Page 24 of My Life with the Walter Boys
“Oh,” Kim said, pulling a soda out of her paper-bag lunch. “Jackie just moved in with the Walters. Right, Jackie?”
Three heads whipped around to look at me.
“Um, yes. I live with them,” I said uneasily, afraid of how the group would react.
“How in heaven’s name did you forget to mention something like that?” Riley gasped, her mouth hanging open in surprise.
“Oh my God!” Heather squealed. “You are like the luckiest girl in this whole school.”
“Debatable,” I mumbled to myself. What was so cool about living with a bunch of wild, crazy, childlike boys? Besides, it’s not like I wanted to be living in Colorado. Had Heather already forgotten the gossip she told Riley about my family’s accident?
“She didnotjust say that!” Heather cried, turning to Kim.
“Jackie, Jackie, Jackie,” Riley said, shaking her head. “Haven’t you noticed that the Walter boys are just perfect?”
“No, they’re better than perfect. They’re gods,” Heather said, dreamily staring off into space.
“That did not just come out of your mouth,” Kim scoffed. “That’s so creepy.”
“Is not! It’s the truth. Jackie has crash-landed in boy heaven. I mean, think about it. It doesn’t matter what type of boy she’s into because there’s one of everything. First there’s Danny, who has the whole mysterious brooding thing going on. Isaac is the classic, sexy bad boy. Next is Alex, your typical geeky, shy guy.” Heather was ticking off the boys on her fingers. “Nathan is the laid-back musician. Lee’s the edgy skater, and then there’s Cole—the golden boy.”
Everyone sighed and nodded in agreement when she said his name.
“I don’t get it,” I said, looking across the cafeteria to the table where Cole was eating his lunch. Erin was sitting in his lap and playing with his hair. “There are plenty of guys who are good looking. What makes him so special?”
“If he isn’t so special, then why can’t you take your eyes off him?” Skylar asked, his eyebrow arching up in question.
“I can too,” I said, quickly looking away. “Besides, I’m not looking for a boyfriend. I need to concentrate on my schoolwork.”
The entire table started to laugh at me, and when they finally started to calm down, Skylar said, “Sure, whatever.”
“Look, I’m just trying to understand it,” I said, frustrated. If I could figure out what made Cole so special, then maybe I could eliminate the twisting in my stomach every time I saw him. “I mean, look at her. Whatmakesher do that?” I said and shook my head at Erin. She was diligently hand-feeding Cole grapes.
“There’s just something about him,” Heather said with a shrug, as if that explained everything. “Some extra aspect that no sane girl can ignore.”
“What is it?”
“You can’t define it, Jackie.” She leaned across the table toward me, hair spilling out in front of her as if she were revealing a trade secret. “It’s what I like to call the Cole effect.”
“But if everyone likes him, there has to be some common variable,” I said, trying to think logically.
“That’s my point—there isn’t! The fact that you can’t put your finger on it, whatever it is, is what makes him so swoon-worthy.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“And yet you feel it, don’t you?” Heather said with a knowing smile.
“Don’t feel embarrassed, Jackie,” Riley said, and when I glanced at her a little too sharply, she added, “We’ve all been swept away by a Cole Walter crush.”
“I don’t like him,” I said firmly, as everyone rolled their eyes. “I’ll admit he’s attractive, but that’s it. I hardly know him.”
“Deny it all you want, girl,” Riley said, putting a hand on my shoulder. “But I know a lovesick puppy when I see one.”
I wanted to argue again, to let Riley know that she was wrong. I knew I wasn’t lovesick, and yet I kept my mouth closed. The nausea burning inside my stomach held me back. Heather and Riley made it sound as if no girl had the ability to resist Cole, which made my lack of experience with boys that much more disconcerting.
How would I stand a chance? I couldn’t fall for him. Not after what Nathan told me, and especially not after what had happened to my family. It wouldn’t be right. It was too soon. I needed to do well in school so I could follow in my dad’s footsteps.
I couldn’t do that with a boy like Cole Walter distracting me.
