“How?” Drew asked.
After school, Mandy waited out front for Laurel. She stood by the school sign, leaning against the concrete post it hung on, wondering what was taking her friend so long. She decided to call and pulled her cell phone from her jacket. She looked at the device with a bit of fear. What if she tried to call Laurel and got a wrong number again? The same wrong number? The memory of crumpling paper static and that rasping voice unnerved her, and she thought about putting the phone away. But she couldn’t let one bizarre accident, probably a crossed signal, rule her life. It was just a coincidence she happened to be in front of the library, alone and in the dark, when the call went through.
CUL8R
She hit Laurel’s number on the speed dial and waited, heart pounding.
“I know,” Laurel said instead of hello. “Still waiting for Mrs. Jacob Lurie to get out of the bathroom. She’s probably slappin’ on a new pad or something.”
“Leave her,” Mandy suggested.
“Would if I could. She’s got my bio book. Don’t ask. Long story. I’ll be right out.”
“Okay.”
A horn beeped behind her, and Mandy turned to see Dale sitting in his Audi. He lifted a hand in a half wave.
“Need a ride?”
Mandy smiled and shook her head. “I’m waiting for Laurel.”
“Cool,” he said. Then he looked into the rearview mirror, checked the road over his shoulder, and unbuckled his seat belt. A minute later, he was jogging over the grass toward her.
“What are you doing?” Mandy asked through a smile of confusion.
“I was gonna call,” he said. “I mean, I want to call. Is it okay if I call you? Like around seven or something?”
He looked so nervous, so cute. Mandy had to laugh. “Yeah. That’d be nice.”
“Cool,” Dale said. Then he repeated, “Cool,” before turning and jogging back to his car.
“What did I just see?” Laurel asked a moment later, walking up to her at the sign.
“Nothing,” Mandy said.
“Didn’t look like nothing to me.”
As seven o’clock approached, Mandy sat in her room. To her surprise, Kyle’s name appeared on her buddy list. You’re supposed to be in California, she thought before realizing he probably was.
Everybody had laptops these days, and he said he was always online. She couldn’t imagine going to someplace new like that and sitting in front of the computer. It was probably warm there. She’d want to walk around and see things. See everything. What a total waste to travel halfway across the country just to sit in a room and look at the same screen you could see at home.
Whatever, she thought.
She turned on her away message and leaned back in the chair, looking at the cell phone sitting on her desk. It was nearly seven, and she needed to be ready for Dale’s call. Things like this demanded preparation.
She decided not to pick up on the first ring. That would be lame. She probably wouldn’t pick up on the second ring either. In fact, she might let it go to voice mail and then call him back. But that was lame, too.
When the phone trilled, she decided to wait for the third ring.
“Hey,” she said.
“Hey. How’s it going?”
“Good. Just doing some homework.”
“Tell me about it,” Dale said. “I’ve got a bunch of pages to read for Stahlman tomorrow.”
Then, there was a long silence. Mandy’s nerves jangled, and she just couldn’t sit there any longer. So she stood up and started pacing, trying to figure out something to say.
“Laurel still there?” Dale asked.
“No, we just walked home together. She didn’t come over.”
“Oh,” he said. “You’re kind of quiet.”
“Don’t really know what to say.”
“Me either,” Dale admitted. “It’s weird, right?”
“Yeah, kind of,” Mandy said, completing a lap. She noticed someone had instant messaged her, even though her away message was on.
Kyle, she thought. It had to be him.
She stared at the screen, wondering if she should kill the away message. With the awkward silences between her and Dale, she almost wanted to. Maybe Kyle had news about college, or wanted to talk about their date Saturday night. Of course, it might not be him at all. Drew and Laurel IMed all the time. Mandy returned to the chair and reached for the mouse, pausing when Dale finally spoke.
“It’s like all of this stuff is running through my head, but I don’t know what to say first. We always used to have such great conversations, and now, I can’t even get a sentence out, and it’s just too weird. You know what I mean? I’ve got a bunch of stuff in my head, but it’s all stupid, and all I want is for things to be the way they were.”
Mandy bit down on her lower lip. She pulled her hand away from the mouse.
“So do I,” she said.
11
Mimi’s was the finest restaurant in Elmwood. Mandy’s parents celebrated anniversaries at Mimi’s and everyone else spoke about it with great reverence, but Mandy had never dined there before, never seen the romantic red walls and the lily-shaped crystal light sconces. The scarlet walls and carpet ate much of the light cast by these fixtures and the tiny flickering tabletop candles. Following Dale through the elegant room, she felt under-dressed. Oh, her black dress was beautiful and it had cost quite a bit, but she still didn’t think it appropriate for the amazing restaurant. She couldn’t imagine anything she owned being appropriate for this place.
After school the day before, she and Dale had gone to Corey’s for coffee and chatted, mending some of the damage that had been done, and he’d suggested they go out for a nice dinner. Speaking to him on the phone Tuesday night had been awkward, even after they’d both said how much they missed each other. But yesterday at Corey’s had been better, and tonight looked like it was going to be simply incredible.
Dale looked stunning in his gray suit and blue silk shirt. Just like a movie star, Mandy thought, unable to manage the jitters of excitement in her stomach. She felt certain that everyone was staring at her. Additionally, she was afraid she might trip and fall on her face or bump into something. Everything was just so perfect.
Once the maître d’ seated them, Dale unfolded his napkin and dropped it into his lap. “Is this okay?” he asked.
“Okay?” Mandy asked. “It’s wonderful.”
“Cool,” Dale said. “I mean, we never came here before, and I thought you might like it.”
“I love it. But how did you get a reservation? Isn’t it booked through the next millennium?”
“Just weekends,” he said. “School nights aren’t all that hard to book.”
“You come here a lot?” Mandy asked. And if so, why is this the first time you’re bringing me here?
“My dad likes the trout,” Dale said. “We come out here every few weeks, so they kind of know me. I don’t mention it much, because people already think I’m a spoiled ass.” He laughed. “Anyway, if you like shrimp, the scampi is good. I guess everything is good. Just get what you want. Next time it’s back to burgers and fries.”
“The shrimp sounds nice,” Mandy said, gazing over the table at Dale. He looked even more handsome in the flickering candlelight, more mature somehow.
“You look really beautiful,” he told her. He reached over the table and took her hand. “Really,” he said.
“Thank you.”
When the waiter arrived to take their orders, he called Dale, “Master Dale,” which made him scowl and blush. Mandy giggled, but got it under control quickly, seeing how self-conscious Dale felt. Though she scanned the menu a dozen times (and everything looked sooo good), she ordered the scampi.