The '68 Camaro Between Kenickie and Me (Pacifica Academy Drama Book 2) Read online

  He didn't look at me with judgment, though. It looked like he understood.

  “I think it’s cool you’re doing the competition with your club.”

  I returned his warm smile and the warmth reached all the way into my core.

  “I’m not sure what me and the guys are doing yet.” His smile turned mischievous. “But we’re meeting up later to figure it all out. I’m also working a few days next week.” He leaned against me, and the warmth inside my core turned into white heat.

  Just. Friends.

  “I’m looking forward to seeing the real Natalie Carlisle up on stage in a few weeks.”

  Now my cheeks were hot. He was so good at making me feel good about the real me.

  I turned my head. Our faces were close. If either one of us moved a few inches, we’d be able to—I blinked and looked down.

  Just…Oh, wow.

  “Your grandparents are here,” he quietly said. “I’d recognize his Chevy anywhere.”

  I jumped up and scurried down the remaining steps.

  Where had that heat come from? The fact he no longer belonged to another girl?

  “Hi, sweetheart,” Grams said as Gramps pulled into the pick-up zone. “Sorry we’re late. Our golf game took longer than we thought.” Her eyes landed on Shane, strolling up to us.

  “Hey there, Shane.” Gramps leaned over the steering wheel to see him. “Honey, this is Shane Easton, Gabe’s youngest.”

  She smiled. “It’s nice to meet you. We love your family, the shop and everyone in it.”

  “Thanks.” I heard the pride in his voice. “Nice to meet you, too. Hi, Mr. Carlisle.”

  I started to face him and force myself to say goodbye when Grams asked, “Are you waiting for someone to pick you up or do you need a ride?”

  My eyes widened, because I hadn’t expected her to offer him a ride home.

  “I was going to walk—”

  “Get in,” Gramps commanded.

  Shane responded by opening the passenger-side’s rear door for me.

  I smiled my thanks while avoiding his eyes.

  My mind became muddled. From he and Maddie breaking up. From my grandparents giving him a ride home. From our almost kiss—I slid across the bright white, leather bench seat, and Shane followed me.

  He gave them directions and, after looking around the car’s perfect interior, said, “I love this car, Mr. Carlisle. It would’ve been awesome to work on it.”

  Gramps laughed. “They did a great job. But I heard your dad has a 70 AMX?”

  I released a mental groan. Now Shane knew I’d been talking about him with my family.

  I bit my lower lip and peeked at him. Of course he gave me that smile. But after seeing him feeling so bad all morning, the smile seemed like a good sign.

  “I would love to see it sometime.”

  To Gramps he said, “I’m sure I can make that happen.”

  The car became silent, and I became aware of how close our hands were on the seat. Our pinkies were almost touching. I remembered our pinky swear and wondered what it would feel like to place my hand over his and feel all of our fingers linked. I had a feeling our hands joined tightly together would feel very right. Safe. Then we were at his three-story building.

  “Thanks for the ride.”

  “Of course. Anytime,” Grams answered.

  Shane opened the door, but paused to catch my eyes. “I’ll see you later, Sunshine.”

  We continued our long stare until he, and reluctantly, slid out of the car. He shut the door and headed for his building.

  “Sunshine?” Grams asked as Gramps drove us away.

  I shook my head to clear the haze he created without trying. “It’s a nickname.”

  “He’s darling, sweetheart. I approve. Much better choice than the last boy you dated. Who was also too old for you.”

  “Grams, we’re just friends.” Just friends who almost kissed.

  “Then you need to change that.”

  She’d said it teasingly, but I couldn’t find a smile. Because I knew if we did get together so soon after his break-up with Maddie, the harsh judgment at school—especially from Ella and Quinn—would be too much to bear. The unfair part of high school I hated.

  I’d miss seeing him this next week, but we apparently needed the physical distance.

  Things were getting way too fiery.

  Chapter 16

  Lexi blew her whistle and said, “Guys, come on. We can go through it one more time.”

  She, Warren and Kassidy were the only ones standing. The rest of us had dropped to the shiny, hardwood dance floor in her aunt’s studio. Mirrors lined the left wall. Metal folding chairs lined the right wall where we’d thrown our stuff.

  Warren brought a bluetooth speaker to play our Panic! At the Disco song, “High Hopes.” He’d chosen the song as a not-so subtle message to our haters. As much as I liked the song and knew it fit us, the power anthem would be stuck in my head forever after hearing it over and over for the last hour. And it was more of an anthem than dancing song. Lexi’s choreography included more bouncing in place, strutting and fist pumping the air than actual dancing.

  “This is soooo hard,” Erin whined while sprawled on the floor.

  Paige hugged her knees to her chest and started rocking. “I don’t think I can do this. Erin’s right. We’re supposed to lip sync our lines and move around that fast? Without bumping into each other? I’m not that coordinated.”

  I swallowed my laughter remembering all of us trying to “dance,” while holding our papers with the lyrics, as we did crash into each other. I had definitely reached delirious. But it seemed obvious getting ready for this competition would be harder than we thought.

  Lexi put her hands on her hips. “Giving up is not an option. We can do this.”

  And what the hell had gotten into Lexi? With her gym shorts, tank top, Nikes and whistle, she looked and sounded like a PE teacher with a military background.

  She blew her whistle again. “All of you get up. We’re going through it again.”

  Warren took her whistle away. “Enough, Sargent Lexi.”

  “I think we’re moving around too much,” Meg said from right next to me. “No offense.”

  “Yeah, Meg’s got a point,” Alisha added. “Keep it simple. There’s gonna be nine of us up there.”

  Lexi’s face crumbled, and Kassidy put her arm around her and squeezed.

  Her sad face weighed me down. She had worked hard to come up with the moves.

  I said, “Lexi, you’re really talented, okay? But not everyone in here was born to do this.”

  Everyone stared at me. Probably shocked since I’d never said anything that nice to her. The thought pushed my shoulders down more since we were supposed to support each other.

  “Thanks, Natalie.” She gave me a soft smile, which I returned.

  “I agree.” Jade squared her shoulders. “And because this is only our first rehearsal, maybe we need to focus on learning the lyrics before Thursday. Then add the moves?”

  Kassidy’s face brightened. “That’s a great idea.” She squeezed Lexi again and stepped forward. “Does everyone have time to work on learning the lyrics between now and Thursday?”

  The first part of our rehearsal had been divvying the lyrics and deciding what we’d lip sync together.

  Everyone looked at each other and nodded.

  “And I’ll work on taking out some of the…movement,” Lexi said.

  Warren handed over her whistle. “Ease up a tad on the whistling next time?”

  “Sorry about that,” she mumbled.

  “Okay. We got enough done so let’s call it a day.” Warren exchanged a sly smile with Kassidy. “But we have one more thing we need to do before everyone leaves.”

  Everyone but me started smiling like Warren and Kassidy. Then those two and Lexi practically skipped out of the studio, and I stood.

  “What’s going on?” I asked Meg.

  “You’ll see,” she answe
red with mischief in her voice.

  I shrugged and headed for my bag.

  I’d been doing my absolute best since Saturday to stop myself from checking my phone every thirty or so minutes to see if he texted. Which he hadn’t. But it’s not like I’d texted him, either. Maybe, between his break-up and our almost kiss, he’d been a little freaked out, too? Then again, he had said he’d be busy meeting up with J.R. and Owen, and working.

  Even though our connection could never go beyond friendship, I really hoped we hadn’t lost anything. I’d probably only have a bunch of chats from Ella and Quinn, but it didn’t stop me from wanting to check. Because at some point checking my phone to see if he’d texted had, right or wrong, turned into a full-blown addiction.

  I dug through my bag until I found my phone. I took a deep breath, released the air, then, with one eye open—another addictive, silly ritual I’d started after not hearing from him—I hit the home button.

  I opened my eye and smiled.

  An addictive, silly ritual which worked this time, and I sagged with relief.

  Among the chats from Ella and Quinn, I saw his two texts. The first one included a pic, and I went right into text messaging.

  Early birthday present. Parts are coming in for your Camaro, Sunshine.

  I tapped the photo to make it bigger. He’d taken a pic of several shiny, brand-new metal parts lined up neatly on a work bench. I couldn’t tell what parts they were, but seeing them was another enormous step toward my ultimate goal of freedom.

  My smile doubled in size and I read his second message.

  Got any big plans tomorrow?

  I thought about his question for a second, then typed, Sleeping. Dinner with my grandparents. My parents are supposed to FaceTime with me, too. Thanks for the pic.

  I sent my message as Meg bounced up beside me. I hit the side button to make the screen go black.

  “Who are you texting?” Meg asked as she dug through her bag.

  “Nobody.” I’d said the simple word too quickly based on how she looked at me.

  “Uh-huh.” She withdrew her phone. “Who’s the guy?”

  I rolled my eyes.

  “Seriously, who is it? I saw you smiling when I walked up. And I know that kind of smile.” She gave me a playful shove. “It’s how I looked when Owen and I started dating.”

  Shit.

  I couldn’t really be so obvious, could I?

  “Meg, there’s no guy.”

  My phone buzzed and dinged with his response.

  Meg stepped closer and angled her head to see my phone I clutched to my chest.

  “Natalie, it’s okay if you’re dating someone. It’s not an Anti-Love Club anymore.”

  “I’m just…texting a good friend. It’s not what you think.” Not entirely a lie.

  She shook her head and focused on her phone.

  I pressed my home button.

  You’re welcome. And sleeping doesn’t count. I’ll pick you up at 10.

  Wait…what?

  He so couldn’t be serious, and I quickly texted, What are you talking about? And you don’t even know where I live.

  A strange combination of exhilaration, shock and confusion made me tremble.

  What the hell was he up to?

  Warren, Kassidy and Lexi walked back into the studio. All thoughts of Shane disappeared when my brain registered Kassidy carrying a plate of cupcakes with white frosting. The one on top held a single lit candle. Everyone surrounded me and sang “Happy Birthday.”

  I couldn’t move. Frozen solid from being stunned they had done this for me. For my birthday. Ella and Quinn were my best friends and had never done anything like this for me.

  “Sorry it took so long.” Lexi interrupted that unexpected realization once they finished singing. “We had to find matches.”

  “We also had to stop Warren from stealing a cupcake.” Kassidy glared at him.

  “Chocolate cupcakes are my weakness,” he stated without a trace of apology.

  Tears filled my eyes—another strange reaction for me—but I blinked a few times and laughed. “How did you guys know about my birthday?”

  “I have my ways.” Warren pointed at the candle. “Make a wish and blow out the candle before your cupcake gets covered in wax.”

  I thought of one wish. A wish I’d be wasting because I couldn’t have what I wanted. So I made a wish for the club—for us—to be successful and blew out the little blue candle. A thin line of smoke I could smell spiraled off the candle’s tip, and I pictured it as my wish going into the air between us.

  “I can’t believe you guys…did this for me.” My voice cracked on the words.

  Kassidy set the plate down on a nearby chair, and everyone came closer to hug me.

  I hugged them back as tightly as I could for it being a group hug. But I held onto Warren and Kassidy a few seconds longer as everyone else withdrew. I didn’t know how else to thank them since saying the words would never be enough. Then my phone dinged, and we separated.

  As Kassidy removed the candle from my cupcake, I checked his message.

  I know where to find you.

  Chapter 17

  I followed Chloe up the stairs to the main level and paused. My body shook from the anticipation also making my stomach flutter. The fluttering started yesterday with his text, lasted through the night, and I hadn’t slept well. But makeup covered the lack of sleep under my eyes.

  It took me forever to decide what to wear since I had no idea what we’d be doing. I’d finally chosen my favorite pair of skinny jeans, my only pink shirt and Converse. I’d grabbed a black zip-up hoodie because of the typical, morning marine thickness that might burn off by the afternoon. I’d decided to wear my hair down, with the sides pulled back into a fancy braid.

  Grams walked into the foyer and stopped. She looked me over, but not in a judgmental way like my mother would have, then smiled. “I thought you two were ‘just friends?’”

  I dropped my black cross-body bag and shrugged into my hoodie. “Grams, don’t start.”

  I was already struggling with we-shouldn’t-be-doing-this emotions. I didn’t need her teasing me about my…friendship…with Shane. I probably should’ve backed out of this day.

  But I couldn’t stay away from him.

  She approached me and her smile grew. “What are you guys doing today?”

  I picked up my bag and settled it across my body. “I don’t know.” And relief hit at telling the truth for once. “Where’s Gramps?”

  “He’s been on the golf course since eight.”

  The doorbell rang, and Chloe yodeled, the normal bark for a Basenji.

  I walked the two steps to the front door and Chloe, wagging her butt, met me there. I wondered again how he found my address in Sausalito.

  I took a deep breath to steady my pulse and opened the door. And there he stood. Smiling.

  Chloe continued to yodel her greeting, and when he turned and bent just enough to pet her, I checked him out. Because he looked hot. I scanned his dark jeans, and not the worn out kind he wore to community service, that hugged his lower body the right amount.

  He straightened, and my eyes landed on his bluish-gray shirt not quite clinging to his…lean chest. He’d also pushed the sleeves to his elbows, which showed off his defined forearms.

  I lifted my eyes to his smiling face and noticed his shirt made his blue eyes stand out.

  “You just met Chloe,” was all I could think to say as I tried not to stare into his eyes.

  “She’s cute. Like her owner. I mean—” His face turned cherry red. “Not that you look like your dog or anything. You actually look amazing. But not that…” He sighed.

  I giggled, and Grams walked up. Probably to save him from his awkward compliment.

  “Hi, Shane.”

  “Hi, Mrs. Carlisle.” His face began to slowly go back to its normal color. “Is Mr. Carlisle here? I have a surprise for you guys. Come on.”

  He took my hand and led me outsid
e, and Grams and Chloe followed us.

  We turned the corner, and I stopped. Then I blinked several times, not believing what I saw parked in the driveway.

  Grams said, “Oh, your grandpa is going to be really mad he missed this.”

  “He’s not here?” Shane asked her.

  “No. He’s golfing.”

  I walked toward the beautiful car. Also known as his dad’s AMX. For some reason, it looked way more ferocious out in the world where it belonged. But how had he managed to get this car, what had to be his dad’s prized possession, out of the shop?

  I whirled toward him. “How did you talk your dad into this?”

  He laughed. “I’ll be honest, he said no. About a hundred times. Then I really begged.”

  At that moment, Chloe headed for the car. Disaster involving her claws flashed through my mind. But Shane, also sensing disaster, scooped her up with a second to spare.

  “Sorry,” he said to her and she licked his chin. “You’re cute. But no dogs allowed in the AMX.” He handed her over to Grams and looked at me. “Are you ready?”

  “Fu—hell yes.”

  I caught Grams’s disapproving stare before I followed him to the passenger side.

  “Have fun,” she said. “Please be careful.”

  I waved absently at her and slid into the black, leather bucket seat. And I laughed at sitting in such a fucking hot car.

  He sat in the driver’s seat, and when he started the powerful 401 engine, I felt its rumbling in my core. Shane Easton also looked super hot behind the wheel.

  “I can’t believe your dad let you borrow this,” I said while I examined the car.

  Everything inside gleamed and smelled of being custom, new and rarely driven.

  He moved the shifter into reverse and carefully backed out of the driveway. “Well, he did say if it came back with a scratch, no one would ever see me again.”

  I laughed and enthusiastically waved goodbye to Grams as we pulled away. “How did you find out where I live?”

  “We have this address on file at the shop and Darlene, the office manager, loves me.”

  Of course. Why hadn’t I thought of that?