“Lacking a little self-esteem, are we?” asked her hostess with a sympathetic smile. “I don’t see you hanging out with Megan and Chelsea and their herd of water buffaloes. Who can blame you? It’s mentally tiring being around that many snobs. Besides, there’s only room in the school for one queen, and Megan just got dethroned.”
“Totally,” answered Laura. “You can be the new ruler of Fimbrey High.”
“Me?” scoffed Cupidity. “Not me … you!”
“Me?” squeaked Laura. “You just met me, but haven’t you realized yet that I’m not exactly the Homecoming Queen type?”
“But you like that type of guy, don’t you?” asked Cupidity with a sly wink. “Which one do you really want? Jake? Cody? That other boy you introduced me to—Peter? You can take your pick.”
Laura gulped in embarrassment. “Now you’re making fun of me. I don’t have a boyfriend, and Jake and Cody are way out of my league.”
“That’s why you have me around, to give you a little help. Why don’t we try them out first, and then decide.”
The telephone suddenly rang, making Laura jump. Cupidity gave a merry laugh and said, “That should be Jake calling … right on cue.”
She picked up the cordless phone from the coffee table and said, “Hello?” After a moment, she smirked. “Yeah, I knew it was you, Jake. Of course I want to go out with you … tomorrow night.”
While Cupidity chatted, Laura was relieved to have a second to think about what she’d been saying. Why was the new girl so intent on hooking her up and making her “queen”? It was kinda sweet, but definitely bizarre.
As if she were reading Laura’s mind, Cupidity winked again at her and said into the phone, “But I want to doubledate, Jake. I want my friend, Laura Sweeney, to go with us.”
Now Laura jumped to her feet and waved her hands, but Cupidity ignored her. “I don’t care who it is,” she said, “you know all the guys. Pick one Laura would like—a hot date!”
Laura circled the couch and felt like pulling her hair out. True, her new friend was just trying to do her a favor, but being on a double date with Jake Mattson was going to be seriously bizarre. Cupidity laughed softly at something Jake said. Apparently Jake was so smitten that he had agreed to go on a double date with one of the dorks. It was hard to believe.
When Cupidity finally hung up the phone, Laura just stared at her. “Why did you do that?”
“To get to know Jake better,” answered Cupidity with a flip of her blond hair. “Don’t you want to get to know Jake better?”
“Yeah, but … umm, I have parents, and they might not want me to go out on a Tuesday night.” Laura began to pace again. Dating wasn’t a common occurrence for her, especially not with Jake Mattson. In truth, her parents wouldn’t mind at all if she went on a double date—they would probably open a bottle of champagne!
“Face it, Laura,” said Cupidity, “from now on, your life is going to have a little romance in it.” She laughed happily, as if enjoying a private joke.
Laura could only shake her head and wonder what she had gotten herself into. Cupidity was a trip, and she definitely had that wonderful new-girl quality of having no preconceptions. For some reason, she thinks boys should be chasing me, thought Laura, and I hate to discourage that idea.
Cupidity’s second day at Fimbrey was a bit more sane, because the novelty had worn off … a little. Cupidity picked Laura up in her shiny convertible and took her to school, where Cody Kenyon met them in the parking lot. It had gotten around at the speed of light that Cupidity was going out with Jake Mattson, which had scared off most of the other boys, but not the bad-boy skater dude.
Cody strode right up to the car and asked, “Cupidity, what’s this I hear about you going out with Jake Mattson? Dude, that’s scraping the bottom of the barrel.”
The newcomer laughed. “Oh, is it? Not all the girls around here think so. Besides, it’s only one date, and I have lots of nights open.”
Cody’s eyes sparkled, even while Laura rolled her eyes. He came closer to Cupidity and whispered, “Oh, so we could like … meet up another time?”
Cupidity shrugged and gave him an enigmatic smile. She hadn’t promised him anything, thought Laura, but he looked as if he had won the lottery. She pointed into the distance, and they all turned to see Jake coming, followed by another guy. Cody nodded and flung his skateboard to the pavement; he jumped on while it was still moving and careened off between the cars.
“Silly, aren’t they?” said Cupidity, giving Laura a sly smile. “Are you sure you want one?”
Laura gulped, unsure what her new friend meant by that. Is it that apparent that I want a boyfriend? Does she think she’s doing me a favor?
“Oh, it’s your friend, too!” Cupidity waved to the boys walking toward them, and Laura adjusted her glasses to get a good look. She had to blink twice, because it looked like Peter Yarmench hurrying to keep up with Jake Mattson. They seemed to be walking together.
Laura wrinkled her nose into a puzzled expression and turned to Cupidity. “I don’t get it—Peter and Jake?”
The boys were only a few feet away, and Laura marveled that Peter was taller than Jake and only a little skinnier. Her old friend was dressed in his best impression of a preppy, and she almost laughed out loud.
Jake pouted at Cupidity and asked, “Hey, who were you talking to?”
“Anybody I want,” she answered cheerfully. “Don’t act like you own me, Jake. Come ’ere. I want to talk with you a sec.” She motioned coyly for him to follow her, and he did, leaving Laura and Peter alone.
Peter looked only slightly less confused than she did, and he finally said, “You know I’m your date tonight, right?”
Laura tried not to slap her head and say, “D’oh!” Instead she mustered a smile and answered, “I didn’t know it would be you. Listen, Peter, this wasn’t my idea. I didn’t want to go on a date with Cupidity and Jake.”
“Why not?” asked Peter with surprise. “This is great! All of a sudden, you’re best friends with the hottest girl in school, and Jake Mattson calls me up and wants a favor. We just jumped about three rungs on the social ladder, and I don’t know how we did it. But I don’t think we should complain about it.” He smiled slightly. “Besides, I think you can suffer through one date with me.”
“That’s not what I meant.” Laura caught Peter looking past her at Cupidity and Jake, who were huddled close together near the hood of her car. “You like her too, don’t you?”
“Well, uh … what’s not to like?” stammered Peter. “She’s beautiful and funny, and there’s something different about her. I know you like Jake—you always have.” Peter laughed, and Laura had to laugh along with him at their ridiculous plight.
“Okay,” she admitted, “us going out with the beautiful people is kind of funny. I guess we should enjoy it while it lasts.”
“Which may not be long,” whispered Peter.
“Why not?”
He pointed to a group of girls lurking near the hedges that ran along the parking lot. “Megan Rawlins, Chelsea Williams, and their crew are spying on us,” explained Peter. “Well, maybe not us … more like Jake and Cupidity.”
Laura sighed. “And when they get their revenge, it won’t be funny, will it?”
“So let’s enjoy it while it lasts,” suggested Peter with a smile. “And let’s agree to always stay friends, no matter what happens.”
With relief, Laura nodded, and it was great to feel that she had at least one ally in this crazy adventure. She heard footsteps and she turned to see that Cupidity and Jake had rejoined them.
“We were just deciding what to do on our date tonight,” said Cupidity, flipping her blond hair. Laura noticed that she did that a lot—and that it usually caused the boys’ jaws to drop. “I hope you don’t mind if I picked something.”
“No, sure, anything you want!” said Peter quickly.
Jake looked down and cleared his throat. “I wanted to go bowling or maybe to a movie
, but Cupidity wanted to do something a little different.”
“Like what?” asked Laura hesitantly.
“Archery,” answered Jake, looking puzzled.
“It’s fun!” insisted Cupidity. “I know a great little place where they rent bows. You’ll all be hitting the bull’s-eye in no time.”
“Archery!” exclaimed Peter, faking enthusiasm, or maybe he really was enthusiastic about doing any activity with Cupidity. “We’ll be like the elves in Lord of the Rings!”
“Whatever.” Jake rolled his eyes, but he looked resigned to following Cupidity’s orders along with the rest of them. Then again, she hadn’t really done anything the three of them should complain about.
Laura peered curiously at her petite friend. “You’re really into bows and arrows, aren’t you?”
“You never know when you gotta hunt big game,” she answered with a wink.
That night Peter came to Laura’s house to officially pick her up for the date, and her parents made themselves scarce. All they requested was a ten-thirty curfew, being a school night, and then the parental units disappeared. Peter hemmed and hawed but smiled a lot and seemed to be enjoying this unexpected fling with the old king and the new queen of the popular crowd.
“And Jake says that maybe I can be the manager of the basketball team,” bragged Peter proudly. “He says he can swing it with the coach, him being the star of the team and all.”
Laura tried not to roll her eyes, because she was sure that Jake would have promised Peter anything to make this date happen. Now that it was happening, they were both expendable, but she didn’t tell him that. Instead she grabbed his arm and convinced herself to have fun on this date, no matter what happened.
Descending the steps, Laura gasped when she caught sight of the dazzling couple in the glow of a streetlamp. Cupidity had let Jake drive the convertible, and he was basking in glory with the sleek sports car and beautiful blond under his apparent command. Cupidity and Jake both had glistening hair that was wind-blown and electrified from the night air, and their cheeks bore a rosy glow. They look like the costars of a teen chick flick, thought Laura glumly. How can I have a chance with Jake?
Cupidity squealed and waved at her, and Laura was cheered by the fact that her newest friend was still acting like her best friend. But it also made her think of Taryn, which brought a twinge of guilt. Laura plastered a smile onto her face, especially for Jake, and she and Peter climbed into the open backseat of the convertible. With Peter’s long legs, it was cramped back there, and their limbs pressed against each other no matter how much they shifted around.
When the car roared off, Laura forgot all the cramped seating in the rush of wind. She had spent half an hour fixing her hair, which was a long time for her, and the wind blew it into a tumbleweed shape in a few seconds. By the time they reached the next stop sign, Laura had severe convertible hair, while Cupidity and Jake still possessed perfect locks.
Peter looked at her and tried not to laugh. His wavy red hair was now wild, but it was still kind of cute. “Tell me it will be dark at this place,” whispered Laura, trying to corral her unruly locks with a hair band. “Wherever we’re going.”
He shrugged. “Archery—that’s all I know. I don’t think Jake plans to stay there long. He has other ideas.”
“I bet he does.” Laura worried that those in the front seat would hear them, but she could barely hear Peter in the fast-moving convertible. Cupidity yelled something over her shoulder, and her words were completely lost in the blast of wind. Still it was fun being outside, under the stars, on a date!
Jake said something that made Cupidity laugh, and she pointed off to the right. A moment later, they turned down a rather lonely country road, and Laura and Peter exchanged puzzled glances. If she didn’t know how avidly Cupidity wanted to do archery, Laura would have thought they were headed down this deserted road in order to reenact a 1950s make-out movie and go “parking.” Peter laughed nervously and tugged at the collar of his shirt, and Laura was glad to see another car following them.
After driving through a stand of dark trees, they passed a high metal fence that had some weird murals on it—crossed sabers, rifles, and bows. Behind the fence, the lights were so bright that Laura wondered if the place was a junkyard. Seconds later, they slowed in front of a large gate and a sign that read, WAR GAMES COMBAT CAMP.
As they crunched along slowly on the gravel, she heard Jake say, “Yeah, I came here once to play paintball.”
“I’ve heard of it,” Laura admitted, but she had always thought it was a front for some illegal militia.
Even though Jake had been here before, he didn’t seem anxious to drive in until Cupidity ordered him. “Go on in, you silly,” she insisted. “They won’t bite.”
Peter looked at Laura and gulped, and they both managed a nervous smile. “I don’t want to wound anybody on our first date,” said Laura.
“Me neither,” squeaked Peter. “Cupidity, you’ll show us what to do, right?”
“Oh, sure,” she answered eagerly. “It’s like really simple—be careful where you shoot, and don’t shoot unless you’re prepared to accept the consequences.”
“What consequences?” asked Jake with a sneer. “I always hit what I’m aiming at.”
“Me too,” answered Cupidity with a saucy smile.
When the purring sports car rumbled onto the spacious grounds, Laura saw why they needed so many lights. At least a dozen pretend soldiers in camouflage fatigues were running around a paintball field that looked like a sparse junkyard. Here and there sat old vehicles, large shipping crates, stacks of tires, and other found objects that gave the participants cover as they lumbered around. Laura could hear the metallic thuds of the paintball guns, and she heard the cries of outrage when someone was hit and had to leave the game.
The archery range wasn’t nearly as large, and it was kind of crude, with the bull’s-eye targets mounted on bales of hay in the distance. There was also a regular shooting gallery, which was dark at this late hour, and a driving range where four golfers were hooking balls into a great stretch of dirt. Whoever owned this acreage was making the most of it, considering that it was nothing but a lot of dirt, a few trees, and some old junk.
Cupidity leaped out of the car and ran to an old wooden building, where two men were lounging on the porch. Like males everywhere, they jumped to attention when she approached, and they seemed to know her. She showed them her ornate bow, and one of them marveled over it, while the other went to fetch some regular bows. Meanwhile, she nocked one of her own arrows, and tested the tautness of the string.
Jake killed the engine in the convertible and turned to the passengers in the backseat. “I know this is a funky place,” he whispered. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to stay here any longer than we have to … unless she wants to take a walk in the woods. I’d be up for that. How about you guys?”
“You lead, and we’ll follow,” answered Peter meekly. Laura just shrugged and tried to look game for anything. In truth, she wanted to see Cupidity shoot her precious bow and arrow more than she wanted to walk in the ominous woods. Looking at this surreal scene, Laura thought that it might not be such a bad thing that she never “dated.” Dates were like reality TV shows—some of them were just determined to go wrong.
“Come on, guys!” called Cupidity as she motioned them over to the archery range. One of the workers traipsed along to show them how to nock an arrow and shoot a bow, but it wasn’t difficult. The long ones required lots of strength, but the compound bow mostly required concentration, cool nerves, and good aim. Laura found out she was pretty good with it, and she surprised herself by enjoying the archery contest.
At one point, Jake scored last out of the four of them, and Laura saw the ugly competitive side of her Greek god. He challenged them to another round and forced Laura and Peter to use regular long bows, as he did. Laura couldn’t muster the strength to be very accurate with the old-fashioned weapon, and she finished dead last
. She didn’t know for sure, but it appeared as if Peter threw the match to Jake and let him finish second. As usual, Cupidity whipped all of them with her peculiar harp-shaped bow.
In fact, Cupidity was a deadly shot, and she peppered her targets on the old bale of hay. Her arrows weren’t always bull’s-eyes, but she was in the general vicinity, unlike the rest of them, who kept sailing arrows into the bushes. After every round, Cupidity carefully collected her spent arrows, and Laura got the impression that they were as rare as her bow.
The girl’s skills were so amazing that she collected a small crowd of onlookers, mostly paintballers just getting off the field. A few of them hung back in the shadows, watching from a distance, and Cupidity put on a show for them. Jake tried again to beat her and only made a fool of himself.
As they walked through the muddy parking lot, Jake muttered darkly about going bowling the next time. It was clear that he didn’t like to be shown up by anyone, not even the remarkable Cupidity. Laura wasn’t sure that there would be a next time with Jake and Cupidity. Despite looking gorgeous together, they didn’t seem to have much chemistry, or much in common.
Laura smiled at Peter and gripped his hand, and he gave her a gentle squeeze. Peter would make a low-maintenance boyfriend, she decided, unlike Jake, who would be a royal pain.
Without warning, two paintballers jumped out of the shadows and fired a barrage of colorful orbs at Cupidity. Bright green and purple gobs exploded all over her clothes like neon spaghetti sauce. A paintball caught Laura in the shoulder and splattered purple paint on her glasses. She yelped, because it stung. Cupidity tried to dodge the attack, but there was no place to run—several messy shots found their mark. Jake dove for cover behind a car, while Peter jumped in front of Laura and stopped two more projectiles intended for her. But they weren’t shooting at the boys.
Since the ambushers wore protective masks and army fatigues, it was impossible to make out their faces, but Laura recognized their malicious giggles. When they shot paint all over the beautiful yellow convertible, she knew it had to be Megan and Chelsea. Still shrieking with laughter, the attackers dashed between parked cars, and Jake staggered to his feet and chased after them.
Love, Love, Love Page 18