I nodded, not sure I could respond. My throat was still sore from yelling.
“Do you need a ride?” he asked loudly as the rain began to pour around him.
“Yeah,” I answered. “I think my battery’s dead.” I grabbed my bag off the seat and moved to get out, where I was immediately pelted with water.
“I don’t have jumper cables,” he shouted over the sound of the rain, reaching out to hold his backpack over my head as we walked toward his car. It didn’t help keep me dry, but I thought it was an awfully sweet gesture anyway.
“My dad has some in my garage,” I offered. I wasn’t sure when my parents would be home, so I’d need to find someone to get my car started again.
“Great,” Joel said, putting his hand on my back to lead me forward. “Let’s go get them.”
I sat in Joel’s front seat, my wet hair sticking to my forehead. I looked sideways at him and he laughed, pointing at me. I felt my mouth form into a pout as I flipped down the vanity mirror and tried to unstick my hair.
“Sorry,” he said, holding up his hands in apology. “I don’t mean to laugh. I’m just not used to seeing you looking so…wet.”
We both shifted with the uncomfortable connotation of his word choice.
“I mean damp,” he said quickly, then furrowed his brow. “Rained on?”
“Rained on works.” I wasn’t clear how Joel and I were supposed to act around each other because I’d never had a good guy friend before—other than Aiden—and I was pretty sure that didn’t count.
“I’ll just take you home now,” he mumbled, starting his car.
We drove to my house, easing into a conversation about school (who knew Death of a Salesman was totally heartbreaking!) and, oddly enough, cheerleading. When Joel pulled into my driveway, it was still pouring. I hated the idea of making him jump my car when the weather was so abysmal.
“Actually,” I said, tilting my head to look at him. “You don’t have to take me back to my car. The weather stinks. I’ll ask my parents when they get home tonight. It should clear up by then.”
“Really? I don’t mind,” Joel said, reaching to turn off his ignition.
“Thanks anyway. I’m just going to go in and watch TV until my parents get here.” But dread slipped over me as I looked back at my house. I didn’t want to be alone. It left too much time to…think. Not to mention that there was still a copy-Kitten out there with a habit of breaking in my house. And depending on who it was, I wasn’t sure how violent they’d be. I bit my lip, daring myself to go in.
“Everything okay?” Joel asked. I watched him, gauging the concern in his expression.
“Do…do you want to come in?” I asked quickly. “I can make you a sandwich or something.”
Joel looked at my house and then back at me, seemingly conflicted. “Uh…sure. But I’m not all that hungry.”
My stomach stopped doing flips and I exhaled. I was so glad I wouldn’t have to be alone. After the last few days, my nerves were shot.
Joel and I both got out, and he trailed me as we approached my front door. Just then, the rain stopped. Joel and I looked at the sky at the same time.
“Figures, right?” he asked with a laugh.
We walked inside my house, and I dropped my useless car keys on the counter, grabbing the house phone as I went. I’d have to call my father and leave him a message so that he’d know my car needed a jump. But before I could dial, it rang in my hands.
I shot a glance at Joel, hoping he wouldn’t think I was a bad host for answering while I had company. Oh, no. What if it was Aiden? I hadn’t talked to him since I’d seen him with Mary. What would I say?
“You going to get that?” Joel asked, pointing to the phone in my hand.
I nodded absently, looking down at it. Resting my hand on the cool granite counter, I took a steadying breath before returning the phone to my ear. “Hello?”
“Tess?” It was Kira. I exhaled.
“Thank goodness it’s you. I was afraid it was…” I stopped. It wasn’t Aiden. He wasn’t even trying to call me.
“Afraid it was what?” Kira asked, sounding distracted.
“Never mind. What’s up, K? I just got home from school, and I nearly collapsed from the horribleness of it.”
“Ugh,” she said. “I know. I heard everyone whispering about you.” She snapped her gum loudly and then continued. “I meant to tell you, Leona had a run-in with Chloe. All but accused her of being the copy-Kitten. But I guess Chloe shoulder-bumped her and stormed out. Now Leona thinks she’s totally guilty.”
Shoulder-bumping was hardly new for Chloe, but that was an interesting development. Still, I had company. “Um…I don’t know. We’ll definitely have to…look into it.” I was having trouble talking on my end with an audience. I glanced over to see Joel walking toward my living room wall, looking at all of our family pictures hanging there. Including several of Aiden and me.
“Cute,” he whispered, pointing to a picture of me in a pink dance costume with missing teeth and pigtails.
I smiled at him before turning away, pressing the phone to my ear. “Can I call you back in a little bit?” I asked Kira, lowering my voice.
“Sure.” She sighed. “I’m waiting for Joel to come over anyway. I don’t know where he is. Have you seen him?” She sounded hopeful.
“Um…” Should I tell her he was here? I thought that maybe I should, but then I wondered if it would cause friction. I’d just asked her to get me on the squad; I didn’t want to jeopardize that with a misunderstanding. I decided it was best to just ask Joel to leave. “I haven’t,” I said, feeling bad about lying. “But stop worrying. He’s totally smitten. Promise.” Although I was pretty positive that Joel was head over heels for Kira, we hadn’t exactly talked about his feelings for her today.
She squealed. “He so is, right?”
“Absolutely.”
“Thanks, Tess. I think I was just having a low-self-esteem moment. You always know how to cheer me up.”
“Talk to you soon,” I said, feeling horrible. I knew that I hadn’t done anything wrong by inviting Joel in, but it was inappropriate. It had to be.
I breathed in through my nose and straightened my posture. Then I spun around and smiled at Joel.
“Second grade,” I said, motioning toward the pink-costumed picture.