THE PRETENDER: Black Mountain Academy

by Brent, Cora

  I kick at him under the table. “I don’t see your girl around today.”

  He grunts and tears off another section of steak. The meat appears to be about as rare as meat can get and still be fit for human consumption. “She’s off fucking with some newspaper shit.”

  “Trina writes for the Bulletin?”

  “Yeah. Looks good on the transcript or something.” He waves a fork. “Kind of a pain that she’s got to deal with that weird ass head case who’s in charge.”

  I don’t ask him to explain. Everyone knows Camden Galway is the editor-in-chief of the Bulletin.

  Kent is scowling now. “Let me tell you something. The other night Trina’s giving me an epic hummer when she gets like eight texts in a row and she’s like hold on, Camden needs to know where I’m at on the article about the new football bleachers.” He shakes his head in disgust. “Just what you want to fucking deal with when you’re getting some head. But Trina said Camden wouldn’t quit with the text assault until she got an answer. I’d be willing to pay someone to blow that girl’s mind so she’d quit harassing my girlfriend about bleachers every five fucking minutes.”

  Todd Bellinger is sitting a few feet to my right and he decides to take a break from measuring his biceps to get involved in the conversation. He was booted off the football team last month for shitty grades but I’ve heard he’s a pussy about taking hits so I’m sure it’s no loss to the team. He’s all in my face now and his breath smells like dirty socks. “You guys talking about Camden Galway?”

  Instead of answering, Kent shovels an oversized mound of meat in his mouth and glares in another direction. I’ve heard him refer to Todd as a limp cheesedick.

  I’m not a member of Todd’s fan club either but I kind of want to hear what he has to say about Camden. “So what?”

  Todd licks his razor thin lips. “So her favorite way to take cock is through the back door.”

  His declaration is met with silence.

  He begins to whine. “For real, you guys. She does. Ask me how I know.”

  I drag a French fry through a ketchup puddle and say nothing. Todd’s a bullshitter in the first degree and I wouldn’t believe him if he told me the sky was up. Kent always has ears for a good fuck story but even he rolls his eyes.

  “No way in hell did you even get a finger in Camden Galway.”

  Todd is insulted. “Like you’d fucking know.”

  “Yeah, I do fucking know. She’s a pain but last I heard she’s not blind and brain dead.”

  I can’t help but crack up.

  Todd’s eyes narrow but he doesn’t have it in him to challenge Kent, who’s one of those barrel chested guys most likely to win in a collision with a truck. Todd loads all his garbage onto his tray and stomps off like the sulky brat he is.

  Kent wipes his mouth with a napkin. “Probably running off to change his tampon.”

  I’m still laughing. “Probably. But I’m not used to seeing you in the role as a defender of girls.”

  Kent shrugs. “Eh, on my own I could care less about that Camden bitch. But she’s sort of a friend of Trina’s so I’m trying to honor the connection. Besides, fuck Bellinger. That cocksucker lies as much as he breathes.”

  “He might try saying something more believable than this fiction that he fucked Camden Galway in the ass.” The words taste bad in my mouth. I don’t know why.

  My friend is eyeing me now. “What do you care?”

  I don’t care. I shouldn’t care. But hearing Asshole Todd drag Camden’s name through the mud makes me feel like hitting something. “He’s just a lying sack of shit. That’s all.”

  Kent is still watching me. A lot of times he comes off as an obscene meathead but anyone who’s seen him mooning all over his girl can’t doubt that he has feelings.

  “You’ve got a thing for her,” Kent says and then nods to himself as if he’s just delivered a royal decree.

  I cross my arms over my chest. “No way. Camden’s always in my business because we both live in Devil Valley. But the girl’s like a block of ice.”

  He snorts. “Not a bad rack on that block of ice. Go for it.”

  “A minute ago you called her a bitch.”

  A grin slowly spreads across his face. “Yeah. But you’re kind of a bitch too.”

  I kick him. He kicks me back. Then he shoves his food tray aside and changes the subject.

  “What have you got going on this weekend?”

  “Work.”

  “All weekend?”

  “Pretty much.”

  “Fuck.” He frowns. “You’re always working these days. You didn’t even make it to last Friday’s game.”

  “Got to work when there’s rent to pay.”

  Instantly I wish I hadn’t said that. Kent isn’t the perceptive type but something flashes in his eyes and he looks me over more carefully. I’ve never lied to him. I never had to. Kent’s family is loaded and his house is in that insane neighborhood of mansions where the Blackwoods and the other regional royalty live so that has to mean Kent’s family is pretty high up on the economic food chain. But he doesn’t seem to care where I come from or whether or not I have money. All he cares about is if I’m cool to hang out with.

  Kent is still thinking and his light eyebrows furrow. “Hey, if you ever need a little cash-“

  “I don’t.”

  And I really don’t. I don’t want pity. Or handouts. Or questions.

  “I’ll be fine after I get my next paycheck,” I tell him. It’s not the complete truth. But it could be argued that nothing I say is the complete truth.

  Kent stares at me for another second and then nods. “All right, man.”

  A flash of skin catches my eye and I see Allie Wexman approaching with a smile, her skirt hiked up high enough to showcase her shapely tanned legs. She’s got a fountain drink in her hand while she sucks on a pink straw.

  “Hi, guys,” she says, trying to look cute as can be and succeeding. She props a knee up on the table.

  Kent has no use for her. He doesn’t even answer. He returns to his steak.

  Allie focuses on me. “What’s going on, Ben?”

  I hate when people ask dumbass questions like that. What the fuck does it look like I’ve got going on? I’m sitting in a school cafeteria eating lunch. There’s nothing exhilarating about it.

  “Not much,” I say, trying to sound polite because I’ve got no excuse to be rude.

  Allie taps long purple fingernails on her soda cup and lets her straw slide between her lips again. She makes sure that I’m watching.

  Back in September she sat in my lap at the first senior bonfire party. We messed around a little bit. Maybe more than a little bit. She was pulling at my pants and whispering that we ought to go somewhere quieter. We wound up dry humping against a tree and Allie made it clear she’d be glad to shed her panties and supply a condom. Then Corey Greer stumbled into the woods and vomited right at our feet so I was spared from that bad decision. I made an excuse and left the party. We just fooled around that one time and I’ve tried to steer clear of her ever since. Allie’s hot. She’s a volleyball player and a cheerleader. She always looks sexy and put together. But she’s dumb and she’s gossipy. She’s not someone I’d like to waste time with.

  Allie’s straw falls out of her mouth with a pop. “You know Mia Panacio? Her folks are away so her house is going to be a wild scene tomorrow night.”

  “Is that right?”

  “Yeah. I’ll be there.”

  “Sounds like fun. Have a great time.”

  “You could come.” She emphasizes the last word and I know that’s deliberate.

  “Afraid I’m busy.”

  Annoyance sweeps over her face and then she turns on a phony smile. “If you’re worried about getting back to Devil Valley, Mia’s inviting some friends to stay over all night.”

  “I’m not Mia’s friend.”

  “But I am.” She sets down her drink, flattens her palms on the table and leans forward, like sh
e’s telling a secret. “There’s an outrageous hot tub. And the house has nine bedrooms.”

  The invitation is clear and my dick is interested. He’s getting hard inside my pants and begging me to agree that free sex offers should never be refused. It’s senior year. It’s a good time to be a little reckless.

  I can’t explain why I’m thinking of Camden Galway right now. I decide that Kent is to blame. Just when I’d managed to set aside the view of Camden’s panties he had to put her back into my head. Now I’m wondering what it would be like to hook up with her, if she’d try to rub one out through her plaid skirt or if she’d cross her legs and gasp with shock over the feel of my tongue in her mouth. I wouldn’t mind finding out.

  Allie knows nothing of my inner struggle and she’s starting to look impatient. Her eyes are saying ‘What the fuck is wrong with you?’ She’s offering me an entire night. Complete with a hot tub and an adult-free party house.

  “Sorry, but I’ve got a lot going on this weekend.”

  “Fine.” She straights up and now her cheeks are slightly flushed. “If you change your mind, my cell number’s in the student directory.”

  “Got it.”

  She doesn’t hang around any longer. I watch her stalk back to her table and hear Kent chuckle beside me.

  “She practically served it to you on a platter, Beltran.”

  “I told you. I’m working all weekend.”

  “And you can’t take a few hours off to go get your dick serviced?” A light bulb goes off in his head. “Have you got something else going on?”

  “No, I don’t have anything else going on.”

  “Liar. Does she live in Devil Valley?”

  “Sure, Kent. She lives in Devil Valley.” I say this just to shut him up. “It’s nothing.”

  Kent is now distracted because Trina has just walked into the cafeteria. And she’s with Camden. Trina leans closer to hear whatever her friend is saying and then breaks into peals of laughter. I wouldn’t have guessed that Camden is capable of making a joke.

  Kent waves to his girlfriend. Her smile broadens and she hurries right over so the two of them can stand in the middle of the cafeteria and suck face. Camden has followed rather awkwardly and she looks around as if she’s embarrassed while Kent gets his hands all over Trina. I wonder what that’s like, to have someone you’ve likely fucked a thousand times and can’t wait to fuck again. I wonder what it’s like to have a girl you can’t get enough of.

  Camden’s eyes meet mine and I notice that her eyes are not blue like I thought they were. They are more grayish green. She holds my stare for a few additional seconds and I know enough about girls to understand that she enjoys looking at me. Finally she tears her eyes away and bites her lower lip, like she’s been caught doing something she shouldn’t.

  The bell rings, activating everyone in sight except for Kent and Trina, who are too busy boning through their clothes to pay attention. I gather all my crap, drop off my tray and head to class. Camden must have run out of the room a split second after the bell sounded because I don’t see her anywhere. My next class is math and she’s not in that class. That’s too bad. I’m kind of in the mood to stare at her and remember all the filthy thoughts that rolled through my head after I saw her panties.

  There’s a quiz today that totally slipped my mind but I was halfway paying attention during the lectures all week and I’m good at math so it’s not hard. I’m about to pass my paper forward when I catch sight of two words and freeze. My mind must have been on vacation for a few seconds when I scrawled my name at the top of the paper.

  BENNET DREXLER.

  The ballpoint pen I used is black ink. There is no way to erase it. And if I scribble over the name to block it out that would just make a big mess and call more attention to the mistake. I can’t believe I’ve committed such a huge blunder after all this time. I’ve let my guard down too much. I’ve screwed up.

  “BEN!” Mr. Pertino bellows my name. He resembles a bullfrog on his best day and right now he’s become a furious bullfrog with a bright pink face, blinking at me in disbelief as I rip my quiz paper into tiny pieces.

  Heads swivel around to stare at me. A few of them snicker.

  “Sorry.” I sweep the pieces into my palm and stand up. “There was a spider on my paper.”

  “A spider?”

  “Afraid so.” This makes no sense to anyone in the room. “Can I get another copy? I know the answers. It would only take me a minute to write them down.”

  Mr. Pertino frowns. In this class I’m a decent student and I don’t usually cause trouble. Still, tearing up a quiz comes across as a dick move and Black Mountain Academy doesn’t have much patience for dick moves.

  “No, young man. You may not have another copy. You may take your garbage to the trash can and you may also take a zero for this quiz.”

  This isn’t great news but it’s not the end of the world either. I don’t argue. I spend the remainder of the class sitting at my desk with my arms crossed and staring out the window at the snow-topped peak looming over the town.

  Camden

  Frankie is hunting through the junk drawer in the kitchen when I walk into the room. He quickly shuts the drawer and sits at the table while I pour a glass of orange juice for myself.

  “What were you looking for?” I ask him when I take a seat.

  My stepbrother pulls the strings of his faded red hoodie and averts his eyes. “Nothing. Just thought maybe there’d be some spare change in there.”

  “You don’t need lunch money. It’s Saturday.”

  He sighs. “The strap on my wrestling headgear is broken. It’s thirty bucks including tax for a new one. I’ve been skimping on lunch lately so I have twelve. I guess it was dumb to hope there might be eighteen bucks worth of quarters sitting in the drawer.”

  I set my glass down. If my dad knew about this he’d hand over the money in a heartbeat but he left for work at the crack of dawn. He’s been picking up all the overtime weekend shifts he can get.

  “Wait here.” I hurry off to my room and return with a twenty dollar bill.

  “Thanks, Cam.” Frankie is happy to pocket the money at first and then he takes a closer look at the bill. “Did you write on it?”

  “No.”

  He’s no longer smiling. “It says ‘Happy Birthday, Camden’. This is the money that came in the mail from your grandma the other day.”

  “My birthday isn’t for another two weeks. She sent it early because she gets confused.”

  He pushes the bill at me. “I can’t take it.”

  I push it back at him. “I want you to take it. Just promise me you won’t go without lunch anymore.”

  He cooperates but looks miserable. “I’ll pay you back. I was going to try to get a job.”

  “You’re only fifteen. Besides, I saw your last report card. You’re barely passing as it is and you won’t be allowed to stay on the wrestling team if you fail. No, I’ll be the one getting a job.”

  Frankie raises an eyebrow. “Are you going to work in Black Mountain?”

  I roll my chair over to the counter and grab the box of cereal sitting there. “I’d rather find something here in town.”

  Frankie looks doubtful. Devil Valley isn’t exactly swimming in employment opportunities. I know I’d have more luck in Black Mountain. In fact the other day I saw a ‘Help Wanted’ sign at the diner a few blocks from school. But the thought of bussing tables for my over-privileged peers makes me want to gag. If I can’t get a job around here then I’ll have no choice. With Adela sick and out of work we don’t have a spare penny. My dad has been valiantly trying to shoulder the burden alone. The one time I brought up a part time job he became upset. He said that I need to stay focused on school and the newspaper and my future rather than working a dead end job for minimum wage. I should have disobeyed him sooner.

  Frankie leaves on his mission to find new wrestling headgear. I eat several handfuls of sugary cereal right from the box and think about
how Ms. Allen, the guidance counselor, called me down to her office yesterday to remind me that college application deadlines are approaching. Last spring I supplied an impressive list of my dream schools and Ms. Allen is unaware that things have changed. I can’t imagine moving to another state next year. She instructed me to get all my applications submitted by the end of winter break. I promised I would do exactly that. I was lying. The only school I’ve applied to is Eagle State University. It’s not even close to a top tier university and was never on my list of safety school possibilities. It’s a joke at Black Mountain Academy. “You failed the test? HAHA! Say hello to ESU.” But Eagle State has one vital quality in its favor. It’s only sixty miles away from Devil Valley.

  The house is quiet and I tiptoe down the hall to look in on Adela. The bed is rumpled and there’s a light underneath the bathroom door. I knock softly and the running water stops.

  “It’s me. Frankie had to go out and I’m about to leave too. I’ve got some errands to run.”

  Her tired voice floats out at the end of a sigh. “All right.”

  My hand is on the worn brass knob. “Are you okay?”

  Stupid question. A person is not okay when she has cancer.

  “I’m fine, Cam.”

  The sour lump is my throat is familiar. “Can I get you anything before I leave?”

  “No.” The water begins running again.

  Normally Adela would be curious about my plans, not because she tries to be intrusive, but because she’s a devoted parent. I’m a daughter to her and always have been. She told me so on the day she married my father and she meant it.

  On my way out of the room I glimpse a framed family photo on my father’s dresser. It was taken two years ago. Frankie is making a funny face and I’m laughing but it’s our parents who catch my attention. My father’s arm is draped over Adela’s shoulders and her gleaming black hair falls past her shoulders. Her eyes are on the camera lens but my father gazes at her with an expression of love and pride. After suffering the heartbreak of losing his first wife in a car accident sixteen years ago and then raising a daughter on his own it must have seemed to him like he’d finally found his happily ever after. Not just for him, but for us. All of us. Frankie’s father has never been part of his life. Like any other family we’ve had our struggles but we’ve always been happy. And then Adela discovered a lump in her left breast shorty after her thirty-fifth birthday. After that came the surgeries, the rounds of chemo and radiation, the anguish of watching her fight back tears because she’s so exhausted. Nothing about it is fair.