Boy Trouble Read online

  I like this boy and I’ve been thinking of telling him, but we are total opposites. He’s all about skateboarding and horror movies and his pet iguana, and I like ballet and reading and photos of kittens. What if we have nothing in common? Can it ever work?

  Sincerely,

  Not His Type

  Emma allowed her hands to hover over her laptop keyboard as she searched for just the right words to reply. She thought about her afternoon with Jax—then she took a deep breath and let her fingers fly:

  Dear Not,

  Have you ever heard the expression “opposites attract”? Don’t let your hobbies hold you back from giving this relationship a try. I mean, maybe you won’t always see eye to eye on stuff, and that’s okay. You can complement each other—like peanut butter and jelly. Those two foods couldn’t be more different (except for the sticky part), but most people (my brother in particular) would tell you they make a seriously perfect sandwich when you put them together. Or think of a magnet: Opposite charges always come together and like charges repel—if there’s one thing I learned in sixth grade science, it’s that. Stop worrying if you have nothing in common. Focus instead on what you like about him (and hopefully what he likes about you) and what it is that makes you smile whenever you think of him. The fact that you don’t share a lot of interests could be a plus, and trying new things can be exciting and adventurous! If I were you, I would rather be in a relationship that challenges me and makes me think and push myself rather than one that’s boring and same ol’, same ol’. But hey, that’s me. You have to make your own decisions. Just don’t let doubts stand in the way of something potentially awesome.

  XO,

  Emma

  She reread her response and hit the Send button so her advisor and computer teacher, Mr. Goddard, could approve and post it on the Austen seventh grade web page. Giving advice always made her feel better, and in this case, it made perfect sense for what had happened at Freddy’s today as well. Maybe Jax was just as worried and freaked out as the girl who had written her this letter. Now that they were back in school with no more Student Congress prep, no more endless hours spent together preparing their debate arguments, he was probably terrified they would have nothing to say to each other. It was understandable, but then again, he should know her better by now.

  She always had something to say.

  Friday was family movie night in the Woods household, and this time it was Emma’s brother’s chance to choose the film they all watched.

  “Really? Return of the Jedi? Again?” their father complained as he plopped down on the couch with a bowl of popcorn. “Luc, could we please watch something different for a change?”

  Luc shook his head. “You picked Gandhi last week and Mom wanted Gone with the Wind the week before. And Emma always picks some sappy love story. It’s my turn.”

  Emma groaned as the credits rolled across the screen: A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. . . . Her big brother was so predictable. “You pick a Star Wars movie every single time it’s your turn! I can recite this one by heart.”

  As the movie played for over an hour, Luc acted out each scene. He even picked up a pretzel stick and waved it in her face like a light saber. “I’ll never turn to the dark side! Never!”

  Mr. Woods chuckled. “You had to name him after Luke Skywalker,” he said, teasing his wife.

  “He’s named after my great-uncle Lucian, remember?” Mrs. Woods replied.

  Emma watched as Luc hit the rewind button on the TV remote control three times in a row.

  “What are you doing?” she said, trying to wrestle it out of his hand. “Gimme that!”

  “Nuh-uh,” Luc insisted. “Skywalker is telling Emperor Palpatine he’s failed in his quest to turn him to the forces of evil. Everyone be quiet!”

  He played the line yet another time and recited along: “I’m a Jedi, like my father before me!”

  “I thought I was a cardiologist, not a Jedi,” Mr. Woods joked.

  But Emma was losing her patience. “Seriously, Luc? This is ridiculous! Why do you have to play it over and over again?” She covered her head with a couch pillow to drown out the noise.

  “Because it’s so good,” her brother insisted. “I want to hear every word.”

  While she was hiding her eyes, Emma actually had an idea. What if she could rewind what had happened between her and Jax in DC and play it back for him to jog his memory? There was no DVD of Emma and Jax’s Great Adventure, but maybe there was another way. . . .

  “I’m outta here,” she said, tossing the pillow at Luc.

  “Hey! No bailing on Family Movie Night,” he reminded her. “I didn’t walk out when you made us watch To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before—and it was putting me to sleep.”

  “First of all, I know you loved that movie. You can’t fool me. Secondly, I’m not bailing, I’m just . . . taking a break. Mom, Dad . . . please can I go do something else?” Emma pleaded. “I know how this movie ends. I’ve seen it a gazillion times.”

  “Fine,” Mr. Woods relented. “Only because we’ve all seen it a gazillion times.”

  “‘So be it, Jedi,’” Luc said, quoting the film. “I will not fight you.”

  Emma raced upstairs to her room and took out her phone. She’d snapped tons of photos on their DC trip—why hadn’t she thought of this before? She opened her computer and began uploading the images. There was the lobby of the hotel they had stayed in with all the other students. The photo showed Jax waving to her from a big red couch. Then there was a pic of the Lincoln Memorial—Jax had remarked that Lincoln had bigger feet than his! And finally, the skyscraping Washington Memorial, where they’d gazed up at the stars. It was a definite “moment” for her movie.

  The video was coming together—she just needed to add a soundtrack. She remembered how she and Jax had decided they would be an unstoppable team, and to calm his nerves, she told him to sing “We Go Together,” from Grease. Well, that seemed like a perfect tune to play.

  Luc knocked on her door, just as she was in the middle of editing. “I just wanted you to know you’re missing the best scene in the entire movie,” he told her.

  Emma looked up. “Really? Which is one is that? The one where the green little muppet croaks?”

  Luc scowled. “Do not make fun of Yoda. He’s a very cool, very old dude.” Then he squinted his eyes, hunched over and did his best Yoda impersonation. “‘When nine hundred years old you reach, look as good, you will not.’”

  “I definitely see the resemblance between you and Yoda,” Emma teased. “The green pointy ears, the wrinkles . . .”

  “What was so important that you had to skip out on Return of the Jedi?” Luc asked, curious to see what she was doing on her computer screen.

  Emma slammed her laptop closed. “It’s none of your beeswax.”

  “Oh. So this is about your major crush on Jackson Knight.” He grinned and waited for Emma to react. Luc had a knack for knowing exactly what buttons to push—but she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction.

  “Why are you such a know-it-all?”

  “Why are you such a girl?” Luc shot back.

  “Is that supposed to be an insult, Luc? If it is, you better be real careful with what you say next. Because I am a girl and I’m proud of it,” Emma said.

  “That’s not what I meant,” Luc said. “But let me give you a little piece of advice, not as your brother, but as a guy . . . and a Jedi.”

  Emma groaned. “Ugh, fine.”

  “You need to ease up. The more you push, the more you’re gonna push this dude away.”

  “I’m not pushing,” Emma insisted. “I’m just reminding. You actually gave me the idea hitting the Rewind button on the remote over and over again.”

  “Don’t try and pin this on me! If your plan doesn’t work, it’s not my fault.”

  Emma knew that was true. She also knew she wasn’t to blame. If Jax didn’t want to go out with her, it was his choice and his loss. Besides, she wasn�
��t the one who asked him to Freddy’s; he had made the first move. Emma was just trying to make her feelings clear.

  “Earth to Emma, come in, Emma?” Luc said, waving his hand in her face. “So are you coming downstairs to watch Yoda fade away? Mom just put brownies in the oven. The one with the M&M’s in them. I know you love those.”

  “Okay, okay,” she said, tossing aside her laptop. “I guess I’m pretty much done, anyway.”

  “Wise you are,” Luc put on his Yoda voice again. “And wise it is to let the boy be.”

  Emma wasn’t about to let Luc in on her plan, or on her little secret: She actually loved Yoda. After all, he was just like her—a little person who loved to give advice.

  On Monday morning, Emma filled Izzy and Harriet in on her plan to get Jax over to her house for a trip down memory lane. She showed them a sneak peek of her movie on her phone.

  “Aw,” Harriet gushed. “I love the selfies! And that pic of you guys dancing in the ballroom—I took that when we were hiding behind the chocolate fountain watching you! Well, I was watching. Izzy was more focused on filling a water pitcher with chocolate to take back to the room.”

  Izzy shrugged. “What can I say? I know how to party.”

  Emma smiled. “Everything that night was so perfect.”

  “Except for the fact that you guys came in second,” Izzy reminded her. “You were robbed.”

  “But we came in second together,” Emma replied, dreamily.

  Harriet took off her glasses and wiped them on the corner of her sweater. “Do you really think Jax is confusing you on purpose? I mean, maybe he just has a really bad memory and forgot everything that happened in DC. Don’t you remember that one time in second grade when Izzy fell off the monkey bars and bumped her head and thought you were me and I was you?”

  Izzy laughed out loud. “Harriet, I was kidding. It was a joke. You actually believed I forgot your name?”

  Harriet looked shocked. “Are you kidding me? I totally believed you! I wore a name tag to school for a week!”

  Emma knew that being forgetful wasn’t Jax’s problem. He could memorize a gazillion historical facts and never forget a single one. He actually quoted her Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address when they visited the president’s monument: “Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth, on this continent, a new nation . . .” He sounded so confident reciting the speech on the steps overlooking the Mall. It was a moment she had etched in her memory forever.

  “Nope, no way. I don’t believe he has amnesia. He knows what he said to me in DC. He’s just blocking it out for some reason. Like when Luc says he ‘forgot’ to pick up his smelly socks and sweats off the bathroom floor. My mom calls it ‘selective amnesia.’”

  “So you think your video will snap him out of it?” Izzy asked.

  “I hope so,” Emma said. “I hope he likes it.” She also hoped she could get him to agree to come over to her house to watch it! “I need a reason for him to stop by today after school—a good one.”

  “Your mom’s oatmeal raisin cookies?” Harriet suggested. “That would get me to come over.”

  Emma shook her head. “No, I’ll think of a really great reason, one that he wouldn’t suspect.”

  The solution presented itself during first-period math class. Ms. Bennet announced they would be having a unit test at the end of the week. Jax had math later in the day, and he was sure to freak out. It was just the drama Emma needed to set her plan in motion.

  She found Jax at the water fountain with Elton, talking about a YouTube video of a kid with toilet paper stuck to his shoe that had gone viral.

  “Oh, man, it cracks me up,” Elton said. “How did he not notice? It was like a mile long!”

  Jax laughed. “He dragged it all the way down the stairs—and across the street!”

  “Ahem.” Emma cleared her throat. “Big math test Thursday,” she told Jax, cheerfully. “Huge. Entire unit. All those properties of operations questions you hate.”

  Jax’s mouth fell open. “What? How do you know?”

  “Ms. Bennet told us first period.”

  Elton shrugged. “So that’s why she canceled the pop quiz. She was gonna hit us with a unit test instead.”

  Emma nodded. “Sneaky. Very sneaky. I guess I’ll be studying after school so I make sure to maintain my A average in math class . . .” She looked at Jax; he was staring into space, utterly blindsided by the news. She knew he was barely getting a B.

  “Um, maybe we could study together, Emma?” he asked her.

  “You think that would be a good idea?” she said, batting her eyelashes. “I don’t know. I kind of study better on my own.”

  “No! I mean, we were a great team in DC, right?” Jax reminded her.

  She practically had to cover her mouth to stifle a laugh—now he remembered!

  “I guess,” she said, coyly. “If you really want to work together.”

  “I do!” Jax insisted. “I think we should start right away. Today.”

  Emma tapped a finger to her chin. “Let me see, what do I have going on after school today?” Jax was hanging on her every word. “Well, I told my mom I would take our dog, Jagger, out for a long walk. He really needs the exercise.”

  “Can’t Jagger wait till after the unit test is over?” Jax pleaded.

  “I suppose Luc could walk him,” Emma replied. “If it’s really that important to you.”

  “Dude, you could always come to my house after school and study,” Elton suddenly offered. “I’m pretty good in math.”

  Emma wished she had some toilet paper from that YouTube video to stick in Elton’s mouth! “No! Your house has way too many distractions!” she insisted. “Jax wants to study, not play video games.”

  Before Elton could say another word, Emma sealed the deal: “I’ll meet you at our lockers at three ten sharp,” she told Jax. “Operation Ace the Math Test commencing.”

  Walking home from school that day with Emma, Jax did a very good job of staring at his sneakers and not saying much—except for a quick weather report.

  “Did the meteorologist say it was going to rain?” The wind whipped his hair in his eyes and the sky looked an ominous shade of dark gray. “I hope track practice isn’t rained out tomorrow morning.”

  Emma stopped walking and waited for Jax to realize she was standing still, arms crossed, several feet behind him.

  “Huh? Where’d you go?” Jax replied, puzzled. He walked back to stand next to her.

  “Oh, you noticed?” Emma huffed. “I didn’t think you had anything much to say to me.”

  “Emma, you’re imagining things,” Jax insisted. “I have plenty to say to you.”

  “Like what?” Emma pressed.

  “Like, if we study all afternoon for the math test I know we’ll both get an A.”

  Emma scowled. “There you go again! The most you have to say to me is about the weather or math. What happened to all of those deep conversations we had, about our hopes and dreams and the stuff that we had in common?”

  Jax raised an eyebrow. “Is that what’s bugging you? That I haven’t told you about my dreams lately?”

  His tone sounded sarcastic. Why didn’t this matter to him? Emma fumed. “What’s bothering me is that you’re not interested in being my friend—which clearly you were in Washington, DC. Ever since we got back, you’ve acted like a different person.”

  “I’m sorry, but I just need to be really careful about managing my time.” Jax tried to defend himself. “I literally just moved here. I’m on the soccer and track teams, and that’s a lot of pressure on top of all my tests and homework.”

  “And I wouldn’t understand because I don’t have anything going on?” Emma tossed back.

  “That’s not what I mean! But sometimes you’re just . . . never mind.”

  Emma took a deep breath. “Just what, Jackson?”

  “I don’t know. Sometimes, it feels like you just have to have everything exactly your way.”

 
Emma was shocked. First, her brother accused her of being controlling, now Jackson. Tears started welling up in her eyes. She never thought Jackson would make her feel this way. “I think we should cancel today’s study session,” she finally said. “I want to be alone.”

  “Come on, Emma,” Jax said, hiking his backpack up on his shoulders. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  But Emma couldn’t even respond. For days she had been trying so hard to give Jackson her time and attention. But no matter what she did, it was wrong. The frustration built up inside of her chest and she didn’t know whether she wanted to scream or cry. She hurried down the street leaving him standing by himself. Emma knew one thing: She didn’t want to be around Jax right now. And that feeling was a first. In a matter of minutes, their entire relationship—and her great plan—had just imploded.

  “Nuh-uh. You just left?!” Harriet gasped as Emma recounted over an emergency call what had gone down between her and Jax on the walk home.

  “I did,” Emma admitted. “It was awful. I was just so mad at him.”

  “I can’t believe it,” Izzy weighed in. “He insulted you!”

  “Who does he think he is?” Harriet said, outraged.

  “But he was different in DC,” Emma recalled. “He was so sweet and supportive. But now, even when it’s just the two of us, I don’t feel important to him.”

  “Em, you’ve got to accept reality,” Izzy insisted. “Maybe Jackson is just fickle. He’s changing his mind like Harriet changes her cat Romeo’s kitty litter.”

  “Oh, and that’s every day, sometimes even twice a day,” Harriet chimed in. “Romeo likes a tidy litter box.”

  “So, that’s it?” Emma tried to process what they were saying. “Our relationship ends before it even begins? Am I’m supposed to forget everything we said to each other? Everything we meant to each other at the Student Congress?”

  Izzy considered. “Maybe. At least for now. You just focus on you and let him go off and do his thing.”

  Emma mulled over her friends’ advice. She knew it was probably the smartest, sanest decision she could make about her relationship with Jax. But that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt . . . a lot.