Jana looked bewildered. "Bluffing? She"s already shown her cards."
"No, I mean about the perfect guy. Mr. Shakespeare-quoting, tango-dancing lover."
Holly leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms. "Waltz, not tango, and I"m not bluffing. But he has to be straight."
"Yeah, have fun finding that guy," David said.
"Maybe he"s sitting right across from you," I said.
A flicker of nerves crossed her face, but she replaced it quickly with a confident smirk. "No way."
I grabbed the deck and started shuffling. "Yeah, you"re probably right. Besides, it"s not like I want such a high-maintenance girl."
"I am not high-maintenance."
David grabbed a soda from the pile of cans on the floor. "Holly, you"ve got some fantasy guy waltzing around in tights, whispering Romeo and Juliet in your ear. That"s as high-maintenance as it gets. For guys our age, you"re lucky if you can get us to stop spitting and scratching our b.a.l.l.s when you"re around."
Holly smiled and pinched his cheek. "You"re such a charmer, David. And I never said anything about tights."
Toby groaned. "Well, the rest is bad enough. Who"s filling your heads with this s.h.i.t? That"s why we can"t get a date."
"It"s women writing romance novels starring men that would never exist. It sets unrealistic expectations," Adam said.
Holly nodded. "Nicely put, Adam. That could be true, but we can"t help what we want."
Jana nudged me in the shoulder. "I believe Jackson was going to give it a try, weren"t you?"
"Yeah, right," Holly muttered, reaching across the table and taking the deck from my hands. "Are we playing poker or not?"
Toby"s eyes darted between the two of us, then he pointed a finger at Holly. "You"re scared he might charm you. Just admit it."
"This I"ve got to see," David said.
Holly put on her compet.i.tive poker face. "Fine, do your thing, Jackson."
I shook my head. "No, that"s all right, I"m not really in the mood for dancing. Besides, you"ve already got this whole all-men-are-created-equal mentality. It"s obvious you don"t have a very open mind."
I kept reminding myself to keep it light, annoy her if I had to. Fawning never works with any halfway intelligent girl.
The flicker of anger hit her eyes and I fought back the urge to smile. "Okay, if you"re right and you have the qualities of my imaginary perfect guy, I"ll agree to go out with you."
I scoffed at her. "What makes you think I want to go out with you? I"m not seeing what I get out of this."
Her cheeks turned pink and she dropped her eyes to the table, but raised them quickly. "Sorry, that"s not what I meant. I"ll buy you dinner tomorrow night and I"ll clean the bathrooms after I get done working. But you have to agree to something if I"m right."
"Jackson, I"d take her up on that bathroom deal. After three birthday parties and cla.s.ses all morning, it"s gonna be bad," Toby admitted.
"And if I"m right, you have to come in early and help me with those three birthday parties of screaming kids and cake and wrapping paper up to your elbows," Holly added.
"Deal," I said.
"This is so much more entertaining than getting drunk," David said.
"We can do that later," Toby added.
"I"ll pick the music," Adam said, pulling an iPod out of his pocket.
"No, let"s see what Holly has," I said to her with a smile.
She forked over her iPod and I flipped through her playlist quickly, hoping I could find the perfect song. I did. After choosing "You Don"t Know Me" by Jann Arden, I handed it back to Holly, who pa.s.sed it to Jana.
I stood up from the table while Jana turned the music on by plugging the iPod into the stereo. I held my hand out to Holly.
She rolled her eyes. "A kid from Jersey who cleans bathrooms knows how to waltz?"
I nodded. "The question is, do you?"
I wasn"t lying to her. I"d learned from attending way too many fancy parties and from choosing folk and ballroom dancing in my first semester of college because it was the easiest course that filled my applied arts requirement.
"A little. Just from gym cla.s.s," she said.
As soon as I placed my arm around her waist, I knew this was going to be difficult, but I wanted an excuse to touch her, even if it was just for a few minutes. She placed a hand in mine and I could feel the nerves flowing through her. Her body was stiff and rigid, waiting for me to make a move.
"Relax," I whispered.
Her shoulders loosened just a little as I drew her closer to me. I stepped back and she followed along. Her steps moved with mine and I let my nose touch her hair.
We stopped dancing at the far side of the floor as the song ended and she looked up at me, waiting for something.
Instinctively, I leaned my mouth closer to hers, then remembered what she was waiting for. It wasn"t a kiss. I quickly moved my lips next to her ear and delivered a quote from the d.i.c.kens novel that was well past the first page. "When you see your own bright beauty springing up anew at your feet, think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you."
As I lifted my head, she turned hers toward mine so her mouth just barely brushed along my cheek. I froze when her lips were an inch from mine.
Don"t kiss her. It was too soon. She"d probably freak. Her eyes closed and I immediately dropped my arm and stepped back, plastering on a confident smirk.
"You were going to kiss him," Toby accused.
"No, I wasn"t," Holly said.
"Looks like someone"s going to be cleaning the bathrooms," Toby sang. "Jackson, I had no idea you were such a player. Do you have a manual on this stuff?"
I grinned at him and then looked back at Holly. Her face was bright red and she turned quickly, walking away from me. "You win, I"ll clean the bathrooms."
"Holly, I don"t really want you to-"
She put her hand up. "Hey, you played to win. I"d do the same if the tables were turned."
"You wouldn"t have to do anything," I blurted out without thinking.
She let out a breath. "You can stop the playboy moves. I get it, you won."
It was obvious she was angry, and no one knew what to say, including me. I rubbed my temples with my fingers.
"I have to get home. My mom"s going to freak if I"m late." She grabbed her bag and headed toward the door.
David glanced at me, then jogged after her. "You want me to come over for a while?"
"No, I"m tired and I have to work all day tomorrow."
"You okay?" he asked.
"I"m perfect, David. Why shouldn"t I be? I"ve been charmed by the perfect guy." She was trying to make a joke of it, but the sarcasm and hurt seeped into her tone.
I sank into a chair and leaned my head against my hands. "d.a.m.n."
"Man, what did you do?" Toby asked.
"Isn"t it obvious?" Jana said.
All of us stared at her, waiting. We were clueless.
"She practically asked you out and now she thinks she got played. It"s not like it was genuine, you just met the girl last week."
"Nice, Jana," Toby said, sarcastically.
"I didn"t mean that he is a player, I"m saying that"s probably how Holly sees it."
I lifted my head and gave her a tight smile. "Great."
"I don"t think asking guys out is something Holly does often," Adam added.
"No, it isn"t," David said, returning to the table.
"I"m such an idiot," I mumbled.
"Actually, I think you"re a genius. What did you tell her anyway?" Toby asked.
"It doesn"t matter. Are you guys ready to go?"
"I guess so, if you are," Jana said.
"Yeah, I am."
The night had been a complete failure. In fact, I might have done more damage than good. I left the gym and headed for the train. I knew as soon as I sat down that I would make another attempt to get back to 2009. Being a part of this Holly"s life was just too hard. And I really sucked at it.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN.
SAt.u.r.dAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 2007, 12:05 A.M.
Just seconds before I attempted another jump back to 2009, someone plopped down in the seat beside me.
"Hi, Jackson."
I turned and looked right into my reflection in Adam"s gla.s.ses. "You followed me?"
He crossed his arms, glaring at me. "What are you doing on a train to New York after midnight?"
"My dad works nights in the city, I usually help out."
"Where?"
"Loyola Academy. He"s a janitor."
"Like father, like son."
"That"s right."
"Bulls.h.i.t. How did you know my name? Before anyone told you."
"I"m from the future and we"re friends in 2009."
He ignored what he took to be a joke. "You know what I think?"
I leaned my head against the window and closed my eyes. "What"s your theory, Adam?"
"Government agent."
No, but I might be the son of one. "I see. So, I"m not a time traveler, I"m an agent studying your science project because the government wants to steal your theories and use them to make weapons."
"Well ... not weapons."
I laughed and sat up again to look at him. "I don"t work for the government. I promise. And I have no desire to steal your project or bust you for hacking."
His face tightened. "I didn"t say anything about hacking."
"Oh ... right."
"So, you do work for the government?"
"Adam, I want to tell you the truth, but you probably won"t believe me."
He relaxed back in his seat. "Try me."