♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
The next day, Jordan couldn’t concentrate on the newspaper. All around her, the Martin newspaper staff scurried and scrambled, putting together the November Tattler. Long worktables were littered with scraps of paper, sports photos, story ideas, and computer diskettes.
“Well . . . is my story about the new teachers this year on the front page or not?” Laurie’s question startled Jordan.
“What? Oh—uh—sure. Yes, it is.”
“Jordan, what’s wrong with you? You’ve been in outer space all day!” Laurie sounded irritated.
Jordan closed her notebook. “Sorry. I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”
Laurie’s eyes narrowed perceptively. “Are you all right? Are you in love?”
“Who’s in love?” Jennifer piped in from across the table.
“No one,” Jordan snapped.
“Laurie’s right, Jordan,” Carmen interjected. “Something’s bugging you. Why don’t you tell us?”
“Maybe later,” Jordan mumbled. “We have to get to work on the paper right now.” In minutes, she was busy with her work. An hour later, Jordan had the outline for the November issue ready.
“Not bad,” Jordan said, standing swiftly and depositing the outline on Mrs. Rose’s desk. Now Jordan focused on getting out the door with no more questions from her friends. But she wasn’t that lucky.
“Now come over here and sit down and tell us what’s going on with you.” Laurie patted a desk chair invitingly. Carmen and Jennifer dragged their chairs over to form a cozy little circle. Jordan felt like lead weights were tied to her feet, but she managed to drag herself over. She felt like the mice Jamey fed to his snake—trapped and waiting to be eaten.
“It—it’s about Ryan . . .”
“That dreamy guy you met last summer?” Laurie asked.
“What about him?” Jennifer asked.
“Well, I didn’t exactly meet him in the mountains.” Her friends were silent. “I mean, I knew him from a long time ago.” They just stared blankly. “His mother is a long-time friend of my mother’s and now his parents are getting a divorce—”
“The guy from your vacation is really an old friend?” Jennifer interrupted. “You’ve lost me.”
“Sort of. I met him when I was much younger.”
“Oh, I get it,” Laurie said, snapping her fingers. “Your family and his are old friends and so you spend your vacations together in the mountains.”
“Not quite . . .” Jordan squirmed.
Carmen said, “I saw his picture and he’s absolutely gorgeous, so I don’t care where you met him. Most of the sons of my mother’s friends look like cavemen.” She crossed her eyes and everybody laughed.
“What exactly do you want to tell us about him?” Jennifer asked, forcing attention back onto Jordan. “If he’s really a former friend, so what? What’s the big news about him and you right now?”
She’s enjoying every minute of this, Jordan thought sourly. But she took a deep breath and plunged ahead. “His parents are splitting up. So my mother’s asked Ryan and his mother to move in with us.”
Six
FOR a minute no one spoke. Then everyone spoke at once.
“Too much!”
“Wow!”
“That’s really neat!”
Confused, Jordan glanced from face to face. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“How can you sit there looking innocent when you know that your boyfriend is moving here?” Laurie burbled.
“Yes, but . . .”
“But what a neat thing to happen!”
“It is?”
“Don’t you play innocent with us, Jordan Starling,” Carmen scolded. “You mean to tell us that Ryan, the guy of your dreams, is actually moving here?”
“Well, yes, but . . .”
For once, Jennifer had nothing to say. She only sat, wide-eyed, listening.
Carmen forged ahead. “Imagine living under the same roof with your very own boyfriend.” She faked an exaggerated swoon. “How romantic.”
Jordan’s brain began to whirl. Her friends weren’t laughing at her! Why they’d hardly heard the part about her summer vacation where she tried to confess the truth about not meeting him in the mountains. All they could talk about was that he was moving here. She couldn’t believe how lucky she was! Of course, they still thought that Ryan was her boyfriend, but she’d clear that up some other time.
“Calm down,” she warned her friends. “It’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other and I have no way of knowing how he feels about me.”
“Laurie dismissed Jordan’s comment with a wave of her hand. “If you were crazy about each other this summer, then the feelings will return.”
“I can’t be sure.” Why didn’t her friends back off? She didn’t want to make up any more wild stores she’d regret later.
“You’ll know for sure in a few weeks,” Jennifer said, giving Jordan a skeptical look. “Who knows how you’ll feel about each other when he arrives? Too bad you haven’t been writing all this time. That way you’d have some idea.”
Jordan’s blood ran cold. Trust Jennifer to think of the one thing that could expose her made-up stories. “You’re right. We’ll just have to wait and see.” Jordan scooped up her books, suffered through another round of good wishes from her friends, and then beat a hasty retreat to the bus stop.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Jordan couldn’t remember ever dreading a holiday more than that particular Thanksgiving. Ryan and his mother were arriving the next day and Jordan still hadn’t told her friends the truth. Even having her father home to carve the turkey didn’t make up for how rotten she felt. “More mashed potatoes?” her Dad asked from his chair at the head of the table.
“No, thanks,” she mumbled.
“Are you all right?” her mother asked. “You’ve hardly eaten anything!”
Jordan quickly smiled at Mrs. Starling. “I’m just fine. Maybe I nibbled too much when I was helping you cook.”
“I hope that’s all it is. Goodness, we don’t need you getting sick with Ryan and Beth coming tomorrow.” Jordan’s mom frowned.
“Right. I sure don’t want to get sick.”
Jamey piped up from across the table with, “Gee, just looking at her makes me sick.”
“Not funny, young man,” Mr. Starling told him with a note of warning in his voice. He directed his next words at his wife. “I’m sorry I won’t be able to hang around the airport until their plane lands, but mine leaves for Germany earlier in the day. I tried to post-pone the trip, but I couldn’t.”
“How long will you be gone this time, Dad?” Jordan asked half-heartedly. She’d been too pre-occupied with her own troubles to think much about her father’s upcoming business trip.
“Until mid-December. I’ll be home for Christmas.”
“You’ll have plenty of time with Beth and Ryan then,” his wife assured him. “I don’t care if they stay with us forever.”
“Me either,” Jamey interjected. “Do you think Ryan will like my snake?”
Jordan rolled her eyes. “All boys like snakes,” she said meanly. “After all, that’s what you’re made of—snakes and snails and puppy-dog tails.”
“Well, it sure beats sugar and spice,” he countered.
“Now you two stop bickering,” Mrs. Starling directed. “I want us to be thankful for each other.”
“I’m thankful,” Jamey insisted. “I’m thankful there’s another boy moving into this house tomorrow.”
Jordan stuck out her tongue. It was bad enough that Ryan was showing up on her doorstep, but what if he was as much of a pest as Jamey? What if she hated him?
Her kid brother was a nuisance, but she didn’t realize how much of one until later that day when she entered her bedroom, lost in her thoughts. She heard snickering coming from under her covers. She flung back the comforter and found Jamey buried in the sheets with a flashlight and her diary. “You sneak!” Jordan exploded.
Jamey tossed book aside and scrambled beneath the bed.
Jordan dropped to all fours and attempted to grab hold of him. “How dare you read my personal diary! You know the rules.” The family rules had always been very firm. Private property was off-limits. No one could borrow without permission or snoop in another’s things.
Jamey scooted away from her. “It was an accident,” he whined.
“An accident! You were deliberately reading my diary.”
“Well, you shouldn’t have left it open on your bed . . .”
“That’s no excuse. Come out here right now.”
“Only if you promise not to hit me.”
“Hit you? You’ll be lucky if I don’t kill you!”
Jamey again scooted away from her grasp. “Let me out from under the bed and we’ll talk about it,” he bargained.
Jordan knew it was impossible to grab him, so she stepped back. Jamey climbed out, but kept the bed between him and his sister. “We’re going downstairs right this minute and tell Mom what you’ve done. You know how she feels about sneaks.
Jamey’s brown eyes had grown wide with fright. “If you tell on me, then I’ll tell on you.”
Jordan paused, a prickling sensation shooting up her spine. “What do you mean?”
“You’re the sneak,” Jamey accused. “I read what you said about Ryan to all your friends.”
Jordan gasped.
“I just read a few pages,” he added hastily. “I didn’t read the whole book. If you don’t tell on me, I won’t tell on you.”
Jordan was trapped and she knew it. “You’re a real brat, Jamey Starling. But I may let you off this time,” she said grimly.
A smile full of mischief lit up his face. “Then it’s settled. You don’t tell and I won’t tell.”
She hated to give in to him, but she knew she had no choice. “Just get out of my room,” she ordered.
Jamey sauntered toward the door and then paused. “Of course, I figure you’ve got more to lose than I do.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I mean it may cost you something for me to keep my mouth shut.”
Jordan studied him through narrowed eyes. “Don’t play games, Jamey.”
“I’ve got kitchen clean-up this week and I want you to take it for me,” Jamey said.
“No way!” she exploded. “That’s blackmail!”
“It’s negotiation,” he corrected. “I see them do it on TV all the time. You trade in an old car and bargain for the price of a new one. Then after you negotiate, you compromise,” he added. “How about kitchen duty for the next three days?”
She weighed the alternatives. She didn’t want her parents to find out all her fibs and fantasies about Ryan. She didn’t want to give in to Jamey either. But it was the lesser of the two evils. “Three days,” she told him through gritted teeth. “Just three days.”
A bright smile lit up his face. “My lips are sealed.”
Jamey scampered from the room. With shaky hands, Jordan retrieved her diary, locked it, and buried it in the deepest drawer of her bureau. Maybe it would be best if she never wrote in it again. But then who would she tell her thoughts to? She couldn’t tell her mom. Or even Laurie. There was no one. And confessing to the diary had given her some sort of outlet. Oh, why had she ever opened her mouth in the first place?
Seven
THE Dallas airport teemed with holiday travelers. There were people everywhere, loaded down with souvenirs and luggage. Jordan sat rigidly in a padded chair, her heart thumping hard in her chest. The plane from Washington had arrived, and it was only a matter of minutes before the Elliots walked into the terminal.
Mrs. Starling was too excited to sit still. Jamey kept busy at a nearby video game. Back at home, their house had been thoroughly cleaned. The guest room had been aired, and a bouquet of flowers had been placed on the dresser. Bunk beds had been assembled in Jamey’s room. His closets had been half emptied, and a new dresser had been added. Everything was ready—except Jordan. She dreaded Ryan’s arrival more than a visit to the dentist.
“There they are!” Mrs. Starling shouted. “Beth! Here we are, Beth!”
Mrs. Elliot was blond and stylishly dressed in a pale blue wool suit. Behind her came Ryan. He was tall and serious and carried a duffle bag over his shoulder and a small suitcase in his hand. He was even better-looking in person than in his picture. “Hi,” Jordan said.
“Hello,” he answered stiffly.
The two mothers embraced and reintro-duced their children to each other. Jordan thought Beth Elliot was pretty, but she had tired lines around her eyes that made her look older than she was.
“We’ll get your luggage,” Mrs. Starling directed. “Oh, Beth, it’s so good to see you.”
“It’s good to be here,” Mrs. Elliot said quietly.
They headed down the escalator to the baggage-claim area. Jordan followed Ryan through the crush of people, watching his back weave through the crowds. Jamey had to run every couple of steps to keep up with him.
In the car, heading for home, the three of them sat in the backseat, while the mothers chattered up front. Jordan gave Ryan a sidelong glance. He’d dropped his head back against the seat and closed his eyes. He looked tired and alone.
Jordan tried to imagine how he must feel. His parents were divorced. He’d had to pack and move hundreds of miles away from his friends and school. And now he had to live with strangers. The thought brought a lump to her throat.
“I’ve got a snake.” Jamey’s timid voice broke the stained silence in the backseat. “Did you ever have one?”
Ryan opened one eye and peered down at Jamey’s face. “No. I’ve never had a snake.”
“Jordan’s afraid of Stallone. But he’s really a very nice snake. I’ll let you hold him whenever you want. When we get to the house, I’ll show you.”
“I don’t think I want to mess with your snake,” Ryan said, his voice low.
“Oh.” Jordan could hear the disappointment in Jamey’s voice.
Ryan looked at Jamey briefly, then added, “Maybe some other time.”
“All right!” Jamey beamed, and a tiny smile turned up the sides of Ryan’s mouth.
At the house, they unloaded the car and Jamey led the Elliots on a tour of their new home. In Jamey’s room, he proudly showed Ryan his new bed. “Can I have the top bunk?” Jamey asked shyly. “I didn’t want to take it in case you wanted to sleep on top.”
“Sure, sport,” Ryan said, turning his face away quickly.
What a weird turn of events to have brought him back into her life. Too bad it had to be this way, instead of the way she’d told all her friends. But it was this way. Like it or not, Ryan Elliot was living in her house.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
Jordan took a phone call from Laurie in her mother’s bedroom late that same afternoon.
“So how’s it going?” Laurie burbled.
“How’s what going?” Jordan asked.
“You know—the reunion between you and Ryan. Is the magic still there from this summer?”
“Good grief, Laurie,” Jordan snapped. “He’s only just arrived. We’ve barely had time to talk.”
“Well, don’t bite my head off,” Laurie pouted. “I was just wondering.”
Jordan sighed. Was she ever going to be able to get out of the lies she’d told? “Look, I didn’t mean to sound so snippy, but Ryan and I aren’t . . . I mean, we’re just different from you and Wade.”
“I can tell that. Look, I’ll wait until school starts to meet him. That way you two can have plenty of time to get to know each other again. Maybe by next Monday that old magic will be back.”
A sinking sensation settled in Jordan’s stomach. School. “Sure. Maybe I’ll introduce you and Ryan at school. And thanks for understanding.” She hung up, relieved. She wouldn’t have to think about her problem with Ryan and her friends for another week. In the meantime, she’d do whatever she could to get to know him, because Monday would
be here before she knew it.
♦ ♦ ♦ ♦
The chatter around the dinner table that night was lively as the two mothers rehashed old memories. “Remember how they used to sit in their high chairs together and throw food at each other?” Mrs. Starling laughed as she passed around a platter of fried chicken.
“And remember the time that Jordan turned her bowl of spaghetti on top of Ryan’s head?” Mrs. Elliot added.
“Or how about the time he grabbed her icecream cone and smeared it all over her face?”
Jordan groaned, and Ryan just shrugged.
“And remember how they held World War III in the bathtub every night over Ryan’s rubber duck?” Mrs. Ryan asked, laughing.
“How can I forget?” Mrs. Starling chuckled. “I even went out and bought Jordan her own toy duck, but only Ryan’s would do.”
At the mention of their baths together, Jordan felt her face grow hot with embarrassment. Ryan rolled his eyes and glanced away.
“And do you remember Ryan’s first haircut?” Mrs. Elliot continued. “The barber cut off all his blond curls, and Jordan started wailing and picking up the hunks of hair, saying, ‘Put back!’”
Mrs. Starling nodded. “I don’t know who was crying harder, Beth. You or Jordan.”
“Well, it was his very first haircut,” Mrs. Elliot said defensively.
“Look what I found,” Jamey interrupted, carrying an old photo album toward the table.
To her horror, Jordan saw that it was opened to scenes of herself and Ryan playing in a wading pool, stark naked. Jordan almost screamed. But Ryan gently took the album and shut it without bothering to glance down. He said, “Later, sport. I think your sister and I are bored with these stories. Didn’t you tell me you had a snake?”
“You bet! Follow me.”
Jordan watched the two of them leave the kitchen. She was grateful to Ryan for changing the subject. He must have been just as embarrassed as she was!