“Thanks. I’ll be right back.”
Mallory separated herself from the crowd to make the call, and the other girls slipped away, as well, heading for the bathrooms along with Becky’s boyfriend. Tim suddenly found himself standing with Derrick and his two buddies. He quickly distanced himself by going to the opposite side of a small round building shaped like the top of an old-fashion water tower. The stout wood structure housed a series of drinking fountains positioned around the outer wall, their spigots and drain basins set inside little nooks.
Leaning inside one of the recesses, Tim sipped at the cold water. The niche provided a small degree of sound dampening from the crowds, allowing him to reflect on his thoughts. He tried not to think about how the evening had started off so well, about how good it felt when Mallory walked alongside him, laughing and joking and nudging against him while they moved from ride to ride. Watching her drool over Derrick hurt, and in more ways than one. He couldn’t compete with Derrick in the categories of fashion, wealth, or physical appearance, and that left him with only his personality to hold Mallory’s interest.
Tim finished his drink and moved so another person could take a turn. He’d just rounded the water station to see if Mallory had returned when one of Derrick’s friends said, “Yeah, my roommate won’t be there tonight, but what am I supposed do, sit around and listen to you have all the fun? She’s your date; find your own place to fuck her.”
“Thanks a heap, Dickless.”
“You really think she’ll put out?” the other one asked.
“You’ve seen how she’s on me tonight,” Derrick boasted. “Not like Wendy. I can’t even get in her shirt without hearing about what her old man might do if he ever found out. Christ, he probably checks her twat after each date to make sure she’s not popped.”
They all laughed.
“So you’re definitely through with her?” one of them asked.
Derrick faced the first kid again. “Are you retarded? Wendy’s a quest now. I’m not letting someone else have a chance at her. That would be like winning the lottery and giving it all to charity. Who gives a shit about her drill sergeant dad? If he thinks he can break us up by simply grounding her for the summer, he’s in for a hell of a surprise. Shit, she calls me now more than ever. By this time next week, I’ll be the twat-checker.”
They erupted into a second, louder round of laughter.
Tim leaned against the water station’s wood paneling while the three teens went on to debate whether or not Mallory was still a virgin, not surprised in the least at what he’d heard.
The thought of Derrick and Mallory together set off a lightning bolt of emotion in Tim’s heart and sent a flash of anger through his soul. Part of him wanted to march over to the group and slug Derrick in the face.
And to Tim’s own surprise, he started walking forward.
He got about halfway to the trio before he chickened out and veered to the left, pretending to be occupied with the choices of fruit drinks at an ice-filled refreshment stand.
What could he do? Starting a fight wouldn’t solve anything. In fact, it would probably just land him in the hospital. Derrick had the slim body of a weasel, but his muscles stood out. And with two of his friends present, Tim faced a major disadvantage.
At the very least, he thought he should confront the creep about what he’d heard, or maybe get Mallory aside once she came back and tell her the truth about her Prince Charming.
But he already knew both tactics would fail. First of all, he possessed half the menace of a pissed-off chihuahua. Threatening Derrick would no doubt end with the hospital scenario. On the other hand, if he told Mallory about Derrick’s two-timing secret, she’d either play a jealousy card or go to Derrick for confirmation. And even if she did confront him, the asshole would just tell her a reworded version of the truth and woo her into believing Tim had misinterpreted what he’d said.
The concession attendant asked Tim if he wanted anything, and he politely declined.
Leaving the vendor, he slipped around the drinking hut and quietly waited out of sight, not rejoining the others until Mallory returned.
“Everything cool?” Derrick asked when she came back.
“Yeah, I told my dad you guys could give us a ride home, so he and Rebecca are going to catch a late movie. I still need to be back by midnight to relieve the babysitter, though.”
“No prob,” Derrick told her, once more sliding his hand over the curve of her hip.
Tim saw it and looked away.
They went on a few more rides, working their way toward the park’s exit. Tim remained silently removed from the crowd the entire way. At one point, Mallory asked him if everything was okay, why he was being so detached, but rather than speak up, he waved her concerns away, blaming his behavior on exhaustion.
When they reached the parking lot, the group split up. Becky, Adam, and Chris trailed after Troy, while Mallory, Lisa, and Elsa stayed beside Derrick.
Tim glanced over his shoulder at the park and wondered if he should just slip out of sight while the others weren’t looking. He could go back to the pay phones and call one of his parents, get the hell out of here and let Mallory sort out the details later, if she ever noticed he’d left.
“Hey, Tim!”
He looked up and saw Mallory gesturing to him while the others kept walking.
“You’re riding with us. Come on.”
Ahead of them, Derrick disengaged the car alarm of a gleaming black Mercedes.
“That’s your car?” Mallory asked, eyes beaming.
“Sixteenth birthday present,” he smiled. “Like it?”
“I love it!”
Lisa gave her brother an obvious look of contempt and opened the rear driver-side door. “Yeah, he gets this, and I’ll probably get a bus pass or something.”
Chris called from two rows over, shouting to Derrick and asking if he wanted back some borrowed CDs.
“I’ll be back in a sec,” the boy told Mallory, sliding his hand across her butt when he slipped away.
They piled into the car while he went to get his stuff. Much to Tim’s surprise, Mallory opted to sit between him and Lisa in the back seat while Elsa sat up front.
With Derrick not present, Lisa turned to Mallory and said, “My, God. Derry’s all over you tonight.”
“I’ll say,” Elsa chimed in, checking her makeup in the rearview mirror. “Watching the two of you is starting get
Tim noticed Mallory glance at him from the corner of her eye and seemed reluctant to reply. “I’m having a good night,” she said.
Elsa swiveled around in her seat to listen, but when Mallory didn’t elaborate about Derrick, her eyes shifted to Tim. “You’re kind of a quiet guy, aren’t you?”
Mallory turned to face him and put a hand on his arm. “You were so funny earlier; you guys should’ve heard some of the lines he had. I couldn’t stop laughing. He practically had Cherry Coke coming out of my nose at one point.”
“There’s a beautiful image,” Lisa laughed.
He gave her a dull smile, then stared out the window.
Ignoring her friends, Mallory leaned closer, touching his shoulder. “Are you all right?”
“Actually, I don’t feel so good,” he half-lied.
Her voice came again, this time with concern, and she slid her hand across his back. “Do you feel sick?”
“Nah, I just have a headache. Maybe I shouldn’t go with you.”
“We could stop and get you some Tylenol or something,” Elsa said.
“Besides, our parents are already on their way to a movie,” Mallory reminded him.
Derrick returned and dropped into the driver’s seat. “Okay, all set. I think the only thing left to do is pick out some tunes.”
The boy began to list off his selection of music when Mallory interrupted him. “Actually, maybe you should
