Page 10 of Better Than the Movies
Helena and my dad had just gotten married, and they’d decided to remodel the main level of the house. In preparation, Helena had cleaned out the closets and drawers and donated all of the old stuff. Including my mother’s DVD collection.
When I’d had an emotional meltdown and my dad had explained the situation to Helena, she’d felt awful. She’d apologized over and over again while I’d sobbed. But all I’d been able to focus on were her words to my dad: “I just didn’t think anyone watched those cheesy movies.”
I’d been a resourceful kid—still was resourceful, as proven by my being at Wes’s house at that very moment—and it had only taken one phone call to find out where the movies had ended up. I’d snuck out, lying to my dad and saying I was going to Jocelyn’s, and ridden my bike all the way to the thrift store. I had everypenny of my babysitting money in my front pocket, but when I got there, it wasn’t enough.
“We’re going to sell this as a collection, kid—you can’t by them individually.”
I stared at that price tag, and no matter how many times I counted, I was six dollars short. The jerk at the store was unyielding, and I cried all the way home on my hot-pink bike. It felt like I was losing my mom all over again.
When I was almost home, I saw Wes bouncing a basketball in his driveway. He looked at me with his usual face, half smiling like he knew some secret about me, but then he stopped dribbling.
“Hey.” He tossed the ball onto the grass in his front yard and walked toward me. “What’s wrong?”
I remember not wanting to tell him because I knew he’d think it was ridiculous, but there was something about his eyes that made me break down all over again. I bawled like a baby while I told him what happened, but instead of laughing at me, he listened. He stayed silent through my entire breakdown, and once I stopped talking and started hiccupping embarrassing little sobs, he leaned forward and wiped my tears with his thumbs.
“Don’t cry, Liz.” He looked sad when he said it, like he wanted to cry too. Then he said, “Wait here.”
He gave me theOne secfinger before turning and running into his house. I stood there, exhausted from the crying and shocked by his niceness, and when he came out his front door, he gave me a ten-dollar bill. I remember looking up at him and thinking he had the kindest brown eyes, but my thoughts must’ve shown onmy face because he immediately gave me a scowl and said, “This is just to shut you up ’cause I can’t stand to listen to you bawling for another minute. And I want my change.”
My mind jerked me back to Wes’s family room. Michael. The Spot. Needing Wes’s help.
My eyes ran over his face. Yeah, his brown eyes still looked exactly the same.
“Okay.” I picked up a cookie and took a bite. “But I swear on everything holy that I will hire a hit man if you blab about this.”
“I very much believe you. Now spill it.”
I had to look at something other than his face. I went with my lap, staring at the smooth texture of my leggings when I said, “Okay. Here’s the thing. Michael is back in town, and I was kind of hoping to, y’know,touch base with him.We were close before he moved away, and I want to get that back again.”
“And I can help with that how, exactly?”
I kept my eyes down, tracing the seam of my pants with my index finger. “Well, I don’t have any classes with him, so there’s no way for me to talk to him naturally. But you and Michael are already friends. You hang out. You invited him to a party.” I dared to look at him when I said, “You’vegot the connection that I want.”
He tossed the rest of his cookie into his mouth, chewed it up, and dusted his hands on the knees of his pants. “Let me get this straight. You are still starry-eyed over Young, and you want me to drag you along to Ryno’s party so you can get him to like you.”
I considered denying it, but instead said, “Basically.”
His jaw flexed. “I heard he’s kind of interested in Laney.”
Ugh, no. My own personal investment in the situation aside, Laney Morgan was totally wrong for Michael. In fact, nudging him to fall in love with me would be doing him a favor simply by saving him fromthat. I said, “Don’t you worry about that.”
An eyebrow went up. “How positively scandalous of you, Elizabeth.”
“Shut it.”
He smiled. “You can’t think that just showing up at a party is going to make him notice you. There’s going to be a ton of people there.”
“I only need a few minutes.”
“Pretty confident, are we?”
“I am.” I’d already written a script. “I have a plan.”
“And it is…?”
I tucked my legs underneath me. “Like I’m telling you.”
“Nah.” He got up, moved to the couch, and plopped down beside me. “Your plan sucks.”
