He’s for Tess. I’m doing this for her. I force myself to keep looking at him.
“You’re real y serious, aren’t you?” he final y says. “You real y think I can wake your sister up.”
I nod.
He laughs.
He actual y laughs, eyes crinkling up, hair tumbling in perfect casual disarray over his forehead and down over his ears, and I force myself to smile back, to act like I am unmoved by him, like him laughing at me means nothing. I picture myself as the tiny animal I am, al anger and hard-earned knowledge, claws and fangs and an immovable heart.
I picture Tess awake, and my parents happy.
“I know Clement put you up to this,” he says when he’s done laughing. “Tel him I got the message and I swear, I’l stop giving away gum.”
“Wait, hold up. You’re giving away gum?” I say, and hold out one hand like I’m waiting for a pack.
Something else I’ve learned is that it’s best to take the moments where you want the ground to swal ow you whole—moments like now—and just get through them. Act like you don’t care that you’ve put yourself out there and gotten pushed away. Or, in this case, laughed at.
“I was,” he says. “But I’m not now. Tel Clement I know the gift shop is supposed to benefit whoever it’s supposed to benefit, and—”
“Ferrisvil e,” I say, the little animal that is me now claws-ready. “You’re working to raise money for people from Ferrisvil e who can’t afford to be treated here.”
“I forgot—”
“I bet you did. Let me guess, you got in trouble at Saint Andrew’s and got assigned here as some sort of punishment?”
“I forgot the name of the town, that’s al ,” he says. “How did you know I go to Saint Andrew’s?”
I laugh, brittle and sharp. “We don’t have guys like you in Ferrisvil e.”
“You sound happy about that.”
“Don’t sound so surprised. You just laughed at me when I asked you to help my sister, remember?”
“I—you’re serious?”
“Yes,” I say, exasperation creeping into my voice. What’s with this guy?
“I’m sorry,” he says. “I—look, I real y thought Clement sent you here, and I don’t—I don’t see how I can help your sister. Seriously. I didn’t see her doing anything when I was in her room, and I’m real y not the kind of guy girls—”
“But she did do something,” I tel him. “And we both know you’re the kind of guy girls want. If you—if you say you’l help me—help
“Clement doesn’t like anyone.”
“Wrong. He just doesn’t like anyone from Milford,” I say. “Which is probably why he spends al his time here even though he’s a bazil ionaire.”
Eli blinks. “Wait a minute. Are you—are you Abby?”
Wow, talk about a gamble that paid off. “Yeah.”
“You … Clement said you were—”
“He can’t see very wel ,” I tel Eli. “When you’re old, I think everyone who isn’t is cute or something.”
“He didn’t say you were cute.”
Okay, ouch. “Ugly, then. Whatever. The point is, I’l talk to him, and you won’t have to work here anymore.”
“He didn’t say you were ugly either.”
“It doesn’t matter,” I say, but it does, and I just want to get out of here. “I’l talk to Clement, and then you just have to talk to my sister.”
“Okay, but I don’t think she’l wake up because of me.”
“You don’t know Tess. She loves gorgeous guys, and you’re the most gorgeous guy I’ve ever seen. You’l wake her up, and when she does, you’l thank me.”
“Is she like you?” he says. “I mean, is she—does she just say stuff like you do?”
“No, she’s not—Tess’s perfect. She’s beautiful and smart and everyone loves her. You wil too. You won’t be able to help yourself. I’l talk to Clement now, and we’l start tomorrow, okay? I would say we should start now, but Clement loves to talk and I have to catch the ferry home before my parents—” I break off. No need to go into that with him. “Anyway, tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay,” he says. “Abby.” I nod at him, and walk out of the gift shop.
If he says Tess’s name like he just said mine, Tess wil be awake about ten seconds after he starts talking.
Even Jack saying my name never made me feel so—
