Hello, Hello
Chapter Six
TAKE IT PERSONAL
"So… Crossing off this one and this one, you have… Well, you don't have many left to choose from." Cody is standing in front of a white board, a green marker in hand. There are scribbles all over the white board. Girl's names are crossed out. My list is becoming smaller and that white board is glaring at me, telling me what a fool I've been. Cody was right from the beginning. I've been too picky and Justin could be sweeping a boy off his feet right this moment.
I sit back in my seat, crossing my arms. I want to argue with him. I want to say I'm not so pathetic that it won't take me much to get a kiss from any of these "lovely" ladies. I can't argue, though. I know he's right. There aren't many left to choose from.
"Lindsay," I finally say. Cody blinks and lowers his hand. He was about to scribble something else onto the board.
"What?"
"Lindsay," I repeat, sounding more annoyed. I hate repeating myself. I lift a finger. "She's stupid. All it will take is a simple trick, and I want you there to photograph it."
I stand up and hand Cody a camera. He looks down at it like he's never seen one in his life.
"O-okay." He lifts it to his face as if to try it out. I wonder. Is this going to work? I suppose we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?
"Let's go," I say, determined to get this done. Now. Marching across the spa with Cody in tow, I find Lindsay painting her toenails. She looks content, that vapid expression on her face, tongue sticking out slightly, and that long blonde hair hanging down over her shoulders, over that ample bosom of hers. I don't know what guys see in her, other than the fact that she's stupid and probably easy. Why yes, I did go there, but look at her. I mean, seriously. Do you think any sane straight guy with the dreaded One Thing on their mind is going to pass that up? In a way, this thought makes me feel sorry for her. Almost. Then I remind myself that she's stupid; she might not be consciously, but girl. Pick up a book and try educating yourself. You'd be surprised what a little education can do for the simple-minded.
"Are you really going to kiss Lindsay?" Cody hisses at me. He's standing right behind me, clutching that camera like it's some kind of holy salvation. I can feel his breath against my neck and I have to say, I'm not wholly against this shivery feeling it elicits. Blinking, I smirk at Cody and poke the camera he holds.
"Just make sure you have that thing ready," I tell him before striding over to Lindsay.
I'm lucky she's alone. There's no sign of Tyler for the moment, and usually he's all over the poor girl. I stand before her lounge chair and it takes her a moment to notice I'm there.
"Hey," she says, squinting up. "You're blocking out the sun. Like, can't you move out of the way, Owen?"
"I'm not Owen." Even as I say it, I know it's completely pointless. "Never mind. I came over here to ask you for a favor."
"Ooh!" She sits up now, all eager and perky. She looks around and I get the feeling favor means something else in the world of Lindsay. "Like party favors? I love party favors!"
I suppress the deep urge to smack myself (or her) right in the face and instead, I sigh, my gaze sliding away from her in my attempt to keep my eyes from rolling. I take in a breath and put out my hand.
"Lindsay. Just take my hand, all right?"
She gives me that stereotypical blonde girl look, all quizzical and wondering, but not in the least skeptical. I nearly smirk again. That's right, I think as she finally takes my hand in anticipation for whatever it is she thinks I'm going to do. Take my hand and let it unfold. I pull her up to a standing position and she giggles. May I just take this moment to note something? I hate it when a girl giggles. Laughing is one thing, but giggles? They belong on four year old children, not teenagers, and certainly not older women. Though I have yet to meet an older woman who giggles. It's prevalent in teenagers. Especially around boys. It rings false to me. It can't just be my cynicism talking, either. It's just as irritating as nails on chalkboard, if you ask me.
Now I was going in for the kill. She remained completely clueless as I pulled her in, with the intention to kiss her. I even closed my eyes and then...
"What's going on here?"
I take a moment before opening my eyes. Justin is standing there with a cocky smile written all over his face and he walks right over and shoves me away from Lindsay, and her away from me. Annoyed, I try to push him right back, but I'm woefully inept. My muscles don't cooperate and he stays exactly where he is. I feel like I'm trying to shove a brick wall. I suppose he's what amounts to one, especially when you think of how he's the wall to my challenge.
"Are you cheating?" He raises his eyebrows like he knows that was exactly what I was doing. I scowl at him. Okay, so trickery is against the rules, but I had yet to trick anybody.
"It's not cheating." I cross my arms.
"Oh?" Justin takes that moment to look at Lindsay. "Did you realize Noah here was about to kiss you?"
"What? No he wasn't. He just asked me if I liked favors and I said, yes! And then he told me to take his hand, which I thought was a little weird, but I thought, what the heck? Why not? And I took his hand and then—"
"And then this little pervert was about to kiss you."
I narrow my eyes at this. "Excuse me? How was that in any way perverted?" I turn back to Cody, who throws me a wave and a sheepish smile, followed by that nervous little laugh of his. "Back me up here, bro. Tell this clown I'm not a pervert."
Cody dutifully joins us and backs me up. "It's true. He hasn't done anything perverted."
I should know what's coming up next, but I don't. I start to give Justin the smuggest of my smug smirks when I find him smiling at me. It also happens to be one of those sort of smiles where you can tell the person is pretending to be benevolent but something far from that will be coming from his mouth. I try to head him off at the pass; I fail. My ill-fated utterance is covered completely with his next sentence:
"Really, Cody? You don't think waking up to him spooning you and hm, I don't know, slobbering all over your ear was perverted? Really? Really, Cody? Then!" He gasps. "That must mean you liked it! Does that mean you're—!"
"No!" Cody's shout is emphatic and tremulous. He's even waving his arms around for dramatic effect. I don't know whether to be amused or annoyed by his typical spastic display. He looks to me with a semi-panic in his eyes. No blame, though. Surprising. I thought for sure he'd be at least a little peeved at the predicament my dream has seemed to put us both in.
"Look, you!" Cody points at him, all frowning and angry. It's almost too cute. I cross my arms and smile at Cody, my gaze flicks back to Justin. He's not impressed. Cody's not done, though. "Leave him alone, you great big bully! And me, too! What is your problem, dude? We're just friends, that's all! Why don't you just chill and go find something else to do?"
"Friends, huh? Coulda fooled me." Justin locks me with a steel gaze. I just smirk in response.
"Got any more business with us?"
"Um, like, hey," Lindsay interjects. "Owen? I thought you had business with me."
"I did." I haven't forgotten. I decide to be bold. Let's not waste any more time, right? "Kiss me, Lindsay."
"Right now? What if somebody's watching?"
"That's the point."
She looks so confused. Poor girl. Not. She turns to stare at Justin, eyes dazzling for a moment before turning back to eye Cody and then her gaze goes around to the rest of the camp.
"Oh for Pete's sake! It's not that bad! One kiss!" I spring up one finger for emphasis, waggling it under her nose. She goes cross-eyed trying to follow it.
"Okay! One quick kiss!" She leans forward and pecks me on the lips. As she's pulling away, I hear Cody:
"Wait, wait! Hold it! Just a little longer!"
Lindsay obeys, staying where she is. My gaze slides over to Cody. What is he thinking? I see him fumbling with the camera and I let out a soft snort, rolling my eyes. I move away from Lindsay and she starts to fall over, grabbing onto my shoulders for balance.
"H-hey!" I wobble back a few steps, wind milling my arms like a stupid child. "Yikes!" I pitch backward with Lindsay falling on top of me. A cascade of blond hair that smells like strawberries envelopes my senses. I hear the click of the camera a second later.
"I told you to hold it," Cody complains. I glare up at him.
"We didn't need a photo, you idiot."
Cody's eyes go wide. I send a vicious gesture of my arm towards Justin.
"He's standing right there."
"Oh, right." Cody smiles that gap-toothed smile of his and I find I've already forgiven him. I sit up and shove Lindsay away—she's getting up and rubbing her elbow, which she apparently smacked against the pavement. Dusting myself off, I get to my feet and smirk.
"I win."
Justin says nothing. He storms off.
"Maybe we should practice for that, uh, musical thing now," Cody says. I look over at him. He's clutching that camera close to his chest as if he thinks I'm going to tear it away from him.
"Right."
"Owen? Are we done yet? Ohh, I totally get it now! It was practice for the play!"
"Yes. That's what it was, Lindsay. Practice. For the play." I smirk some more before moving away and beckoning to Cody to follow. "Come on, Cody. Let's practice."
