The ABC's of Kissing Boys (18 page)

“Yeah,” he said, giving up without a fight. Making me wonder if he hadn't read between the lines after all.

But there was nothing I could do about that. Es pecially with Becca nudging me and pointing to the small crowd forming at the entry gate.

Which meant only one thing. Showtime.

•

My nerves tingled when I got a quick eyeful of my college cavalry entering the fair. I didn't bother to wave hello to Clayton and Luke, just grabbed Becca and hightailed it back toward the girls’ soccer booths.

Mandy, Elaine and Chrissandra stood puckering and ready in the varsity booth, apparently in between customers. Lyric was running things at the JV ring toss along with a couple of midfielders. I noticed that Hartley had vacated her folding chair in the JV booth, and I didn't see her anywhere around.

“How are we doing, cashwise?” I asked Lyric.

“Good. Almost sixty bucks.”

I nodded, then crossed the narrow alley and asked the same of Mandy.

“Why?” she countered.

I fought back a scowl. So much for the days of unconditional friendship. That had ended when Hartley changed the conditions. No, actually, my friendship with Mandy had ended when
Chrissandra
changed the conditions.

“Hartley,” I said, with no compunction about lying to her, “told me to keep tabs.”

“Okay, then. We've collected a little over a hundred.”

Chrissandra trained her eyes on me. “Kyle's probably paid half of that—it's like he can't wait till Friday night, out at the lake.” She laughed, and Mandy and Elaine did, too.

I was tempted to point out that I'd spent the last hour just a few feet away and all I'd seen Kyle get his mouth around was a pork sandwich. But why bother? It had to be happy on her planet.

To busy myself, I wandered back to the ring toss and bought a half dozen rings. I quickly learned that you had to
pay attention
to land those suckers on the milk bottles, and with the roar of voices and footsteps coming closer and closer, that wasn't an option for me.

I snuck a look at the kissing booth, to see Chrissandra shoving Mandy and Elaine behind her, then doing a boob thrust and a welcoming smile. Clearly, Luke was approaching. And she knew a godly thing when she saw one.

“Hey, Luuuuuke,” she said, drawing out his name as if they were old friends. (In her dreams.) “Kisses are three dollars apiece, but I'll offer you two for five.”

Oh, puh- lease!
All he'd have to do would be to look remotely interested, and she'd have one of her hangers-on start him a tab.

“Thanks,” he said; then his voice increased in volume. “But I'm here for Parker.”

“Parker?”
Chrissandra echoed.

My name floating in the air, I turned their way. Luke looked the total part of a player, in a Hawaiian shirt, with his hair falling lazily into his eyes. People were starting to move in, drawn simply by his presence.

“You heard me,” he said.

Chrissandra laughed in her “silly, silly you” way. “She can't work this booth. She didn't make varsity.”

I cringed in case anyone glanced at me. It was pretty horrid to hear my loser status announced so loud and clear. And to think I'd choreographed and produced this degradation.

“Doesn't change a thing for me.” Luke spoke his line boldly. “I'm here to kiss Parker, and I'm willing to pay plenty to make it happen.”

My heart started beating all over my body. Antici pation? Excitement? No, I think just nerves again. But figuring it was about time for my formal entrance, I stepped forward and plastered on a smile. “Luke, hi.”

His eyes smiled first, then his lips. (Boy, was he good.) “Hi yourself. You up for a kiss for a good cause?”

I nodded, while girls from close by wandered in and girls as far as five miles away drew a collective sigh.

Except for Chrissandra, who pounded a fist on the counter. Then she snapped a look at me—filled with anger and suspicion.

Making me realize a fatal flaw in our plan: Chrissandra knew there was nothing between Luke and me. No sparks, no chemistry. No nothing. She knew I was just a kid sister to him. She knew that something was up, that she was being trumped—or maybe worse. And she was not giving me one inch of Luke, of her status or of her power without a fight.

I narrowed my own eyes.

Hers turned cold and hard. Unforgiving.

I knew right then and there that Chrissandra Hickey hated me. Truly hated me. And that the hatred had been festering inside her for some time. The put- downs, the countering of compliments, the jokes at my expense? All meant to wound, to hurt, to destroy.

I just didn't know why.

Was this because of Kyle and his car- ride generosity? Or something deeper?

I held her eye, returning her “Die, witch” stare. Which gave her a jolt before her brow settled into something meaner and darker.

Coach Hartley pushed through the crowd, dunktank wet, in an oversized T-shirt and shorts over a one-piece. Behind her, I spotted a wary- eyed Tristan, arms folded, and the fuzzy crown of my brother's blond head.

“What's going on here?” she asked, adjusting the towel tied turban- style over her hair.

“Luke Anderson,” Chrissandra announced, pointing at him, “wants to kiss Parker here at the booth.”

Hartley stopped before him and leveled him with a gaze. “You'll have to wait a year.”

Cords stretched in his throat as his voice rose. “I've got three hundred bucks that says the kiss happens now. All you have to do is put her on varsity for a few minutes.”

Hartley screwed up her face. But there must have been at least a hint of temptation in her eyes, because Chrissandra jumped up on the booth's counter.

“Don't you get it, Coach Hartley? Parker's trying to
buy
her way onto varsity through her brother's buddy.”

Crap!
Was it too late to move to New Jersey, meet a family of mobsters and take out a contract on her?

“She's desperate,” she screamed. “She'll try anything, since ratting AJ out didn't work.”

Wisdom
:
The side you lean in
on to kiss tells all. From the right you show
your partner real emotion; from the left you
reveal little-to-none.

V
oices—mostly female—cried out.

Including one that sounded like Becca screaming, “Parker, I told you it was Chrissandra stabbing you in the back!”

And my own: “I had nothing to do with that, Coach!” But only one person pushed her way forward. “No way.
Uh-uh.
You're not giving Parker my spot.”

Chrissandra looked down from her lofty counter position with an icy glare. “Shut up, Lyric.”

“I believed you, Chrissandra. I trusted you!”

“And if you just shut up,” Chrissandra said, between clenched teeth, “everything will work out, okay?”

Hartley spun to look Lyric in the face. “It was you? Chrissandra talked you into breaking into AJ's locker?”

Lyric's face remained blank, but her voice betrayed her fear. “No, she only had me do the note.”

The crowd made a tittering noise; then all that could be heard was breathing.

“It's not like I planted the pills or anything,” Chrissandra said, and did one of her superior hair flips. “I mean, AJ totally deserved to be exposed.”

Hartley's face inflamed. She shook a finger at Chrissandra, then swept it to point at Lyric. “Out! Both of you!”

Chrissandra's hands went to her hips and her eyes narrowed. She opened her mouth, then, for once in her stupid life, thought better of it and closed it. She stepped down from the counter and out the side door. There was no doubt she didn't consider this finished, but that would be her battle, for another time.

Hartley shook her head. Then, slowly, her eyes rose to meet Luke's. “The coach of the booth that makes the most money gets a reserved parking space all year.”

I appreciated Luke's silence and the fact that the “duh” sounded only in my head.

“With both my teams collapsing,” she continued, “I sure as heck need a break somewhere.” She held out her palm.

Luke pulled the wad from his pocket. “So Parker's on varsity for the next two minutes?” he asked, holding it inches above her open palm.

Hartley grabbed the cash; then her gaze moved to mine. “You're on varsity for the next two years, if you want. I'm going to have to do some restructuring after losing all these players. And as much as I appreciated your leadership on JV, I need your game on varsity.”

What? Huh?
It was
that
easy? “I—I'm varsity?” I asked her.

“You're varsity. Although I might have you attend the JV practices as well for a week or so, until I get things on track.”

“Done!” I said.

A smile burst onto my face, and I searched for Clayton in the crowd to send him a silent thank- you for his partnership and support. And then I turned toward Luke, who, I prayed, realized that even though we'd just “won,” we were not done. We still had to do the kiss— and do it well—or Hartley might spot the deception and pull the team position away. She had to be sick to death of liars at this point.

I caught Luke's eyes and widened my own. For once, we must have been on the same wavelength, because he nodded, then yelled my name like a game- show host. “Parker Stanhope, come on down!”

I laughed, and skipped around to the side door of the booth. Mandy and Elaine flashed nervous grins, like they weren't quite sure where we all stood now. I didn't know, either. But what I did know was that they hadn't been there for me when I needed them. And right now, I didn't need them.

So fair was fair.

Luke stood waiting against the counter, his brows arched. If he was nervous about the audience, he didn't show it. Even with the hooting and catcalls, I didn't feel anxious, either. Maybe it was because I was so well prepared, or because the kiss was just a simple means to an end now. Or maybe it was because it was the first time this school year that all eyes had been on me in a good way.

But how ironic was it that this grandstand kiss would basically erase from people's minds my lapse in judgment with a freshman—and yet it was Tristan's teachings that gave me the skills and confidence to go face to face with Luke? Had my world done a total flip- flop or what?

As I moved closer to Luke, Tristan's face jumped out at me from the crowd. I wasn't surprised to catch him pushing forward to see the results of his blood, sweat and tears. But I couldn't say it made me happy to know he could watch with complete detachment, just a teacher proud of his student.

Clearly, none of our closeness or secret sharing had fazed him. He'd kept up his end by simply passing along his “craft.” And now he was going to reap the rewards of a job well done.

Of course, I was the one taking home the grand prize—the return of the best elements of my life.

Luke leaned in and pressed his mouth against mine. I closed my eyes as if I were drifting away and listened to the whistles and foot stomping. The kiss was sweet. Warm. And having him cup my cheeks with his hands was a very nice touch. But that was it. No chills, no shivers, no moans inside me fighting to break loose.

I wondered if I did have stage fright after all and just couldn't relax enough to enjoy it. Or if Luke couldn't perform at the same skill level as my high- school-freshman trainer. Or if Luke and I simply did not have chemistry together.

Or all of the above.

Or none of the above.

Because the ingredient that made the magic happen in my world was Tristan.

Wow.

Finally, Luke broke free, a smile engulfing his face. I put on my best smile, too, and added a very lazy and satisfied roll of my eyes.

The crowd exploded. Then Luke applauded me, I applauded him and we both did a little bow. Clayton came up and shook hands with both of us while I did a quick crowd scan for Tristan. Almost immediately, we were converged on by Rachael and a few seniors who were now my teammates. Hartley grinned at me like it was all no big deal, then headed back to the ring- toss booth.

“You are
so bad,
Parker!” Rachael said, giving me a hug. “Acting all cool about Luke, telling me he's just your brother's friend. Keeping him a secret.”

I opened my mouth to explain, but she wagged a finger in my face.

“And using a freshman boyfriend as a cover. That was priceless, Parker, priceless. People were so stunned that they never stopped to doubt you.”

“Genius,” a blond girl who I was pretty sure was named Victoria said. Several others nodded.

“Yeah, but—”

Rachael cut me off. “In with Parker, and out with the demon Chrissandra!”

More than one girl laughed.

“Welcome to varsity, Parker!” Victoria said. “We are going to keep you
so
busy with practices and games and afterparties that you'll barely remember that whole JV thing!”

Rachael looped her arm around my neck. “But don't worry. We'll give you sneak-away time with your steaming- hot boyfriend. As long as you bring him to parties and stuff so we can drool all over him.”

“Rachael,” I said, so strongly that the whole group finally stopped chattering, “Luke and I are
not
together.”

She retracted her arm. “Well, you're still a heck of a lot closer to being his girlfriend than any of us here. Let us be jealous—please.”

Victoria laughed. “And just don't tell us that freshman thing was for real.”

I felt my throat closing up. It wasn't, of course. Ex cept when certain elements had started to feel real to me.

Rachael joined in Victoria's laughter. “Seriously, then we'd have to send you back to JV.”

I laughed, too. She was joking—right?

A couple of my new teammates fell back, and again, I looked around for Tristan. But in the opening, it was Becca who appeared, her mouth slanting down and arms hanging loosely at her side.