Amanda Vs The Universe Read online

  “Does silence have to be awkward?”

  “No. But it usually is when people don’t know each other very well.” The light changed, and he drove on.

  If we didn’t talk, I’d be stuck thinking about Alex. “That’s true. Okay, then. Let’s talk.”

  “About?”

  “You. Tell me about sculpting.”

  A short laugh escaped his lips. “You’ve been talking to Cady.”

  “She says you’re gifted.”

  He glanced out his side window. “I wouldn’t say that. It’s just a thing I like.”

  “A thing?”

  “Yeah, a thing. Don’t you have something you really like to do? That you really get into?”

  “I do, but you’re gonna think it’s dumb.”

  “Try me.”

  “I like to decorate houses. I mean, more like rooms. Sometimes I’ll adjust the furniture in my best friend’s house, because it always feels slightly off.”

  “Seriously?”

  “I knew you’d think it was dumb.”

  “I don’t. Really. I’m just surprised you have the balls to change someone’s furniture around.”

  I laughed. “It’s not that dramatic. Only a shift here or there. And I only do it at home or at Haley’s house.”

  “That’s your best friend?”

  “Yeah. Her mother gives me the stink eye a lot, but I just smile like I don’t notice.”

  He chuckled. “You don’t want to come right out and give her tips?”

  “No. She’s an interior designer.”

  A laugh burst out of him. A laugh that had me turning my whole body toward him like a flower toward the sun. I stopped just in time. Nope. Nopity, nope, nope, nope. I wasn’t going to throw myself at another guy. No more looking like an idiot for a guy’s attention. It was just a laugh, anyway. I completely didn’t care that it sounded warm and inviting.

  “I can see why she’d be irritated,” Kyle said, still smiling.

  “Yeah, well.” I paused for a few moments, not sure what to say next. The businesses along the highway went by in a blur of evergreen trees, rustic wood, and parked cars as we descended to the main street through town.

  Kyle turned left into the heavier traffic and tapped his index finger on the steering wheel. I just realized he’d deflected the talk of his sculpting. “Hey!”

  He jerked. “What?”

  “Did you deliberately change the subject away from sculpting?”

  He drove slowly over a wide speed bump. “I don’t know. It’s not that interesting to talk about.”

  “Why?”

  We stopped at a crosswalk filled with summer tourists in shorts and sandals, their voices and laughter coming in through the open window. “I guess ’cause so much of it happens inside my head. It’s hard to describe.”

  “That makes sense. Sometimes I’ll walk into a room and have a vision of it with completely different furniture, paint, and everything.” The crosswalk emptied, and he drove on. “They have these cool websites where you can design rooms—like move furniture icons around by clicking on them, but when I really want to play with ideas I have to sketch them on paper.”

  “I do that too.”

  We looked at each other for half a second with our eyes wide, then laughed.

  “I guess Cady was right,” I said. “We do have some things in common.”

  He rubbed his jaw. “Guess so.”

  “And guess what else?”

  “What?”

  I struggled to keep the laughter out of my voice. “You do need my help. You just drove right by the coffee shop.”

  “What!” He braked, not hard, but enough that the car behind us honked.

  “Sacred Grounds. It was back there on the left.” I gestured out the rear window.

  “Ah, crap,” Kyle said. He turned right at the next street to go around the block. “It’s all your fault.”

  “Nope. You just don’t know where you are.”

  “I do, but you distracted me with conversation.”

  I laughed. “Right.”

  “You did! With all your ‘look what we have in common’ stuff. It’s not surprising I missed it. I never thought we’d have anything in common.”

  “Me neither. But it was still your fault.”

  He smirked as he pulled into the parking lot of Sacred Grounds Coffee and Tea Shop, a building that looked like a dark-gold log cabin decided to expand. Two wings jutted out on either side of the central entrance. A stylized Native American stick figure holding a coffee mug decorated the front of one wing. A small outdoor patio adorned the other.

  It struck me that although Kyle and I had been arguing again, it felt totally different from our other fights. For one thing, I didn’t have the sense that we were in some kind of competition.

  Kyle hefted the box of mugs, and we strolled toward the shop’s entrance. “Your fault, your fault,” he sang under his breath.

  “Not working,” I sang back.

  He pretended not to hear and strode forward to reach the door first.

  “Oh, for—” I raced around him and barred the door, my arms outstretched. “You’re carrying the box. You don’t have to do everything.”

  He raised an eyebrow, looking like Cady again. “I wasn’t going to open the door. I just wanted to get here first.”

  I laughed. “I get the feeling we’re going to be racing the entire time my family is on vacation up here.”

  “Do you?” He looked amused. And interested.

  A tickle of heat ran down my body. I was standing way too close. Light brown beard stubble ran along his jaw, and I wanted to trace it with my fingers. Gah. Stupidity followed me wherever I went. I missed Alex. That was all. I hid my reaction by pushing into the restaurant and holding the door.

  “Thanks,” he said, going past me.

  Murmured conversations suddenly drowned out by a coffee grinder filled the store. The scent of coffee and cinnamon caused my tension to drain away. No boys, Amanda. No matter how cute and annoying they are. I breathed in slowly and deeply. Thanks, Mrs. Guevara, I’ll probably be using these exercises for the rest of my life.

  A harassed-looking woman with dark hair in a ponytail came toward us. “You’re from Cady Sanders?”

  “Yeah,” Kyle said. “Where do you want these?”

  “Back here.” She led us past the line of customers at the counter toward the covered outdoor patio, but stopped in front of display shelves just nearby. She pointed at the top shelf, which was half taken up with gift bags of fancy chocolate. “There’s room for about six here, and the rest can go in the Annex next door. Thanks a bunch. I need to run.”

  “No worries,” Kyle said, but she was already walking away. He set down the box and opened it.

  “Do you think Cady cares which mugs go here and which go next door?” I asked.

  “Nah. They’re mostly the same.” He quickly placed six mugs, three of cobalt blue and three of forest green, on the shelf, then bent to close the box.

  I frowned at the mugs. He’d placed them every which way, making the back of my neck itch. A sure sign I needed to rearrange them. I turned one mug so that the curling handle showed, and then turned another so that the different shades in the green could catch the light.

  “What’re you doing?” Kyle asked.

  “Fixing them,” I said, concentrating on a blue swirl of color.

  “There was nothing wrong with what I did. If people want to see better, they’ll pick one up.”

  “Uh-huh.” I pulled the blue one a little ahead of the others.

  “You’re not even listening to me.”

  I scratched my chin. “Yes, I am. I just don’t agree.”

  “Of course you don’t.” He tugged on my elbow. “C’mon. We have more deliveries to make.”

  My skin warmed at the touch of his hand, but I frowned at him. “I’m not finished.”

  He let out a noisy breath. “Do you really want to spend all afternoon doing this?”


  “No, but they’re Cady’s work. I want them displayed nicely.”

  He studied me for a long moment before letting his hand drop. “All right. Make them look nice. Just please do it faster, okay?”

  When he begged, he looked like a little boy. I held back a grin. “Then stop talking to me.”

  “I’ll be by the door,” he said with a slight shake of his head.

  I forced myself to stop staring at him as he walked off. He was right. We needed to get this done. It would be safer not to spend so much time together. The last thing I needed was a brand new crush.

  Six

  That night my phone rang just as I closed the dishwasher. Dinner cleanup had been quick with my parents pitching in, and we were about to settle in for an evening sitting around in the living room, channel surfing. Not exactly big fun, but for some reason I didn’t feel like hiding out in my room.

  I snatched my phone off the kitchen table. A pic of blond-haired Haley making bug eyes flashed across the screen. “It’s Haley. I’m gonna take it in my room.”

  “Okay,” my mom said.

  “Haley?” I said into the phone.

  “Yup! It’s me.”

  “Hang on.” I dashed upstairs and shut my bedroom door behind me. “How’s everything going?”

  “Really good actually. But I’m exhausted. We start at seven and they have us going all day long.”

  I dropped into an easy chair in the corner of the room. “Yuck. I thought you were supposed to have free time.”

  “We do. But most days it’s only an hour. Today we had two and I took a nap—probably why I have more energy now.”

  “Did Marcus end up going?”

  She sighed. “Yeah, he’s here.” She cleared her throat. “But he’s spending all his time with Cassie.”

  “Oh, no. I’m really sorry.”

  “Yep. It sucks. I really thought we had a chance, you know? I guess making out at Davis’s party last month was pretty easy for him to forget.”

  I could’ve told her that Marcus was a jerk, but we’d always supported each other’s taste in guys. Kind of stupid, but we’d been that way since we were twelve. She probably knew Alex was bad news from the moment we met him at that party. Maybe it was time we started telling each other what we really thought. “Guys suck.”

  She let out a little laugh. “Tell me about it. Anyway, how’s everything going? Did you end up working at Cady’s today?”

  “Yeah, I dusted in her display room, but I didn’t have time to finish. She sent us to deliver mugs and place settings around town.”

  “Us? Does that mean The Nephew went too?”

  “Yeah, Kyle.”

  “Oh, it’s Kyle now, is it?”

  The teasing in her voice made me tense. I didn’t want people to ship us. I started to give her a rundown of my day, but then remembered the silly race with Kyle and paused. I should tell her about that instead to satisfy her need for info on him.

  And, of course, she erupted in a string of giggles. The signature Haley laugh—giggle while you talk. “You did not trip him.”

  I smiled even though she couldn’t see me. “I did.”

  “Holy crap, Amanda. He’s brought out your devious core.” More giggling.

  “What? I don’t have a devious core.”

  “Not all the time. But when you think you know best, you get this look in your eyes, like you’re plotting ways to make it happen.”

  Seriously? I wasn’t like that, was I? “If that’s true, then I obviously need to wear sunglasses all the time.”

  She laughed. “Stop,” she said, through a slowing round of giggles. When she caught her breath, she said, “I miss you.”

  I sighed. “Miss you too.”

  A couple seconds of silence went by. “I’m glad you’re feeling a little better,” Haley said in a quieter tone. “At least, it sounds like you are. You know, ’cause you’re not at home with all those pictures of Alex staring at you.”

  She sounded too matter-of-fact, like she was working hard not to judge. But I’d torn up the ten or so photos of Alex and me I’d had on my mirror and wall. I just hadn’t been able to delete the ones from my phone yet. “I took those down. And I guess I’m a little better. It’s good to be around Cady.”

  “Go you! I’m glad you took down the pics.”

  “Yeah, go me.” Pain tried to spread through my chest, so I put it in a mental drawer and shut it.

  “No, seriously. That’s a big step. And when we both get home, I’ll help you delete the ones on your phone.”

  I laughed. “You know me too well.”

  The sounded of muffled laughter came through the phone. “My roommate just came in,” Haley said. “I need to go.”

  I shut off my disappointment. “Okay. Text me if anything fun happens.”

  “I will. Bye.”

  My phone beeped twice when the call ended. My thumb hovered over my photos app. I wanted to see Alex’s sexy grin again, but I couldn’t handle the stabbing pain around my heart just then. I turned the cell off and tossed it on the bed. I didn’t want to think about Alex or stay upstairs. With Geoff and his friends arriving tomorrow, I’d probably be hiding out in my room most of the time. I breathed deeply in and out three times, then went to join my parents.

  ***

  Geoff and Molly arrived around eleven o’clock the next morning. I went outside with my parents to greet them. With his scruff of beard and metal frame glasses, my brother looked older than he had at Christmas. The glasses were new and made him look like our dad when he wore his readers. I wasn’t sure why Geoff wasn’t wearing contacts and suspected it had to do with the fact that his friend Dylan wore glasses and he liked to copy him—even though Geoff would never admit that.

  Molly tugged a tote bag out of the sedan’s backseat and shut the door. She smiled at us all, winking at me when my parents turned to listen to whatever Geoff was saying. Her burgundy red hair, now in a pixie cut, gleamed in the sun, and tiered silver earrings dangled by her face.

  “I love the hair,” I said, hugging her. She changed everything about her hair about once a year, and it was always fun to see what she came up with.

  “Thanks. Geoff isn’t sure he likes it, but my neck gets a lot of attention from him.”

  “I so didn’t want to know that.”

  She laughed. “Don’t worry. I’m done. That’s the last inappropriate thing you’ll hear out of my mouth for the next week and a half.”

  “Sure you can go that long?”

  Her eyes twinkled. “Of course.” She cupped my jaw. “Are you doing better?”

  I hadn’t talked to her about the breakup, which meant my parents had told her and Geoff. I hated that whole “poor silly Amanda got in over her head with a guy” thing, but I knew Molly genuinely cared. “A conversation for later,” I said. “You get top bunk this year. Unless you want to room with Kenzie and Gabby.”

  “Really? Isn’t Haley here?” She slipped the tote over her shoulder and strolled toward the house.

  I grabbed the first suitcase I saw and followed her. “No. She had band camp.”

  “Shoot. I’ll miss her.” She eyed me. “Don’t you dare try to make me room with Kenzie and Gabby. I’m not about to break with tradition.”

  I smiled, a sense of satisfaction flowing through me. Molly had stayed in my room at the vacation house ever since she’d started dating Geoff four years ago. And I loved having her there. She could be weird, but being with her was like having an amazing older sister.

  We only made it as far as the entry hall before Geoff yelled. “Small sister! Come back. You haven’t said hello.”

  “I’m not small!” I shouted. “And you come in here!”

  Molly and I exchanged smirks. I loved my brother, but he was seriously bossy—mainly to me. If he wanted attention, he could come and get it.

  In moments, Geoff grabbed me from behind in a hug that lifted my toes off the ground. That was strange. He didn’t usually show so much affection. If
you could call it that. “Okay, okay,” I said, struggling to get down.

  He set me on my feet and kissed the top of my head. Weirder and weirder.

  “What’s wrong with you?” I asked. “Are you Geoff’s clone and the true annoying Geoff is waiting in the car?”

  He grinned. “No, I killed him.”

  “Geoff,” Molly said with a fondness that almost hurt to hear.

  “It’s true,” he said.

  “Come on,” I said, glancing around for the parents. They were probably still outside. “I need to talk to y’all about something.”

  “Oh good, secrets,” Geoff said.

  We headed up the stairs, Molly lifting her long floral skirt as she went. In my room, I set down the suitcase. “This one yours?” I asked Geoff.

  “Yeah.”

  “Did you bring in my art supplies?” Molly asked him.

  He gave her a sheepish look. “Um, no.” He held up a large quilted bag. “Just this. I’ll get it after Amanda stops being mysterious.” He placed it at the foot of the bunk bed. “Okay, talk.”

  I checked my doorway. My parents’ voices came from the kitchen area. “Right. Did y’all know that they’re planning another big event for this vacation?”

  Molly chuckled and sat on the lower bunk.

  “No,” Geoff said. “But no big surprise.”

  “That’s just it,” I said. “It is a surprise. They won’t even give me a hint other than it’s not a play.”

  “Too bad,” Geoff said. “That play two years ago was kinda fun.”

  Molly and I looked at each other and started laughing. “That’s because you changed every bit of it,” I said.

  He shrugged. “It needed it.”

  I glanced out the door again. “Anyway, I want to snoop around in their room to try and find out what they’re planning.”

  “Why?” Geoff asked. “They’ll probably tell us by tomorrow.”

  He didn’t get it. He never had. But that was because he loved to be in the spotlight. And I—well, I didn’t exactly hate the spotlight; I’d just never been given a chance to get completely comfortable with it. Because even though our family did these “productions,” Geoff always took the lead role and expected people to go along with whatever he did.