Chapter 44: A BRO SHALT NEVER HALF-ASS A FIRST DATE.-2

"Hang on. Tell me over fake wine and cheese." She took in the boss spread I'd arranged on the blanket. "We need plates and napkins." She tore off, back into the house. "Can you bring back some cupcakes?" I called. A gate creaked in the near vicinity. It was hard to tell exactly where, as the backyard was shrouded by darkness. "Cupcakes for what?" I paled. Carter came closer, dripping wet and wrapped in a Mickey Mouse beach towel. Right—sometimes he liked to swim in their heated pool after practice to relax and stretch out more. Whoops. Their back door slammed closed—Eliza must have gone inside without hearing him. I rubbed the back of my neck. "Great timing, I was just coming to find you. Told Eliza I was coming over and she thought it would be fun to have a study-picnic. I thought she informed you." "It's almost November, Nick. It's freezing." I dropped onto the blanket so he wouldn't see me squirm. Cold had kind of been the point. Warm, cozy blankets, stars, Eliza . . . "This is stupid," he said when I stayed silent. "We're gonna need some more light." He paused. "And I need a coat. Guess she forgot about daylight savings time too. I'm gonna go change and get some lanterns. Thanks for helping her set this up. This is a real fancy way to study." "Only way I know how." Carter left me to guard the charcutenanny—or however you say that word—and the distant chirping of bugs trying to mate. "Don't rub it in," I muttered. I don't know what I really expected; of course there was no way I'd have been able to pull off running between the O'Connor siblings without either of them figuring it out. Now it would be a devil's three-way in purgatory: my date with Eliza, with Carter as the third wheel; my study sesh with Carter, with Eliza as the third wheel; and Eliza and Carter's sibling life, with me as the third wheel. Weirdness all around. Carter found our picnic, I texted Eliza. It is now a homework party and he is joining. Rain check????? When the O'Connor siblings returned, we situated ourselves equidistant from the food. Tiki torches, left over from one of Ms. O'Connor's catering events, lit up our textbooks. Carter had decided to start teaching me about biology by teaching me about chemistry, and had his old chemistry textbook open to the periodic table. I was trying to make it seem like I was less stupid than I was. Eliza had her nose buried in her history textbook, sighing with boredom every two or three minutes. I had to do something to get her involved, and fast, or this could be the last date I took her on. Girls probably don't give you a second date after their brother crashes your first one and you don't tell him to leave. As a guess. "Carbon is the element that leads to life," said Carter, "which makes it possible to create organic compounds. That's kinda important, because we'll for sure have to take organic chem in college." "Okay." I half listened to him and scanned the periodic table for a joke. "It's important to know how many isotopes—" "I have an idea for a compound," I said. "What it's called when you combine sodium, bromine, and, um, oxygen?" "That's a new one." Carter flipped through his notes for the answer. "No, like I combined the element symbols together." "Na, Br, O?" "Nah, Bro." Eliza looked up from her book. She didn't give me a reaction. No problem, I was ready for her. "Also," I continued, "copper and tellurium." "Cu-Te," said Carter, "yeah, I've heard that one before." I gave Eliza a high five, which she halfheartedly returned. "Who's been calling you cute?" I asked Carter. Carter coughed, annoyed that I was flirting with Eliza. Or rather, trying and failing. "Helium, helium, helium," said Carter. "What?" "He He He," Carter punched my shoulder. "Oof, he can dish it, but he can't take it." Eliza stood and picked up her materials. The blanket tugged under her sneakers. "I'm cold," she said. "I guess that's it for tonight," said Carter. "I think this went well. Hopefully you know more now than you did two hours ago." "Sure." Carter closed his notebook. Eliza shifted her weight from one leg to the other. At the same time they asked me, "You need a ride home?" Talk about a Sophie's choice. On the one hand, I was blowing my date with Eliza. On the other hand, I had to overcompensate about this picnic weirdness and demonstrate to Carter the cardinal rule of manhood: Bros before hoes. Carter looked at Eliza and she shrugged. "Figured I owe him from when Nick took me shopping." When I didn't jump in, Carter yawned. "That's okay. I got it." "Thanks, man," I said. Eliza and Carter shared a minivan, which I'd ridden in enough times to know it would not only fit my bike but it would fit my bike and an entire store's worth of peanut butter cups. I speak from experience. Carter helped us pack up the picnic, still assuming it was Eliza's idea to put it together. I waited for him to realize the blanket he'd folded up wasn't actually his sister's. Carter kept yawning. "Who you staying up late with?" I asked, remembering too late that Eliza (who did know) wasn't supposed to know that Carter had a thing for her best friend. Somehow, that made me think about my mom and her stupid, arbitrary rules. Shoot. The library was supposed to be closing soon, she was probably looking for me. I checked my phone, which was lit up with notifications. It's late. Plz come home. Then, thirty minutes later, my mom called me out. Nick. "Hang on," I said, as Carter handed his homework to Eliza for her to take in the house. "I need a picture of you and the book." Carter looked at me like I was asking him to rake sand at a beach. "My mom thinks I'm at the library." "Why?" "Yes, Nick," said Eliza, "why does your mom think you're at the library?" "I'm supposed to be grounded," I admitted. One on one, I had a chance to defend myself—but not against both of the O'Connors at the same time. "You know, I could have actually met you at the library." "Then I wouldn't have gotten do to this," I joked, attempting to make it seem like I was kidding. Hopefully, Eliza would get the subtext. "Anyways, thanks." My phone flashed at Carter and our homework. I'd need a way to explain the tiki torches. At least she could see that I was studying. Used to me having to answer to my mom, Carter was already halfway to the car. Eliza gathered the torches. "Look," I said. "I know this didn't turn out exactly the way we wanted—" "It's fine. It was going to be super awkward trying to keep it from Carter anyway. Don't worry about it." "No. I don't want to—" "Nick, let's go!" Carter called. "This isn't over," I told her, jogging away. I didn't catch her reaction in the musky dark. Carter gestured for me to hurry up. I could only hope she felt less confused and defeated than I did.