Salvaged: A Love Story

  I turned my gaze to the other girl, Beth. Looking at her, the first question that came to mind was how she made it into the in crowd. She wasn’t unattractive, but she wasn’t attractive either. She was a little plain, like me, and she had a nervous little giggle. She looked friendly enough; maybe I could like her.

  “Did you see what Tammy’s wearing?” she asked Tiffany. “That girl is so strange.”

  Nope, I determined that I couldn’t be her friend after all.

  Wes was, well, dirty for lack of a better term. Or at least he looked like he hadn’t bathed in days. His brown hair was greasy, his clothes were wrinkled, and it was obvious he didn’t believe in shaving. Worse, he was eating a hot dog and talking with his mouth full. To keep from getting sick, I looked away and gave Rick the once over.

  Rick was a pleasant enough looking guy and much more like Cooper. He was clean, nicely dressed, and appeared to be friendly. His personality was very outgoing, and he kept everyone in the group laughing, so he was more than likely the ringleader of the clique. He seemed nice enough, but I was sure that he probably possessed a dark side. Most members of elite cliques did.

  After several moments Cooper finally excused us and pulled me toward the house. “Come on, Attie, I’ll give you a tour.”

  I searched for one of the girls to rescue me but couldn’t find one. “Maybe I should try to find my friends so they don’t worry about me,” I suggested.

  “Oh, we’ll just be a minute, Attie.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me along behind him.

  More than thirty minutes later, we still hadn’t made it beyond the first floor. Cooper took me through every room on the first level and made sure to point out every piece of art or artifact and give its history. I didn’t get to say one word, and all the excess information was nauseating. If he was trying to impress me, he was failing miserably. He talked nonstop about all the travel he’d done to Europe and how much he loved art.

  “Are you an art lover, Attie?”

  “Can’t say that I am, no.”

  “Have you been exposed to much?”

  “Just a few museums in New York, but that’s it.”

  “Oh, I bet if you were exposed to it a little more you’d fall in love with it.”

  My mind wandered to Riley’s sketches. Come to think of it, there was one type of art that I liked—Riley’s.

  “Attie.” I heard Tammy say my name.

  “Tammy!” Instant relief washed over me. “We’re back here.”

  She made her way into the back hallway to join us. “Whatcha doin’, Cooper?” she asked distrustfully.

  “Hey, Tammy,” Cooper said warmly. “Attie wanted a tour of the house, so I thought I’d oblige.”

  “Did she now? Well, Cooper,” she said softly, “you have to share the new girl. Everyone wants to meet her.”

  “She hasn’t seen the upstairs yet. We’ll only be a few more minutes.”

  “Oh, Cooper, that’s all right. I’ll make sure to see it next time,” I lied.

  “Well … ” He hesitated. “Promise?”

  “Yes,” I lied again.

  “I guess I should probably check on the guests,” he admitted.

  “Yes, you probly should,” Tammy replied. “I think they were running out of hot dogs, and you know how high school kids are when they run out of hot dogs.”

  “Okay, I guess I’ll find you in a little while, Attie?”

  “Looking forward to it,” I lied for the third time.

  Cooper walked off, and when he was out of sight Tammy stuck her finger into her mouth as if she was gagging herself.

  “Tell me about it.” I rolled my eyes. “How did you find me?”

  “Riley sent me in after you.”

  “Riley? He’s here?” My heart raced.

  “Yep. But don’t you dare tell him I told you. He’d kill me. He saw Cooper drag you in here and got worried after you’d been gone awhile, so he asked me to come in here and drag you back out.”

  “Did he seem jealous?”

  “Oh yeah. He was totally jealous; it was awesome.”

  As we made our way outside I intentionally didn’t look around. If Riley was watching, I didn’t want him to know that I knew he was there. I did, however, notice Tiffany walking up to me.

  “So, Attie, did you like the house?”

  “It’s very nice.”

  “Hey, Tiff, how’s it going?”

  “Hi, Tammy,” Tiffany responded without even looking her direction. “So, Attie, looks like we’ll be on the cheer squad together.”

  I gulped and then gave her a weak smile. “Great. That’ll be nice.” I lied again—what was this, the fourth time today already?

  “I’ll probably be captain this year. We vote before the first game.”

  “Good luck. You’ve got my vote,” I lied for the fifth time.

  “Captain? What does that mean? Like, you kick the highest?” Tammy asked dryly. “I’m underwhelmed.”

  Tiffany rolled her eyes, “See you around, Attie.” She turned to walk off and then spoke over her shoulder. “Tell Riley to call me; he owes me a dinner.”

  “I will,” I called back to her and then whispered in Tammy’s ear, “when I wake up next to him tomorrow morning.”

  She laughed. “That was awesome, even if I was the only person to hear it.”

  “That’s the most wonderfully tacky thing I’ve ever said,” I boasted. “I’m in awe of myself.”

  “You should be. Did it feel good?”

  I nodded my head enthusiastically.

  “I’ve trained you well, my fine young padawan.” An extremely large smile covered her face. “Pretty soon you’ll even be able to say stuff like that out loud.”

  “Attie! Tammy!” Anne called for us to join her and Jennifer. “We got some lounge chairs.”

  “Thanks for deserting me, Anne,” I taunted as I took a seat. “Hey, Jennifer.”

  “Did I desert you? I’m so sorry, Attie. I didn’t realize.”

  “You left me to chat, Tammy left me to eat, and then Tess took off and I don’t know where in the world she is.”

  “Oh.” She looked sad. “I’m so sorry.”

  “I’m just teasing you; don’t worry about it.”

  “But she was saved by Cooper, and he blessed her with a tour of his lovely home,” Tammy added sarcastically.

  “Ugh,” Anne moaned.

  “Cooper’s a freak,” Jennifer added.

  As if he heard his name, Cooper appeared in front of me. “Hello, girls.” He grinned.

  “Hey, Cooper,” we said flatly.

  “Do you girls want to help judge the belly flop competition?”

  “Are you gonna be in it?” Tammy asked.

  “Of course.” He nodded.

  “Sure, we can do that.” She tried to sound friendly but wasn’t very convincing.

  “Great! You’ll have a blast. Now, as we each take turns, yell out your score—anything from one to ten with ten being the best.”

  “Thanks so much, Cooper. I don’t know if we could have figured out how to do it on our own.”

  “Anytime.” Again, Tammy’s sarcasm flew right over Cooper’s head, and he trotted off to join his friends.

  “Maybe he’ll hurt himself,” Tammy mumbled.

  “Tammy, be nice,” Anne scolded.

  The boys lined up to take their turn at being physically tortured. The first to go was the dirty boy that Cooper introduced me to.

  Before he jumped, he looked over and gave Tammy a wink.

  “Automatic two-point deduction for the wink,” she grumbled.

  His body hit the water in a slight curve, so technically it w
asn’t the perfect belly flop. Under normal circumstances, he would have received three sixes, but with the two-point winking penalty he got fours from everyone but Anne, who went ahead and gave him a six.

  I scanned the line of willing volunteers and caught Cooper looking at me. Our eyes met, and he gave me a large smile.

  “His teeth are perfect,” I noted. “I wonder how much they spent on orthodontia for teeth like that.”

  “Who?” Anne asked.

  “Cooper.”

  “Well, sadly both he and his sister were born perfect. Neither one ever experienced an awkward phase.”

  “Totally unfair,” Tammy stated and then quickly followed by yelling, “Seven!” I hadn’t seen the boy jump, so I gave him a seven as well. Anne gave him an eight, and Jen gave him a six.

  I looked back at Cooper who now enthusiastically talked to the boy in front of him. He was shorter than Riley but a few inches taller than me, and he wasn’t built as muscular as Riley. Cooper was muscular in the way that rider’s bodies are developed. He must have spent a lot of time on horses.

  As if she could read my mind, Tammy spoke, “He may be annoying, but that Cooper sure does have a tight butt.”

  “You think?” I asked.

  “Oh yeah.” She nodded her head.

  I looked back at him. His deep blue eyes stood out against his blonde hair, and his teeth were a brilliant white. With his tan he looked more like a California surfer than an Okie. I could see him fitting in nicely at Cornell; he certainly had a well-manicured look about him.

  I moved my gaze to the next flop victim, a rather large boy who looked like he could be a lineman for the football team. As he flew into the air, he arched his back in perfect belly flop form, and I waited to hear the slapping noise that was certain to reverberate as soon as his skin made contact with the surface of the water.

  Smack!

  There it was.

  Everyone groaned in sympathy but followed with loud cheers. As he jumped up and down in celebration, his tummy jiggled. The girls and I gave him a sympathetic applause and then followed with giving him tens across the board before Cooper took his spot on the diving board. As he waited at the back of the board in anticipation of a friend telling him it was time to go, he yelled to get my attention and make sure I watched his “perfect belly flop.”

  I gave a fake smile and nodded.

  He also executed perfect form, but the splash wasn’t as large as the boy who received the perfect score.

  “Nine,” I shouted.

  “Nine,” Tammy and Jen agreed.

  “Ten,” Anne countered.

  He climbed out of the pool wearing a grin from ear to ear and his chest bright red from the impact of his skin on the surface of the water. Walking directly over to me, he took the liberty of sitting on the end of my lounge chair. “Attie, I can’t believe you only gave me a nine.”

  “Not enough splash, Coop,” I answered. “The big boy blew you away.”

  “Fair enough.” He smiled. “I guess a nine is a pretty great score for a scrawny kid like me.”

  The competition continued, but Cooper didn’t leave my chair. Since he wasn’t leaving my chair any time soon, I figured that I might as well be nice to the boy. And actually, we carried on a fairly interesting conversation.

  “Oh, I didn’t tell you that my dad is a professor at Cornell. He teaches veterinary medicine,” I advised.

  “That’s my major!”

  “Really? That’s what I’m going to study as well.”

  “You’re kidding?” he asked, laughing.

  “Nope. It’s in my blood.”

  “Could your dad be one of my professors?”

  “Unfortunately, he won’t be there next year. He’s moving back here this summer to join my Gramps’s practice.”

  “Oh, is he?”

  “If he gets here before you leave, I could introduce you. I’m sure he’d give you all kinds of good information.”

  “Would you really?” I didn’t think it was possible, but his smile got bigger, and I was practically blinded.

  “Are you going to specialize in equestrian?”

  He pointed toward the stables. “Do you think I have a choice?”

  “Is that not what interests you?”

  “Does it matter?” he teased.

  “Are you gonna answer all of her questions with a question?” Tammy interrupted.

  “Is that what I’m doing?”

  “Yes, it’s very annoying,” she informed.

  “Tammy, do you say everything that comes into your mind?” he asked.

  “Yes, actually I do.”

  “I can tell,” he teased.

  “Mind your own business, Tammy,” I added. “So, Coop, answer my question. What type of veterinary medicine interests you?”

  He shined his bright teeth at me again. “Growing up I wanted to work with zoo animals. I’ve been around horses my entire life; I thought a little variety would be good.”

  “I can understand that.” I felt a little sorry for him. It was as if he was expected to fulfill his family’s expectations and his interests weren’t considered.

  “Other than my time away for school, I’ll probably never get away from this place.”

  “It’s beautiful, Cooper. I would love it here.”

  He grinned. “You’re welcome anytime.”

  I ignored the blatantly obvious invitation and kept talking. “So why Cornell?”

  “It’s about as far away as I can get. If I went to OSU my parents would expect me to come home every weekend. I’m ready to get away for a while.”

  “Oh.” I nodded. “Your parents were okay with Cornell?”

  “Yes, it’s kind of a status thing. I know it sounds terrible, but in the circles they run in, that kind of stuff is important.”

  “Sorry,” I said.

  “Why?”

  “It seems like you have a lot of expectations to meet.”

  He grinned at me again. “You’re very perceptive.”

  “You ride English I assume?”

  “Yes. You?”

  “Western.”

  “Uh-oh, you’re one of those,” he joked.

  “Yes, I am. You better watch it, Coop. Your parents find out your hob-knobbing with a girl who rides western and you could be disowned.”

  “Promise?” Cooper laughed before excusing himself to chase down a runaway beach ball.

  As he left I saw Riley across the pool directly in front of me. Tiffany stood between us as she talked, but with his weight shifted to his left, I could see him clearly. She may have been standing there barely clothed, but he didn’t seem to notice. His eyes shifted back and forth between looking at the ground and me. His arms were tightly folded across his chest, and his face wore a scowl. He looked miserable.

  “She hates me,” I mouthed as I pointed at Tiffany.

  He laughed and nodded, which caused Tiffany to turn to find out what he was laughing at. A bitter scowl exploded onto her face the moment we made eye contact. She quickly turned back around and repositioned herself in order to block Riley’s and my view of each other, but within seconds he walked away.

  My heart rate increased as he somehow managed to keep his eyes on me while making his way through the crowd and finally took the spot Truman left empty.

  “Having fun?” he asked.

  “Oodles.”

  “Oozing with sarcasm, are we?”

  “I’ve been hanging around Tammy too long.”

  “I hate to tell you this, Charlie, but you were sarcastic long before Tammy came along.”

  “You get stuck talking to Cooper Truman for thirty minutes and see how much fu
n you’re having,” Jen said.

  “It’s actually been an hour. I also got stuck with him in the house for thirty minutes, remember?”

  “I’d rather not think about it,” Tammy said, rolling her eyes.

  “Oh, girls, he isn’t that bad,” Anne interrupted. “Attie, you and he have a lot in common.”

  “What?” Riley asked.

  “The whole vet school thing,” she answered.

  “That’s one thing, Anne, not a lot of things,” I said.

  “Still, he’s nice.”

  “Oh, Anne,” Tammy scolded. “You like everybody. Why can’t you just be judgmental and hateful like the rest of us?”

  “I don’t like everybody,” Anne clarified.

  “Name one person you don’t like,” Tammy challenged.

  It took a few moments, but Anne finally spoke. “Tiffany.”

  “No, Anne, I said to name a person.”

  “Oh, Tammy, be nice.” I don’t know why Anne bothered; she was wasting her breath. Nothing short of Jesus appearing before Tammy and telling her to be nice to Tiffany would work, and I wasn’t even so sure that would do it.

  “Girls sure are catty,” Riley said.

  “Aren’t we?” Jen agreed.

  I lightly kicked his shoulder. “Your girlfriend asked me to remind you that you owe her dinner.”

  “My girlfriend?”

  “Tiffany.” I lightly kicked him on the shoulder again, and as I pulled my foot away, he grabbed me by the toes and placed my foot in his lap. His fingers never broke contact with my skin.

  “She’s not my girlfriend,” he said adamantly.

  “Well, evidently she doesn’t know that. She informed me that she’s been dating you for a while, and I didn’t get the sense she’s realized you aren’t dating her back.”

  “She knows, she just doesn’t wanna admit it, and she isn’t gonna concede anything to you.”

  “Me?”

  “She sees you as competition,” he pointed out.

  “Ooh, there’s a competition for Riley’s heart,” Tammy teased.

  “No.” He shook his head at Tammy but kept his eyes on me. “You look a little tired, Charlie, are you?”