26 Kisses (29 page)

“Do you have any idea what he’s so upset about? I mean, besides the obvious.” Mom has dark bags under her eyes. “I know the move is a big shock, but . . .”

I shrug and close my eyes. “There was this girl he was talking to at Lila’s party last month who lives next door to Dad and Lila. I think maybe he liked her, and that’s why he wanted to go over there all the time.”

Mom lets out a long breath. “Ah. And now he doesn’t want to go to your dad’s because he’s upset with them for springing the move on you guys, but that means he can’t see his girlfriend.”

It’s so bizarre to think of my stinky little brother having a girlfriend. “I guess he’s growing up, Mom.”

“I think you’re right.” She smiles sadly. “I’ve known that for a while now, but I’ve been trying to deny it.”

I hold my hand out to Fat Snacks, who sniffs it suspiciously before grudgingly licking my finger. “Well, it looks like neither of your kids handle heartbreak well.”

Mom tilts her head and looks at me. “I think you’re doing great, Vee. You had a rough couple of weeks at the beginning, but it seems like this summer has been good for you.”

“Yeah, well.” I lean back and close my eyes. No need for her to know about the guys standing around a bonfire at Mark’s house comparing their “experiences” with me or the half dozen creepy Facebook messages I’ve gotten from people I barely know at school asking if I want to “hang out” (i.e. “hook up”). Or the Killian disaster. I clench my fists, fingernails digging into my palms. “I’m hanging in there.”

“That’s good. I’m proud of you.” She leans into me, and we both freeze as Jeffrey’s door opens with a distinctive creak. He shuffles across the hall to the bathroom and slams the door.

“I guess he had to come out sometime,” I say.

Mom smiles. “Thank God. I won’t bug him, but I think I might run to the store and get stuff to make spaghetti.” If there’s one food my brother could eat every day and not get sick of, it’s pasta. “Thanks for telling me about the girl, Vee.”

“Sure.” I ignore the twinge of guilt in my stomach. Have I just broken the brother-sister secrecy code? Jeffrey hasn’t told Mom about my extracurricular boy activities.
This is different,
I tell myself.
She was really worried.

“Are you okay?” Mom’s eyes are big and concerned. “You seem a little stressed. I know this has all been hard on you.”

I wave her away. “I’m fine, Mom. Just tired.”

“Hey, why don’t you see if Mel and Seth want to come over for dinner too?” she asks. “I feel like I’ve barely seen them all summer.”

I’m stressed out enough as it is—I don’t want to have to watch Mel and Seth flirt with each other over dinner, but Mom will definitely interrogate me if I turn down her offer to have my friends over. “Sure.” I grab my phone and text Mel and Seth while Mom goes to grab her purse.

definitely,
Seth responds.
your mom’s spaghetti is the best.

i’m at seth’s right now,
Mel texts.
we’ll be over in a bit.

I go into Jeffrey’s bedroom, which looks out over the front of the house, and see Mel’s car parked across the street.
Don’t be jealous. They’re just working on the album.

The toilet flushes, and Jeffrey comes back in. “What are you doing?” he says, his face red and his eyes glassy. “Get out!”

“Sorry,” I say, picking my way back over the minefield of debris to get to the door. “I was just looking out the window.”

“Well, Mel has been over there practically all afternoon, if that’s what you’re wondering about,” Jeffrey says, flinging himself onto his bed, his feet hanging off the side. “Get over it, Vee.”

I put my hands on my hips and stare down at him, stifling the questions that are bubbling up.
Have you seen anything? What are they doing over there?
I swallow hard. “Look, Jeffrey, if you want me to drive you somewhere so you can meet up with that girl who lives by Dad, you can just ask me.”

His body tenses, but he doesn’t respond.

“Do you want to text her?” I nudge his foot, and he jerks away. “I saw something online about a battle of the bands tonight in the park. Maybe she wants to go?”

“No.” His voice is muffled. “Go away. I don’t want to talk to you.”

“I know.” I roll the words around in my mouth before saying them, trying to figure out what I can do to make Jeffrey hate me a little less. “Look, I’m sorry about what Mark’s brothers told you, but it’s not my fault some guys are idiots and spread rumors. I haven’t done anything wrong, Jeffrey.” At least, I haven’t done anything that qualifies me as a slut—and even if I had, it’s not like it would be anyone’s business but my own. I’ve done plenty of things wrong this summer, but I hope I’ll get a chance to fix them all.

I cross my arms. “So what do you say? Do you want to see if Chaundre wants to go to the battle of the bands?”

Jeffrey flips over and sits up, his shaggy hair matted and dull. “She can’t just go and hang out somewhere. Her parents are superstrict, and they have to know exactly where she is and who she’s with all the time.”

I blink. “Wow. That sucks.”

“Yeah.” Jeffrey rubs his eyes. “We’re only allowed to hang out at her house when her parents are home. She can’t even come over to Dad and Lila’s. The only reason she was there the night of the party was because her parents were too.”

“So . . .” I cringe as the question forms in my mind, not sure I want to know. “When you hang out, what do you . . . do?”

Jeffrey shrugs and looks away, practically squirming under my gaze. “I don’t know. Talk. Watch TV. She likes to skateboard too.”

I bite my lip, trying not to smile. “Seriously, though, if you can think of a way to see her and need a ride, let me know.”

Jeffrey doesn’t look at me or respond, but his shoulders relax a little. He knows where I am if he needs me.

“So when do you guys think you’ll be done with the album?” I ask, passing the bowl of garlic bread to Seth. With my own thoughts jumbled up inside my head and Jeffrey slumped in his seat, looking like he wants to die, I figure music is the safest topic of conversation tonight.

Mel shrugs and sprinkles some oregano over her spaghetti. “We’re getting there,” she says.

“You two are so talented,” Mom says, beaming at them. “I can hardly believe it.”

Seth drops his eyes to his plate, trying to hide his smile. “Thanks, Mrs. Bentley.”

“So what are you three up to tonight?” Mom asks. “There’re only a few weeks left until school starts. You should take advantage of them.”

Mel groans. “Don’t remind me.”

I nod. “Seriously.” For the first time in my life, I’m not looking forward to going back to school. I’m dreading the comments that will inevitably get tossed around in the hallways, the knowing looks, the guys leaning in just a bit too close, trying to figure out if it’s really true that Vee Bentley has crossed over to the dark side of slutdom. And, of course, Killian won’t be there. He’ll be enduring his own private hell fifteen miles away in Trawley.

“Vee was telling me about a free concert tonight,” Jeffrey says, winding spaghetti around his fork. “Maybe you guys should go to that.”

“Good idea,” Mel says. “I’d heard about that too. Seth? Battle of the bands?”

He shrugs noncommittally. “I guess.”

“Do you want to go too, Jeffrey?” Mom asks, giving me a look. “I’m sure your sister and her friends would be happy to take you.”

“Nah. I think I’ll just hang out here with you.”

Mom’s face lights up. “Well, I’m not going to try to talk you out of that,” she says.

We finish dinner and help clean up until Jeffrey and Seth get into a water fight over the kitchen sink, and Mom banishes us.

“Let’s go down to the park,” Mel says. “We can see what’s going on and check out the concert when it starts.”

Seth gazes out the window at his house. “Maybe we should just work on the songs some more?” he asks. “I’m up for another couple of hours.”

“No, let’s go.” I’m not really in the mood to sit in Seth’s basement and be the third wheel on their musical bicycle tonight.

Seth shoots me a wounded look, and I shrug. “Come on,” I say, grabbing my bag from the living room. “Last one to the Buick has to buy sno-cones at the park.”

It seems like the entire teenage population of Butterfield is out tonight, trying to soak up as much summer as possible before it’s gone for good. Groups of people are setting out blankets and coolers on the lawn surrounding the bandstand, settling in for a long, glorious summer evening.

“Oh, look—there’s Brianna and Landon,” Mel says, waving frantically at them. “Let’s go crash their blanket.”

“Hi, guys!” Brianna leaps up and hugs us. “Oh my God, can you believe the summer is almost over?”

Mel shakes her head. “I don’t want to think about it. It’s too depressing.”

They chatter away, and Seth helps Landon unpack what looks like an entire Thanksgiving dinner’s worth of food from their cooler. I sit on the edge of the blanket, watching people wander past. It’s getting dark earlier and earlier each day, and the sun races toward the horizon.

My phone vibrates. I pull it out and squint at the screen, my breath catching in my throat when I see it’s a text from Killian.
i’m sorry.

I toss it to the ground, too angry to respond.

“Here, Vee.” Mel shoves a bottle of Diet Coke into my hand. “Brianna brought these.”

“Thanks.” I smile at Brianna and twist off the cap, taking a sip and choking as the rum-filled liquid burns my throat. “Jeez,” I say with a gasp, giving Mel a dirty look. “You could have warned me.”

“Surprise!” Mel taps her Diet Coke bottle against mine. “To the last summer of our lives.”

I roll my eyes and turn to Brianna. “Could you please tell Mel that graduating high school does not equal death?”

She laughs. “I think we’ll all still be alive after graduation.”

Mel throws herself down next to me. “Yeah, but next summer we’ll be getting ready to go to college, so we’ll have a million things to do. Then after that, who knows? Some people stay at school all year to work or go on Habitat for Humanity. We might never all be back here at the same time again.”

“Stop it,” I say. “Seriously, Mel. This is so depressing.”

Mel spots someone over my shoulder and gasps. “Oh my God. Vee, it’s Noel Callenbaugh.”

“So?” I turn around to look.

“So?” She leans in and whispers, “You still need an
N
, don’t you?”

I groan. “Not tonight, Mel. I’m not in the mood.”

She pokes me in the side, nearly making me spill my Diet Coke. “Yes, tonight! This is the perfect opportunity. Look at all these people.”

“Stop it.” I bat her hand away as the first band finishes tuning. “It’s about to start.”

Mel leaps to her feet and grabs my wrist, tugging me along. “Let’s go down there and dance.”

I glance at my phone, lying still and silent beside me on the blanket. I can imagine Killian pacing around his bedroom/office, trying to distract himself with books or the Internet for a few minutes before checking his phone again.

“Come
on
, Vee.” Mel crosses her arms and lets her lower lip droop in a toddlerlike pout.

“We’ll get her up.” Brianna and Landon grab my arms and pull, managing to hoist me off the blanket.

“You guys!” I try to twist away, grabbing my phone and shoving it into my pocket. “I don’t feel like it.”

“Vee.” Mel puts her hands on either side of my face and leans in until she’s only an inch or two away. “Let’s just dance.”

And dance we do, in a big screaming mass in front of the stage. Each band that plays is better than the last, and even Seth is down in the crowd with us, a dark shadow leaping and jumping in the flashing strobe lights. Mel keeps pressing more Diet Cokes into my hand, and I drink them, more because I’m thirsty than for any other reason. But the alcohol feels good. I’m buzzing, dancing with Mel and Seth and then twisting off into the crowd to do my own thing, hands up, head back, loving life.

I wiggle my way over to Noel Callenbaugh and lock my eyes on his. I don’t know if he has heard the rumors about me, and I don’t particularly care. He dances with me, close but not too close, giving me my space when I want it.