Switching Gears Part 13

My phone beeps and I frown at the text from Kelsie. Shes wondering what Im doing tonight. I send her a quick text that Ill call her a little later and shove the phone in my purse. If she knew I was going out with Cole, Id never hear the end of it. And I can only deal with so much right now.

I hear someone coming down the stairs and jump as Mom comes and stands in the doorway with her arms folded. So whos this mystery boy whos been taking up all of your time lately?

Cole. I spit my toothpaste out, rinse, and wipe off the mirror with a towel. And he hasnt been taking up all my time. Not really. I stare at myself in the mirror, noticing the dark circles under my eyes. I havent slept well this week. My outfit is cute at least. My favorite jeans and a new blue top. Im not one for fas.h.i.+on, and Kelsie may not approve, but at least I like it.

Who is he?

I glance at Moms reflection in the mirror and run my fingers through my hair. She looks tired. Almost as tired as me and, once again, the guilt takes over. A biking friend.

Where are you going?

To dinner.

A date?

I pause. Kind of. I think.

She smiles. You havent been on a date since"

I dont want her to bring up Lucas, so I hurry and cut her off.

I know.

Well, Im glad youre going out. She hesitates and touches my shoulder. I was wondering if youre doing okay. After we talked on Sunday, youve been distant.

Im fine. I step away. I should ask her how shes doing, but I dont. I dont want to know if shes losing her mind more than before. I dont want to know if she doesnt remember some of what I was like as a child. I want everything to go back to normal. Its easier to pretend like nothings wrong, even though Im not good at pretending.

The doorbell rings and I glance at the clock on my wall.

Great. Hes early.

Sounds like hes here, Mom says, glancing upstairs. Please be back by a decent hour.

I will. Ill uh see you when I get home. I want to hug her, maybe even kiss her cheek and tell her I love her, but I step around her instead.

Im a coward.

Be safe, she says, only loud enough for me to hear.

I race upstairs to open the door, and Im surprised to see Gavin has beat me there instead. Theyre chatting like theyre old friends or something. Weird.

Cole looks over as I come down the hall. His mouth drops open as he looks me over. I feel my cheeks heat, as usual, and tuck my hair behind my ear. You look He clears his throat. Good. You look good.

Thanks. I dont know if I should tell him he looks good too or not. I decide against it. Ill probably embarra.s.s myself somehow anyway. And besides, Im sure he knows he looks good. Because he does. He really does. I shake that thought out of my head and grab my jacket. Youre early.

He shrugs. Didnt want to be late. You ready to go?

Yep.

He opens the door. Shall we? He gestures outside and before I can move, Gavin steps in front of me.

Have fun tonight. He turns toward Cole. And dont even think about putting any moves on my little sister.

As if my face wasnt red enough already Gavin, I growl. Seriously. Ill kill him.

Cole laughs. No worries. Your sister would probably punch me in the face if I tried anything anyway.

Good to know Ive taught her well, Gavin says, smiling at me. He glances at Cole again. But seriously. I have eyes everywhere.

Gavin, I snap. Goodbye.

He grins and heads into the kitchen, leaving us alone and awkward by the door.

He seems nice, Cole says.

I glare down the hall. Youd think that, wouldnt you? I sigh and walk out the door. Cole follows me.

Before I can open the door to his truck, he slides past me and opens it for me. Allow me.

I roll my eyes but say thank you anyway. Even if he confuses the heck out of me, Im glad hes a gentleman.

As I wait for him to walk around and get in, I smile at the song on the radio. I turn it up, just enough that we wont have to talk on the way to wherever were going.

Cole gets in and the first thing he does is turn the radio down.

Perfect. Plan ruined.

You really do look nice, he says. Blue looks good on you. It matches your eyes.

My lips twitch. Do you tell that to all your dates?

He laughs. Trust me when I say I dont go out much.

I turn to look at him. Really?

Dont act so surprised. He glances over with a little grin on his face.

Im not acting. I just dont really know what to think. From how he acts around girls, I could have sworn he took a different one out every night.

Told you. Rumors. He shoots me a grin. By the way, do you like Mexican food?

My stomach growls. Yes. Of course I do, but sometimes too many beans can do a number on a person. Especially a stressed person. And yes. Even girls. Yes. Mexican is fine.

He raises an eyebrow. Fine as in you like it? Or fine as in, eh, its okay I guess.

I laugh. I like it. My stomach growls again and I have a feeling Im going to have a problem if we do decide on Mexican. Ill have to order something not so beanie.

Cool. Were not having Mexican food, though. Is In-N-Out okay?

I snap to attention and gape at him. Are you kidding? I love that place. Since they built one down the street from us, I cant get enough of it.

Its the fries, huh?

The fries, the burgers. All of it. I find myself smiling and make sure my mouth is closed so I dont start drooling or something. I wouldnt put it past me Awesome. The way to a girls heart is through her stomach.

I have to agree with that. Mine is. I love food.

He laughs. My kind of girl then.

Trust me. Im not your kind of girl. Guys like girls who pick at their food, dont they? Ice cube eating girls. Skinny and tiny girls. Not girls like me. I might be on the skinny side, but curves are my good friends.

Youd be surprised what kind of girl I like.

I dont know what to say to that, so I wait for him to park and hum along to the song on the radio.

Dinner is heavenly. The burger, juicy and perfect with lots and lots of lettuce and yummy sauce. The fries? Delish. And a big fat gla.s.s of ice water to wash it all down.

Seriously? Water?

I shrug as I set my drink down. Nothing like a tall gla.s.s of H2O to cool down.

He takes a swig of his Dr Pepper. Water is okay, but only during a race. Other than that its not my first choice. Or second. Or third even.

Its the healthy choice.

Its the plain choice.

Like your choice is better. I gesture toward his Dr Pepper and wrinkle my nose. It tastes like medicine.

The best kind of medicine.

Uh no. I chuckle and finish off my fries.

So. Good choice for a date?

I smile. You did good. I really wasnt looking forward to a date in a stuffy nice restaurant. You obviously know how I roll.

I try to pay attention.

Really? I doubt hes ever seen me come here. If he has, it was either a coincidence or he was stalking me. Im doubting anyone would ever go to the lengths to stalk me. I mean, come on. Its me. I dont think Ive ever told you I like this place. How did you know?

He leans forward and whispers, I asked Kelsie what your favorite place to eat was.

Ah. Research with the best friend then.

He folds his arms and leans back against the booth. Of course.

Impressive. You can get a lot out of her. Unfortunately. Hopefully he didnt ask her about anything embarra.s.sing.

I try. He leans forward again, resting his arms on the table. Seeing how this date is going well, we should do this more often.

I dont say anything, just sip my water.

No answer? Obviously Im failing at something or you would have agreed with me.

Cole He raises a hand. Its okay. Ill try harder. He piles our wrappers on the tray and leans back against the booth. So what do you like to do? Besides biking, of course.

I twirl my ice around with my straw and shrug. I dont know. I guess I like to listen to music. I like to read, fix bikes, but most of my free time is spent on the mountain.

Nice.

What about you? For some reason, Ive never thought about what else he does. Ive never wanted to know, but now Im curious.

I like to long board a little. And play the guitar.

My eyes widen. You play the guitar? My friend Oakley plays the guitar. Or played, I guess. Before Lucas died, she played all the time. I loved listening to her play. I always wanted her to teach me.

He gives me a funny look. Yep. Started when I was six.

Youre good then.

Eh. Depends on who you ask.

Do you have a band or anything?

He snorts. No.

Why not? If youre that good, why dont you play for people?

I dont want to show off.

Something about the way he wont meet my eyes makes me wonder if hes really telling the truth. Would you play for me sometime?

Maybe. If youre nice to me.

Im totally nice.

Sometimes. He winks and I pretend to throw my water at him.

Fair enough. I twirl my ice around in my cup again. I dont want to talk about me. Especially the parts of me I dont like. Like my meanness. Sometimes it just comes out when I dont want it to. I try a different tactic to change the subject. Since Im actually out on a date with you and didnt turn you down I think I deserve to know a truth.

Ah. Should have seen that one coming.

I like to catch people off guard.

This is true. He taps his fingers on the table and looks like hes thinking of something to tell me. I broke my arm s...o...b..arding once.

Really?