by Dyan Sheldon
“You guessed!” Savanna jumped up and down. “I knew you’d guessed. I could tell this morning when you covered for me with Archie like that. You couldn’t have been better if we’d planned it. You are, like, so awesome. You really can read my mind, can’t you?”
This was my chance to go back to Plan A. Savanna, you can’t just tell lies… You should have warned me… Savanna—
But what I said was, “Not as much as I’d like to.”
She jumped some more. “Oh, Gracie, it was just so awesome. I mean, to start with, Morgan is, hands down, one of the most gorgeous guys I’ve ever seen in real life. It’s true, Gray, he’s just unbelievable-looking. His eyes actually have little flecks of gold in them. And his smile… It practically glows like a lightbulb. Really. You can laugh, Gracie, but I’m totally serious. I think he’s possibly perfect.” Smart … funny … a great conversationalist… “I’ve never known any guy who’s sooo phenomenally interesting. He knows so much about politics and music and books and art… And he’s got, like, tons of interests. I mean, he’s practically one of those Resonance men.”
“Renaissance.”
“Exactly. I mean, it’s like an education just hanging out with him.” She looked as if she didn’t know whether to hug me or hug herself. “And you’d love him, Gray. He’s, like, totally into the environment. He was mega-impressed that I knew so much about climate change and sea turtles and everything.”
And I thought she never listened to me.
“That’s great,” I said. It was great. She was so happy it had to be great. I bent down to unlock my bike. “But I really wish you’d—”
“Told you right away. I know. I know.” So Savanna could read my mind, too. She stood beside me, shimmering with happiness. “I, like, sooo wanted to call you last night to tell you all about it – I mean, you know I did. Nothing seems really real until I’ve told you. It’s all I could think of on the way home. I can’t wait to tell Gracie… I was, like, sooo far over the moon I was practically in another galaxy. Only Mother Zindle started yelling as soon as I got in the house, of course. Blahblahblah. God knows what she’d do with herself if I’d never been born. And then Marilouise called to test the outer limits of boredom by going on and on about eggplant parmigiana for, like, hours. And then Archie called to say good night and everything, and by the time all that was over I was, like, so emotionally drained I just went to bed.”
I stared at the shadow my bike made on the ground. Savanna, you can’t just tell lies… Savanna, it’s not fair to Archie … You’re treating him like he’s a fool … Savanna, you should at least have warned me… “I have a question.” I straightened up again, tossing the lock in the basket. “Why did you tell Archie we went to see my dad in a play?”
“What?” She looked as if she wasn’t sure she understood what I was asking. “But I had to tell him something, didn’t I?” The truth obviously being out of the question. “I couldn’t, like, break our date at the last minute without an excuse.”
“Yeah, but you didn’t tell me that’s what you told him. I—”
“Oh, that. I’m really sorry, Gracie. I mean, if I’d known Archie was going to put you on the spot like that, of course I would’ve warned you. But I figured he’d forgotten about the play. I thought he was going to ask you about that house-meeting thing. He thought it was hilarious that Cooper got you to go.”
“Meeting House.”
“Anyway, it was OK in the end, wasn’t it? You did great. Soul sister to the rescue! But now you’ve got to come home with me, Gracie.” She linked her arm through mine as we started down the drive. “So I can tell you everything about my date. I mean, you are not, like, going to believe how totally awesome it was.” She squeezed my arm. “It wasn’t like any other date I’ve ever had. I mean, really. The difference between last night and a regular date was like the difference between kissing a guy and kissing the back of your hand.”
And I would know?
I could feel my determination and resolve sort of drifting away on the tide of Savanna’s happiness. I grabbed hold of as much of it as I could. “Yeah, but Savanna—” I managed to choke out. “Savanna, what about Archie?”
She smiled. “What about him?”
“It’s just that… You can’t just keep on lying to him… Isn’t it time you told him about Morgan?”
She blinked. “Why would I do that?”
“You know, because now you are dating someone
else.” I shrugged. “I just think that if you’re going to break up with Archie, it might be a good idea to let him know.”
She was still smiling, but it was a baffled kind of smile. “I’m not breaking up with Archie, Gray. Not yet, anyway.”
“Not yet?” If not yet – when? At her wedding to Morgan Scheck?
“I don’t know why you worry so much, Gracie,” said Savanna. “I mean, it’s like you’re turning into my mother.”
“But if you’re dating Morgan now—”
“Starting to date,” she corrected. “One date doesn’t exactly make a relationship. And anyway, I don’t want to jump on the gun here.”
“You don’t want to jump the gun?” That didn’t sound like the Savanna I knew and loved. My Savanna was usually running before the starter pistol was even in the air.
“I mean, yeah, Morgan and I had one awesome, unforgettable date that will live in my heart for ever and ever, but who knows what’s going to happen next?” She was all big-eyed like Bambi. “I have to see how things go, Gracie. It might not be a really great idea to dump Archie before I get to know Morgan a little more. I mean, what if it doesn’t work out with him after all? What if after a couple of dates I find out he eats his toe jam or something? Archie may not be perfect, but I don’t want to dump him for no reason. You know what they say about having a bird. And he is, like, a really nice guy.”
“Yeah, but that’s the point, Savanna. Don’t you think you should be straight with Archie because he is a really nice guy? He’s going to feel like a total jerk when he finds out the truth.”
“Ummm.” She was looking at the pavement. “The thing is, Gracie, there is this little complication.”
That would be aside from the fact that she was
already going out with someone else.
“You don’t understand…” She was chewing on her bottom lip. Which meant it was something serious. “There’s, like, a little problem with Morgan.”
“Don’t tell me – he’s got a tattoo of Washington crossing the Delaware across his face?”
She didn’t laugh. “It’s kind of really important that my parents don’t find out about him yet.”
“Why not?”
She moved her eyes from the sidewalk to me. “You know you’re still under oath, right? You can’t reveal what I’m going to tell you to a single living soul.”
“Who is this guy? Is his father a Mafia don?”
“Oh, Gracie…” She still wasn’t laughing. “His father sells insurance.” She twiddled with her hair some more. It wasn’t just serious; it was really serious. “It’s just that Morgan’s … you know, he’s, like, kind of not in high school any more.”
“You mean he, like, kind of dropped out?” I could see that could be a problem. The Zindles had always been very supportive of Savanna’s desire to have really rich boyfriends. “Or you mean he kind of got expelled?”
“He kind of goes to State.”
“He’s in college?”
“Isn’t that too much?” She was smiling and looking above ground level again. “I’m going out with a college man!”
“So what is he – a freshman?”
She shook her head. “Uh-uh.”
“Sophomore?”
“No!” By now we’d left the school grounds and had stopped at the top of someone’s driveway. Savanna was more or less bouncing in place. “He’s a junior, Gracie! Pre-law! Isn’t that totally awesome?”
Awesome was one way of putting it.
“And he knows how old
you are?”
She stopped bouncing and flicked her hair over her shoulder. “Sure.”
I nodded. “So how old does he think you are?”
Now Savanna was gazing at her shoes in a critical way. “He thinks I’m eighteen.”
“Eighteen? You told him you’re eighteen?” I laughed. But it was more with admiration than with sarcasm. She had more balls than the World Series. “You really are too much.”
“I know.” Savanna’s smile was pleased. “And he thinks I’m very mature for my age.”
“So he’s in for more than one surprise.”
“Oh, don’t…” Savanna gave me a playful push. “I am very mature for my age.”
“Which one? In case you forgot, you’re sixteen, not eighteen.”
“Yeah, but I won’t be sixteen for ever, will I, Gray? And anyway I couldn’t tell him the truth. I didn’t want him to, like, get all warped out of shape because of the age difference. It’s not a big deal.”
“Maybe not to you.” But I could think of two people who would think it was a really big deal. The Zindles were super aware of all the things that could lead their children astray – and pretty determined that it was never going to happen. I figured Older Men had to be somewhere on that list.
“Exactly. You know how overprotective the parents are. They’d go into meltdown. That’s why I said they were missionaries.”
“Missionaries? Gus and Zelda?” Gus owned a couple of liquor stores and Zelda sold houses. The only time they went to church was Christmas. “You told him Gus and Zelda are missionaries?”
She joined in my laughter. “In Africa. Really strict Evangelicals.”
“But why would you tell him that? What happens when he asks them about their mission and whether they ever met any lions or saved any heathen souls?”
“Um, duh…” Savanna was rolling her eyes. “That’s the whole point, isn’t it, Gracie? I mean, he can’t possibly meet them, can he? Or he’ll find out how old I am.”
“And they’d find out how old he is.”
“Right. So I had to come up with a really good reason why that’ll never happen. You know, because they’re so strict and won’t let me go out with boys until I’m twenty-one and stuff like that.”
“I don’t see why they had to leave the country for that. You could just—”
“Because it also explains why I’m still in high school. You know, because I started school late because we were living in the bushes.”
“Bush.”
She hugged her bag against her. “I thought it was like a stroke of genius. I mean, he wears a crucifix so besides keeping him away from the rents, I figured it would impress him.”
It impressed me. I couldn’t have come up with something like that in a million years.
“So anyway, the point is that I can’t break up with Archie. The rents have to think that I’m still seeing him.” She gave me a what-can-I-do? kind of smile. “You know, especially if I’m seeing someone else. I mean, if they think I’m seeing someone else they’re, like, going to insist on meeting him, aren’t they? You know how nosey Mother Zindle is.”
“So you’re definitely going to see Morgan again.”
“Of course I am. I mean, we didn’t make another date – you know, because he’s really busy with his classes and tests and stuff like that, and he shares a car with two other guys so he can’t get it whenever he wants it – but I’m definitely going to see him again. He said so. He said, ‘I’ll call you.’ And then he made this seriously cute smile and said he wouldn’t be able to help himself.”
“Savanna,” I said. “Savanna, you really can’t date two boys at once.”
She didn’t blink. “Why not?”
“Because it isn’t right, that’s why not. It’s called cheating, remember?”
“Oh, please… It’s only cheating if you’re married or engaged or something like that. It’s not cheating if you just go to the movies or get a pizza together now and then.”
“But what if Archie finds out?”
“And how would he do that?” She tilted her head as if the sun was in her eyes. “The only way he’d find out is if someone tells him, Gracie. And I’m not going to tell him…”
And neither was I.
“You see? So everything’s, like, totally great.”
She slipped her arm through mine again. “Oh and Gracie,” she added, “if Mother Zindle asks you anything about your dad’s play, you’ll tell her it started late, OK?”
Chapter Nine
A Bad Week for Love
“So what do you think, Savanna?” Archie’s smile was patient. This was a question he’d already asked.
I was helping Pete and Leroy with their chemistry homework, but I glanced over at Savanna. She’d scraped off all the whipped topping and was now scooping up spoonfuls of chocolate pudding and watching them fall back into the bowl.
“Savanna!” Archie helped himself to the salad she hadn’t touched. “What do you think?”
Savanna blinked, glancing over at him as if she hadn’t realized he was there. “About what?”
She’d been like this for the last couple of days when we were with the others. Zombie-girl mode – with us in body but not in spirit or mind. In the mornings, she’d sit next to Archie as usual, smiling and acting as if she was listening, but her thoughts were somewhere else – somewhere approximately twenty miles away. At lunch, she was distracted and so quiet you’d think she was someone else, playing with her food and staring into space. Which would be why I was helping Leroy and Pete. It gave me something to do. The day before, I’d helped them with their math.
Archie’s smile became beatific. “About the Christmas dance.” The Christmas dance was a Crow’s Point High tradition. It was almost as big a deal as the Prom, but with snow. The posters had gone up that morning. “Do you want to go?”
Because I was standing behind Leroy and Pete, I could see the expression on Savanna’s face change from the blank one you have when you’re watching pudding plop into a bowl to the blank one of complete disbelief. I half-expected her to shriek in horror, “You mean with you?”
Instead, she shrugged. “I don’t know… high-school dances are kind of childish, aren’t they?”
This was news to Archie.
“They are?” He looked like a little kid who’s just been laughed at because his Superman outfit is nothing but a dishtowel and a pair of his mother’s old tights. “I thought you liked them.”
“I guess I used to…” Savanna shrugged again. “But now I feel that I’ve, like, outgrown them.”
Archie, however, was dogged. Or maybe just dog-like. “But this is really mega, Sav. Suits and ties and formals. You know how you love to dress up.” His smile was making my jaw hurt. “It’s going to be a Winter Wonderland.”
He might as well have said it was going to be a Winter Wonderbread for all the enthusiasm that got him.
“All right, all right… I’ll think about it, OK?” She pushed back her chair and stood up. “I’ll let you know.”
“Now where are you going?” asked Archie.
She leaned her head towards his. “Kisskiss. I’ve got to go to the toilet. Girl things.”
“Oh, right…” Archie nodded. “See you later.”
Savanna looked over at me. “You coming, Gracie?”
I know how horrible and disloyal this sounds, but my heart dropped like a white rhino shot at close range. Girl things didn’t mean what Archie thought it meant. Girl things meant Morgan Scheck. She might be quiet when we were with the boys, but when we were alone she didn’t shut up. At first it was all about how awesome Morgan was. Savanna might have trouble remembering to let me know when I was supposed to be lying for her, but she had total recall when it came to every single thing Morgan Scheck said or did – from the way he laughed to the way he tied his shoes. About the only things she hadn’t told me about him was whether he preferred Pepsi to Coke and if he’d ever been inoculated against malaria. I almost felt as
if I actually knew Morgan. Personally. That if he suddenly came walking down the street I’d know who he was – because of the way his laces wrapped around his ankles, or because of the scar over his left eyebrow (caused by his brother harpooning him with a knitting needle when he was six), or because of those little gold flecks in his eyes. But over the last couple of days her conversation had pretty much narrowed down to how depressed she was that he hadn’t called her since Sunday. I was starting to feel a little compassion fatigue. I didn’t want to be a bad friend, but how many times can you say. Gee, I don’t know, or, Gee, that’s awful?
I nodded. “Yeah, sure.”
Which was when Cooper suddenly looked up from his book. “Hey, Gracie. I almost forgot…” He’d run into Mrs Hendricks the night before and he’d mentioned my idea to her. “She said it sounded terrific,” said Cooper.
Now everybody was looking at me.
I could feel myself blush. “What idea?”
Cooper said the one about using books about things I was interested in like the environment and disappearing reptiles for the class. I said I thought it was his idea, not mine. He said we’d had it together. “Anyway, I figured we could go to the library after school today. See what we can find.”
Savanna was standing beside me, holding my jacket and lunchbox.
I knew I should say I was busy. Which I should be. I should be listening to Savanna wondering why Morgan hadn’t called her. “Yeah,” I said, quick as the flick of a chameleon’s tongue. “That’d be cool.” It would also be a Morgan-Scheck-free zone.
As an example of how depressed she really was, Savanna didn’t say anything about me going with Cooper after school when I knew she was expecting me to hang out with her – or at least be on the phone. As soon as we were away from the boys, she started talking about Morgan and going through all the reasons why he hadn’t called her and deciding in the end that he was definitely going to call her today. Probably as soon as she got home.