I take the new stopwatch out of Phillip’s hand and snap it onto the front of his bike the way he taught me, and he hands me his broken one. Mindy leans in between us to tell him she’ll meet him at the next station.
Phillip’s already got one foot in a pedal. “You don’t need to,” he tells her as he smiles widely at her. “Ask Lei. It’s quite difficult to make it through the crowds on time even if you did park close by.” He forces his eyes away from Mindy’s and back to mine. “I’ll see you at home tonight? You have dance class, right?”
I nod and wish him luck and a safe ride. His wheels spin around and around as he cycles off. Soon they’re spinning so fast it’s all a blur, and then he’s gone.
As soon as his bike disappears from view, Mindy throws her bag over her shoulder and hurries down the sidewalk, pushing people aside as fast as she can. She insists she’s mapped out a shortcut where she can get to the next rest area on foot faster than he can bike past it. I don’t have a clue what she’s talking about, so I just nod and wave her on.
Mom and Dad have been watching this whole drama unfold with great interest. They heard my conversation with Phillip. They observed Mindy observe me with Phillip. And they listened to Mindy and Phillip’s exchange. But it’s when Brayden touches my back and carefully hands me the pink ruffled tie that fell out of my hair while I was clipping Phillip’s stopwatch onto his bike that my parents really perk up.
Mom’s eyes widen, and she turns fully so she can check Brayden out. Head to foot, my mother scans him. Apparently, she likes what she sees. “Leleila, since you and Brayden know each other,” Mom says. “How would you both like to come over for tea?”
“Thanks, but we can’t,” I say quickly. “We have dance class.”
“Dance class?” Mom says.
“I started learning for—” I don’t know how to explain. “Phillip told me I had to get a new partner,” I end up saying. “He couldn’t dance with me. He was too busy.”
Mom’s jaw drops open, and Dad shifts so he can look more closely at Brayden.
“Phillip and Leleila asked if I could be her stand-in partner for the class,” Brayden says hurriedly. “And I said sure.” He smiles over at me. “We really enjoyed the first class. I didn’t realize I liked dancing before this.”
Mom and Dad turn their heads to me in unison.
“I actually really liked it,” I say. “It was a lot more fun than I thought.”
“For me, too,” Brayden says. “It felt very natural.”
“But you know. We’re just beginners.”
“The foundation is the key,” Dad says. “If you’ve got that, the rest will be smooth sailing. Sure, you’ll hit some gusts of winds, some squalls, but if you’re rock solid on the foundation”—he raps his knuckles firmly on the telephone pole conveniently placed next to him—“then you’ve got it. You can write that ticket now.”
My gaze shifts to Brayden, and I smile.
Mom and Dad say goodbye after that and head for home, and Sophia starts giggling as soon as they’re out of earshot. “Look who’s on her way back and at lightning speed.”
Mindy’s running toward us. I sigh.
“Wonder what the hurry’s about,” Brayden says.
Turns out we don’t have too long to find out because Mindy reaches us within seconds and heads straight for me. She’s so out of breath she can hardly get her words out, and as soon as she does, I wish she hadn’t.
“Leleila,” Mindy says. “Phillip had to stop again. He needs petroleum jelly, and he says you always carry it in your purse for him. He’s chafed,” she adds in a low voice.
I glance at Brayden. Sophia and Slammer are grinning.
Without a word, I hand Mindy the petroleum jelly from my purse. “I just gave him some, and he doesn’t usually need more this fast,” I say. “But here you go.”
“Thanks.” She runs off to get the petroleum jelly to Phillip to help prevent any further chafing of his crotch.
Sophia collapses in laughter as soon as she’s gone. “Phillip’s identical twin with long hair,” she whispers to me. “Does it look like there’s something between them?”
“I don’t know,” I say, feeling sad. “Mindy looked like she was loving being here.”
Sophia turns to face me. “And you looked the opposite— like you wanted to be anywhere but here.”
I study her sharply. She’s right, of course. I didn’t want to be at the race, but I’ve never enjoyed being at those races. Being Phillip’s cheerleader is clearly something Mindy enjoys more than I do, and there’s never been room in his life for any other role.
Chapter Sixteen
