“Perfect. Then we’re done with the subject,” I ordered. “He’s supposed to be leaving soon anyway, so there’s no need to mention his name.”
“Mention whose name?” she asked with a cute grin.
Becky parked the truck in the student parking lot. We dashed up the front stairs through the bustling hallways and hurried to our lockers. She opened hers to find a glass vase tied with a white ribbon and filled with tiny pink roses.
“Wow—Matt never gave me roses before,” she exclaimed. “Didn’t I tell you I had the best boyfriend ever?”
My stomach tied itself in a bigger knot than was on her bow.
“My guess is they aren’t from him,” I mumbled.
“What?”
“Uh…nothing. Is there a card?”
“Oh…” She picked through the flowers. “Here it is. ‘Until we meet again…Sebastian,’” she read aloud.
“Sebastian?” My best friend was as shocked as she was flattered. She stuck the card back in the vase.
Suddenly Matt appeared behind us. Becky gasped and turned corpse white.
“Did you miss me last night?” he asked with a churlish wink.
“I did,” I said truthfully.
“Thanks, Raven.”
Becky tried to envelop the flowers in her unbuttoned paisley cardigan, but her sweater was too small and a few buds peeked out from her neckline.
“Where did you get those?” Matt asked. “You don’t have a secret admirer, do you?”
Becky froze. She never lied to Matt—or anyone, for that matter.
“They are mine actually,” I fibbed for her. “She was holding them while I shut my locker.” I held out my hand.
Becky opened her sweater and I took the vase.
The bell rang and Mrs. Hathaway, our history teacher, opened the door for class.
“I didn’t think pink was your color,” Matt said, bewildered.
“Uh…It’s not. I’m regifting.”
“I can’t believe you’d give away flowers from Alexander,” he charged.
“They aren’t from him—” I said, trying to defend my actions. Then I realized what I’d said.
Matt spotted the card poking out of the vase. He snatched it before I could stop him.
“Sebastian?” he read. “Alexander’s friend? Why is he giving you flowers?”
My horror story was spinning out of control. I wasn’t even sure what I was saying anymore.
“Uh…we’re going to be late for class,” I said.
“Yes,” Becky agreed. She took Matt’s hand and led him into class before our story got any more fictional.
I handed Mrs. Hathaway the bouquet. She was quite surprised and a little skeptical of my gift but happily placed the vase on her desk.
Becky and I glared at the bouquet. Even under normal circumstances I couldn’t focus too long on history.
Now, with Sebastian’s roses prominently displayed in class, both Becky and I were distracted. For once, neither of us learned a thing.
The sky over Dullsville was picture perfect—beautifully blue and dotted with bright, puffy clouds. It didn’t match the storm I felt brewing inside me during lunch as Matt questioned Becky and me about Sebastian on the bleachers.
“I have to meet this dude,” Matt said, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “He’s either a real gentleman or a real snake. Giving flowers to another guy’s girl? If he did that to my girlfriend, I’d have to take him out.”
Matt had grown up as Trevor’s shadow. Now that he’d broken away from Trevor’s clutches and started dating Becky, he showed a confidence I didn’t know existed. That said, he still was far from the type of guy to throw the first punch—or the last, for that matter.
“Why don’t we talk about something else?” I suggested. I was trying to eat organic peanut butter and jelly on a million-grain roll my mother had bought at some overpriced health food store. Becky fingered her gluten- and flour-friendly roast beef sandwich. She noticed my distaste and happily traded lunches with me.
“Does Alexander know Sebastian gave you flowers?” Matt asked skeptically.
“No, he doesn’t,” I said.
“Are you going to tell him?”
“Uh…I guess.”
“I think it’s important to be honest in a relationship,” Matt said. “Becky and I always tell each other everything. No secrets.”
Becky hid her face in her hands. “Matt, there’s something you should know—”
“Did I tell you Sebastian won’t be in town much longer?” I suddenly asked. “He’s just passing through. So surely we can talk about something else.”
Becky paused. “Yes,” she agreed. “Let’s talk about—”
“That’s a shame,” Matt said. “I would like to meet Alexander’s best friend. I imagine he’s pretty cool. What’s he into?”
He’s into Becky, I wanted to say.
“Gaming,” Becky said. “He looks like a modern-day pirate,” she said, half dreaming. “All he is missing is an eye patch and a pegleg.”
“Maybe I should be the one worried about him honing in on my girlfriend.”
Matt gave her a bear hug as she blushed.
“How about the five of us hang out tomorrow?” he continued. “The team is going to Hooligans and you guys can come, too.”
Hooligans was a grown-up version of Chuck E. Cheese—without the oversized rat. I’d gone there on a few occasions when Billy was still being called Nerd Boy. My little brother loved the video games and I loved a night out.
I wasn’t sure if Hooligans was going to be Alexander and Sebastian’s idea of fun, but I was more concerned with Becky being in the magnetic vampire’s presence again.
“I’d rather spend time with just us,” Becky said. “I haven’t seen you—”
“Yeah—the guys have been keeping late nights,” I said truthfully. “They might want a night off. And more important, who wants to see Trevor?”
“It’s a big place. You won’t even run into him,” Matt said encouragingly. “Besides, if Sebastian is leaving, when will you get a chance to see him again?” Matt asked, excited by his idea.
“I was hoping not anytime soon,” Becky whispered to me.
“Awesome,” Matt declared. “We’ll meet this week. But I’m warning you, Raven, if you open your locker this afternoon and find a ring, then I’m telling Alexander.”
As soon as the sun set, I hopped on my bike and motored toward the Mansion. It was imperative I get to
Alexander posthaste, and this time I wasn’t going to let anyone stand in my way—not even a handsome soccer snob. I was fortunate that all I had to dodge were a few cars and a woman walking her poodle.
I pounded on the door until Jameson politely let me in. I paced on the squeaky parlor floorboards for what seemed like an hour until Alexander finally entered the room.
Alexander was dreamy, standing in the doorway, his long black hair tousled and slightly damp from his shower.
“You have to talk to him…,” I exclaimed. “I have to talk to him.”
“What? Talk to who?” he asked.
“Sebastian,” I said, racing over to him.
I was so harried, the note card fell out of my hoodie pocket and onto the floor. Alexander picked it up before
I could place my boot over it.
“‘Until we meet again…Sebastian’?” he read aloud.
Alexander’s dark eyes turned angry red. “What is my best friend doing giving you cards?” he asked, his brow furrowing.
“It wasn’t a card, Alexander. It was flowers.”
Alexander looked shocked, then angry. He couldn’t hide a feeling of betrayal as his expression tightened.
“Sebastian!” he began to call.
I grasped his arm. “They weren’t for me.”
“Then who were they for?” he asked skeptically.
“Becky. He texted her all night and then had roses waiting for her in her locker.”