 3:33 pm

here!!! parking!

Bells flicks the message aside. He closes his other programs and puts the DED to sleep.

Is he sweating? Maybe he should have changed his shirt. Or his hair, at least?

Bells goes for a mohawk. Purple, just because. Maybe that’s too obvious, if his hair is purple and the ribbons are purple…

The doorbell rings. Too late now.

Emma looks wonderful, as always. Her brown curls, lifted by the wind, seem to float above her shoulders. Her smile dimples her dark skin, and she throws her arms around Bells for a hug.

“You have something important to tell me, right?” Emma asks. “Oh, also, guess what, I know I’m early for V-day but I brought you your present!” She singsongs the last word and then flicks at her DED. A file projects into the air; the newest complete season of The Gentleman Detective, ready for data transfer.

“Oh, wow, Em, thank you,” Bells says. “Come on.”

They chat a bit as they walk to his bedroom, and Emma asks if he wants to watch an episode. She flops on his bed, comfortable and familiar, and the neck of her shirt drapes forward.

Bells blushes. “No, I, um, can we talk first?”

“Yeah, absolutely. Oh, I have important news too! I wanted you to be the first to know.” Emma grins at him, and she looks so excited and a bit nervous.

Could she have the same idea? Maybe she has feelings for Bells and wants to tell him.

Bells is buoyant with hope. Maybe this will go well after all. “You first,” he says.

“Okay!” Emma beams. “I have a boyfriend!”

His name is Carlos Veracruz, and he’s a senior at their school, on the basketball team. Emma and he were lab partners in Emma’s afterschool college prep program last week, and they’ve been texting ever since. They had ice cream once last week and have a date on Friday.

Two weeks. This all happened in two weeks. Bells could kick himself.

“He didn’t want to dissect the frog, isn’t that sweet? So, we wrote an analysis of amphibian musculature. Look!” Emma takes Bells by the hand, a gesture that might have sent his heart racing, but, given the current news, it just makes him glum. She turns on her DED and opens a monitoring feature in her bedroom and zooms in. On her desk is a brightly lit terrarium decorated with rocks and a little purple dish of water. Inside is a frog.

“I’ve named it Carlos Junior,” Emma says.

The frog croaks. It looks fat and happy in its glass cage.

Bells folds his arms. “That’s great,” he says flatly.

“What, you don’t like Carlos?”

“I don’t know him. I’m happy for you, okay?”

“You don’t sound happy.” Emma narrows her eyes. “Is it because he’s a senior?”

“I don’t care that he’s one year older than us; it’s not a big deal,” Bells says.

“Because he’s a jock?”

“Emma, you’re a jock. You’re on the volleyball team! Since when do I have anything against jocks?” Bells throws his hands up. “Look, it’s great you’re dating him. Just peachy. Have lots of fun. I… I have a shift at the restaurant. I’ve got to go.”

“But I just came! We were going to hang out.”

“Sorry, just got a message from Simon; they’re swamped without my parents. Thought I had the afternoon free, but I don’t.” He walks Emma to the door.

Emma pauses at the doorway. “Oh, what was your news?”

Bells closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “Nothing. It doesn’t matter. Don’t worry about it.” He’ll give her the painting of the three of them later as a gift for Valentine’s Day.

Emma spots the sunflowers in their vase with the bright purple ribbon. “Ohhh, those are so pretty! Flowers, what’s the occasion?

“They’re, ah, Jess asked me to get her some. For Abby,” Bells says.

“Oh. Right,” Emma says thoughtfully. “Okay, I’ll see you later then.”

He walks her out the front door, and she gives him one last look and waves before he closes the door.

He slumps on the couch once he hears Emma’s car leave. He messages Jess, but it bounces back with an automatic message of “Busy! Get back to you later!” Right, she was hanging out with Abby today.

Looks as if everyone is paired up except him.

He messages Simon to see if he can pick up a shift at the restaurant, but it’s not that busy today.

From: Simon 4:38 pm

I thought you were hanging out with your friends?

Yeah, he thought so too.

*

Bells scrolls through a newsfeed, then pictures of cute cats, and huffs as he flops onto his bed. He could do homework, or go for a run. But he really doesn’t feel like doing anything at all.

He could draw, but the first things he sees when he flips open his sketchbook are the practice pieces for the painting that he never gave Emma for Valentine’s Day.