Senior Week Fling

by Maggie Dallen

  No one volunteered so she grabbed Mark by the hand and dragged him along behind her, leaving Adam and I to lay out on our towels in relative peace. I slathered on the sunblock and Adam did the same, although his skin was naturally darker than mine. I had inherited my mother’s fair skin and my father’s black curly hair and green eyes. The combination gave me a sort of vampire-goth look, especially when I wore red lipstick.

  Adam on the other hand was bronzed all over. His skin was naturally tan and his hair and eyes were a deeper shade of brown.

  I had just cracked open Cat’s Cradle (my all time favorite book which I was about to reread for the millionth time) when Adam leaned over. “We have visitors.”

  Two pretty teenage girls wearing incredibly skimpy bikinis were heading our way. I had to squint to make them out since I wasn’t wearing my contacts. “Do we know them?” I asked. “Are they from Harbor?”

  Adam shook his head. “I don’t think so. There’s no way I would have missed these two.”

  “Right,” I snorted. Of course. These girls were just his type. They were close enough now that I could see them clearly. They looked like they’d just stepped off the cover of a Victoria’s Secret catalogue. Aside from their itty-bitty bikinis, they were loaded down with gaudy jewelry and were wearing full make up and had ridiculously perfect hair. I marveled at how impractical they were (I mean, who wears makeup to the beach?) but there was no denying the overall effect. These girls looked hot. They were both prime candidates to be Adam’s next girl of the week.

  I almost wanted to warn the girls to run away before it was too late and they were swept off their feet by Adam’s effortless charm. I had a feeling that one, if not both, of these girls would be added to the long list of Adam’s admirers.

  To be fair though, I was not in the position to judge anyone else’s love life. I pulled my thoughts away from Ryan territory to find Adam chatting with the two new girls about their vacation plans.

  “We’re here for two weeks,” the first girl said in a thick southern drawl. “We’re staying at the house next to yours. When did y’all get here?”

  “Just a few hours ago,” Adam said.

  The talkative girl stuck a perfectly manicured hand out towards Adam, her bangle bracelets clinking noisily with every movement.

  “I’m Ashley,” she said. “And this is my sister Marie.”

  “Hi, Marie,” Adam said. “I’m Fred and this is Wilma.”

  I made a little choking noise as I bit back a laugh but the girls didn’t even blink. I don’t know when exactly the name game started. Our parents weren’t friends when we were born so it is completely coincidental that he and I happen to share the names of arguably the most famous couple of all time. Our friends and family were used to it, of course, but we quickly grew tired of the stupid comments and lame jokes that inevitably followed when we gave our real names to strangers so we’d started making up names for ourselves. Fred/Wilma was one of our favorites, along with Mork/Mindy, Sid/Nancy, Nick/Nora, Tarzan/Jane, Brad/Angelina….you get the idea.

  “So are you two brother and sister or…?” Ashley’s voice trailed off.

  “We’re friends,” Adam said. “Just friends.”

  “Oh,” both of their faces lit up in undisguised pleasure. “That’s great! I mean... what are you up to tonight?”

  “Well, we were going to go to a party…” I started. They ignored me.

  “Because if you don’t have plans, we’re going to this club in town. If you want to come…” her voice trailed off again as she and her sister flashed toothy smiles at Adam.

  He turned to me. “What do you say, Wilma? Do you want to go to a club tonight?”

  Oh sure, make me be the bad guy. I smiled politely. “Gee, Fred, I don’t know. I’ll leave that up to you.”

  He didn’t miss a beat. He turned back to the girls with an apologetic smile. “I don’t think we’ll be able to make it tonight. We already have plans and it’s too late to cancel them.”

  “No problem,” Ashley said. “Maybe another night.”

  Adam smiled, “Definitely. Do you guys want to join us?”

  Ashley and Marie sat down and started up a long and boring conversation about their plans for college in the fall. Since they didn’t even try to hide the fact that they were only speaking to Adam, I lay down on my stomach and tried to block out their voices and enjoy the sound of the ocean and the feel of the sun on my back. Ashley’s voice became a steady drone in the background and I had almost drifted off to sleep when something cold and wet on my back woke me with a start.

  I gave a little scream of shock and my head shot up. Ashley and Marie were staring at me in surprise. It seemed my little outburst had interrupted Ashley’s ongoing monologue. I quickly discovered the source of the cold surprise when Adam, chuckling softly, held up the bottle of sunblock.

  “Sorry,” he laughed. “I didn’t mean to wake you but you were starting to burn. Lay back down so I can rub it in.”

  I scowled at him sleepily but did as he said. There was nothing worse than ruining an entire vacation by getting a terrible burn on the first day. That much I knew from experience. I didn’t have to open my eyes to know that Ashley and Marie were less than pleased that Adam was being so familiar with me when he was supposed to be fawning over them. It looked like I could add two more names to the list of girls who wanted me out of the picture.

  I tried to fall back to sleep but Ashley’s voice refused to fade into the background. Was it just me or was her high-pitched voice drowning out the ocean? Luckily for me Victoria and Mark showed up, dripping wet and laughing, before Adam had a chance to answer her questions about his college plans. I’ve found that Adam’s fans really hate the fact that we’re going away to school together. Well, not together. He’s going to NYU and I’m going to Columbia in the fall. Different schools, same city. Still, try explaining that to Lindsay. She seemed to take our geographical proximity as a personal affront.

  “Nice to meet you guys,” Victoria said. She leaned over to shake hands with our visitors and managed to splash cold water all over my back. There was no way I was falling back to sleep now so I sat up and joined the party. Ashley’s sister was eyeing Mark like he was a piece of meat and her face was as readable as a book when she glanced back and forth between him and Victoria, who just happened to look stunning in a skimpy bikini of her own. Victoria picked up on the girl’s look and was quick to put her mind at ease. “I’m Victoria,” she said, “And this is my friend, Mark.” Victoria and I exchanged amused glances at the girl’s obvious relief.

  A little while later, while the boys sat listening to the sisters’ long winded stories, Victoria leaned over and whispered, “What did I tell you? Less than an hour into our vacation and half of our little party has found romance.”

  I laughed at her smug expression. “Looks like you’re on a roll, V.”

  She flashed me a mischievous smile. “Two down, two to go!”

  Chapter Four

  The Seaside Palace was even more impressive than I’d imagined. The lobby was the picture of elegance and I felt supremely out of place. By the hushed voices of the other three as we crossed the long, marble tiled hallway to the elevators, it seemed they were feeling the same way.

  A group of giggling girls heading to the party joined us in the large glass elevator as it slowly climbed to the top. I recognized two of them as junior cheerleaders. Evidently Senior Week wasn’t just for seniors anymore. The doors of the elevator opened into an atrium filled with exotic plants and trees. Signs pointed the way to the hotel’s famed spa and in the other direction two doors opened on to the pool area.

  “Wow,” Victoria breathed.

  String lights and lanterns artfully adorned the poolside tables and bars and loud pop music blared over the speakers. The roof deck was just as elegant as the lobby but what really blew me away was the view. To one side was the ocean and the beach and behind us the town lay spread out at our feet.

  “Hey guys,
glad you could make it.” Lindsay seemed to appear out of nowhere. Was she seriously watching the door for Adam’s arrival? I wouldn’t put it past her.

  Lindsay’s new BFF April was by her side. April was relatively new in the sidekick role—looked like Vivian Lee had been replaced. You see, Lindsay went through best friends like most girls went through favorite shoes.

  I knew this better than anyone because I was one of those fleeting friends back in junior high. This was before Victoria arrived at our school and I had no close girl friends. I have to admit, I’d really wanted one.

  In Junior High, mixing of genders in a friend setting was still pretty rare and while Adam always invited me to hang out with his male buddies, they weren’t exactly inviting. So when Lindsay turned her attention to me, I can’t deny I was hooked.

  Smitten is more like it.

  I had a serious friend crush on Lindsay back in the day. Part of it was just having a new close friend - I was giddy with newfound private jokes and shared secrets.

  But it was more than that. Lindsay has an amazing way of making you feel special. Whenever I was around her I felt like the funniest, smartes, coolest girl in the world. Within months she had become one of my closest friends, second only to Adam.

  And then it happened. One day I was replaced. Just like that. There was no warning. One day we were best friends chatting on the phone every night and sharing our deepest and darkest fears and then—boom—I was out and Kristy McNair was in.

  I was crushed. Adam kept trying to convince me that I hadn’t done anything wrong but I still spent weeks and weeks trying to work my way back into favor.

  With some time and maturity, I came to realize why I’d gotten the boot—I’d gotten too close. I saw beyond her perfect facade that she worked so hard to project and got a glimpse of the flawed, utterly human girl underneath.

  I remember the first time I’d realized that Lindsay’s life wasn’t as perfect as it seemed. We were having a sleepover at her house and I’d gone downstairs to get a glass of water and heard her parents fighting. Not the kind of fighting I heard from my parents or Adam’s. They were throwing around words like divorce and custody and weren’t even attempting to lower their voices.

  Lindsay caught me in the hallway and gestured for me to come back upstairs. She never said a word about it and it was clear that this was not a rare occurrance in the Miller household. Two years later I heard her parents finally got that divorce and I found myself feeling relieved on Lindsay’s behalf. No one should have to live in a war zone, not even my enemies.

  It wasn’t long after that she found a new best friend.

  Lindsay wasn’t mean to me or anything. It was more like I sort of drifted out of her orbit. She’d simply lost interest.

  So Lindsay went her own way and I went mine. Until she started to date Adam. That’s when she decided that we needed to be friends again. I was suddenly and unequivocably back in Lindsay’s good graces. She picked back off as though not a day had passed since our last sleepover.

  But I am not one to forgive and forget. I did my best to be pleasant around her and maintained a friendly facade while they dated, but I refused to get sucked back in by fake friendliness.

  Of course, my resistance to her attempts at friendship only added to her resentment once they broke up. What had once been a civil disinterest on her part was now outright hatred.

  I’d like to say that I was above it all, but I’m just not that good. I’m sure Victoria would have been able to move past ancient history, but I could not.

  Her accusations about my alleged role in her breakup with Adam combined with her hurtful rejection all those years ago—well, let’s just say I’m not proud of my pettiness.

  I was scowling as I watched her approach our group with April in tow.

  “Nice digs, Linds,” Adam said.

  She smiled as though she’d personally built the hotel herself and looped her arm through his. “Come on, I’ll show you around.” Adam shot us a resigned look as Lindsay led him into the sea of teens.

  “Think we’ll ever see him again?” Mark joked.

  “Lindsay will have to let him up for air eventually,” I said. I turned to Victoria, “Okay, we’re here. We’ve made our appearance. Can we go now?”

  “Yeah, this has been fun, V, but I think I’ve seen enough,” Mark added.

  Victoria rolled her eyes. “You two are hopeless. Come on, we need to mingle for a bit. Half hour, tops,” she added when Mark and I started to protest. She took each of us by arm and led us into the crowd.

  We hadn’t gone far before Victoria’s name was called out and she was chatting away with a group of guys from the basketball team. Mark and I were left to fend for ourselves.

  “Oof!” I grunted as a girl from my chemistry class bumped into me and sloshed beer on my jeans.

  “Sorry!” she yelled. She was visibly drunk and giggling uncontrollably.

  “Let’s get out of the crowd,” Mark said. I followed him through the masses to a little secluded area by the ledge. “Want a drink?” Mark asked.

  “Sure.”

  He turned to leave. “Wait! You’re going to leave me alone?”

  He grinned. “I’ll be back in two minutes, I promise.”

  I turned my back on the throngs of dancers and took in the view. The ocean stretched out before me as far as the eye could see. Lights from fishing boats dotted the sea in the distance. The only other light in the darkness came from the moon and the stars which shone brightly in the clear, cloudless sky.

  Mark wasn’t gone for long before he returned, drinks in hand.

  “Thanks,” I said.

  “No problem.”

  “So what do we do now?” I asked.

  Mark leaned against the ledge next to me and watched the partygoers. “Make fun of drunk people dancing?” he suggested.

  “I’m in,” I laughed.

  Victoria joined us for a bit but it wasn’t long before she was called away to talk to people. I was just about done with my first drink and contemplating going to the bar for another when Adam reappeared with Lindsay at his side. “Hey guys, enjoying the party?”

  “Oh yeah, we’re having a blast,” I said with more than a touch of sarcasm.

  “Why are you guys hiding over here?” Lindsay asked. “You should join the party.”

  She was talking to Mark, of course, not me.

  “I’m fine,” he said.

  Lindsay leaned in as though to speak to Mark privately although Adam and I could hear every word she said. “You don’t have to stay here and babysit, you know. There are people here who actually know how to have fun. You should join them.”

  Mark looked highly amused by the open display of cattiness. It wasn’t every day that Lindsay so blatantly bared her teeth for all the world to see. She normally kept that kind of thing for the one on one run-ins. I had a suspicion it was the spiked punch that was responsible for this new, refreshingly honest Lindsay.

  Adam looked distinctly uncomfortable as he tried to disentangle himself from Lindsay’s arms. Once free, he quickly stepped over to stand next to me and threw a protective arm across my shoulders. “We’re fine right where we are, but thanks anyways, Linds.”

  Lindsay’s nostrils flared and her eyes narrowed into slits. I waited with baited breath to hear what she’d say next. I’m sure whatever she had to say would have been wonderfully, dramatically nasty but I never got to hear it because just then all four of us were distracted by the sudden appearance of a tall, lanky guy with greasy, long hair and unshaved face.

  I gave a little start as he stopped to talk to the group of girls nearby. “Is that—?” Adam started.

  “Kevin Canarsie,” I finished for him. Kevin was the drummer for Ryan’s band.

  “What’s he doing here? I thought they were on tour,” Adam said.

  “Oh, didn’t you hear?” Lindsay asked, her eyes wide with mock innocence. “The band is back from the West Coast. Ryan told me they’d be in the area
this week so I invited them to crash with us.”

  “Ryan?” I heard myself repeat the name like an echo. My brain seemed to be temporarily stuck in neutral as it tried to process this new information.

  Lindsay, of course, was loving this new turn of events. Even in my shocked state I could see her pure, malicious enjoyment. “Didn’t you know? They’re on their way back to town to visit their friends and family before continuing the tour on the East Coast.” She made a tsk-tsk sound. “I can’t believe he didn’t tell you. I mean after the way he just left you like that and now coming back with no warning…Ryan can be so thoughtless sometimes.”

  “Lindsay!” Adam growled. “That’s enough.”

  But honestly Lindsay’s words barely affected me. I don’t even think I really heard what she was saying. My brain was still trying to process the news that Ryan was back. That Ryan was here.

  Oh my God. Ryan was here.

  “I have to go,” I mumbled as I shoved my way past Adam and Mark. My mind couldn’t seem to catch up with this recent development but my body was all over it. My heart was racing, my stomach turning, and my feet practically running. I must have knocked into thirty people in my quest to get the hell out of there.

  “Eve? What’s wrong?” I heard Victoria ask as I ran past her.

  I didn’t stop until I reached the glass elevator. That was where Adam caught up with me. “Eve, wait up!”

  Victoria was running after us with Mark close behind. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?” she panted.

  “Ryan’s on his way,” Mark answered.

  “I have to go,” I babbled.

  Victoria took one look at my panic-stricken face, my wide terror filled eyes and ashen skin, and pressed the elevator button insistantly. We could see the people in the elevator through its glass walls and it was packed with teenagers on their way to the party. It hadn’t even come to a stop when I heard Victoria let out a little squeak. “It’s Ryan!”