Free Summer of the Geek by Piper Banks Page A

.”
    “But what?” Charlie was starting to look impatient. She crossed her arms and pinned me with a sharp stare.
    “It’s probably nothing. But I keep having the feeling that there’s something he’s not telling me,” I said.
    “What about?”
    “That’s just it. I have no idea,” I said. My stomach clenched nervously. Maybe Dex wanted to break up with me and wasn’t sure how to tell me. But no, that didn’t sound like him. After Charlie, he was the most honest person I knew. And when he called me last night, his voice had been warmly affectionate, and he’d been really supportive when I told him how well things had gone with Amelia at the pottery studio. But I couldn’t shake the lingering worry that there was something he wasn’t telling me. I just hoped that the something wasn’t five-foot-nine with golden blond hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a crazy-good body.
    “What’s she doing back here again?” Charlie muttered, eyes narrowing. I followed her gaze and saw Phoebe McLeod walking through the front door of the bowling alley. Today, she was wearing her strawberry blond hair loose around her shoulders, and she looked bright-eyed and expectant.
    “She’s meeting Finn,” I said.
    “What?” Charlie asked, with such ferocity, I almost took a step back.
    “They have a date. Although I told him it was totally lame of him to take her bowling on a first date. He has this delusional idea that he’s going to impress her with his bowling prowess,” I said.
    “But Finn can’t bowl. He does that weird thing where he shakes his hips right before he throws the ball,” Charlie said.
    “That’s exactly what I told him.”
    We watched Phoebe’s progress as she passed by the shoe rental and walked toward the lanes. She paused, glancing around until she saw Finn, who was still chatting with Amelia. Finn looked up, saw Phoebe, and stood to wave at her. Phoebe grinned back, tossed her hair over her shoulders, and waited for Finn to walk over to meet her.
    “Hey, you,” I heard Finn say when he reached her. “Are you ready to get beaten by the God of Bowling?”
    “You wish,” Phoebe replied, giggling. She punched him lightly on the shoulder. “I’m going to crush you.”
    “Hey, you’re right about that neck thing,” I said to Charlie as we watched Phoebe tip her head back, exposing a creamy expanse of neck.
    “What does he see in her?” Charlie hissed.
    I didn’t think Charlie really wanted to hear the answer—that Phoebe was pretty, and flirty, and obviously liked Finn. I looked over at Amelia, who now stood alone at our lane, one arm wrapped around her body. I felt a surge of pity for her, as well as a flash of anger at Finn for deserting her. He might not think there was any harm in chatting Amelia up, but I knew only too well how painful it was to have an unrequited crush. It was especially hard at Amelia’s age, when you wanted so badly for everyone to stop seeing you as a little kid.
    “I have to go,” I said.
    Charlie didn’t answer, and I wasn’t even sure if she heard me. She was too busy staring at Finn and Phoebe, who were now walking toward the shoe rental counter.
    “I wonder what size shoe she wears,” Charlie muttered. “I’m going to give her the ugliest pair of bowling shoes we have.”
    I left Charlie to her date sabotage and headed back to Amelia. I could see her eyes shining, and wondered if it was just reflected light from the overhead halogens, or if she was holding back tears. I hesitated, wondering what to say. I didn’t want to embarrass her.
    “Do you think you’ve gotten the hang of bowling?” I asked. “Do you want to take down the bumpers and see if you can beat me?”
    Amelia didn’t say anything for a minute, and I wondered if she was going to return to the hostile silence she’d been treating me to all day. But then she surprised me by giving me a shy half smile, shrugged, and said, “Okay. Why not?”

Chapter Nine
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