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Good, let him suffer for his curiosity.
“So, I was thinking of asking for one more favor, but this one might take both of you.” Andrea took a long swallow of the soda she’d ordered to go with her breakfast. I’d stuck to water and would get more coffee now that I finished my salad.
I flicked a look to Adam and caught the same curiosity in his gaze. I shook my head once. I didn’t know. He shook his head too. So, neither of us did.
“You can ask,” I told her.
“But we’re not promising anything.” While a little harsher than I would have put it, I didn’t disagree.
She took the time to set aside her silverware on her plate and folded her napkin. Whatever it was seemed important to her. She shot a look at Adam then at me. Finally, she decided on me.
So, she thought I’d be the softer target. “We’re listening,” I prompted her and from the corner of my eye I caught the faintest flicker of a smile on Adam’s face.
“I want to add an invitation to the gala, well, it would probably have to be three so we could invite his parents too. But they’re very interesting. His father’s an engineer, he used to be in the army and now he does something with cars and his mother is a neurosurgeon. Really impressive people. And clearly, he goes to my school, so they have the money. Maybe they aren’t one of the older families, but Dad is always saying that new blood needs to be cultivated and Simon’s parents could be considered new blood. I mean…maybe they have some family money, but I didn’t ask. That would have been rude.”
The words spilled out of her a hurried rush like she was going to forget something if she didn’t get it all out.
Simon.
She wanted to invite a boy.
Any trace of an expression vanished from Adam’s face. “Family name?”
Yeah, that wasn’t going to go over well. “The Masquerade is not necessarily an event to introduce new people at.” It wasn’t a bad one, but depending on the family, it might be more intimidating than welcoming.
“It would be the perfect one. Mom and Dad will be too busy hosting it to spend that much time worrying and I could hang out with Simon.” Her enthusiasm coupled with the earnestness in her eyes made me want to say yes, which was why I needed to say no, or at least to mitigate it.
“Family name,” Adam repeated.
Andrea glanced at him. “Promise me you’re not going to look them up and get all judgy.”
“No,” he said and I put my hand on Andrea’s arm.
“Why don’t you freshen up, and we’ll make our dress shopping plans when you’re back.”
“I—” Andrea looked between us. She was clearly torn but this was one time when she really needed to listen to me. Her explosive sigh didn’t bode well but then she finally stood. “If you’ll excuse me.”
She didn’t quite flounce her way across the room and Adam already had his phone out when I looked at him.
“Don’t tell me,” I said. “You’re looking up the Simons in her class.”
He didn’t bother to look up. “I won’t tell you. There can’t be that many. And look at that, there’s only two. One is a senior and the other is in her class. Last name Chalamont. I don’t know it offhand.”
“Well, that could be a good thing.”
He didn’t bother to answer me.
“Adam,” I said and when he still didn’t look up, I kicked him under the table. The cloth hid the action quite neatly. That jerked his chin up.
“What?” Nothing friendly inhabited his tone. All the veneer of getting along was abandoned in Andrea’s absence.
“He’s a thirteen-year-old boy.”
“So? I was a thirteen-year-old boy once.”
“I’m aware, you were far nicer back then.” That said, I shook my head. “The point is, he’s a thirteen-year-old and she’s telling us about him. That gives us a chance to vet him, yes, but it also lets her see him in a situation we can control.”
“Or we can just make sure he doesn’t bother her again. She doesn’t need social climbers getting their fingers on her.”
