Five Flavors of Dumb - Antony John [47]
CHAPTER 29
Everyone stopped talking as soon as I walked into the dining room.
“Where have you been?” demanded Mom.
I hesitated. “Kurt Cobain’s house.”
“Yes, Finn told me that. I mean, what were you doing at Kurt Cobain’s house when you should have been here for dinner?”
I was about to mention the e-mail from ZARKINFIB, but I could tell that Mom wouldn’t consider that an acceptable explanation right now. “Kallie said it would be . . . illuminating.”
Mom rolled her eyes. “Oh, great. So air-guitarist Kallie is also an air-head.”
“I never called her an air-guitarist.”
“No, Finn did. The airhead bit I worked out for myself.”
“She’s not an airhead.”
“Oh, right. She just drags you off to the house of a suicidal rock star. Sounds like a shoo-in for Mensa.”
Finn looked up suddenly. “Kallie is smart, actually. And since you’ve never even been to Kurt Cobain’s house, I don’t see how you can call it a waste of time.”
Silence. Mom was ready to have an argument with me, but Finn’s vehemence surprised all of us. It was like he’d declared war, and she didn’t care enough to continue fighting. Or perhaps it had nothing to do with Kallie or Cobain at all. Maybe she was still pissed at me for last night.
“Look, Piper,” she said tiredly, “I’m all for you indulging this project, but I’m not going to bend on our rules. You get home in time for dinner or you can forget about the band. Understand?”
I nodded, and Finn returned to studying his plate. He wouldn’t meet my eyes until Mom and Dad left the table, and even then I could tell he was still shaken by his outburst.
Do you like Kallie? I signed, trying to keep my facial expressions as neutral as possible, not wanting him to clam up.
She’s okay.
She’s very popular. You know that, right? I tried, hoping he’d read between the lines and realize she was completely out of his league.
Yes. So what?
Nothing, I lied, then thought better of it. It was just something Tash said to me tonight, that’s all.
Suddenly Finn was blushing, and I knew I wasn’t the only one who’d been lying.
CHAPTER 30
On Saturday morning Dad and I took USS Immovable to the shop. He said he’d waited until then so that Finn and I wouldn’t be inconvenienced, but the truth is that he just didn’t want to give us rides to and from school. It would’ve meant sticking Grace in her car seat, which, you know, is thirty seconds of extra work.
Also, by waiting until Saturday he made it possible for me to experience every guilt-filled moment, from the ancient mechanic who shook his head incredulously at what I’d done, to the estimate for the work ($400). When Dad found out that the car wouldn’t be ready until Monday he almost blew a fuse. Seriously, if Finn hadn’t been such a star at the rehearsal the previous afternoon, I might have strangled him when I got home.
It took me thirty minutes to walk to Josh and Will’s house on Sunday. Everyone in the band had agreed to an extra rehearsal, even though there wasn’t a recording session. Still, that was before I had my blowup with Tash. Just as I’d worried that Kallie might not show after our run-in a few days ago, I now wasted several minutes biting my fingernails and wondering if Tash had made her final appearance. Only I got the feeling that Dumb had an additional attraction for Tash, and that seeing Will was sufficient compensation for having to hang out with Kallie for an afternoon.
Sure enough, Tash showed up