“Thank you for the heads up, Sonja. I really appreciate it.” I stand. “I don’t plan on going anywhere, but I might have to find another part-time job once football season is officially over.” I really don’t want to, but what choice do I have? I can’t do much with ten hours a week. That’s barely four hundred dollars a month after taxes, and I need more if I want to save up for my future.
“I understand,” she says with a nod. “Just keep me posted.”
I go into the bathroom, quickly change into my Yo Town shirt and then clock in before joining Blake out in the store, which is now empty.
Blake’s cleaning up the topping station and he glances up when he spots me. “My mom already give you the bad news?” he asks.
“Yeah.” I go to stand beside him, noticing that the frosted animal crackers are black and orange and white. Halloween colors. Everyone’s got the Halloween spirit. Sonja put up decorations in the window a few weeks ago. “Kind of sucks.”
“I know, sorry. I warned you, though.” He tries to cheer me up by saying, “We only opened an hour ago and we’ve been pretty steady, so that’s good.”
“I’m glad. I don’t want the shift to drag. I need to go back to school once it’s over.” At Blake’s confused look, I explain further. “The Halloween carnival is tonight. The yearbook staff is hosting a haunted house. Aren’t you coming?”
“Nah.” Blake’s cheeks turn ruddy. “That’s kids stuff.”
“No it’s not. It’s fun.” I nudge him. “Have you ever been?”
“Only during my freshman year, and I hated every minute of it.”
“Aw, you should give it another chance and go, Blake. Won’t some of your friends be there?”
“I don’t know. Maybe—maybe Kyla’s going,” he mumbles, turning away from me to straighten up the cup display.
My ears perk up. “Wait a minute, did you say Kyla?”
He keeps his back to me. “I don’t think so.”
Liar pants.
“Um, I do think so.” I tap him on the shoulder and he whirls around, looking defensive. “Are you talking about Kyla the water girl? Short, medium-length brown hair, pretty brown eyes?”
He says nothing, but he doesn’t have to speak. The answer is written all over his embarrassed face.
“I know her, we’re friends!” Well, a slight exaggeration, but we’re getting there. “I’m a water girl too, remember? We spend a lot of time together at the games and at practice. How do you know her?”
Blake shrugs, his expression pained. “We have a couple of classes together.”
“Is she going to the carnival tonight?”
“I don’t know.” He heads to the back of the store without another word.
Clearly he doesn’t want to talk about it, so I let it go.
Customers stream in steadily throughout my shift, a lot of them people from school. I see Lauren Mancini and her posse, which isn’t a surprise because remember, she just loves this place.
But what is a surprise is her demeanor. She approaches me as I stand behind the register, and there’s almost a—shy expression on her face.
Say what?
“So, hey, Amanda. What’s up?”
“Nothing much,” I say warily. “How are you?”
“I’m good, I’m good.” She pauses, then leans in closer. “Um, can I ask you a question?”
I calculate the weight of her frozen yogurt cup and then key in the price on the register. “Four dollars and sixty two cents.” I hesitate when I catch the expectant look on her face. I don’t know what her plan is, but I’m not in the mood to be messed with today. “As long as it has nothing to do with Tuttle, then sure. Ask away.”
She looks slightly taken aback but she forges on. “What’s the deal with you and Eli Bennett?”
Okay. That was unexpected. Where’s the punch line? I’m waiting for her to accuse me of poaching a freshman. Or being a cradle robber. Whatever mean thing she can say about Eli and me, I’m prepared.
But I see nothing on her face but genuine curiosity. Which of course, leaves me curious too.
“There’s no deal with me and Eli,” I tell her. “We’re just friends.”
“Really? He said you two broke up last night, and that you were really upset over it.”
“Did he tell you that himself?” I’m half tempted to beat that kid up, I swear. Again with the violence, but I guess when you’re dealing with idiots, you can’t help it.
“Well, I wasn’t the one who actually talked to him.” She shifts her feet, clearly uncomfortable.
“Who did then? One of your friends?” Was he at the party spreading rumors to everyone or what? Stupid Eli. I knew he would run with this, but I didn’t realize just how far.
“I heard a rumor, okay?” Her voice is full of irritation and she shakes her head. “Nothing confirmed.”
“Oh.” This entire situation is only getting weirder and weirder. “Okay, fine. Eli and I were kind of hanging around.” For approximately thirty minutes. “And yes, we had some good times.” They lasted three minutes, tops. “Before everything fell apart.” Thanks to his running away from Tuttle. Heaven forbid he risks getting his ass kicked.
Why am I covering for him again? I have to admit—there’s something about Eli Bennett that’s charming. He’s crass and overeager and he says really dumb things, but he’s also really cute and kind of sweet. He’s harmless.