Rush The Game

tell her, then she has no way to know. I keep my tone light, and ask, “What’s with you?”
    “Oh, I don’t know.” She falls silent, and I’m left wondering if anything is going to be simple today. Even putting groceries away felt like I was walking through a minefield.
    After a few seconds, she says, “Anything you want to tell me about your day, Miki?”
    It hits me then. She must think I had plans with Luka and didn’t tell her about it. Of course. If she had plans with a boy, she’d talk my ear off before, after, and possibly even during the event. She’s hurt that I didn’t share, and I feel lousy about that. But she has it all wrong.
    “I didn’t have plans with Luka. I would have told you if I did,” I say, aiming for casual. “He dropped by unexpectedly while I was out running. He waited for me till I got back.”
    “Uh-huh.” There’s still an off edge to her tone. “And?”
    Okay. She must think I have more to tell her than I do.
    “I introduced him to Dad, who wasn’t too embarrassing. He made himself scarce while we carried in the groceries and put them away.”
    “And?” She keeps asking that like she’s waiting for me to say something specific. Something monumental.
    “There is no and . That’s all, the whole story. Not very exciting, I know. We talked for a few minutes on the driveway. Then he took off.”
    “And that’s it?”
    “That’s it.”
    “You’re sure?”
    “Yes.”
    “Positive?” She sounds angry now.
    “What’s with you?” I ask again, probably sounding a little angry myself.
    “Luka deserves better than you sneaking around behind his back!”
    “What? I’m not sneaking— I’m not— What?” If I didn’t know better, I’d say that Carly sounds jealous. Or delusional.
    “I saw you,” she says, the words low and ugly and laced with accusation.
    My first thought is that she saw me get pulled. Saw me fighting. Saw me on the mission. But that’s impossible. We weren’t here, and there’s no way she was there. So something else is giving her a wedgie. “Carly, what exactly do you think you saw?”
    “I saw you holding hands with Luka. On the driveway, when Sarah and I drove up.”
    She’s talking about the moments before we got pulled. I run through them in my thoughts, but don’t see what her problem is.
    “I wasn’t holding hands with him. And I don’t get why you’re so pissed. Aren’t you the one who’s pushing me to call him? Now you’re mad that we were carrying groceries together?” In a snap, I get it. I remember all the things Carly’s said about Luka since the first day of school. She’s the one who freaked and couldn’t stop talking about how much he’d changed in the year he was away. How tall he is. How much he’s filled out. She’s always heading for our spot when he’s on the track. But I never really thought about it because we’ve been hanging out under the giant oak since freshman year.
    Carly crushing on Luka? No, that can’t be right. She would have said. I close my eyes and pinch the bridge of my nose. I am so not in the frame of mind for this right now. “We weren’t holding hands, Carly. We reached for the grocery bag at the same time. The story’s a lot less interesting when you don’t add anything that didn’t actually happen.”
    “Yeah?” Carly snarls. “So let’s talk about what definitely did happen. You were with Luka right after you finished making out with Aviator Guy. Since when are you such a skank?”
    “Aviator Guy?” And did my best friend just call me a skank?
    “The park?” Carly’s practically yelling now. “Sarah lives at the corner? I saw you making out with him. I know it was him even though he was wearing different glasses. And I don’t know what hurts more, the fact that you lied to me about it, or the fact that I called first dibs on him and you didn’t even care.” Carly’s crying. I can hear it in her voice.
    “Carly, no, you’ve got this wrong. I wasn’t— I didn’t—”
    “What’s his name?” Carly clips out. “How do you know him? You never said you knew him when we were talking about him after school on Friday. What else are you lying to me about?”
    “I don’t know him. I mean, I didn’t know him, not when you were talking about him on Friday.” I’m breathing too fast, and even though what I’m saying is the truth, I know it doesn’t sound like it. “I went running. He happened to be running the same way. We ran together.”
    “You