Virtually in Love Page 7

  “Let’s start by talking about who’s going to do what over the next seven days,” she said. “This is going to be a ton of work if we want it to be a success.”

  “And we totally do,” one of the other cheerleaders piped in. “Right, guys?”

  I hooted and whistled along with everybody else. Kaz stood up and pumped his fist. “Let’s do it!” he cried.

  We all laughed and cheered again. Kaz really knows how to energize a crowd—he’s always been like that. His natural enthusiasm is totally infectious. I smiled fondly as he flopped down into his chair again.

  “Cool, so let’s get started.” Maya swept a stray strand of black hair behind her ear. Then she consulted the notebook she was holding. “Okay, so the most important part of all this is to keep on getting lots of people to pledge money to sponsor us and the kids.”

  One of the cheerleaders raised her hand. “Will people only be sponsoring the dancers? Or the musicians, too?”

  “Both, right?” Kaz said. “I mean, the more the merrier.”

  I nodded. “My parents already said they’re going to sponsor me and Kaz and Van and a few of the kids.” I grinned. “Actually, it’s more like I told them they were, and they didn’t say no.”

  Maya chuckled. “Good. And yeah, the musicians should definitely be getting sponsors too.” She scribbled something in her notebook. “But we shouldn’t just settle for hitting up our friends and families, right?”

  “I already asked my neighbor to sponsor me,” a girl in the back called out.

  “Great,” Maya said. “But I was thinking even bigger than that. What if we set up a table at, like, the supermarket or wherever? We could try to get sponsors that way, too.”

  “Ooh, I like!” Kaz exclaimed. “They let us have the student council bake sale outside the store last year. I can ask them if we can set up a table there this week.”

  I smiled again. That was Kaz for you—always the first to volunteer. He really was a great guy . . . .

  “I live near the store,” a beefy trombone player put in. “We can use my dad’s card table.”

  “I have photos of some of the S&D kids on my phone,” Vanessa added. “I could make up a flyer with some of them so people can see where their money is going.”

  “Perfect. Thanks, all of you.” Maya made another note and then pulled a page out of her notebook and stepped toward us. “Also, Vanessa, can you make a sign-up sheet right now? We’ll pass it around and you all can sign up for shifts at the table.”

  “Sure.” Vanessa took the sheet of paper and pen Maya handed her, and went to work.

  The meeting continued from there, but my attention drifted a little. I was watching Kaz out of the corner of my eye. Yes, he was a great guy—one of the coolest people I’d ever met, actually. Any girl would be proud to have him as her boyfriend.

  So why was I so convinced he wasn’t the right boyfriend for me? Somehow I’d just never seen him that way. There had to be a reason for that, right? An explanation for why Kaz inspired the term friendship rather than romance?

  As usual, even thinking the word romance started my favorite song playing in my head. The familiar lyrics seemed to take on deeper meaning given my current thoughts. They were all about destiny, about how when you met Mr. or Ms. Right, it hit you like a bolt of lightning—leaving no doubt it was meant to be.

  Nothing like that had ever happened between me and Kaz. I mean, I had no actual memory of when we’d first met, given we’d both been drooling and wearing diapers at the time. Not exactly that magical, eyes-meeting-across-a-crowded-room capital-M Moment, right?

  So maybe that answered the question. Kaz and I were friends—best friends. Just like me and Vanessa. The kind of friends who went out on double or triple dates together and were best man or woman at each other’s weddings and whose kids played together someday. Kaz would always be in my life. We definitely didn’t need to involve any romance for that to be certain.

  Especially since I already had my dream true romance—Trevor. Talk about a cute how-we-got-together story to tell at the wedding! I could picture it now. Kaz could do the toast and turn the whole thing into an adorable and humorous and totally romantic story. Then he and Vanessa and all the other guests would toast us as Trevor and I had our first dance together to Of Note’s version of “True Romance.”

  The song swelled in my mind, the part toward the end when the lead singer is sort of wailing out some random vocal runs while the other guys are in the background singing,

  Meant to be,

  You and me.

  Yeah, meant to be,

  Just you and meeee . . .

  I sighed, so overwhelmed by the perfection of it all that I could hardly stand it. Not that I was actually ready to propose anytime soon, or expecting him to, of course. I mean, we were only fifteen—we had plenty of time for that stuff. But for now? Yeah, it was a sweet daydream. One that reminded me how perfect this was. How Trevor and I were meant to be.

  I jolted back to reality when Kaz accidentally elbowed me in the shoulder while jumping excitedly to his feet. “I have an old electric keyboard I could bring if anyone wants to play that,” he called out.

  Rubbing my shoulder, I blinked and glanced around, realizing I’d completely lost track of the meeting. “What are we talking about?” I whispered to Vanessa.

  “Kaz had an idea for the band,” Vanessa murmured back. “He thought we should branch out—make it more like a real jam band than a school band. We’re figuring out who should play what extra instruments.”

  “Oh.” I listened as a violinist from the orchestra volunteered to play Kaz’s keyboard, and one of the percussionists said he could bring his electric guitar. More people spoke up, offering extra instruments from banjos to bongos to bass guitars. One of the cheerleaders even said her mom had an old harp she could bring in.

  “I have no idea how to play it,” she said with a shrug. “But maybe someone could figure it out.”

  “Kaz?” several people said at once.

  He grinned. “Sure, I’ll give it a try.”

  I laughed. “This is going to be the craziest band ever!” I exclaimed.

  Kaz turned to smile at me. “Yeah,” he said. “It’s going to be epic!”

  • • •

  Maya kept us busy for another hour or so. Finally even she seemed satisfied everything was under control. “Make sure you’ve all signed up for a turn at the grocery store,” she said. “I’ll send out a group e-mail as soon as Kaz gets permission to make it official.”

  “Is there any doubt?” a saxophone player called out. “The Kaz-man will get ’er done.”

  “Count on it!” Toni added.

  Maya smiled and checked her watch. “Anyway, I guess we’re done here for today. We’ll meet again Wednesday after school.”

  Everyone started standing and stretching and chattering about the meeting and other stuff. Kaz hopped to his feet.

  “Aesop’s, anyone?” he suggested.

  “Can’t,” Vanessa said. “I told my mom I’d come home right after the meeting to watch my little sister while she runs some errands.”

  Uh-oh. Kaz was already turning to look at me. Normally hanging out at Aesop’s just the two of us wouldn’t be a big deal. We’d done it a million times when Vanessa couldn’t join us for some reason.

  But today? Awkward City. “I should probably get home too, actually,” I said quickly. “Dad said something about cleaning out the garage, and I want to make sure he isn’t throwing away all my stuff.”

  “Oh.” Kaz shrugged. “Okay. Guess I’ll head over to the grocery store and see if I can talk to someone about the fund-raiser.”

  “Good idea,” Vanessa said. “We want to make sure as many people as possible know about it.”

  As the three of us headed toward the exit, Kaz glanced over at me. “So, Chloe,” he said, his voice a little too casual. “Not to be pushy. But, uh, have you given any thought to what I asked you yesterday?”

  I tried n
ot to let my panic show on my face. I’d pretty much reached the conclusion that Kaz and I should keep our friendship strictly . . . well, friendly. Which meant we shouldn’t go to the dance together—at least not in the way he meant. But how could I just blurt that out to him right here, right now? I should at least pretend to think about it a little more, right?

  “Um, I thought this wasn’t the venue?” I joked weakly.

  He held open the door, ushering me and Vanessa through. “There,” he said, stepping outside behind us. “Venue changed.”

  Vanessa chuckled, and I sighed. “I don’t know, Kaz. I mean, I’ve been thinking about it, but it’s just, you know, I’m not sure if . . .”

  “It’s okay,” he said quickly. “Sorry. I shouldn’t have pushed. I know I took you by surprise, and the least I can do is give you however much time you need.” He shrugged. “I mean, the dance is still almost two weeks away, right? Plenty of time!”

  “Yeah,” I said.

  He patted me on the arm. “Let’s talk about something else,” he said. “Like the marathon. Think we call pull together all those different instruments in time? Maybe we should call a rehearsal beforehand.”

  Vanessa’s eyes lit up. “That would be fun.”

  “No way.” Doing my best to push aside my confusing feelings about the whole dance situation, I grinned at my two best friends. “It’ll be more fun if we go into it cold. Exciting, right? Anything can happen!”

  They both laughed and agreed. And just like that, we were off and running, chatting easily just like we always did. I sneaked a peek over at Kaz, relieved and a little impressed with how cool he was being about this. I only hoped I could figure out a way to let him down easy—and soon. It wasn’t fair to leave him hanging any longer than I had to.

  • • •

  After dinner that night I was in my room, the door closed and one of Of Note’s songs playing softly in the background. I was trying to focus on my homework, but my mind kept drifting back to Kaz. How could I explain the different ways I felt about him and Trevor? As I pondered that, I flipped idly through some of the photos on my phone. I paused, smiling at one Trevor had sent me of him with his bandmates. He was holding his guitar with one hand, the other arm slung over the shoulders of the drummer who’d moved to Puerto Rico. The rest of the band was there too, but I hardly saw them, focusing only on Trevor. He was so handsome, so cool—the perfect boyfriend, really.

  I flipped back through more photos he’d sent me of himself. He’d even dug up an old one of the two of us together at camp. Sweet, right?

  After I’d looked at every picture I had of Trevor, I scrolled through the rest of the shots on my phone. Most of them were of Kaz and Vanessa, of course. I paused on one from last Halloween.

  We’d been studying the Roaring Twenties in history class around that time, and the three of us had decided to dress up like that for Maya’s annual costume party. Van and I had worn flapper dresses and tons of long strings of pearls, while Kaz had found a baggy striped suit and old fedora in a secondhand store. We’d posed for pictures at Vanessa’s house before heading off to the party, and in this particular one Kaz was dipping me while Vanessa stood beside us, twirling her pearls. I still remembered that moment—we’d all been pretending to do the Charleston, which Kaz had looked up online and taught us. Suddenly he’d grabbed me and twirled me around, then dipped me before I caught my breath. As a result, my upside-down mouth was open in a little O, which looked perfect for the theme.

  I touched the screen to make the photo larger, studying Kaz’s expression. He was smiling as he looked down at me, his dark eyes filled with joy. Why had he grabbed me to dip instead of Vanessa? Was it just because I was shorter and thus easier to dip, or was it possible he’d been thinking of me differently even back then? It was a strange thought.

  “What would it be like if he’d asked me out back then?” I murmured, touching the screen again to scroll to the next photo, this one showing all three of us back at it, trying to do the Charleston. “Me and Kaz . . .”

  After all, if he’d asked me then, before Trevor was in the picture, I might have said yes. I tried to imagine it—actually going out with him, being his girlfriend.

  But it was just too weird. Besides, it wasn’t last year—it was now. Going to the dance as Kaz’s date would mean leaving Vanessa on her own, since she still refused to let me set her up with anyone.

  And what about Trevor? If I said yes to Kaz, would I have to “break up” with Trevor, even though we weren’t even officially going out?

  I sighed, wishing Kaz had never asked me out. That way, I wouldn’t have to worry our friendship was going to change . . . .

  Still, as I scrolled to yet another photo, this one showing the three of us standing together with our arms around one another, grinning like fools, I couldn’t quite stop myself from trying to picture it. Me and Kaz walking into the dance together. Putting my arms around him for the first slow song, maybe resting my head on his shoulder . . .

  Suddenly I heard a loud squawk from somewhere outside. Glancing toward the window, I set my phone aside.

  “What was that?” I muttered.

  Another squawk rang out, and then something that sounded more like a musical note. Then another, and another—after a few more notes, I recognized the first line of a Sousa march we’d played in band recently.

  “Oh man,” I said.

  Hurrying over, I looked out the window. Kaz was down in my yard, oboe at his lips. He was swaying and tapping his foot as he played the march’s snappy melody.

  I laughed and then yanked open the window. Kaz heard me and stopped playing, squinting up at me.

  “Oh, hi,” he said, as if it were the most natural thing in the world for him to be standing in my mom’s petunias playing Sousa. Which, for him, maybe it was.

  “What are you doing out there, you nut?” I exclaimed.

  He grinned and held up his oboe. “I’m serenading you,” he said. “That’s supposed to be romantic, right? Like in the song?”

  I realized he was talking about “True Romance.” There was a line in there about music being the language of the soul, and serenading each other and stuff. Whoa. Maybe I’d waited too long to let him down easy.

  “Wait right there,” I told him. “I’m coming out.”

  Moments later I burst out into the front yard. Kaz was waiting, looking pleased with himself.

  “What do you think?” he asked. “Pretty romantic, right?”

  “Yeah, I guess,” I replied with another laugh. “It might be more romantic if you’d chosen a different song, though.”

  “Oh.” He looked at his oboe. “Right.”

  “But it’s still pretty romantic,” I added hurriedly. “Thanks.”

  Instead of answering, he raised the oboe to his lips and tootled out the melody to “You Are My Sunshine.”

  “Better?” he asked when he’d finished.

  “A little,” I said.

  “Hold on . . .” Once again, he lifted his instrument. This time he played “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady. Oh wow. We’d done that show at summer arts camp a few years back, and I’d hummed that song constantly for the next six months. Of course Kaz would remember, even though I’d pretty much forgotten it myself until that moment.

  “That’s more like it,” I admitted after he’d ended with a flourish.

  His grin was back. “Good. You’re so into true romance and stuff lately, I figured I’d give you something to think about—you know, while you make up your mind.” With a quick salute, he turned and hurried off.

  “Wait! Where are you going?” I called, taking a few steps after him.

  But it was too late. He’d already disappeared into the darkness.

  I stood there staring after him for a moment, wondering what to do. Kaz was so sweet. He definitely wasn’t making it easy for me to stick with my plan to keep him in the friend zone.

  Realizing I was shivering out there in only my T-shirt
and sweats, I hurried back inside, shaking off the evening chill. Back upstairs, I wandered over to my desk and picked up my phone, pulling up that photo of Kaz dipping me. When had things changed between us? And why hadn’t I noticed until Kaz had said something?

  And more important, what was I supposed to do about it? He was trying so hard—maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to say yes to his invitation. To go to the dance together and see how it went. What was the worst thing that could happen? I mean, there was Trevor. But he was far away, and Kaz was right here being his sweet, goofy, lovable self. That had to count for something, right?

  I picked up my phone, tempted to call Kaz right then and tell him his serenade had swept me off my feet. Tell him I’d be his date for the dance.

  Then the phone rang in my hand, making me jump. For half a second I was sure it was Kaz calling for my answer.

  But no—my rational mind took over quickly. The ringtone wasn’t the Twilight Zone theme; it was a guitar riff. Trevor.

  I bit my lip, staring at the name on the screen. For a second I was tempted to decline the call and text Trevor later to apologize for missing his call. Because I needed to think about this thing with Kaz; I needed to decide what to do.

  But that wouldn’t be nice. At the very least I should answer and tell Trevor I couldn’t talk right now.

  “Hello?” I said into the phone. “Trevor? Listen, I—”

  He didn’t let me finish. “Guess what.” he said. “I’m coming after all!”

  “Huh?” I blinked, confused. “Coming where?”

  “There. To my relatives’ place, I mean. The reunion is on again!”

  Chapter Eight

  I was so stunned, I couldn’t respond for a second. I just sat there, my mouth opening and closing like I was some kind of demented fish gasping for air.

  “Chloe?” Trevor said after a moment. “Are you still there?”

  “Wh-when are you coming?” I blurted out, still trying to catch up.

  “We’re making a whole vacation of it,” he said. “My stepdad says he’s not driving that far just to turn around and come home again after a couple of days.”