Building on Lies

by T. Banny

  “ I know, right?” I giggled.

  “ So, what happened?" Ro asked, curiously.

  “ What happened is Chan’s having a conscience, that’s what happened. I was kind of tipsy, and he said he’d rather wait for a time where I was able to remember his name afterward. His words, exactly”.

  “ Aw, that’s sweet," Ro cooed. “ It’s so hard for me to hate him when he does nice things like that”.

  “ Oh!" I said, jumping out of my seat. “ Speaking of nice things…wait right there”.

  “ I wasn’t planning on going anywhere," Ro said, taking my piece of toast.

  I ran up the stairs, to our bedroom. I’d put my new jewelry in my dresser drawer. I flipped open both boxes to give a quick peek of admiration, closed them again, then ran back downstairs.

  Ro looked impressed even before I opened the boxes. “ Whoa. Those are some elegant little boxes”.

  I waved them in front of her. “ Aren’t they? Wait until you see what’s inside ‘em!”

  Ro took them from me, and opened the bigger box first. Her eyes widened when she saw the pearl necklace, which looked even more exquisite and golden in the sunny kitchen. “ Nellie. Wow. Isso é lindo! This is beautiful!”

  “ I didn’t even want to accept them, Ro. I’ve never owned anything so pretty in my life," I said.

  She lifted the necklace out of the box. “Is this a pearl?”

  “ Yup. It’s a South Sea pearl. That’s why it’s not white. Or something like that”. I’d never been a big fan of pearls, but the golden sheen of the pearls was really beautiful.

  “ You know what they say?” Ro swung the necklace gently back and forth. “Pearls bring tears”.

  “ Oh, nice, Ro!" I snorted. “I thought you were going to say pearls are for classy ladies or something NICE like that”.

  Ro bit her lip and looked apologetic. “ Aw, Nellie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. That was really rude of me!”

  “ You think?” I rolled my eyes at her. “ But open the other box, Miss Doom and Gloom”.

  She laughed and gently opened the smaller box. “ Oh, the matching earrings! How beautiful! Gosh, these are just so gorgeous.”

  “ And I thought the ice cream maker he bought me was cool! Honestly, he never has to give me a present again in his life. This jewelry is more than I ever expected”.

  “Sheesh, maybe I need to snag me a rich A-boy," Ro said, teasingly. “ What was the occasion, anyway?”

  I closed the boxes, and sighed. “ He wants me to wear them to Winter Dance”.

  “ Oh, no, Nellie! He does know you’re going with Joaquim, right?”

  “ Yeah, he knows," I said. “ He’s going with Samantha. But he wants me to wear them to show him I’m thinking about him. Even when I’m dancing with Joaquim”.

  Ro pursed her lips. “ Hmmm. I don’t know if I should laugh or cry at that statement.”

  “ Ro. Please," I begged. “ I don’t want to hear it”.

  “ What? I can’t help it, I have to say what I feel. I think it’s so sad you two have to sneak around. You’re in love, just be open about it”. Ro shook her head in an “end of story” way.

  “ Didn’t I explain to you why he can’t leave Samantha?" I reminded her, impatiently. “ Or did you forget?”

  “ I remember, I remember”. She sighed. “ But how long is this going to go on? Trust me, you guys won’t be able to keep this up forever. It’s going to blow up in your faces, no matter how careful you think you’re being”.

  I rolled my eyes at her. “ Ro. Stop. Change of subject starting now!”

  The weekend was actually one of the best I’d had in a while. My mom was so busy with the holiday customers she was only at home to change her clothes. Then she was off in her van, making Ro and I promise we’d be good.

  Which meant Ro spent the weekend with Tommy, while I hung out with Channing. It was harder for me though because Channing spent the afternoons and evenings with Samantha. But, he came by for me around ten, and brought me back around three in the morning.

  We spent a lot of time experimenting in his bedroom, and I seriously don’t know how I left his house with my virginity intact with all the fooling around we did. But Chan never crossed line, and the worse thing that happened was we left each other covered in hickeys.

  “ Shit," I cursed on Monday morning, as I tried to cover a huge one on my neck with concealer and foundation. Ro had tried putting ice on it, but it only made it look worse.

  “ Watch your mouth, Nellie," Ro said.

  “ Ro, what the heck am I going to do? It’s huge! How am I going to hide this from my Mom?" I wailed, as I dabbed more foundation on it.

  “ Forget Daisy. What about Joaquim?" Ro pointed out, handing me a scarf.

  I grabbed the scarf, a long knit scarf may as well have screamed, “Look at me! I’m trying to cover up this hickey!”

  “ Forget the scarf. I’m going to have to wear a hoodie." I sighed, after failing to make the scarf look stylish.

  “ I think you should just stick with the scarf. You haven’t worn hoodies to school in forever," Ro said.

  “ What do you mean?" I asked, walking to my closet and pulling out my red cotton zip up hoodie.

  “ I mean ever since you started dating Channing, you go to school dressed like you’re about to go club hopping. Hoodie Nellie was replaced by halter top Nellie," Ro replied.

  “ Ro, have I ever told you sometimes you suck as a best friend? You never sugarcoat things. Best friends should sugar coat things!”

  She laughed. “ Just wear your dressy black pants and boots with a turtleneck. That’s a happy medium. I hope Channing doesn’t have a hickey on his neck. How would he hide that from Samantha?”

  “ He doesn’t have one on his neck," I said, going over to my accessory box, and pulling out my long black beads. They would make the turtleneck look a little more stylish.

  “ Where does he have one?" Ro asked.

  I winked at her mischievously. “ You don’t want to know”.

  “ Nellie!" Ro gasped. “ You're terrible.”

  “ How do I look?” I twirled in front of her.

  “ Good enough. Let’s go”. She pretended to slap my hand as we walked out to my car.

  I caught a glimpse of Chan as Ro and I walked into school. He was sitting with a group of A-boys. Our eyes met briefly, and my heart skipped a beat when he winked at me.

  “ Hey, Nellie, hey Ro!" Ty called out to us, as we walked past.

  I just smiled awkwardly, but Ro acted as if she hadn’t heard him. Cove girls did not talk to A-boys. At least not the decent Cove girls.

  Ty followed us inside, strolling beside Ro.

  “ I said hi, Ro," he said, patiently.

  “Um, hi ?" Ro said, looking at me in confusion.

  “ Um, how are you?" he said, imitating her confused tone of voice.

  “ I’m fine, Tyler. How are you?" she asked, frostily.

  “ I’m fine, Romina.” He kept walking beside us, whistling, and smiling.

  “ What are you doing?" Ro asked, after a while.

  “ I’m walking. What are you doing?” he asked.

  “ I’m wondering why you’re walking right next to us," Romina said, stopping to stare at him.

  “ Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize my walking was making you uncomfortable. Does walking make you uncomfortable?” He stopped to stare at her as well.

  “ Yes, it does!" Ro snapped.

  “ Oh.” Ty furrowed his brow, then cupped his hands over his mouth. “Attention Lincoln High students! We have a situation here! You guys all need to stop walking! Stop walking to class, stop walking to the bathroom, stop walking to your lockers! Just stop walking! Walking makes Romina here very uncomfortable! Just crawl or run or skip to class, but whatever you, don’t walk!”

  My jaw dropped as did Ro’s, as every student in the hall stopped walking to stare at us.

  Ty bowed in front of Romina, then patted her shoulder. “ I hop
e you can forgive me for making you uncomfortable. But look, no more walking! See? I’m going to run! I’m running to class!”

  And he did just that. He sprinted down the hall like a marathon runner, high-fiving some of his friends as he zoomed past, almost plowing into a confused teacher as he turned down a corridor.

  “ What the hell was that about?" I asked Ro, shaking my head, as kids around us laughed, and shook their heads, too.

  “ Watch your mouth, Nellie," Ro said, looking annoyed, but I noticed she couldn’t take her eyes off of Ty as he sprinted away.

  Fortunately, no one noticed my turtleneck. The weather had gotten so chilly most everyone was wearing sweaters. My palms went a little sweaty when Joaquim found me after third period, and kissed me on the cheek. He didn’t notice anything, though.

  “ Ro, I heard Ty Sutton had everyone laughing this morning because of you. What happened?" Joaquim asked, looking amused.

  “ I have no idea. The boy is weird," Ro replied, rolling her eyes.

  Beside the Ty thing, the day was pretty uneventful. It seemed like all anyone could talk about was Winter Dance, though. It was the last school event before the holiday break. It was also the first time a high school dance was to be held at such an elegant and expensive locale like the Ardsley Park Hotel. It had a lot of the Cove kids nervous, as that was definitely not our part of town.

  “ I’m thinking I should forget about going in my Dad’s truck and just rent a limo," Joaquim said, after school. We were standing in the student parking lot, hanging out before we had to head home. “ What do you think, Nellie?”

  “ No way, Joaquim. It’s only one night. And it’s not like it’s junior prom or anything. Your dad’s truck will be fine”. I didn’t want Joaquim to spend money he didn’t have.

  “ Maybe we could all pitch in," Tommy suggested. “ I think a limo would be nice”.

  “ That’s not a bad idea if we all pitch in together," Ro said. “ We could ask Ana and Thiago, Emanuela and Steven if they want to ride along with us”.

  “ Well, if all of us pitch in, then okay. But I don’t want you to even think about footing the bill yourself, Joaquim," I said.

  “ You’re going to make a great wife, Nellie. You’re already trying to save me from spending my money recklessly!" Joaquim joked.

  “ Funny," I said, sticking my tongue at him.

  “ Speaking of which…this weekend, we tell your Mom, Nellie," Tommy said, smiling ear to ear. I looked over at Ro, and she looked ecstatic.

  “ What? This weekend?" I gasped.

  “ Yeah. My brother Seb loaned me the rest of the money I needed to get Ro’s ring. So, I pick it up Friday, and then I’m going to formally ask for Ro’s hand on Saturday”. Tommy held Ro tight, and kissed her hair.

  I felt like it was all happening so fast. Ro had only told me about it two days before! I didn’t know if I was ready to watch my best friend become a teen-aged bride. Tears formed in my eyes, and I blinked them away.

  “ Aw, she’s so happy for us, she’s crying," Tommy said, and he came over to give me a hug, too.

  I laughed, and tried to pretend they were happy tears as I hugged him back. But Ro gave me a look. She knew me better than anyone, and she knew I was upset.

  “ Nellie, Tommy’s grandparents house is not even five minutes away," she reassured me as we drove home later. “ You can walk there on a nice day!”

  “ I know, I know," I said, sniffling. “ It’s just…you’ve been living with me for over five years, Ro. I can’t imagine not having you around”.

  “ Like I said, I won’t be far. And you have Daisy. Rumor is your mom is getting serious with Eduardo Pereira. You know, the guy who owns the Cozinha Portuguesa where all the old guys play dominoes?”

  “ I know where the Cozinha is. And since when did my mom and Eduardo get serious? She's been dating a few guys, but I didn't know she was that interested in Eduardo." I asked, incredulous. “Is he nice?”

  “ Since the end of summer, sweetie. And yes, he’s very nice," Ro replied. “You’ve just been living in this world where only you and Channing exist, so I’m not surprised you haven’t noticed anything. You really think all the staying out of the house Daisy’s been doing is just for business?”

  “ Wow. I'm so happy for her" I said, and I meant it. My mom was still really young, and she deserved to be with a nice guy. My father had died when she was pregnant with me.

  “ Oh, so you can be happy for Daisy, but not for your best friend? Hmmph!" Ro said.

  “ I’m happy for you, Ro. I am," I said. I looked over at my best friend, who was so dear to me. Serious Ro, with her pin straight hair, and big blue eyes. She’d make a great wife because she was so steady and responsible.

  There were times where I’d wished Ro would lighten up a bit, though. Her past had forced her to mature too quickly. In a way, she reminded me of Chan. I wished she would take more time to be a fun-loving young woman. I briefly thought of Ty Sutton, and how carefree he was. If only Ro could be like that. Channing, too. Yeah, life had thrown some major adult circumstances both Romina and Channing’s way, but it didn’t mean they had to rush into being grown ups.

  We got home, and hit the books. Even with all the excitement of Winter Dance, there were still going to be finals just before winter recess. I decided to call Chan before I got into my major assignments.

  He sounded irritated when he picked up. “ Hey. What’s up”. He was talking low, so I knew Samantha was in the vicinity. I was surprised he’d picked up at all. He usually set his phone to voice mail when Samantha was around.

  “ Just wanted to say hi. I’ll call you later," I said, subdued. It always got me down when reality hit. My guy already had a girl.

  “ I’m having dinner with my parents. The St. John’s are here, too. So, I’ll talk to you tomorrow”. He hung up before I could say goodbye.

  The following day was another struggle trying to find another top to hide the hickey that refused to fade even the tiniest bit.

  “ What was he trying to do, suck your blood?" Ro teased, loaning me her white knit sweater. It was a boring sweater that couldn’t be made to look nice no matter what, but I had no choice.

  My mom decided to stay home day, and her eagle eye spotted the hickey as Ro and I were heading out.

  “ Nellie Fernanda, is what I think it is on your neck?" she asked, pulling me back in.

  “ Mom! I’m going to be late!" I said, trying to yank myself free.

  “ Did Joaquim do that? Nellie, you have to be careful with those Medeiros boys! They’re known to be fast!" my mother warned, but she didn’t look too upset. Joaquim could do no wrong in her book.

  “ No, Joaquim didn’t do anything! It’s just…allergies!" I said, which made her laugh so hard I could still hear her as Ro and I got into my car.

  I tugged the neck up and turned to Ro for inspection.

  “ You’re good," she said with a smile.

  We got into school without running into crazy Ty. We did bump into Emanuela who was upset because her date, Steven Pinheiros, had dumped her to go to the dance with Bruna Porto.

  “ Bruna Porto, of all people!" Emanuela cried. “She’s such a tramp!”

  We had to spend the good part of the day trying to make her feel better, and coming up with other guys she could go with.

  At lunch, we made a list of possible boys, all of which Emanuela found lacking because none of them were Steven.

  “ Em, Gian Vercosa is a perfect date," Ro said, putting a check mark next to Gian’s name. “ And he just broke up with Amanda Bart, so I just know he’d say yes to you”.

  “ You make me sound like some charity case, Romina!" Emanuela whined.

  “ Good luck with her," I whispered to Ro, as I got up to go to the girls bathroom.

  I had to use the restroom, but I also wanted to adjust my sweater. The fit wasn’t as tight as the turtleneck I’d worn the day before. Ro assured me it was just mother’s intuition which caused my mom to spot my
neck, because the sweater hid it fine. But I wanted to be sure. I didn’t want to be like Em, and end up date-less for Winter Dance. I hadn’t wanted to go at first, because I thought it would be too painful to see Channing with Samantha. But the pearl set had made me feel better about the whole thing. Plus it was hard not to get caught up in the excitement when the whole school was talking about it.

  I walked into the bathroom, and after doing my usual spider scan, I went into the back stall. I zipped up my pants, and was about to flush the toilet, when I heard the bathroom door open. Girls entered, talking rapidly. One girl was furious by the sound of it.

  “ Samantha, you need to calm down! Seriously. If you do what you're saying, you’ll get suspended. Or worse, expelled!”. It was Bethany Grant’s voice. She sounded pleading and desperate, totally different from the fun, cool girl at the bowling alley.

  My hands went cold. I leaned far back against the back wall of the stall, and tried to not to make a sound.

  “ Bethany, I am calm”. It was Samantha. I recognized her slow, almost breathy voice. She did sound perfectly calm. It was Bethany who sounded agitated.

  “ Sam, you can’t think you’ll get away with doing something like this. No matter who your parents are. I mean, that’s like a criminal offense. It’s assault! You could go to jail!” Bethany pleaded.

  I heard the bathroom door open again, and another girl came in and asked what was going on. I didn’t recognize her voice.

  “ Nothing is going on, Abby," Samantha said in her unusual voice. It was soft, and kind of melodic, like a breathless little girl. “Bethany here is going all hysterical, and I honestly don’t know why”.

  “ Abby, talk some sense into her," Bethany continued. “What she’s planning on doing is just…wrong!”

  “ Wait, Beth, I don’t even know what the situation is. I was just talking to Laura, and she said you two came in here, and that Samantha was really upset," Abby said. “What’s going on?”

  “ What’s going on is Channing is cheating on me," Samantha said, but her voice remained serene, not at all upset. She sounded matter of fact.

  Her composed tone of voice made my skin crawl. It would have made more sense if she were screaming or wailing. But she spoke with such tranquility it was as if she’d said “ I’m having steak for dinner”.