"Hey," he said.
"What?" I turned back, impatiently staring up at him on the top step.
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He opened his mouth and then shut it. Then he glanced down the street.
"Come on," I said. "You're making me even later." He frowned down at me. "Are you going out with Luke Carter?"
It sounded odd to hear that spoken aloud by someone. Going out with Luke Carter? It just wasn't normal. But what was normal anymore?
I shrugged, and squinted up at E.T. "I don't know," I said.
"How can you not know?"
I tried to think up some way to explain it, but there really was no explanation unless I replayed the last few weeks and told him everything that had happened between Luke and me. And I didn't have time for that, so I just said, "It's complicated."
E.T. seemed to mull it over. Finally, he said, "I guess he's good enough for you."
Now that startled me.
I had no idea E.T. cared whether I dated anyone or not, or how they would treat me. He was the only friend I had at school. But we never really discussed personal things like feelings and that kind of junk. He was just the guy I always sat by and defended. It was touching to know he thought about me enough to worry about my life.
"You're not going to start ignoring me now that you've got a boyfriend, are you?"
I rolled my eyes. So much for the sweet E.T. who was only worried about me. "Shut up," I said. 197
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He grinned and lifted one shoulder. "I didn't think you would."
I sighed. "Does that ease your worries? Can I go now?"
"Yeah," he said. "You can go now."
"Thank you, your highness." I bowed down to him and when I straightened, stuck my tongue out before racing across the street.
"Bye," he called after me. I glanced back and waved. I ran the whole way home. It was four blocks and I was winded by the time I reached our yard. The sun was easing down below the horizon. I pulled up short when I spotted the white Mustang with black racing stripes parked out front. Luke.
I dashed the rest of the way to the front door and flung it open.
He sat on the loveseat with his knees spread wide and his hands hanging down between them. His head was lowered but he raised it when the door opened. He stood when he saw it was me filling the entrance. Dad had been in his chair with the footrest down. He didn't bother to stand at my arrival. Luke took a step in my direction. But then Mom appeared in the kitchen doorway.
She rushed past him, crying out. "Where...have you...been?" She crushed me into a hug and then said. "Don't you ever do that to me again, young lady." I pulled back. "I was at Marty's."
"The school called," she went on. "They started talking to me about your suspension and then they were saying it'd been dropped. I had no idea what was going on." 198
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I lowered my head, kicked at a patch of carpet. "I was at the library studying until about two thirty. Then I went to see Marty." I looked up. "There's no baby."
"There's no baby?" she echoed.
I nodded. "Abby's not pregnant. It was all a misunderstanding." My voice choked a little then. I thought of the expression on Marty's face when he'd insisted there had been. "But Mr. Eggrow thought I'd told everyone there was, and he got mad."
Mom moved back a step. Her face was a little pale. "She's not pregnant?"
I shook my head. And my mother backed even further away. Dad pushed to his feet then. When she turned away from me and disappeared down the hall toward her room, Luke came to me.
He couldn't take his gaze off me. "Are you OK?" he said. His eyes moved from my face to my arms as if he were searching for physical wounds.
I nodded. "I'm fine."
His searching blue eyes returned to mine. "You weren't earlier."
I slipped a hand in my pocket and my eyes fell as I remembered exactly how I'd been earlier. "I'm better." He said, "I guess you heard what happened," at the same moment I said, "E.T. told me what you did." I lifted my face and we shared a moment where no words had to be spoken. The simple contact of our gazes was enough. Softly, I said, "Thank you." 199
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He nodded once, and reached for my arm. But before he touched me, Dad's voice interrupted from behind us. Obviously, he'd been watching the whole scene.
"Carrie's still grounded."
Luke glanced over at him, a regretful—but almost defiant—
look still on his face, like he wanted to argue with my father.
"Now that she's made it home safe and sound, you should be going, Luke."
It was clear from his expression that Luke didn't agree. "I need to tell her something," he finally said to Dad. "May I very quickly tell her something?"
Dad seemed to seethe at Luke for being brave enough to stand up to him. Finally, he said, "You can tell her as she walks you to the door." He turned on his heel and followed Mom's path back to their room.
I turned to Luke. "I'm sorry," I said. "This house hasn't been the greatest place to be lately."
"Gee, I wonder why?" Luke said, trying to make me smile. When I didn't, he took my hand and we started making baby steps toward the door. When we finally reached it, we stopped and faced each other.
"I finished the poem," he whispered. I smiled. "Really?" I'd forgotten all about the poem, all about our Fourth of July Celebration in November. Just remembering that night boosted my spirits. Luke nodded. "It's not with me, so I can't show it to you now. But it's done. I wanted you to know that." He glanced up at the ceiling and then to me. "I tried to show it to you on Thanksgiving Day, but..."
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I nodded. "Yeah."
He moved closer to me. "I want to kiss you," he whispered.
My eyelids fluttered and I swayed toward him. Was it possible to have this strong of a pull toward another human being?
I managed to shake my head. "Bad idea."
"I know." He did dare to reach up and lightly move the back of his index finger over my cheekbone, though. "But I thought you'd still like to know."
He was right. I did like knowing.
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Chapter Fifteen
I arrived early to school the next morning. Luke was waiting for me once again by my locker. People stared. And they talked. There's no denying that. It was hard to decide which shocked them more: the scandal with my brother or the fact that Luke Carter was interested in me. He walked down the halls beside me. It felt very strange, like I was wearing my shoes on the wrong feet, but Luke courted like a gentleman. He didn't kiss me in public or even hold my hand. But he subtly let people know he was with me. I about died when he introduced me to his best friend. I'd lived in the same small town as Nathan Bates my whole life and here was Luke introducing us. Nate very graciously shook my hand, but I had to say, "Hello, Nathan. Have you lived in Stillburrow long?"
He paused at that and cocked an is-this-girl-mentallystable look toward Luke. But Luke shoved his hands in his pockets and glared at me. "Very funny." Nate finally realized I was joking and then he couldn't stop laughing.
Luke even had E.T. and me sit by him at lunch. I think E.T. fell into hero worship over Luke too. At first he was a little self-conscious, thinking Luke was making a better grade than he was in trigonometry, so he quizzed him a little. Thank goodness I'd given Luke the head's up about E.T.'s complex. He knew to answer the questions with an, "I'm not really sure." And then he'd scratch his head as if he were puzzled. 202