Ned Gets Stood Up

Chapter Thirteen

NED

Too much was happening at once.

Barbie and the drunk girl in the passenger seat were going back and forth about the meaning of some guy flicking their eyebrows at her. The radio was blasting screaming metal music while a drunk guy was curled against the window, snoring like this was his own house. And Ned's pocket was vibrating, screaming to get his attention. Glancing at the screen, he saw a picture of him and his mother on vacation in Chicago. They detached from the group to take a picture with the bean at Millennium Park.

Swallowing his anxiety, Ned let the phone ring out. He couldn't imagine talking to her right now. Sometimes, she just stressed him out more. His mother never reacted the way Ned needed. Ned was pretty sure the most she knew about Ned was his clothing sizes, his sleep schedule, and his grade.

How could he explain what he was doing tonight if he couldn't even tell her he had a crush on a Hayes kid.

He texted her instead:

[This is Lena. Ned's driving. He'll call you later.]

His mother responded by calling again.

"Sorry," Sam said, elbowing Ned in the side as he was taking his blazer off. "I gotta get this off. Some asshole spilled beer on me."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. Of course," Ned said, his phone still buzzing.

"So, what's the plan now?" Lena asked harshly, squeezing her hair out and onto the floor. "What are you gonna do with the Gregor?"

The knot in Ned's stomach tightened. "I don't know."

Lena's brow narrowed.

"I really don't know!"

"Then why didn't we just leave it with the football players? What are we going to do now? This whole Gregor thing isn't even the point of the night."

As she raised her voice, Ned nervously looked through the car and for moment, his eyes caught Barbie's in the rearview mirror. His face flushed and he lowered his voice and body, opposing Lena, "Why are you yelling at me? Are you mad at me?"

"I'm not mad at you," she said in a huff. "I'm just wet and freezing and it smells so weird in here like tartar sauce, but also cinnamon? It's gonna make me hurl."

"That's definitely my jacket," Sam muttered.

"But why are you yelling at me?" Ned asked again, his skin itchy from their audience in the car. "I didn't ask you to jump in the pool—"

"Are you kidding me?" She whirled at him, her brown eyes so big Ned felt ant sized.

"Sorry. I didn't—I didn't mean it like that."

"Are you really?" Her words still managed to burn. "Because I don't think you mean it."

"It came out wrong. I'm sorry."

Closing her eyes, Lena took a deep breath. Her hands were curled, resting on her thighs. "You said The Gregor was important to you and because you're my friend," she said as if Ned wouldn't understand as if he couldn't use it in a sentence. "If it's important to you..." She spoke slow and the sound dug into his back even slower. "It's important me. That's how it works. At least that's how it's supposed to work."

"You know," Ned said, tired of feeling so black and bruised all over and on the inside. "I'm sick of you trying to teach me something tonight without actually talking to me. You're hiding something from me."

Lena leaned back.

Ned saw her flinch.

She asked, "Where is this coming from?"