Page 21 of The Facade

I walked to the cabinet where we kept all the helmets and pulled out a purple one that should fit Elyse’s head. Then I grabbed my pink one with glittery gold star stickers on it.

Yeah, I’d never met a pink and gold thing I didn’t like.

I helped Elyse with her helmet and showed her the basics of how to drive the ATV, and then we went on a quick ride to the pond. She picked things up quickly, and after riding down the trail that passed the blueberry fields and the greenhouse, I figured we should probably get back to the house so we could be ready for Ben to arrive.

Yes, Ben was coming over.

My heart fluttered just thinking about him coming over and finally noticing me. Sure, I was going to have helmet hair when I saw him, but hopefully he’d remember seeing me in class and know I knew how to brush and curl my hair like regular girls did.

On second thought, maybe I should hurry upstairs and tame my hair real quick so I’d at least look presentable when he first showed up.

Elyse and I were on our way back to the garage when I spotted Mack driving his four-wheeler through the clearing of trees between our houses, wearing his black riding suit with red stripes down the sides.

He only ever wore his riding suit when he planned to splash through a bunch of puddles and splatter everyone around him with mud, so I made a mental note to steer clear of him during our ride today.

I usually didn’t mind getting splashed when I went riding with him and my brothers because splashing them right back was half the fun, but Ben would be here today, and I didn’t want to be caked in mud when I finally spoke to him.

Elyse and I parked our ATVs in front of the garage and were just taking our helmets off when Mack pulled up beside me.

“You guys get started without me?” Mack asked after he removed his black helmet and rested it on his knee.

“We just went around the pond and down to the greenhouse,” I said. “This is Elyse’s first time.”

“And how did it go?” Mack turned to his sister. “Was Cambrielle’s lesson any good? Because if you’re looking for pro tips, you should ask me.”

“I think I’ve got the basic idea of it,” Elyse said, her gaze flitting briefly to Mack before looking back at me.

There was an awkward silence as we all tried to think of something to say.

This would usually be the time when Mack would say something flirty to Elyse, but since that wouldn’t be happening anymore, we all just sat there trying to figure out what to say next.

Man, I really hoped the awkwardness between Mack and Elyse went away before long. Hopefully one of them would find someone new to flirt with so everyone could just move on and forget they’d ever liked each other.

Mack cleared his throat and looked toward the house. “Think everyone else will be here soon?” He glanced at me. “I told Ben four o’clock, so he should be here in a few minutes.”

“Ava was going to text me when she and Carter were on their way,” Elyse said, pulling her phone out of her back pocket. She looked at the screen briefly, and after reading whatever messages were on her lock screen, she nodded. “Yeah, looks like she and Carter finished their tutoring session and should be here any minute.”

“Cool,” Mack said. “I think I’m gonna grab a drink of water before we start.”

I turned to Elyse. “Wanna go inside to wait for everyone?”

Elyse shook her head. “I think I’ll ride a little longer, if that’s okay.”

“Sure.” I climbed off my four-wheeler. “We’ll be back out in a few minutes.”

As Elyse headed off toward the pond trail again, I walked inside with Mack.

I was just about to head up the stairs to comb through my hair real quick when the front doorbell rang.

“That must be Ben,” Mack said as he grabbed a glass from a kitchen cupboard and started filling it with water from the fridge. “Think you’re brave enough to answer the door?”

I looked at the entryway, my heart rate suddenly skyrocketing with the anticipation of coming face to face with my crush without all his other friends to distract him.

We had rain-glass windows on both sides of the double front doors, and through them I could see a blurry figure of what looked very much like Ben’s tall form.

“You going to be okay?” Mack asked after taking a sip from his water. “Because while I did invite him for you, I’m not planning to do much more.”

I sucked in a deep breath, hoping it would calm me. “I can do it.”

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