The Way to Game the Walk of Shame (14 page)

Images of Evan and my conversations flashed in my head. “I thought so, too, but he’s actually not that bad.”

“Really? ’Cause he kind of seems like he doesn’t care about school and college and stuff. You know, all the things that are important to you.”

I got quiet at his words. Our relationship didn’t make sense because
we
didn’t make sense. Brian had me there. He saw things the same way I did. School and Columbia were my life. And even though I’d tried asking Evan about the college applications I had given him a few days ago, he never gave me a straight answer. No matter how many times I brought it up. I mean, he seemed interested at first, but I didn’t know if he’d changed his mind at all.

But none of this mattered, since we weren’t
actually
in a real relationship. It didn’t matter if we didn’t care about the same things or have anything in common. It didn’t matter that our relationship experiences were on opposite ends of the spectrum. Or that his ex-friends-with-benefits friend was the image of raw sexuality, while I was a little choir girl. A choir girl who was studying to be a nun.

It didn’t, because we weren’t planning to ride into the sunset and live happily ever after. This was just for a contract. A deal.

The high of Career Day planning faded, and my appetite was gone. I crushed the remaining Cheetos in the bag into a fine powder. “We’re just dating. It’s nothing serious.”

Nodding to himself, Brian scooted in and bent his head closer to me. He playfully nudged my elbow with his own. “Still, you have to admit, Evan isn’t exactly the type of guy you bring home to your parents. Can you imagine the heart attack your mom might have?” His mock look of horror made me giggle.

At the thought of Evan hanging out with my parents, I couldn’t help laughing even harder. “No, you’re definitely right about that.”

“Knock-knock.”

We both looked up. Evan stood at the doorway. He had an easy smile plastered on his face, but it wasn’t his normal smile. It was a little forced.

“Maybe I should have actually knocked.” His hand rose and rapped against the heavy wooden door before he walked into the room.

How long had he been standing there? Did he hear us talking? Suddenly noticing how close Brian and I were, I awkwardly slid a few inches away from him. “Hey, what are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see if you needed a ride home. I could come back and pick you up.”

Brian crossed his arms and straightened up, almost standing. “No, it’s all right. I can drive her home later. It’s on my way. Don’t want to bother you or anything.”

Evan’s smile widened. “No, it’s cool. Taylor could never bother me.”

“But—”

“Uh, guys?” I waved my hands in both of their faces to get their attention. “I already made plans to go home with Carly. We’re going to the mall later, so neither of you have to drive me.”

“Oh.” Brian sat back down.

“Okay, I just figured I’d ask.” Evan flickered a sideways glance at Brian before coming forward and planting a quick kiss on my cheek. “I’ll talk to you later, then.”

“Okay.” I echoed, feeling like I’d missed something. I wished Carly were here to explain what just happened, because I had no clue what was going on.

*   *   *

My physics homework was literally driving me crazy.

Biology was easy to understand, because it was something I could see—although I hated the guinea-pig dissections. I even understood chemistry to an extent. But physics? How was I supposed to see the relationship between the acceleration and mass of an object, much less calculate it?

It didn’t help that I had a sucky teacher, either. Mr. Higgens was famous for two things. One: his pop quizzes. And two: his love for his son, Adrian, the famous doctor. All you had to do was ask about his son, and he’d talk the entire class period. Getting him to shut up was the problem.

I poked at my faded navy tights and watched my parents garden through the kitchen window. Mom played with the watering can and pretended to shower Dad. He shook himself like a dog, making her squeal with laughter. Oreo darted around and barked at their antics.

Despite being married for eight years, they were still lovey-dovey like a couple of teenagers. Although I was reaching the end of my teenage years, and I’d never acted like that.

My gaze turned to my reflection in the shiny window. I gathered my hair into a ponytail and turned my head from side to side. The simple hairstyle emphasized my face, and not in a good way. It made my face look longer and narrower. My lips seemed to swell in comparison. And my dark hair looked plain and lifeless as it hung straight down. Why couldn’t my hair be a little curly or wavy, so it could have a natural bounce in it like—

Darn it. I was doing it again. I’d been subconsciously comparing myself to Lauren since Evan told me about their relationship. And the sinking pit in my stomach appeared every time I imagined them together.

“I’m not jealous. And I don’t like Evan,” I chanted out loud like a pledge. “This is just a business arrangement. No feelings or emotions are allowed. At all. It’s in the contract.”

Out of sight, out of mind. Today was my day off from the eyes and ears of everyone at school, and I was going to take advantage of this.

I chewed on the top of my pen and was deep in determining at what speed a 6-gram ball would hit the ground at a free fall off a 7-meter-high building, when a car door closed. My mind didn’t absorb any information other than the fact that the noise was outside.

The next few minutes were quiet again, so I didn’t think about it anymore. Until I saw my mom frantically waving for me to come outside while some guy talked next to her.

My eyes widened until they felt like they were going to fall out of my head.
What was he—why was he—
I shot out of my seat and was outside within seconds. I’d know those shoulders and spiky blond hair anywhere. But what the hell was Evan doing in my backyard, and why was he talking to my parents?

“Taylor, your friend Evan came by to visit. Isn’t that sweet?” Mom exclaimed when I skidded to a stop in front of them.

“Yeah, sweet.” I hoped my face wasn’t as strained as it felt. My cheeks were stiff rubber bands that were still brand-new from the bag. I reached up to push my bangs out of my eyes, only to realize that the sleeves of my baggy gray sweatshirt flopped over my hands. I shoved both sleeves up my arms. “What are you doing here?”

His smile was wide and natural, as though there was nothing weird about him suddenly showing up at my house and chatting up my parents. Kimmy was plastered by his side, beaming up at him like he was her very own Prince Charming. I could practically see the bubble hearts shooting out of her eyes. “I was in the neighborhood and figured we could hang out. It’s such a nice day that I assumed you’d be outside. Sorry if I’m intruding.”

Mom linked arms with him. “No, that’s fine. Taylor never has people over because she’s always studying. To be honest, I didn’t even know she had other friends besides Carly and Brian, although he never comes over. Even if Taylor wanted him to.”

“MOM!”

Her blue eyes were wide and innocent when she looked over at me. “What, honey? It’s true. There’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

Oh yeah? Then why did my cheeks feel like they were about to melt with humiliation? She was killing me, one embarrassing comment at a time.

Before I could answer, she turned back to Evan, flipping her hair over her shoulder like an infatuated teenager.
Flick. Swish.
Between her and Kimmy, it was like the start of the Evan McKinley Fan Club. “Why don’t you and Taylor go inside? I think there’s still some freshly squeezed lemonade in the fridge.”

“Actually, I drank it all,” I admitted before she shot me a disapproving look.

“Well, there’s still some cola at least—”

“That’s okay.” Evan flashed his shiny smile that I knew cost Brandon a steep seven grand. His stepfather got the last laugh. Evan had told me the extractions hurt like hell, and he’d had to endure three years of braces. You wouldn’t be able to tell if you looked at him now, though. At least I didn’t. I just thought that he was one of those annoying naturally beautiful people.

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind helping you weed.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and tilted his head to the side. “If that’s okay with you.”

Okay, I had to be dreaming. Not only was Evan McKinley at my house, but he wanted to do yard work.
Offering
to be free manual labor.

Dad pounced on him. “Well, I’m sure as hell not going to say no to that.” He wrapped an arm around Evan’s shoulders. “You could finish up this patch right here. Want me to show you how it’s done?”

“That’d be great.”

Mom moved closer to me while they talked. “So how well do you two know each other?”

I pretended not to understand what she was asking. “Not that well. We’ve gone to school together for a while now but never had any classes together.”

Just then Oreo trotted over to Evan and rolled over to lie against his side. Still listening to my dad, Evan squatted down and scratched Oreo’s belly. His tail excitedly thumped against the grass.

She crossed her arms and gave me a knowing look. “Really? Because Oreo seems to disagree.”

My face flushed, and I swept my hair up in a ponytail to give myself something to do. “That’s great, Mom. You’d rather believe the dog than your own daughter.”

“Well, Oreo doesn’t know how to lie. And you do. You’re a teenager, after all.” She swept a couple of strands behind my ears. “At least I think you are. I’m not sure how old you are sometimes.”

“Ha-ha.”

Mom gave me a half smile. “Come on, Cole. I’m sure they can handle it. It’s weeding, not rocket science.”

“But it’s very complicated—”

“How complicated could it be? You pull everything but the grass. I think even Taylor might be able to handle that,” she teased, nudging my shoulder with her left elbow. “Come on, Kimmy.”

Dad laughed. “You’re right.” They both moved a few feet away to the big teapot fountain they’d bought in Chinatown, dirt-smeared hand in dirt-smeared hand. Oreo raced over to join them. Kimmy gave us a sad look, but she followed Mom and Dad.

“What are you doing here?” I hissed through my thin smile.

Evan’s grin brightened even more under the sun. “You got to meet my parents, so I thought it would only be fair that I meet yours.”

“I met yours by
accident
.”

“Technicality.” He patted the patch of grass beside him. “Now, are you going to help me or not?”

I was tempted to, but I shoved that urge down. “I’m busy,” I said, jerking my thumb over my shoulder at the house. “I still have to finish my physics homework.”

“Aw, come on, you can finish that later. If you want, I could tutor you.”

“You?”

Evan raised an eyebrow. “Yes, Ms. Know-It-All, me. I’ll have you know that I have a knack for physics. The A I have in that class is the only thing that’s saving me from my C in Spanish.”

“You have a C in Spanish?”

“
Oui.
Hard to believe, huh?”

That’s for sure. Stifling a laugh, I shuffled my weight from side to side before giving in.
Oh, what the hell.
I could use a break. The formulas weren’t sinking in anyway. And it really was a nice day. Sunny, but still cloudy enough to give shade. There was even a light breeze that came by every few minutes. I sank down beside him and pulled at the weeds.

“So…” He scooted closer. “Brian never came over before?”

“No.”

“Funny, he seems like the type of guy you’d want to bring home to your parents.” The smugness in his voice was obvious.

His words rang in my head. I jerked around to look at him, and he had an amused, satisfied look on his face. “You overheard our conversation yesterday?”

Evan rolled his eyes. “Well, it’s not like you guys were whispering.”

Not knowing what to say, I just ducked my head lower and pretended to be absorbed in digging out the roots.

“Don’t get me wrong, Brian would be the better guy to bring home. He’s perfect. Nauseatingly perfect.” His voice grew softer. “Maybe you could start something up when we’re done with ‘our little thing.’”

This wasn’t something that I hadn’t thought of nearly a hundred times over the years. Brian hit every point on my list of the perfect guy. But I always figured that would happen later. “Yeah, maybe.”

His eyes grew a little thoughtful at my answer. He stared at me for another minute or so before a huge grin crossed his face. “But you still won’t work out in the end. You can’t.”

I didn’t want to ask, but my curiosity got the better of me. “Why not?”

“Because you’re both too smart. And I mean,
too
smart. Like any kid you have would be an evil genius who would end up taking over the world or something.”

I snorted so loud that Mom and Dad looked over at us. I moved closer to Evan so they wouldn’t hear. “I never thought of it that way.”

“It’s true. In fact, you’re saving the world by being with me instead of him.”

“Yeah, well, just call me Wonder Woman, I guess.”

Now it was his turn to snort. “I wouldn’t mind seeing you try on the costume.” He looked me up and down in my oversize sweatshirt and tights and gave me a fake leer. “Definitely something to think about for next Halloween.”

I sat back and pulled my knees up to cover my chest. “You’d just have to come up to New York to visit me at Columbia and see for yourself. Unless you’ll be somewhere nearby anyway?”

“Yeah. Maybe.”

Evan turned away and focused on the weeding, effectively ending the conversation like he always did when I brought up college.

I leaned my chin against my knee and rocked back and forth. Who would have thought that I, Taylor Simmons, would be weeding with Evan McKinley? Wasn’t this what old married couples do?

Even though every girl at school lusted after him, I never did. Okay, I did appreciate the great male specimen that he was, but he was too … burly. My eyes scanned his features. Although there’s no denying that he looked good in his jeans and sweatshirt digging in the dirt.