Liars and Losers Like Us(28)

“For you, no wait.” She waves for us to follow. “Right this way Mr. Mills.”

As I slide into the booth, a scene from last time I was here flashes in my head—me trying to avoid Chip’s stare and listening to Sean sing and play guitar. Ugh.

“Who’s this guy?” I point over to the longhaired guy in an ACDC T-shirt singing about dust in the wind.

“That’s the regular guy, Ace,” Sean says. “He’s pretty badass on the acoustic and electric. He’s in a band that actually does gigs. Pretty cool.”

“What about you? Are you going to do more with your music or football next year?”

“I only got offered a couple partial scholarships for football, so I’m not going anywhere. Just L.C.C.”

“I’d hardly call Lakeville Community College ‘anywhere,’ since that’s where I’ll be too.”

“Nice.” His face brightens as he leans back into the booth. “It seems like everyone’s doing their best to get out of here. I plan on it, but I’m not in a rush. I’ll get my associate’s and maybe move to Nashville where I can make music contacts and hopefully get a good internship.”

“Nashville? Does that mean you want to be a country singer?”

“I’m not sure. I’m more rock with a pop, country, and blues influence. I’m into a lot of different styles right now but I have a lot to learn. One thing I do know is that I want to write music. Guitar and singing, sure, but I want to write songs for everyone, write across genres—and maybe a few that my mom will sing along to on KDWB.”

“That’s really cool. Do you write a lot of stuff now?”

“Yep. I’m not saying it’s Grammy material or anything, but I’ve written a lot lately.”

“Oh, okay. Hmmmm,” I say, running my finger back and forth between the sushi and entrée menus, remembering how he asked for help with his poetry assignment. If he can write songs, there is no way he needed my help for Nord’s class. The only thing I can do to hide the gigantic smile pulling on the corners of my mouth is to keep talking. “Well, maybe I can be your manager or at least the girl screaming all the words in the front row. I like your plan better than mine. My big plan is to not have a plan right now. But I’m okay with it. And I’m glad I’ll see you in school.”

After dinner, I drive us to my house. The first thing I see when I click our garage door open is that Mom’s car is gone.

“Guess my mom actually did go out. Wow.” I dial Mom’s number as we head inside. I leave a message saying that Sean and I are hanging out here. “So don’t come home and embarrass me,” I whisper into the receiver and hang up.

There’s a yellow Post-it stuck to the counter:

Bree!

Went out with work friends.

Be home later.

Hope you had fun with Sean!!!!

Love, Mom

Next to Sean’s name she’s drawn a heart and smiley face. Of course my face gets hot and I quickly flip the note over.

“A heart and a smiley face? Guess your mom has a crush on me,” Sean says as I glance up to him hovering over my shoulder.

“Oh ummm, yeah, I guess she just figures, um that, yeah whatever. She’s totally embarrassing.”

“Guess we’re even on embarrassing moms, right?” Sean asks, then continues, “Well, the reason my mom said that stuff about Prom was because, well …”

My phone interrupts. Kallie’s ringtone. My heart jumps. The fire engine ringtone gets louder as I rummage for my phone. Ridiculous. My purse is big but not that big. I look like a moron, not being able to find a loud blaring vibrating phone. Sean’s half smiling with his eyebrows raised. My phone stops singing the exact second I pull it out of my purse.

“Got it!”

One Missed Call

KALLIE VATE.

“Missed it,” I say. “I’ll call her later.”

“It’s okay,” Sean says. “I don’t care if you want to call her back now. Go ahead.”

“I don’t know. I kind of need to—want to—well, it’d be best if I heard what she has to say first.”

Sean’s mouth crinkles. “That makes sense. But not.”

The urge to get his opinion on the whole Kallie stuff overrides my whole “wait until you tell Kallie first” plan. “I’m going to tell you something but you can’t tell anyone, okay?”

Sean’s mouth stays crinkled. “Um, okay.”

“Do you want something to drink first?” I ask.

“Sure.”

“Well,” I say rummaging through the fridge, “I got Diet Coke, organic green tea, almond milk, or OJ? Or water?”

“Coke is fine.”

I grab two Cokes and give him the whole story of Todd and Jane, omitting the visual of my ear suctioned to the wall for every detail. I let him know that Todd trying to call me was most likely him trying to save his ass.

Sean pauses for a minute. “Interesting, and kind of gross. I guess that’s why Todd called me asking if we wanted to hang with him and Kallie tonight. I didn’t think Todd was like that. And Jane. I knew she was obnoxious and had some issues, but not like that. If any of the guys were ever messing with my girlfriend … shit. Molly would go crazy if she found out.”