Chapter 10
“Okay. Let me try this again.” With her thick brows furrowed in concentration, Taylor methodically went through the steps for solving a quadratic equation by factoring. When she’d finished the problem, she slid her paper over to Manning and asked hopefully, “Is that right?”
He scanned her work, then nodded approvingly and raised his hand to her. “High five.”
Whooping with delight, Taylor slapped her palm against his. “Finally!”
Manning grinned. “I knew you could do it.”
She beamed with gratitude. “Thank you sooo much, Manning. I was beginning to think I’d never be able to solve the problem, even after two days of listening to Mr. Langenkamp’s explanations.” She gave Manning an awed look. “You’re a good teacher.”
“Not really,” he said, shrugging off the praise. “You were on the right track. You were just making it harder than necessary.”
“Precalculus is hard.”
Manning grinned, rising from the table with their dessert plates. “Piece of cake?”
Taylor snorted. “Maybe to you, but not—”
“No,” Manning said with a chuckle, “I was offering you another piece of cake.”
“Oh.” Taylor laughed, then shook her head at him. “I’d better not. I’ve already had two slices.”
“So what? Who’s counting?”
“I am, obviously.”
“Well, you shouldn’t,” Manning told her, crossing to the counter where his great-grandmother’s famous pound cake was on display on a glass dessert stand. Removing the lid, he cut into the dense, moist cake and added a thick wedge to each plate.
As he returned to the table and handed Taylor her plate, she laughingly groaned. “If I eat this, you’re gonna think I’m such a pig.”
“No, I’m not. I’m gonna think you’re someone who appreciates a good pound cake.”
Taylor grinned. “It is good.” Biting into her piece, she closed her eyes with a dreamy moan. “It’s better than good. It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted.”
Manning chuckled. “Mama Wolf would love to hear that.”
Taylor laughed, her eyes twinkling behind her glasses. “Believe me, if I ever have the pleasure of meeting her, I’ll be sure to tell her what I just said.”
Manning smiled, polishing off his cake as he covertly studied his new friend. When she’d removed her camouflage jacket earlier, he’d tried not to cringe at the sight of the bulky, multicolored sweater she wore. Even more hideous were her bright orange pants, which hurt his eyes so bad that he’d been more than relieved when she sat down and pushed her chair under the table, sparing his retinas from further damage.
“I didn’t abandon you yesterday,” Taylor suddenly blurted.
Manning blinked, staring at her. “What’re you talking about?”
She hesitated, biting her lip. “Yesterday when Principal Henderson and Coach Delaney came to break up the fight, people were pushing and shoving really bad. I get extremely nervous in crowds, so I reached down to rub my charm because that usually calms me down. But my necklace was gone. So I panicked. While you and Rory were hauled off to the principal’s office, I ran back to all of the classes I’d had so far to see if I could find my necklace. After searching for a while, I gave up and went to the bathroom, where I locked myself in the stall and bawled my eyes out.”
Manning regarded her sympathetically. “The necklace must mean a lot to you.”
“It does.” Taylor smiled softly. “My mother gave it to me after I performed in my first violin recital.”
“You play the violin?” Manning asked.
“Yeah.” Her expression clouded. “Well, I used to. I haven’t played since we moved to Coronado last year.”
“Why not?”
She shrugged, averting her gaze to her plate. “I haven’t felt like it.”
Manning thought of what he’d told his mother when she’d asked him about playing basketball. It’s not the same here.
Maybe Taylor felt the same way.
“My brother plays the saxophone,” he told her.
“Really? Which brother?”
“Monty. He’s in the seventh grade jazz band. Sometimes when I’m feeling down, he comes into my room and plays songs for me. He’s really good. You should hear him sometime.”
Taylor smiled warmly. “I’d like that.”
“Yeah, I think you would.” Manning hesitated, then added gently, “You should keep playing the violin, Taylor. If you’re good at it, and it’s something you enjoy doing, you shouldn’t give it up.”
She held his gaze for a long moment, then glanced down at the table and swallowed tightly. “Maybe you’re right,” she whispered.
“It happens every once in a while,” he joked.
She looked up at him, and they shared a quiet smile.
When the moment passed, Taylor ate the rest of her cake, then brushed the crumbs from her fingers. “Let me finish my story.”
“Go ahead.”
“Well, as I was saying, I was in the bathroom stall feeling sorry for myself when I suddenly remembered that you were, at that very moment, getting in trouble for defending me. So I wiped my tears and ran down to the principal’s office to tell him what had really happened, because I know about the stupid ‘code of silence’ that kids have been brainwashed to follow to protect bullies like Rory Kerrigan.” She rolled her eyes in disgust. “Anyway, by the time the office secretary finished taking phone calls, setting up appointments, signing hall passes—giving her attention to everyone but me—you and your mom were already coming out of Principal Henderson’s office.” She eyed Manning apologetically. “I’m so sorry I didn’t get there sooner.”
“It’s okay. You couldn’t have stopped Henderson from suspending me.”
“Maybe not, but I should have been there to plead your case.”
“You did. Principal Henderson called my mom at work today to tell her everything you said on my behalf. Not only that, but you convinced some other kids to come forward to complain about Rory’s bullying.” Manning grinned, shaking his head. “That dude’s in so much trouble that if he even looks at anyone the wrong way, he’s getting expelled.”
“Good,” Taylor said with such vehement satisfaction that Manning laughed.
She smiled shyly at him. “I just want to thank you again for what you did. No one’s ever stood up for me like that before. Well, except for my brother, and he’s family so he doesn’t count.”
Manning chuckled. “You don’t have to keep thanking me, Taylor. If the situation were reversed, I know you would have done the same thing for me.”
“Maybe.” She grinned ruefully. “The only difference is that I don’t have a killer left hook, so I would have gotten my butt kicked.”
They both laughed.
Sobering after several moments, Manning told her, “I’m sorry you lost your necklace.”
“Oh, but I didn’t!” Taylor exclaimed, grabbing his arm in her sudden excitement. “When I got home from school yesterday, I found my necklace right where I’d left it on top of the dresser. I must have forgotten to put it on that morning, which is something I almost never do. I’m absentminded about a lot of things, but not when it comes to wearing my necklace. But this is one time that being forgetful worked out for me.”
“That’s great, Tay,” Manning said warmly. “I’m glad you didn’t lose the necklace after all. I know you would have been—” He broke off, puzzled by the odd look she was giving him. “What’s wrong?”
“You called me Tay.”
“I know. It’s short for Taylor.” He paused. “You don’t mind if I call you that, do you?”
“No.” She smiled shyly. “You can call me whatever you want, Manning.”
He smiled, feeling something swell in his chest. “So are you wearing it now?”
She blinked at him. “What?”
“The necklace.”
“The…? Oh! Right. My necklace. Yes, it’s right here.” She reached inside her thick sweater and pulled out a delicate gold chain with a charm. “See? It’s a violin.”
Manning leaned over to get a better look. “Oh, yeah, it is a violin.” He touched the small gold pendant, which was warm from Taylor’s skin. “It’s pretty.”
“Thank you, Manning.”
Hearing the breathless catch in her voice, Manning lifted his eyes to hers.
She was staring at him.
He stared back, suddenly feeling like a colony of butterflies was flapping around in his stomach.
“Manning…I…” Taylor trailed off as a pretty flush spread over her cheeks.
Unable to resist, Manning leaned closer to her.
She met him halfway.
As their lips touched, he closed his eyes and felt a delicious shock. As if a thousand volts of electricity were charging through his body, but in a good way.
“OOOH!”
Manning and Taylor sprang apart, whipping their heads around to find Mason gawking at them from the doorway.
Manning inwardly groaned.
“Oooh,” Mason breathed, scandalized. “You were kissing a girl!”
“Mas—”
“I’m tellin’!”
As Mason spun on his heel, Manning shot from his chair and chased him down—no easy feat considering that Mason was the fastest runner in his citywide football division’s age group. But Manning was bigger, stronger and much more determined.
Catching Mason around the waist, Manning hefted him under his arm like a sack of potatoes and carried him back into the kitchen.
“Put me down!” Mason howled, kicking and squirming against Manning. “I’m gonna tell on you. Da—”
Manning clapped a hand over his baby brother’s mouth, then set him on the floor and crouched down to bring himself to eye level with the little runt.
“Be quiet,” he warned, “or I’m gonna tell Santa Claus that you’re the one who killed your class’s pet hamster by overfeeding him.”
As Mason’s eyes widened with dismay, Taylor let out a shocked gasp. “Manning!”
He grinned diabolically at Mason. “So what’s it gonna be, pipsqueak? Are you gonna keep your mouth shut about what you just saw here? Or am I ratting you out to Santa?”
Mason eyed him anxiously.
Removing his hand from his brother’s mouth, Manning arched an expectant brow at him. “Well?”
Mason hung his head and mumbled, “I won’t tell on you.”
“Atta boy.” Manning kissed his brother’s forehead and swatted his backside. “Now go on. Get outta here.”
As the boy turned and trudged from the kitchen with slumped shoulders, Manning took pity on him.
“Mason.”
He glanced back.
“I’ve got a few candy bars under my bed. You can have them.” As Mason’s face lit up, Manning put his finger to his lips and winked. “But don’t tell the others, or they’ll know you’re my favorite.”
Mason beamed with sheer delight. “I won’t tell ’em!” he promised before dashing off to raid the secret stash.
Manning grinned ruefully at Taylor. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.” She was blushing hard, not meeting his gaze. “I-I should be going anyway.”
“But we haven’t finished our math homework yet.”
“I know, but I need to get home before my brother goes to bed.”
“Why?”
“Well, I always read him a bedtime story. It’s our nightly ritual.”
Manning was impressed. “You two must be pretty close.”
“We are.” She gave him a stern look. “So I’m not a fan of tormenting little brothers.”
When Manning ducked his head in shame, she grinned. “But you redeemed yourself with the candy.”
“Thank you,” he said humbly.
Taylor laughed.
Manning smiled at her. He wanted to kiss her again to see if he’d only imagined those electric shocks, but he was afraid she’d bolt if he went near her, and the last thing he wanted to do was scare her off.
“I’ll go get my dad so we can take you home.”
Taylor hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Okay. Thank you.”
Manning left the kitchen and made his way down the hall and around the corner to his parents’ bedroom. The double doors were closed, so he just figured that his parents wanted privacy to talk and catch up on each other’s day.
But as he raised his hand to knock, he heard faint noises coming from within the room. Low moans punctuated by squeaking bed springs.
Manning jumped back from the door.
As a slow flush crawled up his neck, he made a disgusted face, then turned and beat a hasty retreat.
When he returned to the kitchen, Taylor was packing up her books. As Manning dropped back into his chair, she glanced up and asked curiously, “Where’s your dad? Is he coming?”
Manning shuddered with revulsion. “I don’t wanna know.”
Taylor gave him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing. Why don’t we, um, finish our homework? I wanna make sure you can solve the rest of the problems.”
“Okay,” Taylor agreed slowly. “But your dad’s coming, right?”
Manning grimaced. “If he isn’t now, he will be soon enough.”