The Truth About Thongs (Mapleville High #1)

by Stephanie Rowe

  All three of us stared at Natalie, who immediately shut her mouth and turned bright red.

  "What have you been hearing?" I asked.

  "From who?" Allie added.

  "From the guys on the cross-country team," Natalie said. "I was sort of asking around."

  "And?" I tapped my foot impatiently, trying to listen for howls of pain from downstairs. "What? Does he have three heads and carry frogs in his back pocket?"

  Natalie furrowed her forehead. "Why would he carry frogs?"

  "Natalie! What's wrong with him?"

  Allie cleared her throat. "Unless it's really important, I think we should let Blue just go out and have fun."

  "Um…okay." Natalie sat on the edge of the bed and tucked her hands under her thighs.

  I waited for a full minute for her to say something else, but she didn't. But I could hear my dad doing his injured-coyote imitation downstairs, and that was just too much to put Heath through. "I have to go."

  Natalie shrugged. "Make sure you take your phone."

  "Take my phone? Of course I will…" I paused at the worried expression on Natalie's face. "Why? Is he going to leave me on the side of the road or something?"

  She grimaced. "You just hear things."

  My stomach tightened. "Like what?"

  "Well... that he's... Um..."

  "What?" I sort of shouted it, but I couldn't help it. I freaking out that my dad was howling downstairs, and Natalie had some sort of secret she wasn't telling me. I needed to get downstairs, and fast. "Just say it!"

  She shrugged. "He's apparently sort of a jerk."

  "A jerk?" Was she kidding? "That's it? I thought you were going to say he was a murderer or something."

  "Not yet."

  "Not yet? What does that mean?" I felt like my head was spinning off. I did not need this kind of stress while my dad was crawling around the living room on his hands and knees howling while my new boyfriend-to-be realized that I was from a family of total lunatics.

  Allie stood up. "Blue, forget about it. Just go have fun."

  "Have fun? How am I supposed to have fun? Natalie here just implied that Heath is going to start knocking people off at any minute. I'm going to spend the night worrying that he's going to pull a gun out of his sock!"

  Natalie bounded to her feet. "Listen, Blue. I'm sorry. I haven't heard anything, really. Just some of the guys sort of rolled their eyes when I asked about him."

  "Rolled their eyes? That's it?" I heard an anguished yelping float up the stairs. My dad doing his wolf mating call. Great.

  "Yeah," Natalie said, still not meeting my gaze. "But these are good guys, so if they roll their eyes...well, that means something's up."

  "That's all they did? Roll their eyes? They didn't say anything else?" What kind of help was this? She was wigging me out, and wasn't telling me why! Suddenly, Colin's warnings popped back into my head, and suddenly I got nervous. Really nervous. "What do you know, Nat? Tell me!"

  "It's not a big deal." Natalie wouldn't look at me.

  "It's not? So you just tried to ruin my date for no reason?"

  "I was worried about you!"

  Frances walked between us. "Hey, you guys. Let it go. Blue, Natalie loves you and wants to make sure you're safe. That's all. And Natalie, stop freaking Blue out." She turned to me and put her hands on my shoulders. "Blue, you look totally hot. There's a gorgeous senior downstairs who has been listening to your dad make animal noises for the last five minutes. You need to pull yourself together and go convince him that you're nothing like your parents."

  I took a deep breath. If there was something really awful about Heath, Theo would have stopped me. He was my brother, after all. And Colin liked me well enough. He wouldn't have let me go on a date to get murdered. Maybe it was a guy thing. It was going to be okay, assuming I could get him away from my parents before they permanently destroyed any chance I had with him. "Right. I can do that. I haven't made animal noises since I was six."

  "Perfect." Frances pulled my bedroom door open. "Go. And call us when you get home, no matter how late it is. We're all sleeping at Allie's tonight."

  "What? You're all going to Allie's? Is her mom going to be there?" I loved Allie's mom. I didn't want to miss out on time with her. She was almost never around!

  "Yep. She said she's going to help us determine our fashion identities so we can figure out how to reflect each of our unique inner goddesses with our clothing choices."

  I blinked. That sounded awesome. "But I want to go." I had no idea what my fashion identity was, and I definitely hadn't met my unique inner goddess yet. I needed Allie's mom more than they did.

  "You have a date," Allie reminded me. "That's more exciting."

  "Can't you guys do it tomorrow night?"

  "Are you kidding?" Allie asked. "This is, like, the one day this whole month my mom doesn't have a date."

  "Go." Frances gave me a push. "Don't worry about us."

  It wasn't that I was worried. I just wanted to be in two places. I never missed out on a night with the girls. None of us did. We were a foursome. And now I was unimportant? I glanced across the room, but Natalie and Allie were deep in conversation. Natalie looking a little upset and Allie trying to calm her down. Hey, I was the one who was upset by what Natalie had said. Why wasn't anyone trying to comfort me?

  Frances grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the room. "Don't you hear that?"

  "Hear what?" I tried to look over my shoulder at Allie and Natalie, but Frances pulled me around the corner.

  "Birdcalls from downstairs."

  I paused to listen. It was definitely a loon wail, the one that sounded like a woman being murdered. "Oh, my gosh."

  Frances stopped at the top of the stairs. "Go. Have fun. I promise I'll ask Allie's mom for advice for you."

  "Really?"

  Frances grinned. "I swear. As long as you tell me all the details about your date."

  "It's a deal." I gave her a quick hug and then ran down the stairs.

  To where Heath was waiting.

  "Your parents seem a little…interesting." Heath had made it all the way to Pop's before commenting on my parents.

  I was impressed he'd made it that long. "They're unique," I agreed. "How else do you explain my name?"

  "What's Blue short for?"

  Ah…not going there. "So the football game was fun last night."

  "Uh-huh." Heath picked up his Coke and took a long drag while he scanned the interior of Pop's, checking out every table and who was at it. Did he wish he was there with them, instead of me? Then his eyes flicked back to me. "So what's up with you and Bradshaw?"

  "Bradshaw?"

  "Colin."

  "Oh. Right. Colin." I relaxed a little bit at the thought of Colin. Why did thinking of him make me calmer? I didn't know, but I was going to take advantage of it, because being with Heath was making me crazy tense. I couldn’t stop thinking about what Natalie and Colin had said, and waiting for Heath to whip a bloody axe out of his jacket pocket and go on a killing spree, starting with me. "Why are you asking me about Colin?"

  "Did you tell him you were coming here with me tonight?"

  "You didn't tell me where we were going, so obviously I couldn't have told him where we were going. Why?" Then I noticed how Heath's eyes kept flicking over my shoulder. I turned around and looked behind me. As usual, Pop's was packed on a Saturday night, as it was the local high school hangout. Lots of people I didn't know, mostly upperclassmen. But since I was there with a senior, I fit in.

  Then I saw him.

  Colin was sitting across the restaurant watching us, and he looked like he was in a really bad mood. His brow was furrowed, his jaw was jutting out, and his shoulders were tense.

  And he was sitting across the table from a girl who was much too pretty. He was on a date? My stomach knotted, and I whirled back around and faced Heath. "I have no idea why Colin is here," I said loftily.

  "Huh." Heath kept watching Colin even as he leaned forwar
d toward me. "Want to go for a drive?"

  "A drive?" I swallowed hard. "To where?"

  "I don't know. We could just find a spot."

  "A spot." Warning bells started going off in my head, and I wished I hadn't taken off my red sweater. "Actually, I'm pretty hungry. Let's stay for pizza."

  Heath shrugged and leaned back. "Fine."

  "So...um...the musical seems to be going well." What did I know? I'd been at only two rehearsals.

  "Yeah." Heath drummed his fingers on the table and looked a little bored.

  I wasn't boring! I might be fourteen, but I wasn't boring. "Maybe I'll go put something on the jukebox."

  "Sure." He flicked a couple quarters at me, which I managed to catch before they flew off the table.

  I clenched the quarters in my hand and walked across to the jukebox, where I stood for a moment, pretending to read the names of the songs. What was wrong with Heath tonight? He was being sort of a jerk. Not a jerk, really, but...well, acting like talking to me wasn't that interesting. Was that the only reason he'd asked me out? To go for a drive and find a "spot"? Even after I hadn't kissed him?

  "Nice outfit."

  I turned to find Colin lounging against a table behind me. "What's wrong with my outfit?"

  "I don't think Heath will have too much trouble figuring out that you'll be willing to kiss him tonight."

  Colin was close enough that I could smell his aftershave again, and it was just as appealing as the night before. His hair was slicked back, and his denim jacket hung loosely off his shoulders. "Who's the girl?"

  "What girl?"

  "The one you're here with." The girl who was watching us right now, with too much hairspray and overdone eyeshadow. She needed a lesson from Allie about how to be hot, because right now she looked like the kind of girl that Heath wanted me to be. But she was with Colin. Was she going to go on a drive with Colin? Oh… the thought made my stomach hurt even more.

  "She's my date," Colin said.

  "You have a date?" Why did my stomach feel like lead? Why did I care whether Colin had a date?

  "Yep."

  "Oh."

  He cocked an eyebrow. "Got a problem with me having a date?"

  "No," I snapped. "Why would I care?"

  He shrugged. "Apparently you wouldn't."

  Fine. I could turn it back on him. "Do you care that I'm here with Heath?"

  He stiffened. "You can do whatever you want."

  "Fine."

  "Fine." He shoved himself off the jukebox. "I'll see you around."

  And then he left, just like that—walked back to his date and slid onto the bench across from her. Even smiled at her. Like I cared.

  I slammed the quarters into the jukebox and picked two random songs. They were probably uncool for a senior, but I didn't care. I was the one who'd walked all the way across the place, not Heath.

  On my way back across the room, I made sure not to look in Colin's direction, but when I reached the table Heath was looking interested again. "Got a little thing going with Bradshaw?"

  "Colin. His name is Colin." I plunked myself opposite Heath and tried not to be in a bad mood. It wasn't Heath's fault Colin was annoying me. "And why does he matter?"

  "He doesn't." Heath reached across the table and took my hands in his, sending goose bumps cascading down my arms. "Did I tell you that you look hot tonight? Sexy."

  I stared at our entwined hands. "No, you didn't."

  "Well, you do." He rubbed his thumb against the back of my hand, and I felt my cheeks heat up. Heath was staring at me really intently now, as if I were the only thing in his world that mattered. Colin faded into the background as I melted into Heath's smile.

  Chapter Thirteen

  By the time the pizza arrived, I was nothing but mush.

  Throughout dinner, Heath continued to entertain me. He told stories of other musicals, and funny things that happened during rehearsals or performances. He talked about some of last year's basketball games and how he had the winning basket. It was clear from his stories that he was very cool, and it made me feel even better about being out with him. Twice now, Heath had claimed me in public, and people were going to notice.

  As he continued to talk, I began to imagine what it would be like to be Heath's girlfriend. What if he invited me to the homecoming dance? What if he was voted homecoming king and I was his date? Would that be the most amazing thing or what?

  "You ready to go?" Heath touched my arm and I came back to earth.

  "What?"

  "I've paid. Ready to go?"

  "Go where?"

  He grinned. "A drive?"

  A drive. Um...

  Just at that moment, Colin walked by on his way out. His date was clinging to his arm and Colin was telling some sort of story. He didn't look bored, and she looked like she was about to fall at his feet in some sort of deranged hero worship. Was he going to kiss her tonight?

  Colin nodded at me. "See you later, Blue."

  I made some sort of noise, but I'm quite certain it wasn't remotely coherent. Colin just raised an eyebrow and continued on his way. With the girl.

  Heath touched my hand. "Blue?"

  "What?" Colin even held the door open for his date. As if that girl would ever appreciate it. I decided that I hated her too, like I hated the girl who got the part of Heath's lover in the play. Which girl did I hate more? Hmm...

  "Let's go." Heath stood up and held out his hand. For me.

  Heath wanted to hold my hand. Oh, wow. Forget Colin. Heath wanted to hold my hand.

  I beamed my sultriest smile at him and placed my hand in his. He closed his grip around mine and pulled me to my feet. The moment I was vertical, he put his arm around my shoulder and started walking me toward the door.

  I was surprised my legs were still functioning, the way my body was going all soft inside. Heath nodded at a few people on the way out, and I thought I recognized a couple of them from the play, so I smiled. And they smiled back.

  I was in.

  I was Heath's date.

  We'd just reached Heath's car when my phone rang. He dropped his arm from my shoulder and opened his door. Had Colin opened the car door for his date? I looked around but I didn't see him. They were gone already?

  My phone rang again, and I dug it out of my bag while I walked around to my side. The display told me the bad news even before I answered it. I didn't open the car door. Not yet. No need for Heath to hear me. I punched send and hissed into the phone, "Mom! Why are you calling me?"

  "Just checking in. How was dinner?"

  "Fine. We just finished." Heath unlocked the door from the inside and pushed it open. So much for privacy. I smiled at him and climbed into the car.

  "So what are you doing next?" my mom asked.

  "Umm...the movies. We're going to a movie."

  Heath lifted his eyebrows.

  "Great. So are we. So maybe we'll run into you in the lobby. 'Bye." Mom disconnected and I knew I was sunk. She and Dad would sit in that lobby until we got there, just to make sure we weren't doing exactly what Heath wanted to do. I cringed. "That was my mom."

  "I gathered." He started the engine. "You told her we were going to the movies?"

  "Um…yeah. They're going to the movies, too. My mom is going to... Um..." This was so embarrassing. Could I look more like a fourteen-year-old? "I have a feeling she's going to lurk in the lobby until we show up. Just to make sure we're really there."

  Heath shrugged. "Parents can be a drag."

  "No kidding." He didn't look mad, though, and I relaxed a little. So far, he'd been exposed to wolf mating howls, loon calls, and now surprise visits from parents, and yet he was still okay with me? I thought that was pretty amazing. How could everyone be trying to warn me off him?

  "That's fine. We'll go to the movies. We can have fun there too." He gave me sort of a wicked grin and put his hand on my knee. Or more like my thigh. And he left it there the entire drive to the movies…during which I was thinking way too much
about what he'd meant when he'd said we could have fun in the movies.

  Sure enough, my parents were hanging out in the lobby with Marissa in tow. They gave me big smiles and a wave, and Marissa even ran across the corridor to give me a hug. Heath looked more than a little embarrassed about being seen in public with an eight-year-old girl, and he quickly dragged me into the theater. Fortunately, my parents were going to a different movie.

  Heath settled us in the back row, in the corner. He put his arm over the back of my chair and his other hand on my leg.

  And then the lights went out.

  The previews were still going on when I felt Heath's arm drop to my shoulder. He leaned toward me, pulling me toward him at the same time.

  He was going to kiss me.

  And for some reason I really wasn't all that excited about it.

  Probably indigestion from the pizza.

  I remembered what Colin had told me. Close my eyes. Put my hands on his chest, or around his neck. With Colin's voice ringing in my ears, I did as he'd taught me, lifting my face to Heath.

  And then his lips touched mine.

  Only it wasn't soft and wonderful, like with Colin. It was slobbery and annoying. He started using his tongue immediately, and I felt his hand creeping up my leg. He had none of Colin's finesse, and my insides weren't exploding and going all crazy. I just felt gross.

  And the feeling of revulsion wasn't going away.

  I pulled back, and Heath followed me, so I pushed at his chest. "Get off me."

  "What?" He looked around. "No one's watching."

  "I don't care." I peeled his hand off my leg and flung it back toward him. "I need some popcorn. I'll be back in a minute."

  He smacked my butt as I climbed over him, and I spun around, glaring at him. "Do not do that."

  His eyes widened. "What's your problem? Chill out."

  "I'm perfectly chill. I just don't want your hands on my butt." I held up my hand, as if I was giving a command to a dog. "Stay. I'm going to get popcorn." I spun around, clenching my fist to keep myself from elbowing him in the throat, which felt like a surprisingly tempting idea at the moment.

  I made it out into the lobby without Heath following me. My head was spinning. I was so confused. Angry. Annoyed. Kind of disgusted. What was my problem? This was wrong, all wrong. Heath was supposed to be great! I'd totally liked him! So why did his kisses make me sick to my stomach? And why had I wanted to kick him in the shin the minute I felt his hand on my leg? Just last weekend, at the party, having his hand on my knee had given me chills.