“I’m considering branching into some light stalking. I thought I might put you on my route.” He paused to examine his thumbnail before grinning at my gobsmacked expression. “Phoebe had me drop her off once. For ‘rehearsal.’”
He gave me a significant look, as though we shared some secret understanding, but my mind was otherwise engaged. “And you just decided to walk home with me?”
His hand closed around the strap of Cam’s bag. “It looked like you could use the help. And since you were so generous with my English assignment, it only seemed fair.”
I flushed, shifting guiltily. “You know what they say. All’s well that ends well.”
“I thought it was ‘all’s fair in love and war’?” He grinned at my discomfiture before glancing past me, in the direction of my house. “Are you going to invite me in?”
“Um,” I began, grasping for a polite denial. Hehadcarried Cam’s heavy bag all this way, not to mention taking a sporting view of myJane Eyresabotage.
“I’m kidding,” he said, throwing me off-balance yet again. “My piano teacher lives over there.” His thumb indicated the yellow house on the corner.
I knew Mrs. Madden taught piano, but it had never occurred to me that someone like Alex Ritter might be coming to her house every week. Onmystreet. It was hard to believe I hadn’t felt the crackle in the air that signaled his presence. If the windows were open, I could have listened to him banging out stormy sonatas while long white curtains billowed in the breeze.
I shook off the image. Probably I was giving him too much credit. “Are you any good?”
“That’s a very personal question, but I should be used to that by now, coming from you.” He let me squirm a few seconds. “Yes, as a matter of fact I am. I do a mean ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,’ ‘Pop Goes the Weasel’ if I’m feeling ambitious. But my favorite”—he lowered his voice—“is ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb.’”
I shook my head. “You’re messing with me.”
“Tempting, but I have a lesson in five minutes.” He glanced at his watch. “Make that two.”
“Oh.” How foolish to have believed he was angling for an invitation to come over. It was another of his little games, nothing more. “Well, have fun.”
The corner of his mouth twitched. “I’ll try.”
Our hands brushed as he passed me Cam’s bag. I flinched, which made me want to kick myself—especially since Alex probably hadn’t noticed the contact at all.
Later that evening I was in my room, alternating twenty minutes of algebra with ten of reading. It took longer overall but increased the odds of retaining my sanity. When the phone rang, I leaned back in my chair, rubbing my eyes. For a moment I listened in vain, hoping to hear my name called. Then I decided to go downstairs anyway and make myself a cup of tea.
Jasper was leaning against the side of the refrigerator with the receiver cradled against his face. He spoke in a confidential murmur, as though I had any interest in eavesdropping. After filling the kettle with fresh water, I set it on the stove and turned on the burner.
“Hold on a sec,” I heard Jasper say as I rummaged through the tea cupboard. “Mary. It’s for you.”
I turned to stare at him. “Are you serious?”
He cupped a hand over the receiver. “It’s Arden.”
There was no time to ask how or when the two of them had come to be on a first-name basis. I was too busy choking on the sudden fear that Arden somehow knew I’d walked home with Alex Ritter.
Jasper waved the phone in my face. “Earth to Mary. Time is money.”
I held it to my ear. “Hello?”
“Hey!” said Arden’s voice. “Oh my gosh, I am so excited. Not to toot my own horn, but I have seriously outdone myself this time. Hashtag nailed it. Prepare to have your mind blown.”
A long silence ensued, during which I waited for her to share the explosive tidings. “I’m ready,” I said at last.
“I meant on Friday,” Arden explained. “That’s when it’s going down—the next big event.”
“What is it?” For some reason I whispered the question, though Jasper had departed, jumbo bag of white cheddar popcorn in hand.
“I don’t want to spoil the surprise. This is just a heads-up so you can start planning your look.”
“I need a special outfit?” My mind leaped to the formalwear section at the mall.
“No, no. Just dress to impress.”
