by Paloma Meir
I hadn’t seen Zelda much, kind of stopped thinking about her. She was going through a Goth period. I thought her vampire outfits were ridiculous. She seemed more in sync with the world. She had made two new friends. I would see them walking down the canyon to Sunset. The girls who I come to know to know as Theodora and Veronica were more her style than Carolina, both of them willowy with long blonde hair. They turned our road into a catwalk. She was okay. My work was done there.
…
The summer I was thirteen my parents decided to bulldoze our traditional Spanish home and build a house fitting of their tastes. Their tastes were opulent as I was to learn watching the sprawling house go up. We lived in the guesthouse in the back during the construction.
The front of the property where the house once stood was empty for a few weeks. Something to do with permits. It stressed my parents out. I loved it. We had a football field. All my friends and the kids on the street would come down and we would play hard. No helmets, knocking each other into the pipes that still remained. It’s amazing that nobody was seriously injured.
Maybe it was the Forth of July? Everyone was there, even the girls of the neighborhood. Liza acted as head cheerleader annoying me by chanting my name. I ran back to catch the football and there walked Zelda. She wasn’t a Goth anymore. She was, I don’t know Sailor Moon. She was wearing pink knee high sneakers, pink mini skirt and a tiny pink fuzzy short sleeve sweater. I was thirteen, she must have been twelve but she was done growing. She was a good six inches taller with her breasts tight in that sweater. A wind blew by lifting her skirt I saw the pink lace edge of her panties.
I had erections before. I probably rubbed one out before. I had definitely woken up with the sticky sheets for a while at that point but something happened when I saw her underwear. I was like marble, it wanted to burst out of my pants. The football hit me in the head. I slumped over. Liza, the most obnoxious person I knew screamed out asking me if I was all right. I ran to the bathroom of my guesthouse locking the door afraid that she would follow me and took matters into my hands thinking of the pink-laced bottom of my Zelda.
After that she was my fantasy when I did that and I started doing it a lot, always thinking of her skirt lifting with the wind. I hated my shortness. I started running again having read it triggers growth hormones. Pounding the pavement willing height.
From that day forward I took an interest in the girls Brendan, Serge and I were around, avoiding Liza. There were some more my height. I got with those ones. I would push them as far as they could go.
I would have to wait on Zelda. Grow I thought to myself. I would have some mad sex skills by the time I caught up to her. She was still in her own world anyway. If I saw her on the street, which was the only place I ever saw her, I would shout out hello to her. She was incapable of acknowledging me, only raising her hand with a wave in return.
…
Brendan and I added Serge to our tight-knit group, naturally though, not because of Zelda. I would try to get info occasionally. He didn’t have much to say about her. He noticed that she had become hot, but that was it.
I worried that he would have an advantage over me because of his proximity to her but he didn’t seem interested thinking of her only as Carolina’s best friend and a sometimes intrusive presence in his home. He said she could get loud singing songs. I couldn’t imagine it. I learned she had a fondness for disco and craved sugar like the Will Ferrell character from Elf. Good things to remember for future use.
Carolina would occasionally join us when going out to dinner after a game at the diner on Sunset Blvd. She was an intense kid. As grown up as Zelda looked, Carolina was the opposite looking like a child. Her vocabulary was that of an aged Southern writer from a different time if anything she was stranger than her best friend. Serge was regular like Brendan and me, but when talking to his sister he became a different person, he quoted literature and made obscure references to passing things. Then he would turn around and “bro” down with us.
I casually asked what her plans were for the weekend knowing that they would be Zelda related. Those two were inseparable. She was onto me.
“You mean my plans with Zelda?” She raised her eyebrow and asked.
“Zelda? Oh yeah, she’s your friend right? What are you two up to this weekend?”
“Do you really want me to tell you?" She drew out the word really.
“Not if it’s private. Just making conversation.” I turned to talk to Serge embarrassed by her response. Zelda might be staring into the void but Carolina was hyperaware. That probably gave them balance. I wondered what Zelda brought to their world. I stiffened in my pants at the thought of her. That may sound creepy but a strong wind could get me going too.
“I’m just kidding Danny. We’re having a sleepover. We’ve been making a book for years. We usually work on it on the weekends. We’ll probably go down to Sunset at some point. Do you want to come with us?” Maybe she wasn’t so bad. I wasn’t ready to be with them. I had only grown an inch in my quest, at least five more to go. I was nothing if not patient. My parents were tall, it would happen.
“Thanks but no, maybe some other time.” She would never ask again. It’s okay I found my way to Zelda anyway.
Time went by her Anime period was over. She was more into a Victorian look, layers and layers of white. It wasn’t as sexy much to the relief of my chaffed erections. I didn’t see her much.
Family time, Lacrosse and parties with my friends, was it for me. People started serving beer at parties, girls would lose control. It wasn’t pretty. I tried to stay away from the drunk girls. My mom had always stressed respecting women, in this case girls. I wasn’t going to take advantage of them. Although some and by some I mean Liza used it for courage.
We were at a party and she was drinking from the beer bong, which was gross. She followed me around the rest of the night. I tried to hide from her with Brendan and Serge for cover. She found me anyway. She pushed me into the bathroom and started making out with me. I’m a guy, some thinks are just physical reactions. She grabbed my crotch, rubbing it and then unzipped my pants and well I hate to say it, she blew me in the bathroom. Me in her mouth beat me in my hand.
We were freshman in high school at this point so maybe I shouldn’t have felt so bad. Everyone was getting into it one way or another, but next day I felt guilty. She’s a nice girl, the bully in her long gone. She was pretty, beautiful actually.
There wasn’t anyone else I was interested in. I still had two more inches to grow minimum before I could pursue the ethereal space cadet up the street. I hoped she would back into the Sailor Moon look again by then.
I started seeing Liza. She was easy to be with. She didn’t have any strong opinions and liked to do whatever I wanted to do. A movie? Fine with her. Watch me at practice? Fine. She let me spend a lot of time with Brendan and Serge. You know she didn’t let me, I could do whatever I wanted but she didn’t make a fuss like the girlfriends of some of my friends.
When I ended up with Zelda it was different. She never pressured me to do anything but always assumed that we would spend all our free time together. I felt the same way. I never felt that way with Liza. My guilt about the bathroom evaporated after a couple of months and I broke up with her. She was sad but otherwise didn’t make a big deal. I was happy to be away from her. One more inch to go.
I finally hit her height and from what little I saw of her I knew that she hadn’t grown anymore. Hair grew on my body, not too much but it made me feel manly. I was ready for my girl, but she wasn’t around at all. I never saw her walking up and down the street anymore. Frustrated I invited Carolina to sit with my group at school one day. They looked at me like I was crazy. Carolina was firmly with the drama kids. My boys let it go.
“I haven’t seen you around in a long time. What have you been up to?”
“I see you every day. What do you mean?” I sensed she clearly knew what I meant but was going to make me work for the information.
“I meant after school. I’m used to seeing you walking up and down to Sunset... It will be great when we have cars.”
“I’ll probably have to share a car with Serge.” Thanks for the conversation stopper Carolina.
“I’ll be getting one soon. I’ll give you a ride if you need one.” What was I saying? I didn’t want to drive Carolina around town.
“Thanks Danny. Would you mind if Zelda came with me?” She laughed “She’s been spending a lot time at her Theodora’s house. Theo has a driver, so Zelda’s driven back and forth a lot. Are we good now Danny?”
“Oh that’s not what I was asking.” Why was I pretending?
“Really? I was going to give you one free question about you object of desire. I guess I’ll just go back to my friends now instead.” She got up. I gently took her arm and brought her back to the table.
“Does she have a boyfriend?” I asked
“Zelda? Boyfriend? No she does not. You’re clear there. Not to be a downer but you would be better of with one of your fans here.” She waved her arm towards a table of girls I didn’t know.
I must have looked hurt because of what she said next.
“I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings. Zelda’s a weirdo. If you really want to “bump” into her we’re walking down early to the Farmer’s Market on Sunday”
“Thank you.” She went back to wherever the drama kids eat. I noticed she smelled kind of smelled boozy as she left the table.
…
I never made it to the Farmer’s Market. That Saturday night Brendan, Serge and I went to a party in the Valley. It was crazy. I saw a punky girl dancing by the DJ. She was drinking from a small bottle of rum. She handed it off to me. We danced all night, which isn’t something I normally did.
There was something cool about her, maybe it was the magenta hair. A world away from the girls I knew. By the end of the night we were making out on the sofa. Her name was Isabella. The cab came to pick us up. I dragged her in with us. Brendan and Serge were into her, trading raps with her.
The cab dropped us off last at my house. We snuck in through the back as quietly as possible up the stairs. I couldn’t keep my hands off of her. A minute into being in my room we were on each other. It was my first time but like the Boy Scout I had been I was prepared, condom in the drawer of my bedside table. I thought I would be nervous. I don’t know if it was her, or the alcohol but I didn’t have any hesitation. I lasted longer than I thought and learned that it was better than the hand or mouth.
I woke up in the morning freaking out that I had a girl in my bed. I worried my parents would come in, not that they ever came in without knocking. She tossed around the bed, in the light of day she was more cool than beautiful. She was pretty with the brightly colored hair and the heavy make-up but I knew in her natural state she would be a plain. It didn’t matter though. I did it and she was here with me now. I thought I should make her breakfast or bring her some coffee. She looked like she drank coffee. She woke up.
“Hey Danny boy. Where are we? I know we’re at your house but where do you live? “
“Hollywood Hills” I kissed her forehead. She had powerful morning breath, “You thirsty? Hungry?”
“Well aren’t you the perfect host. I should be getting home. How close is the bus stop?”
“It’s down the street but I could get you a cab.”
“I don’t need a cab. You could walk me down to the bus stop. Stop looking at me like that.”
“Like what?” I was too sleepy or hung over to look at anyone in any noticeable way.
“Like you like me or something. Let me get dressed. We can talk on the way to the bus stop. Did I call my parents? They’re going to kill me if I didn’t.”
“I saw you on the phone last night, but I don’t know who you called. Check your recent calls.”
“You’re a smart one. I’ll do that. Thanks.” She wrapped herself up in the blanket, took her phone out of her bag and went into my bathroom to put her clothes back on. I wondered why girls were so shy with bodies. Liza was the same way. I got dressed and waited for her.
“We’ll go down the back way. I’m not up to seeing my parents right now.”
“Understood. I’ll walk on my tippy toes.” She smacked my backside. We made it to the road undetected.
“So Danny boy. I may not have told you last night but I kind of have a boyfriend. We’re on a break right now. He’s in college and we do that when he’s there, but you know he comes back a lot.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say. She was fun and pretty wild looking. I wanted to see her again but not if she was going to be one long problem.
“I’m kind of hungry now. Could we go get something eat?” She linked her arm in mine and we walked to Mel’s Diner. I imagined what we must look like together, her in the walk of shame outfit, me in my jeans and sweatshirt. Mel’s was empty. We took a seat in the back.
“All I know about you is that you’re fun at parties. Where do you go to school?” I didn’t know what else to ask, but I knew I wanted to take charge of the conversation. A breakfast of her talking about her part-time boyfriend wasn’t something I was interested in listening to at all.
“Fun at parties? That’s it? That’s all you got for me after last night?”
“That’s not what I meant...”
“Just screwing with you. I’m sixteen and I go to International. I live in Silver Lake and I don’t know how I ended up in the Valley but I’m glad I did.”
Zelda went to International. What had I done? What if they’re best friends? Why was this happening?
“Do you know Zelda Moreau?” Please say no.
“Are you one of her fans? No I don’t know her. I mean we go to the same school but she’s in a totally different world. Those girls are the worst.”
“What girls? She lives up the street from me. I don’t know her. I see her around.”
“The Princesses. I named them, now everyone calls them that, Zelda is the Space Princess, Theodora the Rock Princess and Veronica is the Queen of the Princesses. Ah you love her. I think every guy I know has a crush on at least one of them.”
“I don’t even know her...” Should I ask? This hadn’t been the morning I thought it would be. “What’s she like?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be telling me how much last night meant to you? How beautiful I am or some shit like that?” She laughed, “I’m screwing with you again.”
“I do like you. You’re fun and pretty. I want to see you again.” That was close to the truth.
“You’re sweet. All right I’ll tell you about the Space Princess. She sits next to me in French Literature...”
The waiter came to take our order. I needed to hear the story of the Space Princess. Finally he got our order down correctly and left. It was the longest minute of my life.
“French Literature?” I asked.
“Oh yeah. Are you sure you wouldn’t rather stare deeply into my eyes and murmur words of love. Just kidding. So I sit next to her I notice that every class she raises her hand first thing before the class even begins and asks a question. This one time she repeated the question in the same wording as she did the week before.” She paused to take a sip of her orange juice. I wanted to take the glass away from her.
“So I asked her about it after class. She shows me this graph she made of all the teachers in the school with their assignments and expectations. She’s got it down. She only allows herself to get a 90% because that’s an A, that’s it, That’s all the effort she’s going to expend... She figured that if she participated in French Literature by asking questions she could skip three homework assignments and still get her 90. How fucking amazing is that?”
“That sounds like more work than doing the work.”
“I don’t think so. She plans it out the first week of school. She also keeps a list of all the easy A teachers and she made a truancy schedule too. She’s fucking the system. She’s a rebel and doesn’t even know it. I tho
ught she was borderline retarded before she showed me all her stuff. You know the way she stares off into space all the time?”
“I noticed the staring. I always thought she saw something nobody else could see.”
“Like she’s a fairy or something? She probably caught sight of her reflection. Those three know how to preen. I remember my first week at the school, there was a big game, was it football? The three of them came late. The other side of the stadium, the other school? They stood up and applauded. They have fans. Good luck.” I was competitive, always had been. I would crush my opponents.
“Has she ever had a boyfriend?”
“This is the last question I’m answering about space girl. No she has never had a boyfriend. She’s never been interested in anyone. Sometimes I think she’s got a thing for Theodora. Wouldn’t that be the best joke of all the time? The three Princesses, all Sapphos. How great would that be? Just screwing with you again. She’s shy and narcissistic. I’m being awful. She’s very sweet. She rearranged my schedule for me and made copies of her minimum A workload. Are we done talking about her?”
“Yes. So what’s up with you and the boyfriend? Do I get to see you again?”
She explained their long strange history and very modern agreement. I didn’t get it but felt better about not being part of a cheating situation. She was fun. I didn’t know if I would see her again but I wanted to see her. I told her about Lacrosse, I went on forever but she stayed interested. She was pretty great. We parted ways exchanging phone numbers.
“Hey Danny boy. Forget about her. She’s just another rich pretty girl. The city is full of them. Call me if you want.”
I called her a lot. Her boyfriend wouldn’t be coming back until the end of the summer. I guess you could say she was my girlfriend until he came back. Isabella wouldn’t have said that, but she had some crazy ideas.