“For real?” Adam didn’t even respond. “Okay, then we’re on foot. There’s a good cheesesteak place a couple blocks—” I started to point, but he cut me off.
“We can just find the nearest tree or something.”
I shrugged. “It’s your photo. Let me grab a jacket.”
I snagged my camera, too, and followed him to the stairwell. We played the quiet game the whole way down; me because all the things that I thought of saying were probably not, strictly speaking, in thenicecategory. I was going to have to watch myself around Adam. He, on the other hand, seemed to have the nice thing on autopilot. He even opened the front door for me.
Weirdo.
ADAM
For a place called Oak Village, there were surprisingly few oak trees on the property. Dad had mentioned something over dinner the night before about landscaping plans but that the building itself had to come first.
We found a tree half a block away, and Jolene kicked it and turned to face me. “What’s my motivation?”
“What?” I asked.
“Forget it. Is this fine?” She leaned against the oak tree and dipped her head a little to one side. When she smiled, her gap showed, and I kinda liked that she didn’t try to hide it.
I lifted my phone and took the picture.
“Here, let me see.” She pressed into my side and I inhaled the soft scent of honeysuckle from her hair as she peered around my shoulder at my phone. “Did you close your eyes while taking this?”
“What?” I felt like I was saying that a lot around her. “No.”
“That’s like the worst photo anyone has ever taken of me.” She took my phone and held it out in front of us. “Smile.” I heard a click. “There. Much better. See how it doesn’t look like I only have one eye in this one? Wow, we actually look good together. Huh.”
She tilted the phone so I could see the picture. Of the two of us. She’d taken it so quickly that I hadn’t really had time to feel uncomfortable. When she’d pressed into my side, she’d smelled sort of sweet and sort of like the tree she’d leaned against. So in the picture, she was smiling and I was looking at her with an unguarded expression. “Yeah, I can’t send that to my mom.”
“Why not?” She pulled the phone back to study the picture.
“Right now, you’re just a cute girl I met. If she sees that, you’re suddenly this girl I’m taking pictures with and—what are you doing?” She was doing something with my phone.
“Sending the picture to your mom. I’m assuming she’s the contact marked ‘Mom.’ Wow, you call her a lot.”
I ripped my phone away from her, but I heard the sendswishsound. “Why did you do that?”
“You said you wanted to make your mom happy. That’s the picture that will make her happy. I mean, look at it. How cute am I, and how cute are you noticing how cute I am?”
“Right. Thanks,” I said in a clipped tone. The delivered note displayed by the text mocked me while I started trying to figure out how to explain the picture to Mom and defuse the situation. I shoved my phone back in my pocket. “I’ll see you.” I started back down the street. I made it like two steps before Jolene pulled me to a stop.
“Pissy much? It’s just a photo. It’s not like I was licking your face or anything.”
“You don’t get it.” I tried to shake her off, gently at first, but with a little more force when she persistently hung on. “Can I have my arm back?”
“So you can storm back to your apartment? No.”
I raised my eyebrows at her as if to say,Are you serious?In response she raised her own eyebrows.
“Get over yourself for two seconds and explain why you’re all butthurt that I sent that innocent picture of us to your mom.”
“Ofus,” I said, relaxing my arm so that she might follow suit. “She’ll think you’re more than just the girl next door.”
“Are you saying I’m not?”
I felt my face heat. “I appreciate the photo, but that picture... It was supposed to be of you, not us. You were just supposed to be a distraction so she wouldn’t dwell on the fact that she was alone in our house for the first time since—” I swallowed, feeling needles behind my eyes. I puffed out a breath, focusing on the chilly air when I refilled my lungs until I got myself together. “This is way more than that now, or it’s going to look that way to her.” I pulled out my phone again and brought up the picture. “You really don’t see the problem?”
Her eyebrows drew together and she tugged on her bottom lip, studying me, not even glancing at the phone. “You’re saying I should have licked your face?” Then she laughed when my jaw tightened. “Wow, you’re uptight. I’m kidding. And yes, I see your probably too-anal point.” At last she dropped my arm. “So you’re in a pickle, and it’s my fault.” She eyed me sideways for confirmation. I folded my arms. “Honestly, I think you’re taking a much too narrow view of all this. You want to distract your mom. Great. Cute girl next door—” she pointed to herself and gave a little curtsy “—in and of herself is good for, what, two weekends of distraction, maybe three? What happens when the novelty of my mere existence wears off? Granted, I am awesome and very cute, so maybe you eke out four weekends, but even I have my limits. So what’s your plan after that?”
