Four Doors Down(19)

Charlie looks at me and cocks an eyebrow. “Wanna introduce me?”

I shake my head at him. “No. I wanna get out of here.” Flashing a smile, I say, “My parents work late on Tuesdays.”

This captures his attention and a slow smirk spreads across his face. He drops his arm around my shoulders and leads me to the driver’s seat before climbing in next to me. We make it back to my house in record time.





I go up onto my tiptoes at the end of the hallway and try to spot Sam in the crowd. She’s been out of school sick for the last couple of days, and I know she’s back today, but I had to skip lunch to finish an assignment and I haven’t seen her all day. I see the back of her head at her locker and make my way over to her.

“Sammy Sam,” I sing as I approach her using my nickname for her. She turns around and smiles at me, and I’m about to start blabbering on about my day when I notice who she’s talking to.

Ryan Jackson.

I immediately shut my mouth and glance past him. Seriously? He’s popping up everywhere lately.

“Hey, Becca,” he says.

I nod in his direction but don’t bother replying. I need to talk to Sam about Charlie and I can hardly do that when he’s standing there.

“I was just giving Sam some notes from Spanish that she missed when she was sick,” he tells me.

“Yeah? She needs to catch up, not get further behind by following your notes,” I reply smartly.

“Becca!” Sam says, a warning in her voice.

Ryan just rolls his eyes at me but doesn’t make any move to leave. We kind of stand there for a few seconds. Nobody says anything.

“Can we help you?” I eventually ask him.

“Just thought I’d enjoy some of your riveting company, McKenzie.”

I roll my eyes. “Wow. The most popular guy at school wants to talk to me? I’m so honored,” I say sarcastically.

He grins and winks at me. “Glad you’ve finally noticed. Don’t forget star of the football team and just generally the hottest guy in this place. Or so I’ve been told.”

I pull a face and turn to Sam. “I need to talk to you.”

She glances over at Ryan, who rolls his eyes in my direction. “Bye, Sam,” he says, moving away.

“Bye, Ryan. Thanks for the notes,” she calls after him as he heads over to where Jessica Murphy and Bianca Gallagher are waiting to talk to him. She turns back to me. “That was kinda rude,” she tells me, “and he’s definitely not stupid and you know it.” She has a point. Ryan’s actually quite clever. He more than holds his own in most of his classes from what I can tell. Annoyingly, even I have to admit he’s not your classic dumb jock.

“Forget Ryan, I need to talk to you,” I tell her. She nods in agreement and I follow her into the girl’s bathroom where she promptly stops in front of the mirror and starts trying to French braid her hair. She’s gotten really into braiding her hair recently but is totally useless at doing it. It’s funny to watch.

“What do you think of this?” I ask her holding out my phone. It shows a picture of a watch.

She whistles under her breath. “Nice, really nice.” She takes it from me and starts to scroll through the pictures. “It’s really expensive, though.”

“I know, but it’s nice, right?”

“Sure,” she agrees, smiling.

“But is it too much?”

“For what?”

“For Charlie. It’s his birthday in a couple of weeks.”

She blinks at me in surprise. “This is for Charlie?” she asks. I nod. “I thought this was for your dad’s birthday. And, like, your mom would pay for most of it?”

“You think it’s too much then?” I ask, suddenly embarrassed. I know we’ve only been dating for three months, but I want to get him something nice, something he’ll really appreciate.

“No, no.” She pauses. “Well, maybe a bit.”

I sigh in frustration. I know the watch is over the top but I’ve never had to buy a boyfriend a present before, and I’m totally clueless. I might like to pretend I’m all laid back and chilled out, but who am I kidding? I’m crazy about Charlie and want to get him a present that reflects that.

Sam starts again with her braid. “How ‘bout we head to the mall now? We could look for something together, maybe something a bit more low-key.”

I nod in agreement. “Yeah, okay.”

Sam smiles at me. “I’ve never seen you like this before. You really like him, don’t you?”

I shrug and look away, knowing I’m probably blushing like a five-year-old. There’s no point denying it; Sam can see straight through me, anyway.

“But weren’t you worried he was getting distant?” she asks.

I shrug dismissively. Last weekend Sam went to a friend’s with Chris and saw Charlie there. He’d told me he’d had band practice. At the time, I got really paranoid, but after stressing about it for days, he laughed when I finally told him and explained he’d finished early and had assumed I’d already be in bed so hadn’t called me. Simple, really.

“Nah, we’re fine.”

The door to the bathroom swings open and Jessica Murphy walks in with Bianca Gallagher.