Destiny Binds (5 page)

Okay, so maybe I did notice a little.

And, to my chagrin, Talley noticed my noticing.

“You know she asked him, right?” Talley asked, sitting a bowl of popcorn on my bed. It was the night of Homecoming, which meant Talley and I were having our traditional school dance night sleep-over. Usually Joi joined us, but she had a date, with John Davis of all people. We were enjoying a night of junk food and geeky movies.

“Who asked who what?” At this point in the movie there were only a couple of hobbits and some scruffy old guy that was supposed to be, but in my opinion totally wasnʼt, attractive. No girls to ask anyone anything.

“Ashley asked Alex to Homecoming,” Talley said as if we had just been talking about him, instead of avoiding that topic for weeks now. “I heard Tinsley Henson telling Molly Eastwick that she had to practically beg him to take her.”

Talley looked at me expectantly as I tried to figure out where this conversation was heading. “Well, you know our Ashley. She will do whatever it takes to get what she wants.

Remember when we were in the sixth grade and she ate nothing but lima beans for a week so that her dad would get her a puppy?” I took a thoughtful bite of Funyun. “That never did make any sense whatsoever, but Lima was a cool dog.”

“Wow. You would really rather reminisce about Ashley than talk about your feelings for Alex? You are seriously repressed.”

I squirmed. “I donʼt have any feelings for Alex, other than annoyance.”

“Of course you donʼt. Iʼm just imagining that youʼre always looking at him when you think no one will notice. And Iʼm sure there is some totally unrelated reason as to why you always start chewing on your bottom lip every time he gets within ten feet of you.” I ran my tongue over the inside of my bottom lip, which seemed to be missing most of its skin.

Crap.

I flopped back onto my bed and threw Guido across my face. Loyal sock monkey, always there to hide my humiliation.

“Okay. Heʼs kinda cute, mildly intelligent, and slightly charismatic. If Jase didnʼt happen to be the President and Founder of the I Hate Alex Cole Club, and his brother wasnʼt a raging psycho, I might be half tempted to have a tiny crush on him.” Instead of gloating over the fact that she was right, Talley sat strangely silent for a long while. Then, in a voice that was way too serious for my comfort level, she said, “Jase can only fight fate for so long.”

I was about to ask her what that was supposed to mean, but at that moment Orlando Bloomʼs face appeared on the screen, distracting Talleyʼs thoughts for the rest of the night.

As for the interaction between Alex and Jase during those months, it was virtually nonexistent. After that first day, Alex no longer spent his lunch in the cafeteria. I had a feeling it didnʼt have as much to do with the mystery meat they served as avoiding Jase.

The only time their paths crossed was one night when Jase and I took Angel to dinner at Dairy Queen. Mom was working an afternoon shift and Dad had a school board meeting, which left us with the little monster for an entire evening. We bribed her into being on her best behavior with the promise of a kidʼs meal and dipped cone. Neither of us had been informed that the DQ had a new employee.

My stomach wound into knots as we approached the counter where Alex waited. I said a silent prayer that we could get our dinner without causing a scene.

“Can I help you?” Alex asked, eyes locked on Jase. Even in the ridiculous fast food uniform he looked like the embodiment of physical perfection.

“Number five with a Mello Yello,” Jase said sharply. “Scout?” Alex didnʼt even look at me while I ordered for Angel and myself, nor did he feel the need to acknowledge my presence when he handed me our tray of food. I tried to ignore the tiny bit of disappointment I was feeling almost as hard as I tried to ignore the tiny spark of hope I felt when Angel later announced that the pretty boy behind the counter kept looking at me. Of course, the snarl that escaped from Jase helped with that second endeavor.

Mostly, though, those autumn months were uneventful. Alex Cole lived his life, and I lived mine. We shared a state of peaceful coexistence.

And then Mrs. Sole changed everything.

“Iʼve had the best idea,” she announced as she attempted to perch herself on the end of the table that served as the editorial staffʼs office. Mrs. Sole is a 5 foot tall 65 year old woman who is rather round and has a unusual fondness for double knit pants. She really should not try to perch onto anything ever. “I want to do a series of articles where we have two writers giving opposing views on a topic.”

“Like a point/counterpoint type thing?” I asked, liking the idea.

“Kind of,” Mrs. Sole said, “but instead of two separate articles I want it to be more like a conversation.” She dropped her head as though she were confessing to some big secret. “I got the idea from reading a transcript of my favorite podcast.” Mrs. Sole knew what a podcast was? That woman was always full of surprises.

“Sounds cool,” I said.

She looked relieved. “Iʼm so glad you think so, because I want you and Alex to write it.” The lights in the room suddenly got much too bright and the oxygen, which had been plentiful just moments before, went thin.

Okay, so Alex definitely has some writing talent. Two weeks ago he wrote an article on the lack of support the academic team received that almost made me want to go to a meet, and I hated watching those when I was actually on the team. I could see why she would choose him, but Meg would have been a much wiser choice than I was. She had placed in the state debate finals last year, and her writing was flawless.

“Me?” I asked, trying not to look in Alexʼs direction.

“The two of you have such similar writing styles and cadences that I think you will play nicely off of each other.” Mrs. Sole slid rather ungracefully from the top of our table to the floor.

“I need one thousand words by Friday on socialized medicine. You can decide who is pro and who is con.”

She walked away, leaving me in a state of absolute panic. A thousand words by Friday? It was Wednesday!

Then, my biggest concern spoke up.

“What do you know about socialized medicine?”

“Ummm...they have it in Canada?” I looked up to see that, for the first time since August, he was smiling at me. Well, one corner of his mouth was turning up. It was at least the beginning of a smile.

“Weʼre being punished for something, arenʼt we?”

I considered the possibility for a moment. “I heard that my dad is pushing her to retire at the end of the year, so that is probably how I ended up on her bad side. Teachers just love taking out their aggressions against my father on me.” It was true. My dadʼs relationship with Mr. Beck was part of the reason he was so awful to me. “What did you do to deserve such a fate?” Alex grinned for real this time. “I ran over her car.”

“No, you did not!”

He shrugged and dropped his gaze. “The brakes on my car arenʼt so good. Thereʼs just a tiny dent on that huge boat of hers, but she has been out to get me ever since.”

“You hurt the Caddy,” I teased. “Itʼs a miracle she didnʼt try to kill you.”

“I think Mrs. Sole is more of a torture kind of woman. Murder would be much too gauche.” Personally, I didnʼt find homicide nearly as gauche as telling a girl that you considered spending time with her torture.

I reluctantly made plans to meet him after school. How was I supposed to work with someone that obviously wanted nothing to do with me? I was angry at him for being so blunt, at Mrs. Sole for putting me into this situation, and mostly at myself for wanting him to like me. I knew better than to care what someone like Alex Cole thought of me. I tried to talk some sense into myself that afternoon as I drove to the center of town.

Our public library is my absolute favorite place on earth. Several years ago, the Methodist church relocated to a larger building on the outskirts of town, and the library moved into the old, gothic building on the court square. All of the wood, stone, and stained glass gave the place a majestic feel.

Of course, my little sister didnʼt care about the splendor of the building, or the fact that I felt like I was going to puke.

“Canʼt we go to the park and swing first? Pretty, pretty please?” she asked as I pulled into the tiny parking lot. Jase had basketball practice every afternoon, so I was stuck with baby-sitting duty on the days Mom worked.

“Sorry, Munchkin, but I have to work on a homework project. But itʼs Wednesday, so Emma will be here for you to play with.”

Angel immediately perked up. Emma was Miss Nancy, the librarianʼs, niece. On Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons she stayed at the library while her mom went to aerobics.

She was in the third grade and Angelʼs idol.

Angel ran up the stone steps and through the heavy front door before I could get everything gathered from the back seat. I hurried after her to ensure that she was not causing a ruckus.

Miss Nancy preferred to keep her library as peaceful as the sanctuary the building previously housed.

I spotted Alex sitting at a table tucked into the reference section, but it took forever for me to work my way through the library. First, I had to stop and help Mr. George, a grouchy old man who hated everything except for the gaggle of animals with which he shared a two room apartment. I fixed his “broken” computer by turning the monitor back on. Then, Miss Nancy gave me a stack of books I requested and talked endlessly about the debate her blog had sparked over the importance of Holden Caulfield in modern society. I thought I was home free after that, but a hand came out of nowhere, grabbing my elbow and pulling me towards a rack of comics.

“Scout, look what just came in!” The hand and voice belonged to Bruce Parker, a rather unfortunate looking guy. He works as the assistant manager at MovieMart, an accomplishment he is extremely proud of. When he isnʼt extolling the genius of Guy Ritchie to the locals, he can be found bumming around the library. I would have found it pathetic if I wasnʼt there as often, if not more often, than he was.

“Is that a new manga? Iʼve never heard of this series.” I took the book and flipped through the pages. The artwork was fairly unambitious, but Bruce usually had a good eye for graphic novels.

“It reminds me of Kishimotoʼs work.”

“The guy who does
Naruto
?”

“Yeah, itʼs huge in Japan right now. You want it when Iʼm done?”

“No thanks. Iʼm more of a
Death Note
girl.” I was already moving towards the back corner where Alex waited, regarding me with a bemused expression.

“Sorry you had to wait,” I said, sitting my things on the table.

“No problem.” He looked like he was suppressing a laugh. “You had your many fans to attend to.”

I felt my cheeks turn red. I must have looked like the Queen of Geeks, talking to everyone in the library as I came through. “I come here while Jase is at basketball practice. We live pretty far out in the county, so it doesnʼt make much sense to drive home and then back into town again.”

“Oh, I figured that you were the kind of girl that hung out at the library. Iʼm somewhat surprised that youʼre into manga, though. I guess that explains all the angst.”

“You found me out,” I deadpanned. “Iʼm a closet emo. Not all of us can be a ray of freaking sunshine like you.”

“You think of me as a ray of sunshine?” His smile effectively proved my assessment, lighting up the normally dark library.

“Yes, and Iʼm a little black rain cloud. Now, can we please get down to business so that I can go home, change into my My Chemical Romance inspired wardrobe, and write poetry on my arm with a Sharpie?”

“Iʼm one step ahead of you, Amy Lee,” he said, handing me a couple of reference books.

“This is everything the library has on socialized medicine.” An hour later we had combed through the books Alex had found, plus some articles we came across online. It was all making my head hurt.

“God, this is boring,” I said. My eyes were glazing over as I stared at the computer screen.

“I donʼt even see why this is an issue. Who would want the government making decisions on what kind of medical treatment they receive?”

“You think itʼs better for the insurance companies to make that call?”

“No, I think that itʼs for a doctor and patient to decide.”

“Like that is how it works.” Alex looked like he was ready to go on a tirade, so I frantically started digging through my bag.

“Wait a sec.” I finally found what I was looking for and sat it on the table. “Okay, now go.” Alex looked questioningly at the machine I had produced from my bag. “What is that?”

“A tape recorder.” It was pretty obvious.

“Why do you have a tape recorder?”

“My mom brought it home for me when I joined the newspaper staff last year. She said that all reporters needed a tape recorder.”

“And we need it now because...?”

“Because weʼre going to argue this out now, Iʼll type it up tonight, and tomorrow you will turn it into a journalistic masterpiece. You cool with that?” Alex replied by pushing the record button and going off on the current state of our healthcare system. We were really on a roll when we were interrupted by my sisterʼs tear streaked face. I reached over and hit pause on the recorder. “Whatʼs wrong, Angel? Are you hurt?”

Angel threw herself onto me and stared bawling. I pulled her into my lap and wrapped my arms around her. She might be a brat, but sheʼs still my baby sister. It almost caused me physical pain to see her so upset.

“Emma said I was a baby,” she sobbed into my shoulder. “She doesnʼt want me to play with her any more.”

I never did like that Emma kid.

“Somebody thought
you
were a baby?” Alex leaned back in his chair and looked Angel over. “What are you? Like eight or nine?”

Angel turned her head to peek through the curtain my hair provided. “Iʼm six and a half.” I had to admit that Alex was a pretty decent actor. I almost believed that he was really shocked. “Six and a half? Man, you seem a lot older than that to me.” Angel sat up and brushed the hair and tears from her face. “Iʼm very manure for my age.” I had to bite my lip very hard to keep from laughing at her word confusion. Alex didnʼt even flinch.