Surviving High School

by Doty, M.

  Emily uncurled her hand and shook it in the air as the blood slowly returned to her fingers. The four of them got out of the car, and Phil walked around back to pop the trunk. He pulled out a large pan covered in tinfoil, lifted it to check the contents, and smiled.

  “What’s that?” asked Emily.

  “A pony,” said Phil. “What do you think it is? Ben’s birthday cake. German chocolate. I baked it myself, with the help of a little lady named Betty Crocker.”

  “It’s—it’s his birthday?” asked Emily.

  “Uh, yeah,” said Marcus, pulling a carefully wrapped gift box out of the trunk. “Hence the birthday party. Now come on. Let’s get in there.”

  As the four of them walked toward the brightly lit house, Emily looked jealously at Phil’s cake and Marcus’s gift.

  “Great,” she whispered to Kimi. “I finally start liking a guy and I don’t even bring him a birthday present. Did I accidentally steal Cupid’s diaper in a previous life or something so he totally hates me, or am I just really, really bad at this?”

  “Do you really want me to answer that?” asked Kimi. She put an arm around Emily’s waist and pulled her in for a side hug as they walked toward the massive house. “Don’t sweat it. Ben obviously has plenty of stuff already. You just be you.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  The imposing oak doors of Ben’s house stood slightly ajar, and Phil pushed through them without knocking.

  They opened to a large central room bookended by two curling staircases headed off in opposite directions. A hundred-piece crystal chandelier hung above a huge expanse of black-and-white-checkered tiles going for almost a hundred feet—all the way to a glass wall through which Emily saw a huge infinity pool, the kind whose edges stretch all the way to the side of a terrace, creating the appearance of water hanging in space.

  There must have been a hundred and fifty people there. Emily recognized some of them from the cafeteria’s center table and the few that surrounded it, but there were a few surprises: Deependu Mahajan and Eric Erickson were sitting by the pool with red cups in their hands, their jeans rolled up and their feet in the water. And Samantha Hill sat in the center of the room, leading a round of Never Have I Ever. The chandelier shone brightly off her freshly shaved head.

  Emily breathed a sigh of relief: Nick Brown was nowhere to be seen.

  When Phil noticed Samantha’s new look, he set the cake down on a long table filled with desserts and approached her from behind.

  “Now that’s what I’m talking about, S-Dawg,” he said. “Can I touch it?”

  Samantha turned to him, her eyes blazing.

  “You put a hand on me, and you’ll lose it,” she said. She turned back to the circle of players, and Phil took a step away. The group looked expectantly at Samantha. Emily had heard about this game but had never participated: You started by holding up ten fingers, then lowered one and sipped your drink every time you’d done the naughty thing that someone else mentioned.

  “Never have I ever… kissed more than one person in a single night,” Samantha said, and several guys in the group groaned and lowered their fingers. Spencer, who had just lowered his last finger, raised his red cup to the circle and downed it in a few gulps.

  “We should get a drink,” said Kimi.

  “You mean, like, a drink?” asked Emily.

  Spencer belched loudly and crushed the red cup in his hand.

  “Maybe a root beer?” asked Kimi. “As long as it’s in a red cup, no one has to know what’s inside.”

  The girls walked over to a table filled with bottles Emily didn’t recognize. Finally, she was able to track down a half-empty jug of milk. She filled a red cup.

  “You’re kidding, right?” asked Dominique from behind her (it seemed like she was always sneaking up on Emily). “You came to a birthday party dressed as a birthday cake?”

  Dominique approached the table, set down her cup, and filled it with cranberry juice. When she picked up a bottle decorated with images of swans in flight and found it empty, she turned to a nearby boy, whom Emily recognized as Amir.

  “Find me something to make my drink a little more interesting,” she said. “Now.”

  Amir took her cup and ran to the kitchen.

  Emily sipped her milk and looked Dominique up and down. She was wearing a tiny gold dress that stretched barely from her upper thighs to the top of her chest, so delicately balanced that it seemed the slightest movement would cause a wardrobe malfunction. It was the kind of dress that guys loved and girls hated—unless you were the one wearing it.

  “Nice lingerie,” said Kimi.

  “Nice polka dots. Did you get called back in time to sell houses in the fifties?”

  “I’m not a Realtor! Now why don’t you head back to the Frederick’s of Hollywood catalog you crawled out of and leave us alone?”

  “Gladly,” said Dominique. “You’re not the one I wore this for anyway. He’s still hiding somewhere.” Trying to find Ben, all three girls turned and looked over the sea of partiers.

  “Catch you later, Swimbot,” Dominique added. “You really do look great. You know, you should seriously consider accessorizing—with a scoop of ice cream.”

  As Dominique turned, Amir came running from the kitchen with her drink in hand. She took one sip, grimaced, and handed it back to him.

  “Try again,” she said as she walked toward the central room. Amir watched her go, looking down at the cup in his hands.

  “Stupid,” he said to himself. “Stupid.”

  “What are you, her butler or something?” asked Kevin, who had just walked up from behind them. Amir turned to look at him.

  “I’m just being nice.”

  “I’m just saying, there are cooler girls at the party,” said Kevin. “Don’t waste your time with that one.”

  “I’m practicing my moves for when my ladylove, Claire, finally visits from Canada,” said Amir defensively.

  “Right,” said Kevin. “Your long-term, megahot Canadian girlfriend who would rather spend her Friday nights playing World of Warcraft with you than dating the beefcake, lumberjack-looking dudes at her school.”

  “You doubt her authenticity?” shouted Amir, his voice’s pitch growing higher. “Take it back, swine!”

  “What are you two doing here?” asked Kimi, interrupting their conversation before it became too nerdy to bear.

  “I always come to Ben’s parties,” said Kevin. “We go way back—to Odyssey of the Mind days in middle school. He practically taught me how to code.”

  “Speaking of which,” said Amir, “I believe I spotted a certain electron-microscope prototype in his dad’s office. Want to take a peek?”

  Kevin turned to the girls.

  “As sad as it makes me to say good-bye to you, I do actually want to go check that microscope out,” he said. “Maybe I’ll catch you later.”

  “Can you believe him?” asked Kimi, not taking her eyes off Kevin as he walked away. “Ditching girls like us to go play with some nerd toy. So lame!”

  “As lame as crashing a guy’s birthday party when I barely know him?” asked Emily.

  “Hey! Don’t you dare compare yourself to those geeks,” said Kimi. “Who cares if you don’t know him that well? Ben has totally been giving you, like, you know, signals.”

  As she spoke, Kimi took her BlackBerry out of her pocket, created a new file for Kevin Delucca, and in the cons column wrote Lonely nerd.

  “You’re starting a file for that guy?” asked Emily. “He doesn’t seem like your usual type.”

  Kimi shrugged. “Most guys at school have a file. I like to be thorough.”

  A few minutes later, Kimi went off to find Phil, leaving Emily by herself. She was standing against a wall, looking over the sea of faces and hoping to see Ben Kale, when a voice to her left said, “There’s an unexpected sight. A Kessler at a party.”

  Emily turned to see Cameron Clark, a drink in hand, looking down at her. She hadn’t realized until now just how tal
l he was—six foot two at least. His tight black shirt showed off the elegant V of his chest, and girls all around the room kept glancing his way. Emily stared up into his cold blue eyes, speechless.

  “Your sister—she wasn’t the type to make it out much,” he said, sipping from his cup.

  “Yeah,” said Emily. “Well, I’m not her.”

  “I know.” He looked down at her, studying her face. “Sara and I used to swim together almost every morning. I guess she never mentioned me?”

  Emily shook her head.

  “Sara was like that,” he said. “Quiet. Good at keeping secrets.”

  Emily was about to ask Cameron what he meant when a tall blond girl approached and stumbled into him. She wrapped an arm around his torso to steady herself, and Emily felt a sudden, unexpected wave of jealousy.

  “I thought you were going to tell me about that—uh—something. Over in your car?” the blond girl said, not so subtly.

  Cameron took another drink.

  “Good talking to you,” he said, looking over at Emily. “But as you see, I’ve got promises to keep.”

  He took the girl by the hand and led her out the front door and away from the party as Emily looked on.

  Secrets, he’d said. What did that mean?

  Emily looked around the party hoping to spot Kimi, and saw her close to the center of the room, standing awkwardly near the juniors and seniors, who were still playing their drinking game. Steeling up her nerve, Emily walked over and stood beside Kimi.

  “Never have I ever… sucked a toe,” said a Gothy girl named Dinah, and the circle said a collective “ewww” before falling silent as Spencer lowered a finger and sipped from his cup.

  “Gross,” said Hannah, whom Emily knew from the swim team.

  “How do you even bend your feet that far?” asked Amanda. “You must be so flexible!”

  “What?! No, I mean, it wasn’t my toe, it was—” Spencer stopped himself from saying more. “Never mind. I took my drink. Next question.”

  “Looks like we have a couple of new recruits,” said Samantha, patting the couch next to her and looking at Emily and Kimi. “I’m hoping you’re not as innocent as you seem, or this could be a bad night for the rest of us.”

  The girls took a seat, even as Emily continued to scan the room for Ben. The group looked expectantly at Kimi, waiting for her to take her turn.

  “Never have I ever… gone skinny dipping,” she said, looking out at the pool, and almost everyone else in the circle lowered their fingers and sipped their drinks.

  “Maybe we can fix that later,” said Zach Reynolds, one of the senior football players, before his girlfriend, Hannah, elbowed him in the ribs. The group turned its attention to Emily, who stared out across the room, not paying attention. Where was Ben? Had he gone to sleep early again, like at his last party? What if he—

  “Em,” said Kimi in a loud whisper, “your turn.”

  “Oh, uh, right,” said Emily. “Never have I ever—”

  What had she done? Been on a date? Made out with a guy? Gone to a dance? Held hands?

  None of the above.

  But probably best not to advertise any of that. She decided to avoid the topic of sex and romance altogether.

  “—eaten a gummi bear.”

  Everyone laughed.

  “What about gummi worms?” asked Spencer, and Emily shook her head. “Gummi rings? Gummi fish? Gummi dinosaurs?”

  “No, no, and no.”

  “You poor, deprived girl.”

  The rest of the group lowered their fingers and sipped their drinks.

  “Okay,” said Spencer. “I’ve got one. Never have I ever kissed a guy.”

  “Lame,” said Samantha. “That’s cheating. You can’t be gender specific like that.”

  “I didn’t make the rules,” said Spencer. “I just exploit the loopholes.”

  All the girls in the circle, Kimi included, lowered their fingers and drank. Everyone but Emily. Spencer stared at her, his mouth open.

  “Seriously?” he asked. “Never?”

  Emily’s face turned bright red.

  “You’re joking, right?” asked Hannah, and Emily shook her head, ashamed.

  She looked around the party. Everyone else stood in small circles, talking, drinking, and laughing—and for a moment it seemed as if the joke was at her expense. She was the only one in the circle who had never been kissed. Maybe even the only one at the party.

  “That’s just—sad,” said Spencer.

  “Leave her alone,” said Samantha. “She’s, like, eight years old.”

  “I wasn’t trying to be a jerk about it,” said Spencer. “I was just sur—”

  “I have to go—to the restroom,” Emily said, standing up.

  “Em, wait,” said Kimi, but Emily was already walking out of the room and up the nearby staircase, trying to get as far away from the party as possible.

  “See if you can find someone to make out with on your way back!” Zach shouted before Hannah elbowed him in the ribs again.

  Upstairs, Emily looked down a long hall of closed doors, trying to guess which one was a bathroom. She ran a finger under her eye and was relieved to find it dry. Good: She’d held it together pretty well so far. Still, she needed a few minutes of solitude to shake off the shame of Never Have I Ever before she faced the party again. She walked to a door in the middle of the hall and, hoping it led to a bathroom, turned the handle.

  The door opened into a large, dark room. The only light came from the far wall, where a faint blue glow from a projector stretched over a large, empty space. As Emily took a step toward the light, a burst of green and yellow spread across the wall in the shape of her body, and she looked back to see a camera hooked up to a computer and pointed in her direction.

  Emily jumped up and down, and the colors on the wall swirled, copying her movements. She waved her hands, and bursts of red and violet sprouted from her projection’s fingertips. She couldn’t help but smile. She leaned left and right, watching her image change colors and move in sync with her body. She started twirling, the poofy bottom of her dress floating around her like a parachute, and her image glowed bright white. On the wall, the edge of her skirt became a golden circle surrounding her like a ring of Saturn.

  “Kind of geeky, huh?” said a voice from behind her, and Emily turned to see Ben in the doorway. Rather than the night’s standard guy outfit of dark jeans and a T-shirt, he wore pajama bottoms and a Golden State Warriors jersey, as if he were ready to crawl into bed. She stopped twirling, felt her skirt settle back down around her thighs, and watched her projection fade to a cool green. Unfortunately, the room continued to spin as a wave of dizziness passed over her.

  “I, uh, thought this was a bathroom,” said Emily, leaning on a nightstand to steady herself. She stifled an urge to jump out the window. Couldn’t she go five minutes at this party without completely embarrassing herself?

  Ben smiled. “Well, I hope you figured out your mistake before you did anything regrettable in here. It wouldn’t be the first time someone at one of my parties mistook this for the bathroom.”

  “Don’t worry,” said Emily. “All I did was dance like an idiot.”

  “Don’t be too hard on yourself. You were pretty graceful, and your dress generated some really cool visuals, like it was on fire or something. Of course, I might happen to know a few tricks you don’t.” Ben stepped forward into the camera’s field of view, and his image joined Emily’s on the wall. “Watch this,” he said as he raised a hand and snapped his fingers. On the wall, a shower of sparks fell from his projection’s fingertips as if a firework had exploded in his hand.

  Emily raised her arm into the air and unsuccessfully tried to snap her fingers. She felt her face glowing red for what had to be the thousandth time tonight—embarrassment was becoming her default setting.

  She wondered if Ben had heard she’d never kissed a boy. Even if he didn’t know yet, he would by the end of the night. She imagined Spencer lean
ing over and whispering the news in Ben’s ear—and Ben trying to stifle a laugh as he realized her inexperience. Her skin glowed even redder, as if she were a strawberry Tootsie Pop or cherry Popsicle. At least it was dark in here.

  She tried to snap again. Total silence. Ben looked up at her fingers, amused.

  “Wait,” he said. “You do know how to snap, right?”

  She tried again, pressing her fingers together as hard as she could, but the only noise she made was the soft rubbing of skin against skin.

  “I, uh, don’t know how to whistle, either,” she said.

  “It’s not too hard,” said Ben. “Here, you just put your thumb against your middle finger like this—”

  He took her hand and laid her fingers against each other. A few moments passed before he seemed to realize he hadn’t let go, and he quickly drew his hands back as if he’d burned them on a hot stove.

  “I, er, yeah, like that,” he said, taking a step back and smiling a little too wide.

  She tried to snap again, and a faint popping sound echoed through the room. A tiny shower of sparks appeared at her image’s fingertips on the wall.

  “Not bad, Kessler, not bad,” said Ben.

  “This is pretty cool,” said Emily. “What is it? Like, a Wii or something?”

  “I’m going to pretend you didn’t just ask that,” said Ben. “I actually designed this myself. See, the camera I set up over there sends a feed to my computer, where some software I wrote transforms the image, then sends it to that projector on that shelf.”

  “Huh,” said Emily. “So you do use your brain for purposes other than hacking student newspapers and destroying swimming pools?”

  “Hey, that was some of my best work,” he said, smiling.

  For the first time, Emily noticed a shelf full of dusty trophies at the side of Ben’s room. She walked over to them and examined a certificate that read BEN KALE, 1ST PLACE, CALIFORNIA STATE TECHNOLOGY FAIR, 8TH-GRADE DIVISION.

  “Those are all from a long time ago,” said Ben.