by Debra Doxer
I laughed softly to myself, wondering what his problem was. Not to be conceited or anything, but usually when I gave guys the looks I gave Jonah earlier, they went into full-on flirt mode with me.
“Something funny?” he asked.
Turning in his direction, I said, “Yes.”
When he gave me an expectant look, waiting for an explanation, I ignored it and turned away, trying not to smile. The teacher arrived, and I was again introduced as a new student while being handed another new book.
After forty-five minutes, the final bell of the day rang. Shoving my new book into my messenger bag, I sensed someone hovering beside me. Glancing up, I saw Jonah standing there watching me, and I raised my eyebrows in question.
“See you, Seaborne,” he said. Then he hoisted a black leather backpack, slid it onto his shoulder, and walked to the door.
Okay . . . no hello but I get a good-bye? Weird.
As I watched him walk away, I took in the fact that he was well over six feet tall, at least as tall as Ethan, and his broad shoulders set him apart from the average students surrounding him. His hair, wavy and black as night, was wasted on a boy. He’d scored big in the gene department, and the scar on his face did nothing to detract from his magnetism. But his personality was something of an enigma, quiet and standoffish, not the usual disposition of a wiseass, hormonally driven high school boy.
I blinked once and Jonah disappeared through the door. When I found myself rushing to leave, hoping for another glimpse of him in the hallway, I immediately stopped. Was I about to chase after him? No. No way. I was not going to do that. Taking a deep breath, I gritted my teeth and slowly lifted my bag to leave.
With half my new books stashed inside my locker and the other half stuffed into my messenger bag, I headed outside into the afternoon sun. When I spotted Lea walking in the same direction I was headed, I picked up my pace to catch up with her, deciding she was the weak link in Parker’s little circle and would make a better minion than Ashley since Ashley oozed hostility.
“Hey, Lea.” Breathing a little harder, I fell into step beside her.
“Oh, hi.” She looked surprised.
“Do you live this way?”
“Yeah, I’m on Woodledge Road.”
“I’m not too far from there on Edgemont. Mind if I walk with you?”
“Sure.” She shrugged. “Jonah lives on Edgemont too, I think.”
“Really?” My hand gripped my bag tighter. Edgemont was a long road, meandering through half the town. His living on my street didn’t mean he was a neighbor.
“He’s always busy after school with practice,” she added. “Or else I’d be mooching rides.”
I ignored the need to ask her about Jonah and proceeded to gripe about school instead. “I got swamped with homework on my first day. You’d think there would be a grace period or something.” My homework would take me no time at all, but this was the typical crap I was supposed to say, right?
“I know.” She huffed out a breath. “I’ll never finish mine, especially since I’m supposed to help Parker pick up supplies for her party this weekend.”
Party? “Oh, really?” I said casually.
She gave me an uneasy look. “It’s her parents’ anniversary. They’re out of town somewhere, so . . . you know.”
“Sure.” I smiled and then quickly changed the subject to show my neutrality about not being invited . . . yet. “By the way, do you know if Ethan’s dating anyone?”
Lea nearly stumbled, but caught herself and slowed her pace. “No. I mean, he doesn’t usually date one girl. Why? Are you interested?”
I turned and smiled. “No, but maybe you are.”
She laughed, although not very convincingly.
It was a shot in the dark. I’d noticed her gaze linger on Ethan a little too long at lunch, but lots of girls in the cafeteria were splitting their attention between Ethan and Jonah.
“Parker seems pretty tight with Ethan,” I said to see how she would react. “Have you asked her to feel him out for you? I mean, unless she’s interested too.”
“No,” Lea said quickly. “Parker’s into Jonah and has been since he showed up last year. I’m pretty sure Parker and Ethan have hooked up. Actually, I’m pretty sure Ethan has hooked up with everyone, but never anything serious.”
That was the information I was after. “Don’t tell me Jonah turned Parker down.”
Lea chuckled. “He’s turned every girl down. Parker said he’s been seen around with a girl that doesn’t go here, but no one from our school has gotten anywhere with him since he dated a senior last year. Not sure what happened there, but it ended badly. I heard she broke his heart.”
I wasn’t expecting that. Jonah had his heart broken? Was that why he acted so standoffish? “Do you know how he got that scar?” I asked.
“There’s the million-dollar question. Parker asked him, but he wouldn’t say. It’s probably something stupid like he fell off his bike when he was a kid. I think it’s kind of sexy, but to be honest, Jonah intimidates me so I definitely won’t be asking him about it.”
I smiled, silently agreeing about the sexy part, although I wasn’t so easily intimidated. I did wonder about the scar, though, and how he got it.
“If Parker’s not interested in Ethan,” I said, getting back to the point, “you should have her talk to him for you. You guys would make a cute couple.”
Biting her lip, Lea glanced downward. “I don’t think she’d do that.”
“Why not?” I asked, already knowing the answer.
Lea shrugged. “She may not be interested now, but she likes to keep her options open.”
Slowing my footsteps, I tried to look surprised.
“It’s fine,” she said. “That’s just Parker. Besides, Ethan doesn’t like me that way. I mean, we’ve made out a few times at parties, but we’re just friends.”
“You’ve kissed him?”
“Yeah, but who hasn’t.” She smiled, her cheeks tinting pink.
She was trying so hard to make it sound like nothing, but it was obviously something, at least to her, and I found myself unexpectedly wanting to help her.
“Well, I don’t think Ethan would kiss you if he wasn’t interested. Maybe you should try flirting a little and see how he responds.”
Lea snorted out a laugh. “And make a fool of myself? No thanks.”
“Why would you be making a fool of yourself? Any guy would be lucky to have you flirting with him.” It was true. She was pretty with a petite frame and long dark curls. She’d woven intricate braids into her hair along the line of her forehead and strung a pink ribbon through them, drawing her hair away from her Kewpie-doll face. But next to a girl like Parker, she faded into the background, and I was sure Parker liked it that way.
When we reached the corner, I stepped left and noticed Lea going in the other direction. Her attention was not with me, though. It was on whatever she was thinking about.
“I’ll see you tomorrow,” I called to her.
Her head popped up. “Oh, right. See you tomorrow. What about you?” she asked as I was turning away. “Do you have your eye on anyone?”
Looking up at the puffy clouds floating across the sky, I pretended to think about it. “Not yet. It’s only been one day. But it won’t be Ethan. I wouldn’t do that to you.” Take that, Parker. With a wave and a grin, I walked away.
After letting myself into the house, I was surprised to see my father sitting in the living room, looking as if he was waiting for me. He gave me a grim expression, making nerves gather in the pit of my stomach.
“Sit down, Candy.” His voice was low and even.
Dropping my bag on the floor, and then quickly realizing he wouldn’t like that, I picked it up again and moved it to the side table before coming around the couch to face him.
My father was wearing the same sort of clothes he wore every day, a button-down dress shirt, blue this time, and dress slacks, black today. His only jewelry was a bulky gold watc
h and a simple gold wedding band. It tugged at my heart to see that he still wore it.
“Sit,” he commanded.
Trying not to appear shaken by his tone, I lowered myself into the armchair across from him, recalling how often my mother sat in the same chair toward the end, watching television and reading for hours since she was too weak to do much else.
“Marion called me. You know how much I enjoy speaking with her,” he said dryly.
Aunt Marion. If she was trying to get me back there, she’d be up for one hell of a fight. “What did she want?” I asked.
He leaned forward, his eyes darkening. “Kristen is in some trouble. She’s accusing you of causing it.”
My eyes widened. I never thought she’d have the guts to call me out. Of course, the fact that I was now hundreds of miles away probably helped.
“Did you steal money from the store where she worked, and make it appear as though she took it?”
“Yes,” I answered without hesitation.
His jaw tensed. “Did you also plant drugs in her locker at school?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s a little witch who set out to make me miserable the moment I arrived there. She’s jealous and petty and she badmouthed you and Mom. She said Mom deserved what she got because she married a monster.”
I waited for his reaction, pleased to have a reason to tell him the truth about Kristen because I’d been careful never to complain to him before, but my father only stared at me, his lips thinning into a tight line. “How much did you take from the store?” he finally asked.
“Almost four hundred out of the register.”
“Any cameras get you doing it?”
“It’s a small local business. No cameras.”
His eyes narrowed. “Did you spend it on the drugs?”
I tried not to squirm. “No. I put it in a trash bag and left it in a Dumpster across town.”
“What about the drugs? Can they be traced back to you?”
“They were Kristen’s drugs. I relocated them out of her bedroom.”
At that, he almost smiled. “She’s guessing you did this then. She has no proof?”
“None.”
He rubbed a hand over his cheek, still watching me but now with something different in his eyes, as if he were seeing me for the first time and liked what he saw.
“Marion is getting her a lawyer,” he said. “If he’s any good, she’ll only get a fine and probation. You realize if you had waited a few months, the punishment for her as an adult would have been much worse.”
I nodded, but I couldn’t have waited since I knew I was leaving soon.
“Patience, Candy. Remember.”
I nodded again, keeping my face neutral, but inside I was doing a little cheer. He approved. Maybe he was even a little proud of me. If he hadn’t approved, this talk would have gone very differently.
My father stood up, grabbing his keys off the table. “I have to go.”
I stood too.
“How was school?” he asked as an afterthought as he moved toward the doorway.
“Fine.”
Reaching for the doorknob, he paused and glanced back at me. “I’m glad you’re back, little one.”
Smiling, I felt my throat grow tight. He hadn’t called me that since before my mom died, just like I hadn’t called him Dad. Not for six long years.
***
Theo: If there is no struggle, there is no progress.
Dressed in a navy blazer and khaki pants, my English teacher, Mr. Harris, stood at the board and wrote: The Great Gatsby. When he turned around and grinned, I could practically hear all the girls sighing. By teacher standards, Mr. Harris was hot, no doubt about it.
“Did you all get a chance to read it last night?” he asked.
The sea of female eyes mooning over him skittered away, indicating they hadn’t. As his lips pressed together, I got the feeling he wasn’t pleased.
“Candace,” Mr. Harris said, since I was one of the few students not trying to shrink down into my seat. “Who’s the narrator of the story?”
People shifted and turned to look at me, obviously relieved I’d been called on rather than them. To be honest, I didn’t get it. It was a great book, and I was going to answer his question seriously at first, but what fun was that?
“Tobey Maguire was the narrator. But seriously, when Leonardo DiCaprio is in a movie, who’s looking at anyone else?”
Giggles erupted around the room.
Mr. Harris shot me an exasperated look. “We’re talking about the book, not the movie. Besides, the 1974 version with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow is the only one worth seeing. When it comes to Gatsby, DiCaprio can’t hold a candle to Redford.”
There was more laughing, louder this time, and I realized that Mr. Harris was the cool teacher, or at least that’s who he tried to be.
“Have you read the book, Candace?” Mr. Harris asked. “Since you’ve just arrived in class, it’s all right if you haven’t.”
I nodded. It wasn’t as much fun when the teacher played along and got more laughs than I did.
Mr. Harris smiled, pleased with my answer. “Did you see any message in the story?”
Sighing, I nodded again.
“And what would that be?”
I shifted in my seat. “Well, the flapper look was a serious fashion hiccup. I mean, I know it was daring for its time, but no one looks good in drop waistlines.”
As laughter rippled around the room, I noticed a certain pair of hazel eyes staring at me. Licking my lips, I had the unexpected urge not to look like a complete dimwit.
“So there’s that,” I continued, “and the fact that the upper class can be hollow and shallow. In the end, the American dream that everyone’s after isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”
Looking pleased, Mr. Harris nodded at me. “There are actually several moral themes raised in the story and that’s certainly one of them.”
I glanced at Jonah to see his reaction, but he was facing forward now, paying no attention to me, and my shoulders sank just a little bit.
When class ended, Mr. Harris asked me to stay behind. I wondered if I’d get reprimanded for my jokes or congratulated for having read the book.
Once the room emptied out, I walked to the front and faced Mr. Harris, who sat on the corner of his desk and smiled at me.
“I wouldn’t have been surprised if you hadn’t read the assignment,” he said. “But you did and I get the feeling you like the book. And the movie, of course.”
With his hands folded in his lap, he eyed me steadily. Was I supposed to thank him or something?
“Candace,” he began, and I didn’t miss the way his gaze flicked down over my body before returning to my face again.
Feeling uncomfortable, I folded my arms over my chest as I continued listening.
“I’m looking for a few seniors to tutor the lowerclassmen. You’d get extra credit for it. Would you be interested?”
Well, that sounded like a fun way to spend my free time. Not.
“Thanks, but I don’t think I’ll be needing extra credit.”
Mr. Harris tilted his head at me and chuckled. “All right. What about extra money? We have some seniors making an hourly wage tutoring. I could get you the paperwork to fill out and add your name to our sign-up list.”
That was a different story. I actually had another after-school job in mind, but I hadn’t spoken to my father about it yet, and I had no idea how he would react when I did. It would be nice to have a backup if my first plan didn’t work.
“How much does it pay?” I asked.
Mr. Harris gave me a wide grin. “That depends on if you qualify. We’ll need to meet first to go over the material and fill out some forms. You are interested then?”
“Sure.” I shrugged.
“Great. I’ll get you the paperwork this week.”
Pleased with the serendipity and ease with which I may have landed a futur
e payday, I walked out of English class. After a quick trip to my locker, I breezed into the cafeteria and sat down at the table with Parker, Lea, and Ashley as if I belonged there.
“Hey, Candy.” Lea greeted me, smiling brightly. Apparently weaving little braids into her hair was her thing. Today there were fewer thicker ones tightly wound into the hair above her forehead while the rest was free, curling down over her shoulders.
“Where are the boys?” I asked, pulling my apple from my bag. The other girls all had some low-volume, low-calorie food in front of them, diet sodas and small piles of cut carrots and celery from the salad bar. I wondered if they’d scarf down some real food when they got home the way I planned to.
“Some football meeting ran over. They’ll be here,” Parker replied, frowning at her carrots as if it were their fault she had nothing else to eat. With a sigh, she withdrew a cosmetics bag from her purse and laid it on the table, then pulled a compact and lipstick from it. They both sported Chanel logos.
“Nice color,” I commented, watching as she slowly applied the light pink lipstick.
“I know.” She grinned. “It’s called Liaison. I can only wear Chanel.” She began putting her makeup away again. “I have super-sensitive skin.”
As Parker looked in her compact mirror and fluffed her thick blond hair, Lea rolled her eyes, making it hard for me not to laugh.
“So I’m having a party this weekend,” Parker stated casually as she carefully put her makeup away. “You should come.”
I crunched into my apple. Across the table, Lea smiled, making me think she had something to do with the invitation. “Sounds fun,” I said.
“What sounds fun?” Ethan lowered himself into the empty seat beside Lea. His tray was piled with food, spilling over the sides and onto the table.
“Parker’s party,” Lea said. “You’re coming, right?”
Jonah sat down next to Ethan, and Malcolm took the only seat left, between Jonah and me. “Are we going to Parker’s party?” Ethan asked Jonah.
Jonah shrugged as he reached for his bottle of water. “Is there anything else to do?”