Interviewing Marcus turned out to be less painful than I’d expected. The entire time we talked, he didn’t remind me once that I’d ruined his life, and, as it turned out, he had been doing a lot since he’d left Brighton. He’d been the Snappin’ Sea Turtle mascot at Sheldon Academy, played striker in the local soccer league (and helped them win the district championship), and been a movie extra the previous summer.
“No way.” I grinned. “You … an actor?”
“An extra,” he pointed out. “I pretty much walked through the scene and that was it, but I got to meet Fritz Fulton.” He pulled out his cell phone and showed me a picture of him with possibly the hottest teen actor of all time.
“That is so cool. I got my picture taken with a celebrity this summer too.” I handed over my cell phone and Marcus groaned.
“Smokey the Bear?”
I laughed. “When we went camping, my stepfather made us sit through a fire safety seminar before we could strike a single match.”
Marcus clicked through my pictures. “That explains this one of a fire extinguisher … I guess.” He smiled at me. “Were you afraid you wouldn’t remember what it looked like?”
He flipped the phone around so I could see the image. It was the red globe from Katie’s locker.
“So, it is a fire extinguisher!” I grabbed the cell phone from him.
“Yeah. There’s the handle to fire off the foam.” He pointed at the nozzle. “You really didn’t pay attention during that seminar, did you?”
“Who keeps something like this in their locker?” I jumped up from my seat, scanning the room for Paige, and saw her at a chocolate fountain, dipping strawberries … with Ava and Ben.
“Crap!” I sat down just as quickly without considering the attention my jack-in-the-box antics would draw. Ben glanced over, squinting into the darkness, and waved. Luckily, Marcus’s back was turned. I waved and got up again, intending to hurry over to Ben before he could see Marcus.
“I’ll be back. Just sit here and don’t turn around.”
Knowing his disregard for rules, I should have predicted what would happen next.
Marcus stood up … and turned around. “Who were you waving at?”
I stepped in front of him. “Ben Hines, the guy you were attacking when I caught you last year.”
“Really?” He peered around me. “He looks a lot different.”
I glanced over my shoulder and saw Ben doing the same thing, trying to figure out who my date was.
“He’s grown,” I said. “And he really doesn’t like you.”
A rational person would have said “Yikes” and sat back down, but Marcus said, “I’ll go talk to him”—and headed straight for Ben.
“Oh, this won’t end well.” I followed on his heels.
The closer Marcus got to Ben, the darker Ben’s expression became, until there was practically a storm brewing in his eyes. Ava fixed me with a similar glare.
“Hey … Ben,” said Marcus. “I was wondering if we could talk.”
“What are you doing here?” Ben was taking full advantage of his new, deep voice to practically growl at Marcus. “Shouldn’t you be waiting by the punch bowl to shove people into it?”
“He’s with me.” I said. “And he’s not here to cause trouble.”
Ben recoiled as if I’d slapped him. “You’re dating this loser?”
“How shocking,” said Ava in a sarcastic tone that indicated it wasn’t.
“We’re not dating,” I said. “I’m interviewing him for my article.”
“And I just came over to apologize,” said Marcus.
Ben’s anger faded a little. “You did?”
“You did?” I was just as surprised.
Ben reached past Ava and grabbed my hand. My fingers instantly tingled, and I prayed nobody could see the goose bumps on my arms. “Come talk to me for a second.” He led me out of the room and over to the leather couches in the foyer.
“Please tell me you’re not dating that guy,” he said.
“I already told you no.” I did my best to act offended, but I was secretly pleased.
Ben was jealous of me and Marcus.
“Good,” he said. “Because he isn’t the guy you should be with.”
My heart threatened to pry my jaws apart and leap onto the floor. “Who … who should I be with?”
Ben scooted closer and grabbed both my hands. “Someone who has a plan for his future and is smart and funny and knows how to treat you right.”
“I completely agree,” I said, bowing my head modestly. “But who could that be?”
“Delilah, I don’t know why I didn’t tell you this sooner, but …” He leaned toward me, speaking in a whisper. I could smell his cologne and the chocolate on his breath. His mouth was close enough to kiss.
So I did.
I rose off my seat, grabbed his face, and pressed my lips against his chocolaty, strawberry ones. I knew I wasn’t supposed to watch, but I wanted to have a visual memory of every moment of my first kiss. I gazed up into Ben’s eyes, but instead of seeing the same bliss that I felt, I saw only confusion. My stomach tightened as he placed his hands on my shoulders and pushed me back.
He didn’t like me.
I’d attacked him with my lips and let him know how I really felt—and he didn’t like me.
“What are you doing?” he asked. “I’m with Ava.”
“Well, I … I thought …” I bit my lower lip to keep it from trembling, and brushed my hair back several times, my cheeks aching with suppressed emotion. “You said that … that I should be with … I thought you meant—” The last word caught in my throat, drowned in the beginnings of a sob. I could feel the tears building behind my eyes, and my nose started to run.
I jumped off the couch and sprinted down the hall opposite the Crystal Ballroom, looking for a door to hide behind … preferably one that led to some alternate universe where I hadn’t kissed Ben. I spotted a ladies’ room and ducked inside, collapsing onto a chaise lounge in the waiting area, where I promptly burst into tears.
I’d never been so wrong or so embarrassed about something in my entire life. Kissing Ben had been such an impulsive and stupid thing to do, especially since he already had a girlfriend and was my editor on the newspaper. My levelheadedness had always been one of my best traits, but ever since I’d seen “the new Ben,” that had fallen by the wayside. I should have known better. I wasn’t the kind of girl who won at romance. I was going to be the thirty-year-old lady having dinner conversations with her cats.
“Delilah?”
I smelled Chanel and then felt Paige sit beside me, her arm wrapped around my shoulder. “What happened? I know it can’t be the dress, because that looks fabulous.”
Despite myself, I blubbered a laugh and wiped at my eyes.
“Oh, sweetie, don’t do that. You’re not wearing waterproof mascara.” Paige grabbed a tissue and dabbed at the black lines trailing down my cheeks. “Was this about a guy?”
I nodded and sniffled. “How did you guess?”
“Because I’ve never seen anything get you down before.” She crumpled up the tissue and smiled. “And because it’s always about a guy.”
While she reapplied my makeup, I calmed down and told her what had happened. “I guess I’m a fool,” I ended the story.
She nodded and swiped blush across my cheek. “I’d have to agree with that.”
“Hey!” I pulled back, frowning.
“Well, I did tell you he was lame.” She grabbed my jaw and turned my head from side to side. “God, I wish I had your cheekbones.”
“I wish I had an escape route.” I walked to a hanging mirror to study my reflection. Paige had actually succeeded in making my face look like nothing had gone wrong. If only she could apply the same flawless coverage to my life. “He’s going to be out there. I know it.”
“Well, you can’t spend the rest of your life hiding in here.” She wrinkled her nose. “This is a public restroom, for crying out loud.”
“You’re right.” I stood tall and threw my shoulders back. “I have to act like I didn’t run away, wailing like an infant.”
Paige shook her head. “You actually ran in a fancy party dress? We have got to work on your poise. If you become a Debutante, that’ll be your next task.”
Her comment reminded me of how the mess with Ben had started in the first place. “Hey, I meant to tell you earlier—remember that thing in Katie’s locker that looked like a time bomb? I was right. It’s a fire extinguisher.”
Paige mulled this over. “Hmmm … a girl with a clique named Hot Stuff has a fire extinguisher in her locker. That’s very … what’s the word? Iconic.”
“Ironic,” I corrected her. “But the big question is, why does she have one? Is she planning something that involves potential fire hazard?”
Paige’s eyes widened. “Some big publicity event that’ll make Hot Stuff even more popular?”
I gave her a strange look. “I think I’d be more concerned for the safety of the student body.”
“Right. That, too. Now you really have to find out her deep, dark secret.” She smiled. “And that gives us more dish for your progress report tonight.” She checked her cell phone. “Which it’s about time for. You ready to face the world?”
I took a deep breath and swallowed hard. “I’m ready to face anything.”
When I’d fled for the ladies’ room earlier, the foyer had been empty except for the thousand-year-old woman and Ben. It had also been quiet. Now it was crowded with students who were yelling and standing in a semicircle around two figures engaged in a serious smackdown.
“Oh, no,” I whispered.
Ben and Marcus had their upper bodies completely entwined, pushing at each other inside the half circle, while Ava stomped around them, shouting, “Stop this! You are acting like children!”
“Marcus, don’t!” I added my voice to the chaos, regretting it seconds later.
Marcus glanced up at me, and while he was distracted, Ben seized the chance to kick a leg behind him and knock him to the ground.
“Stop!” I ran toward them, and Paige groaned.
“Poise, Delilah! Poise!”
I ignored her and reached into my purse for the cinnamon spray Major had forced on me. “Stop or I’ll spray!” I threatened.
Ben and Marcus froze for half a second, looked at my tiny canister, and got to their feet to resume their country club brawl. I darted into the center of the semicircle and raised the cinnamon spray. As I held down the trigger, however, Ava ran forward from the opposite side, waving her purse wildly in the air, as if she planned to knock both guys senseless.
They moved to avoid her and me, which placed Ava directly into the cinnamon spray firing range, and I shot her square in the eyes.
No threats or yelling could have broken up the fight, but Ava’s shrieks of pain and rage quieted the entire room. She collapsed and flailed on the carpet, clutching at her face.
“Ava, I’m sorry!” I threw the spray aside and dropped to the floor beside her. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Liar!!” Ava pulled her hands down just long enough for me to see that the whites of her eyes were bright red and that tears were streaming down her face. “You kiss my boyfriend and attack me? You want to do nothing but hurt me, you—” She launched a slew of words at me in French and kicked in my direction. I dodged the pointed end of her shoe and reached for her arm.
“Come on, you have to rinse it off with water.”
A hand gripped my arm firmly and tugged me back. “I’ll take care of her,” said Paige. “You guys should go.” Her gaze included Ben and Marcus.
“I’m really sorry,” I told her, and I meant it. My plan to bring Marcus hadn’t included soap opera drama.
“Don’t be. You didn’t start this fight.” Paige helped Ava to her feet. “I mean, technically you did, because it was about you, but you didn’t physically start the fight.” She paused. “Unless you count kissing Ben as physical.” She waved me away. “Just go before I change my mind.”
I walked out the front entrance, not giving either Ben or Marcus a single look, and sat on the sidewalk to call Major.
“Your cinnamon spray really works,” I told him. “Would you come get me?”
He freaked out for a moment until I told him I’d used it on Ava, not on my imaginary date.
“I’ll be there in ten minutes,” he said. “And we can talk about it if you want.”
“Thanks, Major.” I hung up and brought my knees to my chest, resting my chin on them.
Marcus walked up and sat down beside me. “You sure know how to show a guy a good time.”
“Sorry,” I said, staring into space. “You were right. The social was a bad idea.”
He patted me on the back. “At least you got to kiss a guy. Not your date, but—”
I glared at him. “What’s that supposed to mean? You and I weren’t on a date, remember? I was interviewing you for a story.”
“You didn’t tell anyone besides Ava and Ben that. For all they knew, we were dating, and you wandered off to make out with someone else.” He gave me a thumbs-up. “That makes me look really good.”
“Oh … my … God!” I got to my feet and kicked him in the thigh. “You can’t possibly be turning this into something about you.”
Marcus got to his feet too. “You’re right. I forgot everything is always about Delilah.”
“It is not!” I could feel my stupid, stupid tears threatening to make their reappearance. “If I’d known you were going to get upset, I wouldn’t have kissed him!”
I froze the moment the words left my mouth. Marcus froze too and just stared at me. “What do you mean?”
I had no idea what I’d meant. I had no idea why I’d said it. All I knew was that I really wouldn’t have kissed Ben if Marcus had a problem with it.
At that moment, I realized something that made me want to run and hide in the ladies’ room all over again.
I sort of liked Marcus.
And he was sort of waiting for me to answer.
“What I meant was … you were nice enough to … uh … do the interview,” I ad-libbed. “And you’re right. It was rude of me to just leave like that.”
“Oh.” Marcus nodded. “Okay.”
I cleared my throat. “What … um … were you and Ben fighting about, anyway?”
“Well, after you wandered off, I decided to find out what was up. When I got to the lobby, you were running away, crying, so I asked Ben what had happened. He got all defensive, one thing led to another, and then he sucker punched me.”
I frowned. “He what?”
“He hit me when I wasn’t ready.” Marcus bent and held back the hair above his right ear, revealing a large welt.
“Whoa. Does it hurt?” I pushed on it, and he winced. “Sorry. And sorry he hit you.” Over the past few hours I’d become a pro at dishing out apologies.
“It’s not a big deal.” He grinned. “I guess Ben and I are even now.”
I had to agree with him, but I started to wonder about my own situation. I had hurt and humiliated Ava. We definitely weren’t even, and I knew she’d want to settle the score.
How she would do it was the question.