He gripped the steering wheel harder than was necessary. "I was just trying to make my brother feel better after a breakup. Can't you understand that? How was I supposed to know Adrian was your sister?" Then he shook his head and let out a groan. "I should have figured it out. That's why you looked so familiar. Your smile, your voice, your mannerisms—you reminded me of Adrian."
I folded my arms tightly across my chest. "The girl you think is a gold-digging idiot? Am I supposed to feel complimented or insulted by the resemblance?"
"It's not an insult—I just—oh, nothing I say now is going to be right, is it?"
I looked out the window. "Do you know the way to my house? We, of course, live in the white trash part of town."
He didn't answer but drove in the general direction of my neighborhood so I didn't give him more directions.
"You know, it's not like you've been praising Richard," Tanner said. "Last Tuesday you told me your sister broke up with her loser boyfriend. That was my brother you were talking about."
"Yeah, and he deserved the title. Your brother is a jerk. Adrian is just . . . misguided."
"Misguided?" Tanner let out a cough. "You're the one who said she dresses like the bride of Satan."
"And I'm allowed to say that because she's my sister. But I never said she was stupid, or white trash, because she's not. Oh, and also I'm not a judgmental shrew. I didn't break Adrian and Rick up. That was your jerk-of-a-brother's fault."
"My-jerk-of-a-brother? So you're allowed to insult Richard, but I can't say anything bad about Adrian?"
"You can insult Adrian right after she writes horrible songs about you and sings them to everyone you know."
His eyebrows drew together. He had no idea what I was talking about. It was very possible that he'd never actually listened to any of the words of Rick's songs.
"Just ask him why I think he's a jerk. Eventually he'll get to the right answer."
We approached Jefferson Elementary School and Tanner slowed down. With his jaw clenched tightly he said, "I know you live around here, but I don't know which street."
I gave him directions, calmly, all the time wishing that we lived in a house half as nice as his. He pulled up in front of our small one story, and I noticed that our bushes were overgrown again and a pair of Adrian's muddy tennis shoes lay scattered across the front porch. She was supposed to have taken care of those days ago.
Tanner put the car in park and turned to me. His blue eyes flashed with anger and I suddenly realized who he reminded me of. Rick. I'd seen that look on his face a hundred times. "Hey, I'm sorry I called you a judgmental shrew," he said, "when clearly you're not judgmental at all."
I flung open the car door and stepped outside. "No problem. And by the way, Adrian is too good for Rick." I slammed the door and stomped across the lawn to my front door.
Once I got inside I noticed Adrian sprawled out on the couch by the living room window. "Was that Tanner Debrock's car?" she asked.
I walked past her without answering. Then I went into my room, leaned against the door, and cried.
I drove to PHS the next day. Usually I walk because it's only fifteen minutes away, but I wanted to get to school early to talk to my friends. I needed to talk to someone and Adrian, sitting beside me in the car with her MP3 player blaring and her eyes shut, was not a good candidate.
I hooked up with my friends at our usual meeting place and told them all about my dinner at the Debrocks'. There was a lot of gasping and Aubrie held onto my arm and made a several, "Oh . . . oh no . . . oh nooool" comments.
Rachel shook her head slowly. "What are the chances of you meeting up with Rick's older brother?"
"I guess I increased my odds by going to two places where Rick's band was playing, but really, who would have guessed Rick had such a normal and good-looking brother?"
Aubrie joined in the head shaking. We probably looked like a row of cheerleading bobble head dolls. "It's so ironic. If you hadn't made Adrian break up with Rick, then Tanner wouldn't have said those things about Adrian—and you and Tanner would still be together. This is just like one of those Greek tragedies."
"I didn't make Adrian break up with Rick," I said. "So it isn't ironic, it's just Rick's fault." I'd never made the connection Aubrie had, and it immediately bothered me. I was already in a lousy mood, and this only made things worse.
Samantha folded her arms. "I'm with Chelsea on this one. She's better off without Tanner. Guys will break your hearts if you let them. That's just what they do."
Which I supposed meant she was still upset with Logan.
Aubrie patted me on the shoulder. "At least this way you won't have to worry about getting Rick as a brother-in-law. I mean, wouldn't that have been ironic—just as you get rid of Rick in your sister's life, you pick him up in your relationship with Tanner?"
Yeah, ironic, apparently no matter what I did my life was doomed.
Aubrie gave a shudder and her eyes grew distant as though contemplating a new truth. "It's almost like you and Rick are destined to be together somehow."
"Never say those words to me again," I said.
"Don't worry about it," Rachel said with a shrug. "Once you win the auditions you'll have your pick of hot Hollywood guys. Rick and Tanner will be a distant memory."
But I couldn't imagine it. I couldn't imagine Tanner's face fading into the recesses of my mind. I would probably never see him again, and just the thought of that hurt.
Logan found me as I walked to my first class. He strode up next to me as I navigated my way through the hallways and with barely a "Hi Chelsea" for a greeting, said, "So, do you know why Samantha is mad at me?"
"Yeah. But it's not a big deal. She just followed Rachel's dating advice and it backfired on her."
He cast me a confused glance. "What?"
I realized too late that I shouldn't have mentioned Rachel or her techniques. She would not appreciate it if the guys at PHS got wind of her methods. It was better to let them all think that yes, she really was fascinated by everything they had to say.
"Look, you just need to ask Samantha some questions about herself," I told Logan. "That's all she wants."
"What?"
I held my hand out to him as though this would help with the explanation. "She's mad at you because even though she's been asking you nonstop questions about yourself, she still wants to talk about herself once in a while."
Now his eyebrows drew together in consternation. "What?"
"Logan, why do you keep saying that?"
"Because women make no sense." He put one hand on his chest. "She's mad at me because she wants to talk about herself? Does she need my permission to do that? Why has she been asking all those questions about me if she wanted to talk about herself?"
"Because she wants you to adore her."
Logan raked his hand across his hair. "My head is going to explode. It can only take so much illogic."
"But Samantha also wants you to care about her opinion, which is why all you need to do ask her what she thinks about a few issues. Casually. Without her knowing that you're doing it on purpose or that you talked to me about it."
Logan stared at me for a moment and then looked off into space, shaking his head. "It's amazing we've survived as a species. Truly amazing."