While You're Away

Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE

This was another new Will for me—uncertain Will, full of realization and trembling over what to do about it. Dipping lower, he brushed his lips against mine. The caress was sweet, almost distracted. Then he opened his eyes, peering into me. Lips parted again, this time to speak.

            Before he could say a word, loud, echoing laughter silenced him. We broke apart in a shock. Panic left me fluttery and frightened. What if that was Dave? Even if it wasn’t, the interruption reminded me that I wasn’t supposed to be here—not with Will. Swallowing hard, I twisted around, just in time to see Emmalee Dekker and Simon Garza straggle into the boathouse.

            It was an unexpected combination. Simon was a social justice warrior and the editor of our school video-magazine. He had a hate-on for the sports programs that sucked up all the air and funding at East River High, and he wasn’t shy about sharing it. Especially not with Emmalee, the captain of our girls baseball—not softball, baseball—team. The day he was supposed to interview her for a friendly feature about her successful Title IX protest to get that team, he ambushed her instead.

            So it was weird to see Simon and Emmalee together at all. Will said exactly what I was thinking, his voice low and just for me.

            “How drunk do they have to be to be making out?”

            “That’s a Level Epic,” I said. “They’re four hundred and twenty-three miles from Just Drankin’.”

            We were going to have to say something. They didn’t know we were there, watching. And then not watching, because we weren’t creepers. Just people caught in the wrong place at a very, very wrong time. A nagging sense of worry slipped through me. These were people who tolerated each other on the best day. What if they regretted this later? What if they weren’t even sober enough to realize what they were doing? Despite my unease, I hesitated.

            Maybe they’d been secretly crazy about each other the whole time. My best friend Jane called this the hate-to-hot conversion when it turned up in movies. The whole Let’s argue for three-fourths of the movie before we realize we’re soul mates thing. I loved it. It was romantic when two people knew there was something there and refused to let go. It was a triumph of romance: fight to get that happily ever after. And fight afterward a little, just to keep it spicy.

            Sadly, H2H is why Jane refused to go to rom-coms with me anymore. Though she was a total filmaholic, that’s where she drew the line. She said all they did was teach guys to be douche bags and teach girls to put up with it. She had this special barfing noise she saved exclusively for scenes where the unhappy duo realized they were in love. It was literally the most disgusting thing I’d ever heard.

            Standing, Will caught my hand and pulled me to my feet. He must have felt my same unease, because he was suddenly his public self again. Smooth and composed, he walked right toward Simon and Emmalee like they weren’t grinding against one of the pillars. Somehow, Will made it seem friendly and not even a little embarrassing when he said, “Hey, guys, didn’t realize you were in here.”

            The two of them broke apart. When they did, it was obvious they were only barely holding each other up. In fact, if it hadn’t been for the pillar, they might have already been on the ground. Rubbing a hand over his wild ginger hair, Simon summoned a smile.

            “Hey, Will. Hey.”

            “This place gets a lot of traffic,” Will said. Then he offered Emmalee a smile. “You okay?”