Rule 28: Do not spend more than two months trying to find out if your crush likes you!
Being grounded sucked.
Alexia flipped through the TV channels for the third time, knowing the search was futile. It was the middle of summer; the only thing on right now was reality TV.
Getting up, she went to her bedroom and grabbed her notebook. The Crush Code had been on her mind the last few days, and she’d wanted to go over the rules again.
Kelly and Adam were hanging out, from what Alexia heard, but they weren’t together-together, which meant something with the Code wasn’t working right.
Alexia had wondered a few weeks ago if perhaps they were missing a few rules. And like any work of creativity, the true work came through revising.
Alexia called her friends and asked them to come over. Thank god, her parents hadn’t grounded her from them.
Kelly was the first to arrive. It looked like she’d been hanging out around the house, too. She wore a pair of red terry-cloth shorts with a number nine printed on the thigh and a white halter top. Her arms and legs looked tanner, so maybe she’d been lying out in the sun.
“So what’s up?” Kelly asked as she breezed past Alexia, her strawberry-blond ponytail swinging behind her.
“I wanted to talk about the Crush Code.”
Both girls headed for the kitchen, and Kelly took a seat at the breakfast nook, folding her arms over the glossy cedar table. She rolled her eyes before digging her cell from her bag.
“We aren’t adding more rules, are we?”
Alexia leaned back against the kitchen island. “Well, I thought about it. I really want to help you get Adam.”
Kelly clicked through a few things on her phone and then slipped it into her bag. “We’re not right for each other.”
The front door opened. Alexia looked down the short hall and saw Raven and Sydney. Raven looked stunning as usual. She was in a jean skirt, a black vintage Ferrari T-shirt, and black boots that reached her calves. Her hair flowed around her shoulders in loose waves. Her eyes were hidden behind chunky white sunglasses.
Sydney usually looked pristine, but today she wore a simple white T-shirt and bleached blue jeans. And…
Alexia pointed at Sydney’s feet. “You’re wearing flip-flops?”
“That’s what I said.” Raven plopped down across the table from Kelly. “Sydney has gone over the deep end.”
“Who cares what kind of shoes I wear?” Sydney said, shoving her hands inside her jeans pockets.
“That’s just it,” Alexia said. “You usually care what kind of shoes you wear.”
Kelly nodded. “Yeah, I specifically remember you saying you wouldn’t wear flip-flops if they were the last pair of shoes on earth.”
Sydney took a seat on one of the barstools at the island. “Can we not discuss my footwear please?”
Alexia grabbed her notebook and sat down at the table, leaving Sydney alone at the island. “So,” she began, flipping to her handwritten notes, “I was thinking maybe we’d add a few more rules to help Kelly out.”
“Oh, and I needed to be here for it?” Raven said. “I mean, it’s not like the rules are for me anyway, right?”
Alexia took in a breath. Apparently Raven was still mad about the accusations Alexia had made about Blake. Well, that was just fine, Raven would get over it eventually.
Alexia uncapped her pen and without looking over at Raven said, “When we made the Code, you said you were going to follow it so you didn’t develop a crush. These new rules might benefit you, too.”
“I’m really not sure if we need more rules,” Kelly said.
Sydney sauntered over from the barstool and plopped down next to Raven. “We can still add the rules, can’t we? And then if Kelly decides she doesn’t need them, fine.”
“What about you?” Alexia asked Sydney. “Are you still using it for your relationship with Drew?”
Sydney shrugged. “I’m taking a Code break right now.”
“Oh,” Alexia said, wishing Sydney would explain more.
“All right.” Kelly sighed. “What are the new rules?”
Alexia read the rules out loud without interruption.
“Rule 39: Do not be indecisive. Once you make up your mind stick to it.
“Rule 40: Do not be needy, clingy, or possessive!
“Rule 41: Do not crush on a boy who has a girlfriend!”
When Alexia glanced up from her notebook, she noticed Kelly looked three shades lighter than she had when she arrived at the house.
“What’s wrong, Kel?”
She swallowed, gave a diminutive shake of her head. “Nothing.”
Raven fished her cell from her pocket as it went off. She read the text message and said, “I gotta go. Lexy, why don’t you Email me the new rules.” She paused, seemed to consider what she should say next. “Unless, of course, you think I will use them on someone else.”
“What’s up with her?” Sydney said when the front door slammed shut.
“I made her mad,” Alexia replied.
“How?”
Honestly, Alexia was kind of embarrassed that she’d accused Raven so blatantly of cheating on Horace. It might have been a bit inconsiderate on her part, and she didn’t want to admit it to her other friends.
“It was nothing, really,” she said and moved on to another subject. “So, how’s work at the hospital going?”
“Fine,” Sydney said.
“Just fine?” Alexia leaned forward. “Have you met any hot guys?”
Sydney grabbed the saltshaker from the middle of the table and spun it between her fingers. “No. No one.”
“I was there the other day with my brother.” Alexia sat back against the padded chair. “And there was this one guy with long black hair and glasses. Who’s he? He reminded me of Drew. Except with long hair.”
Sydney stood up. “Speaking of work, I have to go home and get ready. I have to be in soon. I’ll talk to you guys later.” She threw an afterthought of a wave over her shoulder before leaving.
Alexia looked at Kelly. She was on her cell again, punching in a text message. She’d been aloof since she got to Alexia’s. Kelly used to get that way whenever she had a fight with Will, her ex-boyfriend. Boy troubles always made her quiet.
“So how is it really going with Adam?”
Kelly glanced up. “Like I said, I don’t think we’re meant for each other.”
“Yeah, but if you just use the rules—”
“I don’t want to use the rules on Adam.” She blinked and looked away. “I just…”
“What?”
She got up and slung her bag over her shoulder. “I just wish you’d stop trying to fix my love life, Lexy. I mean…” She threw up her hands and shook her head. “I just can’t right now.”
She disappeared from the kitchen, and a few seconds later, shut the front door behind her.
Alexia watched through the kitchen window as Kelly pulled her car out of the driveway.
What was going on with her friends? Suddenly, they felt further apart than they’d ever been, and The Crush Code was supposed to make them feel closer.
Or at least that’s what she’d told herself. The Breakup Code had brought them back together; she just automatically assumed The Crush Code would do the same.
Had she been wrong? Had the Code somehow gone awry?
Her whole life felt awry right now, because of losing It and Ben leaving soon. She tried not to think too hard on the latter. He was leaving—going to another state—in just three and a half weeks.
Her chest ached thinking of it. It didn’t help that she was grounded and the time she had left to spend with Ben was quickly dwindling.
A tension headache bloomed behind her eyes. She set her head down on the tabletop and tried to breathe in deeply. This was supposed to be The Summer. So far it’d been a summer of hell and how was she supposed to enjoy her upcoming senior year when her boyfriend was leaving?