The Game Changer

by Trio, L. M.

  “Sounds good to me.” I have no idea what she is talking about, I don’t know what H&M is, but she sure does; so I follow along.

  Once inside the store, she is like a kid in a candy store. She pretty much sticks me in the dressing room and just keeps handing me things to try on. Some of the things I’m not used to wearing, it is almost too much for me. “De, I don’t know if I can pull off some of these things the way you do.”

  “JJ, you have a cute little body and you’re going to show it off. Now, I thought you were going to leave this in my hands? Trust me; I will not give you anything that I wouldn’t wear myself. Everything I’m handing you is very tasteful.”

  “You’re right; I’m just not used to it. Am I going to have enough money?”

  “More than enough, everything I’m picking is from the sale racks. Now here, try this on. The emerald green will look perfect with your eyes and hair.”

  She continues to hand me things based on how it will look with my eyes, my hair, and my shape. She is having fun and, for that matter, so am I. She picks out two bathing suits. Nothing I would ever have picked out for myself, but I like them, they are grown up looking. I am a little nervous about wearing a bikini, so she picks out a black two piece, sort of like a tankini, except the top shows more of my stomach, but not quite as revealing as a bikini. I like it. The other is a turquoise one piece, cut high on the legs and low in the front. It reveals more than enough skin, though I like it even more than the other. I feel grown up. I have to say, I’m impressed with my body. I have put on a little more weight, which was greatly needed because it added more curves. I look older.

  I peek out of the curtain nervously. “What do you think?”

  “I think you are going to be turning a lot of heads in Bay Point this summer!”

  “Oh, right, sure. I don’t think I’ve ever turned anyone’s head in my life.”

  “I think you have, you just haven’t noticed. You’ll see.”

  As we check out, I still have plenty of money left over. She asks me about shoes and I point out the sneakers I’m wearing. “This is pretty much it,” I tell her. “Other than a pair of sandals from last summer, but they hurt my feet.”

  Of course she has found a deal for shoes as well. “Ugh, look, three pairs of flip flops for twenty dollars. That’s a good price. We live at the beach, so that’s all we wear all summer!” She says as she picks them out, while I sit back and admire her shopping abilities. They are stylish, not your basic flip flops. They are beaded, come in different colors and have a nice wedge to give me some height; something my five foot two frame lacks.

  Finally, exhausted from shopping, we have lunch at a Mexican Restaurant, Los Amigos. We talk about plans for the summer as we snack on salsa and chips. She fills me in on the parties at the inlet, a small stretch of beach separated by thick woods that you can’t get to by car and can only be reached by foot. It’s where the bay meets the ocean.

  While we finished our order of chicken enchiladas, I ask if she has a boyfriend, but she doesn’t at the moment. I know about Luke and Alexa, but I wasn’t sure about Mikey.

  “He has lots of girlfriends. He’s a little wilder than Luke. Not that he’s an angel, either, but Mikey is more of jerk when it comes to girls, from what I hear. The girls just throw themselves at him anyway, and Luke, too, it’s pretty pathetic.”

  “Why?”

  “I think because they’re like our own local celebrities. It’s not every day that two kids from the same school may have a chance at the big leagues,” she answers.

  “Yeah, Luke told me about that.”

  “How about you? Have you ever dated? I know you missed last year, but what about before?” Deanna and I have become close rather quickly, so I filled her in about the accident one day while we sunbathed in my yard. I feel I have to come clean about my past. As horrible as it is to talk about, I confide in her about everything from my breakdown to the therapy sessions that took place not so long ago. Surprisingly, I don’t scare her away. She is compassionate and understanding and says she’d react the same way if something ever happened to her mom.

  “No, I’ve never dated. You think I’m shy now? I was probably worse then,” I answer when she turns the relationship back to me. She laughs and tells me not to worry about it. She is anxious for me to meet her friends, but says she won’t push until I feel I am ready.

  Chapter 9(Jesse)

  I finally build up the courage to go to the beach with Deanna and meet her friends. I’ve grown comfortable with my routine over the last couple of weeks. Hanging out at De and Luke’s house, having lunch on the boardwalk every now and then, and mornings spent talking to Luke at the docks or sometimes just sitting silently, watching the sun come up. We form this bond as we talk. I get to see his goofy, cocky, playful side along with his serious, concerned, looking for advice side. I get the feeling he rarely shares the latter with anyone. It makes me feel important, needed. By now, he knows most of my secrets as well. I know I should be meeting other people, but I’ve become content with just hanging with Deanna, not to mention, Luke and Mikey when they’re around.

  It’s right before the Fourth of July and all I keep hearing about is how this is the last week before the ‘Shoobies’ come down for the remainder of the summer and take over their beaches. Laughing, Deanna explains to me how every summer their beach and town gets invaded by ‘Shoobies’, aka, the “tourists.” I guess that’s what I am, a ‘Shoobie,’ since I’m originally from Philly. I didn’t realize they had a name for us.

  “Hey, I was thinking, I might come with you to the beach today if you’re still going?” I say to Deanna as she sits down on my bed. The look on her face makes me laugh.

  “Are you serious? Did I just hear you right? You know there will be other people there besides me, right?” she jokes.

  “I know. I want to go.” I smile at her sarcasm.

  “Great, now I can finally see one of those new bathing suits on you. All that time shopping and I still haven’t seen any of your new clothes.”

  “I know, but I wasn’t going to wear them just sitting around the house.”

  “Great. Get ready. We’ll catch the bus at twelve thirty. I’m so happy that you are coming with me today. I’ve been waiting for you to come around!” She gives me a squeeze as she heads out the door.

  “I’ll be over as soon as I’m ready,” I call out as she is leaving.

  As I walk back in my room, I sit down on my bed, deciding what I should wear and what I should bring. This is my first trip to the beach without my parents and my mom always packed us up for the beach.

  I can hear the sound of the lawn mower out back so I rush outside to get my dad's opinion. He turns off the mower when he sees me.

  “I think I’m going to the beach with Deanna today, she’s meeting up with her friends.” The look on his face tells me that he is pleased that I’m finally venturing off our street. “What should I bring?”

  Pausing, he seems as clueless as me. “I have no idea, Mommy always brought everything. She has a whole closet full of stuff up there. Go look around. You’ll figure it out.” As I race up the steps, I think about how he sometimes talks about her as if she is still here. I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or not, but who am I to judge how he copes.

  I haven’t been in my dad’s closet since the first day we moved in. I can’t help thinking that it is a little funny and sad how he has everything set up the same way it had been in our old house. My mom’s clothes hang exactly the same way and the shelves are stacked just as they were before.

  I look through the racks of her clothes. She had some really nice things. I’m just about the same size as her now. I could probably wear a lot of these things. As I make my way back to the beach gear, I come across a black mesh beach bag, a silvery looking one, a few different cover ups, bathing suits and beach towels.

  I grab a couple of things and head back to my room where I start trying to figure out which bathing suit should I wear? I
choose the turquoise bathing suit that De had picked out, thinking it will look good with the tan I have going. I can carry the silvery beach bag, wear my silver flip flops and I think the sheer white sleeveless hooded cover-up with the drawstring waist will look nice. I leave my hair down. I think it makes me look older when I wear it down now that it’s past my shoulders. I put a little hair product in and scrunch it so that it is wavy. I forget when the last time I painted my toenails was. I find a pretty reddish pink color and quickly throw on a coat.

  My heart is racing. I can’t believe I have this much anxiety about meeting people. I take a look in the mirror. As hard as it is for me to admit, I am sort of happy with the way I look. I’ve come a long way, I think as my fingers trace the thick scar in the back of my head that is hidden away along with the rest of my fears.

  Brushing the sad thoughts away, I throw my towel, a pair of shorts and t-shirt in my bag. My dad is still working on the lawn when I call out to him to get his opinion. He gives me a thumbs-up and I head to Deanna’s.

  Maria answers the door. “Hi honey, c’mon in, she’s so happy you decided to go with her today!”

  “I know she is, but, I’m so nervous to meet everyone.”

  “You’ll be fine and it’ll be fun,” she reassures me. “You look pretty.”

  Deanna is standing in front of her mirror, putting on some lip gloss, when I enter her room. She has those full pouty lips, same as Luke. She could be a model with her long legs, perfect face and body. She’s stunning to look at. She turns around when I walk in. “Wow! Look at you... you look great! That color looks awesome on you with your tan.” I feel pale compared to her. “Here, sit down, let me put a little lip gloss on your lips, it has UV protection, so your lips won’t get chapped in the sun.” That is her nice way of saying I need a little color on my lips. “There… perfect! You ready?” She hands me an extra pair of her sunglasses. My stomach gets that queasy feeling.

  “I guess.” Not sounding very convincing.

  “Trust me, JJ, they will love you. Besides, everyone is always fascinated with the new kid!” she teases.

  We walk to the corner to catch the bus while she gives me the details on her closest friends, Cathy, Lori, Billy, Sean, and Matt. Matt is also Lori’s boyfriend. “There will be a lot of kids from our school there, so I’ll try not to overwhelm you all at once.”

  “Thanks,” I say dryly.

  As soon as we get off the bus, the anxiety kicks in. I almost tell her I’ve changed my mind, but I know she will be disappointed. We walk towards the beach and she tells me how everyone sits on 1st street because the surfing is better. As soon as we hit the path through the dunes to the beach, the sounds of music and thousands of voices going at once can be heard. We walk through the crowd of kids, stepping over the colorful beach towels scattered across the warm sand. Finally, we hear someone calling Deanna’s name.

  “Oh, there’s Lori.” Deanna waves in her direction as we start heading towards them. I’m thankful for the sunglasses, I feel like I can hide behind them a bit. As we zigzag though the crowd, Deanna occasionally stops to say hello to someone.

  We pass a group of girls that seem to be older. “Hi, De,” the sexy blonde says effortlessly as I feel her eyes looking me up and down.

  “Alexa,” Deanna replies shortly, while refusing to stop.

  “Who the hell is that?” I hear the sexy blonde quietly ask the friend next to her.

  My stomach turns. So that’s Alexa. Wow, I think. I want to look back so bad, but I can’t bring myself to do it.

  As we finally reach the spot where Deanna’s friends are sitting, she begins the introductions as she points at each person curiously looking up at me. “This is Lori, Cathy, Matt and Sean... and this is Jesse.” She looks at me and smiles. She knows me so well already. She knows I won’t be comfortable with everyone calling me JJ.

  “Hi, Jesse, it’s nice to meet you,” they all pretty much say together.

  Cathy continues, “We’ve been waiting to meet you. De talks about you all the time.”

  “It’s nice to meet you all, too. It’s just been a couple of crazy weeks, trying to unpack and everything.” I try to sound casual and not overly anxious.

  “Here, we’ll make room, so you can spread out your towels.” Lori begins to scoot down next to Matt so there is enough room for me and Deanna to squeeze in.

  “How do you like Bay Point so far?” Sean asks.

  “I really like it. This is my first trip to the beach this year,” I answer.

  “De told us you moved from Philly; do you miss your friends?”

  “A little,” I lie. I glance at Deanna; she knows that I don’t have friends to miss. She gives me a reassuring smile.

  “We’re not going to give her time to miss her friends, because we are going to show her a good time here, right?” She turns to wink at me. Then, she quickly changes the subject, “Where’s Billy?”

  “He’s here… surfing,” Matt answers as he nods his head towards the water.

  I’m thankful Deanna keeps the conversation flowing it takes the focus off of me. So far, so good. I don’t seem as out of place as I thought I would. She was right, from what I have seen so far, they seem to be nice.

  Deanna turns to me so only I can hear. “JJ, did you notice who said hi to me as we were walking up?”

  “I caught that.” I look over in the direction of where Alexa sits. This girl is... Wow! is all I can think. I don’t know why, but Luke just seems too nice to be with her. Don’t get me wrong... she is a knockout. Not naturally beautiful the way Deanna is, but more of a... I don’t know... more of an over done kinda look... like a stripper or playboy model would look; with her skimpy bikini and all parts of her curvaceous body seeping out. Okay, so I am being catty and jealous. Guys will definitely drool and she seems like she knows it, too. Why do I care anyway? I guess that’s Luke’s type, what guy wouldn’t want to be with someone like her? Besides, he looks like he should be with someone like that. I look around to see if I see him. I don’t see him or Mikey. “I heard her ask her friend, who I was,” I whisper to Deanna.

  “Yeah, I heard that, too. She’ll hate you,” She says with a giggle.

  “Hate me?” I ask, shocked. “Why?”

  “Because you’re so pretty... Not to mention your friendship with Luke. That will drive her crazy.”

  I roll my eyes, not quite believing that she will give even a second thought to me. I definitely am not a threat to her, not with the way she looks.

  Cathy interrupts, “Are you talking about Alexa?”

  “Yeah,” De says, rolling her eyes.

  “You had to see her earlier. See those guys over there. I don’t know where they are from, but they were playing football and you know her, she had to flaunt her stuff in front of them. They asked her to join in their game, they were all over her. Good thing Luke wasn’t here. Then, we would have had to hear fight... what... 110?”

  “Something like that. I still don’t get why he’s with her. Then again, he’s with a lot of girls. He and Mikey are pigs. He uses her like she uses him, I guess,” Deanna answers sounding agitated, shrugging her shoulders.

  I sit there pondering this. I guess I am maybe a little surprised. With my first impression of Luke, this would have been typical, but after getting to know him, he has a sensitive side, too. I watch the group of guys playing football by the water, showing off in front of Alexa and her friends. Not one of them even compares to Luke. As I sit and daydream, we are interrupted by Matt calling us over.

  “Girls, c’mon we need you for a volleyball game,” he says excitedly.

  I look at Deanna. I hope we aren’t going to play; I’m not good at sports. She looks at me, reading my mind. “C’mon it’ll be fun, believe me, we’re not good, either.” We head over to a place back by the dunes, a distance away from where everyone is sitting. I’m relieved we’re not playing in front of a crowd. A cute boy, who I haven’t yet met, walks up to us.

  “So, who’
s this?” he asks, looking me over. It makes me uncomfortable.

  “Jesse, this is Billy. Don’t mind his rudeness,” Cathy jokes as she introduces us.

  “Ah, so this is Jesse. Nice to finally meet you.” He grabs me by the hand and pulls me along with him. “Jesse’s on my team.” I look back over my shoulder at Deanna.

  She looks at me and shrugs. “Don’t mind him, Jesse. He’s a little pushy.”

  He laughs and turns to me. “So, do you have a boyfriend?”

  “No,” I answer shyly.

  “Do you want one?” He asks forwardly, flashing a smile.

  I don’t answer. I know he is teasing, but I’m still embarrassed.

  “Alright, I’ll let you off the hook for now, but maybe after you get to know me better,” he jokes.

  At the same time, the girls all yell at him, “Billy, leave her alone.” Deanna pulls me away. “You’re going to scare her away.” “I’m just playing with you... but... if you ever change your mind.”

  “Just ignore him,” Deanna says.

  After we’ve finished the game, Deanna and I walk down to the water. “Billy’s a clown, but he’s harmless. He’s actually a really nice kid. He plays on our football team,” she says as we slowly walk in the water, splashing the cold water onto our hot skin. She then points to an attractive guy playing football with his friends. “That’s Timmy Price, he’s in Luke’s grade and a running back on our team; I think he is really cute.”

  “He is cute,” I agree. “Does he know you like him?”

  “I’m not sure, we just met recently at a party... we’ve talked a little, here and there, but so far, he hasn’t asked me out or anything.”

  We are so engrossed in our conversation that when I suddenly hear a familiar voice, “NOW!” it startles me. All I see out of the corner of my eye is Mikey picking up Deanna, throwing her over his shoulder at the same time I feel his hands around my waist, lifting me up. They laugh, delighted they caught us off guard as they drag us out deeper into the icy water. We’re both screaming for them to put us down; I squirm to get free. I can’t see Deanna or Mikey, but I hear her threatening to kill him and I hear Mikey laughing at her. At the same time I plead with Luke, trying to use my best sympathy voice as I try to pry his tightly wrapped hands from around my waist.