what he wanted. He said that he and a bunch of guys had a party going on at his house, and he invited me over. I couldn't believe it. I thought he hated me, and I asked him about that. He said that that was just a school thing, and...you know, what the hay. It's summer, and he had a big backyard with a big pool, and the more the merrier, bla,bla,bla..."
The expression on her face remained blank, but Phoebe listened attentively.
"Anyhow, being the idiot that I am, I hopped on my bike, and pedalled all the way out here. To make a long story short, the moment I set foot in the backyard, he and three other guys grabbed me, and tossed me in the pool, fully clothed. At first I thought, Oh great. Now I'm going to have to cycle home soaking wet. Well, at least it was a hot day." The expression on Ian's face now became noticeably more serious. "Then something happened that I really wasn't expecting. Felix jumped in the pool after me, and proceeded to hold my head underwater. I'm not talking about just for a moment. I mean for a good forty seconds. He had an iron grip on the back of my neck, and I could hardly move."
Phoebe was now gripping her cell phone tightly.
"Finally, I did the only thing that was left to do. I reached out, grabbed his balls, and squeezed them so hard that I wouldn't be surprised if there was permanent damage. It incapacitated him long enough for me to finally come up for air and get out of that pool. The other guys at the party started to chase me, but I noticed that I had one advantage over all of them. I was still wearing sneakers, and they were all barefoot. I took off through that wooded area behind the backyard where the ground is covered with briars and brambles, so they gave up on the chase pretty fast. I managed to circle around, grab my bike in front of the house and make it home, soaking wet, but intact."
Phoebe looked down as she was taking all of this in. For the last hour she had merely suspected Felix of being a creepy guy. Now it was no longer ambiguous.
"The point is, I want you to know that unlike, say, Becker or Tim, Felix is no ordinary schoolyard bully. The guy is a genuine psycho, and I do believe that he is going to kill somebody someday. Last summer, that somebody was almost me, and tonight, that somebody could easily have been you." Ian leaned back. "Anyway, I'm sorry I didn't believe you when you called me earlier, but I hope this explains why. For all I knew, he might've convinced you to work with him. Your call had all the hallmarks of yet another ambush."
Phoebe now looked up and with an expression on her face that was indescribable, finally spoke up. "I can't believe you're apologizing. If the roles had been reversed and you had called me, I would've hung up in your face, even if I knew you were telling the truth."
The remaining five minutes of the drive to Rita's house were completely silent, save for Ian giving his older sister a few last minute directions.
9:30 pm
Rita ran out of her front door upon seeing the car pull up in front of her house. Phoebe stepped outside followed by Ian, and the two girls immediately embraced.
"You had me so worried!" Rita held her tighter. "Go inside the house and try to relax, I'll be in a minute."
Phoebe started to head for the front door, but stopped and turned around. "Hey Ian..."
"Yes?" Answered Ian, who was leaning against the car.
"...um, Ian...I owe you one. Big time."
Ian paused for a moment to gather his thoughts. "You know, there actually is a favour I'd like to ask of you."
"What's that?"
"Tomorrow after school, can you meet me in room 201?"
Phoebe thought for a moment. "I guess. What exactly did you have in mind?"
"You'll see. Good night"
With that, Phoebe waved goodbye and disappeared into the house. Rita then threw her arms around Ian and planted a huge kiss which knocked him backward on to the hood of the car. Erma and Mabel observed this with both amazement and amusement.
"I swear you are the best!"
"Um, have you met my sisters?" Ian managed to ask.
Without answering, Rita went right to the open passenger door window. "Hello Ian's sisters!"
"Uh, Erma and Mabel, this is my girlfriend Rita" Ian managed to blurt out.
"Hi" the two sisters said in unison."
"Thank you so much for picking up my friend," Rita was animated.
"No prob," responded Erma.
"Hey, did you know that your brother is a hero?" Rita was now embarrassing Ian.
"Well, I guess we do now" Mabel was struggling not to burst out laughing.
"Excuse us a moment" Ian pulled Rita aside. "Rita, did you have any plans for Saturday morning?"
"Actually, I was planning on spending it with you as usual."
"Great. Can you be at the corner of 15th street at around 10:00?"
She thought about it for a moment. "Isn't that where that fancy private school is?"
"That's the place. I've got a surprise for you."
"Really Ian? Can you give me a hint?"
"No. Just be there. I don't think you'll be disappointed."
"Okay sir!" She gave him one last kiss, then waved at Erma and Mabel. "Nice meeting you. Perhaps we'll be sisters in law some day!"
"See you tomorrow Angel." Ian climbed back in the car as Rita disappeared into the house. His sisters were both starring over their shoulders at him with wide grins on their faces. "What're you two leering at?"
"You're girlfriend is very pretty" observed Mabel.
"Gosh, you noticed that too?" Ian responded sarcastically. There was a long pause, as they kept grinning at him. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go."
Finally Erma spoke up. "Come on Ian, aren't you going to tell us how a nerd like you managed to get a babe like that?"
By this time, he was a bit steamed. "You know, that's something like the fiftieth time I've been asked that question over the last seventy two hours. I' had enough for today."
The girls both shook their heads and laughed, and the car sped off towards home.
9:45 pm
The girls were in Rita's room. The light was off, and not needed. The full moon softly lit both of their faces. Phoebe was still a little shaken from the evening's events, but finally beginning to calm down. She knew that Rita was about to give her a major tongue lashing .
"Go ahead" Phoebe's eyes started to tear.
"What do you mean 'Go ahead'?"
"You're about to give me a big lecture of the 'I told you so' variety. Let's just get it out of the way."
"No I'm not. If you ask me, you were really impressive this evening...not letting your pride get in the way of your survival instincts like that. This is the first time I've ever heard you admit to being wrong about anything, and believe me, I feel a lot closer to you as a result."
Phoebe was speechless.
Rita continued. "And now, I've got to tell you something that might completely destroy our friendship, or make it a lot stronger, depending on how you react to it."
"I'm listening."
Rita took a deep breath. "Phoebe, your mother is a really bad person and an unfit parent."
Surprisingly, Phoebe did not feel insulted. "I take it that you discovered her website."
"Actually, Trish and Betty discovered it by accident while they were doing their assignments, and E-Mailed me the link."
Phoebe now looked particularly glum. "Does Ian know about it?"
"As a matter of fact, no, Phoebe. None of the three of us saw any need in telling anybody else about it."
"Thank you."
"But you're completely missing the point. Being a porn actress twenty years ago isn't what makes her a bad person. As a matter of fact, that's actually kind of funny. I'll bet a lot of the other parents who are at the meeting right now probably recognize her, but
are too embarrassed to admit it."
"Yeah," Phoebe concurred. "I wouldn't be at all surprised if Norman was one of them."
"Phoebe, what's wrong with your mother is her overall view of the human condition. All that shit about 'seeking out the alpha male' and 'marrying up' is just that. A load of shit. Tell me how long she's been feeding you that shit."
Phoebe thought about it for a moment. "I guess since last year."
"Yeah, that would make sense."
"Why?"
"Ian tells me that he's known you since the fourth grade, and that back then, you weren't particularly mean to him."
Once again, Phoebe paused. "You know, a lot of things are starting to make sense. I'm just now beginning to realize how abnormal my mother is."
Rita leaned forward. "I'm listening."
"When I got my first period, instead of just giving me the usual talk about how to maintain proper gynecological hygiene, she started going on and on about what type of boys I should date...and more specifically, what kind I should avoid."
"When she dropped you off at Felix's tonight, what was her impression of him?"
"She never even met him." Phoebe was now slightly embarrassed.
"What!?"
"She just took one look at the size of that house and dropped me off. Apparently it told her all she needed to know about him." Phoebe's embarrassment was now starting to morph into anger as she started to realize the accuracy of Rita's assessment of her mother's parenting skills.
Rita just shook her head. "I've got to tell you, from the moment you introduced me to that guy, and there was something about him that