Don't Kiss the Messenger (Edgelake High School, #1)(36)

Tuba looked between us, at a loss.

“So, you liked what Bryn wrote?” CeCe asked.

My voice fell an octave lower. “I loved it.” I quoted from memory, again. “When I’m burning up, I close my eyes and hear your voice. You hit me like a cool wind…”

“You’ve memorized them?” she asked, unbelieving.

“It’s all worth remembering. That’s why Bryn’s such a mystery to me. She writes like she knows me intimately. But when I see her in person, she acts like we’ve never met.”

It was a relief to finally admit this to someone. Maybe Tuba and CeCe had the same experience with Bryn.

“Maybe her personality doesn’t match, you know, all the rest,” CeCe said.

I had considered the same thing. But not anymore. Her emails proved it wrong. I sat back in the kitchen chair and shook my head.

“I know it does. She drops me hints, with music she likes or a book she’s reading. It’s like a scavenger hunt. The more pieces I pick up, the more intrigued I get.”

“What kind of clues?” CeCe asked.

“The song she was playing in the weight room by The Strokes. Carrying around a copy of The Unbearable Lightness of Being?” I said. “That’s one of my favorite books of all time. It’s like she sets these traps and completely knows how to bait me.”

CeCe just blinked at me, her face unbelieving.

“She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met,” I said. “But she’s also the cleverest woman I’ve ever met. To find both in one person, it’s just too good to be true.”

“By that logic a clever woman couldn’t possibly be beautiful,” CeCe argued.

“She’s so much more than clever. She’s unpredictable, and funny, and has this complete other side to her.”

CeCe looked down at her notebook. “She’s never shared that part of herself with me,” she said.

“I’m surprised Bryn can write,” Tuba piped in. “She’s not exactly deep.”

I looked over at her. “She is. I’m telling you, you need to read her emails,” I said. “You would appreciate her so much more.”

CeCe slapped her hand over her forehead with frustration. I guess I wasn’t the only one confused with Bryn.

“But it’s all cryptic,” I said.

“Does it matter?” CeCe asked.

“Of course it matters. I thought maybe she was copying stuff, but damned if I can find where she’s getting it.”

“So, what’s going on with you and Bryn?” Tuba asked him. CeCe looked over at me like she was wondering the same thing.

“I have no idea,” I said. “I can’t figure her out. At first I thought she just wanted to be friends. I wasn’t even sure if she was interested until this one night when we texted lyrics back and forth. I felt like that was the moment we hit it off.”

Tuba turned and looked over CeCe.

“You texted song lyrics?” Tuba asked. I nodded and CeCe shifted in her seat.

“You guys hit it off?” Tuba repeated, and raised her eyebrows at me.

“When she messages me she’s smart and strange and sexy as hell. I love that side of her. But in person, I don’t think she’s said more than ten words to me.”

I looked at CeCe but her eyes were staring off, like she was daydreaming.

“CeCe?” I asked. She was still stuck in a daze. “CeCe?” I said louder this time. She looked over at me and blinked hard like she was coming back to reality. “Has she said anything to you? About me?” I asked.

“Who? Bryn?” she asked.

“Of course Bryn. Who else would we be talking about? Has she said anything?”

CeCe shook her head. “No, I’m not going to be your go-between with Bryn.”

She blew out a sigh, clearly annoyed with the conversation. I tipped my head to the side. I realized the issue.

“You don’t like Bryn, do you?” I asked.

CeCe narrowed her eyes. I knew it wasn’t a fair question. If she said yes, she was a fraud since I could clearly read her. If she said no, she could be lots of things: jealous, arrogant, bitchy. Although none of those traits fit CeCe. It was something else.

“Of course I like Bryn,” CeCe said. “What’s not to like? But, I’m trying to organize a project on sub nuclear particles’ effect on the moon’s gravitational pull. Bryn is trying to organize matching team manicures before our tournament games. Different interests.”

“Come on. Give me one thing to go off of here,” I pressed. “I want to take her out next week when we’re both in town, but not if she’s still pining for her old high school ex boyfriend.”

“No pining. No crazy ex. She’s single,” CeCe said. She opened the study guide and skimmed through the discussion outline. She sighed, gazing at the list of questions.

“We have our work cut out for us,” she said.





Chapter Fourteen


CeCe


Warm up at practice was a three-mile run on the outdoor track. Bryn loped along beside me like a gazelle. I’m a good runner, but I was pushing myself. She wasn’t even winded.

“I can’t believe he talked to you about me!” Bryn exclaimed.