Part 9 (1/2)

I wondered what was going to happen when I went back to school. The top of Winston's head was going to lift off when he found out what I'd done. Drew was right that there was no death penalty, but Dean Winston was going to come up with something. Something that might make me wish for death. Winston struck me as the kind of guy terrorists call when they're looking for new ideas. I stared out the window. He might expel me, despite what Drew said about the school wanting the tuition money. My grandma would freak out if I got kicked out of school. No one in our family had ever been expelled. And I was pretty sure an expulsion would blow my chances with Yale. It wasn't the kind of school that catered to the juvenile delinquent crowd. I wouldn't be surprised if Winston was already contacting the admissions office, telling them that I was the type to spray paint my name on Yale's Harkness Tower, or beat up the mascot bulldog.

Drew leaned back from the table. ”All right. Now tell me everything.”

”Why?”

”Because I'm interested, and you want to talk about it.”

”No, I don't.”

”Liar. You think I won't know how to help you, but that's where you're wrong.” He raised his hand to cut me off before I could say anything. ”Admit it. You were wrong about me before. I happen to be a keen problem solver. Sometime I'll tell you about the time I had my wallet lifted in the Cairo market, and I followed the guy and won it back in a game of dice, along with an extra hundred bucks.”

”You traveled through Egypt?” I had pictured Drew as the kind of guy who didn't travel out of the state, let alone the country. Maybe down South to some kind of barbecue champions.h.i.+p event, but exotic travel had never occurred to me. ”Did you see the pyramids?”

”That's what you pay attention to? I tell you I managed to infiltrate a den of thieves and win, and you focus on the pyramids? If you don't mind me being so blunt, that's part of your problem. You focus on the wrong things.” He leaned back into the corner of the booth so that his crossed feet hung out into the aisle. ”Telling someone who has no connection to a situation gives you a fresh view. You could use a fresh pair of eyes. Now, start at the beginning. You decided to attack the school mascot because . . .”

I looked into his eyes. I could could use a new perspective. It wasn't like I had any great ideas on my own. use a new perspective. It wasn't like I had any great ideas on my own.

”I'm going to need more coffee,” I said. ”It's a long story.”

Drew raised his finger, and the waitress headed in our direction. I took a deep breath and tried to figure out where to start.

19.

When I stopped speaking, Drew leaned back and said nothing. I sipped my coffee to have something to do. I was practically humming with all the caffeine in my system. If anyone looked directly at me, I bet I would be a blur.

”So, as you can see, it's pretty screwed up,” I said, wanting him to say something.

”You did a good thing.”

”Are you kidding? I haven't done anything right since this whole thing started. It was like I took one wrong turn and now I can't get my life back on track.”

”I don't know. Seems like you've done some good things. You took the heat so your friend Joel doesn't lose his scholars.h.i.+p. That shows character. Sad truth is that most people only do the right thing if it doesn't cost them anything.”

I shrugged off his praise. ”How much character does it show that I kissed my boyfriend's best friend?” I left off the part that really scared me. Not only had I kissed him, but I'd liked it.

”Well, I'll divide my answer to that question into two parts. How much character is Tristan showing? He won't even give you a chance to explain.”

”You don't understand. Tristan has issues around trust.”

”We all have issues. If you want to worry about issues, worry less about his and focus on why you kissed this Joel guy in the first place.”

”I told you. It was a heat-of-the-moment thing.”

”Uh-huh.” Drew smirked and looked out the window.

”It was,” I said.

”If that's what you want to think, that's fine with me.”

I crossed my arms and tapped my foot on the floor. ”So you think it's something else. You have some explanation for the whole thing. Go on, share your wisdom.”

Drew turned around so that his feet were on the floor and he was staring me straight in the eyes. ”You kissed Joel as a way to break up with Tristan.”

I laughed and looked away. ”Are you kidding me? Why would I want to break up with him? Tristan's the perfect boyfriend. We've been together for years.”

”You're not in love with him.”

”And you know how I feel better than I do? That's amazing.” I couldn't believe him. His brain must have been clogged with the amount of grease he'd consumed. He had bacon brain. ”You must be some kind of psychic, since you know things about me that even I don't know.”

”Tell me why you love him,” Drew said.

”You want a list, fine. He's nice. I can depend on him. He's very loyal.” I started ticking off items on my fingers.

”You make him sound like a c.o.c.ker spaniel. That's not love. That's affection. He's a habit. Deep down you want to break the habit, so you did the one thing you knew he wouldn't be able to stand. You kissed someone else, and now you're free. You're scared to be off track, but I think you're sick of always living in the lines. Maybe you wanted to explore what you might find if you wandered away from the tracks just a bit. Best part of being lost, you know, is discovering things you didn't know you were looking for.”

Just my luck. In addition to his keen cleaning abilities and skill at rolling dice with Egyptian thieves, he was also a philosopher. ”That's absurd. I'm not sick of living 'in the lines' of my life. My life was going just fine before all of this.”

”Really? What about the situation with your dad?”

”A person can be disappointed in something without it meaning they want their entire life to be different.”

”Why didn't you tell your dad that it wasn't okay for him to ruin your summer by bailing on you?”

”It's not that simple. He has to go. It's his job.”

”Ah, slave labor program.” He laughed at my expression. ”Don't get yourself all riled up. All I'm saying is that people act like they're stuck, when the truth is that they have a choice. Your dad doesn't have to do that job, and you don't have to be the good girl all the time. You don't have to keep dating Tristan just because you did for years. If you want to be happy, then you have to make it happen.”

”Well, this has been very helpful,” I said, rolling my eyes. ”Your words of wisdom will make all the trouble I'm going to get in for skipping worthwhile.”

Drew stood up, smiling. He was either ignoring my sarcasm or had missed it completely. ”You're welcome, but you're going to get even more bang for your buck. I thought of something we can do.”

”I should go back.”

”You're already in trouble. Might as well make it count. Besides, you're going to love this.” Drew left some money on the table for the waitress and started walking out. He stopped at the counter and said something to the cook. The cook pa.s.sed him two giant metal trays. They looked like cookie sheets on steroids.

”What are those for?”

”Wait and see.”

”Where are we going?” I trailed after him. I felt nervous; G.o.d only knew what he had planned.

Drew stopped to hold the door open. ”Prima Donna, you cannot even imagine how much fun you're going to have. But first I'm going to introduce you to another place I'm willing to bet you've never been to.” He paused for dramatic effect. ”We're going to Walmart. You're going to love it. It's like a redneck version of Harrods.”

20.