At First Sight Read online

  It was so close to what had actually happened that I was taken aback. I glanced at Riley, who was slowly edging away from both of them.

  Meanwhile the other fakers seemed unwilling to let Tiffie’s story stand unchallenged. A skinny blonde jumped forward.

  “That’s not how it happened at all!” she cried. “See, I’d been checking out Riley all day. So I was right behind him in the planetarium, and I waited until it was dark so I could talk to him without any teachers interrupting us.”

  “Get real.” My good pal Kelsey was the next to speak up. “You guys all sound like stalkers. No, the way Riley and I really met in the planetarium was just fate. I didn’t even know what he looked like when I bumped into him in the dark; I just knew we were destined to be together.”

  “Oh yeah? Then how’d you know to ask him about that band on his shirt?” another girl challenged.

  Kelsey’s face went as red as her hair. “Oh,” she said. “Um. I, well, uh …”

  I was still hanging back behind the rest of the crowd watching the whole crazy scene. When I glanced Riley’s way again, I was startled to find him sidling in my direction. He stopped right next to me.

  “Can you believe this?” His voice was quiet and he sounded kind of weary. “When I started this, I was just looking for the girl who inspired me to write that song.”

  “Well, you’re looking at her right here,” I blurted out before I could stop myself. When I saw him blink in surprise, I gulped. But what the heck. It was too late to take it back now. “Like I tried to tell you from the start, I’m the girl from the planetarium.” I kept my voice low so the others wouldn’t overhear. Not that there was much chance of that at the moment. The competing fake backstories were reaching a fever pitch. “I’m the one you met that day, even if you don’t realize it.”

  His mouth twitched into an uncertain smile. “Come on,” he said, his voice cracking a little. “I know you said something like that in your first message, but I didn’t think you were really one of them.”

  “I’m not,” I said. “I don’t want to play games; I was just telling the truth. Why do you think I friended you in the first place?”

  He shrugged. “I figured you saw that I liked the Beast and were just joking around about the other stuff as an excuse to get in touch.” Shooting a look at the arguing fakers, he added, “I didn’t think you were like the rest of them.”

  I wasn’t sure what else to say. Before I could figure it out, shouts and the sounds of running feet came from upstairs. The faint cries of “Fight! Fight!” got everyone’s attention.

  The video game girls jumped up. “Uh-oh, wonder what’s up?” one of them exclaimed.

  “Come on, let’s go see!” Was it my imagination, or did Riley seem kind of relieved to have an excuse to rush away?

  I frowned, but there wasn’t much else I could do about it. Everyone was already racing for the stairs.

  Following more slowly, I emerged upstairs just in time to hear the crash of breaking glass. “Take that!” a voice yelled.

  A familiar sounding voice. Uh-oh …

  I pushed my way forward through the chanting crowd. In the middle of the circle Tommo and Marcus were facing off against each other. Tommo’s hair was soaked, and there was a rose petal stuck to his cheek. The rest of the bouquet was lying in a puddle on the rug, along with the remains of what had probably been a pretty nice vase.

  “Stay away from her, buddy boy,” Tommo snarled. “She’s here with me.”

  Marcus danced away, easily dodging the punch as the taller guy took a swing at him. “Oh yeah?” he taunted. “Funny, she didn’t say anything about that while we were making out just now.”

  Tommo let out a howl of rage and dove at him. Once again Marcus jumped out of the way, grinning from ear to ear as if he was having a blast.

  Britt was there too, of course. She was wringing her hands and calling out for both of them to stop. But I knew her well enough to be able to tell that she was secretly thrilled to have two guys fighting over her.

  I rolled my eyes and sighed. Typical. Then I shoved my way forward until I reached her. “Hey,” I said. “What’s new?”

  “Not much.” She smirked at me. “Some party, huh?”

  “Yeah. But I think it might be time for us to make an exit.” I tossed a glance at the guys, who were circling each other like a couple of prizefighters. Skinny, well-dressed prizefighters. “Always leave ’em wanting more, right?”

  Britt looked amused. “See? You do listen to my words of wisdom! And you’re right—let’s get out of here.”

  “Right behind you.” I searched the crowd for Riley as we pushed our way toward the door. But he was nowhere in sight.

  Fourteen

  “Up for some shopping, Lauren?” My dad poked his head into the den. “Mom and I are heading into the city to check out a new Asian market we heard about. We could stop somewhere for ice cream or sushi or something if you want to tag along.”

  I glanced up from my Spanish textbook. “No thanks. I’m not in the mood.”

  “But you’re in the mood for estudio del españ? On a beautiful Sunday morning?” Dad chuckled, gesturing to my book.

  “Not really.” I smiled weakly. “But I’ve got a test on Thursday, and I haven’t even started learning the vocab yet.”

  “Okay. Far be it from me to discourage you from getting a jump start on your homework. If I did that, they’d take away my teacher’s license.” He winked at me. “We’ll be home in time for dinner.”

  I kicked back on the love seat and stared at my textbook as I listened to him and Mom get ready to go. They called out one more good-bye, I heard a yowl as one of them chased Meow away from the door, and then the house went quiet.

  Maybe I should have gone with them after all, I thought listlessly. It might have shaken me out of my funk. I’d been in a bad mood all morning. I wasn’t usually the moping type, but I definitely was today.

  Leaning over my textbook again, I did my best to focus. But the English translations looked just as incomprehensible as the Spanish words. With a sigh I tossed aside the book. What I’d told my dad was true, but I just couldn’t concentrate on Spanish vocabulary right then.

  Instead I grabbed my laptop, which I’d left on the coffee table, and checked my e-mail. Nothing interesting. I thought about going to Facebook but decided to pass. I definitely wasn’t in the mood for a bunch of chatty, bubbly posts about everyone’s fabulous Saturday nights.

  I stood up and turned on the stereo. My iPod was in the speaker dock, so I scrolled through until I found one of my favorite new songs. Then I grabbed my sketch pad off the coffee table. I’d been working on some designs for prom dresses that didn’t look as if they’d been designed by a mentally challenged chimpanzee raised in a Victoria’s Secret store. But after the third time I had to erase the same neckline, I realized I wasn’t going to be able to focus on that today either. Muttering a curse under my breath, I tossed the pad aside, feeling annoyed with myself. Why couldn’t I shake off what had happened last night?

  “Come here, boy,” I called as Meow Tse Tung wandered into the room, tail at the alert.

  I spent the next few minutes lounging on the couch, wriggling a piece of string for the cat to chase. Meow batted at it a few times, then yawned widely and stretched. Jumping up onto the coffee table, he started licking his paw.

  I dropped the string and watched him, trying not to think about anything else. After the past few days of craziness, my brain was tired. And where had it gotten me? Exactly nowhere. Whatever Britt might think, it so wasn’t worth it.

  My laptop let out a beep. With a groan, I hoisted myself to my feet and went over to check it. It was an e-mail from Facebook. A new message from Riley.

  Hey Lauren! Just checking to make sure we’re cool. Things got a little weird before u left last night, & I rly hope ur not mad??

  I frowned. He rly hoped I wasn’t mad? Was that all he had to say after basically calling me a liar? Suddenly I wa
sn’t in the mood for him, either. My fingers flew over the keys.

  Weird? Is that what you call it? B/c I call it being totally blind 2 the truth. I told u I’m the real PG, & if u don’t want 2 believe it that’s ur problem. But don’t tell me not 2 b mad about it!!!

  I paused, letting the cursor hover over the send button. Maybe the response was a little harsh. Was it fair to take my bad mood out on him? Even if it was pretty much his fault… .

  Highlight. Click. Delete. But I had to say something, right? I started typing again.

  Don’t worry. Not mad. All is cool. Rly.

  “There,” I told Meow as I sent the new and improved message. “Much more tactful, right?”

  The cat stopped washing his paw long enough to stare at me, his long tail twitching. Then, with the equivalent of a kitty shrug, he returned his attention to his bath.

  “Typical,” I said, smiling despite my foul mood. “You’re just another guy too wrapped up in your own thing to pay attention, huh?”

  The laptop beeped again. Riley had written back.

  Are u sure? I rly want 2 stay friends w/u no matter what.

  I rolled my eyes, suddenly over all this back and forth. What was the point? He’d made it pretty clear last night that he didn’t believe I was Planetarium Girl. Or maybe that he didn’t want me to be Planetarium Girl. Maybe what he really wanted was someone breathless and giggly, like Tiffie or Chelsea or any of the other assorted fakers. At this point it was hard to come to any other conclusion.

  The phone rang. For a second my heart jumped, and I was sure that it was Riley calling to tell me I was wrong about that, that he’d finally come to his senses and realized I really was The One. But when I checked caller ID, I saw that it was only Britt.

  “Hey,” I said dully as I picked up the phone.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked. “You sound weird.”

  I sighed into the phone. “I’m just in a cranky mood. You know—last night.”

  Britt clucked sympathetically. During our drive home I’d told her all about everything that had happened between me and Riley at the party. For once she hadn’t had much advice for me, though she’d promised to help me figure out what to do.

  The problem was, I was starting to wonder if I really wanted to do anything. Maybe it was better to pull back a little, let this ridiculous situation die a natural death.

  “I always told you there was no such thing as love at first sight,” I told Britt now. “Guess this proves it, huh?”

  She didn’t exactly answer that. “Want me to come over?” she asked instead. “You know I’m always happy to help you wallow. Or try to cheer you up, if you’d rather.”

  “Thanks.” I felt marginally better just knowing she was there for me. No matter what. “I’m okay. I think I just want to hang out by myself for a while.”

  At that moment Meow stood up, stretched, and let out a sudden howl. I smiled.

  “Well, not exactly alone,” I said.

  Britt laughed. “Okay. But call if you change your mind, okay? I can be there in five minutes.”

  We hung up, and I sat there staring at the phone for a second. As tempting as it was to let Britt come over and jolly me out of my mood, I really did want to be alone to try to figure out why I was letting this guy get to me so much. It wasn’t as if he was my boyfriend or some longtime crush or anything. When you got right down to it, I barely knew him. I’d first laid eyes on him less than a week ago, and I hadn’t really stopped obsessing over him since. If I didn’t know better, I’d almost think I really was starting to fall for all that love-at-first-sight garbage.

  I was still pondering that a few minutes later. Meow had moved from the coffee table to the couch beside me and was splayed out on his back so I could rub his belly. Suddenly the doorbell buzzed. The cat leaped straight up into the air, letting out a wild shriek and then dashing under my dad’s favorite chair.

  “Chill, dude,” I told Meow with a laugh. “It’s probably just Britt.”

  It would be just like her to come over anyway. I headed for the door, not totally disappointed. Maybe she could help me figure things out. I certainly wasn’t getting anywhere on my own.

  Hurrying into the front hall, I grabbed the door and swung it open. “Hey,” I began with mock anger. “Didn’t you hear what I—oh.”

  It wasn’t Britt.

  “Hey,” Riley said with a sheepish smile, shuffling his weight from one foot to the other. “Hope you don’t mind me stopping by like this. I was over this direction anyway, and your address was in Google, and, well, I just thought maybe we should talk or something.”

  I just stood there in the doorway, totally agog and not quite believing he was really here. What was he doing here? My mind reeled with the possibilities.

  “Mroh-wohwww!”

  The yowl yanked me out of my stupor. I let out a gasp, glancing down just in time to see a furry gray-and-cream form streak past my feet and straight out the door.

  Fifteen

  “Meow! Come back!” I cried, forgetting all about Riley in my panic.

  How could I have been so careless? I knew better than to stand there like a dork with the door wide open. If anything happened to that crazy cat, it would be all my fault.

  “Was that a cat?” Riley asked.

  “Yeah.” I hurried forward to the edge of the front steps and desperately scanned the shrubbery out front. But Meow had already disappeared. “His name’s Meow, and he’s a total spaz. He’s not supposed to go outside.”

  “Gotcha.” Riley was instantly all business. “Come on, let’s find him—he can’t have gone far yet.”

  Just then I spotted a flash of gray beneath an azalea. “There he is!” I said, pointing. Then I rushed forward and flung myself to my hands and knees, ignoring the way the moistness of the mulch seeped instantly into my favorite capris. “Here, kitty kitty!” I called softly, trying to keep the panic out of my voice. “Come on, baby. Here, Meow!”

  “I think I see him,” Riley called softly from somewhere behind me.

  Glancing back, I saw him staring toward a clump of evergreen bushes along the property line. I winced as a car drove by out front, moving way too fast for the residential street.

  “Meow!” I called, hurrying toward the bushes. “Are you in there, boy?”

  By the time I reached him, Riley was already crouched down in front of the evergreens. “There,” he said quietly, pointing. “He went that way.”

  “At least he’s heading for the backyard instead of the street,” I commented, grateful for small favors.

  “How about if you go that way,” Riley said, gesturing in the direction Meow had gone, “and I’ll circle around the other side, try to head him off. Is he friendly?”

  “Oh, yeah,” I said with a small smile twisted with worry. “He’s practically a Labrador retriever.”

  Riley nodded, pausing just long enough to reach out and give my arm a gentle squeeze. “Don’t worry, we’ll get him,” he said. Then he turned and hurried off toward the far side of the house.

  I stayed low to the ground as I moved along my side, keeping a lookout under the bushes. “Meow?” I called out as I turned the corner into the backyard. “Come back inside and I’ll give you some nice, smelly tuna!”

  I thought that might attract his attention. Dad always swears that Meow has a bigger vocabulary than most of his middle school students. I don’t know about that, but Meow definitely does recognize at least a few words, “tuna” being first on the list.

  There was a flash of movement across the yard. But when I spun to look that way, I realized it was only Riley. He saw me looking and gave a little wave, then crouched down again, creeping along and peering under every bush.

  I went back to doing the same. The backyard was pretty small, consisting mostly of a vaguely Japanese-style rock garden that Dad had installed himself. Between the bushy mini maples, the hand-stacked rock formations and store-bought sculptures, and the holly bush badly in need of pruning, the
re were still plenty of places for a runaway feline to hide.

  Then I spotted Meow. He wasn’t exactly behaving like a fugitive. In fact, he was strolling across the little stone bridge spanning a rock “stream” as if he didn’t have a care in the world.

  I lunged toward him. “Meow!” I cried. “Hold still …”

  “Ra-wohwww!” Meow saw me coming and jumped off the side of the bridge. He trotted along just fast enough to keep out of reach, zigzagging around a Buddha statue and a small stand of bamboo. Based on the soft yowls he was emitting, I had no choice but to think he was laughing at me, cat-style.

  “Stop, damn it!” I called, fear and frustration making me feel like crying. “Meow, just come on already!”

  He turned sharply to the left, making a beeline for the hedge separating our yard from the neighbors’. I gulped, suddenly remembering that they had a bad-tempered little terrier who was always chasing the neighborhood strays. Meow was so ridiculously friendly; what if he decided to make friends with the little beast and got chomped?

  I stumbled over a stone, almost wiping out. As it was, I had to look down to catch myself on a stone lantern.

  When I looked up again, I couldn’t believe my eyes. Riley was crouched down, smiling and clucking. And Meow was strolling right up to him!

  I gasped, half expecting the cat to come within arm’s length only to dash away again. But no. A second later he was rubbing his pointy little head against Riley’s knee.

  Riley chuckled and scooped him up. “Good boy,” he cooed as the cat started bumping his head against his chin. “There you go.”

  I rushed over. “How’d you do that?” I exclaimed.

  “Animals like me, I guess,” Riley said with a smile, cradling Meow like a baby as the cat purred loudly. “Now come on, let’s get him inside before he makes another break for it.”

  I followed him into the house, feeling limp with relief as I shut the door firmly behind us. “Thanks for catching him,” I said as we wandered into the living room. “My whole family would be devastated if anything happened to that crazy cat. I don’t know what I would have done if you weren’t here.”