PANDORA

by Rebecca Hamilton

  “Well, maybe he’ll lie about something else. I don’t know. Stop asking me questions. This is a good idea. I know it. Now are you going to help me or not?”

  “Do you think I would have spent the last five minutes listening to you if I wasn’t willing to help?”

  “Whatever,” I said, swinging my legs inside the car. He bent down and brushed a quick kiss to my lips.

  “I’ll call you after work and let you know my schedule. I think I’m gonna have to work part of the weekend. Hey, don’t take off yet.”

  I waited as he ran to his car, grabbed something from inside, and then came back, hiding whatever he had behind his back.

  “For you,” he said and revealed the surprise. It was the stuffed Stewie. “I forgot to give him to you the other night.”

  He gave me one more kiss then took off before I could even say thanks. After jogging to his car, he waved over his shoulder and climbed in. He really was sweeter than I’d thought. I wondered for a moment if he’d done things like that for Vivian, but pushed it from my head as quickly as it came. Dwelling on the time he dated her wasn’t going to change anything.

  I called Tonya once I was home. It was hard to pretend that I believed her and even harder to say that I really did want to get to know Trevor. How do you face someone you think is beating up their girlfriend? I must not have been very convincing, because Tonya didn’t seem to believe me.

  “Are you serious?” she asked after I brought up the double date idea.

  “Yeah. Didn’t we always talk about how one day we’d be going on dates together, even have a double wedding?”

  “Uh, I think we were about ten when we agreed to that,” Tonya said.

  “Fine, we’ll skip the double wedding and just do the date. Come on, it’ll be fun.”

  “What about today? I know what you were thinking. That Trevor...” The accusation went unvoiced, but it was there between us, a living entity that was still growing in my mind. I didn’t want it to take away this chance.

  “I won’t bring it up. Promise. I talked to Nathan-”

  “You told Nathan? What the hell, Phoebs!”

  “I know, but he made me realize I should get to know Trevor before I...”

  “Judge him? Phoebe, I swear everything is fine. I have everything under control. Trevor... really, he’s so good to me. Better than I deserve.”

  “Well, you deserve the best.” Tonya had enough crap happening in her life thanks to her mom. She didn’t need Trevor adding any more.

  “You’ll love him once you get to know him.”

  “Sure.” Yeah, right. If he was anything like he was on New Year’s then I highly doubted it.

  I buried any negative thoughts about him so I could get my plan into action. By the end of the call, Tonya and I had everything arranged. Despite my ulterior motives, it was fun setting it up, pretending we were ten again. That Ken and his twin brother Kenny weren’t going to be our dates just made us giggle even harder.

  When I went to bed, I prayed. I didn’t talk to God very often, but this time I prayed that I was wrong about Trevor.

  Chapter 8

  “He’s doing everything wrong,” I said, shoving my hands deep into my jacket pockets.

  “Wrong, according to you,” Nathan said as we waited for Tonya and Trevor to park his truck. “Maybe this is the real Trevor, and Tonya was telling you the truth about the bruises.”

  “Oh, shut up,” I said, unwilling to admit that he might be right. I’d planned everything about this double date perfectly or at least to the best of my abilities. Maybe I should have asked Chloe what was going to happen so at least I wouldn’t have been so unprepared.

  “What did you expect? That he’d be foaming at the mouth?” Nathan smiled and raised a brow.

  “No, but this is nothing like he was at Nadine’s party. He could barely string two civilized words together.” I hated when things didn’t work according to my plans.

  “And I guess he did beat the crap out of Dylan,” Nathan pointed out.

  “Yeah, well I’m not going to hold that against him. Most of the time Dylan deserves it.” I disregarded the fact Dylan was one of Nathan’s friends.

  “I’ll admit Dylan’s been an ass lately, but he’s gotta still have some good qualities if Lily’s dating him. Obviously Trevor does, too, otherwise Tonya would have dropped him faster than she did that guy Derek last year.”

  I shuddered at the mention of that drug dealing creep. He’d convinced Tonya he wasn’t dealing until she caught him selling to her mom.

  Turning back to the truck, I watched as Tonya and Trevor got out of the vehicle and started toward us. Tonya was as enamored as she’d been the day of the party. I’d even caught her practicing a signature with his last name during one of our classes.

  Tonight, though, dinner had been a disaster to my plan. Trevor had done everything my Dad said a guy should. He held the door, complimented Tonya, and completely fawned over her. Each time he spoke, I wanted to puke with the sugary sweetness of it, yet Tonya was lapping it up.

  Nathan tried to distract me while we ate, but even the feel of his hand sliding up under my skirt wasn’t enough. I simply swatted him away, although I was giving serious consideration to letting him get away with it in the theater.

  We were heading into the movie theater, and I was about to lose any chance of catching Trevor in a lie. I watched them walk closer, wondering how to adjust the failed plan, when Nathan turned and stepped in front of me, blocking my line of vision. I glanced up at him.

  “Phoebe, can you just relax? I know what you’re trying to do, but it’s kind of boring for me, especially now that he’s proven you were wrong about him. So unless you want to have a date with me, I’m gonna leave.”

  “What?!” For a moment I thought he was joking, but the serious face he wore, so unlike the Nathan I knew, told me just how fed up he was.

  “I played these friggin’ games with Vivian, and I don’t really-”

  “I’m nothing like Vivian.” Could there be a better insult?

  He sighed. “I didn’t mean it that way. I’d just rather know that you’re here with me because you actually want to be with me, and that you’re not using me. Can’t you just accept that you might be wrong about this guy?”

  Just great. A guilt trip to go along with everything I was already worried about. But he looked serious, and not the least bit manipulative. After waiting so long to be with him, was I willing to risk him walking away because I had a sudden obsession with unmasking my best friend’s boyfriend, who might not be fake at all?

  “You’re right,” I said. He looked doubtful, so I stood up on my tiptoes and, wrapping my arms around his neck, kissed him lightly. “We can ditch them and go make out in the back of the theater.”

  “Girl, you dragged us all on this date and we’re going to the bitter end so you learn your lesson.” Tonya’s voice came from behind Nathan, and I looked over his shoulder to see her and Trevor staring.

  “My lesson?” Had she figured out I’d been trying to get dirt on Trevor?

  “That the things we thought were cool seven years ago are actually extremely lame.”

  If my laugh was louder and longer than the others, it came from the relief that she was totally unaware of my plotting. We started walking to the entrance and I had to make a final decision. Either I continued to doubt Trevor, or I could trust that Tonya knew what she was doing. By the time we hit the doors, I decided I would go with Tonya. Not because of anything Trevor did, but with the knowledge that she’d be pissed if I admitted I didn’t believe in her.

  Both Trevor and Nathan groaned when Tonya reminded them about the romantic comedy we were going to see. Nathan even shot me a dirty look. He knew that if it hadn’t been a double, we’d have been going to see the new action flick. The romantic comedy had been Tonya’s price for this date and we were all paying for it.

  After getting our tickets, we joined the endless line at the concession. Nathan headed to the
restroom and Tonya followed a moment later. I smiled at Trevor, trying my best to look friendly. When he smiled back, it was hard not to be taken in. He was gorgeous, with a kind of Corbin Bleu thing going on. It was even harder to picture him hurting Tonya.

  “So,” I said for the sake of filling the dead air between us. “You’re going to UCSD in the fall?”

  “Yeah, but I’m not sure what for anymore.”

  I clearly remembered him saying law before, a lie. Was he covering his tracks? Stop it, Phoebe.

  “What were you going to do?”

  “Law, but my dad is really pushing me to become an accountant.”

  “Your dad wants you to be an accountant rather than a lawyer? My dad would be doing the happy dance until he died if I said I wanted to be a lawyer.” It had been an idea that a year ago I’d contemplated for about a minute before realizing that law school was really competitive and you pretty much had to have kick ass grades to make it in. Dad thought I was capable. I thought I didn’t want to spend the next ten years of my life in school.

  “Both my parents are accountants and they want me to be part of the family business. I know it doesn’t sound that exciting, but I guess I wouldn’t mind it. Math was always my strong subject. Besides, it will mean a lot less students loans than law school.”

  “Have your parents met Tonya yet?”

  “Yeah. They love her. I keep trying to get her to introduce me to her grandma, but she freaks at the idea.”

  “Mrs. Robinson can be pretty scary. None of the guys Tonya has dated ever lasted past the first meeting.”

  We made it up to the counter and I bought a pack of Junior Mints for Nathan. Trevor bought a soda and then a giant tub of popcorn and had them load it with the Cheddar powder Tonya was obsessed with.

  We moved over to the side and chatted about school a bit more, but when Nathan came back, I lapsed into silence, letting my mind run through what I’d learned about Trevor. What I was seeing didn’t mesh with anything I’d seen before. At the party, he’d been rude and he’d shown his violent side when he’d fought Dylan. This was a completely different Trevor. He was obviously educated and wanted to be a boring accountant. He sounded exactly like what Tonya’s gran wanted for her.

  Nothing he said were lies. So, why was my gut telling me he was still wrong?

  Tonya came rushing up, her eyes opened wide, and grabbed my arm to pull me to the side.

  “Oh my God, you’ll never guess who’s here.” She paused. I didn’t bother asking, since a heartbeat later she told me. “Vivian and her posse.”

  “Great.” My gaze flicked over Tonya’s shoulder, but I didn’t see Vivian. “Hopefully she’s going to a different movie, or better yet, maybe she’s leaving.”

  “Uh, no such luck. She’s heading this way.”

  I turned and sure enough, there was Vivian flanked by four friends, smiling at Nathan. She came up to us, her eyes completely focused on him. Double date night just got far worse than I’d anticipated.

  “Nathan, can I talk to you? Alone?”

  “Um... I’m on a date.” His hands twitched in a lame gesture to me as I moved to his side.

  “Don’t you think you’re taking this a bit too far?” she asked, giving him a pitying looking.

  “Taking what too far?”

  “This whole pretend break up. I know you were frustrated, and I’ll change, okay? I’ll let you make some of the decisions.” Was she really that oblivious to his red face or the awkwardness we all emanated as she stood there telling him he should get back together with her? Apparently, because she kept going. “You can even take me to that new horror movie.”

  “Gee thanks, but Phoebe and I already went to see it.”

  She faltered and her eyes flashed over to me. “Puh-leaze. Are you really expecting me to believe that you’d rather date a Matlin freak than me?”

  “I could have sworn he wrote you a note to let you know,” I said. Maybe it was a bit catty to get involved, but hey, she was insulting me.

  And just as quickly as the words came from my mouth I was covered with diet coke. Vivian’s empty cup hit my chest and the sticky sweet liquid flowed down my face.

  I jumped her. It was one of those instinctual, uncontrollable things. I grabbed her hair and yanked as hard as I could. She screamed, but whatever satisfaction I would have felt stalled when Nathan grabbed me around the waist and pulled me off her.

  Vivian scrambled back and I lunged against Nathan’s hold.

  “That’s what you get for poaching,” she said and took off with her sidekicks as I managed to get one arm free from Nathan’s hold.

  “That’s right, run!” I called after her, my courage buoyed by the sight of her quickly disappearing back. I stopped struggling against Nathan’s hold and wiped my free hand across my face, flicking some of the soda off to the side. The adrenaline rushing through me caused my entire body to shake, even my fingers trembled and I curled them in, but it didn’t help.

  “That is one crazy bitch,” Trevor said as we all watched Vivian and her group huddle on the other side of the lobby. He nudged Nathan with his elbow. “You really hooked up with her?”

  “Please don’t go there right now,” I said before Nathan could answer and then took in a deep breath, sucking in a drip of soda that clung to my lower lip. I looked down at my dress. “Crap, Chloe’s going to kill me.”

  “Chloe?” Nathan asked, letting me go.

  “It’s her dress. I borrowed it.” Running my hands down the front, I tried to brush off the liquid before it stained the fabric. I glanced up when I heard a snort. Tonya and Nathan both had their eyebrows arched high. “Okay, so maybe she doesn’t know I borrowed it, but really, if it was that important to her then she should have checked out my future.”

  “Checked out your future?” Trevor asked, reminding me of his presence.

  “Oh, you know, the magic eight ball thing.” I gave a curt smile and looked back at Nathan. “Do you mind if we go? I don’t really want to sit around soaking wet.”

  “Yeah, sure.”

  “I’ll call you tomorrow,” I said to Tonya, then turned to Nathan. “Let me hit the restroom first.”

  Ten minutes later, my face was soda and makeup free, and water spots covered my chest. I held my jacket in front of me, trying to hide the evidence of Vivian’s attack. Nathan was leaning on the wall next to the women’s room door. Standing beside him was Dylan, decked out in his work clothes and wearing a new black nametag with ‘assistant manager’ etched in white.

  “Hey,” I said, nodding at Dylan. “What’s up?”

  “He’s our personal escort,” Nathan said as Dylan shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other.

  “What?” Was there anything else to add to my utter humiliation? I wanted to kick Nathan when a chuckle burst from him.

  “Apparently throwing a smack down is enough to get you kicked out.”

  “What about Vivian? She started it.” It felt like dÉjÀ vu.

  “She’s already gone. We refunded your tickets and you guys can come back another night, but...” Dylan shrugged.

  “Whatever. We were leaving anyway.” I started walking, letting them follow. I couldn’t believe that for the second time Vivian had managed to attack me, yet I was the one getting in trouble. Where’s the justice? I should get Dad to sue her or something, but that would require admitting that this time I hit her back. That would be the first thing Dad asked. Did you walk away? Two wrongs don’t make a right.

  I shoved the exit door open so hard it slammed into the outer wall and then I stomped toward the parking lot.

  “Hey, hey. Wait up!” Nathan jogged to catch up with me and I stopped to watch him.

  “Sorry, I’m just really getting sick of her crap. And I keep getting in trouble.”

  “You’re not in trouble, Phoebs.” He threw an arm over my shoulder and hugged me to his side.

  “You really don’t think this is going to get back to my dad? Are you kidding me? I’m so
dead when he finds out.”

  “It’s not like you started it. Besides he can’t kill you if Chloe gets to you first.” He lifted his hand and let a finger flick over an exposed soda spot.

  “Gee, you really know how to cheer me up.”

  “I try.” He dropped a quick kiss on the tip of my nose. “Come on, let’s go. You’re getting a little sticky.”

  We got in the car, and I turned the stereo on, letting the music fill the comfortable silence. When we pulled up to the house, only Lily’s light was on. Chloe probably had a date with her flavor of the month and Dad must have been working late, not an uncommon event even for a Saturday. I unlocked the front door and Nathan trailed me inside.

  “Did you want to try and go back? We could make the late showing,” I said, looking over my shoulder as we went down the hall. He gave a shrug, which I wasn’t sure how to take. “Or we could just watch a movie here. Dad’s finally got us hooked up with an online subscription.”

  “That sounds good. I don’t think Dylan would let us back in anyways.”

  “Yeah. Having my sister’s boyfriend working at the theater should give me some perks, but with Dylan, I think we’ll be lucky if he ever lets us go back. And even then he’ll only do it to keep Lily happy.”

  “You know, he’s not all that bad,” Nathan said and I remembered that they were pretty good friends. Or at least they had been until Dylan entered his asshole phase a few months back.

  We went down the stairs and when we reached the bottom, I pointed through the doorway to our left. “TV’s in there. I’m gonna go change.”

  “Need any help?” he asked, eyebrows wiggling up and down.

  “Ha-ha. I don’t think so.”

  “Just checking. I’m really good with zippers.”

  “I’m pretty sure I can handle it.”

  I rolled my eyes and gave him a shove in the direction of the rec room, then went to my room, making sure the door shut behind me. I pulled the dress off and flung it across my bed then tugged on a fresh pair of jeans and a shirt. I took a glance in the mirror, wondering if I should bother with makeup, but a lipstick note distorted my image.