Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 112892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
“If he takes you there next week, you’ll have two incredible dinners,” Aaron continued.
Huh?
He smiled at my confusion. “My grandparents’ anniversary. Say what you will about my big, loud family, but they know all the best caterers.”
Caterers? I didn’t think I’d ever been to a catered event. Did his family also have butlers and chauffeurs and all that? I had no idea what I’d wear around people that rich, but Tori had promised she’d help me find the perfect dress.
It was time to change the subject, and I turned to Cody.
"How did it go with Susan?"
"Suzanne," Aaron corrected. He had a good memory.
"She got first chair," Cody said,
"That’s great,” I said. Cody must be a good accompanist, or I doubted her tryout would’ve gone that well. "When do I get to hear you play piano?"
Cody shrugged noncommittally, not wasting any more words than necessary as he dragged the rake across the grass.
Aaron laughed. "Maybe when you try out for orchestra." He surveyed the huge pile of leaves and tilted his head at Cody. "Want us to get some trash bags?"
Again, Cody shrugged, and he took another drink of water.
Aaron was still eyeing the huge pile of dry, brittle leaves. "Did you guys ever jump in leaf piles when you were kids?"
"I did once. I got in trouble for it,” I admitted.
Aaron grinned. "Me too."
Cody just shook his head as if we were both crazy.
"Think we'd get in trouble if we did it now?" Aaron had a gleam in his eyes.
"Yes," Cody said flatly.
I didn't blame him. It was obvious he'd spent a long time working on this. However, I had to admit it was tempting. Today seemed to be my day for acting like a little kid—running across campus, riding on Diego's shoulders, climbing trees.
Jumping in a leaf pile seemed to fit right in.
Aaron's eyes met mine.
"Don't," Cody warned.
"We'll rake it back into a pile afterwards, and we'll even bag it up for you." Aaron looked over at me and I nodded in assent.
Cody leaned on the rake and gave us a withering look, as if we were acting like children—which was exactly the point. We walked to the other side of the yard, and Aaron waved Cody out of the way. "You're in the landing zone."
Sighing, Cody walked a few feet off. Aaron grinned at me and took my hand.
"You ready?"
"Yes."
He counted to three. We ran.
We jumped.
We landed with a big explosion. Leaves flew everywhere as we sank into the midst.
Laughing, I twisted around on my back and had a clear view of the blue sky, at least until leaves floated back down, almost completely covering me.
It made me think about when Diego had pulled that leaf out of my hair. It would be a full-time job if he tried to do that now.
Aaron shoved an armful of leaves out of the way so he could see me.
His hair had so many leaves in it you couldn’t tell its color. "You look like a Sasquatch."
"So do you."
I wiped my hands on my shirt, but it didn't do much good. There were bits of leaves and twigs everywhere. Then I slapped my hand over my eye, giving a little shriek.
"Ow!” Still holding my eye, I managed to make it to a sitting position, my butt sinking further into the pile, and looked at Cody. "Where’s the water bottle? I have to flush out my eye.”
He came over, and I turned my head, shooting Aaron a quick wink with my other eye. He bit back a smile, and we waited. Then Cody was there, holding out the water bottle.
I reached out for it but grabbed his wrist instead. Aaron snagged the other one, and we pulled.
After landing in between us and sinking deep into the pile Cody didn’t hesitate to dig his way to the surface and extract his revenge.
So then there were three of us acting like little kids, but it was fun, and I regretted nothing.
Not even the hour I was going to have to spend brushing twigs and debris out of my hair later tonight.
“Cody! Hey, Cody, wait up.”
It was the Monday after Halloween, and he’d made a beeline out of class as soon as the professor dismissed us. He was already ten feet ahead of me on the sidewalk, but he stopped—without looking back.
“Are you avoiding me?” My voice was joking.
“Yes.” His wasn’t.
“Really? Why? Are you mad about the leaves on Friday? We hauled them all away.”
“No.” He resumed walking.
It took real effort to dodge through the crowds of students and move fast enough to get in front of him.
He stopped, perhaps sensing that I wasn’t going away. “What?”
“Tell me why you’re avoiding me.”
He wouldn’t meet my eyes and looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here. Finally, he shook his head as if resigning himself to actually having to use words and sentences. “I talked to Aaron last night.”