“Let’s go,” I say, not wanting to be here when they walk by.
“I’m too tired to move.”
I tug on her arm, but I’m too late. Meredith eyes me. “Nice t-shirt. Did you buy that in the children’s department?”
Toby looks at Tori and me. “Good morning,” he says with a smile. “Cool shirt, Becca.”
Meredith scowls, obviously not happy that Toby talked to us.
I smile back at Toby. “Thanks.” Meredith continues to scowl at me long after Toby turns away, so I smile and wave.
“Wow,” Tori says. “You really pissed her off. Nice going.”
“Thanks.” I still hate that she’s hanging all over Toby, but I do feel some satisfaction from making her squirm.
By lunch my smile is gone, though.
Tori sits down across from me. “Not so happy anymore, I see.”
“My day has been boring, tedious, and dull.”
“You do know they all mean the same thing, right?”
“Yup. But one word didn’t seem to cut it.”
She digs into her pizza. “You not eating?”
“I’m waiting for the line to die down.”
“I saw Toby near the front. If you can stand having to talk to him, you could jump in line with him.”
I like that idea. On second thought…”Is Meredith with him?”
“Nope. Little Miss Stalks-A-Lot got called down to the guidance office.”
I get up, trying not to seem too happy. “Be right back.” I walk up to the line and motion to Toby. He waves me forward, and a few people give me looks.
“It’s cool, guys. I was saving her spot.” Toby smiles at them, and they let it go. It pays to be known in this school.
“Thanks.”
“No problem. Hey, sorry about this morning with Meredith.”
“I think I handled it well.”
“You did. She was fuming all the way to first period, and when I turned her down for a date tonight, her face got about thirteen shades of red.”
“You weren’t mean about it, were you?” I’m not sure why I care, but I do.
“No. I told her I’m into someone else and I don’t want to lead her on.”
“That’s good. She deserves to know she doesn’t have a shot.”
He looks out into the lunchroom. “So, is my sister still in her cheery mood?”
I make sure no one is watching us before I lean in and whisper, “Actually, she told me you were in a very good mood this morning. So good it was annoying.”
“By any chance did she tell you that because you were acting the same way?”
I smile. “Maybe.”
“Not willing to confirm or deny. I see how it is.” His fingers lightly brush the back of my hand.
We’re next in line, so I step forward and grab a salad and orange juice. Toby loads up his tray and we both pay. As soon as we’re out of the line we have to make believe we don’t like each other as anything more than acquaintances. Not that we were exactly pawing at each other before. I head to my table and sit down.
“How’s my brother? Still annoying?”
“He says hi.”
“I’m sure he does. Stop trying to make us get along.”
I eat my salad, not saying a word. If Tori won’t try to get along with Toby, how am I going to make her okay with the idea of me dating him?
“Whoa, what happened to her?”
I look up to see what Tori’s talking about. Meredith is standing in the doorway of the cafeteria, eyes red and books clutched to her chest. She doesn’t look anything like her usual self, and I know why.
“Um, Toby told her he wasn’t interested in her.”
“What?” Tori’s eyes widen. “How is that possible? He’s walking around all happy like he’s majorly crushing on someone. It has to be Meredith.”
“Why do you say that? There are tons of girls in this school.”
“They’re perfect for each other. Who else can it be?” Her eyes scan the cafeteria like she’s trying to figure out who the mystery girl is. If only she knew I’m sitting right in front of her.
“You hate Meredith. Why would you say she’s perfect for Toby? You should be happy they aren’t together.”
“But then why the obnoxiously good mood?”
I shrug, trying to play it cool. “Maybe he’s dating someone else.”
“You think he’s dating someone?” She shakes her head. “No way. He tutored you on a Friday night. Then he watched movies with us and Ryder. If he was dating someone, he would’ve been out with her.” She stops and drops her slice of pizza. “Unless…”
Oh God, did she put it all together?
She leans forward. “He came home last night with rainbow sprinkles on him.”
“So?”
“So, Toby doesn’t like rainbow sprinkles.”
He does now. “Maybe his tastes changed. You two don’t exactly spend a lot of time together. It’s possible he likes rainbow sprinkles now and you just don’t know about it.”
“Why are you babbling?”
I shove a forkful of lettuce in my mouth.
She shakes her head at me and continues. “Anyway, I bet he was out with this mystery girl last night.”
“You don’t know that. And even if he was, there’s no way to find out who she is.”
“Of course there is. We already know she likes rainbow sprinkles.”
“Great. That’s probably ninety percent of the female population of this school.” I roll my eyes, but on the inside, I’m shaking. She’s not going to let this go.
“I’ll figure it out.”
“Why do you care? If you two don’t get along, why does it matter who he dates?”
“Because if he’s not telling me, there has to be a reason.”
Crap. Tori in sleuth-mode isn’t good. “Why don’t you ask him?” He’s a much better liar than I am.
“I’ll find out. Don’t worry.”
Oh, I will worry. A lot.
***
Toby laughs and his shoulders bob up and down.
“It’s not funny. She isn’t going to let this go, you know.”
“What’s she going to do? Have me followed?”
“You think she would?” I look at the space under the bedroom door. Would she stoop to spying? No, she has no reason to suspect me. Not yet anyway.
“I’ll make up some fake girl if you want me to.”
“I don’t want you to have to do that.”
“Then relax. Besides, right now, we’re in here with the door closed.” His face inches closer to mine.
I press my hand to his chest and gently push him away. “And she can barge right in at any time. She’s done it before.”
“I locked the door.”
I jump up. “You can’t. That will make her suspicious.”
He reaches for my hands and pulls me back down. “She doesn’t suspect anything between us. Besides, if she tries to come in, I’ll pretend the lock’s been sticking.”
“Why are you so good at lying?” It’s not very comforting.
“I’m not. I just don’t want to see this get ruined before it has a chance to really start.”
I smile and ease back against the headboard.
He pulls me toward him, but he doesn’t kiss me or put his arm around me.
“You’re worried too. You’re trying to pretend you’re not, but you are.”
“Why do you think that?” he asks.
“Because you were going to kiss me just now, but you stopped yourself.”
He lowers his head. “Maybe we should study someplace else. Somewhere she isn’t.”
“And how would we explain that?”
“You’re right, and we aren’t going to get privacy anywhere else.”
I shift so I’m facing him. “Maybe we should—” Before I can say it, I already know I can’t go through with it. I’m in too deep already. I’ve been crushing on Toby for three years. He’s not some random guy I saw and thought was cute. I know him like I’d know my best friend. Only he’s not my best friend. Tori is. And she’s standing between us.
“You don’t want to end this, do you?”
It’s like he can read my mind lately. Why are we so in sync but he and Tori—the twins—are so different and rarely on the same train of thought? “I don’t want to end this. You know I don’t. I just don’t know what to do. It shouldn’t be this hard.”
“I have an idea.”
“What?” I’m willing to listen to any and all ideas right now.
“What if we stop looking at this as a bad thing?”