Lindsay's Surprise Crush (11 page)

Nick stepped into the room, setting down the soccer ball he had crooked under one arm. “Hey, that was really nice of you to get Claudia to join the team. She's an awesome player, by the way. We scrimmaged with the girls' team at the end of practice. Her footwork is better than most of the guys on
my
team. The girls' coach is
psyched
. Claudia's totally going to become a dominant player.”

Lindsay smiled. “I'm really glad. Cassidy was actually really sweet about inviting Claudia to join the team. I—you guys make a good couple.” She almost choked on the words but managed to get them out without doing so.

Nick sighed, looked up at the ceiling, and then side
to side, as though he were trying to figure out how to say something. Finally he looked straight at her, his dark eyes looking like pools of chocolate. “Listen, Linz,” he said. “You've got it all wrong about Cassidy. She's really a nice girl. She—”

“I know, I know,” said Lindsay. “I really misjudged her. I thought she was really stuck-up because she always has new stuff and she doesn't talk to anyone except people on her team, and she didn't invite me to her party, but after I saw her presentation this morning, I realized she's had to deal with a lot, and I shouldn't have jumped to those conclusions.”

“She's not stuck-up at all,” said Nick. “She's really shy, actually. That may be why you think she doesn't talk to people not on her team. And yeah, her home life is pretty rotten. Her grandparents barely spend any time with her. She was raised by nannies and stuff.”

“She just made a few comments to me that I thought were, like, sarcastic, but now that I think about it, maybe they weren't,” said Lindsay.

“No, she really isn't a sarcastic person,” said Nick. “And she's not my girlfriend, either.”

“She was really—wait. What?”

The last thing Nick had said finally registered with Lindsay. Had he just said they weren't going out?

He was grinning that sideways grin and shaking his head. “No. We're not going out. We never were. I guess a few people thought we were, and I sort of let them think so because, well, it was kind of cool to have people think such a hot girl was interested in me. I guess I still think of myself as a little sixth grader that no one notices. Plus you were acting all aloof and stuck-up.”

“
I
was acting stuck-up?” Lindsay's eyes widened.

“Well, yeah. You didn't even look my way that first day of homeroom. And at lunch I saved you a seat at my table and you walked right past, pretending not to know me.”

Lindsay thought back, trying to remember. There
had
been an empty seat next to him. She'd just assumed he'd saved it for Cassidy—and that's where Cassidy had sat every day since then. How was she supposed to know he'd been saving it for her? “Well, why didn't you return my texts that I sent you?” she said accusingly.

“I told you, but you didn't seem to believe me. Ellie took my phone and I couldn't find it, and then we
couldn't find where she'd put the charger. I didn't have my phone for almost a whole week.”

“Okay, well, I didn't believe you because you'd lied to me about the other thing.”

“
What
other thing?” he asked. “When did I
lie
to you?”

“Remember that day you said you had to get to practice? Well, I happen to know you didn't even have practice. My mom sent me in to find you, and I saw you talking with Cassidy in the hallway. You so didn't have practice.”

Nick looked confused, as though he were trying to remember. Then he did. “We
didn't
have practice, not officially. But Cassidy had asked me if she could take some shots on me. Her Elite Team coach told her she needed to work on developing her left foot. So I told her I'd stay after that day so she could take some shots on me on the other field. Gee, Linz, you really jump to conclusions, you know?”

Lindsay started to say something about how cozy they looked, and then stopped. “You're right, I do. I'm trying, though.” She swallowed. “I have no right to get mad at you for letting people think you and Cassidy were going out,” she admitted. “I wanted you to think
I was going out with Troy because I thought it was cool that an eighth grader liked me. And I was mad at you and trying to annoy you. But it was a pretty rotten thing to do to Troy.”

“Yeah, well, I guess we've both been pretty rotten,” he said. “Anyway, not to worry. Troy asked Cassidy to the dance and she said yes, so all's well that ends well.”

“That's awesome!” said Lindsay, genuinely pleased.

Nick scuffed the rug with his foot. “So Troy told me you told him you weren't planning on going to the dance. Is that, um, true?”

Lindsay caught her breath. What did he mean? Why was he asking? Then she calmed herself. This was just Nick, her friend, talking to her like old times. Relax. “Yeah, that's what I told him,” she admitted. “Because I thought he was going to ask me and I didn't know what else to say.”

“Well, so, uh, is there any way I can change your mind?”

“About Troy?”

“No, you dimwit. About the dance.”

Lindsay blinked at him. “You mean, are you asking—”

“Duh, yeah. I'm asking you to the dance. Because I want to go with
you
. I want to go
out
with you.”

Lindsay felt faint. She clutched the edge of a chair. She didn't trust herself to say anything.

Nick must have taken her silence for hesitation. “Okay, it's okay. You don't have to say yes. I know it's weird, since we've known each other since we were zero and all, and—”

“Of course I'll go with you!” she finally managed to blurt out. She practically jumped up and hugged him. She didn't know what to do with her hands. She grinned like a maniac at Nick, but she didn't care. Nick had asked her to the dance. Nick liked her!

Nick smiled back. “Awesome.”

“Yeah, it's pretty awesome.”

He cleared his throat. “So, you know how I have to give my presentation tomorrow? Well, I was so upset that you and I weren't getting along that I took out all the pictures of the two of us, and now all I have to show for my talk tomorrow is one ugly fat baby picture of myself.”

She laughed.

“And so I was wondering, if you don't have too much
homework, if you could just come back to my house and help me put the pictures back in? My mom is coming to pick me up in about five minutes. I think she already told your mom you were coming with me.” He blushed.

Lindsay laughed again. “Of course I will,” she said. “But, gee, think of the gossip this is going to generate. We both have slides showing the two of us together and then we're going to the dance, too? Can you even imagine what people will be talking about?”

“I don't care if you don't care,” said Nick.

And Lindsay realized she didn't care one bit.

Here's a sneak peek at the next book in the series:

Noelle likes Noel

Does he like her too?

Noelle's Christmas Crush

MOM IS TAKING ME BLACK FRIDAY SHOPPING.
Want 2 go?
texted Jessica.

Busy 2day
, Noelle texted back.

Y?

U no y! *<<<<=

LOL! You are Christmas crazy.

I no. Have fun shopping!

Noelle smiled and put down the phone. Jessica had been her friend since they were little, so she should have remembered that the day after Thanksgiving was a special
one for Noelle. It was the official start of the Christmas season, the most important time of the year! Well, at least to Noelle. And even if it wasn't the most important time of the year, it was the best time of the year.

I guess I am Christmas crazy,
Noelle thought. But she had a good reason to be. Not only was she born on December 25, but her last name was Winters, and on top of all that, her parents had named her Noelle Holly. Noelle Holly Winters! She was destined to be Christmas crazy.

“Noelle, are you gonna just talk on your cell phone, or are you gonna help us?”

Noelle's teenage brother Andrew came in through the back door carrying a big cardboard box. She quickly slid her phone in her pocket.

“Okay! Okay! I'm helping!” Then she headed outside into the chilly late-autumn morning.

Mr. Winters was waiting in the driveway. “What do you say we get that tree? I want to get there before the good ones are gone. And we need some place to put all these ornaments!”

Noelle laughed. “We'll probably be the first ones anywhere to get our tree,” she said, but she was excited.
Once the tree was up, it would feel like Christmas for real. And that would mean her birthday was getting close too.

The family bundled into the car and drove to the fire station in downtown Pine Valley. They always got their tree from the parking lot next door, because some of the profits went to the firehouse. Mrs. Winters popped a Christmas music CD into the dashboard.

“Might as well get into the spirit,” she said.

It seemed to work, because Andrew and Noelle didn't argue at all on the drive (which only took ten minutes), and when they pulled up into the lot with all the trees stacked up by the metal fence, Noelle felt a big surge of Christmas spirit.

They climbed out of the car and searched the lot. Mrs. Winters stood back and watched; she knew her family well. Noelle and Andrew would each quickly find a tree that they were certain was “the best,” but Mr. Winters would examine just about every single tree in the place until he found the perfect one.

And that's exactly what happened. Right away, Noelle found a tree with a round, fluffy shape, and Andrew went to the tallest tree in the lot.

“Dad! Dad! Over here!” they yelled.

But Mr. Winters methodically went through the lot, stopping to touch the needles of a tree, or standing back from it and looking at it with squinted eyes. Everyone waited impatiently until he finally called out, “I've got it!”

They circled around the tree he had propped up. It was tall, but not as tall as the tree Andrew had picked. It was round and fluffy, but not as wide as Noelle's tree. It was the very best of both. Everyone had to agree that it was perfect.

By the time the tree was tied to the roof, everyone was hungry, so they stopped at the drive-through and ordered a sack of burgers and four peppermint milkshakes, a special treat for tree-trimming day.

They spent the rest of the afternoon putting up decorations and hanging ornaments on the tree. Noelle carefully went through the box and picked out her favorites to hang, and Andrew did the same. It was kind of an unspoken agreement between them. Andrew got to hang the little wooden train and the pinecone ornament that he made in second grade, and Noelle got to put up her handprint and the little birds in nests that clipped onto the branches. The only one they ever argued about was the pickle.

This time, they reached into the ornament box for the pickle at the same time. They both stopped, and then Andrew shrugged.

“Go ahead,” Andrew said.

Looks like someone has found the Christmas spirit after all!
Noelle wanted to say, but she knew better. She just smiled and hung the pickle on the tree, right in the middle.

Mrs. Winters stood in the center of the room with her hands on her hips and inspected their work.

“Everything looks beautiful,” she said.

Noelle looked around. A garland of green branches and berries was draped across the fireplace, and her dad's Santa collection adorned the mantel. The tree was lit with dozens of tiny white lights, and a big glowing star shined at the top.

“It's perfect,” Noelle agreed.

Her mom smiled and shook her head. “Well, it
will
be perfect once we get all these storage boxes put away.”

Mr. Winters sank into the armchair next to the tree. “Can we do it later? I was thinking of heating up the leftover turkey for some sandwiches for dinner.”

“Yeah, we've been doing stuff all day,” Andrew added.

“Fine, then,” Mrs. Winters said. “Let's take a break. I'll call you when dinner's ready.”

“I can work on my birthday party planning!” Noelle announced, and then she ran up to her room.

Last year she had received a laptop for her birthday, and it was the perfect gift—not just because it was pink. She had started right away planning the party for this year. She'd saved pictures of party decorations and cakes, and made lists of what she would need. She had also bookmarked a free site where she could make awesome e-mail invitations that she could send out to her friends.

She sat on her bed and turned on the laptop, going right to the invitation site. She had a tentative guest list working, but she hadn't hit send yet. She stared at one name on the list: Noel Shepherd.