She flicked her gaze to the ground so he wouldn't see her shock. He almost said he loved her. She felt fire rush across her cheeks and hoped he couldn’t see her blushing.
"Come on. We don't want to be late for your first day."
When she looked up, he moved a step ahead of her. She couldn't see his face but something made her wonder if his cheeks flushed a deeper shade of red than hers.
*-*-*
Sal wished her luck outside the office door. It saddened her to know they wouldn’t be in any classes together. Not even the same lunch. The fact that he asked her to meet all his friends later at some pizza place took the edge off a little. Still, without really knowing anyone, today would be hard.
“Meet me after school near those steps where we came in and we’ll walk home together.”
“Sounds good. I better get this over with.”
“Like I said, it won’t be so bad. You’ve already done the registration stuff. The school tour’ll be a breeze. Besides, it’s just a formality and most kids leading the tour flake on it. I can show you around later.” A sweet smile lit up his face.
Tamyra glanced at her watch and winced.
“I was supposed to be signed in for my tour three minutes ago. I better get going.”
“Catch you later.”
“Bye.”
Sal started to walk away and then slowed. Before disappearing, he called back over his shoulder “You’ll be fine. You’re going to like it here.”
Tamyra placed her hand on the doorknob to the office and inhaled deeply. Letting herself breath out, she swung the door open and stepped inside.
The grey paint of the inner office made it feel large and clinical. Directly in front of Tamyra sat a pleasant thirty-something woman with long dark curly hair. As the woman hung up the phone, she noticed Tamyra.
“Good morning. You must be Tamyra Costa.”
“Yes Ma’am.”
“If you’re wondering how I know who you are, you’re the only new student this year that isn’t coming from middle school and they had the tour last year.”
“Oh, thanks. Um, sorry I’m late.”
“Late? Well aren’t you just so sweet. Now dear, I’d hardly call a minute late. No worries. Besides, I have a funny feeling Bianca will actually be late, if she shows up at all. You may as well have a seat while you wait.”
The secretary, whose nameplate said ‘Mrs. Winter’, motioned to a group of chairs along the wall. Grey padded vinyl, connected underneath by a metal bar. Like the seating in her old doctor’s office. A moment of mourning took her as she realized she would probably never see that doctor again.
*-*-*
Tamyra had been listening to Mrs. Winter, for about forty-five minutes, chatting all about her experiences in Toronto when the office door opened. An overweight girl with greasy brown hair trotted in as if she owned the place. Tamyra felt her guts squirm. The girl looked so much like her old tormentor, she could have been Vicki’s sister.
“Oh good. How nice you finally decided to show up, Bianca."
Tamyra realized the secretary's previous warmth disappeared as she addressed the new arrival.
“Whatever. I'm here."
“Tamyra, on behalf of the school I'm apologizing now for Bianca. Showing new students around the school is a punishment for her and not a decision I had anything to do with. Bianca, you better take this seriously and treat Tamyra with more respect than your own grandmother."
“No probs, Ms. W, I never liked my grandmother anyway."
“Bianca, I mean it! You better do a good job."
“Like I said, no probs. Me and Tammy here is gonna be bestest buddies.”
Before Tamyra had time to correct her name, Bianca snaked an arm around her pretending to truly be best friends and tugged her towards the office door. She continued to pull her out into the hallway. Fortunately as soon as the door fell shut behind them, Bianca dropped her arm.
“Ok, I may have been given this job ‘cause I got caught copying someone’s test answers, but I really do like meeting new people. Where’d you say you moved her from?”
“Oh. I didn’t.”
“Yeah, OK, so where’d ya move from and how possessed were you to move here?”
“Toronto.”
“You lived in Toronto and you let your parents tear you out of there to come to our lousy town?”
“Mom thought..."
“I hear ya, only they never really do. They just make us do whatever they want. What grade you in anyhow?"
Bianca sprayed when she talked. Tamyra took a step back from her as a buffer, but not before she noticed the not-so-fine line of dark hair above Bianca’s top lip.
“Twelve." Tamyra muttered, surprised she hadn’t missed a beat.
“Same as me. Oh damn! Your parents made you move for your last year? That sucks. Say, when’d you move to town?"
“Just over a week ago.”
“Well in just over a week you managed to land yourself in with a good crowd. I'll introduce you to my girls later."
Girls... ghouls. Just what she needed.
As they talked they walked along. Bianca slowed a little to point.
“Oh yeah, that's the library and there's the cafe, but why anyone would go to either I'll never know. We always go to the mall for lunch. Only niners and losers hang in the cafe."
“Oh, OK." Tamyra said, even as she thought ‘whatever’.
Tamyra snuck a peek into the cafe, hoping to see Sal. She knew he had class, but he mentioned sometimes he liked to sit in the cafe and draw. No such luck.
“Don't worry I won't let you embarrass yourself."
“Thanks."
“No probs. Hey, we've pretty much seen everything we need to. Come on, let's go hack a butt."
“Pardon?"
“Never heard that one, huh? Smoke. Let's go smoke."
“I don't smoke."
“Well, I guess it’s time to start then, huh?”
Panic seeped into her blood and made her tingle with anxiety. Getting off to a bad start with Bianca terrified her, but she had no intention of smoking. She would rather die than have to face another round of bullying. Thinking about how hard Vicki and her ghouls had made things for her, she seriously considered the cigarette for a moment.
“Relax, would ya? I’m kidding. ‘Sides, I only have three butts left and I ain’t share’n. Anyway, I gotta get you to your first class or my ass is toast. Where’s your class thingy?”
Tamyra fished around in her pocket and brought out a folded slip of paper. Bianca snapped it out of her hand, unfolded the sheet and stared at it for a minute. Angry lines creased her forehead and Bianca’s anger felt almost tangible. The look quickly changed to a smirk, making Tamyra even more uncomfortable. As Bianca’s eyes lifted from the paper to Tamyra’s face she felt like a tiny wounded bird being sighted by a hungry giant cat.
“You’re take’n all advanced classes. You smart or something?”
“I guess.” Tamyra didn’t like where this was going.
“That’s great. Now me and the girls got someone to do, I mean help us, with our homework.”
“I guess I can help.”
“You guess? Now is that anyway to treat your new bestest buddies?”
“I don’t mind helping.”
“That’s good. Real good. You’ll be a big help, I’m sure. Now, I better get you to class. Right there, three doors down.”
Bianca handed the schedule back to Tamyra. She took it and stuffed it back in her pocket. Bianca’s smile unnerved her, so she turned to go.
“Thanks for the tour.”
“No probs. See you around Tammy.”
As Bianca headed away down the hall and she barely managed to whisper; “It’s Tamyra.”
Chapter 7
Tamyra peeked through the little window into her classroom and groaned. Class had started a while ago and the teacher gestured wildly as she explained something at the front of the class. Great. No blending in here.
It seemed no matter what, she would be the center of attention. Better to just get it over with.
She opened the door and stepped inside. From the hall she spotted an empty desk in the front row, near the door. She gently shut the door and bee-lined for it. The teacher didn’t hesitate in her rant for a moment. By the time Tamyra settled into the empty seat she knew Shakespeare had inspired the passion in her new teacher.
She knew the words but couldn’t remember which play until she spied a copy of A Midsummer Night’s Dream held open by the girl next to her. The girl, fair skinned with long strawberry blonde curls, didn’t hesitate at all and leaned over toward Tamyra with the book so they could share.
“Thanks.” Tamyra whispered.
*-*-*
For the next hour Tamyra followed the story along in the red head’s outstretched book. She tried not to stare at the kind stranger. She didn’t want to make her feel weird about being so nice.
She had large blue-green eyes and great big freckles splattered over her nose and chubby cheeks. Pretty in an innocent way. Not fat, not skinny either, the kind of build a mom would call healthy. Tamyra thought she would be better suited to the type of clothing the characters in the play used to wear rather than her trendy outfit.
Tamyra already had a feeling they would be friends, even if the girl had yet to say a word.
The bell cut the teacher off and the noise of shifting chairs began. People scampered through the door and vanished into the hall within seconds.
“Tamyra Costa, I presume?” the teacher asked.
“Yes Ma’am, that’s me.”
“Nice to meet you Miss Costa. Welcome. Oh and Sandi, thank-you for sharing your book like that. It was very nice of you.”
“Yeah, sure.”
The red head, Sandi, had just finished gathering her stuff into her backpack. Tamyra wanted to say something but tripped over her own tongue and mumbled; “Thanks.”
“It’s cool. I’m Sandi by the way. Sandi Anderson and please don’t call me Sandi Andy, it really bugs me.”
“No Sandi Andy, so long as you don’t call me Tammy.”
“It’s a deal!” When Sandi smiled she covered her mouth as if embarrassed about her teeth or something.
Sandi started to walk away. Tamyra tried to come up with something witty to say, but settled for: “I’m not so sure where my next class is, would you mind helping me?”
“Yeah, sure. Let me see your timetable.”
Tamyra already had it in her hand and passed it to the other girl. Sandi studied it for a moment and grinned with her mouth closed.
“Your next class is near mine and you’re in my law class this afternoon. Too bad about gym, but I’m pretty sure it’s the same class my best friend, Yvonne, is in. First day been alright so far?”
“Do I look that scared?”
Both girls giggled. Sandi had a calming presence and Tamyra found herself relaxing.
“Maybe a little scared, but I’m sure that’s just leftover from your new-kid tour with Bianca this morning.”
“My new bestest buddy, you mean?”
“Oh, I can’t believe she tried that with you. What did she want from you? She want you to do her homework, or was it drive her around, or was she trying for cold hard cash? Don’t worry about her. She’s more bark than bite anyways or maybe she’s just a female dog. You get the picture though.”
“Great. Now how do I avoid all that?”
“You won’t need to avoid her. She’ll give up trying to push you around pretty quick. Besides, there’s a whole new batch of grade nines for her to bully.”
“I sure hope you’re right. There was this girl Vicki where I used to live and I’m telling you they could be sisters. Only thing is Vicki never gave up.”
“No worries about Bianca, but you better get to Mr. Alderman’s chemistry class ‘cause he freaks out when students are late. Come on, I’ll take you.”
The rest of her day passed uneventfully. She took a quiet lunch alone. She and Sandi sat together in law class, but didn’t get a chance to talk much. During her gym class she tried to figure out who Yvonne was and had her choices narrowed down to four girls by the end it. The best part of her day happened when she walked down the steps at the end of it and as promised, Sal waited to walk her home.
Chapter 8
Tamyra threw a third top onto the growing heap on her bed. She buzzed with excitement. Tonight Sal offered to take her to meet his friends for pizza. As they walked home, she discovered Sandi Anderson happened to be one of Sal’s closest friends and would be there tonight. Sandi’s sweet disposition made her feel at ease. Her presence would help quell the storm in Tamyra’s stomach.
Meeting his friends seemed huge. Unless he only saw her as another friend. Then again just making friends amazed her. She wanted to look perfect. She tried a purple t-shirt and decided the color seemed too regal. Shucking it onto the bed she poked her head back into her closet hoping to find something better.
A lime green top hung in the closet and she didn’t recognize it. It still had tags. Taking a closer look, she noticed her size on the label. She wondered whether her mom or her aunt bought it as she took the hanger down from the rack. Holding it up she could tell it would be a perfect fit and the colour looked fantastic against her caramel skin.
She yanked the tags off and pulled the shirt over her head. Still smoothing it out, Tamyra stepped up to her full-length mirror and smiled. She had found the perfect shirt to wear tonight. She’d have to remember later to ask who bought it and thank them.
She sprayed her hair once more and tried to flatten it a little. Normally she liked the puffy slightly afro look, but today she wasn’t feeling it so much. Maybe because she hadn’t seen anyone else in town with hair like hers. That didn’t feel right either. She hated when she fell into a fussy mood. Her hair looked the same as always. Probably just nerves or worrying about trying too hard.
She had about ten more minutes before Sal would be around to pick her up. Tamyra still couldn’t believe her luck in meeting him the way she did. If she hadn’t have met him alone, a week before school, she doubted she would’ve had a chance to get to know him so well. Let alone be meeting his friends.
This move had shaped up to be not so terrible. She still missed her old neighborhood, friends and home, but Shiver Cove appeared to be turning out much better than she’d ever hoped. Now if only she had a way to find out if Sal liked her as much as she liked him. She kind of liked the giddy nervous way he made her feel. Not the same as talking in class nervous. Not embarrassing, more of an excited or hopeful flutter.
She grinned, pondering the mystery of Sal. He called everyday at least once and they chatted for hours, but he remained hard to read. He stopped by everyday the week before school started, but then they were using the beach and he did that before she came along. He made a point of walking to and from school with her and now he wanted her to meet his friends. Part of her worried he only wanted to be friends, while the rest of her hoped he noticed her too. She tried to tell herself the confusion wasn’t so bad, soon enough she would know, but secretly it was killing her. She never wanted a boyfriend until Sal, and the feelings seemed alien to her.
Hearing the doorbell, her stomach fluttered along with her heart. She did one last check in the mirror before she thumped down the stairs to meet him. She pulled open the door and couldn’t help but let a smile take over when she saw him.
Sal looked more like a model than a surfer tonight. He wore a plain black button down shirt with a pair of khakis. An average outfit, but the way he wore it made it look fantastic. Somehow the clothes complimented his shoulder length sandy blonde hair and took him from surfer to flawlessly styled. She flushed when she realized his eyes roamed up and down, taking her all in.
“Hey. Nice shirt. The color. I guess that’s kinda lame, huh? What I mean is, it looks perfect on you.”
“Thanks.”
“So, you nervous?”
“Yeah. I mean,
I hope your friends are nice. But I’m afraid I’ll say something really stupid or not be able to say anything at all.”
“You’ll be fine. I already know you’re going to fit right in.”
She felt her forehead crease as she wondered what he meant. She stepped onto the porch, turned to close the door, hoping he didn’t notice her puzzled expression. He didn’t say anything as they walked down the steps. Her heart bumped into her throat when his hand brushed hers. For a second she thought he might wrap his hand around hers, but then the moment passed.
The walk from her place had been nice and she didn’t want to give up her alone time with Sal, even to meet his friends. She reluctantly followed him inside the pizzeria. The smell of tomatoes, fresh bread and garlic reminded her she skipped dinner and suddenly she felt famished.
The pizza place sort of reminded her of an oldies pizza joint. Sort of. Posters on the walls of kids in poodle skirts and bobby socks with old fancy cars. A faux antique jukebox belted out an oldies tune from one corner. In spite of the polished chrome throughout the designer had missed recapturing the oldies feel, perhaps its shadow but not the full deal. It would have been sad, except the place had a warm atmosphere and teenage chatter filled her ears. Much busier than she would’ve expected for a Tuesday night.
Sal led the way to a table near the back. He slid into a booth with four other teens and grinned as he gently patted the seat next to him. Tamyra sat down, tried bury her nerves and look comfortable through the introductions.
Next to Sal sat Sandi Anderson, much to Tamyra’s relief. Sandi leaned against a boy next to her. Someone told Tamyra his name, Cam. He was Asian and looked about Sandi’s height. Soft dark eyes and a genuine smile, it wasn’t hard to see what Sandi saw in him.
The next person sitting in the booth was someone introduced as Val. She wasn’t sure why his friends called him Val. In one of her classes the teacher had called him Ivan. Could’ve been some inner circle thing, she didn’t know.
He looked a few inches taller than Sal or Cam. Although all three had athletic builds, he seemed broader across the shoulders than the others. He didn’t smile but his expression seemed friendly. He had clear blue eyes and a mess of blonde hair deliberately spiked in every which direction. She felt something intense about his gaze, even from behind his glasses.