Author Note: *Waving* Hello new readers, friends, voters and followers! I have to admit, it's a little overwhelming to go from 100 reads to more than 1000 in just over a day. Overwhelming ... but fun too! I just wish I knew how to work this thing better. If I could, I would reach out and hug every one of you. Instead, I'm stuck here saying thank you so much for reading my story. I hope you'll stick around to find out what happens next. If you'd like to take a peek at other things I've written, here's the website I have with my co-author, Charity Tahmaseb: www.thegeekgirlsguide.com
~ Darcy
P.S. I've had a lot of requests to read your stories. There is nothing I'd like to do more than that. I love to read and I also love to help out other writers. But, right now, I'm getting ready to release a new book, plus I'm already reading three novels on here. (You should check them out!) I'm hoping for more time soon. Until then -- Keep Writing!
There had to be a way to fix this.
I tried to talk to Craig the next morning but all he did was hum the theme song from that shark movie and snicker. I called Madison next. She agreed to leave her house for once. My dad dropped us off at the Rock-It Shop.
We browsed the latest vinyls for a while then left the strip mall and walked in silence. I wanted to talk about what had happened but I couldn't find the words. Just a week ago, I could tell her anything. Now? Now we were discussing the weather.
"Sure has been hot lately," Madison said. She gathered her long dark hair and lifted it off her neck before letting it fall again in a satiny sheet.
"Supposed to hit a hundred by tomorrow," I answered. Because, you know, heat in the summertime is big news around here. I stopped walking and faced her. "About last night," I said. She surprised me by stopping, turning, and saying the same thing to me.
"Pinch, poke, you owe me a Coke," I said. But Madison wasn't in the mood.
"I know about the lake," she said.
I hurried to defend myself, to explain my actions and place the blame where it clearly belonged ... on Jacob. "I don't suppose he told you how he happened to be at the park? Who he was with? What he was doing with her?"
She grabbed one of the hands that I'd been waving. Her touch made me wonder: When did I get the idea that Madison was the enemy?
"It's going to be okay," she said.
"It is?"
She was taking it pretty well for a girl who'd spent the last few days moping in her room. And that was before she even knew for sure (okay, for probably sure) about Jacob's indiscretions.
"He wasn't thrilled to see his girlfriend and one of his ex-best friends dripping in their underwear together in the moonlight, but ..."
"Brady?"
"Who else would we be talking about?"
"He called you?"
She nodded.
"Again?"
"He wanted to talk."
Maybe Madison was the enemy after all. I fought to keep from showing my irritation.
"And?" I asked.
"And he's a little pissed. But he believes your story. 'Only Summer could be goofy enough to get herself into a mess like that' is what he said."
My first thought was: Great. My boyfriend thinks I'm goofy. I pondered all of the implications of that statement. And then I started thinking: Wait. What else had Madison said? I remembered something about an ex-best friend.
"He's still mad at Dave?"
"Brady thinks Dave likes you."
"Of course Dave likes me. Last time I looked, that's what friends were supposed to do."
Madison looked up at the sky. She took in a breath. "Just friends." She cleared her throat. "Right?"
"Come on. Not you too?"
"What am I supposed to think, Summer? Two weeks ago you couldn't stand Dave Brown and now --"
All right. So it was weird but not that weird. "It's like there are two of him," I tried to explain. "There's the old Dave Brown, the dork who made me spill orange soda and threw up corndogs in my lap, and then there's the new improved Dave Brown. He's smart, Madison. He's so funny. And he's, I don't know, kind of sweet, really. He always knows just the thing to do or say to make you feel --"
Madison interrupted, "And he's cute."
"Cute?" Was Dave Brown cute? He did have those technicolor eyes.
I realized I was smiling. I glanced over at Madison, worried that she'd freak and think something was going on, when something definitely was not. That's when I noticed she was smiling too.
So. Madison Bianchetti thought Dave Brown was cute?
Sunday, June 15 1:18 PM
Term of the Day: Epiphany – An illuminating discovery
Have you ever had an epiphany? It's a lot like trying to open a new locker at school. You know, the way it feels when the tumblers finally fall smoothly into place?
It was hard to walk beside Madison after that. My head was jammed full of plans and possibilities. I'd need Craig's help – that was for sure. Would Dave go along with it? I looked my best friend over. That shiny hair, the way her smile could make the whole day go from suck to shine-ola? How could any boy resist?
Brady might be a problem. He was already overly-sensitive when it came to Dave Brown. He was even more ouchie about anything that had to do with Jacob, which made me wonder. "Did Brady say anything else about last night?"
Madison stubbed her toe on a crack in the sidewalk. Her smile vanished and I caught the hint of tears. I pulled her into a sweaty hug. "Don't worry," I said. "I'm going to make everything all right."
***
Making everything all right turned out to be harder than I'd guessed. The only easy part was getting Craig on board. I called him as soon as I updated my blog. We agreed to meet at the coffee shop. He got there first and when I walked in, he greeted me with a reprise of the Jaws Theme.
"It's still not funny," I told him.
He disagreed.
Kiersten's hand shook when she handed me a tall vanilla chai. She splashed the drink on her apron and she couldn't seem to look me in the eyes. If we weren't such good friends, I might start to wonder a little about her intentions where my boyfriend was concerned.
"So what's this top secret information you want to discuss?" Craig asked.
I motioned for him to follow me to a table. Once we were seated, I leaned in close and said, "Madison thinks Dave Brown is cute." I tried raising one eyebrow for dramatic effect.
"Is there something wrong with your face?"
Apparently I had not inherited eyebrow raising talent from my mother. I started over, "I've been thinking about our little problem."
"Which problem is that?"
"The Madison/Jacob/Brady/Summer/Dave/Craig problem, of course." Why am I surrounded by boys who are so dense?
"I was aware of a Madison/Jacob problem and a possible Brady/Summer/Dave problem. I had no idea there was a Madison/Jacob/Brady/Summer/Dave/Craig problem."
I outlined it for him (and later for my new blog friends too):
A) Madison is a stunningly beautiful (if slightly furry) girl with a great personality.
B) Jacob is a jerk who is totally undeserving of her affection. He is also totally undeserving of the loyalty heaped on him by ...
C) Brady, who is being influenced by Jacob the Jerk, and who is currently not altogether happy with ...
D) That's me, Summer, and ...
E) Dave Brown, who used to be one of his best friends, but who has (through a series of unfortunate events) fallen out of favor with C. Probably because of B. Who has no right to judge anybody, due to of his poor treatment of A.
Craig's eyes were getting glassy so I headed straight for the pay-off.
"If you put it all together, the only conclusion you can draw is to remove B from the equation. Leaving A,C,D,E, and F, that's you Craig, to live happily ever after. Got it?"
"And to think you almost failed Algebra2," Craig said, before pretending to bang his forehead on the table.
I didn't know how I could have made it any clearer, but I offered to try again.
"Spare me." He took a long sip of his Americano. "Let me see if I have this straight? You think Brady is mad at Dave because of Jacob. It has nothing to do with the goo-goo eyes you two have been making at each other?"
"Goo-goo eyes? Who's been making goo-goo eyes?"
"You and Dave," he said quietly, while examining a hangnail on his thumb.
"Et tu Craig? For months everybody's been saying, 'Dave Brown is really okay, Summer. Just give him a chance.' So, finally, I did. And I came to see that Dave is not the evil menace I thought he was. That's not making goo-goo eyes, that's being open-minded. You should try it sometime."
Just then the little hairs on my arms stood up. Craig's eyebrow went to high alert.
"So you think I'm okay?"
Ohmigod. Dave.
<3