Devon Delaney Should Totally Know Better Read online

  Bailey and Kim come out of the bathroom and breeze by me in a haze of perfume. When they’re a few feet down the hall, Bailey looks back at me, leans in and whispers something to Kim, and then they both laugh before disappearing into the room where mock trial is going to be held.

  “Hey,” Lexi says from behind me, and I jump. “What’s with you?”

  “Nothing,” I say, squaring my shoulders as we head for mock trial. “Just war.”

  Twenty minutes later. Mock trial. We have been separated into groups of four, and we’re supposed to be going over a case that’s been given to us. I thought it would be more like acting, but apparently a lot of it has to do with the Constitution. I’m all about the Constitution—freedom, yay!—but this might be taking it a little too far.

  The faculty advisor, Mr. Ikwang, is one of those teachers that’s super excited about the judicial process. Those were his words, not mine. “I’m super excited about the judicial process, and I hope you will be too!” he said as soon as we got into the room.

  Snore.

  In my group are Lexi, Jared, and Luke. Lexi took control of the situation when Mr. Ikwang told us to get into groups, announcing, “Jared and Luke, you’ll be with me and Devon.”

  Then she grabbed my hand and pulled me over to their table, where we’re now all sitting.

  “So what are we supposed to do?” Jared asks, looking down at the paper Mr. Ikwang gave us.

  I read it. “Case Study,” it says. “A woman is arrested for the kidnapping of her own child. The child, a two-year-old girl, was last seen with the mother at the grocery store on a Tuesday morning. On Wednesday, the girl was reported missing by the mother, who claimed an intruder came in during the night and took her.”

  “Wow,” I say. “This is dark.”

  “Oh, look!” Lexi exclaims, her eyes sliding down the paper. “There are witnesses and everything! I want to play one of the witnesses!” She raises her eyes up and starts waving her hand in the air. “Mr. Ikwang, Mr. Ikwang, I want to play the part of ‘witness number two, blond woman in the grocery store produce aisle,’ please!’”

  “Lexi!” Mr. Ikwang says. “I love your enthusiasm, but right now your group is supposed to be preparing some questions the prosecution might ask.”

  “This is like school,” Lexi says glumly. She pushes the paper away.

  “Yesterday’s case was a lot more interesting,” Luke says. He leans back in his chair, and I look over at him, still quite not believing he’s my boyfriend. He’s wearing a black sweater with a white T-shirt underneath and baggy jeans. Of course, the fact that he’s hot is not why I like him. I like him because he’s smart. Unlike Barelli, who apparently wishes he wasn’t that smart and is very shallow.

  “It was,” Bailey says from the table behind us. She flips her long curls over the shoulder of her tight pink sweater. “We couldn’t stop debating it, it was driving us sooo crazy.”

  I’m not sure if she means “we” as in all of mock trial, or “we” as in her and Luke, but either way, I don’t like it.

  “Sounds fun,” I say brightly, trying to pretend like everything’s fine.

  “So, are you guys going to the dance?” Bailey asks. She says ‘you guys’ but she’s looking right at Luke. “Remember the last dance, Luke?” she says, before any of us can answer. “We didn’t go because we decided to go four-wheeling at my uncle’s instead.”

  “Yeah,” Luke says, and he glances at me nervously. Probably because he knows he hasn’t told me that he used to date her. Or about those notes they were passing, and who knows what else.

  “It was sooo fun,” Bailey goes on. Everything is “sooo” with her today. “Sooo” fun, “sooo” crazy. Ugh. Even though she’s at another table, the back of her chair is close to Luke’s, and she scoots it even closer toward him.

  “Wasn’t that where you had your first kiss?” Kim chimes in helpfully from next to her.

  Lexi shoots her a death glare. “I’m not surprised that you’re so interested in who other people are kissing, Kim, since, you know, you like to figure it out and then just go after whoever it is.”

  Lexi’s obviously talking about the Matt Connors situation that happened last month. Yikes. This could get heated. I glance nervously over at Mr. Ikwang, who’s at the front of the room, talking animatedly to some kids about defendants’ rights. Mr. Ikwang’s pretty small. I don’t know if he could break up Lexi and Kim if it came to that.

  “Yeah, well, you know I’m always interested in that kind of stuff.” And then Kim throws Jared a suggestive look. Lexi looks so mad I’m afraid she’s going to fly across the table and maybe pull Kim’s hair or something.

  “I like to four-wheel, too,” I blurt. Everyone looks at me in surprise. “Oh, yeah,” I say. “I love four-wheeling. I used to always do it on my Grandpa Delaney’s farm.”

  My Grandpa Delaney passed away when I was a baby, and I don’t think he had a farm. But he totally could’ve. I don’t really know much about him. So it’s not exactly a lie, really.

  “What kind of four-wheeler did you have?” Bailey asks. She’s leaning over the back of her chair now, her long hair dangling down the side and her arm dangerously close to the back of Luke’s shoulder.

  “Umm . . . well . . .”

  “You always used a Raptor this summer,” Lexi chimes in helpfully. “You know, when you were visiting your grandma.”

  “Oh, right,” I say, relieved. “That’s a great four-wheeler.” How does Lexi know about four-wheelers, anyway? She doesn’t seem like that’s her kind of thing.

  “But I thought you weren’t visiting your Grandpa Delaney this summer,” Luke says, frowning. “You were visiting your other grandma, your mom’s mom. Did you go four-wheeling there, too?”

  And then something comes over me. Something very, very bad. The same sort of thing that came over me when I was away this summer. And before I know it, this is what I’m saying: “Well, actually, I didn’t four-wheel at my grandma’s house. I mean, I did it over the summer while I was visiting her. But the actual four-wheeling I did was at this guy Greg’s house. My ex-boyfriend, Greg.”

  Ohmigod. Ohmigod. Ohmigod. What? Why? Why why why? Why did I just say that? I’ve now made up a guy named Greg who lives near my grandma, who I hung out with over the summer, and who took me four wheeling. None of which is true.

  “Oh, right, Greg,” Lexi says, not missing a beat, which is pretty impressive if you think about it. “He was so cute, he had that shaggy brown hair that you loved.”

  “I’m sure,” Kim says, rolling her eyes.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Lexi demands.

  “Nothing,” Kim says, shrugging her delicate little shoulders. “Just that I’m sure he was cute.”

  “But that’s not really how you said it,” Lexi says. “Are you trying to imply that Devi can’t get a cute guy?”

  “Oh, please,” Kim says. “Her name is Devon, not Devi.”

  “Are you calling Luke ugly?” Lexi asks. Jared, who’s sitting next to her, looks a little nervous and puts his hand on Lexi’s arm. “Because he’s Devi’s boyfriend. And if you think Devi can’t get a hot guy, then what are you saying about Luke?”

  “Any thoughts on the trial?” Mr. Ikwang asks, popping up from behind us. I almost scream, I’m so startled. But I’m also grateful that he saved me from what was becoming a very, very bad conversation.

  “Uh, we’re still looking it over,” I tell him, giving him a big smile.

  “I have a thought,” Jared says.

  “Yes, Jared?” Mr. Ikwang asks.

  “Who’s the father?” Jared leans forward and looks at Mr. Ikwang seriously.

  Mr. Ikwang looks perplexed.

  “The father of the baby,” Jared explains. “Because usually the father is the one who steals the kids in these situations, isn’t he?”

  “The father passed away,” Mr. Ikwang says, pointing to the case facts at the bottom of the sheet that tell us that.

  “Yeah,
but did he really?” Jared asks, looking pleased with himself. “Or are him and the mom kidnapping the baby, so that they can run away together?”

  “Why would they have to kidnap their kid so they could run away together?” Lexi asks.

  “Maybe he’s married to someone else.” Jared leans back in his chair and folds his arms over his chest. “I think this should be looked into.”

  “Very interesting, Jared,” Mr. Ikwang says, even though he obviously thinks Jared is completely out of his mind. “And on that note, I think it’s time to call it a day.”

  On the way out of mock trial, Barelli comes up to me and Luke and says, “Greg sounds really nice, Devon. I’d like to meet him sometime.”

  Then she smiles at me and passes by us out into the hall.

  “That was nice of her,” I say to Luke so that I don’t seem like the jealous, overbearing girlfriend. What I don’t say is that I’m sooo not falling for it.

  chapter four

  Luke and I sit on the bench outside of school and wait for our parents to pick us up. He reaches out and takes my hand, and a little thrill rushes through my body. I’m still not used to how it feels to actually be holding a boy’s hand. I’m getting better, though. Like, I used to constantly worry about if my hand was sweaty or if I was holding his too hard. But now it feels more natural.

  “So,” Luke says.

  “So,” I say, swinging my legs underneath me.

  “Listen, I need to ask you something,” he says. “And it doesn’t have to be weird, you know?”

  “Oh?” My stomach does a flip. He’s going to ask me to the dance! Finally! I put my best “don’t worry of course I’m going to say yes” face on. It must be hard to be a guy, always having to worry about asking girls out, afraid of all that rejection. “Of course,” I say seriously. “Go ahead.”

  He runs his fingers through his hair and then looks at me. “How come you didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend this summer?”

  Oh. Right. I take a deep breath and get ready to tell him that I didn’t have a boyfriend this summer, that it was just something I kind of sort of made up, and that I’m so sorry but I wouldn’t have had to do that if I knew what the deal was with him and Bailey and why won’t he just ask me to the dance already?

  “Luke, I—”

  “Bye, Luke,” Bailey calls as she bounces down the sidewalk in front of us. She took off the sweater she was wearing inside, and is now wearing a very tight, light blue V-neck with lace all around the collar. Gasp! She obviously just took her sweater off so that she could show off in front of Luke! I mean, come on! Why else would she take her sweater off before coming outside? It makes no sense.

  “Bye,” Luke says, giving her a wave.

  “I don’t know why I didn’t tell you about my boyfriend,” I say a little louder than is necessary, hoping that Barelli will overhear. But she doesn’t seem to, and just goes flouncing away to the car that’s waiting for her. In the driver’s seat is someone who looks like an older version of Bailey. Probably her sister. Loud music is pumping from the car, and I can hear Bailey giggle at something her sister says as she hops in.

  Just then, my dad’s old Corolla pulls up next to us. Of course Bailey would be cool enough to have her sister picking her up, while I have to get picked up by my parents.

  “There’s your dad,” Luke says, looking at the car. “You better go.” He sounds annoyed.

  “Are you mad at me?” I ask.

  “I just don’t understand why you wouldn’t have told me about your old boyfriend.”

  “Well, you didn’t tell me about Bailey,” I say. “So I just figured we weren’t going to have those kinds of conversations yet.”

  “Bailey?” Luke frowns, like he’s never heard of her, and/or doesn’t understand what she has to do with this conversation. Which is everything.

  “Yeah, that you used to go out with her last year.”

  “I thought you knew about that,” he says. “It’s not like it was a secret.”

  “Well, I didn’t,” I say. I look to see if my dad’s getting impatient, but he’s on his cell phone. I can tell because his gesturing with his hands, and I can almost make out the Bluetooth in his ear. Probably on a business call.

  “Oh, right,” Luke says, pulling his hand away from mine. “That’s because you liked Jared. You probably knew who he was dating.”

  “Not really,” I mumble. I actually did know who Jared was dating, but that doesn’t—wait a minute.

  Is Luke jealous? Is that why he’s acting so cranky all of a sudden? Is he jealous of this anonymous Greg person who doesn’t even exist? Not that Luke knows he doesn’t exist. In fact, as far as Luke knows, Greg could be some kind of totally hot guy, a four-wheeling champion who buys me flowers and kisses me. I feel a secret rush of excitement thinking about Luke being jealous of some other guy.

  “Well, it would have been nice if you’d told me,” he says.

  “I’m sorry, I really am.” I reach for his hand again, and give it a squeeze. “I should have told you, I just didn’t think it was that big of a deal. Really, he meant nothing to me. He was nobody, just a . . . a summer fling!”

  “Well then,” Luke says. “If it was just a summer fling, I can see why you didn’t mention it.”

  “Totally,” I say, nodding. “He doesn’t even cross my mind, not even a little.” And then I remember Kim’s doubtful comment in mock trial, and realize I need to make this sound as realistic as possible. “Of course,” I add, “We still IM sometimes, but it’s nothing, we’re definitely just friends.” People usually keep in touch with their ex-boyfriends, don’t they? Bailey’s still in touch with Luke. Of course, they do go to the same school, so it’s a little different. But still.

  Out of the corner of my eye, I can see my dad still on his phone call, but I stand up anyway. “I should go,” I say. Luke stands up, and for a second, I wonder if he’s going to kiss me in front of my dad.

  “Well,” he says. “I think I should meet him.”

  “My dad?” I ask. “Right now? Um, now’s probably not the best time.” The thing is, I kind of sort of haven’t told my dad that Luke is actually my boyfriend. I mean, my parents know who Luke is and everything, but they don’t know he and I are going out.

  “Not your dad,” Luke says, his blue eyes grim. “Greg.”

  “Oh,” I say. “Right. Of course.” Not. And then I wave goodbye and rush off to the car before he can realize I’m panicked.

  When I get into the car, my dad quickly gets off his phone call. “Okay,” he says briskly, “So we’ll touch base about that on Monday.” And then he gets a very guilty look on his face as he flips his phone shut and takes his Bluetooth out of his ear.

  “Hi, honey,” he says. “How was mock trial?”

  “It was . . .” I grasp around in my head for something to say that won’t exactly be a lie or sound too negative. “Interesting.”

  “You know, when I was in high school, I was in debate club.”

  “I know,” I say as I buckle my seat belt. “One time mom showed me all your old debate club trophies.” I hope he’s not going to start telling me stories about debate club. Mock trial was boring enough.

  “Well, I was the best in the state,” he says, pulling the car onto the highway and looking pleased with himself. “I remember one time—” His cell phone starts ringing from his pocket, playing the tune of a rap song that I programmed on for him. If I can’t have my own cell, then at least I should be able to have fun with someone else’s, right?

  “Aren’t you going to answer that?” I ask, singing along with the song. It’s very catchy. The song, I mean. And a very good temporary distraction from the fact that, you know, I’ve made up another fake boyfriend. Wow. That’s my second fake boyfriend in six months. That has to be some kind of record.

  “Uh, no,” my dad says, “Probably nothing important.”

  “It could be very important,” I say. “I know that if I had a cell phone, I would never, ever not a
nswer it, since it could be you or mom calling me with some kind of family emergency.” He raises his eyebrows. “And,” I go on, “I could also use it to call you when I have to stay after school or something. Like today, when I had to use Lexi’s phone to call you. I’m probably running up her bill super high. In fact, I should probably give her some money for that call I made today.” This is pretty laughable, since Lexi’s family has tons of money, and my dad knows it. But just because she has the money doesn’t mean that I should take advantage of that, does it?

  My dad’s phone starts ringing again, and I reach over and grab it out of his shirt pocket before he can stop me.

  “Devon, no!” he says, but I look at the screen before he can stop me.

  “Calm down.” I roll my eyes. “It’s just Mom.” I flip open his phone and answer it. “Hello?” I say.

  “Hi, Devon,” my mom says. “Listen, can you guys stop at the store on the way home and pick up some milk?”

  “Sure,” I say. I can hear pots and pans clanging in the background, and then the phone gets muffled for a second and my mom says, “No, Katie, please don’t pour ketchup into the stew!” And then the line goes dead.

  “She wants us to pick up some milk,” I say. I slide the phone shut and hold it out to my dad.

  As I’m sliding it over, the phone starts ringing again. But my dad takes it out of my hand before I can see who it is, and shuts it off before putting it back in his pocket. Geez. Way to be the Phone Nazi.

  The next morning at school, I head to Mel’s locker first so that I can drop off our BFF notebook. The BFF notebook is something we started a while ago. We take turns writing notes back and forth in it, and then just pass the notebook to each other. It serves two purposes, in that we can pass it without teachers realizing that it’s not school related, and we can keep our notes all in one place, so that we can read them back to each other one day when we’re old and have grandchildren. Our plan is to talk about how much things have changed and how silly junior high was. Well, at least I’ll hope that’s what we’ll do. It would be pretty upsetting if we read the notes and thought, “Oh, those were the days, when Devon made up fake boyfriends and Bailey Barelli was always around, like a little fly hovering, and oh, isn’t it funny how Bailey married Luke?”