to give me the answer about what I should do to get back to being myself.
Chapter 41
Rhys found me after school. I didn’t mention Natalie to him. For some reason I didn’t want him to know that I knew.
“Hey, Savannah.” He slid onto the bench alongside me. “I’m glad to finally find you alone. You’re always surrounded with people, and we can never be alone.”
“Busy week,” I said. “I’m sure you’ve got a lot going on too.”
“Yeah.” He reached out to take my hand. I thought he was going to put something in it, so I let him take it, but then he enfolded my hand in his and squeezed it shut. I let my backpack slip off my shoulder so I could remove my hand from his to right it again. Then I slipped my hand into my pocket.
“Any chance we could hang out this weekend? to see a film or something?”
I shook my head. “Maybe . . . but . . .”
“As friends . . . good friends,” he said. “Don’t you ever go to movies with friends, Savannah?”
“It’s my dad’s birthday this weekend,” I said. “I’m afraid I’m really busy. Sorry. We can talk Monday?” Two weeks till the dance. The money my parents had spent. The day-after garden and tea party. And I was a girl who kept her word. I was going to keep it to Rhys.
“Too bad,” he said. “We could have had a good time. If you know how to have a good time, that is.”
I looked at him.
“I’m just kidding.” His voice was sincere, but his eyes were not. “Monday it is. I’ll be thinking of you till then!” He grinned. I could still see the wolfish good looks that had originally drawn me to him, but I felt like maybe I was starting to see a glimpse of something more.
Or less.
Chapter 42
When I got home on Friday afternoon, Mom was already in a dither. “We have to hurry!” she squawked, then flapped around the rest of the house hanging black streamers and clots of black balloons. “He’ll be home in an hour. Savvy—go check and see if the cake is done.”
“Me? A cake?” I ruined everything in the kitchen. I even managed to wreck cereal, for crying out loud.
“Don’t ask questions. Just do it!”
I did as I was told. I opened the smallish cooker—that would be oven, to us Americans—and looked at the cake. I jiggled the door handle a little, and the cake wobbled in the middle. That meant it wasn’t done yet. Right? I jiggled the door handle a little more, and a small indentation fell in the center of the cake. I quickly closed the cooker door.
I’d told her not to have me check. “I don’t think it’s done!” I called out. Just then my phone vibrated. A new text.
Hey.
That was all it said.
I didn’t recognize the number, and all my friends were programmed into my phone. Who was it?
Ian! I mean Rhys. Or Ian. I didn’t know which, and I didn’t have time to figure it out right then.
“Savvy! Please come in here and get rid of these shoes and this backpack and all the other junk you’ve left lying around.” I heard the tone in my mom’s voice. It meant now .
I ignored the text and gathered all my stuff into a large laundry basket and hauled it up the stairs. Louanne was lying on her bed. “Come on, we’ve got a lot to do.”
“I know,” she answered lethargically. “I’m hurrying.”
“Hurrying like the dead?” This had gone on too long. I had half a mind to confront her right then and there, but my phone jingled. This time it was a ring and not a text. I checked the number. Ian again! I cut it off mid-ring. Louanne rolled off her bed and headed downstairs. I cleaned up my room and then headed down the stairs myself. Mom sat on the couch going over an invisible list.
“As soon as I get the cake out of the oven, we’ll all change into our black clothes.”
“Black clothes?” I asked.
Mom smiled for the first time that afternoon. “Yes. We’re wearing black since it’s Dad’s fortieth birthday.”
Well, now, that sounded fun. A clothing theme. I immediately started
Chapter 41
Rhys found me after school. I didn’t mention Natalie to him. For some reason I didn’t want him to know that I knew.
“Hey, Savannah.” He slid onto the bench alongside me. “I’m glad to finally find you alone. You’re always surrounded with people, and we can never be alone.”
“Busy week,” I said. “I’m sure you’ve got a lot going on too.”
“Yeah.” He reached out to take my hand. I thought he was going to put something in it, so I let him take it, but then he enfolded my hand in his and squeezed it shut. I let my backpack slip off my shoulder so I could remove my hand from his to right it again. Then I slipped my hand into my pocket.
“Any chance we could hang out this weekend? to see a film or something?”
I shook my head. “Maybe . . . but . . .”
“As friends . . . good friends,” he said. “Don’t you ever go to movies with friends, Savannah?”
“It’s my dad’s birthday this weekend,” I said. “I’m afraid I’m really busy. Sorry. We can talk Monday?” Two weeks till the dance. The money my parents had spent. The day-after garden and tea party. And I was a girl who kept her word. I was going to keep it to Rhys.
“Too bad,” he said. “We could have had a good time. If you know how to have a good time, that is.”
I looked at him.
“I’m just kidding.” His voice was sincere, but his eyes were not. “Monday it is. I’ll be thinking of you till then!” He grinned. I could still see the wolfish good looks that had originally drawn me to him, but I felt like maybe I was starting to see a glimpse of something more.
Or less.
Chapter 42
When I got home on Friday afternoon, Mom was already in a dither. “We have to hurry!” she squawked, then flapped around the rest of the house hanging black streamers and clots of black balloons. “He’ll be home in an hour. Savvy—go check and see if the cake is done.”
“Me? A cake?” I ruined everything in the kitchen. I even managed to wreck cereal, for crying out loud.
“Don’t ask questions. Just do it!”
I did as I was told. I opened the smallish cooker—that would be oven, to us Americans—and looked at the cake. I jiggled the door handle a little, and the cake wobbled in the middle. That meant it wasn’t done yet. Right? I jiggled the door handle a little more, and a small indentation fell in the center of the cake. I quickly closed the cooker door.
I’d told her not to have me check. “I don’t think it’s done!” I called out. Just then my phone vibrated. A new text.
Hey.
That was all it said.
I didn’t recognize the number, and all my friends were programmed into my phone. Who was it?
Ian! I mean Rhys. Or Ian. I didn’t know which, and I didn’t have time to figure it out right then.
“Savvy! Please come in here and get rid of these shoes and this backpack and all the other junk you’ve left lying around.” I heard the tone in my mom’s voice. It meant now .
I ignored the text and gathered all my stuff into a large laundry basket and hauled it up the stairs. Louanne was lying on her bed. “Come on, we’ve got a lot to do.”
“I know,” she answered lethargically. “I’m hurrying.”
“Hurrying like the dead?” This had gone on too long. I had half a mind to confront her right then and there, but my phone jingled. This time it was a ring and not a text. I checked the number. Ian again! I cut it off mid-ring. Louanne rolled off her bed and headed downstairs. I cleaned up my room and then headed down the stairs myself. Mom sat on the couch going over an invisible list.
“As soon as I get the cake out of the oven, we’ll all change into our black clothes.”
“Black clothes?” I asked.
Mom smiled for the first time that afternoon. “Yes. We’re wearing black since it’s Dad’s fortieth birthday.”
Well, now, that sounded fun. A clothing theme. I immediately started
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