Protect My Heart by Judy Corry
Emma
As soon asthe car pulled into the parking lot, Arie grabbed my arm with a firm hand. “Hurry, hide.” He pulled me away from the railing. We ran in a crouched position to hide in front of my truck, my heart racing.
“What’s wrong? Why do we need to hide?”
He didn’t seem to hear my question. My eyes searched his face, but all I saw was intense concentration as he peeked over the hood to watch the approaching vehicle.
When the car pulled up next to the passenger side, Arie grabbed my arm again and pulled me onto the other side of the truck. We stood there, listening. I heard a car door open and then the crunching of feet on gravel as the footsteps approached. Then they stopped. I didn’t know what to do. Was something going on? Arie certainly seemed to think we could be in some sort of danger.
I crept up to check whether I could see whoever it was through the window.
I sighed and rolled my eyes.
“It’s just Brian.” He was looking through the window, probably checking to see whether anyone was making out in there. He’d probably recognized my truck since it had my dad’s company’s name on it. Which meant he was checking to see whether I was making out in there. Gross. “He’s a kid from school.”
Arie’s eyebrows squished together. “Brian? Have you known him long?”
“He moved here about a year ago, I think. He’s a junior.”
For some reason, that helped Arie relax a little. But why had he gotten so anxious in the first place? He’d said earlier that he’d hung out with a rough crowd back in New York. Maybe he had a lot of experience running from cops or other people, so hiding was a reflex?
“Hey, Brian, what are you doing here?” I heard Maya’s footsteps on the gravel as she approached from the opposite side of the parking lot. “Have you seen Emma and Arie?”
That was my cue to come out of hiding. I stood up the rest of the way and walked around the vehicle. Arie followed.
“We’re here,” I called. “I dropped my bracelet earlier, and Arie was helping me find it.” I might as well help Arie save face for acting so weird a minute ago.
“Sure you were.” Maya winked at me. Obviously implying we’d been more romantically occupied.
I cringed inwardly, wanting to tell her she was totally wrong, but decided to shake it off. Maybe it would be good for Brian to think I was doing that. I turned to Brian. “So what are you doing up here? And why were you peeking in my truck?”
Brian stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked down. “I was out for a drive, looking for something to do. I noticed the sunset and thought to stop here to get a better view of it.”
Sure you were. But whatever, I wouldn’t call him out on it.
Maya looked at the sky behind us and frowned. “It looks like we both missed the sunset, Brian.” She turned back to us and shrugged. “Would you like to join us at Kiki’s for ice cream?”
“That would be great,” Brian said. He looked at me and smiled. “Their cookie-dough shakes are the best!” He cleared his throat. “Would one of you like to join me?” He glanced toward my truck, then back. “It looks like you’ve been pretty crowded in there.”
I held up the keys. “I’m the one driving.” Thankfully.
“I’ll stick with Emma, if you don’t mind,” Arie interjected. “I’ve already been informed about the mountain lions that come out to hunt their prey. It’s probably best they have one of us tough guys around to protect them.” His lips quirked up into a lopsided grin, showing off that dimple again.
Brian seemed disappointed I wouldn’t be driving with him, but at Arie’s mention of him being tough he stood a little taller and puffed up his chest. “I think I heard about an attack last month. You better come with me, Maya.”
Maya mouthed “help” to me. But I simply shrugged and smiled back. She was the one who invited Brian in the first place. She might as well be the one to keep him company while she was feeling generous.
Maybe I was a mean friend, but since Arie didn’t want to drive down with Brian, there really was nothing I could do.
During lunch on Monday, I couldn’t help but notice that Kathryn was glowing. She’d had her date with Conner Saturday night, and I really hoped she’d had a better time than I’d had that same evening. Getting ice cream with Brian had almost turned into a weird double date. Once we went into Kiki’s, Maya all but clung to Arie’s side, which left me to entertain Brian. It hadn’t been horrible, except Brian might have gotten the wrong impression. Because I sat and talked to him, he might think it’s okay to ask me out on a real date next time. And that was scary because he was sixteen now.
“How was your date with Conner?” I asked Kathryn.
“Ooh, yes! We need details!” Maya chimed in.
A big smile swept across Kathryn’s face. “It was amazing!” she said. “We doubled with Troy, of course, and went up the mountain to watch a movie. They had a couch set up out there and everything.”
I raised my eyebrows, impressed. “Wow! How did he work that?”
“He hooked his laptop to a projector. I never would have even thought to do something like that. It was so fun!”
Maya leaned forward over her lunch tray. “Did he kiss you?”
Kathryn glanced at Arie. She looked like she didn’t know whether she wanted to be talking about this in front of him. He seemed to notice her hesitation and concentrated on his mashed potatoes—giving her a little privacy. “No,” she whispered. “But he did hold my hand.” She sighed blissfully.
“That’s a good start. Do you have plans to do anything this week?” Maya asked.
“Not yet, but I think I’ll invite him to go to the date auction with me on Saturday to watch the bidding.”
“Speaking of the date auction…” Maya turned to Arie, a sly look on her face. “What are you doing Saturday night?”
Arie sat up straighter, his expression wary. “Umm, I’m not sure. Why?”
“I had the most fantastic idea,” Maya said, her voice energized with her excitement. “How would you like to be a part of our date auction? I bet all the girls at school would go crazy over the chance to go on a date with you.”
Yep, it was a loaded question.
“Didn’t you say you had enough guys for the auction already?” he asked.
“Maybe.” She scooted her chair closer to him, grabbed his bicep, and looked up at him sweetly. “But there’s always room for a big-ticket item like you.”
“Oh come on, I’m not gonna go for any more than the other guys,” he said.
“Now don’t be humble, Arie. You know half the girls in school are infatuated with you.”
He shook his head. The skeptic in me thought he was a little too good at pretending like he didn’t know he was hot.
Maya unleashed the big guns, with her pouty face and puppy-dog eyes. “Pleeeease, we need your help. For my nephew.”
I could tell from the look on his face he was having an internal battle. He thought for a while and then held up his hands. “Okay, I’ll do it.” He pointed a finger at Maya. “But only because it’s for a good cause.”
