Skinny Dipping

by Melissa de la Cruz

  "She's with Garrett now," Ryan said flatly. In that one sentence, Eliza knew that what she'd said was true. Ryan was definitely still in love with Mara.

  Eliza looked at Ryan. She was closer to him now than she'd ever been. Maybe the term friends with benefits had a deeper meaning than either of them had realized.

  "Well, we better go in before it gets any worse," Ryan said.

  "And by the way, Mara and Garrett broke up," Eliza said. "I'm surprised your sisters didn't say anything. Aren't they totally hot for him?"

  "Eliza, I don't even know how we're from the same family," Ryan joked.

  They ran into the Home Depot--but all the steel braces, wood reinforcements, tarps, hurricane lamps, candles, batteries, space heaters, generators, rope, nails, and sandbags were gone.

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  "What's going on?" Eliza demanded of a nearby foreman wearing an orange vest.

  The foreman shrugged. "We got a big order," he said, waving toward a guy leaning against the counter and signing a huge credit card receipt. Garrett Reynolds looked up and waved at Ryan and Eliza.

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  oscar wilde said,

  "true friends stab

  you in the front"

  POPPY WAS STILL SEETHING ABOUT THE LOSS OF "HER"

  car as she and Mara ran into the house to escape the battering winds.

  "That is just so rude, I have never been treated so rudely. Do they know who I am?" Poppy whined as she struggled with her umbrella.

  Mara was squeezing the water out of her wet hair when something bright and sparkly caught her eye. Something Poppy was wearing on her ears: Huge, fat rocks. Diamonds so big they pulled down on Poppy's earlobes and so clear and perfect they glittered in dull of the entryway.

  "Poppy," Mara said, reaching out toward the earrings. "Where did you get those?"

  Poppy's hands immediately fluttered to her ears. "Oh, these? Uh . . . I . . . borrowed them from your dresser. I lent you my handbag and I figured, you know, what's mine is yours and what's yours is mine." She giggled shrilly. "Why?" She was totally acting

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  like she and Sugar hadn't completely blown Mara off for the last couple of days, never mind that they had actually talked to Page Six about Mara and the earrings.

  "Those aren't mine," Mara said, dumbfounded.

  "They're not?" Poppy fluttered her wet eyelashes innocently.

  "They belong to Ivan. They're worth a quarter of a million dollars. Haven't you read Page Six? You were quoted in it. People think I stole them."

  Poppy feigned innocence. "I have no idea what you're talking about. C'mon, let's go dry off. I'm freezing."

  "Wait a second. I need them back," Mara said flatly, holding her hand out.

  "Okay! Don't be such a wench about it. Jeez," Poppy said, pulling them out of her ears and brusquely laying them in Mara's hand.

  Mara just stared at her. She had never met anyone so relentlessly self-centered, so aggressively selfish, in her entire life. And this was the kind of person she'd spent the whole summer trying to impress. It was sickening how much time she'd wasted.

  "Now, Plum, don't be mad. I was just borrowing them!" Poppy said defensively.

  "Don't call me that!" Mara hissed, elbowing her aside and heading for the phone.

  When the messenger picked up the earrings, Mara felt so relieved and deliriously happy, she had no idea what to do with herself. She felt liberated and free, and as she waved away the brown

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  truck, she bumped into Jacqui, who was getting ready to run a few errands before the hurricane really hit.

  "Jac! Oh God, Jac!" Mara said, rushing toward her and picking Jacqui's arms up and twirling her around.

  "What? What happened?" They hadn't talked in more than a week, and she hadn't seen Mara smile in that entire time.

  "Jacqui! I'm so stupid. I'm so awful. I'm so sorry. Poppy--it was Poppy who took the earrings. I don't know if they knew, I don't know if it was deliberate. I think it was, but I'm so sorry I thought. . . you had ... I must be insane. ..."

  Jacqui raised an eyebrow. The Perry twins. Of course. The twins' bedrooms were the first place they should have looked for the earrings. "It's okay," she told Mara.

  "I just want you to know that I'm really, really, really, really sorry," Mara said. "Really, really, really--"

  "Mara, look, I forgive you, all right?" Jacqui interrupted, taking her hand.

  "It's just, I feel so embarrassed. I wish it had never happened."

  "Listen, things happen for a reason. Don't worry about it," Jacqui said as she hugged Mara tightly. "But your apologies aren't over, chica."

  Jacqui was right. They were just beginning.

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  there's nothing

  sexier than a guy with a hammer

  JUST AS RYAN AND ELIZA WERE ABOUT TO LEAVE THE Home Depot empty-handed and disillusioned, a friendly voice called over. "You guys looking to get some supplies?" Jeremy asked. He'd also been stymied by the Reynoldses' great buyout. He walked over wearing a slick vinyl poncho and a crushed fisherman's hat.

  "They're all out," Eliza said.

  "Yeah, but I know where we can get some," he said. "There's a Target in Riverhead, and they sell storm windows and everything there. Not many people in the Hamptons know about it, since it's in the North Fork. You guys want to follow me? Take the highway north to the Riverhead exit and it's right there." He wiped his hands on his jeans, which were tucked into big rubber fishing boots.

  Eliza nodded her thanks, and she and Ryan followed Jeremy as he drove down the flooded highway. There weren't as many cars going in that direction, and they made good time.

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  Inside the Target, it was as if the hurricane wasn't even happening. It was bright and cheerful, and all the shelves were stocked high with everything they needed. There were several other people shopping, but there was plenty to go around, and they all just smiled conspiratorially at one another.

  "Who's going to put up your windows?" Jeremy asked Eliza as they both took some lanterns and heating oil.

  "My dad," Eliza said, even though her dad was like, seventy years old.

  "I'll do it," Jeremy said quietly. "Look, man, I'll just drive Eliza home," Jeremy said, turning to Ryan. "Her house is on the way to mine, anyway."

  "Okay with you, E?" Ryan asked.

  "That's fine, actually," Eliza said, her heart beating fast.

  Ryan gave Eliza a quick hug. "Good luck. Stay dry!" he said to both of them.

  Eliza climbed into Jeremy's pickup truck. The seats were battered leather, and it was nothing like the Porsche Cayenne's sleek leather upholstery or heads-up dashboard display--but it smelled like the earth, piney and loamy, like Jeremy. She loved that smell.

  They drove in silence back to Eliza's Westhampton rental, where her parents were frantic with worry. Without a staff to command, the Thompsons had no idea what to do. The television had already gone out and the lights were off, but Jeremy soon found the circuit breaker in the basement and flipped the right switch.

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  "Oh thank God," Eliza's mother said, tugging at the pearls around her neck anxiously.

  "I don't know how long we'll have the juice, but we might as well use it while we have it," Jeremy said. "Power'll probably go out soon."

  Eliza watched as Jeremy expertly put up all the windows, hammering and pushing and figuring out the complicated instructions. She hoped her parents could see what she saw in him.

  He was working on the attic bedroom windows when she brought him a bottle of water. "It's not cold, I'm sorry."

  "No, this is good, thanks," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow. He leaned against the bracing and put his body into it. The joint snapped right into the window, and he smiled in satisfaction. "There, that should do it. You guys have enough towels, right? And a radio?"

  "We have a little battery-powered Sony Watchman--my dad found it in the basement. So I think we'll be okay," Eliza said.

  Jeremy
nodded. "That's good." He sat down on the floor and gulped down the water.

  "What happened to you this summer?" Eliza asked, sitting next to him on the carpet.

  "What happened to me*. What happened to you?" Jeremy said, peeling the label of the water off.

  "I don't know--you like, pushed me away. I didn't think you wanted me anymore," she said. "You never called. You didn't even want to see me."

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  "Eliza, the only reason I took that internship at Morgan Stanley was so I could be someone you could respect. Someone from your ... world" Jeremy said, making quotation marks with his fingers when he said "world."

  "You did that for me?"

  "I did, but it turned out I still wasn't good enough. Your parents made that pretty clear at dinner. I figured, I'd never change their minds about me, so why should I even bother?" He shrugged.

  "Why botheri" Eliza said, incredulous. "Because I don't think like my parents do, that's why. And that's pretty shitty to judge someone based on their family," she said. "People can't help where they come from."

  Jeremy looked embarrassed, but then he said, "Yeah, but then I heard about you and Ryan, so . . ." He trailed off.

  It was Eliza's turn to looked embarrassed.

  "I missed you," she said matter-of-factly.

  "I missed you too," he agreed. "I saw you on TV last night," he offered, unexpectedly lightly.

  "You did? Where?" Eliza asked, surprised.

  "On Sugar's show. You were asking for a dress back and she wouldn't give it to you." He chuckled. "And at the end some old French designer guy in big black glasses was saying that he would never dress Sugar Perry again. It was pretty funny."

  "Karl Lagerfeld?' Eliza asked, but Jeremy just shrugged. Maybe Sugar would get her comeuppance after all. Eliza looked at Jeremy. Even talking about some stupid TV show, he was still

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  ten times more soulful than anyone else she'd ever met. She'd missed him so much.

  "It's just . . . you were always so busy," she said, tentatively pulling at the bottom of his pant leg.

  "Yeah, no kidding. I hated that job. Anyway, I quit. You can't believe the amount of bullshit you need to put up with. I'm working at the Perrys' again next summer."

  "You are?"

  "Yeah, I just told them I'd be back." He finished the last of the water and put down the empty plastic bottle.

  Eliza was still processing all this new information. "I thought you didn't like me anymore," she said.

  "Eliza, what are you talking about? I'm crazy about you," he said. "I've been crazy about you since the first time I saw you at the Perrys' pool."

  "What about Carolyn? Or Lindsay? Why were you with them?"

  "I met them through work. Carolyn is cool. And she was friends with your friends. I thought ... I don't know, I thought that would matter to you, that I knew people you did. Lindsay was nothing. I was only with her because I thought I could make you jealous, since you were with Ryan."

  "Ryan and I aren't . . . aren't anything special. We're just friends."

  "Really?" he asked hopefully.

  "Really," she said firmly.

  "So . . . you're not with him?"

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  "No." But Eliza had to come clean. "I mean, not anymore. He's great, but he's. . . he's just not you."

  Jeremy smiled his crooked smile. Eliza smiled into his eyes, and just like that, they kissed. Jeremy stroked her hair, and Eliza put a hand up to his cheek, warming her hands on his skin while the hurricane swirled around them and the house shook.

  "I love you," he said. "You're the only girl for me."

  Eliza felt so much happiness that she wasn't sure it could fit inside her skin. And when he kissed her again, she felt as light as air, like a bubble that had popped out of a bottle of champagne, floating dizzily toward the ceiling.

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  mara steals from the rich to give to the, uh, rich

  THE LIGHTS WENT OUT AT FIVE, AND THERE WERE NO MORE

  towels to stop the water from entering through the cracks in the doorway. The kids were getting antsy. Mara had spent the afternoon with them, playing Go Fish and Old Maid. William was actually sitting still for once. Zoe had a knack for Go Fish, and even Cody was being quiet. Madison had even found a bag of chips and was eating them along with everyone else.

  "Old Maid!" Madison crowed, when Mara took the wrong card.

  "Well, let's just hope it's not prophetic," Mara joked.

  The house shook with a rumble that came from the driveway, and they all ran to the window to see an immense Home Depot truck pull up to the front of the Reynolds estate.

  Mara couldn't believe it. Ryan had called to tell Laurie that there was nothing at the Home Depot. Looking at the truck, she could only guess what had happened.

  "C'mon, kids!'she said, getting all of them together. "We're going to do a raid!"

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  After making sure all the kids were dressed warmly in sweaters and nylon slickers, she led them outside. The rain was coming down hard, and it was going to get really bad really soon. She ushered them through the hedges that separated the property and into a secret passageway that Garrett had showed her, which led to the basement of the Reynolds Castle.

  The kids were beside themselves with delight. Mara led them up through the basement. She cracked open the door to the kitchen. The coast was clear.

  "C'mon," she said, and led the kids to one of the upstairs bathrooms where the linen closet held so many towels it was like a miniature Bed, Bath & Beyond. Mara began loading up on towels, passing them out to the kids to hold.

  "What are you doing?" Garrett asked lightly, walking into the bathroom, holding a beer. He looked pasty in his white oxford shirt.

  Mara looked at him. She remembered his cutting remarks, the way he'd immediately believed she had taken the earrings and dumped her without even bothering to listen to her side.

  "You guys have too much of this stuff. You don't need all of it, so we're taking some," Mara replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

  "You can't do that," he said, still in a light, mocking tone.

  "Okay, then I'll ask nicely. Can we have some? Please?"

  "No," he replied sharply. "Now please leave and take the brats with you, or I'll have to call security."

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  "Sorry, Garrett, but that's not going to work," Mara said. "William?"

  "Uh-huh?" The little boy asked.

  "You know that move they taught you in kickboxing class?" she asked, bending down to his level. "That would come in handy right about now, don't you think?"

  Once William realized what Mara was asking him to do, an evil grin spread across his face.

  "Hiii-ya!!" he said, running straight for Garrett and kicking him--hard--in the stomach, making the older boy double over. "Go, go, go!" William yelled.

  Before leaving, Mara spied another something sparkly that had been missing. Her Blahnik sandals. She picked them up from behind the bathroom door triumphantly. Mitzi had already written them off, so they were hers to keep.

  "'Bye, Garrett!" Mara laughed.

  As they ran out the door, supplies in hand, an older couple who lived up the hill were getting out of their car. They noticed the supplies Mara and the kids were carrying.

  "Where did you get that? They're all out of supplies at Home Depot!"

  "Here, have some--there's much more!" Mara said gaily, passing over a couple of paper bags filled with batteries and bottled water.

  They ran back into the Perry house, flushed with success and triumphant over their loot.

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  "We found water!" Mara said, marching victoriously into the kitchen and depositing two one-gallon bottles on the table. "Oh." Her face fell.

  On the kitchen counter was a huge stack of water bottles, towels, batteries, and firewood. There were candles and heating oil and hurricane lamps and several loaves of bread, canned tuna and baked beans, and towels and rope and flashlights, al
l in cheerful white plastic bags with the Target logo. The kids began to cheer, tearing into the Cheetos and Pringles.

  Ryan stood in the middle of the kitchen, putting away the dried pasta. "Eliza and I found a Target that was open," he explained, without looking at her.

  "Oh . . . oh, great." She was about to back out the door, when he called her.

  "Wait, I want to--we need to talk," Ryan said. He turned around, and for the first time, Mara could see just how upset he was.

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  knight in yellow

  rain slicker

  "merda!" jacqui cursed as she turned the ignition and the engine of the little gas-electric hybrid sputtered to life, then went dead. Everyone in the Perry household had taken the Prius's fifty miles per gallon for granted, and Jacqui couldn't remember anyone filling up the tank all summer. Now it was empty, and she was screwed. She was stuck out on Route 27, and the storm was only getting worse.

  She tried the Perry house, but the line just kept ringing, which meant the phone lines were probably down. She tried Eliza's cell, but it went straight to voice mail. Even though she was still angry with Philippe, she didn't know who else to call. She hated having to depend on him, especially since he'd never even explained about the other evening at the motel and acted like nothing had ever happened when he bumped into her at the house.

  She dialed his cell phone.

  "Hello? Hello, Philippe? Listen, it's Jacqui, I really need you right now."

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  "Hello? Who is this?" a female voice demanded.

  "Um, it's Jacqui?" Jacqui replied. What was going on? Why wasn't Philippe answering his phone?

  "Well, this is an unpleasant surprise," the dulcet tones of Anna Perry said. "I'm sorry to say that Philippe is no longer open for business."