Love Inc.

by Yvonne Collins

  I glare at Kali. I can’t believe she’s cramming in a little matchmaking on the night of our biggest gig. ‘What a coincidence,’ I say.

  Kali’s smile is all innocence. ‘Isn’t it?’ Syd is scowling at her, but Kali waves Max over anyway. ‘Well, it would be rude not to say hello.’

  Max looks super cool tonight. His hair is all spiked up, and he’s wearing a long vintage police coat. ‘Hey,’ he says, smiling at Syd.

  ‘Hey,’ Syd says. She fights to hold on to her scowl, but it fades quickly.

  Kali pulls me aside to give them a little privacy. ‘Guess what?’ she says. ‘Caleb and I have gone out three times, and I still like him. It’s a miracle, right?’

  ‘Not really,’ I say. ‘He’s built like Owen Gaines.’

  The real miracle is taking place beside us, where Syd is actually giggling. She enters her number into Max’s phone, before he heads back into the crowd.

  ‘What?’ she says, joining us. ‘I agreed to help Max keep score at Madison’s Valentine’s Day exhibition match. It’s no big deal. Understood?’

  ‘Understood,’ I say.

  ‘Syd’s got a boyfriend!’ Kali shouts to Brody when he comes back from the car with Luke.

  When the band launches into the last song of their set, we get back to business. Syd double-checks the battery power on her video camera, plugs an earpiece into her walkie-talkie, and repeats the plan. I’m to put my walkie in my coat pocket and keep it turned on. When Addison’s in position with Viper, all I have to do is hit the talk button a couple of times. The static will alert Syd to come with the camera. Kali and Luke need to be ready to create a diversion while Syd records.

  Syd delivers a last warning. ‘Don’t forget to turn off your walkie after you signal us, Z. Otherwise, Addison will hear voices coming out of your pocket if Kali and I need to communicate, and we’re dead. The code word for trouble is coyote.’

  ‘Press several times for static. Turn it off. Coyote means trouble,’ I say. ‘Got it.’

  As we’re about to split up again, someone calls my name. I turn to see Angel, the boxer. ‘Hey, Angel,’ I say, trying to be friendly, although we’re in the middle of our biggest sting ever.

  ‘You look great,’ he says, hugging me.

  ‘Thanks.’ I break the hug as soon as I can without being rude. Angel looks amazing in a fitted sweater that shows off his hard-earned physique. I glance around and see that the only one not checking him out is Luke.

  ‘You never said you were into Jack Spit,’ Angel says.

  That must be Viper’s band. ‘Recent convert.’

  ‘Lucky for me,’ he replies. ‘I didn’t think I’d see you again.’

  Brody touches my arm. ‘We’d better get going.’

  Angel catches the gruff tone. ‘Hey, dude, I’m sorry. Zahra didn’t mention a boyfriend.’

  ‘I’m not her boyfriend,’ Brody says, too quickly and forcefully for someone who was holding my hand ten minutes ago.

  Waving to Angel, I say, ‘We’re all meeting some friends. It was nice to see you, though.’

  Brody and I break away from the others as Jack Spit finishes its set and the DJ takes the stage to introduce the next band.

  ‘Can you slow down?’ I ask, as we head into the field that serves as a parking lot. ‘What’s wrong with you?’

  ‘For a girl who hates guys, you seem to lead a lot of them on.’

  ‘I do not hate guys,’ I say. ‘And I don’t lead them on.’

  ‘Right. Unless you have to for a case.’

  His comment takes me aback. I’d never really thought about it that way before. ‘Then it’s business,’ I say, worried now that Brody might see me as a man-eating insect, like Andrew did. ‘That’s different.’

  ‘Yeah, well, how does someone know where the acting ends and the real Zahra begins?’

  ‘I guess someone would have to ask,’ I say. ‘In Crazy Class we call it communication.’

  Brody ignores this, but he slows down as we weave our way through the cars and trucks until we spot Addison. She’s sitting with Viper on the tailgate of a truck.

  Before we reach them, I haul on Brody’s sleeve until he finally turns. ‘Whatever’s bugging you, save it until we’re done,’ I say. ‘Right now, you’re getting paid to act too.’

  Brody slides an arm around my shoulder. ‘You’ll get your money’s worth.’

  We join the group, and Addison introduces us to Viper and the rest of the band.

  Viper bends over a cooler and hands us a couple of beers.

  I crack open the can and take a sip. It’s just as bitter and horrible as I expected, but I smile. ‘A cold beer on a beautiful night – what more could you want?’

  ‘Just a beautiful girl,’ Brody says, pulling me closer.

  ‘Hear, hear,’ Viper says. He taps his can against Brody’s and wraps an arm around Addison. One of his rings is like armor, covering his finger from base to tip.

  Reaching out with her beer can, Addison touches mine and whispers, ‘To blowing off steam.’

  Brody compliments Viper on the band’s set, and Viper shares his plan to drop out of school and tour Czechoslovakia, where Jack Spit has a big Internet following.

  ‘Poor Addison,’ I say. ‘You’ll be left all alone.’ With just one boyfriend, the devoted Willem.

  ‘I know,’ she says, kissing Viper on the cheek. ‘Poor me.’

  Viper leans over and nuzzles her neck.

  Deciding the time is right, I reach into my pocket and press the button on the walkie-talkie a few times.

  Brody whispers, ‘Let’s show them how it’s done.’

  Leaning over, he kisses me, letting his hand slide down my back to pull me closer. It feels so good that I take my hand out of my pocket and put it on the back of his neck. He kisses me again, and the soles of my sneakers seem to fuse with the rocky soil. I open my eyes and see the stars and the moon overhead and forget where I am for a moment. This is the best kiss ever. It makes all the kisses I’ve had before seem ordinary. Mediocre. This is what Brody was talking about before. No one should settle for less than this.

  It could be two minutes or ten before Brody finally stops for breath. ‘Wow,’ he says.

  ‘Yeah,’ I say. ‘Not acting. In case you were wondering.’

  ‘Thanks for communicating,’ he says.

  We grin at each other for another few seconds before I suddenly remember our mission, and glance over his shoulder. Viper has pulled Addison right onto his lap and they’re going at it hard. Off to our right, I see Syd’s head between the parked trucks. She has the camera trained on Addison and Viper. When they finally come up for air, Syd gives me the thumbs-up and slips out of sight.

  ‘Thanks for the beer,’ I say to Addison and Viper. ‘I think we’re going to find somewhere a little more private.’

  We rendezvous with the others and watch over Syd’s shoulder while she replays the footage. ‘Phase one complete,’ Syd says, handing me her phone. ‘Call Willem and fill him in. I managed to get a cell signal near the Porta-Potties.’

  Despite the noise and distractions, I try to break the bad news tactfully, but Willem is beside himself. After a string of curses, he takes a deep breath. ‘You have the evidence?’

  ‘It’s all on video.’

  He’s silent for so long that I worry the call has dropped. Finally, in a steely voice, he asks me if there’s any video playing at the party. I tell him about the film clips they’re showing against the trucks behind the stage.

  ‘Put up the footage of Addison,’ he says.

  ‘What? No, Willem, you don’t really want to do that. This is personal.’

  ‘Do it,’ Willem says, ‘and I will double your bonus.’

  That’s a total of two hundred dollars each, on top of the seven he already owes us. I’m not sure Syd and Kali would appreciate it, but I argue anyway. ‘Her father—’

  Willem cuts me off. ‘—is hosting a party next week to debut fifty of Austin’s purest. Do you real
ly think their role model should be Addison? Just put up the video, Zahra.’ His voice cracks. ‘I mean it.’

  I return to tell my friends what happened.

  Kali nods. ‘He wants to lash out because he feels so helpless.’

  ‘What the hell,’ Syd says. ‘We’ve come this far. If that’s what the guy wants, we should give it to him. We don’t owe Addison any favors. But Kali, you’re going to have to do some more acting to get us onto that DJ’s truck.’

  Kali doesn’t respond. Her eyes are glued to the stage, where a familiar, angular figure is standing at a microphone in front of the Austin High jazz band. ‘This is the gig Hollis was talking about at Blue Velvet,’ she says.

  The band launches into a loungey trip-hop cover of an old jazz standard, and Hollis sways to the beat. She’s wearing a long silver dress with a higher neckline than the one we liked. The gloves are gone, but the rhinestone bracelet made the cut. As Hollis starts to sing, a backlight comes up and shines through the thin material of her dress, outlining her legs. It’s a sexy effect, and the crowd cheers.

  To our surprise, Hollis is actually pretty good. Behind her, images from old black-and-white movies flicker across the cube trucks. A few people start waving cell phones and lighters.

  ‘I don’t see Fletcher, so Hollis must have chewed through her leash tonight,’ Syd says. ‘I’d love to stay and watch, but we have work to do.’

  Outside the DJ trailer, Kali takes off her pea coat and turns on her charm to lure the DJ away from his post. Once they’re deep in a conversation about music, Syd and I sneak past them to figure out how to project the images of Addison with Viper.

  The program to run the projection is open on the laptop, so it only takes a few seconds to download the footage from Syd’s memory card. I’m about to hit enter when a horrible wailing rises over Hollis and the jazz band.

  We peer out of the truck and see Fletcher staggering around on the stage behind Hollis, wearing long white gloves and a tiara. Drunk, he starts gyrating behind his girlfriend. She tries hard to finish her piece, but Fletcher keeps leaning into the mike to mimic her.

  Half the Austin High football team has gathered in front of the stage, and they cheer Fletch on. It’s all the encouragement he needs to pull off his shirt and twirl it over his head. Laughter ripples through the crowd as he begins to stomp around Hollis in an over-the-top striptease. Layer after layer of clothing falls at Hollis’s feet as the audience chants, ‘Go Fletch! Go Fletch.’ Finally, Hollis gives up and stands frozen and silent at the microphone, a humiliated prop for a drunk guy in boxer shorts.

  ‘I’m seriously sorry we didn’t take his ass down,’ Syd says.

  Watching Hollis wipe tears away, I say, ‘We still have the chance.’ I pull my iTouch out of my bag and remind Syd what’s on it.

  ‘Let’s do it,’ she says.

  I wave the iTouch at Kali, and she simply nods.

  Syd pulls the memory card out of the laptop and jams it back into the camera while I connect my iTouch and download the video of Fletcher tampering with the other players’ equipment.

  ‘I think I can play both clips in a loop,’ I whisper to Syd.

  I manage to bring up the Fletcher video into a preview screen. I’m working to try to attach the downloaded clip of Addison and Viper, when someone yells, ‘Coyote!’ It’s Luke’s voice and it’s coming from my pocket.

  The DJ turns and sees me messing with his equipment. ‘Hey! What are you doing?’

  ‘Sorry, just admiring your setup.’ I give up on trying to attach the footage of Addison and quickly initialize Fletcher’s clip before we push past the DJ and leave the truck. As I climb off, I see the DJ examining his laptop to figure out what I’ve done.

  Outside the truck, Luke gestures toward Brody, who’s distracting Addison and Viper as the band gathers for its second set. We’re trying to get Brody’s attention when the DJ sticks his head out the back.

  ‘Viper!’ he shouts. ‘They downloaded video of you and your girl on my laptop.’

  Meanwhile, the crowd jeers and then boos as people recognise Fletcher in a more sinister role. Since the show’s going on behind him, it might take the drunken star himself a little longer to clue in.

  Addison sprints past us and into the DJ’s truck to see what’s cued up on the computer. ‘They set us up,’ she says. ‘Do not play that video.’ Then she turns to Viper. ‘Get that camera!’

  Instantly, the band members surround us, and the drummer snatches the camera right out of Syd’s hands. Brody sneaks up behind him, grabs the camera, and tosses it to me.

  ‘Run!’ Luke yells.

  We all take off with Viper and his band hot on our heels. Fortunately, their tight leather clothing slows them down, and we manage to put a little distance between them and us. We’re almost at the parking lot when I see Fletcher running toward us in his boxer shorts. He appears to have sobered up quickly, and his eyebrows shoot up when he sees us. In that second, I know he’s figured out who’s behind the film loop. But there isn’t a lot he can do about it with the football team in pursuit.

  Luke manages to pull the keys out of his pocket while he runs, and unlocks the car remotely. For a moment I think we’re going to make it, but then the drummer kicks the camera out of my hand. An army boot lands on it with a mighty crunch.

  Meanwhile, a big pickup truck rolls in front of Luke’s car, blocking our exit completely. We don’t stand much of a chance against this mob.

  Parking lot partiers gather to gawk. ‘Fight!’ someone says, and the word echoes through the crowd. Nearby, a motorcycle engine revs and a single headlight is coming straight at us. Other vehicles appear out of nowhere, blinding us with their high beams. All around me, people scatter.

  ‘It’s the cops!’ someone yells, and the word carries. ‘Cops! Cops!’

  Suddenly the crowd is moving. One minute I’m holding Brody’s hand, and the next I’m swept away in a mass of people fleeing into the dance area. Running hard, I search for a familiar face, but I can only see silhouettes in the glare. As I try to work my way sideways to the edge of the crowd, I’m hit hard from behind.

  It seems as if I’m falling in slow motion, arms flailing, but when I hit the ground, it’s in real time, and it hurts. For a second, I lie on my back staring up at the stars. Then a dark shape blocks the moon as someone leaps over me. There’s a sharp pain in my side as someone else kicks me. I catch a fleeting glimpse of boxer shorts in retreat as I roll onto my side.

  Then I curl up and moan.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Standing on the steps of the trailer, Syd trains her binoculars on Kali’s kitchen window. ‘I never thought I’d see my parents in the same room again,’ she says.

  ‘Except for at your wedding to Max,’ Kali suggests, hovering behind her.

  Syd casts a withering look at me over her shoulder. ‘Or my funeral.’

  ‘No one died,’ I say.

  Kali and Syd ignore me, just as they ignored everything I said on the way back from Hill Country in the paddy wagon, a.k.a. Dad’s van. Admittedly, I couldn’t say much, lest it be used against me in the Court of Parents. But even now that we’re alone in the trailer, awaiting the outcome of our trial, they’re freezing me out.

  ‘I can’t believe you took off when our parents came,’ Syd says, lowering her binoculars.

  ‘I got carried off by the crowd.’ I yank up my T-shirt and show them the massive bruise forming on my side where I got kicked. ‘It wasn’t a choice.’

  ‘Ouch,’ Kali says.

  ‘It’s Fletcher’s shoe size,’ I say. ‘I’m lucky Angel found me and helped me back.’

  Syd steps inside to collect a couple cans of cold soda, and I hold them against my shirt. ‘It’s late and I guess we’re all overreacting,’ she says, by way of an apology as she returns to her surveillance post on the steps.

  ‘They’re all talking at once,’ she reports. ‘Wait. Now Dieter’s clapping – one-two-three. He’s firing off three more because
they won’t shut up. OK, they’re settling down. Except for my mom. She’s yelling at Charlotte … Ha! Charlotte’s starting to cry.’ Syd smiles, but it only lasts a second. ‘Oh God, Dad’s hugging the crybaby … Now Glennis is pouring Mom another glass of wine … and Zahra’s dad has taken the floor.’

  ‘Well, he’ll keep it short,’ I say. ‘Dad isn’t much of a talker.’

  Syd lowers the binoculars and steps inside again. ‘Can you believe it? My parents can’t spare a minute for me, but call a midnight meeting and they’re both available. Dad even brought a date.’

  ‘At least he didn’t bring your boss,’ I say. René was having dinner with Glennis when the all-points bulletin went out, and got pulled into the action because he has wheels. My bad feeling about Dieter was justified. He was eavesdropping on us in the hall, and he ratted us out, starting with Glennis. When she couldn’t reach Kali, she tried my dad, since Kali had told her she was spending the night with me. Meanwhile, I’d told Dad I was spending the night at Kali’s. So then Glennis called Syd’s mom and got the same story. That’s when she raided the trailer and found directions to the party.

  Another round of calls brought the rescue posse together. Dieter led the charge on his motorbike, with three minivans full of irate parents in the rear. Their sudden convergence on the parking lot sparked the panic, although it must have been another ten minutes before the cops really did arrive. We passed them on the highway.

  Now we’re being held without questioning. Brody rode back with Luke and hasn’t been heard from since. The only good news is that Addison and Viper disappeared with their bodyguards before our parents could talk to them, and we’re pretty sure Addison will keep her mouth shut because of her dad’s reputation, if not her own. Fletcher probably won’t say anything either, after his teammates are done with him. He won’t want to admit three girls are responsible for his downfall. But that won’t stop him from plotting his revenge.

  We’re in pretty deep with our parents. They won’t have any trouble piecing together a long list of rules we’ve broken, and clearly no one is willing to let us make a case for all the good work we’ve done – the relationships we’ve saved, the lives we’ve improved.