I leaned closer to him. "Then we're just making up for lost time."

"Right." He bent down to kiss me. His lips had just touched mine when Rick came back in.

"Oh great," Rick said. "My kitchen is no longer safe to walk into."

Tanner stepped away and smiled at me apologetically. "Don't mind Richard. He's just in a bad mood because his girlfriend didn't come tonight." Then to Rick he said, "Where is she anyway?"

Rick brought his Grandmother's teacup to the dishwasher and put it in. As he did, he glanced at me. "She broke up with me."

"Really?" Tanner's voice was surprised, and then turned sympathetic. "When did that happen?"

"A while ago. Her older sister didn't think I was good enough for her."

I came so close to saying, "And her older sister was right," but I bit down on my lip instead. I didn't want to appear petty and vicious in front of Tanner. I just glared back at Rick instead.

"You're kidding," Tanner said. "Adrian let her older sister dictate who she went out with?"

"Apparently," Rick said.

Not true. And I would explain the whole thing to Tanner once Rick wasn't standing there glaring at me.

"Well it's a good thing you found out now what kind of girl she is. Otherwise you'd have to remake yourself every time she didn't like something."

This about a guy who thought his hair color should match his outfit.

Rick leaned up against the counter and looked down at the floor sadly. "Yeah, I know. But it still sucks."

Tanner shook his head and a hard edge crept into his voice. "And what kind of judgmental shrew says you're not good enough for Adrian? I'll tell you what; Adrian wasn't good enough for you."

Rick didn't look up. "Nah, I always knew Adrian outclassed me."

"Only in detention appearances," Tanner said. "Come on, if Adrian hadn't worn so much hairspray her head would have flown off long ago. Forget about her—no, I take that back; remember that she was nothing but white trash in black leather. She probably only saw you in terms of dollar signs and a nice ride. You're better off without her." It was only then that Tanner turned to me. "Don't you think Rick could do better?"

"No," I said. "Actually I don't." And I had to ungrit my teeth to get that much out.

That's when Rick started laughing.

I stepped away from Tanner. "Look, thanks for dinner, but I think you should take me home now."

Tanner looked from me to Rick and back again. "What's going on?"

Rick held his hand up, his thumb and finger almost touching. "Buddy, you were this close to having that trophy girlfriend you always wanted."

"What are you talking about?" Tanner asked.

Rick shook his head, still enjoying himself more than he should have. "Apparently Chels never got around to telling you, but Adrian is her little sister."

Chapter 13

The ride home was painful, but thankfully short. Tanner apologized as he walked me to the car, but I barely heard it. His words had sliced into me and I didn't even want to look at him.

After we drove for a few moments in silence, Tanner said, "Really, I'm sorry, but you should have told me."

"I would have, but I couldn't find a way to casually fit that in between the judgmental-shrew remark and the hairspray comment."

He gripped the steering wheel harder than was necessary. "I was just trying to make my brother feel better after a breakup. Can't you understand that? How was I supposed to know Adrian was your sister?" Then he shook his head and let out a groan. "I should have figured it out. That's why you looked so familiar. Your smile, your voice, your mannerisms—you reminded me of Adrian."

I folded my arms tightly across my chest. "The girl you think is a gold-digging idiot? Am I supposed to feel complimented or insulted by the resemblance?"

"It's not an insult—I just—oh, nothing I say now is going to be right, is it?"

I looked out the window. "Do you know the way to my house? We, of course, live in the white trash part of town."

He didn't answer but drove in the general direction of my neighborhood so I didn't give him more directions.

"You know, it's not like you've been praising Richard," Tanner said. "Last Tuesday you told me your sister broke up with her loser boyfriend. That was my brother you were talking about."

"Yeah, and he deserved the title. Your brother is a jerk. Adrian is just . . . misguided."

"Misguided?" Tanner let out a cough. "You're the one who said she dresses like the bride of Satan."

"And I'm allowed to say that because she's my sister. But I never said she was stupid, or white trash, because she's not. Oh, and also I'm not a judgmental shrew. I didn't break Adrian and Rick up. That was your jerk-of-a-brother's fault."

"My-jerk-of-a-brother? So you're allowed to insult Richard, but I can't say anything bad about Adrian?"

"You can insult Adrian right after she writes horrible songs about you and sings them to everyone you know."

His eyebrows drew together. He had no idea what I was talking about. It was very possible that he'd never actually listened to any of the words of Rick's songs.

"Just ask him why I think he's a jerk. Eventually he'll get to the right answer."

We approached Jefferson Elementary School and Tanner slowed down. With his jaw clenched tightly he said, "I know you live around here, but I don't know which street."

I gave him directions, calmly, all the time wishing that we lived in a house half as nice as his. He pulled up in front of our small one story, and I noticed that our bushes were overgrown again and a pair of Adrian's muddy tennis shoes lay scattered across the front porch. She was supposed to have taken care of those days ago.

Tanner put the car in park and turned to me. His blue eyes flashed with anger and I suddenly realized who he reminded me of. Rick. I'd seen that look on his face a hundred times. "Hey, I'm sorry I called you a judgmental shrew," he said, "when clearly you're not judgmental at all."

I flung open the car door and stepped outside. "No problem. And by the way, Adrian is too good for Rick." I slammed the door and stomped across the lawn to my front door.

Once I got inside I noticed Adrian sprawled out on the couch by the living room window. "Was that Tanner Debrock's car?" she asked.

I walked past her without answering. Then I went into my room, leaned against the door, and cried.

I drove to PHS the next day. Usually I walk because it's only fifteen minutes away, but I wanted to get to school early to talk to my friends. I needed to talk to someone and Adrian, sitting beside me in the car with her MP3 player blaring and her eyes shut, was not a good candidate.

I hooked up with my friends at our usual meeting place and told them all about my dinner at the Debrocks'. There was a lot of gasping and Aubrie held onto my arm and made a several, "Oh . . . oh no . . . oh nooool" comments.

Rachel shook her head slowly. "What are the chances of you meeting up with Rick's older brother?"

"I guess I increased my odds by going to two places where Rick's band was playing, but really, who would have guessed Rick had such a normal and good-looking brother?"