The Way to Game the Walk of Shame(64)

Smack! This time it was even harder than before. I ducked, but she was prepared. “Stop.” Smack. “Saying.” Smack. “That! It’s not funny!”

Finally I had to grab her arms to make her stop. “Settle down. We’re in a public place, you know.”

Suddenly my words sank in, and Taylor backed off. Her face was beet red, but she stared at the tank again until everyone stopped looking at us. Her shoulders still silently shook with laughter.

I don’t know how long we sat there in silence watching the fish, but when it got dark, I knew it was time to go. I didn’t want Taylor to be late for dinner and get in even more trouble because of me. I grabbed a bag from my backpack. “Here.”

“What’s this?” Without waiting for me to answer, Taylor pulled out a stuffed otter I had bought from the gift shop. She wordlessly blinked at me.

“Just something to say sorry. For your allergies.” Brian popped into my head at that exact moment. “If you ever need to talk, just call me. I could be here for you, too.”

Taylor blinked at me again as though absorbing everything I’d just said. Finally, with a little squeal, she hugged me. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” I pulled away and beamed down at her, glad that she was happy again. “That’s what friends are for, right?” Within a few seconds, her delighted smile faded as she hugged the toy to her chest. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

I narrowed my eyes at her, but she went back to watching the sea turtles. Her cheek pressed against the top of the otter, cushioning her frown. It’s strange how a single word could sound so heavy and be, well, not nothing at all.

God, girls were confusing.





23

{Taylor}


“Leos were known for their bravery in desperate times.”

Ha! This proved that horoscopes were a bunch of crap. I wasn’t brave. I was a coward. A cowardly lion. Bring on the Wizard of Oz.

Hiding wouldn’t solve anything. I knew that. Heck, it probably made things worse, but I couldn’t go to school. Not when Brian’s kiss was still fresh in my brain. And Evan’s aquarium date.

Since Evan and I weren’t dating, I wasn’t necessarily a cheater. But I still felt guilty. And it did violate the contract. Never in a million years would I have imagined that I’d be the one to break that clause. Thank god I didn’t add a penalty fine like I had planned.

Mom came into the kitchen just as I fished a fat pickle out of the jar. With pursed lips, she watched me chop it into even, microscopic pieces. She finally spoke up when I reached for another one. “Are you feeling better now?”

“Yeah, I just had a headache this morning, but I’m okay now.”

“Good, now you can tell me what’s wrong.”

I wiped my juice-covered hands on a white dishtowel, staining it light green. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, you skipped school today, and now instead of studying or working on something, you’re chopping up enough stuff to feed an army.” She crossed her arms on the countertop across from me and leaned forward. “What’s bothering you?”

Jeez, what was with the third degree? I let out a sigh and scooped the pickles into the mixing bowl. “Can’t a girl make some tuna in peace?”

“A normal girl, yes. You? No.” Mom cocked her head to the left and smiled. “After you got your wait-list letter, we had enough tuna to feed an army of neighborhood cats for months. Then there was the time after your physics exam that you swore you failed. And before that—”

“All right, I get the point.” I hadn’t realized that I always made tuna when I was stressed, but I guess I did. We had one of those swift-chopping blenders that cut everything up for us, but I liked chopping out the ingredients. There was something calming about meticulously cutting everything myself. It took more time, but I always felt better afterward.

Just then Dad walked into the kitchen and stopped in his tracks at the sight of us. “What’s with the nightly meeting?”

“Taylor’s making tuna.”

His eyes widened. “Oh. Umm, I’m going back into the living room, then. Let me know when it’s safe to come back for my ice cream.”

I watched him rush out of the kitchen and turned to Mom, who was trying to hide her grin. “Does everybody know about this tuna thing?”

“Basically.” She picked up one of the hard-boiled eggs and knocked it against the countertop. “So what’s wrong?”

My eyes shifted down to my cutting board, suddenly embarrassed to be confiding in Mom. “I’m having some trouble with … guys.”

She let out a little squeal and clasped her hands together. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited for you to say that. For us to finally have a mother-daughter talk. Is it Evan? What did he do? Is he pressuring you about sex?”

“Oh god. No, Mom!” I smacked my hand against my forehead. Maybe asking her was a mistake. I should have finished my tuna in peace. “Just forget about it.”

“Nooo!” She grabbed my arm and tugged on it like Kimmy did whenever she wanted me to buy her candy from the store. “I’m sorry, just tell me what’s wrong.”

“It’s just…” I swallowed the lump in my throat as I tried to figure out how to ask her opinion without revealing too much. “Why do you like Evan so much?”