Kiss of Fire (Imdalind, #1)(33)

I can’t, there is no way my mom will let me. I typed as I slid into my desk in my next class.

I’ll take care of your mom. She will let you; don’t worry.

It had taken quite a bit of compromise to get permission for the movie on Saturday; I doubted it would happen. Then again, she had already gotten me into a regular, old t-shirt.

I can’t. I have lots of homework. I lied, knowing he would see right through it.

Why are you avoiding me, Jos?

I stared at the screen, knowing that class had already started and I wasn’t paying even a scrap of attention. What could I say to him? It wasn’t like I was doing it on purpose. There was just so much I couldn’t tell him, no matter how much I wanted to. There were so many times I wanted to kiss him, to let him kiss me, but I couldn’t. Just being his friend was going to be harder than I thought.

Fine. We’ll do pie.

I put my phone away and attempted to focus on class, ignoring the continual buzzing from my pocket. My next classes passed in quick succession, and I worked hard to finish as much of my homework as possible.

My phone finally stopped buzzing as I slipped into my normal spot in the cafeteria, content to disappear for the rest of the day.

“I am so sorry about my brother,” Wyn said as she dropped into the seat opposite me, her tray laden with enough food to feed a group of girls. “He’s an idiot,” she continued without waiting for me to respond. “If I had known it was him you thought was following you, I would have told you. He’s an idiot,” she repeated and then bit into a French fry.

“Hey, I’m just glad to know I’m not going crazy anymore.”

“Nope, not crazy. He is, though.” She rolled her eyes. “Speaking of crazy, what’s with that cult comment?” Wyn raised her eyebrows at me, but I just waved her off.

“Just something my dad said once.” She kept waiting for me to elaborate, but I kept staring at my food, hoping she wouldn’t pry.

“Well, anyway,” Wyn began in an odd attempt to break the silence, “can you come over tonight? We never got to watch our movie from Monday, and Ilyan will be home so you can see how non-freaky he is.”

“I can’t. I’m doing pie with Ry,” I said. I was sad I couldn’t go. As much as I was looking forward to the evening with Ryland, I was still terrified at what might happen.

“Pie? Is that code for something dirty?”

My voice rang out in noxious laughter at Wyn’s comment. I was so happy we were in the middle of the lunch room where no one would notice the noise.

“No!” I said through giggling. “It’s just pie.”

Wyn stared at me in confusion.

“You know,” I prompted, “we get together, we eat pie, and we talk.”

Wyn sighed as if that was the stupidest thing she had ever heard.

“We have done it for as long as I can remember. When we were little, it was just a way for him to get away from his dad, and we would hide in the bushes behind the pool.”

“How romantic,” she grumbled.

“Not my boyfriend,” I reminded her.

“So you hung out in the bushes with a boy who may or may not be your boyfriend?”

I decided to let that one slide.

“I was six and bushes were cool.”

“Well, if I ever see a cool bush, I’ll point it in your direction.” Wyn gobbled up a handful of fries in an obvious attempt not to laugh at her bad joke.

“Gee, thanks. Anyway, once he figured out how to drive, we started going up the canyon, which is where I’ll be going tonight.” Not to have a make-out session with my best friend, I reminded myself.

“So, you’re going up the canyon to have pie with your boyfriend…”

“Not my boyfriend,” I grumbled.

“Whatever. So you’re going up the canyon with Ryland to eat pie. What a romantic date.”

“It’s not a date either, Wyn.” She stared at me as if waiting for me to admit it.

I shook my head at her in frustration. No matter what she thought, this was not a date; it was only pie, which was still part of the problem.

“Well, how about tomorrow night then? We could even make it a sleepover!” I had never had a sleepover before, and the idea got me excited; but, I knew with all I had to barter for to get permission for Saturday, and now pie, a sleepover was out.

“I can’t do a sleepover, but I can come over for a movie.”

“And dinner,” Wyn added.

“And dinner. We better get going,” I said. “They are supposed to run through Act Two today with the set pieces.”

“Do you think if we write ‘Cynthia McFadden wears boys’ underwear’ on the side of the castle, she would get offended?”

“I doubt it, but all the boys might get in a fight trying to figure out whose underwear she’s sporting.”

“So, still worth a show then?” Wyn wagged her eyebrows at me in excitement. I knew she wouldn’t, but part of me hoped she would. I could do with the laugh today.

It was the first time I would be seeing Cynthia since our bizarre altercation in the hall. After the first day, the terrified stares and catcalls from the students had died down. I hadn’t seen Mr. Ray since then either.

I opened the door, expecting the worse. Class had already begun. The actors were already in their costumes, so Wyn and I went right into action. Wyn, Jamison and I moved set pieces on and off the stage as the cast worked through their lines and blocking. At least once in every line, Cynthia would forget something, giggle like a maniac, and then proceed to mess up the rest of the line. It wasn’t even worth it to mention that I knew to whole show by heart. Hamlet had always been one of my favorites.