“See?” I ask Sebastian, smiling. “This is the last place anyone would think to look for you.”
Sebastian grimaces. “There’s a reason for that.”
“Go get us a table,” Tanner practically barks at Sebastian, pointing toward the glossy pink-patterned doors. “I need to talk to May.”
“Subtle. Very subtle,” I tell him as Sebastian, with the look of someone who’s given up completely on life, walks inside the café and takes a seat at one of the heart-shaped tables. I’m surprised his expression doesn’t wilt the flowers in front of him, even though they’re fake. “Tanner, I’m really sorry for bringing him along without telling you—”
He startles me by gripping both my shoulders, face full of intensity. “
May, please. I need you to tell me. Are you—are you and Sebastian…”
“
No!” I burst out, turning as red as Strawberry Hat’s décor. “No, definitely not. Absolutely not. This is about Opal’s bet, remember? I need to get close to him because of that. There’s no way I’d ever…you know.”
He studies me for a long second and then releases me, exhaling deeply. “So you’re not interested in that douchebag at all?”
“Of course not!” I say, flustered. “I’m not going to fall in love, remember? No way do I want anything with him.”
Why does that feel like a lie?
I glance toward the window and realize Sebastian’s watching us.
“Thank God. Because I don’t think I could…” Tanner shakes his head quickly and gives me one of his big grins. “If that’s the case, it’ll be fine. I’ll help you.”
“Help me…?”
“Befriend him, of course. I’ve got a reserve of natural charm that can be summoned forth even for people with egos the size of the Northern hemisphere.
Just watch.” Tanner mock-slicks back his hair and waltzes into Strawberry Hat. Feeling increasingly alarmed, I follow him.
Tanner slides in next to Sebastian. The two of them couldn’t look more different—Tanner, with his sunny smile and even sunnier hair, his sunglasses and button-down shirt over
broad shoulders. Sebastian, dark-haired, a thin black jacket fitted well to his slim waist and muscled chest. I realize that several girls in the restaurant are staring at the two of them.
“Congratu
lations.” Tanner slings an arm over Sebastian’s shoulder, who looks like he was just doused with cold water. “I’ve decided to tolerate you.”
“
Let’s go order,” I say hastily, because Sebastian’s expression shows me he’s three seconds away from decapitating Tanner with the butter knife on the table. I mouth
I’m sorry
at him. “Sebastian, I’ll treat you. What do you want?”
He slouches back. “Silence. And solitude.”
“Right then, I’ll surprise you,” I say cheerily, fighting the urge to run and hide in the bathroom.
Tanner looks proud of himself as we get in line, and I resist the temptation to as
k him to never say a word to Sebastian, for the safety of both of them. He orders something ice cream-related and asks me to watch for it while he goes to the bathroom. I shudder at the image of him taking a dump in what is surely a frilly and pink men’s room.
I’m wondering again why Sebastian’s so dead-set on avoiding his stepmom when someone taps me on the shoulder. “Excuse me? Do you come here a lot? It’s my first time and I wasn’t sure to go for the Berry Explosion Smoothie or the Strawberrilicious Ice Cream Sundae.”
At first I think she’s a student, but then I realize she’s too old—early thirties is my guess, or late twenties, though she could pass as a student if she dressed differently. She’s wearing one of those smart suit-skirt outfits that probably have an actual name that I’ve never figured out. Her auburn hair is carefully coiffed, and her makeup looks professional. She stands out like a beacon among all the early-twenties, flipflop-wearing people lounging around. “Oh, I’ve actually never been here before either—I’m sorry!”
She laughs girlishly and mock-slaps her forehead. “No, it’s my mistake. I figured you were a
Rothschild girl.”
“No no, I am,” I hasten to say. “I only
just transferred here, though, so I’m still feeling out the area. Including adorable strawberry-themed cafes.”
She nods. “It seems like a lovely school. I’m actually here on behalf of my little sister—she’s dead-set on coming here, so I thought I’d swing by and explore the area. I thought this might be a good place to find a student and ask them what it’s like around here—you know, the real deal, not the perfect picture they feed you during the tour.”
The server slides Tanner’s ice cream onto the counter. It’s hideously big. “I think it’s nice that you’re looking out for your sister. As a matter of fact, I’m here with a friend who’s been here for ages. He just—uh—went to the bathroom, but I’m sure you can ask him anything when he gets out.”
“Oh, thank you so much!” she says, brightening. Then she notices that I’m practically toppling under the weight of this ice cream. She laughs. “Maybe I can come sit at your table until then?
Before that ice cream falls?”
I doubt Sebastian would be thrilled by a stranger joining us,
but this lady seems nice enough that I’d feel bad if I said no. Besides, I’m starting to get the idea that Sebastian needs to learn how to deal with other people. Maybe little things like this will help. I smile and lead her to our table, where Sebastian is sitting with his head propped on the elbow he has leaning against the plastic. He’s staring out the window. He doesn’t even turn when I sit down.
And then the woman flings her arms around his neck.
“Sebastian! You brat, I’ve been hunting all over for you! I had to hire someone to search you out, and lo and behold, he finds you in a garden with a pretty girl. I had to follow you all the way to this funny little café. Sorry to interrupt your date, but I knew if you saw me coming you’d run.” Still with her arms locked around his neck, she turns to me with a rueful expression. “He’s odd like that. Oh, yes. I apologize for lying to you, but I thought it’d be safest. I’m Renée, Renée Crane. Sebastian’s stepmom. I’m sure he’s told you about me.”
It’s a good thing I’m sitting down, because otherwise I’d be collapsed on the floor right about now.
This
is Sebastian’s stepmom? Not an old hag, but an attractive young businesswoman? I glance at Sebastian. All the color has leaked from his face. He’s gone stiffer than a diving board, and his eyes fly to the door.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Renée chides, finally releasing him. “If you dash off, I’ll just find you again. Come on now. You need to spend some quality time with your stepmom—I can be motherly, after all. Family is important? Isn’t that right—oh, sorry, I didn’t catch your name?”
Renée smiles at me.
I try to recover my voice enough to speak. “Um, I’
m…I’m May. May Young. It’s nice to meet you.”
Sebastian wears an expression like he’s ready to dive through the glass window pane. I’m immediately flooded with guilt—I said we’d keep his stepmom from finding him, after all—and I try to mouth an apology at him, but he won’t look at me.
Renée clasps her hands together, her perfectly manicured nails shining. “Oh, we’re going to have such a fun day! There’s a restaurant around here that doesn’t look like any great shakes, but it’s also the best one I could find in the tourist booklet. We’ll go there—”
“Go where?” says Tanner, who’s just reappeared. He looks between Renée and Sebastian, confusion mounting in his features. “Who’re you?”
“Well hello!” Renée gasps, putting two fingers to her lips, but not a way that would smudge her lipstick. “You’re a friend of Sebastian’s, are you?
Two
friends, then. And one of them’s a girl. I’ve never been so surprised in my—”
Sebastian stands suddenly, again reminding me how tall he is. His shoulders are sloped, and the darkness in his face is unmistakable.
His hand closes around Renée’s wrist. His voice low, he says, “Get out of here, Renée.”
She pouts and yanks her hand back. “But I want to spend time
with you. And your father sent me.”
At ‘your father’, the change in Sebastian is startling.
All emotion slides out of his expression, and for a second his face is perfectly blank, his eyes empty. When he finally mutters “Fine” it’s the coldest thing I’ve ever heard him say.
Who on earth is Sebastian’s father that even the barest mention could have this effect on him?
“Excellent!” says Renée brightly. “Well, I rented a car. It should be parked outside. We’ll hop out, yes?”
“Wait wait wait,” says Tanner, running a hand helplessly through his hair again. “Where are we going? Who are you exactly? What about my ice cream?”
With surprising deftness, Renée picks up his ice cream and drops it into a nearby trash can. “Problem solved! I promise you the ice cream at this new restaurant will be better. Shall we be off?”
I can’t tell who looks more tragic—Tanner with his arms half-stretched out toward the trash can l
ike he could rescue his dessert, or Sebastian, who’s never looked more defeated as Renée links arms with him and waltzes off toward the door.
I decide Sebastian looks worse and pray that I haven’t gotten him into a huge mess.
“May,” Tanner moans in my ear as we go outside, “what the hell is—holy mother of God.”
He’s seen the car, and so have I. I gape too—I don’t know much about cars, but even I can tell that this massive, sleek-black machine is probably worth more than my mom’s entire apartment building. Sebastian doesn’t seem surprised at all, though. He slides into the backseat with that same oddly empty expression.
I squeeze in next to him, though there’s plenty of space. As Renée chatters instructions to the driver, I whisper, “Sebastian, I’m really sorry. I had no idea she’d find you here. I should have picked a better place to hide out.”
I must sound as agonized as I feel, because he looks a little startled as he glances at me. To my surprise, when he says “It wasn’t your fault,” there’s nothing scathing about it at all.
Tanner, still mourning his ice cream, says nothing as the car pulls out, and Sebastian’s as silent as a graveyard, so I’m left to interject a few “mhmm’s” and “yeah’s” as Renée tells us about a million things, among them how pretty the campus is, and how quaint the town seems. I notice she says nothing more about Sebastian’s father, which only serves to heighten my curiosity.
When the car stops in front of the restaurant, at first I’m convinced the driver got the address wrong. It’s a really swanky place, with marble front steps and a doorman in a suit. When Renée hops out of the car, though, I know this is it.
“Next time we’ll have to dress you up first,” she says, casting a critical eye over Tanner’s strategically faded jeans and the tiny tear in the back of my white sundress. Then she pats my shoulder. “You are stunning, though, sweetie! Sebastian sure found a winner.”
“She’s not—” begins Tanner at the same time as Sebastian snaps, “She’s not—”, but they both notice how ferociously I’m blushing and fall silent.
Renée leads us through the front door, where the greeter at first stops us, telling us we need a reservation. At a few words from Renée, however, he shows us up the sweeping staircase. There’s a chandelier on the ceiling, and all the tables are dressed with red tablecloths. I’ve never been anywhere so fancy in my life, and I’m acutely aware of the fact that I forgot to wash my hair this morning.
Our server brings us to a table on a balcony, where we can see the water glistening. The breeze caresses my cheek. I forget myself for a second and burst out “It’s beautiful!”
I glance at Sebastian and catch him watching me with an oddly open expression. In a second, he’s closed back up. I wonder if I imagined it. To distract myself, I take a seat and crack open the menu, surprised by how hungry I am. Unfortunately, there are no prices on the menu, which is usually a bad sign. I’m shifting uncomfortably when Renée turns to the waiter and rattles off a long string of things in what sounds like French.
“Thank you for the order,” he says politely, and retreats.
Tanner stares. “Wait. That garble was you ordering? And will someone please tell me who you
are
?”
“Sebastian’s stepmom, of course!” She pokes Sebastian’s stony cheek. “Who else would I be?”
“Wait, you’re a member of
his
family?” Tanner splutters with laugher so hard he nearly knocks his water glass off the table. It wobbles dangerously, and I grab it just in time.
“
What are the members of your family like?” Sebastian asks coolly, leaning back so that the fabric of his jacket stretches over his chest. “Are they all as stupid as you, or are you the exception?”
“Don’t talk shit about my family!” Tanner stands up abruptly and throws his head back, but all he manages to do is actually knock the water glass over—into my lap. I shriek and leap away from the icy puddle in my lap.
Tanner’s distracted enough by the sight of my underwear showing through my white dress that he sits back down. “Are…are those little hearts?”
“Shut up!” I shriek, seizing a napkin and using it to cover my crotch. Renée tuts and hands me her sweater, which I use to tie around my waist. Tanner’s chortling, so I fling an ice cube at him. It slips neatly down the neck of his shirt, and he almost falls out of his chair trying to get it out.