Life in the No-Dating Zone (3 page)

“How many brothers do you have?”

“Two. You have an older sister, don’t you?”

“Yeah, Mimi. Baby Jack is hers.”

“O-oh.” Here came the long awkward pause. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to be weird, I just—”

“It’s okay.” I pushed my glasses back up my nose. “Everyone thinks the worst because she’s only twenty-one. But she got married and had Jack a year later. We’re helping with the baby because she just got a job so her husband can go back to school.”

“How old is he?”

Why would Gray want to know that? “Twenty-two.”

He laughed. “No, the baby.”

“Fifteen months.”

We fell silent. I stared out at the orange toddler slide and other toys littering the backyard. If there was one thing I’d learned from my therapist dad, it was that waiting for a person to speak will sometimes make him say what’s important. But I hadn’t calculated on Gray’s ability not to talk. The air conditioner cycled off, making the silence deafening. Was I about to hear crickets?

I couldn’t take it anymore. “So anyway … a girl?” I hadn’t realized how comfortable Gray had seemed while just talking about our families until I said those words.

A muscle bulged in his cheek like he was clenching his jaw. He set his drink on the end table, then dug something out of his shorts’ pocket, but kept it hidden in his fist. “Yeah.” He cleared his throat. “I was thinking about this last night and I need toknowifIcantrustyou.”

The last words rushed together. I’m usually good at parsing, but not that time. “What?”

He stared at the floor. “I need to know if I can trust you.”

That
got my back up. “If I remember right, you came to me.”

“I know. I want to trust you.” He finally made eye contact. “But I also don’t want to read everything I’m about to tell you on the Internet.”

Pain filled his eyes and my irritation fell away. This guy must have it bad for somebody. It made it easier to soften my voice. “Do I look like someone who posts private stuff?”

“No.”

“Well, it’s completely up to you.”

“I know, but—”

I held up my first three fingers, making the Girl Scout sign. “How’s this? On my honor as a former Girl Scout, I won’t tell anyone what you’re about to tell me. Unless you’ve done something illegal.”

Gray opened his fist to reveal a tiny black car. No, make that a Jeep. What was he doing with a toy? He turned it over and over in his hand. “So you’re a Girl Scout narc?”

“I used to be.”

“But you remember all your vows.”

I involuntarily squeezed my water bottle, making that crackly noise. He knew about my no-dating vow? He couldn’t. There’s no way.
Calm down, Claire, he’s still talking Girl Scouts.
I sipped my drink to stall for time. No need to sound like I was freaking out. “Just the vows concerning trust issues.”

“Okay, okay. I get it.”

“So?”

He let out a loud breath. “So I really, really like Lindsey Taylor.”

Oh, no.
“Lindsey Taylor. My extremely popular friend Lindsey.”

“Yeah.”

He looked so dejected I wanted to hug him. I wouldn’t, of course. But the poor guy. I loved Lindsey and everything, but I didn’t think she truly realized what her hangers-on were thinking. She was always nice to them, probably because she loved an audience. But it just encouraged them to hang around longer.

I sipped more water. Stalling, stalling. What could I say?

The door opened and my mom came in holding Jack. “Excuse me,” she said. “Can you watch him for a few minutes? I have some things I need to get done.”

With that, she placed the baby in my lap and left. I didn’t know if she was curious about what we were doing—although the door was glass so she could’ve just peeked—or if she truly needed help. I stared at her figure heading down the hall. “Um, yes?”

“Yessss,” Jack said.

Gray chuckled as though he didn’t know what else to do. Neither did I, but I could sympathize with him. “How long have you liked Lindsey?”

“About a year.”

“Ouch. Have you talked to her about it?”

“Are you crazy?”

“My dad thinks so. And he’s a therapist.” I turned Jack around and kissed his soft cheek. He grabbed the end of my ponytail and tugged. “That hurts, you sweet monster.”

Gray hauled himself up and went to look outside. He placed the toy car on the picture window and drew it down against the glass, then lifted it, holding the back wheels with his thumb and middle finger. It spun. Huh. Must be a pull-back-and-go car. His movements looked practiced, like he played with the car all the time without thinking. “I feel like a complete idiot.”

Okay, time to be brutally honest. It wasn’t fair to give him false hope. “I know. It seems impossible with all the guys around her, but you can’t stop thinking about her because she’s so pretty and funny and sweet all rolled up into one neat package.”

“That’s kind of sarcastic.”

I gently pried my hair out of Jack’s fist. “Sorry. I’m not trying to be mean, but I’ve seen it all before. And you’ve got two choices—talk to her or forget her and move on.”

Gray flopped onto the couch, laid his head back, and draped an arm over his eyes. “That’s what Berger said.”

“Trey Berger?”

“Yeah.”

“Huh. I didn’t know he was so smart.” Jack squirmed to get down, so I stood him on the floor where he could hold on to the couch. He could walk, but sometimes he looked like he was doing a Captain Jack Sparrow impression.

Gray groaned. Jack sidled over and patted him on the knee. “Hey, buddy,” Gray whispered and ran his hand over the baby’s curly hair. The tiny car was nowhere in sight, which was good because the baby would’ve made a grab for it.

“Up, up, up,” Jack said.

Gray slid him onto his lap and sat back. “You think I have any kind of chance?”

Jack snatched up one of Gray’s hands and played with his fingers, so I took a minute to study him. With his blue eyes and prominent cheekbones, he was handsomer than some of the guys Lindsey had liked over the years, but she was happiest with a guy who had at least as strong a personality as she did. It didn’t look hopeful to me.

“That bad, huh?”

Warmth rushed into my cheeks. Nothing like getting caught staring. “No, no, I’m just thinking. The only way you have a chance is if you talk to her.”

“And I’ve done great with that so far.”

“The trick is to talk about things she’s interested in.”

“Yeah. I was kinda hoping you could help with that.”

“It’s really easy. Her favorite subjects are theater, acting, Broadway, and movies.”

“I don’t know much about theater, but movies I can do.”

“You still work at the Cineplex?”

Gray scooted down in his seat so Jack could lie against his chest. The baby closed his eyes. “Yeah, how’d you know?”

“I’ve seen you there.”

“Brainlessly sweeping up popcorn?” He ran his hand in circles on the baby’s back. “You wouldn’t want to talk to her for me, would you?”

“No way. I can give you suggestions, but I won’t be a go-between. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. I didn’t figure you would.” He stared at the ceiling. “What I need is some kind of way to get an in with her so she can get to know me. It’s not as if I can ask her out. Not while she’s dating someone.”

She’ll always be dating someone. Better not say that, though.
“Other boys have.”

He shook his head. “I’m not cool with that.”

So. He was a stand-up guy. Or he was too scared of what her reaction might be. I didn’t blame him.

“Hey,” he said, “what if sometime when y’all are going to hang out, you bring me with you? It’ll seem more normal and it won’t look like I’m only there to stare at Lindsey like the other guys do.”

“Except if you stare at her and don’t say anything.”

He sighed. “Yeah. So I’ve got that going for me.”

I laughed. Gray continued to rub Jack’s back. He must have held babies before. He looked too natural doing it. “How did you know to do that with Jack?” I asked.

“What?”

“Sink down so he could lie flatter.”

“Oh. He was leaning like he couldn’t hold his head up and his breathing had slowed down.”

“You noticed all that?”

“How could I miss it? He was on my lap.”

“Not just anybody would. You have experience with kids, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I guess. I’m ten years older than my youngest brother. I spent a lot of time holding him when he was a baby.”

“Huh. Cool.”

“So what do you think about letting me come with you when y’all hang out?”

I frowned. “I don’t know. Let me think about it, okay? I mean, that feels a lot like me being a go-between.”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to if you don’t want. Just … thanks for listening. I really do feel stupid about this.”

“Don’t worry. I’ve met stupider people.”
Oops
. That was supposed to be a joke. I smiled in case he took it the wrong way.

But he wasn’t even looking at me. “I hope so,” he mumbled into Jack’s hair.

Four

Claire

After Gray left and my mom put Jack down for his nap, she caught me in the kitchen. “He’s cute,” she said.

“Don’t get excited. He’s just a friend.”

“He seemed pretty interested in talking to you.”

“Because he has a crush on Lindsey.”

“Oh. Too bad.”

“Mom. I haven’t changed my mind about not dating in high school.”

She was fighting a grin big time. “I know, sweetie. Keep me posted, though.”

“I will, but nothing’s going to change,” I said, heading for the stairs.

“We’ll see.”

I ignored that. I was pretty darn good at ignoring my mom’s teasing about my vow. “I need to hurry or I’ll be late to the Petersons’.”

***

Once the three Peterson kids had played in the pool and dried off enough to come in for a snack, I sat them down in front of the TV for a little SpongeBob time. Perfect chance for me to check in with the girls. We had plans to go to a movie that night, but I hadn’t heard from either of them about it. Time to text Rose.

Claire: What movie do you want to see?

No more than ten seconds later, my phone rang and a photo of Rose kissing her favorite coffee mug appeared on the screen. What was she doing calling me? She knew I only texted when I was babysitting. I went to the kitchen doorway to get away from SpongeBob’s giggle.

“Hey,” I said, “why’re you calling?”

“Lindsey didn’t call you?”

“No, why?”

“Adam got off work for tonight. He wants to take her out.”

Something tightened in my chest. “So it’s just you and me then?”

“Well, no. Sam and I are going to dinner with them. But we want you to come too. I’m so sorry. Lindsey was supposed to call you. I had to take Josh to the dentist and Lindsey was going to tell you about the change of plans.”

“When has Lindsey ever remembered to do something like that?”

“I know. I’m sorry. I should’ve done it myself.”

Sounded like I’d become the chore people liked to put off.

“Claire?” Rose asked.

“I’m here.”

“You should come with us. We’re only going to Chili’s. I need you there. You know how weird Adam can be. Who else will laugh with me about it?”

I knew as soon as she said it, she realized her mistake. Because the answer, of course, was the new boyfriend. Sam.

It’s not that I didn’t want Rose to date someone. It was just that a few years ago when I’d vowed not to date during high school, I’d assumed Rose would always be available to hang out. Not like Lindsey, who had guys following her like she was leading a parade, even though she usually had a boyfriend. Guess most guys knew her relationships were short.

How I wished the one with her current boyfriend would end. Every time I saw Adam’s snake tat winding around his neck, its head just below his left earlobe, I imagined it sliding into his ear and then coming out of his mouth. So gross.

“Paaatrick!” SpongeBob said. The volume had gone way up on the TV.

“Y’all need to turn that down,” I called.

Five-year-old Devan twisted around at the table. “You were talking too loud.”

“Claire?” Rose’s voice sounded thin and distant.

I walked into the living room where I could hear myself think. Not that I was enjoying my thoughts at the moment. “Yeah?”

“So will you come?”

No freaking way. “Don’t think so. Sounds like a couples’ thing.”

“I’m sorry. We can go out tomorrow night.”

“I’ll have to see. I’m waiting to hear if the Carters need me to babysit.”

“Okay. I’m sorry about—”

“Look, I need to go. One of the kids just spilled her juice.” A total lie, but hey, I didn’t want to hear any more meaningless apologies.

“Okay.”

I forced myself to say goodbye before I hung up.

After lowering the TV’s volume, I sat at the table with the kids. But not even SpongeBob could distract me. I fingered the green gem of my teardrop necklace—the one that supposedly represented the girls-first pact we’d made at the beginning of summer. We’d been making fun of girls who glommed all over their boyfriends, and vowed never to let boys interfere with our friendship.

We even bought matching teardrop necklaces to seal the pact. Mine was green, Lindsey’s was red, and Rose’s was blue. But I seemed to be the only one who wore hers every day.

Was this the way things were going to be all year? Rose and Lindsey ditching me for their boyfriends? Probably. I mean, I could understand Rose wanting to spend time with Sam. Their relationship was still new. But Lindsey had boyfriends all the time. And she’d always been pretty good about dividing her time equally between us and whomever she was dating. Guess not anymore.

As my dad liked to say, there were always options in any situation, you just had to figure out what they were. Right now, though, I could only think of one—find new friends.

Tears burned in my eyes. No. I was
not
going to cry. I started cleaning up the snack mess I’d left on the kitchen counter. I was mature, right?
Ha.
At the moment I felt like I was about ten years old. All I wanted was to get revenge somehow, to make them sorry for leaving me out. I banged the small cutting board into the sink, turned on the water and scrubbed.