“Hello, Gumdrop,” he said, smiling at her with his adorable grin.
Candi stood there staring at his beautiful white teeth, momentarily stunned and unable to speak. How could a person have such a perfectly gorgeous face? And look at those teeth! She’d never been this close to him before, but even up close, she couldn’t find a single flaw. His jaw was showing a bit of a dark shadow coming in, but all that did was make him more gorgeous.
Oh my god, he just called me Gumdrop. I’m going to kill my father. What am I supposed to say?! She was panicked at the idea of the most beautiful guy in the school talking to her in a space no bigger than her closet. And it was dark, too.
“Um, what?” That’s it. Stall for time. Be cool.
“I said, ‘Hello Gumdrop.’ What’s up? How’s the flight so far? Did you like your peanuts?” He smiled again, staring in her eyes.
She had to shake her head a little to clear it so she could respond like a normal person. “Hi, Kevin. Kevin Number Two. Yes, I liked my peanuts. All four of them.”
“Ha, that’s funny. Bummer for you, though, ‘cause I got five peanuts. They must like me more.”
She smiled shyly back at him and then looked down at the floor. “I’m sure they do.”
The door to the toilet opened and a very large man came out, momentarily squeezing the two of them together. Kevin was much taller, so his face was pushed into her hair – the hair that was sticking out in a cloud around her head, as usual.
Sniff. “Hmm, your hair smells good.” He got a curious look on his face, as if her hair shouldn’t smell good. Or maybe he was just surprised that he’d actually said it out loud.
“Uh, thanks. I think.” She stepped away to enter the bathroom.
“See you later, Gumdrop,” Kevin said with a grin, as Candi stood in the tiny bathroom compartment looking out at him.
“Yeah, bye.” She shut the door and locked it. Then she dropped her face into her hands. I am the world’s biggest dork of all time. Kevin Peterson calls me Gumdrop, tells me my hair smells nice, and then I open the door and step into a stinky bathroom stall and say goodbye. The most inglorious exit. Ever.
When she came out, Kevin was gone. Candi breathed a sigh of relief. As much as she thought he was the hottest thing since, well, anything, she didn’t think her heart could take any more of these close-quarter encounters with him. She was not prepared to function in that league. She was going to have to work on some cute one-liners and things she could say next time – assuming there would be a next time. She knew she’d never get an opportunity like this at school, and she was determined not to blow it if she got another one. She hadn’t really thought about what would happen if she did win the social lottery and actually got Kevin to like her back. Probably because it would be like winning the lottery – the chances were just too remote.
***
The plane landed in Miami forty minutes later. The two families gathered their luggage and took another shuttle van to a hotel near the cruise ship’s port. They checked in at the reception desk and then gathered in the lobby, surrounded by all of their luggage.
“So, who’s up for some dinner?” asked Frank, rubbing his hands together. “Anyone?”
Kevin still had his earbuds in, so he didn’t hear or respond. Sarah just stood a few feet away saying nothing.
Jonathan and Candi looked at each other. Candi shrugged her shoulders at her brother.
“I’m in,” said Jonathan.
“Yeah, me too,” said Candi shyly.
“Actually, I have a bit of a headache, so I think I’m just going to go lay down, if that’s okay with you, kids?” said the older Candace.
“Sure, Mom, no problem,” answered Candi.
“I’ll stay with Candace,” said Glen. “I have some things with the program that I’d like to work on tonight, anyway. You kids go ahead with the Petersons – if that’s okay with you Frank. Do you mind if my kids tag along?”
“No, not at all! The more the merrier!” Frank turned to his wife, “So, Angela, where should we go?”
“How about the restaurant here in the hotel?” she offered.
Frank turned to the group. “All in favor?”
“Aye!” said Jonathan, enthusiastically.
“Aye,” said Candi.
“Whatever,” said Sarah, while admiring her fingernails. She nudged her brother.
“What?” said Kevin, taking one earbud out.
“It’s settled, then. Let’s go.” Frank gestured to a bellhop who was standing nearby. “Hey, buddy, can you give them a hand with the luggage?” The bellhop hurried over, dragging a rickety cart with him, ready to load all the bags and deliver them to the rooms.
“Frank, wait, let me give you some money for my kids’ dinner,” said Glen.
Frank held his hands up in front of him, “Oh, no, no – don’t be silly. I’ve got it covered, it’s not a problem at all, my pleasure.”
Kevin looked at his sister and they exchanged questioning looks. Kevin knew their dad didn’t have a bunch of extra cash lying around. He was obviously trying to act like money was no big deal, and he was definitely sucking up to Glen Buckley. If the Buckleys hadn’t been here, they would have eaten at some fast food place instead of an expensive steak restaurant. It made him feel weird to see his father acting so strangely. It’s almost as if he was nervous; and Frank Peterson was never nervous. Especially around guys like Glen Buckley.
The Buckley parents went up to their room while their kids and the Petersons went to the restaurant. Once they were all seated around a big round table together and had ordered some drinks, Frank began to talk.
“So, Jonathan, your dad tells me you’ve been helping him with his computer software program. That’s pretty impressive.” He waited expectantly for Jonathan’s response.
Kevin started feeling uncomfortable. His dad was trying to act casual when he obviously had an agenda.
“Oh, not really. Just little things here and there. Sometimes I just check his code for errors. Sometimes you get so bogged down in your own work you miss the little things.”
Kevin watched as Candi frowned at her brother, seeming like she wanted to say something but decided not to. She glanced over at Frank, her expression telling Kevin that his father made her nervous.
“Candi, do you do any of the work with your dad? Are you a computer expert too, like the men of the house?” He smiled at her really intensely.
Looking at him, Kevin was reminded of the Cheshire cat. It embarrassed him.
“No, not really. I don’t really get into all the computer stuff like Jon does. Sometimes I help my dad with the artwork, but that’s it.”
“Hmm, artwork, huh? What kind of artwork?” Frank tilted his head to the side to show how interested he was. It was so overdone as to look comical.
“Well, sometimes when my dad or Jon is working on a part of the program that has a graphic component, they ask me to draw some things on the computer they can use. It’s no big deal, really, just small stuff.”
Kevin looked over at his mother, to see what she thought about her husband’s second degree questioning. She just stared absently at her menu, ignoring him. Nothing new there.
“Give us an example of the kind of graphic work you’ve done, say, on this latest project of your dad’s.” Frank licked his lips and stared at Candi, waiting to hear her answer.
Kevin couldn’t take it anymore – watching his dad act so weird, Candi getting more and more nervous by the second. “Dad, she already said it’s just little stuff, no big deal.”
“Quiet, Kevin. I want to hear what the girl has to say.”
“Dad, are we going to talk about business all night, because it’s giving me a headache,” snapped Sarah.
Candi smiled first at Kevin and then Sarah, looking relieved.
Jonathan’s head was moving back and forth, following the conversation being batted around the table, a confused look on his face.
“No, no ... this isn’t business,
I was just making conversation.” Frank picked up his menu. “Why don’t we just figure out what we’re going to eat? Anyone interested in the sampler appetizer platter? We could share it ... ”
Sarah put her menu up in front of her face, refusing to answer. Jonathan looked around the table, moving only his eyes now. Candi stared at the menu lying in front of her on the table, not knowing what to say. She looked like she felt nauseous, the way she kept swallowing.
“I’m up for it, and some of those stuffed mushrooms too,” said Kevin, rubbing his stomach under the table. “I’m starving. Those five peanuts I had on the plane just didn’t cut it.” He winked at Candi.
She glanced up just in time to see it, blushing furiously.
Kevin smiled at her extreme embarrassment. It was kinda cool how she blushed so easy like that.
***
Jonathan caught the exchange between Kevin and his sister and wondered about it. He wasn’t used to his sister being so shy all the time. Usually by now she would have opened up and started talking away. When he saw Kevin wink at her, he decided she must be extra shy because of him.
Jonathan had to admit, he wasn’t his usual gregarious self either. Kevin seemed pretty nice, even if he was built like an NFL football player; but Sarah Peterson intimidated the heck out of him. She was beyond beautiful and so sure of herself. In his wildest dreams, he couldn’t have imagined her even acknowledging his existence – and so far she really hadn’t, so there were no surprises there. He’d never had a girlfriend before, but he didn’t think Sarah Peterson was his type. She seemed angry all the time and probably didn’t like science or computers like he did. He knew when he fell in love someday, it would be with someone who shared his interests.
But then again, he had to admit – Sarah Peterson was one of the most beautiful girls he’d ever seen. She was the most popular girl in school, and guys like him didn’t normally get the chance to eat dinner with someone like her. He smiled to himself as he pictured the look on his friends’ faces when he told them he went out to dinner with Sarah Peterson.
“What are you staring at, you little creep?” said Sarah angrily, glaring at Jonathan.
“Umm ... nothing ... uh ... I mean, you ... but not like a creep ... I was just thinking about telling my friends I had dinner with you ... ” Jonathan’s face started burning immediately, realizing he’d revealed too much.
“Ew, I’m not eating dinner with you, I’m eating dinner with my family and you just happen to be here.” Her face showed something akin to disgust.
“Sarah!” yelled her father, his own face a fiery red that matched the color of Jonathan’s.
“What?! He’s sitting there staring at my cleavage, what am I supposed to do?” Sarah reached up to her blouse, buttoning it up two more places.
Jonathan watched her, feeling humiliated. “Sarah, I wasn’t looking at your cleavage ... um ... I wasn’t really, I ... ”
“Jon, just let it go,” said Candi, using a short, clipped tone. She looked over at Sarah with narrowed eyes, obviously not appreciating anyone calling her brother a little creep. She had always claimed he was a gentleman and so unlike all the boys at school in that way.
Jonathan didn’t know what to say, so he just sat there, wondering what had just happened. He had been staring at Sarah, that part was true. But he wasn’t thinking anything bad at the time, nor did he even really notice her cleavage. At least, not at that particular moment. He had noticed it earlier, but then again, so had the rest of the world.
He wondered why girls wore their shirts unbuttoned like that and then got mad when someone looked. It didn’t add up for him, and since he didn’t know enough about girls like Sarah, it was a puzzle that was going to stay with him until he figured it out. Jonathan liked solving riddles. Maybe later on the cruise he could ask Sarah why she did it. Since his sister didn’t wear shirts like that, he wasn’t sure Candi would know the answer.
***
Kevin watched everything playing out at the table, smiling to himself. This cruise is going to be awesome.
His dad was busy trying to gather intel without anyone figuring out what he was doing.
Jonathan was completely clueless about women and was therefore going to annoy the ever-loving shit out of his sister whenever he was around.
Sarah was just waiting for a chance to lash out at anyone, and Jonathan was the perfect target since he would never know when it was coming.
And last, but certainly not least, Candi – the little mouse who was afraid of her own shadow – shows that maybe she has a little bit of backbone in her, at least when it comes to defending her brother.
Yep, this cruise is definitely not going to be boring.
Appetizers and dinner passed without further incident. The table was quiet except for discussions about the cruise schedule and amenities. After a dessert of ice cream sundaes, they all went up to their rooms, agreeing to meet for breakfast at seven the next morning.
CHAPTER TWO
All Aboard!
Candi was one of the first ones down for breakfast the next day, preceded only by Jonathan. They were followed shortly by their parents, Frank, Kevin, and Candi. The group waited a few minutes outside the restaurant, eventually deciding to go in and start breakfast without Sarah and Angela.
“If we wait for them, we’ll be late to the cruise, and I don’t want to miss it or be the last in line,” said Frank.
“Yeah,” agreed Kevin, “they’re never ready on time – they gotta pack on the makeup before they let their adoring public see them.”
“That’s enough, Kevin,” said Frank without anger.
Candi and her mom shared a secret look. Neither of them was big on makeup, and they both had hair that was nearly impossible to tame, so they didn’t even try most of the time; they just washed it, conditioned it, and let the curls do what they wanted.
Everyone ate breakfast from the buffet. They were joined in the last ten minutes by Sarah and her mother, both of whom had only a piece of dry wheat toast and coffee.
Candi looked down guiltily at the remnants of her scrambled eggs, bacon, and pancake breakfast. She had no control over her eating habits; she saw something that looked good and she ate it. Luckily she was young and had good metabolism. She knew she wasn’t going to win any swimsuit model awards, but she wasn’t fat either. She looked over at Sarah and sighed.
Sarah was fully capable of winning a swimsuit model award. Life was so unfair sometimes. Candi thought if she were as beautiful as Sarah, she wouldn’t spend so much of her time being so rude, like Sarah did. Candi didn’t know her very well, but so far she wasn’t impressed with what she’d seen. She decided to give Sarah the benefit of the doubt, though. Maybe she was nervous about the cruise. Candi had seen Sarah at school being cheerful and laughing with her friends, so she knew Sarah could be a happy person, at least sometimes. Maybe when they got together on the cruise without their parents around, they could start to build some sort of friendship.
Looking down at her plate again, she realized this might mean eating less at breakfast time. If that’s what I have to do, then so be it. Goodbye pancakes and goodbye bacon. She pushed the uneaten portions of her breakfast away, even though she really wanted to eat them.
She looked up and caught Kevin watching her with amusement. He looked over at his sister, who was sitting there with her sunglasses already on, looking bored over a piece of dry toast. Then he looked back at Candi again, sitting in front of a plate she wished wasn’t there. She was embarrassed to think he was noticing that she’d laid waste to the buffet.
He smiled and nodded his head, frowning as if impressed at how much she’d eaten. Then he looked over at Jonathan’s plate.
Jonathan looked up with his mouth full of food to see Kevin staring at him.
“Whaffs wong?” He swallowed with some effort and then tried again. “What’s wrong? Did I do something?” He looked from Kevin to his sister and then back to Kevin again.
“No, dude, nothi
ng. I was just looking at how much you’re eating. I know guys on the football team who can’t eat that much for breakfast.” He wasn’t being rude – he sounded fascinated.
Candi wanted to die. Here was her brother, the skinniest kid in their grade at school, eating his normal gigantic breakfast, oblivious to the fact that everything they did on this vacation was potential ammunition to be used against them later at school.
“Oh, he normally doesn’t eat this much,” explained Candi, “He’s just excited about the buffet.”
Her brother looked at her, confused. “That’s not true. I eat pancakes and bacon and eggs almost every morning. Sometimes I have a waffle instead of the pancakes, or sausage instead of the bacon, but the fat and calorie count is virtually equivalent.”
“Seriously?” asked Kevin. “How do you stay so skinny?”
“Oh, I run and do other stuff.”
“What do you mean, you run? Like track?”
“No, I’m not on the track team. I just run around the neighborhood. Sometimes I just have a lot of energy, especially when I’m studying and I’m trying to work out a calculation or a piece of code or something; I get a little antsy, so I go running and come up with the answer while I do it. Then I can calm down and finish my work.”
“Interesting,” was all Kevin said in response. He seemed to be mulling over the answer in his head.
Candi couldn’t tell whether Kevin thought this response was normal or completely crazy, which is what she thought. Her brother was telling the truth, though. He had lots of energy. When it wasn’t spent coming up with answers to complex mathematical equations, it was spent burning up the pavement. He probably ran thirty miles a week ... more during finals.
Sarah looked up from her coffee and toast to join in the conversation. “So, you eat a million calories, run, and do math while you burn every calorie you ate?”
“Yep, I guess so,” answered Jonathan, a wary look on his face.
“Does it help? The running I mean?”
“Well ... yeah ... it helps me. It clears my mind so I can just let it do the work for me. I kind of just stop thinking at all, and my mind works behind the scenes and comes up with the answers I’m looking for.”