Out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of Will, sitting on the wide porch steps next to a girl with auburn hair, the girl he had been with six weeks ago when Ivy ran into him at the mall. Now, she was hot.
'Wish I could read minds,' Gregory said, touching a cold glass to Ivy's arm.
It seemed impossible to move out from under his shadow.
'What are you doing-putting a hex on that girl?' he asked.
Ivy shook her head. 'I was just thinking, thinking that when it comes to hot, that girl is it.'
Gregory watched Will's companion for a moment, then shrugged. 'Some girls look hot on the outside, but it's just a tease. Other girls, they put you off, play hard to get, act like ice queens'-he looked at her with laughing eyes-'but they're running hot.' He moved closer to her. 'Real hot,' he whispered.
Ivy flashed him an innocent smile. 'Like Philip, I can always learn something from you.'
Gregory laughed. 'Did you get a drink?' he asked, offering with his left hand a plastic cup.
'I'm not thirsty,' Ivy said. 'Thanks anyway.'
'But I got this for you. I saw you standing over here, checking out Will-' 'I wasn't checking out Will,' she protested.
'Okay, checking out the redhead, then-her name's Samantha-and I thought you could use something to cool off.'
'Thanks.' Ivy reached for the cup in his right hand.
Was it her imagination, or did Gregory move it away from her? Ivy had remembered Lacey's warning and didn't want to drink from the cup he was offering. But he insisted that she take it, and she finally did.
'Thanks.
I'll be seeing you around,' Ivy told him airily.
'Where are you going?'
'Cruising,' she replied. 'I didn't wear this short skirt for nothing.'
'Can I come?'
'Of course not.' She laughed up at him as if he had said something he knew was silly. Inside she was so tense, her stomach hurt when she breathed. 'How can I check out guys with you around?'
To her relief, Gregory didn't follow her. Ivy dumped her soda in the garden as soon as he was out of sight.
Working her way around the party, she smiled and listened to any guy who looked as if he needed an audience, while always steering clear of Gregory. She circled around Will, too, and didn't see either of them again until Suzanne blew out the candles on her cake.
When everyone had gathered for the song and cake-cutting, Suzanne wanted Ivy to stand on one side of her and Gregory on the other. Mrs. Goldstein, who trusted Suzanne enough to watch the party from an upstairs window-without her glasses, she told them- made an entrance with the cake and took what seemed like a hundred pictures of Suzanne, Ivy, and Gregory.
'Now each with your arm around her,' Mrs. Goldstein directed them.
Ivy slipped her arm around Suzanne's back.
'Beautiful! You're all beautiful!' Flash.
'Let me get another shot,' Mrs Goldstein said, then shook the camera and muttered to it. 'Don't move.'
They didn't, not from the front, but behind Suzanne's back, Gregory began to run a finger up and down Ivy's arm. Then he used two fingers, stroking her in a slow, caressing motion. Ivy wanted to scream. She wanted to slap him away.
'Smile,' Mrs. Goldstein said. Flash.
'And one more. Ivy-' She forced a smile. Flash.
Ivy tried not to pull away too quickly from Gregory. She remembered Philip's dream about the train-the silver snake-that wanted to swallow her up. He's always watching, Philip had said, and he smells it when you're afraid.
Suzanne began cutting the cake, and Ivy handed it out. When she gave Gregory a piece, he touched her lightly on the wrist and wouldn't take the cake till she met his gaze.
Will was next in line. 'We keep missing each other,' he said to Ivy.
She was about to tell him to take two plates and meet her by the pond in ten minutes, but then she saw Samantha standing right behind him.
'Big party,' Ivy said.
Fifteen minutes later Ivy was sitting alone on a bench about twenty feet away from the pond, eating her cake and watching Peppermint, Suzanne's Pomeranian. The little dog, who was regularly shampooed and conditioned, and let outdoors only on a leash, had escaped that night and was happily digging holes in the muddy bank. Then she waded into the pond and began to do the doggy paddle.
Some girls and guys standing by the pond called to the dog, trying to get her to fetch sticks, but Peppermint was as headstrong as her mistress.
Then Ivy called softly. Too late she realized her mistake. Peppermint knew Ivy. Peppermint liked Ivy.
Peppermint loved cake. She came running on her short little legs, made a flying leap for Ivy's lap, then scrambled up the rest of the way with her muddy back feet. She put her slimy front paws on Ivy's chest so she could stand up and lick her face, then dropped down in Ivy's lap and shook out her thick coat full of water.
'Pep! Hey!' Ivy wiped her face, then shook her own mane hair. The dog saw her chance and gulped the rest of Ivy's cake. 'Pep, you muddy pig!'
Ivy heard a burst of laughter next to her. Will dropped down on the bench beside her. 'I'm sorry Mrs.
Goldstein wasn't here with her camera,' he said.
'And I'm sorry you didn't call Peppermint first,' Ivy replied.
He couldn't stop laughing. 'I'll get some towels,' he sputtered, 'for both of you.'
He was quick about it and brought back a pile of wet and dry cloths.
Sitting on the bench next to her, Will cleaned the dog while Ivy tried unsuccessfully to remove the mud from her skirt and top.
'Maybe we should just dump you in the pond and make you all one color,' Will said to Ivy.
'Great idea. Why don't you go see how deep it is for me?'
He grinned at her, then reached over with a clean cloth and wiped her cheek close to her ear. 'It's in your hair too,' he said.
She felt his fingers pulling gently on her hair, trying to get out the mud. She held still. When he let go of the strands, something inside her floated upward, wanting to be touched again.
Ivy looked down quickly at her skirt and ferociously attacked a mud stain. Then Will set Peppermint on the ground between them. The clean dog wagged its little tail at him. 'I bet you wish you were a puppy like me.'
Ivy and Will turned at the same time and bent down to the dog, bumping their heads together.
'Ow!'
Will started laughing again. They looked in each other's eyes, laughing at themselves, and didn't see if Peppermint's mouth moved when she 'spoke' a second time.
'If you were a pup like me, Will, you could jump into Ivy's arms.'
Ivy thought she recognized the voice and glanced around for a suspicious purple shimmer.
'You could put your head in Ivy's lap and be cuddled. I know that's what you'd like.'
Ivy sneaked a peek at Will, embarrassed, but he didn't look at all sheepish. He was staring at the dog, his mouth drawn up in a little smile. 'You can put words in a dog's mouth, angel,' he said, 'but not in mine.'
'You're no fun! Even if you do have nice buns,' Lacey added.
'I thought they were great$ buns,' Will said.
Lacey laughed. Ivy spotted her then, right behind them. Apparently she could throw her voice. Now the soft purple shine moved around in front of them.
'Her name's Lacey,' Ivy told Will.
'I'm disappointed in you two,' Lacey said. 'I keep waiting for you to get things going, but you just tippytoe around each other. As a romance, you get two thumbs down. I'm going to hang out with the kids by the pond.'
