I felt like the curls in my hair were going to wilt next to the negativity that Kira was sending my way. I understood that she didn’t want Joel involved with this operation, but truly, if she wanted to catch this copy-Kitten and move on with him, she needed to adjust her attitude. I sighed, turning away from her.
“Here’s the plan,” Izzie said as she sat crisscross applesauce in the pink beanbag in the corner of my room. She unfolded the itinerary that Leona had printed up for her. “In”—she checked her watch—“twenty minutes, Tessa will call Joel and tell him she has to speak to him urgently.” She flicked an uncomfortable glance at Kira, but Kira wasn’t listening. She was sitting on my desktop, painting her nails and blowing on them. Izzie cleared her throat and continued.
“Tessa will ask him to meet her under the bleachers in the gymnasium.” Izzie paused to sigh. She looked at me wistfully. “That was the first place Sam kissed me.”
“Stay on task,” Leona said, rolling her eyes.
“Sorry. Okay, so Tessa will meet him under the bleachers. Before she gets there, we’ll set our positions in the rafters and in the hallway, the back door and the school entrance. No way this copy-Kitten is getting in undetected.”
“We’re going to nail her,” I said to Izzie, trying to sound brave.
Kira scoffed. “It’s ‘screw,’ remember, Tess?”
I opened my mouth to correct her but then decided not to. I motioned with my hand for Izzie to continue.
“Well,” she said. “Once the copy-Kitten intersects your call with Joel, they’ll probably figure out a way to bug you or him. I mean, that’s what we’d do, right?” She glanced around and we all nodded.
“So once you two are there…you’re really going to have to play it up.” She winced a little. “You know this might end your friendship with him, right? I mean, you’re sort of going to be throwing yourself at him.”
I thought I heard a sound from behind me, but I didn’t turn to Kira. I just nodded. I’d considered that, and even though I absolutely didn’t like the idea of ending my friendship with Joel (especially by looking improper), I knew it was for the best.
I glanced over to Leona, who pressed her lips in a smile and nodded at me. “You’ll be great, Tess,” she said softly, possibly reading the sadness in my face.
“Thanks,” I whispered.
“Wonderful. Now let’s go over it one more time,” Kira said, hopping down from the desk to grab her backpack from the floor and unzipping it. She’d finally agreed to help with this case, even though she clearly didn’t want to. “I have the zoom lens, the binoculars, and the infrared camera. Leona has the rope packed in her car. My course is in the rafters.”
“It’ll be perfect,” I said. Above the gym there was a walkway that the janitors had erected to get to the lights and ceiling during some recent renovations. It would be the prime spot to spy from. And since it was her boyfriend down there, Kira probably knew that.
“It’s almost time,” Izzie said, checking her watch. She and Leona exchanged a worried glance.
I took a steadying breath, glancing toward my phone where it sat on my side table. It was convenient that this year the dance would be held in the cafeteria. Not nearly as glamorous as a restaurant or even the gym, but it suited our situation well.
“Have you figured out what you’re going to say yet?” Kira asked, trying to look disinterested.
“Sort of. I’m thinking of telling him something happened with Aiden and me? I don’t know. Do you think that’ll work?”
“Just be hot,” Leona said, not looking up. “All guys care about is hot.”
“Excuse me,” Kira scoffed. “That’s my boyfriend you’re talking about.”
“Right,” Leona responded. “Then play dumb, Tessa. That seems to work.”
I was about to scold her when the doorbell rang, startling me. I looked toward the door, my dress shifting with an adorable whooshing sound.
“Were you expecting someone?” Kira asked, maybe a little suspicious.
“No.” And I really wasn’t. With my eyebrows pulled together, I walked through my house and crossed the kitchen to the front door. I swung it open and gasped.
“Hi.”
It was Aiden. He was standing there, unshaven, disheveled. Wait, was he wearing pajamas? I shook my head, as if to ask him what he was doing here.
“I know you don’t want to talk to me right now,” he said, his voice scratchy. “I know…you probably hate me. But I just wanted to see you before you went to the dance. You look beautiful.”
I felt my cheeks blush, but I quickly pushed any affection I had away. I was about to start a mission. I couldn’t let Aiden distract me.
“I can’t talk to you right now,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.
“Will you ever?” he asked back quickly. “Will you ever talk to me again?” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I’m going crazy, Tess.”
I stared at him then, looked at him for a long moment before responding. I closed my eyes. “No. I don’t think I will.”
I couldn’t see him, but I heard him let out a soft cry. There was a stabbing pain in my chest and I opened my eyes to look down at the fabric of my dress, wishing I could just spin around to watch it flow around me, forgetting about Aiden and Mary.
When I finally got up enough courage to look at him, his head was hanging, his hand was over his mouth. I saw tears drip from his cheeks to the ground. It was too much—watching this was too much right now. I needed to get back inside and call Joel.
“I’m sorry, I have to go,” I said quickly, swiping under my eyes to make sure my makeup was safe. “Thanks for coming by, Aiden. But tonight’s homecoming and…” I had started to go back inside when he reached out to take my arm.
“Tessa…”
“Have a good night,” I said, pulling my arm out of his hand and not looking at him. “Goodbye, Aiden.” My voice cracked on his name, but I swished my way through my door.
“I still love you, Tessa,” Aiden called after me before I shut the door.
By the time I got back to my bedroom, my makeup was a lost cause. Once my ex-boyfriend set foot on my property, I was a goner. But the minute I walked in my room, I grabbed the box of tissues off my desk and began blowing.
“Who was it?” Kira asked, sounding annoyed.