Arden chose to ignore what sounded suspiciously like sarcasm. “All you have to do is make the flyer,” she told Lydia.
“Our imaginary club needs an actual flyer?”
“Just throw something together—pictures of animals, that kind of thing. Keep it vague. It doesn’t have to be your best work.”
The look on Lydia’s face said she was about to object.
“Or we could go to the coffeehouse where he plays guitar on Thursday nights,” Arden mused. “Apparently he’s working on a song cycle called ‘The March to Extinction.’”
“Over my dead body,” Lydia snapped.
Arden’s smile was just visible above the rim of her paper cup of tea. “Mary’s house it is.”
Dear Diary,
It’s not unusual to incorporate some degree of subterfuge in the courtship process, whether you’re talking about Cyrano writing love letters under someone else’s name or everyone in Shakespeare pretending to be their brother/cousin/uncle, etc. Basically, it’s a time-honored romantic tradition.
Like Anton says, what’s more fun than a little cross-dressing?
M.P.M.
Chapter 19
On Thursday afternoon I rushed hometo start preparing while the other three printed copies of Lydia’s flyer for our alleged club, Concerned Citizens. Official slogan:For a Good Time, Do Good.
I had time to push in chairs, straighten stacks of magazines and papers, and turn on the lights in the dining room before the doorbell rang. With a burst of laughter and rustling grocery bags my friends hurried inside.
We put out bowls of sesame sticks, cashews, and wasabi peas, which Arden decided to combine into snack mix. There was seltzer for those who wanted it, and a plate of organic date rolls. Against my better judgment, Jasper and Bo had been prevailed upon to swell our numbers to something more club-like. Bo insisted on mood music, which he defined as “either Ella or Billie; I’m not picky.” Jasper found a compilation of Billie Holiday’s greatest hits.
The snacks, the smooth jazz—it reminded me of something.
“Feels like a faculty dinner party,” Jasper said, reading my mind. “Minus the cheap wine.”
“And the old people making passive-aggressive comments about each other’s research,” Bo pointed out.
Lydia held up a hand for silence. “Did you hear that?”
We dashed to the front windows, peeking from behind the curtains as a male figure—presumably Jeff—bent to lock his mountain bike. Even from behind I could tell he was shaped differently from most of the guys at our school, his torso broadening into sculpted shoulders that strained against the confines of his T-shirt. I’d never pictured myself with someone buff, but I would do my best to keep an open mind. Assuming he even noticed me, rather than being instantly smitten with one of my friends.
“At least he doesn’t look like he needs iron supplements,” Lydia muttered.
No, Nature Boy wasn’t a Cecil Vyse. And while it was too soon to pronounce him Millville High’s answer to George Emerson, he at least appeared capable of climbing a tree, should the occasion arise. Then he straightened.
“It’shim,” I said, as the back of his head came into view.
Arden gave me a funny look. “Did you invite anyone else?”
I shook my head, opting to play dumb rather than explain I hadn’t meant,Oh look, it’s Jeff!butOh look,Jeffis Man Bun, a.k.a. the guy who’s been following Cam around!
“If we could get that cowrie shell necklace off him we might have something,” Lydia observed as he took a long drink from the water bottle attached to his bike.
Arden elbowed her. “Maybe Mary likes his necklace.”
“Yeah,” Lydia scoffed. “She can get one just like it when he takes her to Burning Man.”
We scurried away from the window as Jeff mounted the porch steps. When the knock sounded, Jasper slid toward the front door in his socks. My slight-framed brother looked Lilliputian next to our brawny visitor, who was gazing around the living room as though committing the details to memory.They’re bookshelves, I wanted to say.Full of books. Well, that and a pile of dirty field hockey gear, which Cam had brought home to wash on her off day from practice. Possibly I should have straightened that up.
“Why don’t you sit here, Jeff?” Having led the way into the dining room, Arden indicated the chair she had in mind. “Help yourself to some snack mix. And Mary, you can sit right next to him.”
