Between You & Me (24 page)

ME

Sure. Sounds
great.

You pretend to laugh and then you really are laughing. You say “great” once more for luck before hanging up the phone.

I'm picking up the mail when I see a shape through the frosted diamond of stained glass in the entranceway. The doorbell rings and there's a distorted you. I falter. I wasn't expecting you so soon. When you said “get together” I didn't realize you meant right now. I feel something like happiness and self-consciousness—I'm still not dressed—rolled into one. I open the door.

ME

Hi. I didn't know you were coming.

Your smile flickers.

YOU

Sorry. I guess I should have been clearer.

ME

No harm done.

I tug my T-shirt down awkwardly and step aside. You follow me in.

I sweep some clothes off my bed, then sit down and tuck my knees up under my chin. You sit beside me, strangely far away—as far as the furniture will allow. Still trying to compensate for my surprise at your arrival, I salute cheerfully.

ME

Ahoy there, matey.

No smile.

Is something wrong?

You shake your head but your eyes say otherwise.

YOU

Phyre …

You never use my name like that! Something's definitely up.

… I'm glad to have you back.

I keep quiet in case you're going to go on. Now that Mia's gone? I shift, embarrassed.

ME

I never really went away.

I'm lying, I know, and you're still looking at the floor. I give you another minute and still you don't speak.

ME

What is it? Have I done something?

You're shaking your head and with sudden exasperation you stand.

YOU

I give up.

Now I'm really confused.

ME

What do you mean?

You're more intense than I've ever seen you.

YOU

I keep … for some reason, thinking that … you finally get it. And every time, you make it really clear that you don't!

You fix me with a stare and see that I'm as confused as ever.

You still don't know?

ME

Know what?

YOU

God, Phyre, you can be so stupid. All you see is Mia, Mia, Mia.

You're at the door.

And all I see is you.

…

…

…

We're silent. I …

For the first time, you almost smile. Ruefully.

YOU

I'm pretty sure I don't want to be you. And that can only mean I want to kiss you.

…

ME

… You … never said!

YOU

I tried.

I see you standing there, so much older than in my head.

And then what?

ME

Well, I could have … have …

I fade out. You say something else, that this is what you were afraid of. And when I look up—

You're gone.

Since that conversation—one week, five days, and three hours. I've called you every day. You haven't called me back. I can see it now. You were always there, every time I needed you. I can't help wondering if you felt as invisible as I did with Mia, but I can't know if you won't talk to me …

The sky is dark and heavy but my mind is made up. I'm not even out the door when the rain comes, torrential rain, splashing up from the sidewalk so that my legs are as wet as my arms. The pavement glistens. I start to run, pushing my slick hair away from my face. I think of the last time I ran toward you, my eyes closed on the playing field that day. And suddenly it feels like I've been running toward you with my eyes closed for the past three months. I can feel the rain dripping down my neck but I don't stop to put my collar up. I round the corner, relieved to see the lights on at your house up ahead. In a second I'm on your doorstep, bedraggled, soaked to the skin. If you looked through the peephole now, you'd see me. Come and answer the bell. Please! There's no use taking shelter now, so I step back and let the rain pour down my face. I think I see the upstairs curtain move. Then, as I stand here, as quickly as the rain started, it tapers to slow thick drops, and then stops. I look up at the clearing sky, suddenly aware of how I must look. Being wet in the rain is romantic; being wet when it's not raining is poor planning, and now I feel stupid. The porch light comes on and I squint at its brightness. You pull open the door.

ME

Hi.

YOU

Hi.

You give me the look that I know is reserved for me, the only-you look. Then, instead of inviting me in, you step out to join me. Standing on the top step in the mist of moisture left in the air, you look at me. I don't wait for you to say anything else. I kiss you, my arms wrapped tightly around your waist and I pull you toward me so I feel the full length of your body. Kissing you is amazing. It's right. Still half a step down I look into your eyes.

You smile.

FADE OUT.

I would love to thank Chandra Wohleber of the red pen, Alexei Esikoff of the green pen, Caroline Abbey, and all the amazing people at Bloomsbury.

Copyright © 2012 by Marisa Calin

All rights reserved. You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages

First published in the United States of America in August 2012
by Bloomsbury Books for Young Readers

Electronic edition published in August 2012

www.bloomsburyteens.com

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to

Permissions, Bloomsbury BFYR, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, New York 10010

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Calin, Marisa.

Between you & me / by Marisa Calin. – 1st U.S. ed.

p.    cm.

Summary: Phyre, sixteen, narrates her life as if it were a film, capturing her crush on Mia, a student teacher of theater and film studies, as well as her fast friendship with a classmate referred to only as “you.”

[1. Interpersonal relations—Fiction. 2. Student teachers—Fiction. 3. Teachers—Fiction. 4. Theater—Fiction. 5. Acting—Technique—Fiction. 6. High schools—Fiction. 7. Schools—Fiction. 8. Love—Fiction.] I. Title.

II. Title: Between you and me.

PZ7.C12868Bet 2012         [Fic]—dc23         2011035066

ISBN 978-1-59990-830-0 (e-book)