The Secret Crush (7 page)

“Y
a'll wanna come over to my house after school today to do homework?” Chloe asked Jasper and Zee as they headed from the cafeteria to science class.

“Sure,” Zee said. “I'll call my mom to let her know.”

“I can't,” Jasper said. “I'm having trouble with one of my scenes with Landon. I'm going to ask him if he wants to help me with it after school today.”

“Really?” Zee asked. “You're going to work on the musical with Landon—voluntarily?”

“Don't act so surprised,” Jasper said.

“I just didn't think you guys were getting along very well,” Zee said.

“I can't let my fellow thespians down,” Jasper replied.

“I'm sure you know what that big word means,” Chloe said, “but you might want to talk more like a seventh grader so the rest of us can understand you.”

“Actors,” Jasper said. “I can't let the other actors down. Besides, Mr. P says this performance will be a major part of our grade.”

“That's okay,” Chloe said. “Zee and I will just have to hang out all by ourselves.” She laid the back of her hand across her forehead and swooned. “I hope we can make it.”

Zee smiled at Jasper. Maybe she'd only imagined tension between Jasper and Landon.

When the three friends reached the science room, Landon was already sitting on the tall stool beside his lab table. Kathi, his lab partner, was there, too.

“Landon—” Jasper said, walking over to the table. “I had a few ideas about our first scene in Act One. Do you want to work on it with me today after school?”

Landon looked from Jasper to Zee. “I was going to ask Zee if she wants to work on our duet.”

“Yes,” Zee blurted out.
Oops.
She felt bad about changing plans with Chloe, but she couldn't give up the opportunity to rehearse with Landon. Right?

“I thought you wanted to go over to Chloe's,” Jasper said.

“That was before I needed to work on this,” Zee explained.

“Well, at least Jasper can come over now,” Chloe said as she and Jasper walked to their lab table together.

But Zee thought she heard some sarcasm in Chloe's voice.

 

Zee hid her diary under her vest and walked out of the bathroom stall.

 

When Zee got to the music room after school, Landon was already there.
Yay!
Sitting right next to Missy.
Boo!
Had Landon invited the new girl to work with him, too?

“When did you move to Brookdale?” Landon asked Missy.

“Just last week,” Missy said. “We moved from South Africa. That's why I started late this year.”

“Africa?” Landon looked surprised.

Missy nodded. “My mom was working for Doctors Without Borders.”

“Hey, guys!” Zee interrupted, trying to squeeze between Landon's and Missy's desks.

“Oh, hi,” Landon answered.

“I didn't know you were staying late, too,” Zee said to Missy. She tried to sound casual.

“Mr. P wanted to help me get caught up on the musical, so he asked me to stay after school,” Missy explained.

Their teacher entered the room and pointed at Missy. “I'll fill Missy in on the Beans and all the excitement that's in store for her this year”—he moved his finger back and forth from Zee to Landon—“then we'll talk about your big duet. Deal?”

The three students nodded. “Deal,” Zee said.

As Missy walked toward Mr. P, Zee turned to Landon. What would they do now?

“Umm…do you know what you're going to wear for Friends' Day yet?” Zee asked Landon.

Landon shrugged. “No.”

O-
kay.
That didn't exactly get the conversation rolling. Zee searched for something else. “Are you going to hang out with Marcus after we're done?” It was the first thing that popped into her head.

“Marcus is with Conrad.” Landon looked at the ground.

“What are they doing?” Zee asked.

“I dunno,” Landon said. “They do a lot of stuff together.”

“Ummm—” Zee tried to think of something to say. Obviously, she had not picked the best topic to talk about. She felt horrible for Landon. But she was glad she could be there for him. “After we talk to Mr. P, maybe we could keep working on our parts.”

“Okay.”

At that moment, a man Zee had never seen before appeared in the doorway. He was kind of short, with curly black hair and a smile on his face.

“Dad?” Missy said. “You didn't have to come into the
school to get me. I would have come outside.”

Zee hadn't thought it was possible, but she actually felt sorry for this gorgeous, talented, smart girl. It was fine for your parent to show up in your lower school classroom. But upper school? How embarrassing! Zee would hide under a desk if that ever happened to her.

“I wanted to meet your teacher,” Mr. Vasi said, holding out his right hand for Mr. P to shake.

“Thanks for taking time out of your schedule to visit,” Mr. P said.

Missy's dad nodded. “My pleasure. I'm in between projects now anyway.”

“What kind of projects?” Mr. P asked.

“I make documentary films.”

Cool beans!
Zee thought.
Maybe Mr. Vasi could help shoot the Beans' first video someday!

“Okay, Daddy, let's go,” Missy said, grabbing her father's arm and tugging him out of the room. “I have to get home and start my homework.”

Zee watched the two of them leave.

After Zee and Landon talked to Mr. P about their big song, they went outside to practice. The Brookdale Academy campus was covered with thousands of plants and trees native to California. The two of them sat under a willow's
drooping branches.

“Maybe we should read through the dialogue you wrote right before the song,” Landon suggested.

“That's a good idea,” Zee said, handing him part of the script. “We haven't done that together yet.”

“Lily starts,” Zee said, then took a deep breath.
“Dylan, what are you doing here? My friends will freak out if they see you.”

“I know. The whole football team is trying to keep us apart.”

“I'm glad you came.”

Landon paused and looked up from his page. “The script says that I should move closer,” he said. “Should I do that now?”

“Ummm…okay,” Zee said. “Then just start with the next line.”

As Landon wiggled forward, Zee's heart skipped a beat.
“I could never stay away from you,”
he said.
“I've had a crush on you since we were little kids.”

“Me too.” Omigosh!
Zee thought.
Did I write that?
The words sounded more like a page out of her diary than fiction.

Embarrassed by the confession she'd written, Zee began giggling. The harder she tried to stop, the worse it got. She covered her mouth and turned her head—just in time to see her mother pull up in her gray Prius. The passenger-side window was down, and Zee noticed that her mother looked upset.

“I expected you to come home after school,” Mrs. Carmichael said.
Uh-oh.
Zee had forgotten to call. “Why didn't you pick up your Sidekick?”

Zee pulled out her phone. “Sorry,” Zee said. “The battery died. I didn't know you were calling.”

Zee's mother reached across the front seat and popped open the door. “Get in, please.” Then she looked at Landon. “Would you like a ride, Landon?”

“Uh…I guess,” Landon said. He opened the back door and climbed in.

For a while no one said anything. Mrs. Carmichael gripped the steering wheel so tightly Mackenzie thought she'd squeeze right through it.

“What were you two doing?” Zee's mother finally asked.

“We were working on one of our scenes,” Zee told her.

“For the musical?” Mrs. Carmichael asked skeptically. She peered into the rearview mirror to look at Landon. “You guys are taking this so seriously, you'd think you were theater professionals, not twelve-year-olds.”

“Actually,” Landon began quietly, “I'm thirteen.”

Noooooo!
Zee telepathically communicated to him—much too late for it to do any good.

“Oh, you're a teenager already,” Mrs. Carmichael said.

Please don't embarrass me!
Zee silently pleaded with her mother.
I'll do anything. I'll scrub the toilets until I'm forty.

“Landon, do you think your parents are worried about where you are?” Zee's mom asked. Evidently, a lifetime of clean toilets was not enough for Ginny Carmichael. Zee was humiliated.

“Uh, no,” Landon said carefully. “They're at work, and I texted my sister to let her know I was staying after school. I just sent her another text to tell her you're bringing me home.”

“That was very responsible of you,” Mrs. Carmichael said to Landon, but she was looking at Zee—who slid down in her seat a little and decided to admire the scenery out the window.

“Thanks for the ride,” Landon said when they arrived at his house. He hurried to his front door, without looking back. Zee sank in her seat a little more. “Bye, Dylan,” she said. “I mean, Landon.”

For the rest of the ride home, Zee tried to make her mother forget how upset she was. “I can't believe how much homework I have,” she said. “I'm going to be up all night doing it.”

“Maybe it's not a good idea to spend so much time with the boys—the Beans, I mean—if you're neglecting your schoolwork,” Mrs. Carmichael said.

“But I love music,” Zee said. “And besides, there's so much to do before the show. I haven't even started memorizing my lines. If I wait until the last minute, it will be even worse. Plus, there's a lot more script to write. And I have to design the costumes. And compose the music.”

“It sounds as though you think you have to do it all yourself.”

“That's the thing. Everyone is doing a lot—and there's still probably not enough time to get it all done.”

“Hmmmm,” Mrs. Carmichael said.

“What?” Zee asked,

“Just thinking.”

Uh-oh.
That's exactly what Zee was afraid of.

As Mrs. Carmichael pulled into the family's driveway, Zee fished around in her bag for her diary. When she pulled out her binder to see better, Zee's English quiz, with a big red D+, floated to the floor of the car. Zee rushed to pick it up, but it was too late.