The Crushes Page 7

  Sydney had to admit, if Drew had a twin in dog form, here it was. But adopting it? Sure, it was sitting there nicely now, but what happened when Drew took it home and Sydney accidentally got in the way of its food?

  Her shoulders tensed, remembering that dog from so long ago, snarling and snapping at her. She shuddered, rubbing her fingers over the scar on her right hand where the neighbor’s dog had bit her. The bite itself hadn’t been that bad. It’d bled, of course, but she hadn’t needed stitches. Sydney’s mom had wanted the dog put to sleep, but the neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Yates, had sworn over and over again that the dog would be kept behind a privacy fence.

  They kept to their word but moved just a year later.

  “So what do you think?” Drew asked, looking up at Sydney expectantly.

  She’d never told him about the dog bite so long ago and the lingering effects of it.

  She reached over tentatively and patted the dog on the back, far, far away from its mouth and teeth. It turned slowly, watching her with those striking blue eyes. Sydney stepped back, putting her hands safely in her shorts pockets. “He’s pretty.”

  “Isn’t he?” the woman said, running her hand down the dog’s back. “I wish I could take him home, but I have too many already! My husband would kill me if I brought one more home.”

  “Cathy?” Drew said. “Can you give us a minute with him?”

  “Sure.” The woman, presumably Cathy, handed Drew Bear’s leash and disappeared into an office in the back.

  Standing now, the dog reached Drew mid-thigh, that’s how big he was. Drew pulled his fingers absently through the tuft of fur on the dog’s forehead. “He only has today, I guess,” Drew said softly. “Nobody has adopted him yet because he’s so big.”

  “He is big.”

  Big dog meant big teeth and an even bigger bite. Another image of the neighbor dog snarling flashed through her mind. Sydney blinked, trying to keep the chill at bay.

  “I think we should adopt him,” Drew said softly.

  We? Sydney thought. She half grinned, liking the way he put it. He wanted to adopt a dog together, like they were starting their very own family or something. Family was the one thing Sydney was lacking lately.

  “He’s house-trained,” Drew added as if he were trying to sell a used car with leather interior.

  Maybe it would be fun, having a dog that Sydney and Drew saved together. And getting a dog would follow rule number four because Sydney was immersing herself in something Drew liked.

  “All right,” she finally said. “Let’s adopt him.”

  “Did you hear that, Bear?” Drew said. “You’re saved!” Bear barked several times before coming over to Sydney. He sat on his hind legs and glanced up at her as if to say, “Can I lick you or something?”

  “He fell in love with you quick,” Drew said. “Just like I did.”

  Sydney smiled. She was hesitant about the whole thing, but saving this dog seemed to make Drew happy, and he was the only thing she had left.

  THIRTEEN

  Rule 9: Be yourself! He will like you for the real you!

  Sydney crossed her legs, hoping to stop her fidgeting. A moment later, her foot tapped impatiently on the carpet, making her knee bob up and down. Her trip to the fish store had calmed her down, but then Drew had talked her into adopting a dog, a big dog at that, and…

  She let out a breath. Right now, she needed to focus on the photo contest awards ceremony.

  Drew sat on one side of her, Raven on the other. Alexia, Ben, Kelly, and Todd were all there, too. Sydney hadn’t expected them to come, but Kelly surprised her by telling their friends. They’d all been waiting for Sydney in the front lobby of Children’s Hospital at the start of the ceremony.

  To be honest, Sydney was glad they were here. Sure, losing in front of them would be disappointing, but she liked having their support for something she felt so awkward with. Photography was new to her. Not to mention, some people might think it a waste of time. But her friends didn’t and that made Sydney grateful.

  Within the ten minutes the group had been seated, the room filled up. They were in the conference room on the first floor of Children’s Hospital surrounded by at least a hundred red chairs. The panel of judges, two men and two women, sat quietly in their chairs on a dais at the front of the room.

  Sydney’s knee bobbed faster.

  “It’s all right,” Drew whispered, setting his hand on her leg. “No matter what, at least you entered, right?”

  She nodded.

  At five minutes after four, the room quieted as a man took the podium on the dais. He was older, mid-forties, with thinning gray hair and black-framed glasses. “Good afternoon,” he said. “I’m Eddison Gerald, director of public relations. I’m glad you all could be here. Welcome to the fifth annual Children’s Hospital photo contest. For those of you who are new, every year we take photo entries from amateur photographers. Those photos are hung in our art hall for the children to view, to give them something beautiful to look at as they go through difficult treatments, working toward better health.

  “And, to encourage submissions, we award first, second, and third prizes every year. Now let me introduce you to our panel of judges.”

  He stepped back, pointing to the man seated on the far left. “We have Roy Harrison, a critic at the Yale School of Art. Katie Taylor, a professor at the New York Institute of Photography. Jamie Munson, director of photography at Shutter magazine, and leading photographer Cook Porter whose photos have been in magazines such as National Geographic. Please welcome them.”

  The room applauded. Sydney clapped quietly, her fingers trembling. She didn’t recognize the names of the judges, but if their credentials were any indication, they were prominent figures in the industry. Who was she to enter her photo? They’d probably seen her entry and laughed, picking it apart.

  “Can we go?” she whispered to Drew.

  “What, now?” He frowned. “It just started. I don’t want to stand up in the middle of it.”

  “You okay?” Raven asked. “You look pale.”

  “This was a bad idea,” Sydney said as the clapping quieted down. “Those judges are serious about this, and I’m just an amateur!”

  “It’s an amateur contest,” Kelly pointed out.

  “Now,” Mr. Gerald said, stepping up to the microphone, “along with a free two-year subscription to Shutter magazine, our winners will receive some other valuable prizes. Third place will receive a hundred dollar prize. Second place will receive a two hundred dollar prize and first place will receive a five hundred dollar prize.”

  The room applauded again, the sound seeming in rhythm with Sydney’s rapidly beating heart. She wasn’t going to win, but she really, really wanted to place somewhere in the top three. Did she actually have talent? Should she continue to explore photography?

  This moment seemed like a declaration of her future path. She pictured herself going away to art school, becoming a photographer, traveling the world, taking photos that meant something.

  But if she lost today, maybe she’d continue down the path she already had planned. School at Yale, a degree in something serious like science or business.

  Suddenly that didn’t sound so exciting.

  Mr. Gerald raised his hand and people quieted.

  “Third place goes to…”

  A woman entered the room through a side door. In her hands she held a picture frame covered with a white cloth. She stepped up on the dais, standing next to Mr. Gerald. He grabbed a corner of the cloth and pulled it off quickly, exposing a photograph of a pink flower and a bee sitting in the middle.

  “Macy Bernard.”

  A girl near the front of the room stood and made her way up to the dais. She shook Mr. Gerald’s hand and accepted a framed award certificate with her name on it.

  “Second place goes to…”

  Another woman entered the room and went up onstage carrying a picture. Mr. Gerald pulled off the cloth to show a picture of a large map
le tree, bare of leaves, standing tall against a storm-darkened sky.

  “Michael Shallen.”

  An older man went onstage, took his award certificate, and stood off to the side with Macy.

  “Now,” Mr. Gerald said, “for our grand prize winner.”

  The last picture came out, covered in a white cloth. The woman holding it smiled wide, her feet soundless as she went up the two steps to the dais. She stopped at Mr. Gerald’s side and looked out as if trying to spot the winner in the crowd.

  Sydney squeezed her eyes shut, tried to slow her beating heart. She felt light-headed, her fingers trembling, her breath coming too quickly.

  I can’t be the winner, it’s not me…

  “Oh my god,” Kelly said.

  “Is that…” Raven trailed off.

  Sydney opened her eyes. There was her picture, framed in a beautiful mahogany frame, held up for the entire room to see.

  “Sydney Howard!” Mr. Gerald said.

  The room clapped. Sydney’s friends stood up, whistled.

  “Go up there!” Kelly said. “Go on!”

  Sydney stood on shaky legs. She’d won? That was her picture, but maybe there’d been a mistake.

  She made her way to the dais, went up the steps to Mr. Gerald’s side. He shook her hand, congratulated her. She thanked him and took her award certificate, her name written big and bold in elegant cursive writing.

  She’d won and, in her heart, she was now Sydney Howard, amateur photographer. It was an official title, she thought, a title that reflected who she was on the inside. She wanted to shed the old Sydney, the prim, perfect, proper Sydney. The one who took all the AP classes and had Yale, Harvard, and Stanford on her to-apply college list.

  It was time to do what she wanted to do. It was time to be herself.

  FOURTEEN

  Rule 5: Seduce him with your eyes! Make eye contact throughout your conversations with him! Never break eye contact!

  Rule 8: Let your inner beauty shine! Show him the wonderful treasure that lies within you!

  Rule 22: Don’t answer questions right away! Take a few moments before you answer!

  Kelly pulled out a chair at the restaurant table and plopped down. It smelled like refried beans and taco meat inside. It was Sydney’s idea to come to the Mexican restaurant, though she’d had to fight with Drew over it.

  He wanted Italian, she wanted Mexican. Since it was her night of celebration, she’d eventually won the argument and here they were. Alexia sat on Kelly’s left side, Raven on her right. Drew, Sydney, and Todd were on the other side of the table, Ben at the head.

  Spanish music played from a jukebox highlighted red with neon lights. Musical instruments hung on the walls along with a flamenco skirt and pictures of a Spanish band who’d inspired the opening of the restaurant in Birch Falls.

  For a Thursday night, the restaurant was packed. The group had to wait more than ten minutes for one of the bigger tables to open up in back. Now that they were seated, the waitress took their orders and hurried into the back, her bright red skirt swinging around her calves.

  The table was a mix of several conversations. The guys talked sports while Raven and Alexia chatted about music. Sydney was decidedly quiet for having just won a contest, despite the fact that she was glowing. She wouldn’t come right out and say she was proud of herself for winning, but anyone could tell just by looking at her. A permanent smile was on her face and every few minutes, she’d get this faraway look in her eyes like she was somewhere else.

  Kelly didn’t blame her. The picture Sydney had taken of Kenny earlier this year was a really good picture. Kelly wouldn’t pretend to know anything about photography, but the sun shining down on Kenny, it was like heaven had opened up or something. That had to be a sign of good photography skills, right?

  But Drew…he didn’t seem that impressed with the whole thing. He’d congratulated Sydney, offered to treat her to dinner, but he just didn’t seem as excited as he should be.

  Maybe because he expected this kind of thing from Sydney? Because she was good at everything she did?

  Then again, Kelly had sensed a bit of distance between the two for some time now. It wasn’t anything she could explain in words, it was more a physical sense. Not to mention, he’d been spending a lot more time over at Kelly’s house hanging out with Todd.

  “You should have seen him last weekend,” Todd said, giving Drew a friendly pat on the back, his voice growing louder by the second. “We’re down by six, right, and we’re twenty yards off from the end zone and Drew catches the ball and he takes off! He’s dodging guys, jumping over them. Dude, I haven’t seen him play like that in forever!”

  “I’m sorry I missed it,” Ben said.

  “Yeah,” Todd added, “because you’re just a boy toy now, always hanging out with your girlfriend instead of your guys.”

  Ben snorted. “You’re just jealous!”

  Todd rolled his eyes, but quieted down. “No I’m not.”

  Drew laughed and shook his head. He met Kelly’s eyes across the table.

  Never break eye contact!

  Rule five, Kelly thought. There was more to the rule, but she suddenly couldn’t remember it. The very first thing Kelly noticed about Drew when she met him so long ago was his eyes. He had uncanny blue eyes, eyes that Kelly had fallen in love with as a little girl.

  Sydney nudged Drew, and he looked away.

  Kelly blinked, straightened in her chair. She tried tuning into Raven and Alexia’s conversation, but she couldn’t help listening in on Sydney and Drew. Sydney wanted to go for a walk in the state park after dinner, he wanted to hang out at Kelly’s house with Todd.

  When Drew finally agreed to the walk, Kelly’s heart sank. It was fun having Drew over at her house. Maybe instead she’d invite Adam out somewhere, if she could summon the courage to ask him out.

  Two days later, Kelly still hadn’t asked out Adam. What if he said no? She couldn’t take the rejection.

  Instead of going out on Saturday, she’d taken an extra shift at the animal shelter.

  “Come on, Clove,” she said, trying to coax the gray adult cat forward. He cowered in the back corner of his kennel, amber eyes wide, watching her. He wasn’t hissing yet, which was a good sign. But then again, cats could attack without giving any notice.

  That’s why Kelly had on plastic safety glasses and thick gloves. Morris, the animal control officer, always made fun of her when she put the gear on, but she wasn’t willing to lose an eyeball because of some crazy cat. Better to look silly than be sorry.

  She never would have worn this stuff if Will were still working here, though.

  Thankfully, once he graduated from Birch Falls High, he put in his two weeks’ notice with the shelter. Kelly had the whole summer to enjoy working with the animals without having to worry what Will thought of her.

  Of course, if she still had Will, or anyone for that matter, she wouldn’t have picked up this extra shift at the shelter.

  Being single, she had a lot of free time on her hands. It benefited the shelter, at least. She was working here over twenty hours a week and was loving every minute of it.

  After coaxing Clove from his kennel and settling him into a clean one, Kelly left the cat room. She went down the short hallway to the front lobby, stopping abruptly when she saw Adam standing on the other side of the counter.

  “Adam!”

  He looked up and half laughed. “You look so official in those gloves and glasses.”

  Rule number…what was it? Whichever it was, it said to let your inner beauty shine! And she totally just screwed that rule up!

  She shook off the gloves and tore off the glasses.

  Morris tried to mask his snort/laugh. Kelly shot him a death look, but he couldn’t stop himself. He would never let her forget this moment.

  Adam picked up a cardboard box. “They found these behind McDonald’s,” he said. “A litter of six kittens.”

  Morris took the box over the counter
and handed it to Kelly. She set it on the floor.

  “Aww!” She picked up a black and white kitten and nuzzled it with her nose. “I love kittens.”

  “Me, too,” he said.

  “Really?”

  Adam shrugged. “My grandma had a farm when I was little and there were always kittens running around. She used to say they were like sunshine and velvet.”

  Kelly scratched the kitten behind the ear, then ran her fingers over its soft furry back. “They are kind of like velvet, aren’t they?”

  Morris sauntered off to get the paperwork ready for the intake. Kelly set her kitten back in the box and lifted it up.

  “Here.” Adam came around the long counter and took the box out of her hands. “Let me help.”

  “You’re sure?”

  He nodded. “Just lead the way.”

  Kelly petted an orange tiger kitten once more before setting him inside the big kennel with his brothers and sisters. They had a clean litter box, fresh food, and water.

  “Thanks,” Kelly said, turning to Adam. “That was nice of you to bring them in and help get them settled.”

  “My pleasure.” He pulled his car keys from his jeans pockets. “So…uh…do you have to work tomorrow night?”

  She managed to shake her head no.

  Trepidation roared up Kelly’s throat like a tidal wave. Was Adam going to ask her out? It sure seemed like he was going to ask her out. What was she going to say if he asked her out?!

  “Would you like to go to Bershetti’s with me?”

  Kelly just stared at him. He was asking her out. She smelled like a litter box and probably looked like one, too. And he was still asking her out? Was this some kind of joke? Did Raven or Alexia put him up to this?

  No, they wouldn’t, which meant…

  He was asking her out!

  Adam raised his brow. “Kelly?”

  Adam and Kelly…that did have a nice ring to it, didn’t it?

  “Kelly?”

  “Yes!” she blurted.