The Romeo Club (17 page)

Now that got my attention. Carver Foster was the king of shirtless carwashes. The crush of my elementary and junior high years. Not to mention the star of many, many fantasies. He was three years older than me and two years older than Drake. And he’d been the one to teach me how to play soccer. Hard to believe Jimbo belonged to him—or rather his family since he’d been away at college.

“Um—why’s he coming home?”

Mom glanced up from scooping blobs of green glop into Dad’s bowl. “His mom’s been sick.”

That explained the last time I saw her. “Is she gonna be okay?”

“I’m not sure. We haven’t really heard what’s going on. All I know is they’ve been gone a lot lately.”

My parents changed the subject and talked about a part they needed for their computer and where the best place was to get it. At that point, I zoned them out and focused on rescuing my ham bites from the green, mushy mess Mom called spinach. It looked more like someone had scooped algae up from a swamp or sneezed in my dish.

The phone rang from the kitchen and I hopped out of my seat, carrying my dinner with me. I turned my body so Mom wouldn’t see me with it. “I’ve got it.”

When I got in the other room, I grabbed the cordless phone and brought my food over to the trash can and scraped it out. “Hello?”

“Del, hey, it’s Trey,” he said. “I hate to keep bugging you. But I need your help again.”

No, if he hated it so much then he’d quit doing it. But instead he tortured me with calls about Portia. And how he couldn’t figure out how to impress her without my help. Hell, it was beginning to feel like I was the one dating her, not him.

“What’s going on?”

“Do you think you can stop in for a few?”

The word ‘no’ sat perched on the end of my tongue. But for some, stupid reason, I couldn’t say it. I clenched my fist at my side and squeezed my eyes shut. “I’ll be there in a few.”

“You’re a lifesaver.”

I hung up then poked my head into the dining room to tell my parents I was leaving. However, when I caught them in a lip-lock, I decided to just go. A minute later, I stood inside Trey’s living room, watching him pace the floor. His faded jeans sat low on his hips, the black T-shirt he wore stretched tight over his broad shoulders and biceps. Something I seemed to focus on way too much, as of late.

“Here’s the thing. I want to set up a special date to ask Portia to prom. And I thought you might have some ideas?”

My throat thickened. No. This wasn’t happening.
Tell him to figure it out on his own. Or better yet, tell him how you feel. That you two are perfect for each other. You like the same bands. The same video games. You’re in National Honor Society together. You have the same circle of friends. Come clean and admit that you’re in love with him. And that you’re stupid for not seeing it before.
I cleared my throat and grabbed a mint from the jar on the coffee table.

“Let me think this over for a second.” I fell back on the couch, drawing my legs up to my chest.

Right then, his cell buzzed. He glanced down at the number and smiled. “Speak of the devil. Hey Portia … ” Trey made his way out of the room.

Devil was right. Portia ruined everything. I so missed the days when Trey and I could have a conversation that didn’t revolve around her. I pulled my own phone out and texted, “
Ken, need help. Call me!
”

A few seconds later, my cell came to life with the sounds of waterfalls.

“Del, what’s going on?”

“Trey wants me to help him plan a romantic date for Portia. So he can ask her to prom.” My head rested against the back of the brown leather couch.

“You’re kidding?”

“No.”

“Maybe Captain Nerd needs a smack upside the head so he’ll open his eyes and see what’s in front of him.”

“Well, I’m kind of at his house right now.”

“Run out the door and don’t turn back. Maybe throw some plant testicles at him on the way out,” Kenadi said.

I laughed, in spite of everything. “Wish I had some on me. I mean, not that I had plant testicles, but you know.”

Kenadi giggled. “Yeah, I gotcha. So where’s Trey now?”

“Portia called so he left the room to talk to her.”

“That girl is seriously whacked. You’d think she’d be done with him by now. Who actually likes roses of death?”

“I’m guessing she’s more morbid than we thought.”

“Do you think she steals flowers from gravesites too?”

“Funny,” I said. “May-maybe I should give up. It’s obvious he’s into her.”

“Or maybe you should come clean with him.”

“I already told you I can’t do that. Sabotaging them is my last hope.”

“Okay, we’ll come up with something.”

“I’m sorry I’m dragging you into this.”

“Don’t be, I’m your best friend, remember?”

I laughed. “Yeah. I’m just so miserable. It’s like my stomach knots up every time I see him with Portia. I-I get those nervous flutters when he’s around, whether we’re playing a video game or talking about school. And, I can’t stop thinking about him.”

“You got it bad.”

“Yeah, and I have to plan this stupid date now.”

“Any ideas?”

“No.” My gaze flitted to a picture on the wall of a beach scene. “Wait, I think I just got an idea.” And boy did I. If this didn’t deter Portia, then nothing would. “Sabotage date, take three,” I said.

Kenadi chuckled. “Can’t wait to hear the details.”

So we put our heads together and came up with an epic plan, which I prayed wouldn’t fail. Again.

Chapter 26

Trey came back into the room. “Sorry, she wanted to chat about her dance recital coming up.”

“Well, I think I’ve got an idea of where you can take her,” I said. A devious smile tugged at my lips and it was all I could do not to break out in a villainous laugh. “There’s this great spot over on Lake Michigan, near the Whitehall, Montague area. They’ve got a boardwalk and picnic area. Really romantic. You could pack a lunch for the two of you and watch the waves—maybe take a walk along the shore. She’ll love it.” Except for the part where I forgot to mention the bajillion seagulls that flocked over there.

Kenadi assured me, we could get them to swarm the picnic.

“You’re brilliant.” Trey sat down next to me, his hand squeezed my knee.

Tingles shot up my leg where he touched me. I wriggled away. “No problem. I’ll send you directions later. But I gotta run. See you.”

***

Kenadi carried six loaves of bread to the checkout line, while I grabbed another three. Once I paid for them, we hopped into her car.

“Start breaking it into pieces so we can toss it off the boardwalk when we get there,” Kenadi said, putting her seatbelt on.

“I still can’t believe I’m doing this.”

“You should get an award for your devious plotting,” Kenadi said.

I put my sunglasses on, clicked my seatbelt into place, and then started breaking the loaves of bread into smaller chunks. Sun blazed through the windows as we drove west and headed to the lake shore. We listened to music and talked about guys and soccer. It was nice to have a girls’ day. When we pulled into our spot, there were only a few cars there. We’d come over early to get into position.

“Do you think Trey will recognize my car?” Kenadi said.

“Not if you take the Yellow Jacket Soccer decal off your back window.” I shoved the torn up loaves of bread into my duffel bag, while Ken peeled the sticker off her car and grabbed us a blanket to sit on.

My sandals squeaked as I walked across the sand to the boardwalk. We climbed the stairs and headed down the path that went behind the dunes. There was a bridge back there that overlooked a stream which emptied into Lake Michigan. It was private and where I told Trey to have lunch with Portia.

“We’ll have to position ourselves either further up the boardwalk or in the dunes so we can toss the bread down,” Kenadi said, slipping her shoes off to walk barefoot.

“Let’s go up. We’ll have a better view from up there to see when they get here.” My sunglasses slid down my nose, and I pushed them back into place. We trudged up the sand, warm granules pushing between my toes and sandals. The blue sky was cloudless. Trees waved in the wind as a breeze kicked up. When we reached the top, my legs burned.

“Geez, that was a work out.” I set my stuff on the ground and helped Ken spread a blanket out. Once we finished, we plopped onto it and arranged our stuff.

“You might have to carry me back down.” Kenadi took a bottle of water out of her bag.

Down below, I watched the waves roll in. Whitecaps gurgled and sloshed against the shoreline. Seagulls already dotted the beach. They sat on the water, riding the waves or searched the sand for remnants of food.

I loved it out here. You could look across the lake and see forever. Like the sky and water were one. The waves pounded out a constant rhythm.

“We haven’t been up here in a while,” I said. “Remember when your mom used to pile us in the van and drive out here?”

Ken smiled. “Yeah, she’d bring one of her smutty romance books to read, while we swam all day.” She dug her toes into the sand, burying her feet up to her ankles. “And I’ll never forget when you wanted to lay out to get a tan.”

I groaned. “Don’t bring that up. God, I looked like a lobster and couldn’t bend my legs for like a week, they got burnt so bad.”

“Incoming.” Kenadi pointed behind us to where two figures emerged from the boardwalk.

I ducked down, inching closer to the edge of the dune. Even from here, I could tell it was Trey and Portia. Her in a dainty sundress, him in jeans and T-shirt carrying a picnic basket.

“We have to wait until they get everything situated before bombarding them.” I took the plastic bags with bread out of my duffel. “Do you feel kind of mean for doing this?”

“A little. But like Mom always told me. All’s fair in love and war. If you want something bad enough, you’ve got to fight for it.”

“Even if it means sicking a bunch of birds on people?”

“It’s not our fault he picked such a crappy place for a date.” She smirked.

“Um—it kind of is.”

“Details, details.” She put her shoes back on, scooted off the blanket, and folded it back up. “You know, we should come back here when it gets warmer and hang out.”

Hair came loose from my ponytail and snapped around my face. I pushed it back behind my ears so I could see what Trey and Portia were doing. “Looks like they’re sitting down now. He’s getting food out of the basket.”

“Here give me a couple of the bread bags. I’ll ball the bread up and toss some down there.”

I handed over two of them and watched her go to work. She flung several doughy balls down the hill. Slowly the birds descended, flocking closer to Trey’s date.

“We need more,” I said, opening two more bags. The wind picked up and I tossed the pieces in the air. They blew down the dune, scattering all over beside them. Like a bugle calling an army to charge, the seagulls went wild. They ran across Trey’s blanket, snatching food from their plates. While others pecked the ground for our bread.

Portia hopped up, swinging her arms around, as if to scare them off. I giggled. Then one of them pooped right on her head. Trey whipped off his shirt to cover Portia with. Right then, another gull crapped. This time it hit Trey’s chest. It was like a warzone out there. Best. Day. Ever.

“Quick, let’s use the rest of this and go,” Kenadi said. She ripped open the other sacks, and threw it into the air. Just then, the wind shifted, blowing the bread back at us. White crumbs and pieces stuck in her hair and to her clothes.

“Oh crap,” I said as I glanced up to see another swarm of birds, this one headed for us.

Gulls surrounded us, landing on the ground to eat the food. And when they couldn’t find it there, they swooped at Kenadi’s head.

“Run,” she shouted. We bolted down the dune, heading toward the shoreline and away from Trey and Portia.

She didn’t have to tell me twice. My feet slid in the sand as I fought to keep my balance. I dragged my duffle bag behind me, screeching.

I peered over my shoulder to see a seagull grab hold of one of Ken’s braids. “Let go.” She swung at it. When it didn’t stop, she grabbed hold of the other end of the braid and tugged back. “Damn birds. Ow.”

Somehow, the seagull managed to rip the extension from her hair, and we gawked as it flew off with it. “Quick, before more come.”

Our feet pounded the sand. Dang, it was a good thing we were in shape. As we rounded the corner, we raced onto the boardwalk, still being pursued by birds. There, posted next to the walkway was a sign that said, ‘Don’t feed the birds.’ And now I knew why, they turned into savages.

At last, we made it to the parking lot and we dove into Ken’s car.

“Those were attack birds,” Kenadi said, shoving her key into the ignition. “Shit. My mom is gonna kill me. She just paid to get my hair done and now look at it.”

I glanced at her, bird crap splattered in her hair. Her braids stuck up like Medusa’s snakes. I busted up laughing. Not that I fared much better. I had scratches on my arm from where the birds swooped down trying to grab bread. Besides that, I think I had sand in every orifice of my body.

“Sorry,” I said.

But when she looked at me, she giggled too as she pulled a feather off my shirt. “You smell like bird ass.”

From the corner of my eye, I spotted Trey and Portia running down the boardwalk. “We need to go.”

She glanced up, put the car in drive, and drove out of the lot. “This sabotaging business is hard stuff. I think we should stop and get a milkshake on the way home.”

“I’m in.”

***

“Delyla, Trey’s here,” Mom hollered upstairs.

“Coming.” I dried my hair and hurried down to the living room to find him sitting on the couch. He must’ve stopped home to change before he came over because he had on clean clothes and was no longer covered in gull feces.

When he saw me, he smiled. “Hey. Thought I’d drop by for a few minutes.” He glanced at the scratches on my arms. “What’ve you been doing all day?”

Scrubbing bird crap off my sandals.
“Laundry.”