Is He Or Isn't He? Page 16

  “You think I’m gorgeous?” she asked, hating herself for wanting to hear the compliment again.

  “All the guys at school think so.”

  Hmmm. He’d avoided a direct answer to the question. Why? Not interested or did he not want to mislead her if he was gay? Then again, Max was engaging in conversation with guys who found her gorgeous. That might mean something. Obviously, they were straight. Which means they were talking about other girls as well. Unless Max was pretending to be straight while talking with these guys? Just going with the flow?

  “You’re lying,” Paige said. “They do not.”

  But if they did, where were they?!

  “Why would I say something that wasn’t true?”

  I don’t know. Maybe to flatter me? To get me to like you? But you don’t have to do that because I already do!

  Max placed both his hands at the sides of Paige’s face, gently lifting her head up toward the light next to the bed. “It doesn’t look like it’s broken, but you really should make sure.”

  Paige smothered a tiny sigh. Max’s hands were so gentle. It was like he was afraid of bruising her. “I will. Once we’re back in Manhattan.” Paige slid out of the bed. “It’s getting late. I better get back to my room. You’re probably exhausted.”

  Max slid back under the sheets. “I’ll see you in the morning. Hopefully by then the swelling will have gone down and you’ll be your usual gorgeous self.”

  He’d used the word gorgeous again!

  “Oh, and Paige?”

  She paused in the bedroom doorway and turned around, her heart fluttering. Part of her was hoping he would ask her to stay. To slip under the sheets and snuggle up against him. Outside she could hear the wind howling. She was sure there was no place in the world cozier than being next to Max.

  “Yes?” she asked hopefully.

  Max reached out to turn off the light next to his bed. “Maybe you should leave a pitcher of water next to your bed from now on. That way the next time you’re thirsty, you won’t have to get out of bed.” He clicked off the light. “Good night.”

  “Good night,” Paige said, thankful for the darkness so Max couldn’t see the way her cheeks had turned burning red.

  “Why didn’t you return any of my calls last night?” Anthony asked. “I must have called at least five times. And then you weren’t in school today. I’m dying to find out what happened on Saturday night!”

  “This is what happened,” Paige said, stepping out from behind the front door of her apartment on Monday afternoon.

  Anthony gasped. “What happened to your nose?”

  “You happened to my nose.”

  “Huh?”

  “This is all your fault!”

  “My fault? My fault? How can that be? I was in New York City the entire weekend.”

  “It was your bright idea that I walk into Max’s bedroom after getting ‘lost’ on my way back from the bathroom.”

  Anthony cringed. “The plan backfired?”

  “The plan backfired.”

  “How?”

  Paige pointed to her swollen nose. “What do you mean how? Isn’t it obvious? His head slammed into my face.”

  “Ouch!”

  “It was more than ouch. More like double ouch!”

  “Did you have to go to the hospital?”

  “No. Luckily there was no bleeding and I could still breathe through it. I went to my doctor for an x-ray this morning. That’s why I wasn’t in school. He says it’s just swollen.”

  “Can I call you Marcia from now on?”

  “Very funny.”

  Anthony walked into the living room, tossing his book bag on the hardwood floor and plopping himself down on the couch. “Okay, so I guess we’re back to square one.”

  “You’re back to square one. I’m throwing in the towel.”

  Anthony jumped off the couch. “What?!”

  “You heard me.”

  Paige had done a lot of thinking over the past two nights. As much as she liked Max, she wasn’t getting any sort of sense that he was interested in her romantically. Even with a swollen nose, the rest of her body had been on display in his bed and she hadn’t caught him peeking at anything he shouldn’t have. Yes, he was sweet and nice, but she wasn’t feeling a romantic spark coming from him. Maybe there wasn’t one there.

  “But you can’t give up!”

  “Why not? We’ve been at this for what? A couple of weeks? And we haven’t made any progress.”

  “So it’s going to take some more time. Isn’t the end result worth it?”

  “For one of us, maybe.”

  “Maybe?”

  “Don’t you think by now that if Max were interested in either one of us, we’d know it? He would have done or said something to show us his interest.”

  “Not necessarily. Maybe he’s just shy.”

  “Maybe.”

  “Nothing at all happened this weekend to give you a clue whether he plays for your team or mine?”

  “He did say something interesting,” Paige admitted.

  “What?”

  “I’m gorgeous.”

  “He said that? He said, ‘Paige, I think you’re gorgeous.’”

  “His exact words were ‘You’re so gorgeous, I’d feel awful if I did anything to mess up your looks.’ This was after he’d slammed my nose with his head, so he had to say something. And then when I asked him if he thought I was gorgeous, he said all the guys at school think so.”

  “I could have told you that.”

  Paige’s temper flared. “Then why haven’t you? Maybe if I knew someone else was interested in me, I’d be spending less time obsessing over Max.”

  “You don’t like hearing stuff like that.”

  “Excuse me?”

  Anthony sighed. “Paige, you run away from compliments. You hate hearing nice things about yourself. As for the guys at school, the ones who think you’re gorgeous?”

  “Yes?”

  “They think you’re unapproachable.”

  “Unapproachable? That’s crazy! Why would they think that?”

  “You give off an ice princess vibe.”

  Paige could not believe what she was hearing. “Ice princess vibe?! I do not!”

  “You do too.”

  “How can you say something so horrible to me?”

  “It’s not horrible. It’s the truth. Paige, you’re my closest friend. You know how much I love you. I’m not saying this to hurt you. I’m trying to help.”

  “Help me?”

  “Paige, you’re really beautiful and sometimes I feel like you don’t want the rest of the world to know it. You’ve always been this way. It’s like you’re ashamed of your looks and so you downplay them. And you act cold and aloof to keep people at a distance because you’re not sure if they like you for who you are or because of the way you look. I think it has something to do with your mother.”

  “Why does everything always have to come back to Camille?” Paige demanded.

  “Because it’s true, isn’t it?”

  “Yes!” Paige shouted. “Yes, it’s true that I don’t want to be anything like my mother, alright? All her life my mother has used her looks to get ahead. It’s all she’s ever had. It’s how she got off that potato farm in Idaho where she grew up and her real name was Irma Sue Baxter.”

  Anthony gasped in delight. “Camille’s real name is Irma Sue? How very Yields of Passion!”

  “When she was young my mother used her looks to get work as a model in New York. Then she used her looks to become an actress and then she used her looks to marry rich men. Her looks have gotten her to where she is today, but what’s going to happen once her looks are gone?”

  “Paige, that’s Camille’s problem, not yours. And I think you’re underestimating your mother. Camille will always land on her feet. She’s a survivor. My God, she escaped life on a potato farm and the name Irma Sue! But you’re not your mother. Give yourself a little credit. Yes, you’re beautiful, but you�
�re also smart. Smart enough to know that it takes more than a pretty face to get to where you want to go. So I want you to make me a promise.”

  “What kind of promise?”

  “I want you to promise that you’re going to start letting the world see how beautiful you really are.”

  Paige pointed to her nose. “I think that may take awhile.”

  “I’m willing to wait.”

  Paige sighed. Why was it that Anthony was always the one to make her do what she didn’t want to do? Even though she knew without a doubt that he was right? She had been hiding her looks for a very long time. But maybe it was time to stop hiding.

  “I may have to take baby steps.”

  “I’ll be right by your side.”

  “And I’m not used to being the center of attention.”

  “You’re planning to become the center of attention?”

  “Of course! But I’m not going to do any of this until you tell me which guys at school think I’m gorgeous.”

  “I’ll tell you after you give Max one more chance. Deal?”

  Paige hesitated before answering. Did she want to get her hopes up again only to have them dashed? Despite telling Anthony she wanted to give up, she still had feelings for Max. And they were only going to get stronger as more time passed. She liked him so much! He was smart, kind and thoughtful. Well, except when it came to Monopoly. And she really didn’t want to throw in the towel. Not yet. Not if it meant she still had a chance with him.

  Wasn’t love worth fighting for? Sometimes you had to go after what you wanted. And she wanted Max.

  “Deal,” she said. “One more chance. But then that’s it! I can’t spend the rest of my life chasing after Max!”

  “Great!” Anthony exclaimed happily, clapping his hands. “Now turn on the TV. It’s time for The Yields of Passion!”

  An hour later the doorbell rang.

  Paige aimed the remote control at the TV, turning it off. “I wonder who that can be.”

  “Is it Justine coming back from the supermarket?”

  Justine was the Cranes’ live-in housekeeper from Jamaica. She’d been working for Paige’s father since before he had married Camille and was considered part of the family. Paige adored her.

  “She went home to visit her family last week,” Paige said, walking out into the hallway. “She won’t be back until the end of next month.”

  Paige opened the front door, surprised to see who was there. “Max! What are you doing here?”

  Max held up a shopping bag. “I come bearing gifts.”

  Paige accepted the bag. “Mmmm. Something smells chocolatey.”

  “I just wanted to check up on you. See how you were doing. I still feel bad about what happened.”

  “Don’t feel bad. It was all my fault. And I’m doing okay. It was sweet of you to come by.”

  “How’s the nose?”

  “It looks bad but it feels fine. The doctor says the swelling should be gone by the end of the week.” Paige peeked into the bag. “What did you bring me that smells so yummy?”

  “Desserts. My dad was trying out some new recipes in our kitchen.”

  “I never say no to sweets! Why don’t you come with me into the kitchen and we’ll sample them? Anthony’s in the living room.”

  “I wish I could, but I can’t.”

  Paige tried not to feel disappointed. After all, Max had surprised her with his visit.

  “Maybe another time?” he asked.

  Paige’s spirits instantly lifted. “Sure.”

  “How about Friday night?”

  “Huh?” She couldn’t have heard him correctly.

  “Friday night,” Max repeated. “Are you doing anything on Friday night?”

  Paige’s breath caught in her throat.

  Friday night. Friday night was date night. Was Max getting ready to ask her out on a date?

  “No plans. Why?”

  “My dad’s network is throwing a party and he gave me some extra invites. You’re more than welcome to come. It’s not going to be people just from the Cooking Channel. There are supposed to be a ton of celebrities.”

  So much for being alone with Max. Still, he had invited her. That had to count for something.

  “It sounds like fun. I’d love to go.”

  “Great. Mention it to Anthony as well.”

  “Anthony?” Paige felt like a storm cloud had just descended on her sunny day.

  Max nodded. “And Colleen. And Bianca and Rachel. I already invited Felix.”

  The storm clouds kept gathering, but Paige kept a smile pasted on her face. Great, the whole gang’s going to be there!

  “I better get going,” Max said. “See you at school tomorrow?”

  “I’ll be back.”

  “Okay.” Max gave Paige a quick hug, catching her off guard. Before she could hug him back, he let her go. “Bye!”

  “Bye.”

  A hug. Okay, a hug was nice, but why not a kiss?

  Paige closed the door and headed back into the living room, where Anthony was lying on the couch, flipping through a magazine.

  “Who was at the door?”

  “Max.”

  Anthony jumped off the couch. “Max was at the door and you didn’t tell me? How could you? If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were trying to keep him for yourself.”

  Paige rolled her eyes. “Calm down. This isn’t an episode of The Yields of Passion. Don’t have a meltdown. He wanted to see how I was doing and he brought me some desserts made by his father.”

  “A guy bearing gifts is always a good sign,” Anthony grudgingly admitted as he snatched the bag from Paige and began pawing through it. “And this puts you one gift ahead of me, you know. Maybe I can get him to bop me with a basketball later this week in gym class. Or better yet! Maybe I can smash my face into his elbow while we’re playing basketball. That might be easier to do.”

  “Anthony!”

  “Sorry! Obviously I’m freaking out because you now have the competitive edge.”

  “Do I?”

  “Don’t you?”

  “Well, he did ask me if I was doing anything on Friday night.”

  Anthony gasped. “You mean he asked you out on a date?”

  “I guess you could call it that.”

  “No! He didn’t!”

  “He did, but he also invited you.”

  Paige told Anthony all the details.

  “Don’t you ever scare me that way again!” Anthony scolded Paige, clutching his heart. “What are you trying to do? Kill me? Shame on you! Making me think my Maxie could be straight.”

  “He could be,” Paige reminded. “He did invite Colleen, Bianca and Rachel.”

  “But he also invited Felix.”

  “Which means we still don’t know if he’s gay or straight!”

  “But we will. Eventually we will. And since we’re going to have competition on Friday night, we’re going to have to make sure we dress to kill!”

  The doorbell rang again and Paige looked at Anthony in surprise. “Do you think that’s Max again?”

  “If it is, we’re not letting him leave.”

  Paige went to the front door and was surprised to find Paolo waiting in the hallway.

  “What happened to you?” Paolo exclaimed. “You look like you slammed your face into a wall.”

  “More like Max’s head.”

  “What?!” Paolo held up a hand. “I don’t want to hear it. I sense another one of my brother’s crazy schemes.” Paolo shook his head sadly. “I thought you were the sensible one, Paige.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” She had a feeling she’d just been insulted.

  “Who’s at the door, Paige?” Anthony walked out in the hallway. “Pow? What are you doing here?”

  Paolo pointed to his watch. “You were supposed to meet me downstairs fifteen minutes ago. We’re picking up Mom and Dad at the airport. Come on! Move it! I’m double parked.”

  “Why didn’t you just
call me on my cell phone?”

  “Because I don’t have a cell phone.”

  “Why not?” Paige asked.

  “I need to be walking around with a phone glued to my ear? Sometimes I like walking around listening to my own thoughts. I don’t need to be talking to someone else.”

  “He’s lying,” Anthony whispered into Paige’s ear. “He’s just too cheap to spring for one.”

  “I’ll meet you downstairs,” Paolo said.

  “Wait a minute,” Paige said, grabbing Paolo’s arm. “Not so fast. What did you mean when you said I was sensible? The way you said it, it didn’t sound very nice.”

  “You should be smart enough to know that all this plotting and scheming when it comes to Max isn’t going to lead to anything. You can’t force someone to fall in love with you. Love just happens. Isn’t that what you told me the first night you met him? But when it comes to Max, the two of you don’t seem to realize that.”

  “Love doesn’t just happen,” Paige said. “Sometimes it needs to be nurtured and grown.”

  Paolo laughed. “And the two of you are nurturing Max’s love?”

  “We’re nurturing our friendship with him,” Paige said. “A lot of people start out as friends first before falling in love.”

  Paolo shook his head in exasperation. “Why is it that high schoolers don’t get it? There’s more to life than just love and romance!”

  “When did you become so socially aware?” Anthony asked, staring at Paolo like he was a crazy man.

  “And why are you so down on love?” Paige asked. “Was your heart broken that much by your last girlfriend?”

  “Paolo’s usually the heartbreaker,” Anthony informed Paige.

  “What would life be without love?” she continued. “It’s why we do the things we do. If you don’t see that, if you don’t understand that, then I feel sorry for you.”

  Paolo pointed a finger at Anthony. “If you’re not downstairs in five minutes, I’m leaving.” He then pointed a finger at Paige. “Ever think of writing an advice column for the lovelorn? All that crap you just told me? They’d eat it up.”

  With those final words, Paolo left.

  “I think you pissed off my big brother,” Anthony said, ducking into the hall closet and grabbing his denim jacket.

  “Argh!” Paige screamed. “He makes me so angry! Sometimes I don’t even know how the two of you can even be brothers!”