Life in the No-Dating Zone Read online

“Yes.” Heat raced up my neck. I jumped to my feet, my legs prickling awake, and started brushing the dirt off my rear. “Remind me not to wear white shorts to the park.”

  He stood slowly. “Don’t wear white—”

  “Thanks. Got it.” I twisted, trying to see the damage. What had he been about to say? It didn’t matter now, thanks to my clumsiness. I so needed to get out of this situation. “Think I’d better go.”

  He raised both eyebrows. “Already?”

  “Yeah. My mom made me promise I wouldn’t be gone long.” I headed up the hill toward the parking lot.

  Gray fell into step beside me, limping a little. “Could you maybe stay another five minutes?”

  “I guess so. Why?”

  “There’s still something I want to talk to you about.”

  He sounded so serious that a sense of dread pressed against my chest. Had I done something he didn’t like? Was it because I wanted to get rid of Adam? I didn’t think I could take him being disappointed with me. I had to do something to wipe the serious expression off his face. Light. Keep it light. “What is it? Do you need help with another girl? Just make sure she’s local. I can’t help much with movie star crushes.”

  He grinned, lifting the weight of my dread. A bit. Instead, I could feel my pulse bang in the hollow of my throat. “Nah,” he said, “I don’t pay much attention to movie stars.”

  “But you work at the theater.”

  “Exactly. You’ve seen one, you’ve seen them all.”

  “Wow, you sound so jaded. I’m glad I don’t feel that way.”

  “Oh, so you have a celebrity crush? Who is it? Channing Tatum? Ian Somerhalder?”

  “Ha. No. I don’t want to tell you.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you’ll think I’m weird.”

  He smiled slowly. “No, I won’t. I’ll tease you, but that’s a given for anyone with a celebrity crush.”

  I trained my gaze on the deep green grass in front of us, glad I’d gotten his mind off whatever major topic he’d wanted to talk about. I didn’t care if he teased me about a celebrity crush, but I still wasn’t going to tell him. “It’s not important.”

  “I didn’t say it was.” We stopped at the sidewalk next to the parking lot. Gray nudged me with his elbow. “C’mon, you can tell me.”

  “Nope.”

  He leaned closer. “I have ways of making you talk.”

  The air between us grew so hot I could hardly breathe. Part of me wanted to throw myself at him—the other part felt like it’d gotten lost in a maze. What was happening? It was a good thing I wasn’t dating during high school because I sure didn’t understand boys. I let out a stupid-sounding laugh, followed by a stupid statement. “Right. What did you want to talk about?” Claire, you loon! I’d brought the conversation exactly where I didn’t want to go.

  Gray straightened. He stared at the sidewalk with an absorbed look—almost as if it held the answer to my question. “I was thinking how glad I am we’re friends.” He looked up. “I really like you.”

  He meant as a friend, right? My heart leapt into overdrive. What if he didn’t? What if he meant as more than a friend? I couldn’t tell. He just stood there wearing an easy smile as if nothing momentous had just happened. His tanned cheeks might’ve been a little redder than usual, but that could’ve just been from our walk up the hill. I had to stay relaxed about it all. There was no need to slide into some embarrassing weirdness.

  I punched him lightly in the shoulder. “I like you too, sugar lump.” His lips parted, but before he could speak, my phone dinged with a text. Thank goodness. Maybe I could escape this awkwardness. I pulled out my phone. “Sorry, it’s my mom. Jack woke up early.”

  “Oh, okay. Guess we’ll talk later?”

  “Sure. See ya.” I walked off as fast as I could in my thin sandals, forcing myself not to look back. I had to be imagining the regret I saw in his eyes. And I couldn’t take the chance he’d see how much regret was in mine.

  Thirty-Seven

  Gray

  I totally screwed that up.

  Claire waved out the car window as she drove away from the park. It was all I could do not to jump in my car and follow her home to tell her what I really meant. Why did I have to mention being friends right before I said I liked her? I suck, that’s why.

  Maybe I should follow her home. Before I lost the need to tell her and dropped back into the old waiting, watching, and hoping—just like I’d done with Lindsey. And there was Berger’s asking-her-out threat to consider. I headed for the car. But when I touched the warm door handle, I hesitated. The awkwardness of what might happen ran through my mind—a confused look when Claire answered the door with Jack in her arms, her mother watching from the kitchen. Yeah, that would be just perfect. Hey, I meant I really like you and would you go out with me?

  No. That would suck. I needed to get creative here. Think romance. All girls liked romance, right?

  I headed across the park, slowly because my ankle still hurt like a mother. But moving helped me think. What could I do that was romantic? Flowers? A singing telegram? I really didn’t want to do something that anyone else could do. Or something that just wasn’t … me. Right, Gray, because this is all about you. Okay, so I needed to make it about Claire. What did Claire like? LEGOs. I could buy her a new set, but I didn’t know what she had already. And I was guessing she had a lot.

  She liked to read, but again, I didn’t know what she already had. And buying her a book didn’t sound so romantic. I needed to do something big. Something she’d remember for a long time. Something like the gesture thing she’d wanted me to do for Lindsey.

  I leaned against a tree to give my ankle a rest. Maybe I could just use that idea. Go to Claire’s house tonight, stand outside, and tell her how I feel. Not too original, though. She might be disappointed. Or worse, laugh at me.

  Crap. I was making myself crazy. I wiped sweat off my forehead. All I wanted was to tell her I liked her and to see how she felt about me. I just needed a creative way to do it.

  What if I did something for her? Like take care of Jack so she could have time off. Or run an errand that she couldn’t. Or do—Wait. I bolted away from the tree and started pacing. Screw the ankle.

  Claire had asked me to do that Lindsey big gesture thing even though I didn’t like her anymore. And I’d said no. But what if I did it and just changed it up? Like in the middle of it, turned to Claire and told her what I was feeling. It might be really romantic. And I’d be doing something she wanted me to do. Two birds. One stone.

  This could work.

  I whipped out my phone before I could change my mind.

  “Hey,” Claire answered. “I just got home. Did I leave something at the park?” Loud baby crying filled the background.

  “No, no,” I said, clenching my phone so I wouldn’t drop it. Because something thrummed through my veins like any second I was going to jump out of my skin. What was I doing? I forced myself to keep talking. “Just wanted to tell you I’ve changed my mind. I’ll talk to Lindsey outside her house at night if you still want me to.”

  “Just a second, Mom.” Footsteps and then the sound of a door closing came through the phone. “Really? You will?”

  “Yeah. If you want me to.”

  “Wow, Gray, that’s … thanks. That’s really nice of you.”

  “No problem. When do you want to do it?”

  “Tonight.”

  Uh-oh. I had no clue she’d meant so soon. “Tonight?”

  “Is that a problem? It’s just that Adam gets home tomorrow. Tonight’s our best chance.”

  “I have to work.”

  “That’s okay. It needs to be late so it’ll be really dark outside. What time do you get off?”

  “Ten thirty.”

  “Perfect. Lindsey’s house is between the theater and my—”

  “I know where she lives.”

  She let out a hiccuping kind of laugh. “Oh, right. Of course you do.”

/>   “I was kind of obsessed,” I said, hoping she got the emphasis on was. If she did, she didn’t say anything.

  “Right. So I’ll meet you there sometime after ten thirty.”

  “I’ll text when I’m leaving work.”

  “Sounds good.”

  “Yup. And Claire?”

  “Yeah?”

  “No costume.”

  She laughed. “Are you sure? It’d make a big impact.”

  I smiled even though she couldn’t see me. “I’m happier with a small impact.”

  “If you insist.”

  “I do.”

  “Okay, no costume. See ya tonight.” Her voice sounded light and happy.

  “Bye.” I clicked my phone off and stared down at its black screen. This could be the most brilliant idea I’d ever had or the worst. But it was in motion and there was no room for second thoughts. I wanted to come through for Claire.

  My sandpapery throat signaled the need for a Coke. After that I needed some way to waste time. I headed for my car. I didn’t want to spend from now until tonight wrestling with the thought that this was the worst idea ever.

  Thirty-Eight

  Claire

  I punched the button to turn off the car radio. It was too hard to concentrate with music on. Though why I should concentrate, I didn’t know—other than the fact that Gray and I were about to do something really crazy.

  I still couldn’t believe he’d agreed to go through with it. What had changed his mind? I’d already analyzed that question into a coma and had come up blank. Maybe after he “wooed” Lindsey, I’d get up the nerve to ask him. And we could laugh about it all. After we left, of course. Lindsey probably wasn’t going to be happy about the whole thing. But it was too late now. Gray could show up any minute.

  If only I could’ve figured out a way to let Amy Acton know what Gray was about to do. Then the whole Lindsey/Adam breakup would happen much sooner. But Amy and I weren’t best buds, and it would’ve seemed pretty sketchy if I called her out of the blue. Now I’d have to wait until school started and somehow let her “overhear” what had happened. That would kick the rumor mill into a froth, and she’d definitely tell Adam. I felt a pinch of guilt when I thought about him, but I ignored it. Lindsey would thank me someday. Eventually. Maybe.

  Dim yellow light glowed from the front living room of Lindsey’s ginormous red brick house. But that wasn’t a problem. I knew for a fact that lamp was on a timer. Lindsey’s parents hardly ever used that room. The real issue was how many lights were on at the back of the house. Talking to Lindsey through her bedroom window could get tricky if her parents were still up. But it was closing in on eleven o’clock and her dad had to get up early for work. Hopefully he was already in bed. In his bedroom. On the opposite side of the house from Lindsey’s.

  I probably should’ve scouted around the house, but the back side had motion-detector lights, and I didn’t want to take the chance someone might notice. Plus, scaling brick walls like a ninja was not in my skill set. Though I should probably work on that.

  Headlights shone in my rearview mirror, briefly blinding me. I clutched the steering wheel with both hands. Was it Gray? I took a deep breath and tried to slow my racing heart. A pickup truck passed me at a pretty good clip. I exhaled. Not Gray.

  I’d barely caught my breath when more headlights came into my rearview. This time the car slowed and pulled to the curb in front of my car—just like I’d asked Gray to do when I’d texted. I didn’t want to be blinded by lights and not know who was walking up to my car window in the dark. But it definitely looked like his Toyota.

  The car lights turned off. The driver strolled to my car. I couldn’t see his face, because the streetlight was behind him, but he had Gray’s relaxed walk. I pressed the button to get the window down, and he hunched over to see in. “Hey,” Gray said, his voice low.

  “Hey,” I whispered.

  “You ready?”

  “Come get in the car. I want to go over the plan.”

  “All right.”

  And since I wanted to start things off on the right foot, I lifted the Phantom half-mask I had in my lap and held it against my face.

  Gray got in the car, then reeled away when he saw me. “Geeah! What’re you—Don’t do that!”

  I smiled. “You don’t like it?”

  “You look seriously creepy.”

  I handed him the mask. “Try it on.”

  “I told you no costume,” he said but put the mask on. “So?”

  “Looks fabulous.”

  He pulled down the visor mirror and its feeble light flicked on. “Why do you think she’ll like this again?”

  “Because it’s romantic. If you wear that and the cape, then sing to her, she’ll fall in love with you.”

  “You never said anything about singing.”

  “Course that might be a problem now that you say you don’t like her anymore.” My words came out like a question even though I hadn’t meant them to.

  “I don’t.” He whipped the mask off his face. “You don’t expect me to sing, do you?”

  I stretched my arm toward him. “Hand me the mask.”

  He caught my hand in his. “Not until you answer.”

  A little buzz went through me at the warmth of his hand. It was okay to flirt, wasn’t it? Even if I’d never date him? I didn’t know, but I was having too much fun to stop. A pang hit me. After this was all over, we’d probably go back to just being people who went to the same school.

  I reached for the mask with my free hand. “Let me see it. I’ll wear the costume. I can be the Phantom spying on you while you pretend to be Raoul. You can sing ‘All I Ask of You’—the most romantic song ever. Lindsey’ll be floating out the window.”

  Gray let out a half-laugh. “Floating?”

  We struggled for a few seconds as I tried to reach the mask, but then he tossed it over his shoulder into the backseat. I twisted to make a dive for it, even though it was seriously out of reach, but Gray grabbed my arm and grinned. “Wait.” Then he leaned over the center console toward me. “Repeat after me. No singing.”

  I was so surprised by his nearness all I could do was mumble, “After me. No singing.”

  “Ha, ha. Try again. No singing.”

  “No singing.”

  He moved a fraction closer. “And no costume.”

  Yikes. Too close. His face was about three inches from mine. Close enough to kiss. He smelled like soap with a hint of buttered popcorn in there somewhere. My heart beat so loudly he could probably hear it. And I couldn’t help it, but I let out a stupid-sounding giggle. “And no costume.”

  “I’m serious, Claire,” he said in a teasing tone.

  Talk about mixed messages. “Okay.”

  He slid the hand on my elbow up to my shoulder. Tingles shot everywhere. What was going on? I thought we were joking about costumes. Now suddenly he looked like he was making a move. I couldn’t read his expression in the semi-darkness, but unless I was completely clueless, my friend Gray, who up until today had been crazy about Lindsey, was about to kiss me.

  And even though I wanted to pull his head closer to make sure our lips would touch, I had to stop him. If we kissed, he’d know I liked him. And I couldn’t let that happen. I inhaled deeply so my voice would sound normal and not like I wanted to melt against him.

  But before I could speak, he pulled back two inches. “I really mean it.”

  I guess I’d been thinking about kissing too much because my first thought was that he really meant he was going to kiss me. But why would he move back if he wanted to kiss me? My mind was running in circles. I chalked it up to cute boy overexposure. But no, it wasn’t just that. It was him. I liked everything about him. And I couldn’t let him know.

  I leaned back slowly until I rested against my car door, causing him to let go of me. “I get it.”

  “Are you sure? Because I have this feeling you’re going to spring something on me.”

  I shook my head. “I wo
n’t. Really. You know what you’re gonna say to her?”

  He sat back against his seat so hard it was like I’d shoved him. “Pretty much.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I’ll just be happy when it’s over.”

  “You’ll do fine. We just head over to the left side of the house. Lindsey’s bedroom window is right there.” I pointed through the windshield. “See the bushes next to the wall?”

  “Yeah.”

  “I’ll hide in there while you sing.”

  It took a couple of seconds before he twisted toward me. “Claire. We talked—”

  I burst out laughing. “Kidding. I’m kidding. Lighten up. You’re taking this way too seriously.”

  “Look, I don’t know how many times you’ve talked to girls outside their bedroom window, but it’s a first for me. I have a right to be nervous.”

  I wanted to laugh, but I needed to stop this flirting stuff. “Okay then, let’s get it over with. My peas are melting.”

  Thirty-Nine

  Gray

  I stopped with my hand on the door handle. “Your what are what?”

  Claire lifted a white plastic grocery sack. “Frozen peas. They’re melting.”

  This girl was making me crazy. But the weird part was that I loved it. “Can I ask why you have frozen peas?”

  “Sure.” She didn’t say anything else, so I just eyed her until she chuckled. “Okay, okay. It’s because there’s nothing in Lindsey’s yard to throw against the window. No dirt, no pebbles. And I didn’t want to bring something heavy that might actually break the window, so … ”

  Scary how she made sense to me. “Frozen peas.”

  “Right.”

  “Your dad already use up all his limes?”

  “Ha, ha. Very funny. Besides, a lime might crack the window.”

  “I’m not gonna throw it like a major league pitcher.”

  She opened her door. “Now we have peas. You can throw them as hard as you want.”

  “Melting peas.”

  She gave a little start. “Yikes. Let’s go.”

  I grinned—hard not to smile around Claire—then got out of the car as fast as I could. I was close to losing it like I had a few minutes ago. I’d almost kissed her. Without telling her how I felt. Which wasn’t how I wanted things to go. I wasn’t sure, but Claire seemed almost skittish around me, like she didn’t know how to act. Probably because I’d gotten in her space. I needed to back off. Let the night play out like it was supposed to. Focus on what I was doing. On what I wanted to say to her.