Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys (13 page)

“Yeah, I get it,” Megan said, trying to sound sympathetic.

She gritted her teeth and clenched her fists. Didn't he see how crazy Hailey was? How could he just give in to it?

So much for an evening of endless possibilities. The only possibility she faced now was an awkward night of flying solo.

“You're thinking what a total loser I am, huh?” Evan said, looking away, sounding sad.

Megan had to bite her lip to keep from shouting out, “Yes!” but still, it kind of touched her that he cared what she thought.

Megan shoved open the car door. “You know what? It doesn't matter,” she said. “Have fun tonight.”

She slammed the door and hurried up the hill to Christian's front door as fast as the small circumference of her skirt would allow. Up ahead, a few people were walking into the house, and when the door opened, the sounds of laughter and shouting
voices and seriously loud music flowed out onto the lawn. Megan's heart pounded. She was suddenly filled with a wave of anxiety so strong it actually made her nauseous. But she wasn't going to let Evan see that. She swallowed hard, squared her shoulders, tossed her newly waved hair back, and walked right inside.

From: [email protected]

To: [email protected]

Subject: Boy Guide

Megan Meade's Guide to the McGowan Boys

Entry Six

Observation #1:
Boys are moody.

Like PMS moody.

Observation #2:
Boys are fickle.

Like Tracy-Dale-Franklin-at-the-MAC-counter fickle.

Observation #3:
Boys are hard to read.

As if we didn't know that already.

“Omigod! Tessa! You came!”

Megan walked into the foyer and immediately a girl threw her arms around her, enveloping Megan in an entirely too tight hug. She stank of musky perfume and one of her crunchy blond curls flew directly into Megan's mouth. It tasted sour.

“I knew you'd come!” the girl shouted in Megan's ear. Half the beer in her cup slopped over the rim and hit the floor behind Megan. “So you forgive me, right? 'Cuz I swear I didn't
mean
to kiss him. I just, y'know . . . slipped!”

Megan pushed her tongue out, freeing it from the hair. A couple of guys on their way down from the second floor noticed and laughed. “Um . . . not Tessa,” Megan said, awkwardly patting the girl's back.

The girl pulled away, studied Megan's face, and grimaced. “Who the hell are
you
?”

“Uh . . . sorry,” Megan replied.

She slid sideways out of the foyer and headed into the room on her left, where the party was raging. Unfamiliar faces surrounded her, laughing, singing to the music, shouting to each other across
the room. A group of guys checked her up and down and consulted. Apparently she scored high on their ratings scale, because one of them lifted his chin and made a move to come over and talk to her. Megan panicked and ducked out the nearest door.

In the next room four games of Jenga were being played simultaneously on a purple-felt-topped pool table. At least twenty people were gathered around, watching the action. Megan paused as a scrawny guy with clammy skin made his move. The tower teetered for a long moment, then toppled over, spraying blocks everywhere. The crowd cheered and groaned and pointed. The kid nodded and lifted a hand, then took a beer from his friend and chugged it in three gulps.

“Megan! Hey!”

Finn emerged from the crowd. His wavy hair was tousled and he was wearing a burgundy baseball T-shirt with heather gray sleeves.

“Hey. Wow.” He paused and looked at her like he had never seen her before. “Your hair looks . . . wow. Wavy.”

Megan laughed and felt the color rising in her cheeks. “Yes, it is that,” she said.

“Nice,” he said, with an admiring nod.

“Thanks.”

Finn took a sip from his cup. “So, where's Evan?” he asked, looking around.

“Not a clue,” Megan said. “Where's Kayla?”

“Oh, she went to the bathroom,” Finn said, shouting the last word to be heard over the cheers of the Jenga crowd. “To be honest, I don't think she's having the greatest time.”

“What? Why?” Megan asked.

“I'm getting the vibe that parties like this aren't really her thing,” Finn replied.

“Sorry. I didn't know. I mean, when I basically twisted your arm to make you ask her here.”

Finn laughed. “No, it's good. At least I finally did it. I don't know if you picked up on this, but I'm not that great with girls.”

Megan smirked.

“But anyway, I think we're gonna bail early and go someplace where we can talk,” Finn said, looking around as another cheer exploded from the pool table.

Suddenly an image flashed in Megan's mind of Finn taking Kayla back to the shed at his house and showing her all his unfinished paintings. The two of them, all alone in the dark night. As Megan looked up at Finn's profile, she felt a slip of something inside her chest. Whatever it was, she chose to ignore it.

“Megan! There you are!” Ria and Aimee emerged from the crowd.

“Come on! We're all dancing out back!” Aimee said, grabbing her arm. “Omigod! I knew your hair was going to look amazing like that!”

Megan laughed. “Well, I guess I'm gonna go dance,” she said to Finn. “Good luck with Kayla!”

Megan followed the girls to the screened-in back porch. The wicker furniture had been pushed up against the walls. Loud hip-hop pounded from surround-sound speakers and in the middle of the slate floor, dozens of sweating kids were busting out their best none-too-impressive moves. Aimee and Ria
jumped into the middle of the fray, where Jenna and Pearl were already dancing. Jenna's hair was down and she was without glasses for the first time since Megan had met her. Her arms were linked around the neck of a tall, slim guy with peach fuzz sideburns. His hands were on her butt.

“Who's that?” Megan asked.

“That's Jenna's boyfriend, Bobby,” Ria replied. “They'll be making out in the woods within the next hour.”

“Excuse me?” Megan asked.

“Happens every year,” Aimee said. “By the end of the night it'll be like an orgy back there.”

“Wow. That's . . . special,” Megan said, glancing through the screen toward the backyard. She was disgusted but somehow intrigued. She tried to imagine how many people were back there. She wondered with a pang if Evan and Hailey were already among them.

It doesn't even matter anymore,
Megan thought.
He's totally gutless. He threw you out of his car.
But even as she thought this, she knew that if he were to slip his arms around her right then and there, she would dance with him for the rest of the night.

Usher's latest song came on and Aimee let out such a big and excited “Wooo!” that Megan couldn't help but grin.

Enough was enough. This was Megan's first party in her new town with her new friends. It was actually her first real party ever. And for once in her life, she wanted to let go. And obsessing about Evan was only holding her back. She wasn't going to waste one more second thinking about him.

Ria, Aimee, and Pearl cheered as Megan threw up her arms and
started to dance. She closed her eyes and imagined that she was back in her room in Texas dancing with Tracy to whatever was on the radio. She moved her hips, swung her hair, and let her body do its thing. When she opened her eyes again, she caught Pearl's eye and they both smiled. This was good. This felt really good.

She didn't need Evan. She didn't need a guy at all. She had come this far without one, right? Besides, all they did was mess with your brain. Who wanted that?

Bobby whispered something in Jenna's ear and she gave him a private smile. He took her hand lightly and led her off the dance floor. Jenna stumbled once but caught her balance, laughing loudly. Megan watched as they pushed through the screen door and headed out across the lawn.

“There they go,” Ria said, lifting a hand.

Megan felt a stab of longing and shoved it aside. “I don't get it. I thought she was kind of . . . I don't know. . . .”

“Bookwormy and tightly wound?” Aimee asked. “Yeah, this is how she, you know,
un
winds.”

Megan was about to return her attention to the dance floor when she spotted Hailey standing next to the door. She was wearing a black tube top and a denim skirt that was so short it could have passed for a belt. She was surrounded by four guys, all of whom were practically drooling into their beers. After a long drink from her cup, she placed it on the edge of the windowsill and tossed her arms around one guy's neck. The drink toppled over and hit the floor, splattering their shoes with beer. Hailey spit out a laugh and doubled over, clinging to her man. She was beyond drunk.

Just then Evan walked in. Megan's heart took a nosedive when she saw his face. He went right over to Hailey, took her arm, and pulled her away from her circle of admirers.

Megan stopped dancing, right in the middle of all the chaos. Evan bent his head toward Hailey's and was saying something in her ear, but Hailey kept looking away. Finally a spark lit up her eyes. She turned her head toward him and yelled something right in his face. Then she stormed out the door into the backyard. Evan put his hands on his hips and took a few deep breaths. He shook his head slowly and went back into the pool room.

Megan could barely breathe.

“Hey! What's up?” Aimee asked.

“Nothing,” Megan shouted.

She felt a tug in her chest. What had just happened? Was Evan okay? Did he want to leave now? Megan felt an almost physical need to go after Evan. But no, he had already made it clear that he didn't even want to be around her tonight. This was none of her business. She turned her attention back to her friends and danced.

 *  *  *

Megan came to the top of the stairs and looked down a long hall of closed doors. A few people were milling around, some talking, some making out. A guy in a backward baseball cap came up behind her and pressed his chest into her back, squeezing her shoulder with one hand.

“Hey, hey, hey, pretty lady! You lost?”

Megan moved and crossed her arms over her chest. “Just looking for the bathroom.”

“Well, then, you came to the right guy,” he said. “I'm Christian Todd. You're at my party.”

“Oh, hi,” Megan said. “So . . . bathroom?”

“And you are . . . ?”

“Megan Meade,” she replied, taking another step back as he swayed slightly.

“Oh, no way! You're the chick crashing at the McGs'! Sweet!” he said, looking her up and down. “You
are
hot!”

Megan flushed. “Uh . . . thanks. Bathroom?”

“Wow. You must really gotta go,” Christian said. “It's that one right there.”

He pointed unsteadily at the first door on the left and Megan slipped away from him as quickly as possible. She opened the door to the bathroom and froze. Wrong door, interesting coincidence.

In the center of the room was a double bed and lying on the bed was Evan McGowan. His feet were on the floor and his hands were curled up into fists next to his temples. He was staring at the ceiling, but he sat up straight the second the door opened.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey,” she replied. “Sorry, I'll go.”

“Wait,” Evan said, before she could close the door. “Come in.”

Megan's heart attempted to hammer its way out of her chest. Somehow she managed to close the door behind her, dropping them into relative darkness. The only light in the room came from an outdoor floodlight that was shining on the back patio.

“How long have you been up here?” Megan asked, hovering by the door.

“About half an hour, I guess,” Evan said.

“I . . . uh . . . saw you and Hailey,” Megan said. “Are you okay?”

Evan exhaled loudly. “No, not really. She's trying to get back at me; can you believe that? She was down there flirting with freakin' Mike Bagley and his loser friends. When I didn't even do anything.”

“Well, she was a little drunk,” Megan said.

Evan laughed sarcastically. “Please. She knew what she was doing when she walked in here tonight. The thing that really gets me is she's doing it on purpose. When I flirt . . .
if
I flirt . . . it's not like it's premeditated. It's just my personality. I mean, I'm a nice guy. I'm nice to girls. It's not my fault if they like me. But I've never cheated on her. Not once. You'd think that would count for something.”

He flopped back again, folding his arms over his forehead. He looked so helpless. So—
dammit
—sexy.

Megan took a few tentative steps toward him and sat down on the edge of the bed. He looked down at her from under his arms and sighed again.

“I shouldn't be here with you right now for a lot of different reasons,” he said.

Megan bit her lip. It was awkward talking to him over her shoulder. She pressed her hands into the mattress and turned to face his side, drawing her legs up under her. The skirt made it difficult, so she ended up sitting back on her calves. Evan moved his arms away from his face and looked at her curiously, as if he'd just noticed she was there.

“Here's what I think,” Megan said, looking down at him. “Do you want to know what I think?”

Please say you want to know what I think, because I don't know if I'm ever going to be this verbal again,
Megan thought.

Evan sat up and turned to face her, sitting Indian style. One of his knees touched hers.

“Hit me,” Evan said.

“I think that you're a really good guy and a great boyfriend,” Megan told him. “I mean, Hailey might be a little insecure, but you're always thinking about her feelings. You didn't even want to be seen with me tonight because you thought it would upset her. You really care about her. She really cares about you. Things have a way of working themselves out.”