Page 27 of Tutoring the Bad Boy
Perfect. Coach Williams seems like the type who likes paleo vegan cardboard food too. “After the game?”
“That’s right.” Mom walks over and places her hands on my shoulders. “That means that Monday is very important. You have to nail it, Ginny.”
Great. No pressure.
My phone starts buzzing again and so do the butterflies in my stomach. Is that kiss going to open up a whole other world? Are Kaleb and I going to send loving texts to one another day and night? I mean, I need to play the part in case my mom looks through my phone.
I take my phone out of my bag and look at it. It’s Ronnie. My heart sinks.
Mom pulls the phone out of my hand. “That means not having your phone in front of your face all weekend.”
“Come on, that’s my phone!” Literally, my mom just took my entire life out of my hands. At least the last name to pop up is Ronnie.
“After dinner,” Mom says, putting my phone in her purse.
Why do I feel so upset that the text wasn’t from Kaleb? Is this how it’s going to be now? Me waiting by my phone and every time I get a text from someone other than Kaleb, I feel like crying? No, I refuse to be that girl. I’m going to screw my head back on straight and have a breath. Kaleb is definitely getting under my skin.
As we sit down to dinner, my phone still buzzes in the distance, and it’s torture. Ronnie will think that my mom locked me in the closet or something.
The tofu and kale fajitas taste like…tofu and kale. Too bad I didn’t grab a burger. It’s not lost on me that Mom dropped me off at Dixie’s at four and picked me up at six so I would come home for dinner. In my world, micronutrients and a social life do not mix.
Mom pours herself a small glass of red wine, which is kind of rare for her. She only ever does it on Saturdays because there’s no school the next day. She closes her eyes and smells the wine, then takes a sip. “A lot is riding on Monday.”
I feel my tofu turn to cement in my throat. I speak kinda sarcastically. “It’s gonna be great.”
An idea forms in my mind, and a little smile comes to my lips. I have the perfect plan to make Monday as entertaining as it can possibly be. Mom invited Coach Williams, and I’m going to invite Kaleb Quinn.
Chapter Fourteen
Kaleb
As I’m lyingin bed, my phone rests on my bare chest. I’m willing it to beep but hear nothing. In frustration, I pick it up and scroll through Facebook, seeing the usual lame photos of girls wearing too much makeup and filtered so heavily that they don’t even look real. They’re especially cringy now that I’m comparing all of them to Ginny.
I drop my phone on my chest and look up at the ceiling. I’m losing it. She probably went along with kissing because she knew her mom was going to show up. Can’t exactly pretend to date if no one thinks you’re dating. We had to take it public eventually, and Dixie’s party was the perfect place.
That kiss, though. If her mom hadn’t caught us, I’d almost believe she liked it as much as I did. After Ginny left with her mom, Chris and I hung around at Dixie’s for a while, but the only thing I could think about was the kiss.
School on Monday should be interesting. We’re totally public now, and this is Port Crest where everyone knows everything about everyone. That thought would have bothered me at the beginning of the school year, but funny enough, it doesn’t rattle me at all anymore.
The phone hits the bed as I roll to face the wall. I need to stop obsessing so much over something I know isn’t actually real. It’s not like I don’t remember our talk in the library. She’s not looking to date. For that matter, I’m not either. I wouldn’t even be in this mind-bender if it weren’t for her mom.
Downstairs, I hear my father come through the door, and I roll my eyes. Who knows what he was up to? He probably had a date. No, I’m just frustrated. He hasn’t so much as looked at a woman since Mom left. He was a workaholic before, and now I’m surprised he even comes home.
The phone dings finally, and I grab it so fast you’d think it was a drowning baby. It’s Ginny.
Ginny: Sorry I couldn’t talk earlier. Mom went ballistic on me.
Me: No worries. That’s what I thought.
Ginny: Can I ask you a question?
I decide to be funny.
Me: No.
Ginny: …
Me: J/K
