chapter three
It takes a while to sell my parents on the idea of letting me take Katie out of the house. Actually, at first I tried to get my mom to let me not babysit at all and just go by myself, but she wasn’t having it. She said it was because I “had already made a commitment” to her by saying I would watch my sister, but this really made no sense, because I had just made the commitment about fifteen minutes ago, so I didn’t really think it should count.
My dad acted like it would be okay for me to go (although I think it was because he wanted to be able to skip therapy—I suspect my dad secretly believes that the therapy stuff is really unnecessary, and only does it to make my mom happy).
Anyway, we compromised, and my mom said I could bring Katie with me to the mall, and I couldn’t decide if that was a good thing or not, because on the one hand it meant I got to go, but on the other hand, it meant Katie was going too, which was, you know, decidedly not cool. But what could I do? I couldn’t risk Lexi and Jared being alone with each other.
So that’s how I end up in the back of Lexi’s mom’s van, with Katie sitting next to me.
“So, what are you girls going to do at the mall?” Mrs. Cortland asks, glancing at Katie and me in the rearview mirror. Katie is wearing her too-small pink tutu over heavy blue tights. Apparently, it’s her “skating warm-up” outfit. Normally, I would never have let her leave the house like that, but my parents had already left by the time Lexi’s mom showed up and Katie wouldn’t listen to me. I figured it was better to have an ice-skating-warm-up-outfit-clad Katie than a pitching-a-fit-and-screaming Katie. Besides, I have bigger problems, like:
what the A-list is going to think when I show up at their gathering when I was:
not invited
accompanied by my little sister
how I was going to convince Lexi that Jared and I were dating when Jared, Lexi, and I were all in the same place.
“We’re meeting up with some people from school,” Lexi says. She flips down the visor over the passenger seat and studies her reflection in the mirror. She smiles at herself, checks her braces for food, and then carefully applies more lip gloss.
“Boys?” Lexi’s mom asks, sounding amused. I definitely didn’t tell my mom that there would be boys at the mall. And if I had, she wouldn’t have sounded amused. She would have asked me three million questions, about who these boys were and how I knew them. But Lexi’s mom is very different from my mom. Lexi’s mom wears lots of makeup, and matches her purse to her outfit. She also lets Lexi do pretty much whatever she wants. “Yes, Mom,” Lexi says, sighing. She reaches into the small purple bag on her lap and pulls out a brush and starts dragging it through her hair in long strokes.
Katie pokes me in the arm. “I have to go to the bathroom,” she says.
“Not now,” I tell her. “You can go when we get to the mall.”
Mrs. Cortland glances at us in mirror again, and I smile at her in what I hope is a reassuring manner.
“So, Devi, Lexi tells me your parents are busy tonight?” Lexi’s mom asks. I think she’s cranky that she had to drive us and pick us up. But my parents were going to counseling, so it wasn’t like they were going to cancel just so they could drive me to the mall.
“Yes,” I say seriously “They had an extremely important meeting to go to.” She looks skeptical. “For my dad’s work,” I lie. What is up with me and lying? I do it once and now I can’t stop. Lying to Lexi’s mom shouldn’t count, though. Over the summer, whenever I was hanging out at Lexi’s house, Mrs. Cortland would ask five million questions about why Katie and I were staying with my grandmother for the summer. I told her it was because Katie and I needed a vacation. I didn’t think it was really her business, and besides, it was embarrassing, I think Lexi told her the truth, though, because later in the summer I heard Mrs. Cortland on the phone with one of her friends, talking about how she had no idea where my parents were and how she wouldn’t be surprised if we ended up staying with my grandmother forever. Ever since then, Mrs. Cortland always looks at me warily, like I’m from some kind of broken home. Which is kind of ironic, because this summer Lexi and I spent most of our time at my grandma’s house. Lexi liked that there were always people around and that my grandma baked a lot of brownies. The few times we hung out at Lexi’s, I could never relax because I was always afraid I was going to spill something all over her mom’s white carpets. And even though Lexi’s mom was home most of time, it didn’t seem like she spent that much time with Lexi.
Katie pokes me again. “DEVON!”
“What’s wrong?” Lexi’s mom asks now, sounding alarmed. “Is she cold in that outfit?” She peers at us closely in the rearview mirror. “What is that outfit?”
“It’s her skating warm-up,” I say simply.
“Her what?” Lexi’s mom frowns.
“She’s a very talented figure skater,” I say. “She’s probably going to be in the Olympics, so it’s important that she stays focused on her sport.”
Katie beams.
“So, Lexi,” I say, “you never told me what you’re doing here.” All the lying and scheming, coupled with the shock of Lexi showing up at my school had thrown me off, and I had never even asked her why she was at my school. Suddenly. To ruin my life.
“My dad got transferred,” Lexi says, sighing. “And at first he was just going to commute the hour and a half, but then mom found out about this house that was going on the market, so we decided to move.”
Lexi’s mom is a real estate agent, which is very strange, because I thought the whole point of being a real estate agent was to show houses and get people to buy them. It seemed all Lexi’s mom really did this summer was hang around the house and walk on her treadmill. When I asked Lexi if her mom’s boss ever got mad that she didn’t come to work, Lexi told me her mom didn’t have a boss, that she owned her own company.
“Yes, we got a great deal on the house because we moved at the right time,” Mrs. Cortland says. She runs her fingers through her short, highlighted hair. “Lexi, are you wearing the same thing you wore to school to the mall?”
“Yes,” Lexi says. “Why?”
“You have so many clothes,” Mrs. Cortland says. “I wish you would wear them. Besides, this is your new school. And you really should do everything you can to make a good impression.” She glances at Lexi pointedly, as if to say that hanging out with me is definitely not the way to accomplish said good impression.
“Devon, I really, really—” Katie starts.
“It’s okay, honey,” Mrs. Cortland says. “We’re here.”
She lets us off in front of the ice-cream shop in the mall where we’re supposed to meet everyone. I take a deep breath and step out of the car. Katie jumps down behind me, and some glitter falls off her tutu and onto the pavement.
“What is that?” I ask her.
“What’s what?” she asks.
“What just fell off of your tutu?”
“Glitter,” Katie says, shrugging.
“I know glitter,” I say, sighing. “But why is it falling off your tutu?”
“This is not a tutu!” Katie says. “This is a SKATING WARM-UP!”
“Fine,” I say. “Why is there glitter falling off your skating warm-up?”
“Because I put glitter on it before we left,” she says, rolling her eyes at my obvious stupidity. “Skaters get half their score from artistic impression.” This makes no sense, but Lexi is out of the car now, so I don’t fight her on it.
“This is going to be so fab,” Lexi says, linking her arm through mine. “Are you excited that you’re going to be seeing Jared?”
“Totally,” I say, although in reality, I want to throw up. At least I look cute, so if I have a moment of complete and total humiliation, I’ll be sure to do it while looking good. I’m wearing a short white denim skirt that I have leftover from the summer, along with a red sweater I stole out of my mom’s closet. I used my hair straightener for the first time in months, and I’m wearing blu
sh and pink lip gloss. I’m not deluded or anything—I know I look cute, but there’s no way people are going to think I’m someone else.
Lexi opens the door to the mall, and Katie and I follow her in. With every step I take, my dread grows. I have no plan other than to try to keep Lexi and Jared far, far away from each other.
“Ooh, there they are!” Lexi yells, spotting Jared, Kim Cavalli, and Luke Nichols sitting at one of the tables outside the ice-cream store.
Kim jumps up from where she’s sitting and envelopes Lexi in a huge hug, which is kind of ridiculous. I mean, they just met.
“Devon!” Katie says, tugging on my sleeve. “I GOTTA GO NOW!”
“Just a minute, Katie,” I say. Kim stares at me and my sister.
“Aww,” Lexi says, leaning down toward Katie. “It’s okay, Katie. I’ll take you to the bathroom.” Lexi is an only child, so she’s always been kind of fascinated with Katie. This is because she doesn’t have to put up with Katie acting crazy on a regular basis. Lexi takes Katie’s hand, straightens up, and looks at me. “Be right back.” They disappear into the restaurant.
Kim’s still staring at me.
“Uh, hi,” I say brilliantly. Please don’t ask me what I’m doing here, please don’t ask me what I’m …
“So you’re friends with Lexi?” she asks curiously, and I can tell what she’s thinking: how someone like me is friends with someone as fab as Lexi.
“Yeah,” I say, using my “Devi” voice. (FYI: My Devi voice utilizes this thing called “tonal audiation” or something, which is this speech pattern that makes everything you say sound kind of like a question. I got the idea of using it when Mel and I did a project on it last year in health class.) “We spent all summer together.”
Kim nods. “You’re in my English class, right?”
“I think so,” I say, trying to look like I’m not quite sure, even though I’ve been hyperaware of her presence in English, because Jared is also in that class and I like to keep tabs on how much they seem to be interested in each other. (Jared and Kim have never dated, but it only makes sense that they would or should—I mean, they’re the most popular boy and girl.)
“Come on,” Kim says, and I follow her over to the table where Jared and Luke are sitting.
“Where’s Lexi?” Jared asks, looking confused. I’m standing next to Kim, and he seems to be talking to the space between us, so I can’t tell who he’s talking to. I have a small but distinct window of opportunity, and somehow I find the courage to grab it.
“Uh, she just ran to the bathroom,” I say, so flustered that I forget to use my Devi voice. “But she’ll be back.” I slide into the empty seat between Jared and Luke. Kim sits down across from us. “I’m Devi,” I say, figuring I need to get it out of the way before Lexi comes back, just in case Luke or Jared don’t know my name and/or are tempted to call me Devon.
“She went to the bathroom?” Jared asks, ignoring my introduction. “For what?”
What does he mean for what? To go to the bathroom, of course. Or to take Katie at least. But I can’t say that. That’s embarrassing. Plus, I’m about to lose it because I just realized that I am CLOSER TO JARED BENTLEY THAN I HAVE EVER BEEN IN MY LIFE. Add to that the fact that he’s wearing a T-shirt, which means his BARE ARM IS RIGHT NEXT TO MINE.
“She took Devi’s sister to the bathroom,” Kim says, rolling her eyes. She reaches over and plucks a menu from behind the napkin dispenser and runs her eyes up and down the ice-cream selections.
“Your sister?” Jared asks, looking at me with new interest. “How old is she?”
“Uh, my sister?” I repeat, still not using my Devi voice. I seem to have lost the voice somewhere. Although, since this is the first time I can remember Jared actually speaking to me, except for that time in English when he asked to borrow a pencil, which totally doesn’t count, I can’t really be blamed. The Devi voice takes a certain level of concentration.
“Jared, knock it off,” Kim says, rolling her eyes. “She’s a kid.” She looks back down at the menu. “They never have any good low-carb flavors here.”
“She’s a kid?” Jared asks, not letting it go. “Why’d you bring a kid to the mall?” He looks surprised, like children under ten have never been allowed shopping before.
I take a deep breath and concentrate on being Devi. On doing the same stuff I did this summer. How hard can it be? I had Lexi fooled. “I totally got stuck babysitting,” I say. “So I had to bring her. No way I was gonna be stuck in the house all night doing nothing.” I look over my shoulder anxiously for Lexi and Katie.
Jared nods. Luke, who’s on the other side of me, has said nothing so far. “Hey,” I say, turning to him. “You’re Luke, right? I’m Devi.” It’s best to make sure all my bases are covered and that everyone at this table knows I’m Devi, so that there’s no confusion later. Even though my heart is beating about three million times a minute.
“Yeah, I know,” Luke says. “You’re in my social studies class.” I try not to show my shock. Luke knows who I am? I don’t have time to dwell on this development because at that moment, Lexi comes back to the table. Katie’s trailing along behind her, practicing what she calls her “toe flip” but which, as far as I can tell, is really just Katie jumping into the air and twirling around in a circle.
“I’m back!” Lexi declares, plopping into the chair across from me. She looks at the menu Kim has spread out on the table in front of us. “Did you guys order yet?”
“I don’t even want ice cream,” Jared says, looking bored. “I want to get over to the arcade and try out the new Modcon Five game.”
“I heard it was sweet,” Luke says.
“You guys are so corny,” Kim says, rolling her eyes. “We’re getting ice cream. I saved up all my carbs just for this.”
“Come on, Kim,” Jared teases. “You can play Dance Dance Revolution just like you love.” He looks at Lexi. “She loves DDR, but she pretends she thinks it’s lame.”
“I do not!” Kim screeches. She reaches across the table and tries to hit Jared on the top of the baseball hat he’s wearing, but he blocks her arm and they fake wrestle for a second. Lexi raises her eyebrows and shoots me a look across the table. I can tell what she’s thinking: Why is your boyfriend flirting with another girl right in front of you?
Before I can think of an answer, Luke stands up. “Come on,” he says. “We can get ice cream after, if you still want it.” Kim rolls her eyes, but she gets up too.
As we walk to the arcade, Lexi pulls me behind the rest of the group. “So what’s the deal with Kim and Jared?” she asks.
I swallow. “What do you mean?”
“Why was he flirting with her so bad?”
“Was he?” I ask. “I didn’t notice.” Then I realize that if Jared really were my boyfriend, I would be more upset, so I backtrack. “I mean, they’re good friends and everything, and they’re always around each other, so maybe I just don’t—”
“Hey” Jared says, dropping back to where we are. “Are you going to play DDR?” It’s obvious that he’s talking to Lexi, but she’s looking down at the ground for some reason (I think it’s because she’s wearing these completely ridiculous shoes, and so it’s hard for her to walk—the heels are seriously five inches tall), so I make it out like he’s talking to me.
“Of course,” I say, acting like Jared should obviously know this. Since, you know, he’s my boyfriend and all.
“Cool,” Jared says. He smiles and heads back up to the rest of the group, where Luke and Kim are fighting over what time Kim’s mom is supposed to pick them up.
“I hate these shoes,” Lexi mumbles.
“Then why did you wear them?” Katie asks, twirling around us. I almost forgot she was there.
“Because they’re hot, Katie-Kate,” Lexi says.
“Lexi has a boyfriend, Lexi has a boyfriend!” Katie sings. More glitter falls out of her “warm-up” and onto the floor. Katie mistakenly thinks that if you get dressed up, use the wo
rd “hot,” or hang out with boys, that means you have a boyfriend.
“I don’t have a boyfriend,” Lexi says.
“Lexi and Jared, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Katie sings.
Lexi looks horrified. “Oh, no, honey,” she says. “I would never move in on Devi’s boyfriend. I’m not that kind of friend.”
Katie stops twirling and looks at me, interested. “Devon, you have a boyfriend?”
“Yes,” Lexi says. “Jared is Devi’s boyfriend.”
“No, he isn’t,” I rush on, but it’s too late.
“Devon and Jared, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!” Katie amends her song, but keeps up with the twirling. I look fearfully ahead, trying to gauge how much distance is between Katie’s voice and Jared.
“Oh, Devi, I’m so sorry!” Lexi says. “Your family doesn’t know?”
I’m about to start crying. Deep breaths. What would Devi do? “My mom would flip out if she knew Jared and I were together,” I say, rolling my eyes. “She’s way overprotective.”
“That sucks,” Lexi says, nodding. “I hope I didn’t get you in trouble.”
“Nah,” I say, “Katie will forget about this by the time we get home.” I’m not sure if that’s true, but I have bigger problems right now, i.e., shutting Katie up before someone hears her song.
“Katie,” I say sweetly. “Don’t you want to play Skee-Ball or something?”
We’ve reached the arcade now, and Jared, Kim, and Luke are at the cash machine a few feet away, changing dollars into quarters.
Katie nods. I pull a bunch of bills out of my pocket and hand them to her. This trip is going to be expensive. With the babysitting money I’m getting tonight, I’ll probably just about break even. Katie scampers off into the arcade.
“Come on, Jared,” Kim says. “You have to DDR with me.” She grabs his arm.