“He’s a total flirt.” Katy dropped her cigarette to the ground and crushed it with the toe of her tennis shoe. “But then again, so am I.”
I laughed. No duh. “That’s understating things.”
“I say go for it,” Michelle said.
A car horn blared in the night air. We jerked around to find Roger cruising in his evergreen 1970 Chevelle SS. “When the hell did you start smoking, Michelle?”
Uh oh. Busted.
“Shut up, Roger. And don’t even think of telling Mom and Dad.”
“Or what? Why don’t you teenyboppers hop in before you find yourselves in real trouble?”
We climbed in, and he sped home in his signature style, careening around the turns and making us clutch the door handles, grinning the entire time.
Back at the house, Michelle and Katy started a game of backgammon, and I gave Pete a call. He sounded drained after working all day for his father at one of his construction job sites.
“You staying out of trouble?” he asked.
“Pretty much. We’re playing some games, talking, doing girl stuff.”
“And what’s the conversation been about tonight?”
You, and boys, and you. “If you must know, your name did come up.”
“Must I live in ignorance or are you planning on telling me more?” I loved his flirty, funny dialogue.
“There was some speculation about our current status.” Might as well leap off the cliff.
Pete cleared his throat. “Hmm. And what is our current status?”
“As far as I can tell, you like me and I like you.” Leap further, brave girl.
He paused for a minute. “Would you like to make it more official?”
Yes, yes, yes. “Um, that’s an embarrassing question.”
“And one you didn’t answer.”
“Because I’m embarrassed.”
“Are you going to be at school on Monday?”
Good, he changed the subject. Although, did I want him to? “Unless aliens abduct me, I believe so. Why?”
“I have something very important to talk to you about.”
I wanted to jump up and down and shout at the night sky. Unless I was misinterpreting. “Is everything okay?”
“Absolutely. Look, I’m tired and I smell bad, so I’m gonna grab a shower. I’ll call you tomorrow.” I envisioned his exhausted, smelly face and smiled.
We hung up, and I ran to tell Katy and Michelle about our conversation. How would I maintain until Monday? The impossibility of it loomed.
5
Steady
I behaved like a total spaz on Monday morning. I agonized over every piece of clothing, and my hair refused to cooperate in some kind of defiant act. I pulled it up into a ponytail, took it down, tried combs on one side, then both. Nothing worked. Some days I hated everything about my appearance, and today ranked in the top ten. I wanted to look perfect if Pete asked me to be his girlfriend.
I decided on my corduroy bell-bottoms with a white long-sleeved shirt and a trendy red, white and blue scarf that hung from my shoulders to my hips. Combing my hair one final time, I applied a coat of peach lipgloss and huffed out a deep breath. Enough!
Anxiety marinated in the pit of my stomach. The not knowing was killing me. The bell rang for nut break, and I found Pete in the smoking area talking to Steve. They both greeted me, and Pete put his arm around my shoulders, sending a jolt through my body while Steve continued with his critique of the yesterday’s Raiders game.
“Lester Hayes had that ball,” Pete said. But my mind wandered. I couldn’t concentrate on trivial sports banter—I had bigger topics awaiting resolution. I willed their conversation to be over so Pete and I could start ours. An argument by Reese and Jaime diverted my attention. Reese appeared repentant while Jaime pointed her finger at his chest and raised her voice, although I couldn’t hear what either of them said.
“That was not a fumble. Did you see that replay? He never had possession,” Steve argued. Again, I tuned them out.
Reese used what I imagined was his best pleading look. He tried to hug Jaime, but she shrugged him off, lighting another cigarette. He got mad in return, turning his back on her and throwing his hands in the air, and the tables turned. Jaime attempted to soothe him and he relented—that might have been his plan—and they kissed. Reese grabbed her butt, and she slapped him on the chest.
Steve glanced meaningfully at Jaime. Interesting. He liked her! Our eyes met, and I raised my eyebrows. He shrugged and grinned. I winked, acknowledging it as our little secret. Michelle would be very disappointed. Then again, Jaime wasn’t exactly available.
The bell rang, and it upset me Pete spent the entire break jawing about a dumb football game with Steve. He grabbed my hand as we split up to attend our next classes, and reminded me about talking at lunch. As if I needed reminding.
At least I had gym, which should fly by. And it did, almost literally, as Ms. Tyler made us practice repetitive tennis drills hundreds of times. First we bounced the fluorescent green balls from our rackets to the ground. Then we bounced them up in the air, with mayhem ensuing as the balls ricocheted every which way. We practiced our forehand swing, then our backhand. Aside from chasing after our strays, Katy and I stood next to each other cracking jokes and making the exercises more bearable.
The next period, Mr. Donaldson droned on about potential careers in science. I preferred doodling “Anna plus Pete” in hearts inside my notebook. Who could listen to matters of no concern when a big deal awaited?
Finally the bell rang for lunch, and I shot out of my seat and raced
