“Just get in, drama queen,” I tell her after unlocking the car. “And I’m pretty sure he’s not looking for a middle school girlfriend, m’kay?”
She gives me the ugliest scowl, but surprisingly listens to me and gets in on the passenger side. Huh.
“See ya, Feisty!”
I almost flip him off, because he kind of deserves it, but choose to ignore him instead as I join Hailee in the car. Doesn’t this guy have anything better to do with his time?
“What did he call you?” Hailee asks as I start the car up.
“Nothing,” I fib, setting my muffin of death on the console tray. “Put your seatbelt on.”
I’m not going to get arrested on her account.
She crosses her arms. “You’re not wearing yours.”
I sigh before putting mine on. “What’s your excuse now?”
Eat that, preteen.
She gives me another lovely scowl as she puts her seatbelt on. “There, it’s on.”
I respond with a sugary smile. “Thank you.”
“Whatever,” she says as I pull out of the driveway, “I wanna listen to music.”
“And I wanna billion bucks,” I deadpan. “Suck it up.”
“Hmm,” she hums, twirling a strand of her light-brown hair, “he’s hot, huh?”
I ignore her as I continue to drive down the street.
Please don’t continue this conversation.
“And did you see those arms?” she comments in a dreamy tone. “I bet he works out a lot.”
I’d bang my head against the steering wheel if I could.
Honestly? I actually have half a mind to pull over, just so I can do it.
“I bet—”
“How about some music?” I cut her short as I turn the radio on. “Maybe they’ll play one of Look That Way’s songs.”
“Megan,” she says in the driest tone, “the band name is Look This Way, not Look That Way. Don’t pretend like you’re a fan when you’re clearly not.”
“I never pretended that—”
“SHH!” she hushes me as a different song begins to play. “Shawn is singing, Meg. No one should make a sound while Shawn is singing.”
Except for her, apparently.
She proceeds to shriek and then starts to sing along with Shawn, sounding completely off-key. To the point that I literally cringe.
And I thought this song couldn’t get any worse…
It then occurs to me that I don’t even know where this “friend” of Kyle’s lives. Mom didn’t bother to tell me.
“Hailee,” I say as she continues to croak and look ridiculous, “call Mom for the address.”
“Why can’t you do it?” she whines.
“I’m driving,” I reply with an eye-roll. “Just call her!”
“Fine!” she snaps, pulling her phone out. “Jeez…”
I turn the radio’s volume down some so she can hear Mom and vice versa. Okay, so maybe I’m also taking this as an advantage to ease the pain.
“Hey, Mom!” Hailee chirps into her phone. “What’s the address? 2451? Elm Road? Near us, right? Uh-huh…”
Elm Road? That’s on—THE LEFT!
I curse under my breath as I quickly turn the wheel before I miss the turn, jolting a squealing Hailee toward me. Ha. See? It’s a good thing I told her to put her seatbelt on.
“Everything’s fine, Mom,” Hailee says as she glares at me. “Love you, bye!” She ends the call and smacks my arm. “You did that on purpose!”
“Did not.”
“Did too!”
“Did not.”
“Did too!”
“I’m not doing this,” I finally say as I look at the different houses’ addresses. “What was the address again?”
“24-something.”
“Hailee!”
“What?”
“We need the address.”
She sighs, her eyes glued to her phone. “2451.”
“Thank you.”
No reply.
Oh, good.
Once I find the correct house, I pull into the empty driveway and park the car. “I’ll be right back.”
Hailee scoffs as I get out of the car. “What am I…four?”
I mimic her in a whiny voice as I slam the driver’s door shut. What was I thinking when I asked Santa for a little sister? Clearly, I wasn’t the smartest five-year-old.
I walk up to the front porch and ring the doorbell. Then I glance back at the car to make sure Hailee is…well…being behaved. And from what I can see, she’s—
“Can I help you?”
Chapter 3: The Stupid Bread
There’s a guy standing in front of me. A guy with soft brown eyes, wavy swept-back hazelnut brown hair, and a confused look on his face.
Which probably mirrors my face, because I’m totally stunned by the fact that a cute guy wearing a shirt opened the door.
“Um…” He laughs a little. “I’m going out on a limb here that you’re not Kyle’s mom?”
My mouth drops at that. “No! Gosh, no! I’m Megan, his sister.”
“Ah,” he replies with a nod, “well…I’m Liam, Lincoln’s brother.”
Why on earth did I think that not brushing my hair was an okay idea?
“So,” I drawl, casually folding my arms, “is Kyle ready?”
What I’m really wondering is, how the heck have I never seen this guy before? Does he go to a different school? I mean, he can only be maybe a year older than me, which would put him as a senior. Swoon.
“Uh, yeah.” He motions behind him. “He’s upstairs with Lincoln. Do you want to come inside while I get him?”
Yes!
“No, that’s okay,” I reply with a shrug, “I don’t mind waiting out here.”
Nice, Megan. Play it cool.
“All right, I’ll be back in a sec.”
He leaves the door half-open, and I tilt my head to the side so I can watch him as he goes upstairs. Was he disappointed that I said no? I mean, he looked a little disappointed.
Hmm…
Ugh, you know what? He probably has a girlfriend. All the cute, nice guys usually do. It’s unfair, really.
Soon he’s coming back downstairs with Lincoln and Kyle trailing behind him, and
