Page 55 of Wild About You
I set my napkin in the middle of my plate.
“Are you done?” Tyler asks.
“Yeah. I can’t remember the last time I ate so much.”
He takes my plate and his, and I follow him back to the kitchen.
“Sneaking out?” he asks when I step toward the stairs.
“I need to shower and get a few things ready for tomorrow.”
He invades my space and I stop breathing. His right hand lifts and stretches toward me as if he’s going to caress my face. I don’t move. I lock my gaze on his. I can read everything in his expression. He wants me. He’s made no attempt at hiding it, and a large part of me wants him too.
His fingers glide across my cheek, and then he holds out a single finger in front of me with an eyelash. “Make a wish, Pipes.”
My pulse slows as I realize he isn’t going to kiss me. Of course, he isn’t. He thinks I have a boyfriend.
I blow the eyelash off his finger, but I don’t make a wish. Making a wish without knowing exactly what you want is a dangerous thing. And I have no idea if I’m ready to give Tyler another chance.
* * *
Everly gets in my car the next morning to go to school. She has a Pop-Tart in one hand and an energy drink in the other.
I cast a sidelong glance at her breakfast of choice.
“I know, I know. Tyler already lectured me. I didn’t sleep well.” She pulls on a pair of sunglasses as I back out of the driveway.
“Is everything okay?” I ask, trying to sound casual about it. If I’ve learned anything about Everly, it’s that the second you make it out to be a big deal, she shuts down and says nothing.
“Stupid school stuff.”
“I love stupid school stuff.”
She snorts. “Of course, you do.”
She takes a bite of her Pop-Tart and chews it before elaborating. “I think I might want to go to college.”
“Really?” I can’t help my surprise. The only thing she ever says about school is how it sucks.
“I mean, it has to suck less than high school, right?”
I nod. “Yeah. It does. I promise. I think it’s great you want to go to college.”
“No, it isn’t great,” she says. “My grades aren’t that good, and I don’t have any extracurriculars or references. Plus, deadlines for a lot of places have already passed.”
“Plenty of good schools are still taking applications for this fall. I can help you look if you want.”
“What about my grades and lack of interest in…everything else?”
I smile. “I can help you with that too.”
As soon as we get to school, I take her to see Paul, the theater director, or Mr. Hall as the kids know him. He looks hesitant at first. I can’t totally blame him since she destroyed his backdrops, but when I remind him how good the new ones turned out and how talented Everly is with a paintbrush, he agrees to let her join the stage crew.
I knew I could convince him. Plus, I happen to know he lost two kids last week. One moved and I have no idea what happened to the other.
“We meet after school until five. Don’t be late,” he says with a smile that somehow makes his mouth turn down at the corners.
“Thank you,” Everly says as we walk back to my class. She pulls on the sleeve of her shirt in an anxious sort of way. “I will ask Tyler if he can pick me up, so you don’t have to wait.”
