by Seven Steps
“I should have known when I saw your name in the school paper. Another one bites the dust, eh, Ollie?”
“Shut up, Jeff.”
Jeff put his hands up in defense.
“Calm down, captain. I was just pointing out that you have a great career as a muralist ahead of you. I’ll bet daddy would love that.”
“I said shut up, Jeff.”
Jeff laughed, then turned to me.
“And you must be the woman who tamed the tiger?” Jeff had an oiliness to him. Like a snake. His smile was too big. His eyes were too piercing. His demeanor too confident. “I’m Jeffrey. That’s Jean.” He pointed to the blue-haired girl. “And the big guy is Able. And you are?”
He held out his hand to me, and I took it. It was large, and warm, but I found no comfort in it. If anything, it made me uneasy.
“Jasmine.” They didn’t give a last name, so I didn’t give them one either.
“Well, Jasmine, you seem to have an eye for art. Maybe you should give old Oliver here a few pointers. After school, perhaps.”
“No,” Ollie growled.
Jeff continued on. “We meet up for some group sessions after school and we’d love if you’d join us.”
“She doesn’t want to paint with us,” Ollie said quickly.
“Why not? Judging from her art show painting, she has talent.” His eyes dropped to my sketchbook. “I’ll bet you have much more to offer than flowers. May I?”
I swallowed and handed over my sketchbook. Every time he turned a page, my skin crawled. I wanted to snatch it back, but that would have been rude, and I was not a rude person.
“See. Beautiful.” He held up a page so that Jean and Able could see. They eyed it, then eyed me. “What do you say, Jasmine? Care for some excitement in your life?”
I was sure Jeff was being gross, and I felt like gagging. I was just about to rip him a new one when Ollie cut between us. He snatched my sketchbook from Jeff’s fingers and handed it back to me.
“She’s not coming with us,” he growled.
I was grateful and offended at the same time. I didn’t need Ollie to fight my battles for me. I could do that on my own.
Jeff shrugged and came up to his full height, which was just as tall as Ollie.
“Fine. We were just coming to pick you up. Didn’t know you two had such an intimate painting session going on.”
“Yeah, well, it was the last of them. I’ll meet you outside.”
The last of them? But we hadn’t even started yet!
Jeff and Ollie stared at each other for a moment, before Jeff backed down, bowed slightly, and started for the door.
Ollie walked past me and picked up his bookbag.
He was going? We’d just decided on something and he was going? My heart sped up. He couldn’t go. I needed him to help me.
“Are you coming back?” I blurted out.
He kept walking.
“Talk to Mann,” he threw over his shoulder. “And get yourself another ape. I’m done.”
And with that, he disappeared out the door, leaving me alone.
10
I sat in my car in front of Eric’s apartment building, trying to get myself under control.
My hands were shaking. My legs felt weak. My heart was racing. I was terrified. What would Andrew say? What would he do? What would he think?
I closed my eyes, drew in a deep breath, then let it out again.
You can do this, girl, I told myself. You can do this.
I turned off the engine and opened the door.
Eric’s building was located across town, near Canal Street. I’d never been here before, but I knew the place well because I had friends who lived in Tribeca Summit. The doorman met me at the door, and I gave him my keys to give to the valet. Then, I rode the elevator up to Eric and Purity’s apartment.
When I arrived, I was greeted by a large, bald security guard who briefly checked my face and ID against a list before waving me down a well-lit hallway toward another door.
I walked through the door and looked around.
A wide foyer greeted me. The hardwood floor was polished and shining. White crown molding outlined gray walls decorated with pictures of the New York City skyline. It smelled clean, like fresh laundry and soap.
A short stairway decorated with a pretty gray runner led upward into presumably the main living area. The runner looked so soft that I nearly bent down to caress it.
“Jasmine!” Sophia cried, running down the steps as well as she could in her dark green heels. She was wearing cream-colored pants and a dark green, sleeveless shirt, even though it was cold outside. We hugged, then she took a step back to look me over. She was holding a glass of something bubbly in her right hand. It looked strangely like the champagne my aunt Chi liked to drink.
“You look amazing!” she said. “Andrew is going to freak when he sees you.”
I put my finger over my lips to shush her, careful not to touch my lipstick. I’d used way more lipstick and mascara than usual, but I had to admit, I looked like a movie star tonight. I’d even managed to style my hair in two long braids, one on each side of my head. I’d wrapped the braids around my head and added gold clips to make it a sort of new age milkmaid look. I wasn’t wearing heels like Sophia, but we were wearing the same kind of cream-colored pants. My shirt was bluish green, off the shoulder, and cut low in the front. It was a little too much skin for me, but I had to admit I looked hot.
Sophia guided me up the stairs and into a large living room.
There were about twenty people there. I recognized some guys from the football team, a few cheerleaders, and Dana Rich and Ursula Meyers—the last two remaining members of the group formally known as the Evil Queens, the most popular girls in our school. Ursula looked my way, then whispered something to Dana. I made a mental note to keep away from her tonight.
Across the room talking to another guy, was Andrew.
I took in his tall, lean frame. His blond hair and blue eyes. His dark suit, sans tie, that he wore with such confidence that it made my breath catch. Andrew was a guy who had his life in order. A good, stable guy. My family would adore him. My father would respect him. And our babies would be gorgeous.
And most of all, he wouldn’t make me want to slam my head into a wall like Ollie did.
I walked deeper into the room.
A beautiful view of the nighttime New York City skyline greeted me. Floor-to-ceiling windows took up an entire wall of the penthouse. A long gray couch sat in front of the window. The left wall’s sideboard was full of food and drinks. A few more chairs were scattered here and there.
The left side of the room had been cleared out, and Cole sat playing at a grand piano while Bella, in a knee-length, yellow glittering dress, sang some jazzed-up version of “Friend Like Me,” from the Aladdin movie. Leave it to those two to make everywhere they went into their own private concert.
Ariel and I spotted each other at the same time, and she walked over in a killer purple dress that set off the red in her hair and green eyes.
“You’re here,” she sang. She took my left arm, while Sophia continued to hold on to my right. “And you’re gorgeous.”
I blushed. “Thank you.”
“Did you see him?” she asked. Before I could answer, she jerked her chin in Andrew’s direction. “He looks yummy, huh?”
I nodded. “Yeah. He’s very handsome.”
“I spoke to him earlier, warming him up, you know?” She took a sip of the bubbling drink.
My stomach clenched. “What did you say?”
“Just that I was glad he was here, and I asked him how business class was going. All that jazz.”
I let out a breath. Good. She hadn’t mentioned me. I didn’t need another reason to be nervous right now.
“Tell her about the signals,” Sophia said.
“Oh right. The signals. So, at the end of the next song, Eric is going to talk to Andrew and make him comfortable. But the entire time, he’s going
to lead him toward the couch, where you’ll be standing there nonchalantly. By the time the song is over, Eric is going to bump into you, apologize, and introduce the two of you. Then he’ll do the warm hand off and bada bing, bada boom, you’ll be prom queen before you know it.”
I shook my head. This all seemed like way too much.
“I don’t know. Andrew and I have already been introduced.”
“Even better. It will make it look like we’re not involved.” She gestured to her and Sophia.
“But you are involved.”
“What’s your point?”
“Can’t we just be normal?” I asked.
She took another sip of her drink. “Not our style.”
Bella and Cole’s song ended, and Ariel’s eyes widened.
“Okay, here’s your cue.”
“Be sexy,” Sophia said. “Lower your top a little.”
I gasped. “Sophia!”
She threw her hands up defensively. “I said a little.”
I rolled my eyes. My insides were throwing their own party. I felt like I was going to puke.
What if this didn’t work out? What if it did? What would Andrew and I talk about? What would I say? What would he say? In what possible world would this not be awkward?
I grabbed a bottle of water and tried to look casual.
Just as Ariel said, Eric walked over to talk to Andrew. The entire time, he took nearly imperceptible steps backward. Just enough so that Andrew had to take a step forward every few seconds to stay in hearing distance.
I folded my hands in front of me, then unfolded them, and refolded them at least a hundred times. I didn’t want to stare, but I couldn’t rip my eyes away. They were walking toward me in the slowest way possible and all I could do was stand there and grip my water bottle.
Maybe the water was a bad idea. Suddenly, I had to pee. But I couldn’t pee. The song was nearly over, and Eric and Andrew were nearly here.
No. I didn’t have to pee. I had to throw up.
My heart was beating out of control. I was so nervous, I was getting light-headed.
The song ended, and as promised, Eric gently bumped into me, then whipped around to face me.
“Oh my God, Jasmine, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you there.”
He winked at me and smiled, but I was too nervous to wink back.
“I’m such a clod since I quit the football team, I swear.” He turned back to Andrew. “Andrew, have you met Jasmine Patel? She and Ariel, my girlfriend, are best friends.”
Andrew smiled at me, and the butterflies in my stomach went into a full-on riot mode. The few times we’d spoken seemed so far away now. Maybe it was this night or maybe it was because this time I wanted our conversation to be more… I don’t know… more something. I liked Andrew and I wanted to make a connection with him, but I was so nervous I’d screw it up that my mind went blank.
“Yeah, we kind of know each other,” Andrew said. His eyes roamed over me, from my head to my flat, leopard skin shoes, then for the briefest of seconds back to my eyes. He cleared his throat, slipped his hands into his pockets, and rocked back on his heels.
“Awesome,” Eric said.
I squeezed my lips together in a tight smile. Andrew did the same. I wondered if he was as nervous as I was.
“So, Andrew and I are in business class together,” he told me. “And he was just saying he loved to ski. J, weren’t you just at Blue Ridge?”
I nodded. “Yeah, a few weeks ago.”
My parents had taken me along with them. Well, my mother went, and my father tagged along because he thought she was there to meet another man. At least that’s what the discussion was on the plane ride upstate.
Talk about awkward.
The tension in Andrew’s eyes loosened a bit. “Yeah? Do you like to ski?”
“Yes. I’m not on the black diamond slopes yet, but I’m working up to it.”
“You know what?” Eric said. “I think my girl’s calling me. You know what they say about keeping a woman waiting, right?” His chuckle was so obviously fake that I chuckled too. “You two keep the conversation going. I’ll be back later.”
And then he slipped away, power walking in Ariel’s direction.
Mission complete.
My nervousness returned the moment Eric left, but Andrew still looked eased.
“So how long have you been skiing?” he asked.
“My dad’s been taking us since we were little. So, I guess that would fall into the forever category.”
His eyes skated over me again, and my cheeks heated.
“Do you always go to Blue Ridge?” he asked.
“Not always. Only when we want something quick. Last winter we went up to the Alps. That was fun.”
A few words in a language I didn’t understand left his mouth.
I smiled, trying to hide my confusion.
“That was German for, can I please have another hot chocolate.”
I nodded. Impressed. Of course, Andrew could speak German.
“I spent some time in Switzerland with my dad a few years back,” he said. “I drank a lot of hot chocolate.”
I smiled. “Best in the world.”
“You’re right. Best in the world.” He rocked back on his heels again, then straightened. “So, did you hear Oliver Santiago totally trashed the art display case today?”
What? When? I saw him leave the school. And why would Oliver trash the display case? His art was inside, with a first-place ribbon on it.
“That dude’s a loose cannon, right?”
His comment gave me a moment's pause. I wasn’t sure why. I wasn’t exactly Oliver’s biggest fan these days.
“He’s, uh, interesting,” I replied.
“Apparently he threw a chair into the glass and wrecked it. That dude’s a total psycho.”
I nodded slowly, unsure of what to say. “He’s my lab partner in chem.”
“That sucks. You should really ask Mr. Khan to switch you.”
“I did,” I said slowly. “He said no.”
“Shame. If we were in the same class, I’d be your partner. It would be my honor.”
Did his eyes stay on mine a little too long, or was I imagining it? Was his smile polite, or something else? Had he moved closer, or was I just losing my mind?
The music stayed slow and languid and, as the night went on, I learned a lot about Andrew. His parents had been married for thirty years. His ex-marine father was a bank CEO and his mother was heavily involved in charity work focusing on animal rescue. He liked to ski, row, and travel, and his favorite color was blue. The same color as my shirt, he pointed out. I felt my skin prickle after that. He had four sisters, including one set of twins, and owned two small foxes named Wilbur and Charlotte.
I found myself liking Andrew the more he spoke. We had so much in common.
We both had parents who immigrated. His parents from the UK and mine from India. We both abhorred most mainstream movies, but we both liked mainstream music. And our fashion sense was impeccable.
He was mature, articulate, and close to his family. Plus, he was gorgeous.
I relaxed, really enjoying our time together. Hours later, when we finally came up for breath from our conversation, I found—to my horror and delight—that we were the only ones left of the partygoers.
He looked down at his phone.
“Wow, it’s getting late,” he said. “I’d better get going.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Me too.”
He started walking to the door, but he kept his pace slow so I could walk next to him. Like a true gentleman.
“Do you want a ride home?”
I shook my head. “No. I’m good.”
“Did you drive here?”
“Yeah.”
“What kind of car?”
“A Maserati,” I said.
He grinned. “Cherry red?”
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
He dangled his keys in front of me. “Cherry red.”<
br />
I laughed out loud. This was equal parts weird and amazing. I had so much in common with Andrew. And it was only our first night. To think that there was still more for us to learn from each other sent my heart into overdrive.
We stopped in front of the door, and he turned fully to me.
“So, do you mind if I text you sometime?”
I smiled. “That would be nice.”
We exchanged phone numbers and nervous smiles.
“This was fun. I had a great time with you.”
“I had a great time with you too.”
We gazed at each other for a long moment. Yes. That was a good word. Gazed. Then, he put his hand on the door and opened it. “See you tomorrow, Jasmine.”
“Yeah. See you tomorrow.”
With one final smile, he walked out of Eric’s apartment, shutting the door behind him.
A second later, four screaming girls engulfed me with hugs.
“That went better than I could’ve ever imagined!” Bella cried. “You two talked for like two hours.”
“Are you going to have babies?” Sophia asked. “Can you name one after me?”
“Wedding first,” Purity said. “Please don’t make us wear orange. I look terrible in orange.”
I should have been irritated that they were making such a fuss, but I wasn't. I screamed with them and answered their inane questions and celebrated the fact a boy I was interested in had not only noticed me but had gotten to know me and asked for my phone number. Today was turning out to be an awesome day.
When the screaming died down, I broke through the circle and hugged Eric tight.
“Thanks for being a good friend,” I said. “It means a lot to me.”
He awkwardly hugged me back.
“What can I say? I’m a hopeless romantic.”
“He is,” Ariel agreed. “He tried to drown himself when I broke up with him.”
He pulled back from me.
“No, I tried to swim because I thought you were drowning. Then I got caught in a riptide.”
“It was in a lake.”
“Lakes can’t have riptides!”
“How come I didn’t get a hug?” Cole asked. “I sang the song. Brought up the equipment. Helped set up the sideboard. What am I? Chopped liver?”