P.S. I Like You(15)

After taking my brothers trick-or-treating, I had changed into a pair of flannel pajama pants and a tee. I sat on the sofa with a large bowl of candy in my lap, in case any trick-or-treaters stopped by.

But when I answered the doorbell, I didn’t find costumed kids out there.

I clutched the candy bowl as I stared at Isabel, my mouth doing the fish thing it sometimes did when words wouldn’t come out.

“Hey,” Isabel said, ignoring my expression. She adjusted the pair of cat ears on her head. “Trick-or-Treat. Can we come in?”

“I … ”

She plucked a roll of Smarties out of the bowl I held and pushed past me, dragging Gabriel by one arm and the other guy, whose floppy hair and lanky frame looked vaguely familiar, by the other.

“Sure, come in,” I said lamely, setting the candy bowl on the entry table.

They all slipped off their shoes at the edge of the tiled entryway.

“Oh, you don’t have to take your shoes off. Our carpet is a mess anyway.” I shut the door. They left their shoes off. “Okay. Let me just … um … put some jeans on.”

My brothers, who had heard the doorbell, came running out of the TV room, holding the bowl of popcorn I had made them. It was leaving a white trail behind them as it spilled over the sides.

“Go watch your movie, Things. I’ll be right back.” I rushed into the bathroom where I ran my fingers through my now crazy waves, in hopes of flattening them, and applied some gloss. Then I headed into my room where I threw on a pair of jeans and the first decent top I could get my hands on—it was pale mustard with little birds on it.

By the time I got back in the living room, Isabel and the guys were sitting on the couch next to several piles of folded clothes, and my brothers had somehow managed to get the rabbit out of its cage and let it loose on the floor. It was hopping around, sniffing at the trail of popcorn.

“When did you get a rabbit?” Isabel asked me.

I had questions for her, too. Like, what was she doing here? Why didn’t she give me any warning? “Um … last week. I think.” I stacked the clothes and plopped them into the laundry basket on the floor.

“Hi, I’m Lily,” I said to the stranger in the room before it became too late for introductions.

“I’m David,” he said. “We were in Math together last year.”

I looked at him again, closer, in this new context. Of course I knew him. We had Math together sophomore year. My brain hadn’t registered that when I’d thought he was Gabriel’s friend.

“You go to Morris High.” I said it like an accusation. And it was. But it was meant for Isabel, not David. I shot her a look. She just smirked and shrugged. So this had been a setup after all. She’d set me up with a guy from school. No wonder she was so mad when I canceled.

“Yes?” David said, frowning at me.

“Sorry. I just thought you were a friend of Gabriel’s.”

The rabbit bounced around a spilled bin of Legos and over Isabel’s foot. She yelped and pulled both feet on the couch before saying, “He is a friend of Gabriel’s. But he also just happens to go to our school.”

I shoveled the Legos back into the bin and righted it. The rabbit scampered to David and sniffed at the hem of his jeans.

“Things, go finish watching your movie. But first, put the rabbit back in its home before it has time to cast an evil spell.”

“He’s not evil,” Wyatt said.

“Ah, see, he already has you hypnotized. The rest of us would like to keep our senses.” I realized I was being stupid. I needed to shut up. But when I was nervous I tended to let all my odd thoughts come out my mouth. Well, actually, most of the time I let that happen, but especially when I was nervous.

Jonah picked the rabbit up around its middle, its feet kicking wildly for a moment before they stilled, and the boys left the room.

“Your mom got them a rabbit?” Isabel said, staring after my brothers.

“Yeah, you know my mom. I guess she saw someone selling it on the side of the road and was worried it was on its way to a Crock-Pot … or a roaster or maybe a spit … how are rabbits prepared, anyway?”

Everyone was silent.

“Where is your mom?” Isabel finally said.

“When I said I’d stay home, she and my dad decided to go to some friends’ Halloween party or something.” I ran my hand through my messy hair and plopped down on the couch beside Isabel.

“Did they dress up?”

“Surprisingly, no. Unless their costume was just ‘Weird Parents.’ ”

The doorbell rang and I went to answer it, this time dropping a handful of candy into the bags of excited little ninjas. When I sat back down next to Isabel, I said, “So … was there a plan? Or you just decided to come say hi.”

Isabel turned to me, her dark eyes bright. “We decided to come say hi and introduce you to David. He is in the band at school.”

This was supposed to be our common bond, I could tell by Isabel’s proud smile. “Oh, cool. What instrument do you play?”

David pushed his floppy brown hair off his forehead. Considering how thin he was, he had a baby face—round cheeks and a wide nose. “The clarinet.”

“Like the King of Swing?”

“What?”

“You know, Benny Goodman. Isn’t he proof that clarinetists can actually make it somewhere?” The words were out before I realized how offensive they sounded. “I’m sorry. That was rude. There are lots of great outlets for the clarinet. Marching bands, orchestras.” Now I just sounded patronizing.