Me & My Invisible Guy (4 page)

I reached behind the mirror and slid out the notebook that was wedged behind a support bar. The Todd notebook. Every part of Todd’s life was documented in here. Where he was born, the names of his family members, trips he’d been on, and even all of his identifying characteristics. He’s got a cute little mole on his right jawline. I smiled, flipping through the book, remembering….

I shook my head.
Stop it! Enough with the delusion already.
I slapped the notebook closed and then slid it underneath all the pictures at the bottom of the box and snapped on the lid. For extra measure I took a roll of masking tape and wound it around the box over and over. I tore off the end of the masking tape and patted it down. That oughta do it.

Todd was gone.

Dead, gone, and buried.

Tess honked a second time before I made it out to the car and slumped into the passenger seat. She held out her phone to me.

“I find out on the Internet?”

“Oh. That.”

“Yes, that. I should not be finding out at the same exact time as the rest of the world.”

“Sorry.”

Tess backed out of the driveway. “Spill it.”

Another opportunity to confess handed to me.

“He said he needed space.”

And another opportunity missed.

“Space? Like a three-hour drive isn’t enough space? Whatever. He’s dead weight, Mal.”

“It’s probably for the best, right?”

“Duh. I’ve been saying that the whole time. This doesn’t have anything to do with Liam, does it?”

“Liam?” I kept the smile from spreading across my face at his name, but Tess didn’t need confirmation.

“It’s about time. Is he coming to the game?”

“No idea.”

“Liam does have one glaring character flaw.”

“What?”

“His association with Alex Yeager. Of course, that also means he’ll be at the party tonight.”

“A party?” These after-game parties were a regular part of football season, even on school nights; but it would mean a call to my mom and—

“Mal. You’re free. I think that’s cause for serious celebration. What’s wrong? Cheerleaders are supposed to be happy. You’re not going to be all moody tonight, are you?”

“I just had a breakup. Let me mourn.”

“No. No mourning allowed. And don’t even think about getting back together with him.”

“I’m not.” I held up my hands as if I were being arrested or something.

“Yes, you are. I can see it in your weepy eyes.”

“My eyes are not weepy.” I shrugged one shoulder. “It’s just…”

“I knew it! Mallory. We’re juniors. You can’t waste the best years of your life with some long-distance guy who doesn’t even have the time to visit.”

“The best years of my life?”

“Whatever. I know you’re sad and
wah-wah-wah
and all of that, but this is, like, the greatest news ever.”

Tess’s cell rang and she answered it, giving me a moment to catch my breath. I congratulated myself on not spilling the depth of my crush on Liam. It was way too early to let Tess in on that one. I needed to get through the fake grieving process first. Besides, Tess would throw herself into planning and plotting a myriad of ways to “Get Mallory and Liam in the same space.” Too soon for that much attention. But if Liam happened to be at the party, maybe another casual conversation could keep things going in the right direction.

“Fine. Fine. FINE!” Tess snapped her phone shut and squeezed the steering wheel.

“Tess?”

She bit her lip.

“Your mom?”

“Always,” she said.

“You can stay at my house tonight.” I silently hoped that things would be quiet and normal at my house.

Tess nodded, staring ahead. I watched her, knowing that by the time we got to school, Tess would be back and the phone conversation would be forgotten, at least for the game and the party. I twisted the small ring on my right hand upside down so that the green stone was underneath. Tess and I bought the matching rings years ago. It would help me remember to check in with her later that night, when no one else was around. It would be the only time I’d get her to talk about it, anyway.

True to form, when we pulled into the parking lot, Tess bounced out of the Jeep and unzipped the back for our bags.

She grinned. “You ready?”

“Ready.”

CHAPTER 3

The trouble with lying is that once you start, you have to lie all the time. You tell lies to cover up your lies. And even if I wanted to, I couldn’t quit lying completely because there were questions to be answered.

From Yvie: “Are you really broken up or are you guys just fighting?”

“Nope. For real this time. It’s over,” I told her.

From Sophie: “But you said he was coming to homecoming this year!”

Yeah, that was the other major problem solved by the breakup. Adorable Liam might have given me the gumption to get rid of Todd, but the looming “I swear on my iMac” promise I’d made to bring Todd to homecoming this year was a nice incentive.

Tess had my back, though, as always. “The name Todd is off-limits.” Tess drew her hand across her throat. “No more.” She linked her arm with mine to head to the locker room, waving good-bye to Yvie and Sophie, neither of whom could ever be convinced to join us on the squad.

Tess squeezed my arm. “It’s going to be a great year for you.”

I squeezed back. And hoped she was right.

We cheered and danced underneath the glaring lights on the field, trying to whip the crowd into a frenzy. We were winning the game, barely, and I was having more fun than I’d ever thought possible. I was free. A fresh start was exactly what I needed. During a time-out, I walked to the fence line, where our bags and pom-poms made a purple-and-white line. I grabbed my water bottle and squirted some water into my mouth.

Then I stood up and came face-to-face with Liam. Alex was there, too, but he was just a fuzzy outline on the periphery.

“Hey, Mallory,” Liam said.
He’s here. He sought me out.

I tried to swallow the water in my mouth and smile at the same time, which didn’t work at all. Liam cocked his head and gave me a funny look just as I ran out of breath. I gasped some air, sucked water into my throat, and began coughing uncontrollably.

I bent over to spare myself from the humiliation and felt someone clapping me on my back. I coughed and coughed and coughed.
Will it never end?

“Are you okay? Do you want some water?” It was Tess. She was bent down with one hand hitting my back. I grabbed her other hand and pulled her closer.

“Are they still watching?” I choked out between coughs.

“Yep.”

I stayed down until I had complete control of my breathing and furiously wiped at my eyes, which were leaking like faucets. I could only hope my face wasn’t bright red.

I stood up and drank a little more water—carefully this time.

Alex was definitely snickering, but I couldn’t read Liam’s face. Was that concern?

“You all right?” Liam asked.

I tried desperately to think of something witty to say, but all that came out of my mouth was “Yeah.”

That was the best I could do?

“We have to get back. We’ll see you guys tonight,” Tess said. She pulled me out onto the track, where Tara, the squad captain, was setting up for another dance number.

“You are totally holding out on me. I can’t believe you.” Tess turned and waved at the crowds on the bleachers.

“What?” I took my place beside her. I could see Sam messing with the music by the fence line.

“I’ve never seen you look at a guy like that.
Ever.
”

The music started, loud and pulsating, saving me from responding to Tess. I dropped my head and arms into position. Was I that obvious? And if I was, how did I ever get away with Todd?

Tess mercifully waited until we were back in her car on the way to Alex’s party before grilling me.

“And you kept that from me
why
?”

I shrugged.

“Mallory.”

“What? There isn’t anything to tell. He’s cute. You said the same thing the day he started school, remember?”

“Yeah, but you were not looking at him like ‘Oh, he’s cute.’ You were more like ‘Wow, I want you.’”

“I was not.”

Tess just stared at me.

“Fine. You win. But we’re not going to do anything about it, okay?”

“I’m not going to. But you are. You’ve got five weeks until homecoming; and you, my friend, are going with Liam.”

I sat back against the seat. “I don’t know if I’m ready.”

Tess was quiet for several minutes before she answered. “You’ve been ready for a long time.”

Tess and I caught up with Sophie and Yvie on the back porch, where the party was already in full swing. It was a perfect Indian summer night. Alex lived out of town a little bit; and where the manicured yard ended, a thick forest began. Tess didn’t say anything about Liam to the other girls, but when he came out the back door and walked onto the lawn below us, she bumped my shoulder and jutted her chin toward him.

“He and Alex really hit it off, didn’t they?” Tess said.

I nodded, watching Liam talk and laugh in a circle of guys. He looked up and saw me on the porch—I was sure of it—but then he turned away. No smile. No wave.