Page 39 of Adorkable

“Thanks,” I said, “I owe you one.”

Becks slowly shook his head. “No, you don’t. We had a deal remember?”

“That we do.”

Looking over my shoulder, I caught Hooker’s eye. I waved, and she gave a nod before turning to face front, her lips curved as Becks and I said our goodbyes. She looked awfully pleased about something. I wondered if she could read lips or if she had a superpower I didn’t know about, like super-sonic hearing. As I walked into class and buried my head in German translations, I had the strangest feeling—like I should be worried, more worried than I already was. The flash I’d seen in those eyes meant trouble.

The first attack came half-way through the period.

“Sally, they need you in the office.”

At the sound of Ms. Vega’s voice, I looked up and saw Holden Wasserman, one of only two other members of the German Club besides myself, standing at the front of the room, staring at me expectantly. I’d been concentrating so hard, trying to ignore Hooker’s expression; I hadn’t even heard anyone come in.

“Okay,” I said.

Holden held the door as I followed him out. Just as it swung shut, I glanced back, catching sight of Hooker’s smirk. The entire way I couldn’t shake the feeling I was walking into a trap.

“So, what’s this about?” I asked as we reached the office.

“Your brother’s on line one,” he said and stepped up to the counter, gesturing to the office phone. “He says it’s urgent.”

“Brother?” I didn’t have a brother. Holding up my hands, I said, “I think there’s been a mistake.”

“He specifically asked for you, says it’s a family emergency.” Holden held the receiver out to me. “Sure hope it’s not your dad. That’d be tragic for everyone.”

Considering the phone call was either a prank or meant for someone else, I wasn’t too worried about dear old Dad. Perfect, I thought, a case of mistaken identity. I just hoped this guy, whoever he was, found his real sister soon.

Taking the cordless, I said, “Hello?”

“Hey,” a male voice answered, “is this Sally Spitz?”

I frowned. If he was looking for his sister, how’d he get my name? “Yes, it is. But I think you’ve got the wrong person.”

“Not if this istheSally Spitz,” he said, sounding far too cheery for someone in an emergency situation. “This is John Poole. I’ve been hearing a lot of great things about you.”

“I’m sorry, who?” I recognized the name but couldn’t place it.

“I go to UNC with Will. Lillian paid me twenty bucks to call and say I was your brother. She said you probably wouldn’t talk to me otherwise.”

“She did, did she?” As the memory hit, I was thinking of the effort this must’ve taken. Pulling me out of first period, paying this poor guy to lie, Hooker’s methods were positively Machiavellian.

“Yes, she did,” he said. “She also said you hate being called Spitz and blind dates. I figure I’ve only got about thirty seconds before you hang up, so here it goes. I’m a twenty-year-old Gemini with a love of all things baseball. My GPA’s 3.8. I have a pit bull at home named Bruiser, and I’ve got no problem dating a high school girl, so long as she’s not a fan of the Mets and isn’t one of those European types who doesn’t shave their underarms. Want to go out sometime?”

I stifled a laugh. Was this guy for real? He seemed nice and all, but this was just too awkward. When I got off this phone, Hooker was going to owe me a lifetime supply of Goobers.

“Did Hooker also mention I have a boyfriend?” I asked.

He cleared his throat. “Guess she forgot that one. I suppose it’s a no then?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, John. It was good talking to you. You seem great, but now I have to go strangle Hooker.”

He laughed. “Good talking to you, too, Sally. Don’t be too hard on her, okay? She really thought we’d hit it off.”

Oh, I bet she did.

Class had already cleared out when I got back to German, but Hooker was there, watching for me.

“Sooo?” she said as I grabbed my books.

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