Revenge of the Geek (15 page)

“Are you happy with how it came out?”Charlie asked.

“I think so,”I said. “Or, at least, I hope so. I just don’t want Candace to hate it.”

“I’m sure she’ll love it,”Charlie said supportively.

“Let’s talk about something else,”I suggested. “This is just making me nervous.”

“Okay. Like what?”

“We could talk about Finn’s big news,”I said.

“What do you mean?”Charlie asked.

“Stop playing innocent. You know exactly what I’m talking about,”I said.

“I can’t say I’m surprised he and Phoebe broke up,”Charlie said. “They had nothing in common.”

“It just seems like it went downhill quickly. When we saw them at Grounded together that time, Phoebe seemed like she was really into Finn,”I said.

Charlie hesitated. “Do you think Finn meant it about getting Hannah to set him up with another girl?”

“Yes,”I said. “But I wouldn’t worry too much. Hannah’s decided to work with more, um, how shall I put it? Challenging clients.”

“How so?”

“When she heard Finn was newly single, she asked me if he’d have a problem dating someone with a severe overbite,”I said. “Besides, Hannah’s still annoyed with Finn for messing with her Web site.”

“That’s good,”Charlie said, sounding more cheerful.

“You know what I’m going to say now, right?”I asked.

Charlie sighed heavily. “You’re not going to start lecturing me about how I should talk to Finn and tell him how I feel about him, are you?”she asked.

“That’s right,”I said, choosing to ignore the lecture crack. I never lectured her. I just offered advice. Succinct, to-the-point, very useful advice.

“What’s the point?”Charlie said. “We’ve been over this a million times. I can’t just walk up to Finn and say, ‘Look, you may be a complete freak, but I’m in love with you.’”

“I’d leave out the freak part. But that’s just me,”I said.

“I can’t do it. I just can’t,”Charlie said.

“Why not?”

“Because I’m a chicken. I admit it. I’m a total coward,”Charlie said.

“You? No way. You’re one of the bravest people I know,”I said.

Charlie snorted. “Please,”she said.

“I’m serious. Look at your artwork. You put all of your emotions and hopes and dreams into your paintings. That’s really brave. I can’t even write one measly little article without worrying that it’s going to be criticized. You’ve had, what, a dozen art shows?”I said.

Charlie was quiet for a moment. “But that’s not nearly as scary as telling Finn how I feel about him.”

“I don’t think it really is that different,”I said.

“Maybe I should talk to Hannah about this. She’s the professional, right? Maybe she’ll have some matchmaking advice for me,”Charlie said.

I sighed and leaned back on a fluffy stack of pillows. Willow, realizing her head stroking had come to an end, returned to her circular bed with a snuffling sigh. “You know what I think?”

“What?”

“I think you have to stop listening to me or to Hannah or anyone else. In the end, you have to do what
you
think is right. What you want to do. It’s your life, after all,”I said. “You’re the one who has to live it.”

“Maybe you’re right,”Charlie said.

“It’s bound to happen once or twice in my life,”I said.

Charlie laughed. “More often than that, I think. By the way, what are you doing Saturday?”

“We’re driving down to the Keys for the weekend,”I said.

“Really? I didn’t know that,”Charlie said.

“I’ve hardly seen you,”I reminded her. “But while we’re on the subject, I’ve been meaning to ask you: Will you watch Willow while we’re away?”

“No problem,”Charlie said.

“Do you want to check with your mom first?”I asked. Mrs. Teague was allergic to most animals, and dogs in particular gave her sneezing fits.

“Nah, she won’t mind, as long as I keep Willow in my room,”Charlie said. “Are you missing school?”

“We’re leaving Friday morning, so I’ll miss that day. Orange Cove High has the day off. I think Hannah said it’s a teacher workday, or something,”I said. It was typical of Peyton to schedule this family getaway around Hannah’s schedule, and expect me just to go along with it. I hated missing school. It always meant extra catch-up work when you returned. “Why, what are you doing?”

“Nora and I were talking about heading down to West Palm to see the Georgia O’Keeffe show at the Norton,”Charlie said. “And she’s never been to Palm Beach, so we were going to go walk around there after. I was going to see if you wanted to go with us.”

And just like that, the green-eyed monster reared up again. Nora and Charlie made plans without me? Even if Charlie had decided to include me, it was after the fact. Would Nora and Charlie get even closer this weekend? And if so, what did that mean for me? Would I be replaced? Would I—

But then I stopped myself.

It’s totally fine for Charlie and Nora to hang out together
, I reminded myself. I was not going to get all twisted up with jealousy. I took a deep breath and tried to will the green-eyed monster away. It didn’t work right away, so I took a few more deep breaths until I started to feel calm.

“Miranda? Are you there?”Charlie asked.

“Yes, I’m here,”I said.

“Why aren’t you saying anything?”

“Oh, I just . . . got distracted for a minute. Willow was making a funny sound,”I lied.

Willow, hearing her name, opened one amber eye and thumped her tail.

“Is she okay?”

“Um, yeah, she’s fine,”I said.

“I’m really glad you met Nora. She seems really cool. It’s nice to talk to someone who’s into art,”Charlie said.

“I actually didn’t know she was into art,”I said. “That was news to me.”

“Really? Well, anyway, she seemed really interested in listening to me talk about it,”Charlie said. “I hope I wasn’t boring her.”

“I’m sure you weren’t,”I said.

Charlie and I chatted for a few more minutes, and then she got off the phone, saying she wanted to get some painting done before bedtime. But for a long time after we hung up, I stayed put, lying on my bed and staring up at the bumpy white ceiling, thinking about Nora. She talked to Charlie about art, joked around with Finn, and with me . . . with me, she talked about her long-distance boyfriend. Was that all genuine Nora? Or was it just a chameleon attempt to fit in with us? And, if so, would I ever get to know which was the real Nora?

Chapter Sixteen

“I
can’t wait to get to the resort,”Hannah said. “I’m going to lie out by the pool and work on my tan.”

Hannah had spent most of the car ride down to the Keys plugged into her iPod, but as we drove down the Overseas Highway, with its sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean, she abandoned her music in favor of planning her vacation weekend, the extent of which seemed to be sunning herself and painting her nails. I’d spent the long drive working on a short story about a teenage girl aspiring to be a matchmaker, which was inspired by Hannah.

Dad and Peyton exchanged a significant look from the front seat. That should have been my first clue that something was up.

“I thought you didn’t believe in tanning, because it gives you wrinkles,”I said.

“I think that’s only if you get really, really dark. Or burned. If you just get a nice golden shade, it isn’t that bad for you,”Hannah said.

“I thought I read somewhere that any prolonged sun exposure is bad for your skin,”I said.

“Really? Well, maybe by the time I get old, scientists will have found a cure for wrinkles,”Hannah said. “In fact, maybe Emmett will be the one to discover it. Wouldn’t that be cool? I should tell him to develop a wrinkle cream for the science fair instead of a solar-powered car.”

“I think attempting to discover how to reverse human aging might be a little too large of a topic for him to tackle in time for the science fair,”I pointed out.

“Why? Emmett’s really good at science. He might as well put his talent to use,”Hannah said. “So, what are you planning to do this weekend, Miranda? You don’t play tennis, do you?”

“No. I played once and I got hit in the face with a ball. So that was pretty much the end of my tennis career. What else is there to do at the resort?”I asked.

“I’m not sure. But these places usually have tennis courts and a golf course and a spa. Hey, that’s what we’ll do. We’ll go get some spa treatments together,”Hannah said. “Mom, do you want to do that with Miranda and me?”

Peyton didn’t answer. Instead, she and my dad exchanged another significant look.

“What’s going on?”I asked, instantly suspicious. Something was definitely up.

Dad cleared his throat. “Girls, we have something to tell you.”

“What?”Hannah said.

Dad took a deep breath and glanced again at Peyton. She was hiding behind enormous sunglasses, and didn’t seem too eager to jump in and help him out.

“We didn’t exactly tell you the whole truth about what we’re doing this weekend,”Dad said slowly. This sounded so ominous, I half expected to hear menacing music kick up in the background. Dum dum
dum
.

“But you haven’t told us anything,”I said. “Just that we’re going to a resort in the Keys for the weekend. Which part of that wasn’t true?”

“The resort part,”Dad said.

Hannah and I looked at each other in alarm.

“So, what? We’re staying at a hotel, or a bed and breakfast instead?”Hannah asked hopefully.

“No, it’s more of a ...”Dad’s voice trailed off, and he waved one hand in the air, as though that clarified anything.

“A
what
, Dad?”I asked.

“A campground,”Dad finished.

This time, Hannah and I stared at each other in horror.

I don’t camp. My dad had taken me camping once before—right after he and my mom split up, and he was going through a phase where he kept wanting to spend quality time with me—and it was a total disaster. It was hot and buggy, and on our first night there, raccoons got into the food and ate or carried off everything we’d brought with us. On the second night, it started to pour, and we learned the hard way that our borrowed tent had several big holes in it.

After that disastrous trip, I swore I’d never go camping again. And I was fairly sure Hannah felt the same way. She thought she was roughing it if she had to stay at a hotel with fewer than four stars.

“This is a joke, right?”Hannah asked hopefully. “A really, really lame joke?”

“No joke,”Dad said.

“Mom?”Hannah asked.

“It was Dr. Patel’s idea,”Peyton said, referring to the marriage therapist she and Dad began seeing over the summer.

“It’s a retreat,”Dad chimed in. “They have all sorts of activities planned that are designed to bring us closer together as a family. And we’ll sleep in tents and roast marshmallows over the campfire. Old-fashioned family fun. Just wait; it’ll be great.”

This was getting worse and worse. Hannah looked at me, shaking her head in disbelief.

“Why would we go camping when there are perfectly nice luxury hotels to stay in?”Hannah asked.

“Yeah, I’m going to have to agree with Hannah here,”I said. “I have homework to do. I need to stay somewhere where I can plug in my laptop.”

“No homework this weekend,”Dad said. “We’re going to focus all of our energy on making our family stronger.”

“You aren’t seriously going to make us do this, are you, Mom?”Hannah asked.

I thought Hannah was wise to appeal to her mother. I couldn’t picture Peyton sleeping in a tent or building a campfire. She had perfectly sculpted nails, hair that was blown out three times a week by her stylist, and wore immaculate clothes in shades of white and ice blue. In fact, watching Peyton cope with the great outdoors might be the only bright spot of the weekend. The Ice Queen versus Mother Nature.

“We’ll just have to make the best of it,”Peyton said, sounding unhappily resigned.

“That’s the spirit,”Dad said cheerfully. “We’re going to have such a good time this weekend, you’ll be begging to go camping again.”

“That,”Hannah said darkly, “is never going to happen.”

Happy Camper Campground was located on Big Pine Key next to a small, murky lake. Dad parked the SUV on a dirt parking lot, and we checked in with the camp coordinator in the main building, which was basically a cinderblock shack with a few oscillating fans that swirled the hot air around. We made our way past the outdoor seating area—a ring of logs circling a flagpole, at the top of which the American flag waved limply—and headed toward the tents, which were, thankfully, already set up in six rows. We were assigned to two tents at the end of the second row. Hannah and I were sharing one tent; Dad and Peyton shared the other.

When we reached our tent, I peeked inside. Inside, there were two cots with foam mattresses.

“At least we won’t have to sleep on the ground,”I said.

“I wonder how many people are going to be here,”Hannah said, looking at the other tents. A few families had already arrived and were starting to unload their cars. “Do you think all of these tents are reserved?”

“No idea,”I said. “But these tents are pitched so close together, we’ll be able to hear if anyone snores.”

“This just gets worse and worse,”Hannah muttered.

We made a few trips back and forth between the SUV and the tents, bringing our luggage and a big blue cooler, which, thankfully, contained food. I’d been half afraid that Dad was going to announce we’d have to fish for our dinner. An unpleasant moment arrived when we discovered that although my dad had stashed four sleeping bags in the back of the car—hidden behind the suitcases—he’d forgotten to pack pillows.

“How are we supposed to sleep without pillows?”Hannah asked. She had wheeled her enormous hot pink suitcase over the bumpy dirt path. The suitcase hadn’t weathered the short trip well. It was now covered with dust, and grass was stuck in the wheels.

“You can fold up a sweatshirt and use that as a pillow,”Dad said.

“Please tell me you’re kidding,”Hannah said grumpily.

“Maybe we could go into town and find a store that sells pillows,”Peyton suggested.

“That’s a great idea. And while we’re there, we can check into a hotel,”I said.

“Come on, girls. You have to adjust your attitudes,”Dad said. “We’re not here to go shopping. We’re here to rough it. The early pioneers didn’t have pillows when they crossed the country in covered wagons, did they? We can survive without some creature comforts for a few days.”