Tanner's mom popped into the room. "We're all ready. Let's eat."
We sat down at the dining room table, complete with tablecloth and china. At my house we didn't have a dining room or china and I couldn't shake the fear that I would do something wrong.
This feeling wasn't helped at all by the fact that Rick sat sullenly across the table from me. It was just a matter of time before he said something to let his family know that he went to school with me and that he didn't like me. Both of which would make dinner really awkward.
I should have told Tanner how old I was before, but there was nothing I could do about it now. It was one more mistake to add to my long list.
I hoped Tanner didn't act too shocked or too disappointed or say something along the lines of, "You knew I thought you were in college. Why didn't you tell me the truth?"
Was there any way out of this? I didn't want to lose Tanner, and I didn't want to be humiliated in front of Rick.
I ate dinner and smiled and made small talk, all the while feeling stiff, waiting for Rick to blow my cover. Every once in a while I felt his gaze on me, thick with resentment, but he didn't say anything. I guess Tanner was right; Rick really was on his best behavior for his grandmother.
Tanner's mom smiled over at me. "We hardly know anything about you, Chelsea. Why don't you tell us about yourself?"
"I um . . ." What could I say that wouldn't reveal anything about myself? I couldn't even make something up because Rick would know I was lying and call me on it. I glanced over at him. He was watching me. "I've lived in Pullman my whole life," I said and then hurriedly added, "I understand you moved here from California. Do you find Pullman very different?"
"I miss all the sunshine," Mrs. Debrock said.
"I don't miss the crowds though," Mr. Debrock added. "Or the California housing prices."
"I miss the people the most." Rick gazed back in my direction. "The kids at school are all jerks."
I gripped my water glass and didn't answer.
"Rick had to move here during the end of his sophomore year," Mrs. Debrock explained. "He's had a hard time adjusting."
I smiled sympathetically. What else could I do?
"Tanner stayed with me in California to finish high school," The Grandmother said. "Because he was a star player on the lacrosse team, and Pullman High doesn't have lacrosse." She leaned toward Tanner, the pride evident in her face. "Did you tell Chelsea you're in the lacrosse club?"
Tanner glanced at me and smiled. "It never came up in conversation."
"He's quite modest about himself," The Grandmother said. "In California, his team was first in the state. He's a natural talent."
"I'm impressed," I said.
Tanner shrugged off the compliments, like it embarrassed him to have his abilities dragged out and presented at the dinner table. Rick rolled his eyes.
So that's how it was. Tanner was the family's golden boy, the favorite child. It made me feel sorry for Rick, which wasn't a welcome sensation. I didn't want to think of Rick with friendly parents, a critical grandmother, and china at dinnertime. It changed everything and yet it changed nothing. Rick still periodically glared at me like I'd sneaked uninvited into his house. He'd probably incorporate this night into his next song about me. It would be called "Invasion of the Cheerleader."
I put on my best poker face and tried to answer his glares with a confident posture. Go ahead and tell them why you hate me, I tried to say with the tilt of my head. It will only make you look bad in front of your brother, your parents, and the woman you want to finance your band.
But just in case he flunked posture reading, I also put Rachel's advice into full swing. I wouldn't give Rick time to talk. I asked about Tanner's sports accomplishments. I asked about the Hilltop and whether it was hard to run a restaurant. I asked The Grandmother how she'd learned about business, and that topic took us all the way through dessert.
Tanner's grandmother had graduated with honors from college back when most women didn't even go. She'd taken one restaurant and turned it into a successful chain that spanned three states. She'd invested in real estate. She had a wide range of friends in the business world. I found it all fascinating, mostly because it had nothing to do with me.
By the time I was done with my raspberry-drizzled chocolate cake, I not only wanted to tell Rachel she was brilliant but to declare her a dating goddess. She had saved me. Tanner didn't know the truth about me, and his parents and Grandmother adored me.
I might actually be able to tell Tanner about myself in the car on the way home instead of around the dining room table with everyone gasping at me.
After we'd finished with dessert, I asked, "Would you like help with the dishes, Mrs. Debrock?" I figured this was better than sitting around the table chatting.
She looked over at me, genuinely surprised. "That's sweet of you to offer, but you're our guest. Besides, I don't want to take you away from Tanner."
"He can help too," I said. It had never been my plan to leave him alone with Rick.
I glanced over at Tanner to see if he minded being volunteered, but he was already on his feet, picking up plates from the table. "It's fine, Mom. You should relax. You and Dad made dinner."
Tanner headed to the kitchen with his hands full of dishes, and I followed after him, holding several plates. Right before Tanner left the dining room, he looked over his shoulder and said, "Come on, Richard. You grab the glasses."
I held my breath, waiting for Rick to come up with an excuse not to help. After all, the boy was a professional slacker. How hard could it be for him to come up with some place he needed to immediately be?
"Sure," he called back to us. "I'd love to help." And perhaps only I noticed the sarcasm.
In a preemptive conversational strike, I told Tanner how nice his family was while I rinsed dishes off. Tanner took the plates from my hands and stacked them in the dishwasher, agreeing. Rick went back and forth from the dining room to the kitchen bringing us dishes and silverware.
At one point Tanner took the linen napkins to the laundry room and Rick and I were left alone. He dropped the rest of his silverware into the tray and then surveyed me with a "Nice way to kiss up to everyone. You are truly a master to watch."
I smiled at him and leaned against the counter top. "Are those future lyrics?"
"I write it as I see it."
"Maybe you need to take a better look around then."
He shook his head, still surveying me. "I can't believe you're dating my brother." He gazed off in the distance, raised one hand then dropped it. "Maybe I should have seen it coming. Maybe your type just naturally finds each other, like sharks in mating season." His gaze returned to me and he waved a finger in my direction. "But don't think you're going to start hanging out here now, because you're not."
As if I wanted to spend more time around Rick. "You didn't seem to mind intruding at my house whenever you felt like it."
He took a step toward me. "Well, you pretty much took care of that, didn't you?"
"No, you did. You're the one who wouldn't apologize."
He rolled his eyes. "Oh. Okay then. I'm sorry."
"Are you still going to sing 'Dangerously Blonde' for High School Idol?"
"Yeah," he said. Only he used several adjectives too. Well, at least I think they're adjectives. I've never actually diagrammed a sentence with swear words in it so I'm not sure.
I smiled back at Rick. "Maybe if your grandmother won't finance your band, she'll want to finance mine. After all, she thinks I'm going places."
He took another step closer to me. "I can think of a few places where you could go."
"And the only place you're going is Juilliard. Have fun learning classical guitar."
Rick took one more step, but I never found out what he was going to say because Tanner walked back in. He looked at the two of us and I saw him note how close Rick stood to me. A flash of annoyance crossed Tanner's features and he came and stood on the other side of me. Possessivel
y near.
Did he actually think that Rick was putting the moves on me? It was almost funny. Tanner spoke to his brother, and his voice had an edge to it. "Did you bring in all the silverware?"
Rick didn't move away from me. "Yeah."
"Why don't you go check and make sure you got it all."
"Because I know I got it all."
"Then take the tablecloth to the laundry room."
"Who made you kitchen dictator?" Rick asked, but he turned and stalked out of the room.
Once he was gone, Tanner looked at me questioningly, perhaps still trying to figure out what had happened between Rick and me. I knew I couldn't wait any longer. It had to be right now. "Um Tanner, I have something to tell you. A confession really. I should have told you before but I liked you, and I really wanted you to like me too."
His expression clouded and I knew he was expecting me to say something horrible.
"I'm only seventeen. I don't turn eighteen until April."
His expression remained clouded, like he was still waiting for the horrible part. When I didn't say anything else he said, "Right. You're seventeen. I saw that on your driver's license."
"You knew? All along you knew I wasn't in college?"
His eyes widened. "You're not in college?"
"No, I'm only a senior in high school."
"Oh—I thought you'd skipped a grade or something. You're still in high school?" I couldn't judge how bad he considered this to be, because immediately recognition filled his features. "You know Richard from school, don't you?"
"Yeah, although we're not . . . friends." I said this because I was stalling, because I still didn't want to come right out and tell him we were enemies. It was more than I wanted to discuss right now, but since I knew Rick would say things about me after I left. I added, "I guess I should warn you that he doesn't like me."
"Really?" I didn't imagine it, relief drained into Tanner's expression. "Sorry about that. But don't take it personally. He doesn't like most people. He doesn't like me."
He said this so cheerfully that I laughed. And it was nice not to have worry about the truth exploding on me anymore. Still, it didn't mean that Tanner would overlook this turn of events. I took a deep breath. "Does it bother you that I'm so much younger than you?"
Tanner stepped closer to me and took a hold of one of my hands. "You're not that much younger. I'm only a freshman. I'm eighteen."
How could that be? "But Rick is a senior—"
"Richard skipped a grade and we're two years apart." Tanner took my other hand and smiled as though an idea had just occurred to him. "You know, if I'd moved here with the rest of my family, I would have gone to PHS, and we probably would have dated."
I leaned closer to him. "Then we're just making up for lost time."
"Right." He bent down to kiss me. His lips had just touched mine when Rick came back in.
"Oh great," Rick said. "My kitchen is no longer safe to walk into."
Tanner stepped away and smiled at me apologetically. "Don't mind Richard. He's just in a bad mood because his girlfriend didn't come tonight." Then to Rick he said, "Where is she anyway?"
Rick brought his Grandmother's teacup to the dishwasher and put it in. As he did, he glanced at me. "She broke up with me."
"Really?" Tanner's voice was surprised, and then turned sympathetic. "When did that happen?"
"A while ago. Her older sister didn't think I was good enough for her."
I came so close to saying, "And her older sister was right," but I bit down on my lip instead. I didn't want to appear petty and vicious in front of Tanner. I just glared back at Rick instead.
"You're kidding," Tanner said. "Adrian let her older sister dictate who she went out with?"
"Apparently," Rick said.
Not true. And I would explain the whole thing to Tanner once Rick wasn't standing there glaring at me.
"Well it's a good thing you found out now what kind of girl she is. Otherwise you'd have to remake yourself every time she didn't like something."
This about a guy who thought his hair color should match his outfit.
Rick leaned up against the counter and looked down at the floor sadly. "Yeah, I know. But it still sucks."
Tanner shook his head and a hard edge crept into his voice. "And what kind of judgmental shrew says you're not good enough for Adrian? I'll tell you what; Adrian wasn't good enough for you."
Rick didn't look up. "Nah, I always knew Adrian outclassed me."
"Only in detention appearances," Tanner said. "Come on, if Adrian hadn't worn so much hairspray her head would have flown off long ago. Forget about her—no, I take that back; remember that she was nothing but white trash in black leather. She probably only saw you in terms of dollar signs and a nice ride. You're better off without her." It was only then that Tanner turned to me. "Don't you think Rick could do better?"
"No," I said. "Actually I don't." And I had to ungrit my teeth to get that much out.
That's when Rick started laughing.
I stepped away from Tanner. "Look, thanks for dinner, but I think you should take me home now."
Tanner looked from me to Rick and back again. "What's going on?"
Rick held his hand up, his thumb and finger almost touching. "Buddy, you were this close to having that trophy girlfriend you always wanted."
"What are you talking about?" Tanner asked.
Rick shook his head, still enjoying himself more than he should have. "Apparently Chels never got around to telling you, but Adrian is her little sister."
Chapter 13
The ride home was painful, but thankfully short. Tanner apologized as he walked me to the car, but I barely heard it. His words had sliced into me and I didn't even want to look at him.
After we drove for a few moments in silence, Tanner said, "Really, I'm sorry, but you should have told me."
"I would have, but I couldn't find a way to casually fit that in between the judgmental-shrew remark and the hairspray comment."
He gripped the steering wheel harder than was necessary. "I was just trying to make my brother feel better after a breakup. Can't you understand that? How was I supposed to know Adrian was your sister?" Then he shook his head and let out a groan. "I should have figured it out. That's why you looked so familiar. Your smile, your voice, your mannerisms—you reminded me of Adrian."
I folded my arms tightly across my chest. "The girl you think is a gold-digging idiot? Am I supposed to feel complimented or insulted by the resemblance?"
"It's not an insult—I just—oh, nothing I say now is going to be right, is it?"
I looked out the window. "Do you know the way to my house? We, of course, live in the white trash part of town."
He didn't answer but drove in the general direction of my neighborhood so I didn't give him more directions.
"You know, it's not like you've been praising Richard," Tanner said. "Last Tuesday you told me your sister broke up with her loser boyfriend. That was my brother you were talking about."
"Yeah, and he deserved the title. Your brother is a jerk. Adrian is just . . . misguided."
"Misguided?" Tanner let out a cough. "You're the one who said she dresses like the bride of Satan."
"And I'm allowed to say that because she's my sister. But I never said she was stupid, or white trash, because she's not. Oh, and also I'm not a judgmental shrew. I didn't break Adrian and Rick up. That was your jerk-of-a-brother's fault."
"My-jerk-of-a-brother? So you're allowed to insult Richard, but I can't say anything bad about Adrian?"
"You can insult Adrian right after she writes horrible songs about you and sings them to everyone you know."
His eyebrows drew together. He had no idea what I was talking about. It was very possible that he'd never actually listened to any of the words of Rick's songs.
"Just ask him why I think he's a jerk. Eventually he'll get to the right answer."
We approached Jefferson Elementary School and Tanner slowed down
. With his jaw clenched tightly he said, "I know you live around here, but I don't know which street."
I gave him directions, calmly, all the time wishing that we lived in a house half as nice as his. He pulled up in front of our small one story, and I noticed that our bushes were overgrown again and a pair of Adrian's muddy tennis shoes lay scattered across the front porch. She was supposed to have taken care of those days ago.
Tanner put the car in park and turned to me. His blue eyes flashed with anger and I suddenly realized who he reminded me of. Rick. I'd seen that look on his face a hundred times. "Hey, I'm sorry I called you a judgmental shrew," he said, "when clearly you're not judgmental at all."
I flung open the car door and stepped outside. "No problem. And by the way, Adrian is too good for Rick." I slammed the door and stomped across the lawn to my front door.
Once I got inside I noticed Adrian sprawled out on the couch by the living room window. "Was that Tanner Debrock's car?" she asked.
I walked past her without answering. Then I went into my room, leaned against the door, and cried.
I drove to PHS the next day. Usually I walk because it's only fifteen minutes away, but I wanted to get to school early to talk to my friends. I needed to talk to someone and Adrian, sitting beside me in the car with her MP3 player blaring and her eyes shut, was not a good candidate.
I hooked up with my friends at our usual meeting place and told them all about my dinner at the Debrocks'. There was a lot of gasping and Aubrie held onto my arm and made a several, "Oh . . . oh no . . . oh nooool" comments.
Rachel shook her head slowly. "What are the chances of you meeting up with Rick's older brother?"
"I guess I increased my odds by going to two places where Rick's band was playing, but really, who would have guessed Rick had such a normal and good-looking brother?"
Aubrie joined in the head shaking. We probably looked like a row of cheerleading bobble head dolls. "It's so ironic. If you hadn't made Adrian break up with Rick, then Tanner wouldn't have said those things about Adrian—and you and Tanner would still be together. This is just like one of those Greek tragedies."
"I didn't make Adrian break up with Rick," I said. "So it isn't ironic, it's just Rick's fault." I'd never made the connection Aubrie had, and it immediately bothered me. I was already in a lousy mood, and this only made things worse.