by Kristy Tate
“Elizabeth can’t cart around trays and water pitchers,” Lizbet said, returning to her favorite argument point.
“She’ll be great,” Daugherty countered as she turned away. She pulled open the refrigerator door and frowned at the platters of vegetables. “Do you really think anyone is going to eat these?”
“No.” Lizbet boosted herself up onto the counter.
“Janet Peterson insisted on them.” Daugherty turned and caught sight of Lizbet parked on the counter. “What are you doing? You’re not staying here.”
“I’ll feel awkward.”
“I don’t care. You should go for Declan.”
“He won’t even be able to see me. There’s like a thousand people in the stadium.”
“Then do it for me.”
“You?”
“I need you to watch John and Gloria.”
“Why? They don’t even like each other.”
Daugherty planted her hands on her hips and glared at Lizbet.
Lizbet sighed and slid off the counter. “This is dumb.”
“Declan’s your boyfriend.”
“No one has ever said that,” Lizbet muttered.
Daugherty arched an eyebrow. “No? What would you call him? The guy who spends every spare moment he can with you?”
“That’s too long.” Lizbet smirked. “I call him Declan, because that’s his name.”
Daugherty placed her hands on Lizbet’s shoulders and steered her toward the door. “I love you, but I don’t have time to argue with you. Please go and sit with your boyfriend’s parents and be a part of his graduation ceremony.”
“Are you sure?”
The door opened and Matias and Maria entered, each carrying a giant orange plastic water cooler. Elizabeth and a wagon filled with watermelons followed.
“I almost lost one of these puppies,” Elizabeth said as she stopped the wagon in the center of the room. “It rolled across the parking lot and came within inches of Mark Platter’s SUV’s tires. Matias rescued it from a life of watermelon sludge. You should have seen him. He was a thing of beauty.”
“He’s always a thing of beauty,” Daugherty said, smiling at him.
Matias flushed beneath her observation. His eyes slid to Lizbet’s, checking to see if she’d noticed. Dressed in black pants and a white button-down shirt that offset his dark skin, hair, and eyes, he was—as her mom had said—a thing of beauty.
Maria, his sister, snorted. “You have obviously never seen him—or smelled him—after soccer practice. If you had, you would call him an odiferous troll.”
“Trolls can be useful,” Daugherty said. “They’re strong—”
“Strong smelling,” Maria interjected.
“We don’t have time for sibling squabbling,” Daugherty said. “We’ve got to get these melons sliced up.” She passed out knives and cutting boards.
Lizbet held out her hand, but her mom just frowned at her. “Get!”
Matias and Maria both sent Lizbet questioning looks. Since Lizbet sometimes felt awkward with Matias, she gave up with a shrug. “I’ll be back right after the ceremony to help,” she said over her shoulder.
She passed through the mostly deserted hallway, trying to imagine what it would have been like to have attended a public school. She’d been homeschooled, first taught by her mom on Blackstone Island, and then tutored by Maria and Matias when she’d come to stay with Elizabeth. She’d done well on her SATs and already signed up for courses at the Queen Anne Community College. The woman at the advisement center had told her that after she completed her associate degree, she’d be able to apply to any school she wished, and if she wanted to attend a Washington University they would accept her college credits.
But Lizbet’s problem was she really didn’t know where she wanted to go from there. She paused in front of the gym doors, admiring her mom’s work. Daugherty had collaborated with the PTA board and mostly used the decorations from years past, but she could make even dog-eared streamers, flags, and garlands look good. She’d steered the committee away from the traditional balloons and used Dr. Seuss’s book Oh, the Places You’ll Go as the theme. She had asked students from the art department to paint posters mimicking Dr. Seuss and all the decorations matched his crazy color scheme.
Oh, the Places You’ll Go. It seemed like a mockery to Lizbet. Declan would go to Duke. She’d be left behind.
The high school band began to play and Lizbet picked up her pace. She had a general idea of where to find the football stadium and the music guided her. Outside, she spotted the crowd of seniors lined up behind the stands. She looked for Declan, but everyone looked so similar in their dark robes and funny square hats. Then she saw him in the white-robed crowd with a collection of ribbons and medals draped around his neck, standing next to Baxter who towered over everyone like a goose in a flock of baby chicks. Declan didn’t see her. She didn’t call out, but hurried through the gates, flashing her ticket at the kid standing sentinel. He pointed her toward the center section. John waved at her. Moments later, the band crashed into Pomp and Circumstance and Lizbet took her seat between John and Gloria. Despite the fact that she was surrounded by thousands of people, she’d never felt more alone.
Strange, when she’d lived on the island with just her mom and the animals for company she hadn’t been lonely. It wasn’t until she’d come to East End and her eyes had been opened to a vast world filled with people and complex relationships that she’d realized how different she was. She now knew that being alone didn’t necessarily make you lonely. But being different definitely did.
THERE WERE ABOUT THREE hundred students in Declan’s graduating class. Of course, not all of those were attending grad night, but it seemed like it. The gym pulsed with music, laughter, and dozens of conversations. Game booths manned by teachers, parents, and volunteers lined the walls. Declan spotted the other guys from the basketball team shooting hoops through what looked like the Cat in the Hat’s hat. He glanced around, hoping to catch sight of Lizbet.
She, along with her mom and the Hernandez twins, were catering and she had to be somewhere close. Knowing Lizbet, she’d probably spend the evening hiding in the kitchen. He smiled, trying to think of ways to draw her out.
He spotted Matias Hernandez refilling the water dispensers. His white button-down shirt offset his dark skin, hair, and eyes. His hair curled away from his forehead and his chin carried a hint of a beard shadow. Declan wasn’t the only one watching Matias at the water coolers. Several girls gathered around him, cups held out, waiting for water and the chance to speak to him.
Matias laughed at something one of the girls said and filled her cup, but his laughter didn’t touch his eyes. His attention moved behind the cluster of girls to the back of the room where Lizbet stood beside the cookie table, refilling the trays. Declan’s stomach curled as he watched Matias watch Lizbet.
Like Matias, Lizbet wore simple black pants, a white button-down shirt, and a black tie. It was the most sedate thing he’d ever seen her wear. Her hair, normally so wild, had been pulled back into a tight bun at the crown of her head. He itched to set it free, and he wondered what she’d do if he did.
Someone elbowed him. “You’re drooling, man,” Baxter said. “Why don’t you just go and talk to her.”
Declan shook himself. “I can’t. I promised her mom I wouldn’t distract her. This job is really important to Daugherty and she wants everything to look professional. I offered to help, but...”
Declan glimpsed the ring-toss booth manned by his mom.
Baxter intercepted and interpreted the look. “Your mom doesn’t approve?”
“It’s not that she doesn’t approve of Lizbet. She thinks it’s silly to start a relationship when I’m leaving for Duke in two months.”
“Hmmm,” Baxter murmured in his annoying I-know-everything way.
“What does that mean?” Declan practically growled.
“Well, you know it’s typical for females, especially mothers and their potent
ial daughters-in-law, to engage in power struggles.”
Declan pushed Baxter in the chest, but the mammoth didn’t budge. “I’m not marrying Lizbet.”
Baxter just raised an eyebrow.
“At least not anytime soon,” Declan muttered.
“Doesn’t matter. I’m sure your mom still sees her as a threat.”
“To what?”
Baxter rolled his eyes. “For the last eighteen years, your mom has been the leading lady in your life. It’s hard for any mother to relinquish that.”
“My mom’s not like that.” Declan angled away from Gloria. He knew that she wouldn’t be able to hear him over the noise, but he didn’t want to take the chance. “She has enough of her own drama to worry about.”
“Then why was she warning you off Lizbet?”
Declan rolled his eyes. “She wasn’t... Not exactly.”
Baxter pointed his cup at Lizbet and Matias. Lizbet held the cookie tray while Matias transferred the cookies to the platters on the table. They worked seamlessly together, almost as if their movements were choreographed. Declan knew they were tight friends.
When he left for Duke, Matias would still be around. He was going to the University of Washington on a soccer scholarship. Hopefully, he’d be so busy practicing breakaways he wouldn’t have time to flirt with Lizbet.
Baxter grinned. “You got it bad...”
“Shut it.” Declan threw his elbow into Baxter’s gut before striding across the gym. Nicole intercepted him.
“Hey. Have you tried the whack-a-mole?” Light from the disco ball sparkled on her blond hair.
He didn’t know how to tell her that at that moment the only thing he wanted to whack was the guy laughing with Lizbet. Both of Lizbet’s hands were occupied with the cookie tray, so Matias held a glass of punch to Lizbet’s lips for her to drink. The gesture, in Declan’s mind, crossed the line between friendship and intimacy.
“Come on.” Nicole took his arm and tugged him toward the whack-a-mole booth.
Declan felt his mom’s attention following him as he allowed Nicole to tow him across the gym.
“See the giraffe?” Nicole pointed at the yellow and blue stuffed animal. “My baby brother loves giraffes and you only have to hit ten moles in two minutes to win one.”
Declan knew Nicole’s little brother had Down Syndrome.
“You’ll get him one, right?” Nicole looked at him with her pale blue eyes.
Declan sought out Lizbet. The cookie platters had been restocked, and she and Matias had disappeared.
“Sure,” Declan said, giving the attendant a ticket and picking up the giant rubber hammer. As he nailed the mechanical mole heads popping out of the circles of AstroTurf, he imagined that each of them was Matias.
JOHN AND DAUGHERTY stood side by side, assembling sandwiches. They looked good together, like they belonged. Lizbet tried to imagine what would happen if they decided to marry. What would that mean? She would always be connected to Declan and she wasn’t sure how she’d feel about that. Of course, it would be great if they stayed together, but what if he went to Duke—as he assuredly would—and met and fell for a co-ed? Where would that leave her? She imagined sharing a string of holidays with her mom, John, and Declan and his wife and children. Her stomach rolled.
Daugherty glanced at Lizbet over her shoulder. “You okay, babe?”
Lizbet nodded. “I’m just... I don’t know. I’m fine.” She quickly loaded up another tray of cookies. Holding the platter above her head as she weaved through the mass of students, she made for the refreshment table. A siren sounded and lights began to flash, signaling that someone had won an arcade game. She looked up from her catering detail to see Nicole with a giant giraffe tucked under her arm, kissing Declan.
Lizbet’s world shifted. Keeping her head down, she quickly transferred the cookies from the tray to the platters on the tables. Feeling sick, she bolted for the open door.
The night air tingled against her skin. Leaning against the brick building, she tipped her head back and stared at the stars dotting the dark sky. Their beauty couldn’t compete with the memory of Declan and Nicole kissing.
Nicole was the sort of girl Declan belonged with. They were both going to Duke. They had grown up in the same sort of society. Lizbet understood that she didn’t fit into their world.
But sometimes she felt as if she didn’t belong in anyone’s world.
“Here.” Matias appeared at her elbow. He handed her another cup of punch.
She smiled at him, took the cup, and drank it all in one swallow. The cool liquid burned down her throat, making her gasp. “What was that?” She wiped her lips with the back of her hand.
“Punch?”
Lizbet shook her head. “It’s not the same punch I had a moment ago.”
Matias’s eyebrows shot up. He took the cup from her, sniffed it, and softly swore. “Vodka?”
Lizbet shook her head. “I wouldn’t know.”
“I better go and tell your mom.” But he didn’t leave. “Are you going to be all right?”
Lizbet nodded. “I’m just...” She placed her hand on her belly, feeling sick. “Tell my mom I’ll be right in.”
Matias nodded.
An opossum lounging in a maple tree beside the science building bared his teeth at Lizbet. “Are you ill?”
“Maybe. I feel more stupid than anything.” She closed her eyes and leaned back against the science building.
“Well, if it’s smarts you’re wanting, I suppose you’re in the right place,” the opossum said.
She peeked open an eye. The opossum twitched his tail at her. “So you think I should go to school, too?”
The opossum stared at her with his black beady eyes but didn’t reply.
“It’s just so expensive. To me, it makes more sense to stay at the ranch with Elizabeth, help out with my mom’s business, and work at the nursery.”
“Is that what you want to do?”
She couldn’t follow Declan to Duke and she’d never get in—at least not for a while. Maybe Declan wouldn’t even be there by the time she finished her associate degree. “I can’t do what I want to do,” she said through clenched teeth. Right now, she wanted to punch Nicole and Declan in their bellies.
DECLAN PULLED AWAY from Nicole in time to see Lizbet dashing out through the wide double doors. As a student, he wasn’t allowed to leave the building, whereas Lizbet could come and go as she pleased. He followed her anyway.
Nicole grabbed at his arm, but he shook her off. He passed the refreshment table where a group of teachers clustered around the punch bowl. Knowing he’d be caught if he used the same doors he’d seen Lizbet pass through, he slipped into the locker room and out the back door.
The dark night, so different from the commotion and noise in the gym, calmed Declan. So what if Lizbet had seen Nicole kiss him? She’d understand, wouldn’t she? It hadn’t meant anything. But a voice in the back of his head told him it would mean a great deal to Lizbet.
He found her outside the science building, pressed up against the wall, gazing at the tree. Something skittered in the branches above her head. She turned to him.
“Lizbet,” he began.
She shook her head and held out one flexed hand, palm facing him like a traffic cop. “I can’t talk to you right now.”
He stepped closer and pointed at the gym. “Back there. It’s not what you think.”
“How do you know what I think?”
She looked unusually pale, and her eyes, typically warm, were cold and swimmy with tears.
His stomach clenched. “Lizbet,” he began again.
“Don’t,” she said, right before she doubled over and vomited.
The bird who has eaten cannot fly with the bird that is hungry. – Omaha
CHAPTER 3
Declan froze. “You’re sick.”
She shook her head. “Vodka.”
“Vodka?” Declan turned to Matias coming through the wide doors and his voice hardened.
“You gave her vodka?”
“I didn’t give her vodka...at least not intentionally.”
“So you did give her vodka?”
Matias saw the vomit, and took Lizbet’s elbow. He shot Declan a dirty look. “Come on,” he said to Lizbet, his voice soft. “I’ll take you home.”
“I’ll take her home,” Declan said. He wanted to step closer, but the vomit separated them.
Matias’s jaw hardened. “You’ve done enough already. Go back to the party.”
“If anyone is taking Lizbet home, it’s me,” Declan insisted.
“Sorry, school boy, you’re not allowed to leave.” Matias curled his lips, and took a protective step in front of Lizbet.
Declan decided to ignore the vomit and lined the toes of his sneakers up against Matias’s black boots. “You’re not going to stop me.”
Matias shoved Declan back a half step.
“Stop this,” Lizbet said, looping her arm around Matias’s. “Please.”
Declan’s breathing accelerated and he curled his hands into fists.
“Declan?” Gloria, followed by his dad, emerged from the wide double doors. “What’s going on?”
“Son,” his dad said, “you know you’re not supposed to be out here.”
Declan tipped his head at Matias. “He gave Lizbet vodka.”
“No I didn’t,” Matias said, scoffing. “I wouldn’t do that. Intentionally.”
“That’s a pretty serious accusation, son,” Declan’s dad said.
Declan bit his lip.
“Let’s just all go and talk about this calmly and rationally,” his dad said, taking Declan’s arm in one hand and Matias’s in the other.
“Why don’t you come with me?” Gloria reached for Lizbet’s hand. “John, can you explain things to Daugherty? Tell her I’m taking Lizbet to my house. She can lie down there and Daugherty can pick her up in the morning after grad night ends.”
“I’ll take her home!” Declan tried to duck out of his dad’s grip, but John tightened his hold on Declan’s arm.