“Shut it, smart ass.” We finally caught up to Ashley who was standing by the door watching us walk up impatiently.
“Guys, did you not hear me? Come on, I know you don’t really want to watch the game, but I do. If either of you wanted to see a guy I would be more than supportive.”
“But, Ash, I have no interest in becoming interested in any guy. But thanks for the sentiment!” She glared at me before opening the door and going inside. Things had been strained between us for a few days and it seemed it was either her or I apologizing for one thing or another.
“Ash, look, I am sorry. I am supportive. I am. Let’s watch the game for a bit before going out back okay?”
“Thank you. Look! Three seats by the glass!” We followed Ashley as she led the way right to the front row.
***
The game had been going strong, with Willowspring in the lead, for at least forty-five minutes when Nate was slammed into the glass. His blood smeared between the surface and his face, leaving a long red trail on the barrier between rink and seats. Ashley was standing in a second, touching the glass where his face had mashed into it. “Oh no! Nate!”
Nate pushed back against the other player, and looked at Ashley with annoyance. “Ashley, are you sure Nate wanted you to come?”
“Why wouldn’t he? He is just hurt and trying to focus. I must be distracting him, is all. Let’s go out back.” Her clipped tone and quick stop to the conversation let us both know that we were not to comment any further on what just happened.
“Sure, Ash. I bet someone is out there, and if not it will let us figure out the best place to wait.” Macy gave me a worried look but didn’t say anymore.
We walked back up the stairs and into the lobby area. There was a food stand and tables everywhere selling Willowspring High Hockey team shirts and such. Walking toward the back door was tricky. If anyone that regularly went out there saw us, they would question us. Ashley and I, and now Macy, were not in the ‘in’ crowd. We had been to all of two games before and we would stick out like a sore thumb.
“Hey, Vi, isn’t that your brother?” Macy asked, pointing out the opposite corner. I looked over and she was right. Jason was standing in the back corner, with a group of kids around him. They were all looking around and back to Jason repeatedly. Something was not right.
“Yeah, it is. I will be right back, guys.” I took a few steps in his direction when he looked up and made eye contact. He said something quickly to the group around him and they all left in a hurry.
“What are you doing here?” Jason asked when I was close enough to hear him. He looked pissed off and I wasn’t sure what I had done, except show up.
“I’m here with Macy and Ashley. What are you doing here?”
“Supporting the team. You know Brock and the rest of the guys are my boys now.” He tried to walk away from me, but that did not answer my question and he knew it.
“No, I mean, back here, away from the game you are supposed to be supporting. Plus, aren’t you still grounded?” He stopped and turned around quickly.
“Seriously, Vi, are you going to narc me out?”
“No. There is no way Mom can blame this one on me. As long as if you get caught, you don’t tell her I saw you here.” He smiled at me for the first time in a week and stuck his hand out to shake on it. I really hoped he kept to his side of it because I really didn’t want to get grounded, too.
I walked back over to Ash and Macy with a simple “stupid brothers” and we headed for the glowing red exit sign.
When the door opened to the alley behind the rink, I realized two things. One, it was freaking colder outside than it was in the bleachers by the ice, and two, Brianna Jones, aka Bra Stuffer, was already out there.
The three of us walked out as if it was perfectly normal to be there but Brianna didn’t even notice us. We walked to the opposite side of the alley and huddled together. We hoped it would look like we were keeping warm, but we were trying to hide both the cameras.
Watching Brianna was rather dull. She was just standing there, talking on her cell phone and it wasn’t even anything remotely interesting. We took pictures anyway, because like Mr. Bennett said, you need the before, during, and after to tell a story with photographs.
“Look! She is checking that car’s doors! That isn’t her car, is it?” The quiet clicking of the shutters on our cameras was almost deafening to me. I swore each click was louder and louder as we watched Brianna try to break into a car.
Finally, the last door she tried, the back passenger side, was open. She slipped in and a second later, the dark car had a red glow inside. She climbed back out, shut the door, and walked over to the wall, smoking a stolen cigarette.
“She just broke into someone’s car for a cigarette? Seriously?” Ashley was just as flabbergasted as the rest of us. Why would anyone risk committing a crime for a smoke? “Oh! She is moving again!”
Click, click, click. I took more and more pictures. I hated that they were all from the same angle, but spies have to do what they have to do to keep from being caught, all the while still getting the images.
Brianna walked back to the car and put the cigarette out on the hood. Lucky for whoever owned it there was a layer of snow to put it out before it could burn the paint. Then she leaned over and used the mirror. She pursed her lips, showed her teeth to check those, and then she lifted her head slightly.
“What is she doing?” I whispered.
“I’m not sure.” Macy said breaking away from the group. “I am going over there, different angle.” Before I could stop her, she had gone back across the alley to the other side. She was braver than I was. Ashley watched her closely before turning back to me.
“Let me take some. I promise I won’t hurt Jilly.” I knew I had to hand it over. I promised her she could use it. Even knowing that, it didn’t make it any easier.
“Okay. Here.” I took the strap from around my neck and quickly placed it around hers. The minute the fabric was firmly against her skin, she took off, too. “Ash, what are you doing?” I whisper yelled to her.
She just put a finger over her mouth to shush me and she got even closer to the car than Macy had. I figured that made me look out so I opened my eyes and ears and tried to make sure my best friends didn’t get caught.
I looked over my shoulder to check the door to make sure we were still alone when all of a sudden I heard a scream.
“YOU LITTLE BITCH! GIVE ME THAT CAMERA NOW!” When I turned back to see what was going on (although I was pretty sure that either Macy or Ashley had been caught by Brianna) I saw my girls running towards me, with Brianna not far behind.
“Run!” Ash and Macy yelled through giggles. I turned and headed to the door and held it open for them. As soon as they passed through I closed it and the three of us went straight out the front door and to Macy’s truck.
“What on earth just happened?” I asked when I caught my breath. Ashley handed Jilly back to me and I flipped it on. The minute I pressed the play images button I began to laugh. The first one was of Brianna screaming at the camera. I pressed the next button and then it was a picture of her finger in her mouth. The next one was a picture of her finger in her nose.
I died laughing. Brianna Jones was a booger eater. I bet her boyfriend would love to know that.
“Oh, Ashley, you are amazing!” Then the truck erupted in laughter and because Macy’s dad had given her a twenty to get food at the overly expensive rink, we headed to the diner for some hot cocoa and french fries for half the cost. Who said teenagers were irresponsible with money?
THE NEXT DAY was all about the dance. We had spent the night at Macy’s so we could do the typical teenage dance preparations that supposedly took all day. The only one who had a brand new dress was Macy, and she felt really bad. I told her she should never feel guilty for not struggling. I was happy for her family to be secure. Although the more time Macy spent on our side of town the more she worried about her dad. I guess he hadn’t to
ld them much about the lay offs.
Ashley had one of her mother’s old dresses and I had one of my mom’s. My mom had taken them both in for us and changed a few things to make them look like a style a young woman would wear. They really did turn out beautiful.
Hour one after a late morning breakfast due to a late night movie fest in the living room was all about makeup. I did Ashley’s, Ashley did Macy and Macy did mine. Since Ashley was decked out in purple head to toe, quite literally since her shoes, dress and hair were all varying shades of purple, I figured I could give her a very natural look, with just a hint of purple eyeliner. I may not have liked her date very much, but I wanted Ashley to shine and have the best night ever.
Macy’s dress was a short and golden with little cap sleeves, so she got a very dramatic smoky eye, which was completely out of her comfort zone since she was very minimalistic in every day life.
Then there was me. My dress was bold. My mother thought I needed to step out of my shell. If only she knew. I had on this long flowing red dress with spaghetti straps and a slit up the side to just above my knee.
I gave in to the dress with only one sticking point. The shoes. I had never worn high heels with the exception of my princess dress-up shoes when I was five. I wanted to wear my red sneakers. It would match perfectly. Apparently, that was wrong.
“Vi, I know you don’t normally do the girly thing, but high heels are part of being a woman and part of growing up. Just put the damn heels on.” Macy had a pair of two-inch heels dangling from her fingers thrust out at me. “They are even little heels!”
“But, I don’t want to!” I was whining and I knew it. Then Ashley came into the room from Macy’s attached bathroom. She was stunning. She had just done her hair and it really did complete the look. Instead of her typical spikes, she did perfect pin curls like those that you would see on a nineteen twenties starlet, but with a purple twist. She was a vision!
“I know this isn’t your thing, and you are just going to take pictures, and what not, but please do not ruin the perfect night with fighting over something as silly as shoes. Look, I have heels that are a good two inches higher than yours. Macy has heels the same height. We looked for the lowest pair for you. You will look stunning in them. Please? Just wear them for me?”
How could I say no to that? “Fine.”
***
After we had all beautified ourselves we called out to Macy’s parents that we were ready. They wanted a grand entrance from us down the staircase. Mrs. Nellman was going to take pictures and send them to both Ashley’s and my parents.
“Okay, ladies! Stun us!” Mr. Nellman called out. Macy headed down the stairs first and we heard the oohs and ahs. Then I followed. Mr. Nellman had a big goofy grin on his face, and still had some soot under his eyes on the apples of his cheeks. He had gotten home from work late and hadn’t been able to fully wash up. “Vi, you look beautiful!”
“Thank you, Mr. Nellman.” He held out his hand to help me down the last step, which I tripped on anyway because of the stupid shoes on my feet.
I walked over next to Macy and we linked arms, watching the stairs for the one who this night was truly about as Ashley stepped onto the landing at the top of the stairs. I swear she looked like a high fashion model. I had never seen her look so put together. It was as if she could have stepped right out of a vogue magazine. Each of her steps down the stairs was graceful, completely the opposite of mine. No one even spoke on her decent. Her beauty truly stunned us all.
“Mom! Pictures!” Macy called out when Ash had finally reached the bottom step.
“Oh, I am so sorry honey. Can you go back up and I will take them of you walking down like I did for the other girls? I was just so wrapped up in your twenties era beauty that I completely forgot!” We all laughed, and assured Ashley it was one hundred percent true, as she went up, and back down the stairs.
Once the pictures were all done, there were only minutes until Nate was supposed to arrive to pick Ashley up. We all went and sat in the living room and turned on some music to wait.
Twenty minutes went by, and there was still no sign of Nate. Ashley began watching the clock, jumping each time the minute hand ticked later.
“Hey, Ash, Maybe he forgot he was picking you up here. Why don’t you call your mom to see if he showed up there, and is just trying to get through the traffic in the middle of town to get here?” Macy suggested. Ashley’s face lit up as she ran to find the phone.
“Do you really think that?” I whispered. Macy looked at the clock, then back to me with a frown and shook her head. Ashley came back in a moment later.
“Mom said no one had been there, but told me not to worry, that boys tended to be late.” Then she went over to the bay window that had a built-in seat and pulled the curtain back to watch out the window.
***
After two hours, we knew Nate wasn’t coming. Ashley was bawling, and Macy and I were livid. Macy’s mom was desperately trying to calm her down, asking Ash if she wanted her to call her mom.
“Why don’t we make some cake? We can make it another girls’ night in?” Macy suggested, not really knowing what else to say.
“You two should just go without me. They are probably all having a good laugh at the weird girl who thought she had a date with Nate, varsity hockey player.” Her voice was weak and her eyes were all puffy and red.
“No, you know what? You looked perfect. You would make every boy drool if you walked into that dance. Let’s get your makeup fixed again and we are all going to that dance. And you are going to stand up for yourself. You are going to walk right up to him and yell at him. Maybe even slap him!” I said, standing up, sure of the advice I was giving her.
“YEAH!” Macy cheered, standing up next to me. Macy’s mom stood behind her just nodding at Ashley.
“You know what,” Ashley said, sniffling a bit, “You are right. No one gets to treat me like this. What the hell was I thinking letting him keep me a secret? I am too good for that puck head!” Then she blew her nose, put her heels back on, and headed up the stairs.
“What are you doing?”
“Fixing my makeup. We have a dance to attend!”
MACY’S FATHER DECIDED that we were too upset to be driving. He was probably right. Ashley had moved from a sobbing mess to absolutely furious. Macy and I were angry, but excited to see Ash stand up for herself. Even more excited because she asked us to take pictures of the whole thing because she didn’t plan on backing down.
Mr. Nellson pulled over in front of the gym to let us out. He told Macy to call when we wanted to be picked up and he drove off. While our dresses were very pretty, they were very thin and it was freezing outside.
“Quick! Let’s go!” I said through chattering teeth. We walked into the gymnasium that had been decorated with all these fake snowflakes and plastic icicles.
“Do you see him?” Ashley asked, looking around the room. She could actually see over people in the shoes she was wearing.
“Nope, but there’s Brock.” I pointed him out. Wherever Brock was, Nate wasn’t far away.
“Let’s go.” Ashley led the way through the throng of dancing bodies. She didn’t realize it, but every one of the boys she passed looked her way. Nate was going to be so pissed at himself for standing her up.
We watched Brock leave the gym through the boy’s locker room. We all stood around, waiting outside the door.
“Why would they be in there? There’s not a game or anything. Forget it, we are going in.” Ashley said as she pushed open the door. I had never seen her as assertive as she was tonight.
We walked into unknown territory that smelled like dirty socks and pee. I had no idea how boys could deal with that stench every day. After walking through each row, we found no one there. There was another door at the back with an exit sign above it.
“Get the cameras ready. This will be good.” Once more Ashley pushed the door open and walked outside, standing tall and with some serious confidence.
Macy and I started snapping pictures as soon as the group of boys came into view. They were all huddled around a car trunk. There were four varsity boys, including Brock and Nate, as well as Jason, and a handful of kids I didn’t know.
As Ashley got closer, her walk lost her confidence. She slowed down, and kind of tilted her head to see around someone. None of the boys had seen us yet. Ashley stopped and motioned for us to get closer. As we did, I could see more through my camera lens then I could where we were standing.
Macy apparently could see what I could, and we both looked at each other in confusion. The trunk was full of bags of white powder. Hundreds of them. Brock was handing out bags to all the guys who were then transferring them to their own backpacks.
“Remember boys, I need the money in two weeks. You have two weeks to sell all that blow. If you have to, ride your bikes to the next town over and find the little freshman trying desperately to forget their rotten lives.” I could not believe my ears. They were selling drugs. My brother was selling drugs. Once I knew for a fact that they were really dealing, I put my camera down, but Macy was still taking pictures. I couldn’t just stand there. Jason was just a kid. It wasn’t right.
“Jason! What the hell are you doing?” I screamed out. Apparently, that was not the right thing to do.
Every head snapped up and looked in our direction. Then, every one of the boys freaked out, yelling at us to mind our own fucking business. Macy snapped another picture and they realized we had proof.
“GET THEM!” Brock yelled out. It took a minute but they all took off running after us.
I just stood there, watching my brother run at me, looking so apologetic. He even mouthed “sorry.” It wasn’t until Ashley grabbed my arm as she ran away, that I moved.
Running in heels is harder than walking in them. I knew I should have protested and worn my red sneakers. I stopped just long enough to take them off to run barefoot. When I heard someone catching up, I chucked one shoe over my head, hoping it would hit him. When I heard Brock’s voice groan out, I knew I had hit my target.
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