Page 34 of The Heartbreakers
“Bullshit,” Drew coughed.
“Do you want another kick?” I threatened.
“Okay, you have to tell me now,” Cara said and clicked her manicured nails across the table impatiently. I glared at my brother, daring him to say something. “Stella?” Cara asked.
I kept my mouth shut, and Drew and I continued our silent staring contest. Finally he looked down. I thought I had won and for a moment I silently celebrated a victory, but then he smiled wickedly.
“OliverPerrygaveStellahisnumber!” He spoke so fast that his words blended together. I almost didn’t understand, and by the time I did, Drew had jumped out of his chair and well away from my foot.
Cara giggled. “No, really. What are you guys talking about?”
“‘Please call me, Stella,’” Drew mocked.
I gritted my teeth together. “I am going to kill you, Drew!”
“Oh. My. God,” Cara said slowly. She looked back and forth between us. “He wasn’t joking?”
When neither of us said anything, Cara had the confirmation she wanted. “Holy shit! Oliver Perry gave you his number? You’re such a lucky bitch. Oh my God, can I see it?”
For someone who wasn’t very mobile, Cara was adept at launching herself toward my pocket where my phone was tucked away. I pulled my cell out of my jeans, and she snatched it away before I could blink. While Cara was searching through my phone, I flipped Drew off.
“Where is it?” Cara demanded. “You guys weren’t lying, were you?”
“No,” I said as my cheeks turned red. “It’s under ‘Starbucks boy.’”
Cara eagerly flipped through the numbers again until she found Oliver. “Wow,” she said slowly. “That’s really it?”
“Yeah,” I answered, feeling slightly uncomfortable. Cara was staring at my phone like it was a miracle from heaven.
“So have you called him?” she asked. I could tell she was doing everything in her power to keep from hitting the call button.
“No,” I muttered.
“Oh my God. Okay, so when you do, you need to tell me everything. Do you think it would be weird if I said hi? I know he doesn’t know me, but come on. You know I’m like the Heartbreakers’ biggest fan,” Cara gushed.
“Sure, no problem,” I said quietly.
Sensing my discomfort, Drew switched the subject as he sat back down at the table with another plate of pancakes. “Okay, moving on to something way more important than a phone number. What do we want to do for our birthday on Friday?”Thankyou, I mouthed to Drew even though it didn’t make up for him being a jerk.
For our birthday, I wanted to do something simple so we wouldn’t have to worry about Cara. Last year had been perfect since we spent the day on the beach. Our aunt and uncle own a cottage on the ocean in South Carolina, and my entire family flew out to visit them for a whole week.
We played sand volleyball and Frisbee with our cousins—Cara cheering from the side—and swam in the cool water. For breakfast, lunch, and dinner we munched on fresh watermelon and sipped lemonade. When it got dark, we built a bonfire in the sand and roasted marshmallows as the waves crashed against the shore in a soothing nighttime song.
“We could go to the movies,” Drew offered and shrugged his shoulders.
“That’s so boring,” Cara whined as she spun my phone in circles on the tabletop.
As much as I agreed with Cara, I couldn’t think of something to do that was a perfect combination of safe and exciting. “A movie could be fun,” I said slowly. “Didn’t that one thriller just come out?”
“I don’t like thrillers,” Cara complained. She turned to Drew. “Besides, didn’t you say that you would never go to the movies with me again?”
“What?” he asked.
“Oh yeah,” I said and snorted. “Remember theTwilightpremiere?”
“Oh God,” Drew said and buried his face in his hands. “Don’t remind me.”
Cara had been so excited about the opening ofTwilightthat she dragged Drew to the midnight showing with her. But that hadn’t been the worst of it. She dressed up as Alice and forced Drew to be Edward. After the movie, he had run into his crush from school, his face covered in sparkling glitter.
