“Or twenty.”
“Exactly. Total cliché. Anyway, somehow I got her to sit down and just talk to me—and of course it turns out that she’s a budding songwriter who’s wondering if she can make it worth my while to pass her CD on to my father.”
“Seriously?” I said. “Were you tempted?”
“Nah,” he said. “A naked girl in my room does nothing for me.”
“Why not?” I picked up the mug of tea and turned to look at him. “Oh, wait—are you gay?” I hadn’t gotten the vibe . . . but he was awfully good-looking and he dressed well. It kind of made sense.
“No, just a liar,” he said cheerfully. “I like naked girls in my room.”
“Oh. So did you really send her away?”
“We talked for a while. . . . She left on her own but it was all friendly. My point is, I know what it’s like to have people look at you and only see a stepping-stone to your famous father. The trick is to use that to your advantage.” He grinned at me. “There are perks.”
“Yeah, I know. No one’s going to be playing the tragedy violin for either of us.” I brought the tea over to him. “What’s it like at your school? Are kids all over you?”
“Here they are. In New York, it was less of an issue. People are cooler in New York. So far, I’m not impressed with the kids at Fenwick anyway. I’m only here for the one year, so I’m not looking to make a ton of friends.” He tilted his head at me. “I have you, right?”
“Definitely.” We were interrupted by the sound of the garage door, followed by the appearance of Mom and Luke.
There’s always something a little less polished and put-together about people coming home from a party than when they leave for one. The twist in Mom’s hair was maybe just a little less tight and her dress was the slightest bit crumpled and Luke’s sweater had a pull or two in it—maybe that’s why it was clear that they were at the end of an evening and not at the beginning of one. Or maybe it was the way Mom’s face was tinged pink and she was walking too carefully but not quite straight, despite Luke’s guiding arm.
“I was wondering whose car that was,” Luke said as he steered Mom into the kitchen. He released her so he could shake hands with Aaron. “This is a nice surprise.”
“I just dropped by for a quick visit,” Aaron said. “Hope it’s okay that it’s so late.”
“Of course!” Luke nudged Mom with an annoyingly meaningful glance at me and Aaron. “Come on, Cassie. They don’t need us here.”
“Oh, okay.” She took a sudden step back, right onto Luke’s foot. He steadied her.
“How much did you drink?” I asked her.
“Not that much,” she said. Above her head, Luke mimed tossing drink after drink into his mouth.
“A fine example you set,” I said with mock superiority.
“It’s not my fault. They kept refilling my glass.”
“I can’t wait to use that as my excuse when I come back from the next after-party.”
“I’m putting her to bed,” Luke said, tugging her toward the doorway. “Good night, Aaron. Really great to see you.” He ushered Mom into the hallway and I could hear her giggling a little on the stairs. Well, at least she sounded more cheerful than she had earlier.
“I should probably go,” Aaron said, standing up. “I only came by to tell you that I wish I could have spent the whole evening with you, like we’d planned. And also that my new home is one weird place.”
“Whose home isn’t?”
He shook his head. “You have no idea how good you have it. Your mom and Luke—they actually like each other. My dad’s never been married to someone he liked. He clearly can’t stand being home with Crystal and he was the same way with my mother.”
“If they ever really drive you crazy, feel free to come hang here.”
“I wish. The problem is they both want me around as much as possible—I’m like their buffer. Which is about as much fun as you’d guess.” He stopped and studied me. “Why is it so easy to talk to you? I don’t normally tell people private stuff like this.”
“I feel the same way,” I said. “Maybe it’s just that we have such similar situations. Not many people get it. And if I told anyone else something private about my parents, I’d be terrified of seeing it in the tabloids the next day. Let’s make a pact to just unload all this stuff on each other.”
“It’s a deal.” He held out his hand and we shook and then he leaned forward and kissed me gently on the cheek. “I am very glad I came back to LA for this year,” he said softly.
thirteen
The school activity fair was that Tuesday. Ben and I manned a booth to get people to sign up for the Holiday-Giving Program. Riley and Skyler circulated around the crowded gym with flyers and pointed people in our direction.
Arianna came over and asked if she could help. Ben suggested she reach out to the juniors she knew and encourage them to come talk to us, and she obediently ran off.
Things were quiet at our post, so I was idly watching the crowd when I spotted Arianna targeting two girls from her class and walking them toward us. They were staring at me, and as they got nearer, I heard one of them say, “Luke Weston? Oh my God!”
They signed up to help at the Christmas party, and after they left, I said to Arianna, “Please don’t tell people Luke will come to the party. He might not and I’d rather people signed up because they actually want to be involved.”
“Oh, I’m not!” she said with a wave of her hand. “Don’t worry! Everyone’s just really excited about helping out.” And she went running off to collar some more people . . . who all stared at me as she whispered something to them.
And I was pretty sure I could guess what she was whispering.