Trouble With Liberty

by Kristen Butcher

“So, how do you like school so far?” I asked her as the two of us wandered the aisles of McCormack’s Drugstore the following Saturday.

  She picked up a bottle of cologne, sprayed it into the air and then wrinkled her nose at the smell.

  “It’s okay,” she said, trying to wave away the sickly sweet cloud hanging above her head. “I’d like it better if there were no classes.”

  “Who wouldn’t?”

  “But otherwise it’s good,” she said. “The kids seem nice.”

  That was the opening I’d been waiting for.

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “They are. Take Ryan Wilson, for instance. No matter how grumpy I am, he can always make me laugh. He’s so funny.”

  Liberty was poking through the lipstick testers. “Yeah — hilarious,” she mumbled. It was clear she didn’t think he was funny at all.

  My back stiffened. “Obviously you don’t like him,” I snapped.

  Liberty looked startled. “I never said that.”

  “You didn’t have to,” I scowled. I turned away and pulled the cap off a tube of Orange Sherbet lipstick.

  I could feel Liberty staring at me.

  “What’s the big deal?” she said. “Are you trying to match me up with him or something?”

  “Of course not!” I retorted.

  “Well, then why do you care if I like him?”

  I shrugged, suddenly feeling stupid.

  To my surprise, Liberty laughed. “Don’t have a cow then. I don’t have anything against Ryan. I don’t want him for a boyfriend, but otherwise he’s fine.”

  It wasn’t exactly the response I was hoping for, but it was more encouraging than Ryan’s had been. I sighed and went back to picking through the lipsticks.

  “Here’s one,” I said, turning the tube upside down. “Frosty Flirty Flip. How’s that for a name?” I held it up to Liberty. “I bet this would look really good on you.”

  Liberty rubbed some onto the inside of her wrist and looked at it.

  “It’s not bad,” she said. “I could wear it with the new blouse my dad brought me from New York.”

  “Good idea,” I grinned. “Wear it to school on Monday and see if you can catch Cody’s attention.”

  An impish gleam lit up Liberty’s eyes. “Oh, it would catch his attention all right. His and the principal’s too.”

  I giggled. “Ooh, that kind of a blouse, eh? A little too sexy for math?”

  Liberty grinned. “Math and every other class.” She paused and a dreamy look came over her face. “Except maybe for band.”

  “Hello?” Liberty was obviously hinting at something, but I had no idea what.

  “Oh, come on, Val. Don’t play dumb.”

  I frowned and shook my head. “Who’s playing? I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

  She rolled her eyes and clucked her tongue. “The band teacher? Mr. Henderson? The guy is a total hunk! Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed.”

  “Are you serious?” I sputtered. “He might be good-looking, but he’s also like thirty years old. And he’s married. He’s got a kid.”

  Liberty shrugged. She pouted at the mirror on the sunglass stand and rolled some Frosty Flirty Flip onto her lips.

  “You’re right,” she said, admiring the effect. “This lipstick does look good on me. And you know what?”

  I shook my head.

  “I bet Mr. Henderson would look good on me too.”

  My mouth dropped open, but the only thing that came out of it was a squeak.

  That did it for Liberty. She keeled over laughing. “Kidding!” she said, between guffaws. “I was teasing. Val MacQueen, you are so gullible.”

  Somehow I managed to close my mouth again and trailed after Liberty to the hair color aisle.

  “You’re not going to dye your hair, are you?” I asked in horror. Liberty was a natural blonde, and there seemed something immoral about messing with that.

  “No,” she murmured absently as she picked up one of the boxes and began reading the back. Then she added, “We’re going to color yours.”

  Once again my mouth dropped open. Then I took a step backwards and put up my hands. “Oh, no we’re not. My mother will kill me if I come home with blue or green hair.”

  “Don’t be silly.” She rolled her eyes. “We’re not going to change your color. We’re just going to liven it up a little.”

  “Liven it how?” I asked suspiciously, still keeping my distance.

  “With highlights,” she beamed. “You want to look gorgeous for my party, don’t you?”

  This was news to me. “What party?”

  Liberty smiled smugly. “The one I’m going to throw next weekend so I can wear my new blouse and get to know Cody better. I like the strong silent type, but your brother is a little too silent. I think he could use a push. And a party is just the thing. We can invite Joel and Marissa, Shelly, Matt Bryson, Melanie Shepherd, Sarah Shaw, Jeremy, Sean Abernathy, and that guy in our English class with the pierced eyebrow. What’s his name?”

  “Kevin Halloran.”

  “Right,” she nodded. “Also Wanda Watts, Chelsea and her boyfriend, and Sue and … you and Cody, of course.” She pursed her mouth in concentration. “Who else?”

  “Ryan?” I said.

  Liberty slapped her forehead. “Right. Ryan. How could I forget him?”

  Chapter Four

  Cody convinced Dad to let him use the truck Friday night. It’s not exactly a limousine, but there are seatbelts for three people, so I figured we could give Ryan a ride too. Since I’d been hanging out with Liberty, I’d barely seen him. This would give us a chance to catch up.

  “Okay,” Cody conceded grudgingly. For some reason he seemed to think potential passengers required his approval. “Tell him we’ll pick him up at eight. But he better be ready. I don’t want to wait around.”

  As it turned out, that wasn’t a problem. Ryan didn’t need a ride. He wasn’t going to Liberty’s party.

  “What do you mean — you’re not going? Everybody’s going.”

  “Then you won’t miss me,” he said, stuffing some books into his locker.

  Suddenly I had an uncomfortable thought. “You were invited, weren’t you?”

  He nodded. “More or less.”

  “What does that mean?”

  Ryan grabbed his jacket and slammed the locker shut. “Look, Val,” he said impatiently, “Liberty may have invited me, but she doesn’t really want me there. And I wouldn’t have a good time. I’m not going.”

  “How can you say that? All your friends will be there.”

  He shook his head. “Don’t you mean all Liberty’s friends?”

  I opened my mouth to protest, but he cut me off.

  “I’d love to stay and argue with you some more, but I’m going to miss my bus. See ya Monday.”

  And before I could even say good-bye, he bolted down the hall.

  Cody and I were the first ones at the party. Liberty told us to come early so we could help with the last-minute preparations, but I think she just wanted Cody to see her New York blouse before everyone else did.

  Actually, not see it was more like it. The blouse had long sleeves and buttoned all the way to the neck. But — except for some strategically placed embroidered flowers — it was totally sheer. And Liberty wasn’t wearing a bra!

  I’m not saying she didn’t look great. She did. Judging from the way Cody’s eyes bugged out, he thought so too. It’s just that the blouse was a little too New York for Sutter’s Crossing. I know I wouldn’t have had the nerve to wear it. And even if I had, my parents would never have let me out of my room.

  Which is why I was having trouble understanding how Liberty’s father could have bought it for her, and how her mother could let her wear it. Of course that was assuming her mom and dad thought the same way mine did. But the truth is that until that night I hadn’t met either of Liberty’s parents, so I had no idea how their minds worked.

  Liberty’s dad was out of town, so it was just Mr
s. Hayes chaperoning. If you call supervising from another part of the house chaperoning. Not that she wanted to spend the evening in her bedroom. That was Liberty’s idea. She told her mother point-blank to stay away from the party. I heard her with my own ears.

  If I’d said that to my parents, I’d have been the one spending the evening in my room. But Mrs. Hayes didn’t argue. She just poured herself a drink and left.

  I watched her climb the stairs. She was so different from Liberty that it was hard to believe they were related. When Liberty walked into a room, she instantly took it over. She didn’t even have to say anything. People were just naturally drawn to her. Not Mrs. Hayes though. You could have dressed her in flashing neon and she still would have blended in with the wallpaper. Compared to Liberty, she was practically invisible.

  Everyone started arriving as soon as Mrs. Hayes went upstairs, and in no time the rec room was jumping. Kevin Halloran planted himself in front of the pinball machine the second he walked into the house and didn’t leave it all night. A couple of other guys latched onto the pool table, and the rest of us spent the night filling our faces and dancing. There was no way we could talk over the music. I kept waiting for Liberty’s mom to show up and tell us to turn it down, but she never did.

  It was a pretty good party. Everybody seemed to be enjoying themselves — especially Liberty and Cody. I don’t think the two of them spent two minutes apart the whole night. During the slow songs they were glued at the lip.

  So it was no big surprise when Liberty dragged me off to the kitchen near the end of the evening to announce that she and Cody were officially exclusive.

  “Isn’t it great!” she bubbled.

  “Fantastic!” I agreed. Liberty was so excited she couldn’t stop bouncing. It was hard to believe my brother could have that effect on someone. “Looks like you were right about giving Cody a little push,” I said. Then I noticed a couple of the guys staring at Liberty and grinning. I stepped into their line of vision and whispered into Liberty’s ear. “I think maybe you better stop hopping around. You’re jumping right out of your blouse — if you know what I mean.”

  “Oops!” she giggled. She rearranged herself so that all her flowers were where they were supposed to be. “I’m just so happy! And I wanted you to be the first to know. After all, you are my best friend.” Then she threw her arms around my neck.

  That’s when Cody showed up. “Hey,” he teased, “hugs are supposed to be reserved for me.”

  Liberty let go of me and wrapped herself around him instead. She gazed up into his face.

  “Don’t worry, Cody. You can have all the hugs you want,” she assured him.

  As I watched them melt into one another and then back onto the dance floor, I thought about what Liberty had just said. She’d called me her best friend. I hadn’t expected that. Liberty was the most popular girl in school, so I was flattered. But it also made me feel a little bit like a traitor. I already had a best friend.

  “Ryan is becoming a real jerk.”

  Who said that? I glanced around, but I was the only one in the kitchen. Then I heard the voice again. It was coming from the hall.

  I listened more closely. It was Wanda Watts.

  “Liberty asked me to tell him about the party, and when I did, he said he wasn’t interested. It’s like he’s suddenly too good to hang around with the rest of us.”

  Then I heard another voice. It was Melanie Shepherd. “Maybe he figured Liberty should have invited him herself.”

  “Oh, please!” Wanda groaned. “The way he’s been giving everyone the cold shoulder, he’s lucky he got invited at all. I don’t know what his problem is, but he’s really getting to be a drag.”

  Melanie sighed. “I guess you’re right. Even Val isn’t hanging out with him anymore, and they’ve been friends forever.”

  I cringed. Some friend.

  Chapter Five

  I must have started to phone Ryan ten times that weekend. I just never went through with the call.

  What would I say? Sorry I’ve been such a crummy friend? I’ve been having so much fun with Liberty that I didn’t miss you? Even though it was true, I somehow doubted that admitting it would help either of us feel better.

  Besides, it made it seem like the situation was my fault. And it wasn’t! I’d been the one trying to get everyone together. It was Ryan who’d pulled away from the group. So really, this whole mess was his fault. But I didn’t want to say that either. After all, he was my friend, and friends aren’t supposed to hurt each other — at least not on purpose.

  So I crossed my fingers and decided to wait until Monday. Hopefully the problem would solve itself. Ryan isn’t normally an ornery person, and with the weekend to think things over, he might have mellowed out.

  When I saw him get off the bus, though, he seemed anything but mellow.

  “What happened to you?” I said. “You look like you were hauled through a knothole backwards.”

  “Nothing that much fun,” he mumbled, dragging his hands down his cheeks and giving his head a shake. “I was up all night with Hercules.”

  “Why? What’s wrong with him?” Ryan had raised Hercules from a colt, and I knew how much he meant to him.

  “A bad case of colic,” he said, yawning. “I walked him all night. We must have put in thirty miles around the corral.”

  “What does the vet say?”

  He shook his head. “Doc Jensen’s away. But his wife says he should be back this morning, and she’ll send him over the second he gets in. Dad’s keeping an eye on Herc until then.”

  Ryan closed his eyes and leaned his head on the locker.

  “So how come you came to school?” I demanded. “You should be home in bed.”

  “History test third period, remember?” he said without opening his eyes. “After that I’m outta here.”

  During homeroom I did my best to keep Ryan awake. Despite my efforts he kept nodding off. Then I headed to English and he stumbled off to math. I shook my head as I watched him stagger down the hall. I didn’t see how he was ever going to survive until history.

  Band was second period. I was one of the last to arrive, but when I looked around for Ryan, I couldn’t see him anywhere. I took my place in the woodwind section beside Liberty.

  “Have you seen Ryan?” I whispered.

  She frowned and shook her head. “Shhhhh.” Then she directed her attention back to whatever it was Mr. Henderson was saying.

  I put my clarinet together and pulled out my music. I kept one eye on the door, waiting for Ryan to stumble through it. But he never did. By the end of the period I’d begun to think maybe he’d gone home after all. Either that or he’d sneaked off to do some last-minute cramming. Well, history was next, so I’d soon find out.

  I gathered up my books and clarinet and waited for Liberty. But for some reason she seemed to be suffering from slow-motion disease.

  “Will you hurry up?” I grumbled. “We have a test — remember? And knowing Mrs. Adams, it’ll be a killer. I’m going to need all the time I can get.” I waved at her instrument. “You haven’t even taken apart your clarinet yet!”

  “I know,” she said, picking it up. “I need to ask Mr. Henderson about it.”

  “Ask him what?”

  “About one of the valves. It keeps sticking, and the note comes out wrong.”

  I let out an aggravated growl. “Can’t you ask him about it some other time? We’re going to be late!”

  “It’ll only take a second,” she argued. “Go on without me. I’ll be right there.”

  But she wasn’t right there. In fact she didn’t show up all period. And neither did Ryan.

  When the bell rang ending the morning, I practically threw my test on Mrs. Adams’ desk and bolted out of the room. I headed straight for the girls’ washroom. If Liberty had skipped class, chances were that’s where she was.

  I pushed the door open and poked my head inside. There was a group of girls standing in front of the sinks, gabbing a
nd doing their hair.

  “Have you seen Liberty?” I asked them.

  They shook their heads.

  I let go of the door, but a voice from one of the cubicles made me push it open again.

  “She’s in the office.”

  “What’s she doing there?” I said to myself as much as anyone.

  “From the looks of her, crying,” the voice said.

  Crying! Why would she be crying? Then I had a thought.

  Neither Ryan nor Liberty had been in history. Maybe they’d bumped into one another on the way to class and gotten into a fight.

  “Thanks,” I said and took off.

  There was a crowd of kids milling outside the office by the front door. Even so, I saw Ryan right away. But before I could get to him, he bolted out of the school and climbed into his dad’s van.

  I frowned. He’d obviously been waiting for a ride. Even so, he’d taken off so fast it was like he was avoiding me. I pushed my way through the crowd to the office.

  “Is Liberty here?” I said to my mom once I was inside.

  She motioned for me to come around the counter. Then she got up from her desk and led the way to the counseling room.

  “I called her father,” she said in a lowered voice. “He’s on his way to pick her up now.” Then she placed a hand on the doorknob. “But she’s pretty upset. I think she could use a friend. Just try not to get her any more worked up than she already is.”

  I was totally bewildered. “Why? What happened? Did she have an accident or something?”

  Before Mom could answer, the door of the principal’s office opened and Mr. Henderson — walking like a robot and looking white as a ghost — brushed past us. My mother took one look at him and pushed me into the counseling office.

  “Never mind that now,” she said. “Just try to keep Liberty calm.”

  That was easier said than done. Liberty was curled in a little ball on the couch, but the second she saw me she leaped to her feet, launched herself at me and started wailing. She was so upset it took me a good five minutes to get her quiet.

  Then I asked, “What happened?” I didn’t know what had set her off, but I was pretty sure it must have had something to do with either Ryan or Cody.