Be Mine Read online

  “What’s wrong? You look sad. Did you run into another ex-boyfriend?”

  Eden looked up and saw Dexter taking off his book bag.

  Eden sighed. “I’m just feeling sorry for myself. My friends Claudia and Natalie and their boyfriends have been nominated for Most Romantic Couple and I was thinking how I don’t have a boyfriend.”

  “Yet,” Dexter corrected as he sat down.

  “Yet?”

  “In a couple of weeks, you’ll be going out with someone new.”

  “How do you know that?”

  Dexter reached into his book bag for his SAT study guide. “Girls like you always have boyfriends.”

  Eden didn’t know why, but Dexter’s comment bugged her. “What do mean, girls like me? That sounded like an insult!”

  Dexter held his hands up in surrender. “It wasn’t! Eden, you’re a knockout. What guy wouldn’t want to go out with you?”

  “If I’m such a knockout, why do my boyfriends keep dumping me?” Eden bitterly asked. “Why do they keep breaking up with me?”

  Dexter was silent for a minute. Then he pulled out a piece of paper and a pencil. “Let’s look at this logically. What’s the common denominator?”

  “Me.”

  Dexter wrote down Eden’s name. “And what are the other factors of the equation?”

  “The guys?”

  Dexter added their names. “What do the guys all have in common?”

  “Other than dumping me?”

  “Be serious! Think!”

  “They’re all jocks.”

  “And?”

  “Maybe there’s something wrong with me and I don’t know it?”

  Dexter shook his head. “Why did you go out with Malcolm, Luther, and Keith in the first place?

  “Because they asked me out.”

  “That was it?”

  “Well, they were all hotties!”

  Dexter rolled his eyes.

  “What?” Eden asked. “Looks matter! You have to be attracted to the person you’re with!”

  “Nothing more?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  “How about when you were dating? What was that like?”

  Eden gave it some thought. “We always had a hard time figuring out what to do. We could never make plans and when we did, it was usually what the other person wanted to do, not both of us. And we went out on a lot of group dates. We never had a lot of alone time.”

  Dexter nodded knowingly.

  “Have you figured out what went wrong?” Eden asked. “If you have, tell me! My dating life is at stake!”

  “You didn’t have anything in common with those guys. That’s why things fizzled out. You didn’t get to know them first.” Dexter’s face became serious. “When you were out with other couples, that lack of connection didn’t matter because the group dynamic propelled the relationship, but when you were alone, there was nothing to sustain the interpersonal development between you and the guy you were dating.”

  “Wow!” Eden exclaimed. “You sound like a textbook!”

  “I’ll simplify it,” Dexter said. “Just because a couple looks good together doesn’t mean they are good together. A couple needs to have the same interests.”

  “Not necessarily,” Eden argued. “Opposites attract.”

  “True,” Dexter conceded. “But they need to have something in common.”

  “I guess,” Eden grudgingly admitted.

  “Who do you think is going to be voted Most Romantic?”

  “Claudia and Chase. They’re the most popular couple at North Ridge High.”

  “Being the most popular doesn’t mean they’re the most romantic.”

  “But it does guarantee them a lot of votes,” Eden pointed out.

  “Does it?” Dexter asked. “I’d like to believe in true love winning.”

  Eden did a double take, not believing her ears. “You believe in true love?”

  “Now I’m the one who’s insulted!” Dexter exclaimed, although his tone of voice was teasing. “Why do you find that so hard to believe?”

  Eden shrugged. “I guess I’ve never thought of you as the type. Love is so emotional and, well, messy, and you’re always so quiet and reserved.”

  “That’s why you should never judge a book by its cover,” Dexter said. “And speaking of books . . .” He held up his SAT study guide. “Let’s get cracking!”

  Eden opened up her book and turned to the page Dexter wanted to start with. As she did, she studied him out of the corner of her eye. Who would have thought he believed in true love? He was full of surprises.

  And then she remembered what he had said earlier.

  She’d been so angry, she hadn’t paid any attention.

  But now his words came back to her.

  He thought she was a knockout!

  And then she remembered what Angie and Yvonne had told her yesterday. He thought she was one of the best-dressed girls at North Ridge High.

  A crazy thought popped into her head.

  Was Dexter interested in her?

  But it didn’t make any sense! He was a straight A, honor roll, Advanced Placement student who was in the chess club and on the school debate team. She was a cheerleader who needed a tutor! Talk about a cliché! They’d be the perfect couple for that reality show, Beauty and the Geek.

  And yet she had just told him that opposites attracted . . .

  But still! Dexter had never given her any sort of clue that he was interested in her. He’d never flirted with her or looked her over from head to toe the way most guys did. Back at his house the night before, she had spent most of her time with his sisters. They hadn’t been alone at all. She knew when a guy was interested, and Dexter had never given her that vibe.

  Even though he had said those nice things about her — and he’d thoughtfully given her those tulips — there hadn’t been any sort of hidden meaning.

  Had there?

  No! There hadn’t!

  She was imagining things.

  Yes, that’s what it was. It was all in her head. She was so desperate to have a boyfriend and not be alone on Valentine’s Day that she was imagining that Dexter wanted to go out with her.

  “How hard can it be to make a couple dozen cookies?” Jennifer asked as she and Violet unloaded the ingredients they had bought at the local grocery store after school. “You toss all the ingredients in a bowl, mix them up, plop the dough on a cookie sheet, and then pop it into the oven.”

  “Sounds easy enough,” Violet murmured. “But you know me, Jennifer. I can’t even boil water.”

  “You’re worrying too much!”

  Sheba came running into the kitchen at the sound of the rustling bags, dancing between Jennifer and Violet’s legs. “Shoo, Sheba,” Jennifer told her. “I don’t have anything for you.”

  Sheba meowed and sat down, staring up at Jennifer with pleading eyes.

  “Go away,” Jennifer told her. “I’m busy.”

  Sheba meowed again and then darted under the kitchen table.

  “Why are we making these cookies again?” Violet asked as she opened a box of eggs.

  “We have to beat Claudia at her own game,” Jennifer said as she reached into a kitchen cabinet for a measuring cup. “Did you see the way she wallpapered the entire school?”

  By the time the bell for the last class had rung, flyers for Claudia and Chase were on all the walls at North Ridge High. Some said: VOTE FOR CLAUDIA AND CHASE. Others said: CLAUDIA AND CHASE: THE FIRST COUPLE OF ROMANCE, while another batch said: CLAUDIA + CHASE = LOVE. And the flyers didn’t just have type on them. There were also photos of Claudia and Chase on them.

  “I heard she’s throwing a party on Saturday night if they win, and everyone at school is invited,” Violet said.

  “Oooh, she’s so sneaky!” Jennifer fumed. “If they don’t win, then there’s no party. So everyone knows the only way to get a party is if they vote for Claudia and Chase!”

  “Let’s give our classmates a little c
redit,” Violet said as she searched through Jennifer’s mother’s collection of cookbooks over the stainless-steel refrigerator. “A lot of them can’t stand Claudia. I’m sure they’ll be giving their votes to one of the other couples.”

  “Hopefully Will and me!” Jennifer exclaimed. “Did you find a cookie recipe?”

  Violet nodded as she walked over with an open cookbook. Jennifer had decided to bake heartshaped sugar cookies with her initials and Will’s on them, handing them out at school tomorrow. Kind of like an early Valentine’s Day treat. It couldn’t hurt. Nothing said lovin’ like something from the oven! At least that’s what her grandmother claimed.

  “This sounds easy,” Jennifer said as she skimmed the recipe and began cracking eggs into a mixing bowl. “Let’s get started! I can’t wait for the kitchen to fill with the sweet smell of baking cookies!”

  Two hours later, the smell of burning cookies was thick in the air.

  “What did we do wrong this time?” Jennifer wailed as she put on an oven mitt and pulled a tray of burned cookies out of the oven.

  Violet peered at the oven temperature. “Oops! I accidentally set the oven for four hundred and seventy-five degrees instead of three hundred and seventy-five degrees.”

  Jennifer emptied the tray of cookies into a garbage bag where there were already four other disastrous batches.

  “We’ll get it right this time,” Jennifer insisted just as there was a knock on the back door. When she opened it, she found Will waiting. He made a face as he walked into the kitchen. “What’s that horrible smell?”

  “Our cookies,” Violet answered.

  “Cookies?”

  Jennifer watched as Will glanced around the kitchen. It was a disaster area. There were used bowls filling the sink, scattered piles of cracked eggshells, as well as opened bags of flour and sugar spilling across the counters and onto the floor. She and Violet didn’t look that hot, either. They were covered with a light dusting of flour from when they’d tried to open the bag and it had exploded in their faces.

  Will pointed to a platter filled with some cookies. “Those look edible,” he said.

  “Don’t!” Jennifer cried out.

  But it was too late. Will had already bitten into an unfrosted cookie. As soon as he did, he instantly spat it out into his hand.

  “Blech!”

  “That was the batch where Violet added half a cup of salt instead of sugar,” Jennifer explained.

  “I got confused!” Violet cried. “The type in the cookbook was too small!”

  “What’s wrong with those?” Will asked, pointing to a plate of cookies sitting in a soupy white liquid.

  “I frosted those before the cookies had cooled,” Jennifer added. “The icing melted off. And they’re too soft. I think we forgot to add baking powder.”

  “Why are you baking cookies?” Will asked.

  “Jennifer wants to hand them out at school,” Violet explained. “She’s going to frost them and put your initials and hers on them.”

  “I thought you wanted to win this,” Will said, looking around the kitchen again and shaking his head in disbelief.

  “I do!” Jennifer exclaimed.

  “Then it looks like I’m going to have to help you out. Otherwise we’re going to lose votes!”

  Will left and returned from the grocery store with fresh supplies, whipping up a new batch of cookie batter without even needing to look at a cookbook.

  “How did you know how to do that?” Jennifer asked as he placed two filled cookie sheets into the oven.

  “I’m a guy of many talents,” Will said. “You just don’t know what they are yet.”

  I know you’re a great kisser, Jennifer thought, remembering his kiss at lunch. Then she chased the thought away. Will hadn’t meant the kiss. He’d been doing it for show.

  Still, he knew how to kiss! She didn’t think she’d ever felt a kiss the way she had when Will kissed her.

  Will squinted at her. “You have a funny look on your face.”

  Jennifer blushed. “I was daydreaming.”

  “You also have some flour on your nose.” Will moved closer to Jennifer, closing the distance between them. He lifted a finger and lightly brushed it across Jennifer’s nose. “And on your cheeks.” He then brushed a finger over Jennifer’s cheek. “Your lips, too.”

  As Will ran a finger over Jennifer’s lower lip, she felt like saying, Why don’t you kiss it off?

  As if reading her mind, Will stared at her. He looked unsure of himself. Like he didn’t know what to do next.

  You could kiss me, Jennifer thought. I wouldn’t have a problem with that!

  To make sure she didn’t say that, Jennifer stuck a spoon into the cookie batter and then into her mouth. “So, come on, confess,” she said as she licked off the batter. “Where did you learn to bake?”

  “I really didn’t learn. My mom and grandmother have always been bakers. When I was little, I was always in the kitchen with them. A lot of it is just watching. You pick it up. And I watch a lot of Food Network.”

  “Do you want to be a chef someday?” Violet asked.

  “Maybe,” Will said. “Who knows? It’s fun taking a whole bunch of different ingredients and tossing them all together to see what you can come up with.”

  “Why’d you stop by?” Jennifer asked as she started cleaning up.

  Will wiped his hands on a dish towel. “No reason. I was in the neighborhood and wanted to see if you had any thoughts about our next step.”

  “I say we keep doing what we’ve been doing. It seems to be working.”

  Will nodded. “Okay.” He pointed to the bowls of cookie batter that he’d made. “All you have to do is keep popping these into the oven when you take out the other batches. Let them cool for at least an hour before frosting them.” He slipped his motorcycle jacket back on and headed for the back door. “Think you can handle that?”

  Jennifer wanted to play dumb and say she wasn’t sure. That maybe he should stick around until all the cookies were made. But before she could say anything, Violet exclaimed, “Of course we can! Right, Jen?”

  “Right,” Jennifer reluctantly said as she watched Will say good night and walk out the back door.

  Will’s cookies were perfect. Jennifer and Violet were frosting the first batch when Violet asked, “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong,” Jennifer said as she added a dab of frosting to a cookie and spread it out.

  “Don’t lie to me. I can tell. What is it?”

  Jennifer finished frosting the cookie and started on another one. “Well,” she admitted, “I was wondering about something.”

  “What?”

  “Why didn’t he kiss me again?”

  “That’s easy,” Violet explained. “No audience.”

  “Oh yeah, right.” That confirmed what she had originally thought. The kiss he’d given her at lunch didn’t mean anything. “But I was getting the sense that he wanted to kiss me again and held himself back. Unless I was just imagining it.”

  “Why would you have imagined it?” Violet asked, confused. “Something’s not making sense. You sound almost bummed that he didn’t kiss you again.” Violet dropped the knife she was using to frost with and a look of horror washed over her face. “The only reason you’d sound bummed is if you wanted him to kiss you. You’re not falling for him, are you?”

  “Of course not!” Jennifer quickly answered.

  But am I? she silently wondered.

  “Jennifer!” Violet wailed. “How could you fall for the Heartbreaker? Didn’t I tell you to be careful?”

  “I haven’t fallen for him,” Jennifer snapped. “Maybe, just maybe, I have a teensy tiny crush on him. That’s all.”

  Violet picked up her frosting knife. “Get over it! Will is your fake boyfriend. Fake! Fake! Fake! Repeat after me! Fake! Once Valentine’s Day is over, this is all going to end.”

  “I know that,” Jennifer said. “You don’t have to remind me.”

 
; “I think I do,” Violet said. “If I don’t, you stand the risk of becoming the Heartbreaker’s next victim!”

  “Ready to go jogging?” Natalie asked when a sleepy-eyed Leo opened his front door at 7 A.M. on Wednesday morning.

  Leo yawned as he walked outside and locked the front door behind him. “I’m never up this early. Usually, I’m curled under my sheets for at least another hour. Where it’s toasty warm!” Leo shivered. “It’s freezing out here!”

  “You’ll warm up once you start moving,” Natalie said. She was wearing a pink jogging suit with a pink and white striped scarf around her neck and white earmuffs covering her ears. At her waist was her iPod. Usually she listened to music while she jogged, but this morning she planned on talking to Leo so she could build up his confidence.

  “Please don’t tell me you do this every day.”

  “Only three days a week,” Natalie said as they started walking toward the park. The streetlights were turning off as the morning sun started to peek out from behind clouds, chasing away the last shadows of the night. “I wouldn’t do it unless I enjoyed it. It helps me clear my head. And it’s good exercise.”

  Leo shuddered. “The dreaded E word.”

  “Keep an open mind,” Natalie urged. “Jogging is one of the cheapest forms of exercise. All you need is a pair of sneakers and you’re ready to go.”

  “The only place I want to go is back to bed!” Leo exclaimed.

  When they reached the park, Natalie stretched her legs and encouraged Leo to do the same. When she finished, she headed for the jogging path, making sure Leo was following.

  “Ready?” she asked while jogging in place.

  Leo shook his head. He had a look of panic on his face. “I can’t.”

  “Why not?”

  He pointed to the early morning joggers already on the path. “They’re going to look at me. They’re going to wonder what I’m doing here.”

  “No, they’re not. They’re too busy focusing on themselves. And what if they do look at you? So what? Ignore them.”

  “I can’t.”

  “Yes, you can,” Natalie insisted, taking Leo by the hand. She could see the fear in his eyes and she recognized it because she used to feel the same way when she was heavier. “Come on,” she softly encouraged. “You can do this, Leo. I know you can.”