Four Letters in Reverse (FLIR #1) Read online

  “Sure thing. Is seven okay?”

  “How about five-thirty?” I mumbled, squeezing the straps of my backpack.

  Overprotective parents.

  Gah.

  He nodded understandingly. “That should be fine.”

  “Good,” I replied, relieved. “We’ll meet you in front of the theater.”

  “Great! I’ll see you later, Annabella.”

  I grinned back and turned to walk over to Mateo when I noticed Owen down the hall staring at me, and my smile faltered. There was this weird look on his face, like he was confused, but it quickly vanished with the shake of his head. He smirked to himself then waved at me before walking through the doors.

  I approached Mateo and placed my chin on his shoulder so we faced in opposite directions. I sighed dramatically. “We’re all going to the movies on Friday.”

  “Are we now?”

  I nodded. “Yup. Bruno asked us.”

  “Bruno asked you.”

  “Bruno asked us,” I repeated stubbornly, lifting my head. “This is not a date.”

  He snorted. “Says the girl who has never been on a date.”

  “Matty,” I whined. “It would have been rude to say no.”

  We started walking down the hall toward the front doors of the school. “So what,” Mateo asked, opening the door for me. “Are you going to say yes to every dude who asks you out? Because I’m telling you, you will be asked. A lot.”

  I stared back at my best friend. “I’m not used to this, Matty. And I will be saying no to every guy who asks me out … until I turn sixteen. Then I’ll think about it.”

  We both sat on the steps, waiting for Hannah. “Your parents are so old school,” Mateo commented.

  “They worry that I might end up like them … and Jade.”

  “Well, they have a point, I guess.”

  I hit him on the shoulder and he grinned. “Annabella, you have a better chance of becoming a nun like my Aunt Felicia than you do ending up in a situation like your parents. That I’d bet my whole life savings on.”

  “Well, I have a plan. You know that. Boys are just a distraction … all that can come after.”

  Mateo grinned. “And what’s this plan of yours again?”

  I grinned in return. “We’ll finish eighth grade, go to high school, ace all of our classes—”

  “Hannah might have a problem with that third thing—”

  “Then we’ll each get scholarships to the arts program and live in a coed dorm together—”

  “And dance our way to NYC!” declared Hannah at the top of the steps. She leaped to the ground and spun around with the largest grin, shimmying. “Shall we get our groove on?”

  Mateo and I stood and the three of us made our way to the sidewalk, Hannah giving us side-glances.

  “So what’d I miss?” she finally blurted out. Her braids were woven together in a French braid tossed over her shoulder. It was a style she saw Jade rocking in a photo of her during Mom and Dad’s wedding and she had wanted to emulate it.

  Yeah, my parents were pretty late to the whole getting married business. That was a whole other story though.

  “Well, Annabella has a date,” Mateo remarked.

  I stopped walking and glared at the pair, my hands in fists at my sides. “It is not a date.”

  “Says the girl who just got asked out.”

  “Well, what did he say?” asked Hannah.

  We resumed walking and I sighed, throwing my hands in the air. “You’re killing me, guys. Really. He just wants us all to hang out at the movies on Friday.”

  Mateo stopped and stood in front of me, cupping my cheeks with the saddest look on his face. “My poor, dear friend, Annabella Callaghan.” Hannah popped her head next to Mateo so I stared back at my two besties that I’d known ever since we took our first naptime together in preschool.

  “Let me give you a lesson on the inner workings of a boy’s mind.”

  “Matty would know.”

  Mateo glanced over to Hannah, “Thank you, Hans,” then looked back to me. “Bruno’s in like with you. Everyone knows it but you. Now Bruno would want nothing more than to hang out with you in a more … intimate capacity—”

  I smacked him on the shoulder. “Matty! Take your mind out of the gutter.”

  “Hey, it’s true,” he defended earnestly. “And my mind’s not in any gutter, thank you very much. Nothing but pure thoughts in this amazing brain of mine.”

  “Please,” Hannah remarked.

  He paid Hannah no mind. “Annabells. The only reason we’ll be going is to act as your shield and that’s okay. We’re good shields.”

  Hannah nodded in agreement with a smile on her face and I hugged my two besties before we continued walking. We reached a tall, brown building a few minutes later and went inside through the double doors, racing up the long staircase.

  “You’re late.”

  A tall, leggy girl turned to us with a daunting frown on her face.

  “Sorry, Sinclair!” we exclaimed.

  “Well?” She pointed to the space in front of her and the three of us lined up, together striking a pose.

  Sinclair’s stern face quickly changed as she grinned.

  “Let’s dance!”

  CHAPTER SIX

  “SOMEONE LOOKS SLEEPY.”

  As if on cue, I yawned, then glanced over at my dad across the kitchen table.

  “Sinclair worked us hard yesterday,” I touched my left shoulder, giving it a rub. “I’m so achy, I can sleep all day.”

  “Aren’t you the dramatic one, lovey,” Dad said in his Irish accent.

  I made a face, mimicking him. “Yes, Papa. Any chance I can say home from school?”

  “Fat chance,” Mom remarked, placing a hot cup of coffee in front of Dad. She gave him a peck on the lips then looked over at me with a wink, sitting down next to him.

  “Yeah, fat chance,” Marie repeated, sticking her tongue out.

  I glared at my younger sister. “Glad to see you’re feeling better.”

  “Thanks,” she said sweetly, with a smug grin. She scooped up a spoonful of cereal, shoving the contents in her mouth, and chewed like she was attempting it for the very first time.

  I shook my head. I sure hoped I didn’t look like that to Jade because that would be way too embarrassing.

  Marie burped loudly and I winced. Dad tried holding in a laugh while Mom just shook her head.

  “Slow, Marie baby. Nice and slow.”

  Marie resumed chewing then finally swallowed, looking over at me. “So who’s Bruno?”

  I almost choked on my own OJ. Setting the glass down, I glared over at my sister. “What?”

  She looked at me like I was stupid. “Who. Is. Bruno?”

  “How. Do. You. Know. Bruno’s. Name?”

  “Maybe because I was listening through the door when you were talking about him when Hans and Matty were over.”

  I got up from my chair, ready to fight. “Why you—!”

  “Annabella. Honey, please sit down,” my mother said calmly.

  I slowly sat down in a huff, crossing my arms. “This is so unfair! Marie, stop being such a sneak!”

  “Well, it’s my room too but you locked me out! What else was I supposed to do besides wait it out,” she replied stubbornly.

  I stared at both parents, pleading. “This is why I need my own room. I have no privacy at all. I’m almost fourteen. Please, Mom! Can I have the office?”

  Mom and Dad looked at each other then back at me.

  “I love my office,” Mom began.

  “Mo-om—”

  “I love my office,” she stated again. “But I love you more. Your father and I have actually been talking about this, and have already decided that we were turning the office into a bedroom for you.”

  Dad looked at Marie then me. “It was supposed to be a surprise.”

  I ran over to Mom and gave her the biggest hug then turned to Dad and did the same.

  He tapped his
cheek and I grinned, giving him a peck.

  “You guys are the most amazing parents ever! I really mean that.”

  “What about me?” Marie asked.

  I glanced over at her. “You’re okay … in small doses.”

  She stuck her tongue out again and I mirrored her face before Dad raised both hands in the air. We quickly closed our mouths.

  “On to more important matters,” Dad said, frowning as he stared back at me.

  “What?” I asked, confused.

  “Who’s Bruno?”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The music hits my ears

  And I let go of all my fears

  My body grooves to the beat

  The rhythm takes hold of my feet

  Singing the lyrics to Jannie Tay’s latest hit, Tempo, in my head, I practiced the dance moves that Sinclair had taught me, Hannah and Mateo. The song was different from her emotional stuff that always made me want to cry, but I loved it just as much.

  I stayed late after school and since the building was pretty much empty, decided to practice in the hallway. Unfortunately, the step team was using the dance room and I couldn’t sign it out today. Hannah was hanging out with Peter, her current boyfriend of the week, number six if I had the numbers straight. I really couldn’t keep up with that girl. I swear, it was always a new boy: Scott taking her to the bowling alley, or Jordan taking her for ice cream. Hannah was not only Jannie Tay crazy, she was boy crazy.

  Period.

  Mateo had to babysit his kid brother after school so he had rushed right home once class ended. Since I wasn’t really in the mood to head on home yet, dance was my next best friend.

  The beat of the song matched my heartbeat as I continued dancing, feet moving in a frenzy on the ground to the pop track blasting in my ears and probably scarring my eardrums for life.

  I liked listening to my music loudly, I couldn’t help it.

  I remembered Sinclair’s advice to be natural and let the music control how my body moved. Years of taking ballet, and I think I finally managed to beat the rigidness of the dance out of me. I swung my hips to the left, and then to the right, the learned movements finally feeling effortless for the first time. Once the slow portion of the song filled my ears, a small smile spread across my lips as I prepared for my next moves. I loved this part. It reminded me of a train: that slow build up of the wheels over the track as it slowly increased its speed until—

  Bam!

  I threw my hands in the air, my feet moving faster with each beat and each step, even putting my own signature moves to it. I breathed rapidly from the exertion and when I opened my eyes, I gasped when I realized I wasn’t alone.

  I had a grinning audience leaning casually against the lockers.

  “Owen!” I exclaimed, immediately halting as I tore the headphones away from my ears, flushing in embarrassment.

  Jannie Tay’s muffled voice played through the speakers until I fumbled to turn off my MP3 player. I stood there in silence staring back at him, the only sound came from my ragged breathing. I seriously hoped he didn’t hear my heart that was screaming at the moment as it pounded against my ribcage like a wild caged animal.

  I was dressed in my gym clothes and was mortified by my state. Swallowing thickly, I wiped the sweat off my face and tried acting unfazed.

  “Callaghan.”

  “Why didn’t you let me know you were there?” Did he hear the hysteria in my voice? I really hope he didn’t hear that just now.

  He shrugged, not moving from his spot. “Sorry. You were so into it, I didn’t want to bother.”

  “How long have you been watching?”

  A smile touched his lips. “Long enough.”

  Kill me now.

  “So,” he starts, looking at me slyly. “Friday, huh?”

  I didn’t know what he was talking about until—

  “Yeah,” I said with a nod, trying to be cool. “We’re all gonna hang out at the movies.”

  “That’ll be fun. I invited Carolyn but she has a thing with her family. She’s really bummed about it though.”

  Carolyn? I frowned at the name. If there was a popular crew at school, Carolyn Young was a part of that crew. She was pretty much always around Owen and Bruno. Everyone knew she liked Bruno.

  Or was it Owen?

  My face was somewhere between a smile and growl. “That sucks.”

  Where they dating? Were Owen and Carolyn dating and that was why he invited her? I didn’t know they were dating—Hannah never told me! And if they were dating, why was Owen flirting with me all the time?

  He had been flirting with me … right?

  “Yeah. It would be nice to hang out with you.”

  Unless that was just Owen.

  My heart instantly sunk.

  “It’ll be fun.”

  And he still might like boys.

  “Yeah,” I replied faintly. Double tish. Owen didn’t like me; he was just being his awesome amazing friendly self.

  I was a nobody in his eyes, just the girl that his BFF happened to like. He probably felt sorry for me because he knew the whole Bruno thing was doomed and I didn’t deserve to be with someone as amazing as his best friend.

  Owen’s hand stretched toward my face and I instinctively pulled back. He touched a flyaway hair.

  “I think I like your hair better curly. It reminds me of when we were kids.”

  Oh God, Owen Wilder is touching my hair.

  With the dance routine, my hair had reverted back to its crazy, curly self and it currently hung in a sweaty, frizzy disarray around my face.

  I must have looked like a crazy person right now.

  His hand lingered in my hair before he dropped it to his side. “The dance is coming up,” he said, changing the subject.

  I casually tucked a curl behind my ear, hoping I looked more presentable. I still couldn’t get over the fact that my sort of crush sort of touched me.

  It was my hair and my hair belonged to me so yeah, he technically touched me.

  I came down from my momentary high and thought of Owen’s words. Right. The dance. The random dance with the random theme happening in a few weeks. “Yeah.”

  Our dances were kind of … how could I explain it?

  Lame.

  First of all, they occurred right after school and ended by five-thirty maybe six if we were lucky. Second of all, no one danced. All the boys lined up on one wall and all the girls lined up on the other wall, not doing anything. It was painful to be there. I’d rather be at home with Mateo and Hannah, dancing to the stereo on blast.

  That was definitely more fun.

  “If you’re going, you better teach me some moves.”

  I gave him a get real look. “You can dance.”

  “No, I can’t,” he said, shaking his head sadly.

  “But I saw you on your skateboard,” I answered.

  Said skateboard was tucked under his arms. He patted it with affection. “On my skateboard, I have wings. I can do anything—like when you dance. Trust me when I tell you that when my feet hit the ground, when music plays and I’m forced to move, it’s not a good look for me.” He smiled and I could tell he was slightly embarrassed.

  It was kind of adorable.

  “I could teach you,” I blurted out before I could think.

  Stupid, AB. Just … stupid.

  He looked at me curiously and I wrung my hands together. “To dance, you know. So the next time you’re put in a situation when your feet are on the ground and music’s playing, like the dance, you’ll be ready.”

  “I’d like that. A lot.”

  We didn’t say anything for the longest time, our eyes just locked on each other like we were in a staring match or something.

  “Hey, Wild!”

  We both lost our concentration and looked over toward the end of the hallway. A few older guys with skateboards near the exit were standing there.

  One of the guys’ eyes danced across my face before gesturing to Owen. “You
ready?”

  Owen looked back at me and sighed. “That’s my cue. I’ll see you around, Callaghan.”

  I looked back over at the guys and nodded slowly. “Yeah sure. See ya, Owen.”

  Was that his boyfriend?

  “I won’t forget, you know.” He stopped, one foot on his board.

  “Forget what?”

  He jutted his chin toward me playfully, the side of his mouth lifting. “You owe me a lesson.”

  Then he skated off down the hallway toward his friends. I realized then and there that Owen had a thing where he’d say something all flirty, then skate off like it was no big deal.

  I sighed, watching as he slapped a couple high fives and then disappeared through the doors.

  So not fair.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  IT WAS FRIDAY.

  I stared back at my reflection in the mirror.

  I had just showered and washed my hair. My curls surrounded my head like a limp cloud. I considered letting it air dry instead of the usual war ritual of blow drying and straightening.

  I think I like your hair better curly.

  I wasn’t considering the hair change because of what Owen had said. It was just time for a change in general. I got the new glasses, why not rock a new hairstyle as well? Or was it an old hairstyle since technically this was my hair as is?

  Hmm.

  I had to play with my looks over the next couple of months before high school started anyway—that was when I needed to be ready and put together.

  So yeah, it was so not because of whatever Owen Wilder said.

  “Good morning, honey.”

  I smiled into my mom’s face as she cupped my cheeks and planted a kiss on my forehead twenty minutes later in the kitchen. Grabbing a granola bar, I ripped open the package and chewed, looking into my mother’s eyes.

  “Where are Dad and Marie?”

  Mom grabbed her cup of tea from the counter. “Baby girl has this huge science project and your father has been recruited to help her get it from the house to the classroom without falling apart.” She pulled on one of my curls. “Did you want me to drive you to school today?”