Chapter Seven
LOGAN
It only took me an hour to come up with a solution to my problem. A brilliant solution that would satisfy Rachel’s requirements and maybe even make Emma hate me a little bit less:
I was going to find her a boyfriend. Somebody to have a summer fling with. It wasn’t going to be easy, because I had no idea who this poor soul was going to be yet. I didn’t know too many guys who were looking to hook up with boring, plain, bossy girls who spent their nights with their noses stuck in a book. But I would hire somebody if I had to. Anything that would get me out of that “family bonding” trip to New York with Little Miss Pukes-A-Lot.
The hardest part was going to be getting Emma to listen to my proposal—let alone agree to it. I was pretty sure I was the last person in the world she wanted to see right now, but I was on a tight schedule. I had to get this over with today or it was all over. Every plan I’d already made for the week Dad and Rachel were going away would have to be scratched, and I wasn’t going to let that happen.
Not because of Emma Dawson.
My timing was perfect when I left the house to go see her. She had just exited her own house and was heading for her car. Quickly, I called out her name as I jogged over to her.
She glared at me as I approached. “Go away, Logan.”
“Wait,” I said, standing between her and the car to prevent her from getting in. “I want to talk to you about something.”
“The two of us talking never ends well. You should know that by now.”
“I do know that. But I wanted to apologize. For earlier. I was an insensitive prick and I’m sorry.”
My apology seemed to throw her off-guard. She almost looked less irritated for a moment. She also seemed to be considering how to respond.
“Thanks,” she said finally, but her voice was tight and unsure.
“And I want to make it up to you,” I added.
She snorted. “What, do you have a fifty you want to give me or something?”
I perked up. “Would that do it?”
She looked up at me with a smirk. “No, that wouldn’t do it. Logan, what you did was lousy. You’ve ruined my summer. No amount of money is going to make up for that.”
“I know, I know. That’s why I came up with a plan on how to un-ruin your summer.”
I could tell that intrigued her. Folding her arms over her chest, she said, “Oh yeah? And what exactly is this plan of yours?”
“Well,” I said, leaning against the side of the car. “I screwed you out of a summer romance, so I’m going to give you a summer romance.”
A look of nausea washed briefly over her face as I realized what she must have been thinking. “Oh, God,” I said, scrunching up my face. “I didn’t mean with me.”
The look of nausea was quickly replaced with one of relief. “Good. You scared me there for a second.”
I refrained from making a snide comment about how she could only be so lucky to have a summer romance with somebody like me, but I didn’t want to get any further on her bad side than I already was.
“So, then what did you mean?”
I pushed myself off the car. “I mean, I’m going to help you get a boyfriend. Is there anyone you’re interested in right now?”
The instantaneous blush on her cheeks indicated there was. Interesting. What nerd had managed to take Emma’s attention away from a book long enough for her to develop a crush on him?
“No,” she denied, but if her face hadn’t given away her lie, her voice would have.
“Oh, come on. There had to have been at least one guy that you were secretly hoping would walk into Dream Bean holding a card with the number 7 on it.”
There was. I could see it in her eyes. Shaking her head, she said, “Even if there was, there is no way I would tell you who it is. You can’t be trusted. You—”
She was about to go on, but the next words out of her mouth were halted by the sound of a voice behind us.
“Hey, Logan!”
I turned to see my best friend, Matt Fisher, crossing the street and jogging toward us. Matt, in all his star quarterback glory. If he could wear his letterman jacket all summer long without passing out from heat exhaustion, he would. That’s how much of a jock he was. He and I were opposites when it came to sports, in that he played them, and I didn’t. But I didn’t need to—at least, not to attract girls. And wasn’t that the main reason why most guys in high school wanted to play sports?
“Hey, man,” I said as he stopped in front of me and gave me a fist-bump greeting. “What’s up?”
“Not much,” he said. He looked over at Emma and gave her a nod. “Hey, Emma.”
Emma’s mouth opened slightly, like she was going to maybe say hello back, but all that came out was a squeak.
She was so awkward, it was painful.
Matt didn’t appear to notice. Turning back to me, he said, “I’m heading to the beach to meet the guys. I figured you could ride with me.”
“Yeah,” I said. I gestured over to Emma. “I just have to talk to Emma about something first. Give me a few minutes?”
“Sure,” Matt said with a smile. He glanced at her and added, “You can come too if you’d like.”
At that, Emma’s face turned a shade of bright pink that I don’t think had ever been witnessed on human skin before. What was her deal? Why was she blushing like a—
“Th-thanks,” Emma stuttered, her voice barely audible. She stared down at the ground as she spoke.
He chuckled slightly, told me to meet him at his car when I was ready, and jogged back across the street.
When he was out of earshot, I gaped at Emma and said, “Oh my God.”
Her face was already starting to revert to its normal color of pale white. “What?”
I couldn’t help it—I laughed. Like, really laughed. To the point where I was practically doubled over.
“What’s so funny?” she asked, and I knew immediately I had to calm down. She was angry, and I hadn’t yet made amends with her. I would have to tread lightly here.
But my brain ignored that fact, and before I could stop myself, I said, “You have a total lady-boner for Matt!”
There was that otherworldly pink color again. Only this time, it was brought on by rage, not lust. “A lady what?” When it dawned on her what I’d said, her face crumpled in disgust and she punched me in the arm. “You’re disgusting, Logan. I do not have a lady-boner for Matt.”
“No, you totally do,” I said, finally calming down. Once the laughter had subsided, I chewed on my lower lip, deep in thought. How the heck am I going to make this work?
“Okay, um…” I started, rubbing the back of my neck with my hand. “This is a bigger challenge than I was expecting. I figured you probably had the hots for one of the band geeks or a chess club nerd—you know, somebody who’s in your league. But…” My voice trailed off as I glanced over at Matt’s house. “I think I’m up for the challenge.”
“Challenge?” Emma echoed as she narrowed her eyes at me. “What are you talking about?”
“Emma Dawson,” I said with a devious grin. “I’m going to get Matt Fisher to fall in love with you.”
Her jaw dropped in shock. “You’re going to what?”
I took a step closer to her. “You want a summer romance? I’m going to give you one with Matt, since he’s the boy you think about every night while you drift off to sleep. It won’t be easy, mind you. I mean, we’re definitely going to have to make some improvements.” I lowered my gaze down the length of her body and back up again. “A lot of improvements. Starting with your appearance.”
“What’s wrong with my appearance?” she asked defensively, tightening her arms across her chest.
I didn’t have time to tell her all the things that were wrong with the way she looked; Matt was waiting for me. So instead, I said, “Don’t worry, I have a plan for that as well. What do you say we meet tomorrow, at noon?”
I knew if I gave her time to respond, she would deny me. If I walked away before she had time to protest, then she would spend the rest of the day thinking about it, until it finally started to sound like a good idea. So, I began to walk backward down her driveway. “By the end of the summer, you’re going to be thanking me for lying on that test.”
She looked like she was going to say something, but she didn’t. I’d left her speechless.
I turned around and crossed the street toward Matt’s house. I had no idea how I was going to pull this off. Sure, I could pay Matt to ask her out and pretend to be into her, but then I ran the risk of the truth coming out. And if the truth came out and Rachel caught wind of it, my life would be officially over until I left for college. She had a lot of influence over my dad.
No. I was going to have to find a way to do this for real. I was going to have to somehow get Matt—the good-looking, popular jock—to fall for Emma—the plain Jane bookworm—on his own, and before Dad and Rachel left for their trip in a couple weeks.
I had my work cut out for me, but it would be worth it in the end.