Part 12 (1/2)
Thankfully, no one is watching me from the kitchen as I head back inside, I brace myself for the onslaught of questions I'm sure is coming, already prepared us to downplay everything that had just happened. I want time to figure out what this means for myself first.
Chapter 18.
But when I get back to the kitchen, no one says a word. But my family's silence speaks louder than any pointed comments they could be making. I can practically hear the ripple of giggling underneath everything. But they all act like this is business as usual, like I have guys coming over just to say hi all the time.
Actually, no guy has randomly showed up on the doorstep yet just to chat with Reece. I'm the first in Fairview.
And yet, I still wish my whole family hadn't been here to witness that. I don't know what they're thinking right now and it's driving me crazy.
”He was just on his way home and wanted to say sorry he couldn't come yesterday.”
”Well, that's very nice of him. Whoever he is,” my mom ends ominously.
”You've met him before. Kent. He was here with his mom, the reporter, on the day we moved in.”
My dad nods, but no one else comments at all. It's unnerving. I almost wish they would. Almost. If only to break the tension. And while it's nice in theory, that they are all respecting my privacy, they'll be whispering about this behind my back. It's what I would do if it had been any one of my sisters.
Or maybe they don't think that any guy could be coming over here for any sort of romantic reason, and that's why they're not saying anything. That could be the more realistic option.
Yeah, I have no idea what I'm doing with myself right now.
The family quickly disperses, each retreating to their own corners to finish up the rest of the night. I'm the last one in the kitchen because I avoid announcing anything at all about my plans for the evening. I'm just going to work on my homework in the attic and get ready to face the world again tomorrow, but I feel like anything I say will make me sound guilty. And I have absolutely nothing to feel guilty about.
Kent coming over was nothing.
They are reading way too much into this. Or they're not.
Okay, I'm really kind of desperate to make sense of all this. But instead of tracking someone down to ask, when I see Rhiannon heading up to the attic I detour to our room, thinking that will get me some time alone.
But a second after I plant myself on my bed and haul my backpack up behind me, Reece appears through the bathroom door. She didn't bother to knock and has closed the door behind her as though to make sure we're not overheard. Which makes me want to run the other way.
”h.e.l.lo,” she says, dragging out the word. She's grinning at me, and I have a sinking suspicion of what I'm in for. So much for being left to my own devices on this one.
”Hey,” I say, trying to keep my voice casual. ”What's up?” Yep, that will fool her. Absolutely nothing going on here.
”A boy came over to see you today.” She announces this like I somehow missed it completely.
”Oh, you don't say.”
”Reagan, come on. Why was he here?”
”Oh, like you didn't hear every single word he said. It's exactly what I told you. He came over to apologize for not coming to the party. It was on his way home, and a nice thing to do. But not a big deal.”
Reece lets herself farther into the room before sitting down on Rhiannon's bed and staring at me like a hawk. ”Like you're one to judge what's a big deal or not.”
What's that even supposed to mean? I don't bother asking, rolling my eyes instead before pointedly looking down at the textbook in front of me. Something I'm making a habit of. If these awkward situations keep up, I may actually absorb some real knowledge this semester. Not likely, but it's possible. ”Whatever.”
Finally, when she says nothing for nearly a full minute, I s.h.i.+ft my gaze back up and find her gaze has softened somewhat. It's almost as though she's studying me and I find myself observing her right back. Reece has always been the sister that I've felt I had the least in common with. If there wasn't already evidence to the contrary, it would be hard to believe we shared any DNA at all, let alone all of it. She's athletic, extroverted, and genuinely good at knowing what to do around other people. There are times I feel like we couldn't be more opposite.
”You know,” she says, ”you're doing pretty well here in Fairview so far. Like really, your life here doesn't look anything like your life back in Richmond. That's weird, right?”
”That's kind of by design,” I confess. ”Things back in Richmond were good, but this was a fresh start. For all of us. But I tried to make the most of it. And maybe if I hadn't made an a.s.s of myself on the first day of school, things would've gone even better.”
”n.o.body cares about that anymore. And you're clearly doing something right. It's possible that if you stayed in biology cla.s.s, you wouldn't of met your drama friends and things wouldn't have changed all that much.” Reece his mouth twists into a frown. ”You're doing good.”
”Easy for you to say,” I counter. ”You have tons of friends here. You would do well anywhere we had to move to.”
”That's what makes my opinion so worthwhile.” The smile she forces on her face doesn't meet her eyes and the frown returns. ”I like the people I've met here, but I would still go back home in a heartbeat.” For a second I entertain the idea that Reece is trying to tell me that she's unhappy here too. But that's something you could honestly never tell by looking at her. No matter where she ends up, she always fits right in. Except, when things are completely outside of her control.
”Well you'll make the soccer team next year,” I say, trying to sound rea.s.suring. ”Those coaches don't know what they were missing with you.”
”You have no idea. Their team actually kind of sucks. I don't think anyone here really takes it that seriously.”
”Whatever happened with that volunteer gig you wanted? That sounded perfect.”
Reece shrugs. ”That was a no-go too. The owner doesn't take volunteers, or something. Or she handpicks them from people she knows. So because I'm new, again, I don't have a shot. I could take up dog-walking or something instead.” Her response is impossibly casual, and there's no question she's forcing her att.i.tude.
I shouldn't have brought it up. If there had been good news, she probably would have shared it already. It's just too easy to a.s.sume that things would just go Reece's way no matter what, because the sheer force of her will power always seemed to bend the universe into doing what she wants it to.
”Sorry.” It's all I can think to say and I'm sure it doesn't help at all. ”I'm just trying to think of this year as our readjustment. We're meeting new people, and figuring things out here. Next year, things will make more sense. Fairview will feel like a place we belong.”
”I don't want to waste a full year of my life waiting for things to figure themselves out. I'm not myself here, and that sucks.”
And, I'm just making this worse. ”Anything I can do to help?”
”Well, now that you asked. You can stop dodging the topic of that guy today. Because even if he meant nothing by coming to the house just to say sorry, anytime he comes up, you get super weird. So it means something to you, and you haven't told us about it. I'm crying sister foul on that one.”
I blush, and guilt swells in my chest. Because I have had a crush on Kent, pretty much since we moved here over three months now. And I haven't told anyone. Mostly because I've known it's not going anywhere. As much as my sisters are happy to talk about every single person they are interested in, I've never really done the same. Actually, now that I think of it, it's only Reece that really shouts from the rooftops every time she thinks someone is cute.
”Fine, I like him. Doesn't matter anyway.” But I find saying the words out loud stirs something deep within me. I like him. This might be the first time I'd liked a guy I was even a little close with. Before, I'd always developed crushes on random guys in my cla.s.s I'd never really spoken to, or just happened to see in pa.s.sing a few times. But I like Kent because he's ridiculously nice, and that green streak in his hair, and the fact that he was nice to me when there was nothing in it for him at all.
I like Kent. Yeah, that's something I could get used to saying. At least, within the safety of my own house. Or maybe just in my own head.
”I knew it!” Reece cries out. Now she's grinning for real and wiggling in place with excitement. ”Reagan's going to get her first boyfriend,” she continues in a singsong voice.
”Okay, getting ahead of ourselves there. Just because I like someone doesn't mean they have any interest me. I'm not you. It's harder than that for most of us.”
”But he obviously likes you. He came to your house on the Sunday night of Thanksgiving weekend, after driving from wherever, when he probably just wants to go home and sleep, just to see you. That has to count for something.”
”You're crazy.” But is she? For the first time in a long time, I'm mildly optimistic about my own dating prospects. The idea seems so absurd that I push the feeling away, trying to make myself be more realistic, but now Reece's voice has worked its way into my mind.
”That's not enough to go on,” I point out. ”But, I'm open to the idea. How would you, being the relations.h.i.+p expert you are, figure out if someone likes you or not?”