Daphne's Questionable Bet, page 7
“Sounds like fun.” She didn’t hold back the sarcasm in her tone.
“Tell me all your bright ideas, all-mighty one!” I tried to use a powerful tone, but it came out cracking worse than a boy going through puberty.
“Do you need a cough drop there, Daph?” she asked through fits of laughter.
I smacked her arm hard enough that she stopped laughing and rubbed it.
“Have him over for a movie night,” she said. “You love movies, and since you don’t have to talk a lot during it, there’s a smaller chance of you saying something incredibly stupid.”
I blinked at her, slow and deliberate. If she hadn’t hopped off the stool and created distance between us, I would have slapped her again.
Taylor went over to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of Cherry Coke, sliding one to me across the island.
I caught the cool bottle, my greedy hand tightening around it. “I don’t want to be alone with him, though. I’ll need you and Veronica there for support.”
We twisted open our lids at the same time, the crisp sound of carbonation releasing, making my heart swell.
“Triple date!” Taylor said with a wide grin. “Zander has next Friday off, so let’s do it then. That way, Veronica and I can prep you.”
I tugged the hood of my onesie over my head. “I don’t need any prep, thank you very much. I’m ready and raring to go.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Taylor mumbled. She snapped her fingers. “Text Bentley right now and ask him out for Friday. That way he’ll be thinking about you during their ‘study session.’” She used air quotes on the last two words.
I pulled my phone from my pocket. “Why did you use air quotes?”
“Huh?”
“You used air quotes around ‘study session.’” I shot off a text to Bentley, asking if he wanted to join all of us for a movie night next weekend.
She smiled mischievously, lifting her fingers. “Does anyone actually ‘study’ during ‘study sessions’?”
I stuck my tongue out at her. “Stop using quotes!”
My phone pinged. Bentley had already responded. Taylor was at my side seconds later, reading over my shoulder.
That sounds awesome! What can I bring?
“Chapstick,” Taylor purred next to me. “Some mints and his sexy smile.”
I elbowed her, making her laugh. Her laughter faded when I responded with, your favorite treat to share.
“Boring,” Taylor whispered. “You also made it sound like friends hanging out, not a date.”
I turned so I was facing her. “Bentley doesn’t strike me as the type who would want the aggressive approach.”
She pursed her lips. “You’re right. He wouldn’t.” She patted my shoulder. “Look, you being a dud is coming in handy for once!”
Baring my teeth, I slammed my body into hers, trying to push her to the floor, but her socked feet just slid across the tile as she roared with laughter.
“You’re supposed to fall over!” I yelled into her stomach.
She patted my head. “There, there, my little cub. One day you’ll be just as fierce as all the other lions.”
Straightening myself, I glared at her. “We can’t all be Wonder Woman, Tay-Tay.”
She pressed her hands against my cheeks, smooshing my face together. “Not with that attitude.” Leaning forward, she kissed my forehead like a coddling mom, and it was my turn to laugh.
Chapter Thirteen
We waited on the living room couch, peering out the window to watch for Bentley. Right on schedule, he pulled along the curb and got out of his car, throwing his backpack over his shoulder. It was too dark to see what kind of car he drove, but knowing how loaded his family was, it was probably something fancy.
“Flannels and Converse,” I said, holding two slats of the blinds apart. “I do love his casual style.”
He glanced sideways down the street, running his fingers through his thick hair like he was in a photoshoot.
“You should be grateful it was Bentley sitting between you and Sierra,” Taylor said, looking through a crack in the blinds. “What if it was someone you couldn’t stand, like the guy who talks about himself in the third person?”
“I don’t think I would have made the bet.”
“I was a little surprised when I heard about it. I’d been under the impression that Sierra and Bentley were dating.”
I turned to her in shock. “What?”
She shrugged. “They hang out a lot, and I swear I’ve seen them flirting. But maybe I read the situation wrong.”
Was that why Sierra made the bet with me? She knew Bentley already liked her, so it would be easy for her to win? I wouldn’t put it past her.
My mind pictured me in the classroom, staring at Bentley sitting to my left. I glanced past him at Sierra, trying to remember if they ever did anything to indicate they liked each other. Like like-liked each other. There was a ruffle of papers to my right in the scene playing in my head. I snapped to that direction and saw Weston fumbling through his backpack, his reddish-brown eyebrows pinched together in serious concentration that made me smile. He was adorable when he focused.
I shook the scene from my head, scampering back to reality in front of me. Why had Weston intruded on my moment with Bentley?
Taylor pushed my arm. “Stop playing whatever song is blaring in your head and pay attention to me. I can’t climb a tree in this skirt.”
My gaze wandered to her cut-off jean skirt. It was very rare for Taylor to not wear skirts.
“You know where my room is,” I said.
While she went to change, I stretched out in the front room. It had been years since I climbed a tree. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to.
Taylor came back in my pink Love-a-Lot Bear onesie with hearts. “Okay, I see why you’re obsessed with these.”
I grinned at her. “I thought you were just going to grab some sweats or something.”
“I was.” She motioned to the onesie. “Then, I saw this beauty and needed in on the action.”
“They’re amazing, right?”
Post Malone rang out from my phone. I picked up the call from Veronica, about to ask where she was.
“I’m on my way!” she yelled. “Just hold on. Don’t do anything too crazy without me!”
The call ended.
I stared at the blank screen. “Okay, then.”
Taylor and I crept outside, already in stealth mode. All the lights were out in the back yard, cloaking us in darkness. It had been so long since I’d been in my grandparents’ back yard, I didn’t really know the terrain.
Taylor turned on the flashlight on her phone, lighting up the cement path.
I slapped her arm. “Turn it off!”
She glared over her shoulder at me. “They aren’t going to notice a small light in the next-door neighbor’s back yard.”
She’d better hope not.
We rounded the corner, heading to the side of the house, where Sierra’s room was. I kept my steps light, not wanting to make too much sound.
Grams and Gramps planted a few rosewood trees on both sides of their house, wanting to create privacy from the neighbors. I went to the one closest to Sierra’s bedroom and slapped the side of the trunk.
“When’s the last time you climbed a tree?” I asked.
Taylor shined her phone light on her face so I could see her look that said, “really?”
“Do I look like someone who would climb trees?” Her flat tone matched the look on her face.
I thought back to elementary school, when she’d pretty much branded herself as the girl who always wears skirts back in kindergarten. It started out because her mom was so excited to finally have a daughter after six boys that she went crazy with the girly clothes. As Taylor got older, and noticed it made her brothers mad to have guys checking her out, her skirts got shorter.
With a great heave of effort, I worked my way up the tree, clinging on for dear life. Beads of sweat broke out on my forehead from all the effort. Each shimmy up took an amount of strength I didn’t know I had.
“How much farther?” I asked Taylor.
“You’ve barely moved,” she said.
“What?” I glanced down, seeing the grass right beneath me. I lowered my legs, my feet instantly connecting with the ground. “Well, this isn’t going to work.”
“Do you have a ladder?”
“Gramps probably does in the garage.”
By the time Taylor and I got the ladder, carried it into the back yard, and set it against the side of the tree, we were both huffing and puffing.
Taylor aired out the top of her onesie. “Okay, maybe these aren’t the best idea.”
I fanned my face with my hand. “They make so much more sense in Utah where it would be twenty degrees out right now, not sixty-five.”
Once I collected my breath, I tested the first step of the ladder before I climbed my way up. It didn’t take long for the branches to surround me. The tree was a lot thicker than I expected. Pushing the leaves out of my face, I shimmied onto a branch, working my way toward Sierra’s window.
As Taylor climbed, I inched closer to the window, using the light shining from it as my guide. The branches below me sunk with my weight. I held on tight to the branches around me as I pushed one to the side, trying to get the perfect angle.
Sierra was sitting on her bed, still dressed in her pastels that so clashed with who she was. I’d done some “light” social media stalking to size up my competition, so I got a feel for her personality before I’d moved here. She used to be cool and nice. Something sure had changed, though. She’d turned all fake and stoic.
Sierra’s binder was open in front of her as she leaned forward, laughing. I followed her gaze, but couldn’t see anything.
With a quick prayer that I wouldn’t fall, I scooted over, trying to get a better view of her room. Suddenly the branch I was on started bouncing, and I clung on for dear life.
Taylor was behind me, coming closer.
“I swear, if this snaps under our weight …” Taylor trailed off.
“Then you’ll be on the ground,” I finished for her. “Stop shaking the tree so much!”
“This isn’t easy!” she hissed back.
We finally got into a spot where we could peek through the trees and see both Sierra and Bentley. Taylor and I were squished close, our heads pressed together.
“He’s sitting on a chair,” I whispered. “Not the bed. That’s a good sign, right?”
“Yes, but he’s leaning toward her with very open body language.”
“Open?”
Taylor sniffed, rubbing her nose with the tip of her index finger. “Yeah, like, inviting. Not closed off.”
“Well, he should close himself off. This is their first study session, after all. Don’t want to appear desperate or easy.”
Taylor snorted next to me, then sniffed again.
“Oh, he’s getting up!” I said.
Bentley moved toward the bed, sitting down on the edge next to Sierra, looking at her notebook where she was pointing. He was focused on the notebook, talking with a lot of animation.
Sierra leaned closer to him, but Bentley didn’t seem to notice. She laughed—way over the top—at something he said, so he turned to face her, their faces inches from each other. Her laughter faded as they stared at each other, and I suddenly felt like I was interrupting a very private moment.
“Well, this just got awkward,” Taylor whispered. “Should I throw something at the window to distract them? Break it up?”
“Like what? A leaf?”
Taylor sniffed yet again. “I think I might be allergic to something.” She pressed her hand to her nose. “I have to sneeze.”
“Hold it in!”
“I can’t,” she squealed. “It’s …” She took deep breaths, her face switching to pre-sneeze mode, and, oh my, she was going to blow.
I slammed my arm into her nose right as she let loose, sneezing into the fabric of my onesie. So going to have to wash it.
She sucked in another breath like she was going to sneeze again.
I glanced over, seeing Bentley and Sierra both standing near the window, squinting at the tree.
“Do you think they can see us?” I whispered.
Taylor was able to hold in her sneeze. She tugged the hood of the onesie so it was covering her face. I did the same. So, if they could see us, it would be two Care Bears staring at them through the trees. Which wasn’t creepy at all. It actually sounded like the start of a good horror movie.
My mind went deathly silent, no music playing, as if they’d be able to hear a track playing in my head.
“What do we do?” Taylor asked in a hiss. “Go down?”
“Maybe if we don’t move, they’ll think it’s just their imagination playing tricks on them.”
“I can’t stay frozen up here all night.”
“I’m afraid to move,” I said. “I want to look to see if they’re still watching, but that would require moving.”
“Maybe we should count to thirty or something,” Taylor said, “and then head back down. Like, really slowly.”
“Daphne?” Veronica’s voice booming from the bottom of the tree startled me so badly, I lost my grip.
I flailed my arms out, trying to grip one of the branches, but my fingers just slid off the leaves, my momentum already taking me down. I fell, back first, toward the ground, the hood of my onesie covering up my eyesight.
Someone’s arms caught me, and I fell into their chest.
“Nope,” Weston said through a grunt as he stumbled backward. “Can’t do this.”
We both fell to the ground, me landing on top and rolling off. I lay on my back, gasping for air. I yanked the hood off my head, trying to get everything back in focus. Everything above me spun, swirls of colors and lights, and if I hadn’t been so horrified, I would have loved how pretty it was.
“Daphne?” Veronica’s concerned voice came somewhere from my left. “Are you okay?”
I tried to speak, but nothing came out. Instead, my breathing became deep and ragged.
Weston rolled onto his side, grunting through the pain, so he could face me. His hand came forward, brushing some hair out of my face, and I don’t know why, but I took hold of his hand and held on tight.
“Just breathe, Daphne,” Veronica said in her soothing tone. “In and out. Shut out the noise.”
Taylor kneeled next to her, placing her hands on my leg. “Slow it down. Picture all the happy things.”
The fire in my lungs outweighed all the pain radiating from the fall. Closing my eyes, I concentrated on their voices, the warmth of Weston’s hand, and everything that made me happy.
“In and out,” Veronica sweetly said.
Taylor spouted things out. “Cherry Coke. Care Bears. Captain America. Your mom. Grams and Gramps. Veronica. The beach. Disneyland.”
“Taylor,” Veronica put in.
“Should I get her some water?” Weston asked, concern in his voice. His thumb stroked my hand, calming me.
“Give her a minute,” Veronica said. “It will subside. Then, all the water.”
“And Cherry Coke!” Taylor said.
Someone knocked on the side gate. “Hello?” Sierra. She did not sound happy.
My wide eyes went to Veronica, but she was staring at Taylor, the two of them mouthing words I couldn’t make out.
“Daphne, I know you’re back there,” Sierra said.
“We just want to make sure you’re okay,” Bentley said from the other side of the fence. “That was a long way down.”
Why was this happening? Oh, because I decided to spy on them. But, hey, I broke up a maybe almost kiss, so, win?
My breathing started to settle, finding a rhythm that didn’t sound like I was running a marathon.
“She’s fine,” Weston said.
Both Taylor and Veronica’s heads snapped toward him, but he just shrugged.
“We’ll talk to you tomorrow,” Bentley said. He and Sierra began whisper arguing, but it was too muffled to make out the words.
How in the world would I face them tomorrow?
I stared into Weston’s calm eyes, the crooked smile landing on his face that made his nose inch up. “Speechless” by Dan + Shay played in my mind, and suddenly, I didn’t care.
Chapter Fourteen
The next morning, I hobbled down the hall and into the kitchen. Every muscle ached something fierce. Falling from a tree was so not recommended, even if there was someone at the bottom to kind of catch you.
I wondered how Weston was feeling. That was a lot of weight to catch and land on top of him.
I’d dressed in full Captain America gear—shirt, belt, socks, and earrings—to try to give myself courage for the day.
Mom was whistling in the kitchen, the smell of omelets in the air. I immediately went to the fridge, grabbed a small bottle of Cherry Coke, and downed the entire thing in seconds.
“Good morning, sunshine,” Mom said with way too much pep at seven in the morning.
“How was your date?” I asked, though part of me didn’t want to know. Her mouth split into this teenage girl grin, and now I really didn’t want to know.
Mom flipped the omelet in the pan. “We had so much fun! We ate, danced, talked. I haven’t had that much fun in the longest time.” She glanced over at me. “Next month’s theme is ‘Regency Era.’ I need to go through my mom’s costumes in the attic. I bet I could find a dress there.”
I tossed my empty bottle in the recycle bin. “A second date?”
“We’re going out on Friday,” Mom said through her smile. “He’s taking me to a local art museum and …” Her eyes landed on my arm, and she gasped. “What happened to your arm?”
“What?” I glanced down to see a bruise the size of a softball right below my elbow. “Huh.” Must have happened during the fall. I bruised so easily, I wasn’t all that shocked.
She turned off the stove and came over to me, examining my arm. “Does it hurt?” When her fingers pressed against my skin, I sucked in a breath.
I slapped her hand away. “When you touch it, yeah.”
