Little Divas

by Philana Marie Boles

  Usually at pool parties I wear my jean shorts over my suit and just put my feet in the water. I’d never worn a swimming suit in front of a boy before, and I was having second thoughts. But I looked in the mirror and saw Rikki’s and Golden’s faces reflected back at me, their approving smiles, and I reconsidered. Everyone was so excited. I couldn’t back out now. And, hey, maybe Darwin’s pool party would even turn out to be fun.

  “You look awesome, Cass,” Golden assured me.

  “Yeah, Cassidy.” Rikki rolled her eyes a bit. She was still refusing to use my new nickname. “You do.”

  “And so do you, Golden,” I added.

  “Well, I think we all look good,” Rikki declared.

  Just before we left the bathroom, Golden yanked open the drawer under the sink, fumbled around, and grabbed a few tubes of lip gloss, all pretty shades of pink.

  “Girls,” Mrs. Anders yelled, “Mary’s here!” “We’ll put it on in the car,” Golden said as we headed downstairs.

  Mary had wanted us to make a big entrance, so we got to Darwin’s late. When we pulled up, she told us, “Now remember, I get off at eight, so I’ll pick you up at the corner at eight-thirty.”

  “Okay,” we all said.

  Mary smiled. “You girls look so adorable. Have fun.”

  We could smell the barbecue, hear the laughter, and feel the bass from the blaring stereo as soon as we got out of the car. The closer we got to the fence, the louder the music became. A cardboard sign was hanging on the gate with bright red graffiti letters: PARTY OF THE SUMMER HERE.

  As soon as we walked through the gate we saw Mr. and Mrs. Mack, Darwin’s parents. Mr. Mack was wearing a black and gold apron with “BBQ King” on the front, and Mrs. Mack was carrying a stack of paper plates over to a table.

  “Glad you could make it,” Mr. Mack said.

  “Plenty of food,” Mrs. Mack added with a smile. “Hot dogs. Potato salad. Brats. Burgers. It’s all over on the table, so go on. Enjoy.”

  “Okay.” Rikki sounded all sweet and innocent. “We will, Mrs. Mack.”

  Everyone watched us walk through the yard. Or maybe not. Maybe it just seemed like it. Maybe it always feels like people are watching me and they aren’t. I tried real hard to make my nervousness disappear.

  The Macks’ backyard is huge. Some kids were in the pool, but others were scattered throughout the yard, sitting on lawn chairs or at picnic tables. Quite a few were dancing up on the wooden deck. Several people were just leaning up against the fence, cooling out and chitchatting with canned sodas in their hands. Rikki spotted some lawn chairs that were outside of splashing distance and suggested we grab them.

  I looked back at the gate. What if Uncle Lance or Aunt Honey had followed us? What would they think? What would they do to the three of us, half naked in front of adolescent boys?

  “Yo, Rikki!” Darwin’s voice called out from the makeshift dance floor. He had been doing that new hustle, the Forrest Hills Flow, but he had stopped midstep to throw his hands in the air. “What up?” he yelled.

  Rikki nudged me and couldn’t help smiling. “Let me go dance with him real quick. Be right back, okay?

  “Or,” she added cautiously, “ya’ll can come if you want.”

  I looked at Golden, who was looking around at the backyard full of kids. “That’s okay. We’re cool.”

  I filled Golden in on the history between Rikki and Darwin as Rikki walked away. “They always try to act like they don’t like each other, but they can’t be in a room together five minutes without getting close. Been that way since the beginning of sixth grade.”

  Golden got a good look at Darwin and said, “He’s hot.”

  “You must like pretty boys,” I joked. “But Darwin’s nice. You’ll see when you meet him later.”

  As I looked around the backyard full of familiar faces, I gave Golden the lowdown on who was going with who, who used to go with who, and who she should never go with.

  “Who’s that?” she asked with a raised eyebrow. “He’s hot too.”

  I followed her gaze. Splashing around in the pool, squirting a water gun at anyone within aiming distance, was Travis.

  “Oh,” I said. “That’s just Travis Jones.”

  “Really?” Golden stared a little longer. “As in the Travis?” Rikki had filled her in on my hatred of Travis on the car ride over.

  “He’s gotten better looking over the summer, trust me.”

  “You’re not gonna believe this,” Golden said. “But I’ve seen him before. Somewhere… I don’t know….”

  “He was in California all summer,” I said, “so I doubt it.”

  “Hmmm.” She crossed one leg over the other. “Maybe not.”

  “Like I said, he’s gotten a lot better. He discovered lotion, got taller, darker, braces….”

  “Well, he looks better than some of the woofs I used to know at my old school.”

  “You ever go with anybody?”

  “Not at my last school,” Golden said. “But at the school before that I did. I kissed this lame-o named Jeff last year, but that was about it. I think I was bored or something.”

  Great. I was officially the last girl in the entire world who had yet to be kissed.

  Golden looked around some more. “So who do you like?”

  “Yeah, right.”

  “Not even a little bit? Nobody?”

  I shrugged. “They’re all just annoying.”

  “Hey,” she asked, “what about those three, over there by the fence.”

  “Nate is on the left. Mario is the one with the glasses; you have to watch him, though, because he likes to crack on people. The skinny one is Sam. Sam’s cool. All of ’em hoop.”

  “Does Travis?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “But he usually sits the bench.”

  Travis looked up from the pool then, like he sensed that we were talking about him, and nodded his head up.

  “S’up?” he called.

  I mumbled to Golden, “I can’t stand him.”

  “You could at least say ‘Hi,’” she suggested. “Since he did.”

  So Golden and I both waved.

  Why, oh why, did we do that? Travis climbed up the ladder, got out of the pool, and came right on over. Before I knew it, Travis was standing in front of me, his green shorts dripping water everywhere. Inside I was cringing.

  “What’s up?” he asked. “Thought you weren’t coming.”

  “Changed my mind,” I said.

  His braces sparkled when he smiled. “Tight suit.”

  “Thanks.” I folded my arms across my chest.

  Glancing back at the pool, he said, “Comin’ in?”

  “Maybe later.”

  He noticed Golden. “Who’s your friend?”

  “She’s new,” I said, “so be nice. Her name is Golden Anders. Golden, meet Travis Jones.”

  “Straight up?” Travis said. “Where you from?”

  “Around,” Golden replied. “I used to go to Lake. And my last name is Mahoney, not Anders.”

  Instantly I wanted to apologize. I hadn’t even considered that Golden would have a different name from her mother’s. Then I heard the surprise in Travis’s voice. “Yo! You went to Lake? When?”

  “Last year.”

  “For real? So you know my cousin then, huh? Tony?”

  “Tony Jones?”

  “For sure.”

  “Yeah,” Golden said. “I know Tony. He’s cool.”

  “So you comin’ to King now? Our team is gonna run it,” Travis told her. “Bet.”

  “Cool,” she said.

  And then Travis looked at me. “You eat yet?”

  “No.”

  “Hungry?”

  “No.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Thirsty?”

  “No.” I kinda laughed. “I’m cool.”

  “What? You still mad at me? You want me to leave?”

  “I’m not mad,” I said. But I really did want him to leave.

  “Th
en why you throw my ice cream away?” Travis asked. “If you weren’t mad?”

  Golden cracked up laughing, which made me do the same.

  Travis laughed a little too. “It’s cool,” he said. He glanced at me as he headed back to the pool. “You gonna dance with me later, though, right?”

  My stomach got tight and my teeth clenched.

  Why did that keep happening?

  I shrugged.

  “All right then,” he said. “But I’m gone get you in that pool.”

  Travis smiled, and a flutter shot through my stomach and went up through my chest. I watched as he dove back into the water and started splashing around again.

  I told Golden, “Now do you see how annoying he is?”

  “I knew I’d seen him before,” she said, ignoring my question. “He used to come hang in my old neighborhood with Tony and his crew.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah,” she said. “I remember him because this girl named Keisha used to really like him.”

  “And what happened?”

  “She was kinda dorky, and I hear he’s real picky. His cousin Tony is too.”

  I watched Travis as he flicked water in girls’ faces.

  “Travis?” I said. “Picky? Really?”

  “Uh-huh,” Golden said. “Selective. And you’re right, he did get taller.”

  Come to think of it, I couldn’t recall Travis ever really liking a whole lot of girls. He teased all of us, but who had he ever really liked?

  Erica Turner in the fourth grade, but that was about it, and she moved to Philadelphia last year.

  “It sure is hot,” Golden said. “Let’s go get in.”

  Panic hit my chest, and I gripped the knot on my towel. “The pool, you mean?”

  “We might as well,” Golden said. “Since we’re here.”

  I was so glad Golden was with me. There was no way I’d have moved from my seat if she weren’t. We left our towels on the chair and headed over to the pool.

  We decided to just sit on the edge at first, to let our feet get used to the temperature for a while. We didn’t talk much. It was so hot that all we really had the strength to do was sit there and take it. The water on our feet hinted at relief, and I knew that eventually Golden would want to get in, and I was dreading that.

  All around us were people that I had gone to school with for years, which wasn’t surprising. If Darwin throws a party, everyone wants to be there. There was one person missing that I could see, but just then she arrived.

  twelve

  Lane Benson The first girl in our class to stop wearing ponytails. The first to get a training bra (the first to actually have something to train). The first to wear makeup (if you count eyeliner and lip gloss). The first to be allowed to have phone calls from boys. And talk about an entrance. Now Lane Benson was also the first of us to wear a bikini. A black one.

  From across the yard, Rikki’s eyes met mine, both of us in shock. A hush fell throughout the yard, and I could see people tapping each other. Boys smiling. Girls whispering. I was ready to leave.

  Golden leaned in. “Let me guess. Lane Benson?”

  I sighed. “You got it.”

  “She tries too hard,” Golden announced. “You’re prettier, Cass.”

  Shantal and the rest of the training bra crew went right over to Lane and led her back to the picnic table where they’d been sitting. Lane smiled when she saw them, her dimples like valleys in her round, dark-brown cheeks.

  Then she saw me looking at her, which meant it was too late for me to turn away. We exchanged words with our eyes. It was like she wanted me to know that my very presence disgusted her, the way she mocked me with a flutter of her eyelashes. Right then and there I promised myself not to let her ruin this day for me. Hopefully my eyes did what I needed them to do, because I sure tried to look happy.

  Soon the moment passed, and people got over the fact that Lane had arrived in a bikini. The water began splashing around us again, and Travis started up a game of Marco Polo.

  Golden hopped into the water. “Come on, Cass!”

  I was now the only one left on the edge of the pool. Everyone else was having fun. Reluctantly, I lowered myself in.

  “Whatever you do,” Golden whispered a quick warning, “make sure Lane sees you having fun.”

  “I know,” I said. “That’s just what I was thinking too.”

  I peeked over once more. Lane was sitting at a round table with her small group of girls. She was eating a hot dog, laughing and talking in between bites. Yuck. Boy, was I glad that I wasn’t going to have to go to school with her anymore.

  But at least now I wasn’t alone. I had Golden, and she was forcing me to have fun. She herself looked to be having a good time, which made me even happier because I had a feeling that didn’t happen too often. Pretty soon I forgot all about Lane.

  Rikki and Darwin joined us in the pool. More laughter. More games. Rikki was even being a little nicer to Golden, reaching up once to fix a few strands on Golden’s ponytail as a matter of fact. It was the best day of summer, and it felt great to laugh out loud. None of us wanted the games to end.

  All the hot dogs had been grilled and the sun was beginning to set. Darwin’s parents cooled off the coals and went inside to the air-conditioning. By now most of us had thrown on jean shorts over our swimming suits. Soon it would be the last song of the evening.

  Rikki was with Darwin, and Golden and I were sitting on the steps leading to the deck, watching as couples started going off to be alone.

  “All of your friends are so cool, Cass,” Golden said. “Thanks for inviting me.”

  “Sure,” I replied.

  We watched as Lane and Nate went to the far end of the backyard and sat on the wooden swing. Shantal and Mario were getting close at the picnic table. Everyone was coupling off except for Whitney and a few other girls who were on the dance floor doing a routine they’d probably been practicing for weeks. My heart sank when Sam came over to Golden with his hand out.

  “Wanna dance?” he said.

  It didn’t seem to make Golden nervous at all, to reach out and put her hand in his. “Be right back,” she told me. And together they walked up the steps to the deck.

  And there I sat, alone.

  Travis was wearing a green and white Nike T-shirt and a grin on his face as he walked over to me. “You wanna dance?” he asked politely.

  The tightness in my stomach was back. “No,” I replied.

  Travis put one foot on the step where I was sitting and listened to the music for a few seconds. With a smile in his eyes, he shrugged. “Not even on a good song?”

  I wanted him to leave, to go find somebody else to annoy, but he sat down next to me, real close, so close that I could feel his leg against mine. More flutters in my stomach, and even in my chest this time. My teeth started chattering.

  I was cold, that was all.

  “Your hair looks tight,” he said.

  “Thanks,” I replied. “Golden did it.”

  “She seems cool.”

  “She is.”

  Travis seemed to be waiting for me to look at him, so I did. “What?”

  He just kept smiling, looking like he was going to laugh.

  “What?” I said again.

  “Why you always actin’ so mean, Cassidy?”

  I looked away. “I’m not.”

  “And why are you diggin’ your nails into your arm like that?”

  I looked down. Travis was right. I relaxed and rested my hands in my lap. But I definitely still had those flutters.

  “Your nails look pretty too,” he told me.

  “Thanks,” I said. “My cousin Mary painted them to match my suit.”

  “For real? I know Mary. She’s cool with my sister.”

  “I know,” I said. “Sharee, right?”

  “Yeah…”

  And then there was more silence. Endless and forever silence. I wanted to get up and run out of the backyard, but where would I go? Sile
nce. Silence. Too much silence.

  Finally Travis said, “For real. You know how I like you, right?”

  Oh my goodness! I could hardly hear for the pounding in my ears. What in the world was I supposed to say to that?

  I couldn’t believe it, but Travis’s face showed no signs of kidding.

  “This year I might get to start. You could come to all my games, sit with my moms and pops up in the stands and everything.”

  “You’re always playing around, Travis,” I said.

  “Straight up,” he said, sounding really sincere. “You should be my lady, Cassidy.”

  I remembered that day at the park when Darwin had asked Rikki to go off with him so that Travis could be alone with me. Was Travis really being honest? I could sense him looking at me again, and I tried hard to keep looking right back.

  “What?” I said.

  He cracked a smile and nudged me. “Mean.”

  “I’m not.”

  “Yes, you are.”

  “No,” I said. “And as a matter of fact, I’m also not stuck-up. Since you guys made everybody think that I am, let’s get that straight right now. I’m a very nice person. Golden moved in next door to me and I was nice to her. You’re the one who’s mean, Travis. Let’s talk about who made me drop my goldfish and then laughed when I did.”

  Travis was speechless.

  I continued, “So, maybe I don’t always want to talk to you because maybe you haven’t always been so nice to me, Travis. Ever thought about that?”

  Wow. It sure felt good to speak my mind for a change.

  After a moment he said, “Well, we really were just playin’.”

  “Well, it wasn’t much fun.”

  “I tried to catch up with you to tell you, but you—”

  “And you laughed the loudest,” I pointed out to him.

  “Look. It’s not because I didn’t like you, all right? Like I said, we were just—”

  “You could’ve just come over and said, ‘Hi,’ Travis.” I was on a roll now. “How about that? If you like somebody and want to be friends, sometimes you can just go over to them and say, ‘Hi.’ You could have asked me about my fish, what his name was going to be.”

  He looked a little uncomfortable. “Can we just forget about that day, pretend it never happened?”