Shark Bait (The Grab Your Pole Series)

by Cooksey, Jenn

  After hearing what Michele had to say, I was not only mortally offended and shocked, but I was fucking pissed off. I know, the swearing…but trust me; it’s definitely a good time for an expletive. Additionally, I ended up being late to English. I was too mad to say anything when all three, Kate, Jeff, and Tristan looked at me as if to ask “what the hell is wrong with you?” and I was only able to stammer out a partial to Melissa and Kate after class when everyone had left the building for lunch.

  “Okay, what is wrong with you? You look like you’re ready to commit murder,” Kate asked me with concern.

  “I am. Teresa is a walking corpse! Are you ready for this? Apparently I’m a skanky whore!” I spit out venomously.

  “Oh my God. Are you saying that rumor I heard this morning is being said about you?” Melissa asked aghast, obviously having only heard one rumor of this kind lately.

  “Yeah, I am. And since you’ve already heard it, I’m sure the rest of the school has too,” I said, fuming.

  You see, since I didn’t do anything embarrassing enough on my own, Teresa decided to fabricate the worst sort of vengeance. She’s telling everyone that I not only slept with a random guy at Mike’s party, but three of them, and then essentially the same thing occurred during Friday night’s party at Pete’s. Which she wasn’t even at!

  “Eh, maybe…but there wasn’t a name attached to the girl I heard it about. And you know what? That’s good. That means specifics are being lost in translation, like in the game Telephone. Also, we can take care of it really easily even if your name does get put with it…at least in our clique. Besides, everyone who was at those parties knows where you were and who you were with the whole time. No one in our circle will perpetuate the lie,” Melissa stated with the confidence of a leader, cheer or otherwise.

  “That’s not entirely true you know. I was out of public sight when Tristan dragged me to the bathroom to get me cleaned up. Even though he wasn’t one of the guys I supposedly slept with, everyone saw me with him while he was without a shirt and that was right after we were without the benefit of witnesses.”

  “No, people were there too…remember you told me about the group getting high in Mike’s parents’ room? Did Tristan close the bathroom door?” Kate asked.

  “Uh, no, he didn’t…it was wide open. Do you think it’ll matter?”

  I’m only semi-relieved that I have at least someone who can account for my whereabouts during every minute of every party, though. The reason behind the necessity of having those people really freaking pisses me off. So much so that this whole time, I’ve been fighting back angry tears.

  “Honestly, I don’t think much of it’ll matter…we can nip this in the bud as far as the upper-classes go and ultimately, it’ll trickle back down to sophomores and freshman,” Melissa said reassuringly.

  I hope she’s right, because from what I understand; this sort of thing is near impossible to live down regardless of how farfetched and untrue it is.

  “Besides, Camie, do you honestly think Tristan and Jeff are gonna let something like this go when they hear about it? I can guarantee you they’ll squash this rumor like a big, fat bug…guys talk about loose girls more than we do and if need be, they’ll have the entire boys’ locker room willing to testify to your innocence in court by the end of the school day.”

  “And Keith will back ‘em up, which conveniently puts the football program on your side. That includes the JV team too, so with that and the mixed grade locker room, there’s our trickle down point,” Melissa chimed in, offering her boyfriend’s unwavering support.

  “Do we have to tell them? Tristan and Jeff, I mean. This is bad enough without having to endure looks from Tristan too,” I complained.

  I may do a lot of unwarranted whining, but this is justified. I mean it’s like freaking Karma. Even though we cleared everything up on Monday, I can practically hear Tristan laughing about how what goes around comes around. Not only that, but I’m afraid that after some of my possibly ill-advised teasing the other night combines with this whole thing, he might think I was being partly serious.

  “Mmm…I really think it’d be a good idea. They’re bound to hear it eventually if they haven’t already and the sooner the guys know it’s about you, the sooner they’ll wanna stop it,” Kate answered.

  “I concur. We should get started during lunch so let’s get a move on. I mean we can always text, but it’s better to do this kind of damage control face-to-face in groups,” Melissa determined.

  So with that pronouncement, we left the English building to wage war against a lie. Well, Kate and Melissa did anyway; I decided to hide in the library. It was as uneventful a thirty minutes as I could’ve asked for. Although on my way to P.E., my phone started vibrating and I immediately started to panic thinking about my mom. When I pulled it out and checked the caller ID though, my stomach started to flop around for an entirely different reason; the name on the screen was Thumper. You know, because I’m twitter-pated like in Bambi. Yeah, I know. Not the best I could come up with, but I think it’s cute. Besides, I really like how being twitter-pated describes young love…it’s just so accurate for how teenagers act. Anyway, here’s what the text said:

  Tristan: avoiding enemies or hiding?

  Ah, so he knows it was Teresa throwing another punch at me…that’s good, isn’t it? I was about to reply but then I thought about what Kate said the other day and decided to hold off for a bit. I don’t want to appear overly anxious, right? I mean technically I’m not playing hard to get. Seriously, how can I? He’s already got me. And if I’m being totally honest, he had me at “Hey Paul, you forgot this back there.” But even so, I do need to curb my enthusiasm a little to keep him on the hook. At least that’s what I’m assuming Kate was saying. I waited until P.E. was over and replied after I changed from my gym clothes into my dance clothes. Neither Kate nor Melissa had made it to the locker room yet so I was on my own. Since the other piece of advice Kate had given me was to be myself, I decided to go with the truth and said:

  Me: hiding

  Although after I sent it, I wondered if it would be like an admittance of guilt about what was being said. Crap. It’s too late though. It’s not like I can re-text and say something like, “Oh no, I’m not hiding, I’m umm, sparing Teresa’s life…yeah, that’s it.” So with that concern in mind, I practically tackled Kate and Melissa when they got to the locker room in my anxiety over what they thought.

  “You have to tell me I didn’t just totally shoot myself in the foot!! Here, look at this!” I shoved my phone in their faces for them to read the messages. “Did I screw up?”

  They laughed and told me not to worry. Even if someone would’ve taken it that way, it certainly wouldn’t be Tristan. In fact, they said he’d been royally pissed when they told the large majority of people in our group of friends that the rumor about the slutty girl is meant to be about me. And apparently he wasn’t the only one. Walking down to the dance room, I got two texts in a row. Here’s what the first said:

  MaryAnn: camie i just started going out w/your cuz derek. i want u 2 know im going 2 give mark a warning 2 relay 2 his bitch sister. this will b over soon!

  Aw, that’s so sweet! My cousin’s new girlfriend is going to bat for me and we hardly even know each other. I should mention that this is a big bat too, because MaryAnn is the Senior Class President and happens to be the captain of Varsity Cheer. Anyhow, this is what the second text said:

  Tristan: chicken

  I giggled about that one and showed Kate and Melissa so they could laugh with me. I find it interesting that he replied relatively quickly after my response, don’t you? I’m still going to wait until after class is over before I reply though. I think I’ll opt out of standing around afterwards, too. I of course want to see him, but my mom always says absence makes the heart grow fonder, so, we’ll see if she’s right or just repeating an antiquated adage that isn’t applicable to today’s youth.

  After dance, I scurried back into the
locker room, changed, and then I thoughtfully typed out my reply.

  Me: wont jeff b jealous about u using your pet name 4 him 4 someone else? o and make up your mind…am i a tease or a chicken? :-p

  Ah, the joy of flirting from afar…

  When Kate pulled up to a stop sign in front of school on our way to my house, she looked at me sitting in the passenger seat and asked rather suddenly, “Did you reply to Tristan when you were in the locker room?”

  I was wondering by her tone if I should’ve waited for her to help me with it. “Yeah, why?”

  “Because I saw him come out of the boys’ locker room looking at his phone and laughing his ass off. What did you say?”

  Obviously I did fine on my own. Yes I’m flattered, but please, hold your applause.

  Just as I was pulling my phone back out to show her my reply, though, it went off again.

  Tristan: both :-*

  Oh my God!! My first text kiss! Heehee!

  “Kate! I just got my first text kiss!” I squealed. Then bouncing up and down, I showed her the screen.

  Kate glanced at the surrounding cars looking for any of Tristan’s possible spies and finding none, she then got giddy with me. I probably should’ve thought about the possibility of being watched, but come on! No way was I going to be able to hold in my glee. I’m also really glad Tristan had bailed from school before he sent it or that could’ve been problematic. I don’t need him seeing my goofy reactions to him. That’s also probably why I got the text kiss when I did. He wasn’t at school anymore and he probably figured I was out of the public eye as well. I don’t think he really considers Kate as part of the public, not after last weekend anyway.

  “Hey Kate? Do you think he knows I tell you all this stuff?”

  “I’m sure he probably assumes you do. He knows I’m your best friend and naturally, that’s what girls do. I don’t think he cares though. Besides, he’s the one responsible for the way you guys were sitting together when the bonfire started. Even though he eventually went on his merry way when other people started arriving, he still showed something of his intent to the rest of us sitting there. Plus, he answered your phone when I called…he totally knows that I know.”

  “Do you think he’ll be more careful around you then? You know, like what if he suspects you’re helping me.” If so, that might be bad for me. Even though I did okay patching things up with him the other night, I feel like I still need Kate as an interpreter.

  “Nah. He’s still totally clueless that I ever put it together weeks ago and have been coaching you ever since then. Hell, he might even be hoping that I’ll encourage you at this point. I don’t know though, I’ve never really involved myself in his life like this. However, Jeff did mention to me how cranky Tristan was about having to help unload the wood and how weird you both were on the phone before that, plus he still doesn’t know what happened on Monday so it seems that Tristan isn’t telling him everything,” Kate said thoughtfully as she turned onto my street.

  “Huh. That’s kinda odd actually…you’d think he’d be telling Jeff everything. Unless he likes you way more than he wants to admit right now… Jeff would totally pick up on it and point it out, not to be mean or anything, but to tease him. Hmm, I think this means Tristan might be trying to save himself from my jackass’s jokes.”

  “Huh. That is interesting. Hey, how are things going with you guys anyway? It seems like all we talk about is Tristan and me,” I said, thinking about how she hasn’t really said much about Jeff. I mean, they look happy and I haven’t wanted to be nosey, but she is my best friend. Plus, I don’t want everything to always be about me, you know?

  “Oh, things are really good. It’s funny that I don’t quite realize how terribly unhappy I am when I’m apart from him until we’re together again. It’s like I have nothing to look forward to without him and my life is just sorta blah when I’m not with him, you know? Like everything just lacks luster and seems kind of pointless.

  “But, he brightens up my whole world and I feel like there’s a purpose to life when I’m living it with him, so, I’m glad you gave me a reason to take him back. I just have to remember that he’s gonna screw up and make dumb decisions, probably more often than not, and then I need to try to be forgiving when he does. I’m not perfect either and he does a really good job of overlooking the things I do that irritate him.”

  “What can you possibly do to irritate Jeff? He seems so kickback about everything, I can’t picture him ever being upset.” Really, aside from Pete who’s practically invisible, Jeff is the most laidback guy I’ve ever met.

  “Um, well…oh! He really doesn’t like it when I lecture him. It doesn’t matter what it’s about, it just bugs the crap outta him and I tend to do that without even realizing I’m doing it. I know there has to be other stuff but I can’t think of anything else off the top of my head. Maybe I’m more perfect than I thought…I’ll get back to you on that.” She started laughing.

  “You crack me up…I’m glad you guys are doing so good though, I’d hate to think you were suffering through all of his love and affection for you on my behalf.”

  “Oh, yeah. It’s torture! Please, Camie, tell me I can dump him so I can stop being treated like a queen,” Kate said, feigning distress by throwing the back of her hand onto her forehead and fluttering her eyelashes.

  “Nah, I think you deserve to do a little more time for your bad behavior. Oh! That reminds me, what should I do now? Should I kiss Tristan back?” I asked, getting out of the car.

  “Oh, totally! I wouldn’t instigate anything, but if he’s gonna start it then there’s no reason for you not to finish it… HA! How funny would it be if neither of you stopped? It could end up being like one long, text make-out session! That would be hysterical… See you tomorrow!” She called out her window and waved as she pulled away.

  Grinning to myself about that idea, I walked into my house to tell Jillian everything that’d happened today and gave her the green light for anything she might want to do to Teresa. Then I waited another hour—which totally killed me to do—and replied to Tristan.

  Me: back at ya :-*

  14.

  In Totally Uncharted Waters

  I made it through Thursday with dignity and without hiding in the library like I had yesterday. I’ll admit it had been my intention to do just that, but walking through the library door after fifth period, I received two texts that essentially forced me to face the music.

  Jillian: you are better than this…out of library now! (You know you suck when your twelve-year-old sister knows what you’re doing without being there and then proceeds to tell you that you’re being childish.)

  Tristan: c’mon champ…get in the ring. eye of the tiger baby, eye of the tiger :-* (Oh wow! This is the first text from Tristan today and apparently we’re text kissing at school now too. I wonder what Kate will make of this…)

  Two web links for song lyrics accompanied Tristan’s text, the first being “Get In The Ring” by Guns N’ Roses. I imagine he’s trying to tell me that if I stand tall and “get in the ring,” Teresa won’t be willing to antagonize me openly because she’s a coward. The second was for Survivor’s “Eye Of The Tiger.” That one was easy to figure out. If you’ve never seen Rocky 3, you might not get it but it’s about having a fighting spirit.

  Thus having been chastised in one text and encouraged in the other, I made my way to the stage for lunch. Hearing the Rocky theme song in my head, I even went one better than just showing my face; I made it a point to walk right through the lunch group the Trollop Triplets were a part of that day. Feeling empowered by the show of support I could see from my friends ahead and some of the lyrics, I then stopped, turned around to look Teresa in the face and said, “Hey Teresa, just so you’ll know where to find me, I’m usually over by the stage during lunch. You know, on the off chance you suddenly grow a spine and decide to confront me face-to-face.” And then without waiting for a response or looking back, I continued my way over to
my ever-growing circle of friends.

  By Friday morning when Kate picked me up for school, I was completely over Teresa’s stab at ruining my reputation. The rumor mill had come to a grinding halt when it hit the well mortared brick wall of my friends…and their friends, and in turn, their friends, and so on. However, now that my anxiety over that piece of drama is gone, a new nervousness has taken up residence in me… My date with Tristan is tonight. I don’t know why, but I’m kind of freaking out.

  “So what are you guys doing tonight?” Kate asked as we headed to school.

  “I have no idea.” I shook my head to emphasize my words. Seriously, I don’t have a clue. That could be why I’m nervous…

  “You guys are still going out tonight, right? I mean you did make plans, didn’t you?”

  “Uh, yeah...sort of, but I have no details aside from what time he’s picking me up. I was just so relieved our date was back on that I didn’t think to ask and now I’m kinda wishing I would’ve,” I explained and pulled out my cell phone. Maybe I’m nervous because this is my first date ever…

  “Are you asking him?” Kate asked, watching my thumbs fly over the Qwerty keyboard of my phone as she turned the engine off.

  “Yeah. I didn’t care what we were gonna do before, but now I wanna know.” … Or maybe it’s because I don’t feel like I have anything to wear…