“Great,” Dennis replied. “We had great weather. Only one rainy day. The beach was great for running.”
“You’re so lucky!” I exclaimed.
“I ran for miles on the beach. And I did a lot of snorkeling with my dad,” Dennis continued. “The reef was really outstanding. Do you snorkel?”
“Uh … no,” I replied. It isn’t easy to snorkel in your bathtub! I thought bitterly.
“On the last day I was snorkeling off by myself, and I accidentally brushed against some fire coral,” Dennis continued. “Man, did that burn! I’ve got a huge red spot on my leg.”
“Too bad,” I murmured, trying to sound sympathetic.
On our last vacation, Mom and I went to visit her sister in Cleveland.
Listening to Dennis go on about the beach and how warm the ocean down there was, I found myself feeling more and more jealous. And I was practically bursting to find out the real reason for his call.
Finally he got around to it. “Are you busy Friday night?” he asked. He didn’t give me time to answer. “I’ve been thinking about you. I mean, on vacation. There’s a party Friday. At Melody’s. Just a few kids. I thought maybe …”
I couldn’t believe it! Dennis Arthur was asking me out!
The best-looking, most popular guy at Shadyside High was asking me to a party in North Hills.
I wanted to say yes, yes, yes.
But instead, I blurted out: “What about Caitlin?”
I don’t really know why I asked it. It sort of slipped out automatically. I wanted to bite my tongue and take the words back. But of course it was too late.
“Caitlin and I go out with other people sometimes,” Dennis replied with just a moment of hesitation.
“Really?” Again the word slipped out of my mouth. My brain was all messed up. I guess this was just too big a surprise. “I mean … will Caitlin be at the party?”
“No. She has to visit her cousin in Waynesbridge,” Dennis replied. “Don’t worry about Caitlin,” he added. “It’s no problem. Really. It’s just a little party. We all usually get together at someone’s house on Friday night. You want to go?”
“Yes. Great!” I said, finally getting my brain and my mouth to work together. “That’ll be great, Dennis.”
“Good,” he said. “I’ll be back at school tomorrow.”
“You didn’t miss much,” I told him.
“Did you hear about Zack and the others?” he asked. “You know. Caitlin, Melody, and Lanny?”
“Yeah. I know all about it,” I told him. “I was there the night they—”
“Yeah. I heard,” he interrupted. “You live right next door, right? Well, did you hear they all got back in?”
“Huh?” I wasn’t sure I understood. “You mean they’re not suspended?”
“No way,” Dennis replied. “Their parents went in to see Hernandez this afternoon. They really got on Hernandez’s case. When they finished with him, he was shaking like a leaf. At least, that’s what Melody’s mom told my mom.”
“Wow,” I murmured. “Wow.”
“Hernandez said they could all come back to school tomorrow morning,” Dennis said, chuckling. “And he apologized for kicking them out in the first place.”
“Wow,” I repeated. I didn’t know what else to say. I was stunned.
“I guess Northwood loses big,” Dennis continued gleefully.
“I guess,” I agreed.
Being rich really is different, I thought with some bitterness.
The parents of those four kids marched into school, and the principal backed down immediately. He even apologized!
If my mom went to school to complain, Mr. Hernandez wouldn’t apologize to her, I knew. He wouldn’t be afraid of her—because we’re poor and we don’t live in a big house in North Hills.
“See you tomorrow,” Dennis said.
“See you tomorrow,” I repeated. “And thanks.”
I hung up. I had a smile on my face. I could see it in my dresser mirror.
Maybe this is the start of something great, I thought.
Maybe my life is going to start changing now.
Maybe I’m going to start hanging out with a whole new group of kids.
I’d do anything to be part of Dennis’s group, I realized.
Anything!
Dennis was at his locker when I arrived at school the next morning. I dropped my backpack to the floor and started to work the combination on my locker door.
Dennis smiled at me. His green eyes seemed to light up. He hadn’t brushed his black hair, but it looked great anyway, all disheveled.
He is so handsome! I thought.
We said hi to each other. My stomach suddenly felt very feathery.
He walked over to me.
He’s at least a foot taller than me, I realized.
I saw a white blur and then realized he was holding something up in front of him. “This is for you,” he said shyly. “From the Bahamas.”
I focused on it. A big, shiny pink and white conch shell.
“It’s great!” I cried, reaching for it.
My mind was whirring. Dennis had actually brought me a present!
“Careful. It’s kind of pointy there,” he said.
I started to take it from him. It felt cold, from being outside.
The guy at the next locker accidentally bumped me, and I nearly dropped it. “It’s great,” I told Dennis. “Thanks.”
“I was walking on the beach—” he started to say. But he stopped as Caitlin appeared beside him.
Caitlin was wearing a very tight-fitting white sweater. It looked like it might be cashmere. She had it pulled down over straight-legged black denim jeans. She had long, jangly silver earrings in her ears. Her short brown hair was swept straight back.
The smile on her face quickly vanished as her eyes caught the conch shell between my hands. “Hey!” Caitlin cried angrily.
“Hi,” Dennis greeted her uncertainly. “I was looking for you.”
Caitlin ignored him. She glared at me, then lowered her eyes again to the big shell. “Isn’t that the shell you said you brought back for me?” she demanded of Dennis.
Dennis’s mouth dropped open. “Whoa!” he exclaimed. His cheeks turned bright red. “I didn’t—”
“What’s going on here, Dennis?” Caitlin demanded angrily.
“Huh? What do you mean?” Dennis replied weakly.
“What’s going on?” Caitlin repeated, staring at the conch shell. “I mean, why are you and Johanna—”
“Nothing!” Dennis insisted.
“Well, then …” Caitlin turned to me. “Give me my shell.”
She reached out both hands for it, but I backed away, pulling the shell out of her reach.
“It’s my shell, Johanna,” Caitlin said through clenched teeth. “Dennis brought it for me. So let me have it.”
I glanced at Dennis, then back at Caitlin.
Dennis was still blushing, as red as a tomato. He avoided my eyes. Caitlin was so angry, I could practically see smoke shooting out her ears.
This isn’t right, I thought. This really isn’t right.
“You want the shell, Caitlin?” I asked in a tight, shaky voice.
“Yes. Give me the shell. It’s mine!” Caitlin insisted.
“Okay,” I said. “Here.”
And I smashed the shell as hard as I could into Caitlin’s face.
I heard her teeth crack.
Bright red blood spurted from her mouth.
The sharp shell cut a flap in her cheek, and blood rolled down the side of her face.
The shell dropped to the floor and shattered.
Caitlin staggered back against the lockers and raised her hand to her bleeding cheek.
She tried to say something. But she choked on the spurting blood.
I raised my eyes to Dennis. He had a pleased smile across his handsome face.
chapter 10
Of course, I imagined the pan about smashing Caitlin with the conch sh
ell.
Just another one of my sick, violent fantasies.
It’s amazing the things I imagine. I guess it’s just my way of dealing with the world. You know. Getting things out of my system.
What really happened was that Caitlin didn’t notice me or the conch shell.
She appeared beside Dennis, wrapped her hand in his, and they strolled off together. Dennis turned his head and mouthed a silent “Bye” in my direction. Then he walked off hand in hand with Caitlin to homeroom.
Leaving me there to dream up my nasty little scene of broken teeth and spurting blood.
After a few moments, the bell rang, stirring me from my troubling thoughts. I slid the shell onto the top shelf of my locker and hurried down the rapidly emptying hall.
At lunch Margaret and I were sitting across from each other in the cafeteria, scooping up blueberry yogurt from little containers. Margaret was telling me a funny story about her twin cousins, when she suddenly stopped.
She was facing the double doors to the lunch room, and I saw she was staring over my shoulder toward them. “What’s up?” I asked, not bothering to turn around.
‘Oh, nothing,” she replied, still staring. “Did you say Dennis asked you out for Friday?”
“Yeah,” I replied. “Why?”
I couldn’t resist any longer. I turned all the way around to see what Margaret found so interesting behind me.
It didn’t take long to figure out what my friend was gawking at.
Outside the open doors and across the hall, I could see Dennis and Caitlin. He had his back to the lunch room, but I instantly knew it was him. He had Caitlin pressed against the wall, and he was kissing her.
Practically in front of the entire lunch room!
I wheeled back around in my chair, feeling really upset. I glanced across the table to see Margaret staring at me, tugging at a strand of her carrot-colored hair.
“Don’t stare at me,” I grumbled.
“You sure he called you?” she asked quietly. “You sure it was the Dennis Arthur?”
“Ha-ha,” I said bitterly. I kept my eyes on Margaret. “Are they still kissing back there?”
Margaret nodded. “Maybe their braces got locked together,” she suggested.
“They don’t wear braces,” I muttered unhappily.
“I wonder why he asked you out,” Margaret said thoughtfully.
“You have a yogurt mustache,” I told her.
But secretly I wondered too.
After our last period history class, Dennis had another argument with Mr. Northwood. Again I lingered in the back of the room, eavesdropping and wishing Mr. Northwood would give Dennis a break.
“You’ve got to give me a makeup test!” Dennis was pleading. His face was bright red, and he was sweating even though the windows were open and it was cold in the room.
“I don’t have to do anything except pay taxes and die,” Mr. Northwood replied quietly, staring back at Dennis with a strange, tight-lipped smile on his craggy face.
Mr. Northwood is enjoying making Dennis beg and squirm, I suddenly realized.
It must be the feeling of power, I guessed. Mr. Northwood really has a cruel streak.
“You’re going to ruin my life!” Dennis was screaming. He had both hands on the front of the teacher’s desk and was leaning over so that he and Mr. Northwood were practically face-to-face.
“I don’t want to ruin your life. I want to teach you a little about fairness,” Mr. Northwood replied, still talking softly and deliberately. “You and I have already discussed this, Dennis.”
“But if I get a failing grade, I won’t be eligible for the all-state team. And then there goes the Olympic tryouts!” Dennis cried, his voice high-pitched and shrill.
“Let us hope you don’t get a failing grade,” Mr. Northwood said coldly. He began shuffling through a notebook.
Dennis let out a frustrated groan. “You really won’t give me a makeup test?”
Mr. Northwood shook his head. “I have to be fair to everyone.”
“But you’re being unfair to me!” Dennis cried, starting to lose his temper.
“I don’t think so,” the teacher replied, stone-faced, shuffling through the notebook.
“Can I do a project or something for extra credit?” Dennis demanded.
Mr. Northwood shook his head. “I appreciate your situation,” he said. “But I really cannot bend the rules for one student.”
Dennis raised both hands above his head in a gesture of futility. Then, with a loud sigh, he spun away from the teacher’s desk. Taking long, angry strides, he headed toward the door.
I stepped away from the wall, eager to talk to Dennis, to try to say something encouraging him.
I thought he was coming to me.
“Dennis—” I started to say.
I uttered a little cry of surprise as he walked right past me.
He didn’t say a word to me. He just kept walking.
And then I saw Caitlin. She was waiting for him outside the door.
He walked up to her. She leaned close to him, whispered something to him, and then they disappeared from view.
What is going on here? I asked myself unhappily.
I stared at the empty doorway.
Is Dennis interested in me or not? I wondered.
If he’s so hung up on Caitlin, why did he ask me out for Friday night?
Friday night Dennis was supposed to pick me up at eight o’clock. I must have glanced at the clock on my dresser top a thousand times.
I was so nervous, my hands were as cold and clammy as two wet fish. I was sure he wouldn’t show.
All sorts of troubling thoughts flashed through my mind. Maybe his call was just a cruel joke, I thought. Maybe it was one of their dares. They were always daring each other to do weird things. Lanny or Zack probably dared him to call me. Then Dennis and his pals had a good laugh at my expense.
Or maybe I imagined the whole thing. Maybe he never asked me out at all. Maybe it was all one of my fantasies.
I changed my sweater three times. I don’t know why. They were all pretty much the same.
I’d found earrings at the mall that looked like little conch shells. I put them on, studied them in the mirror, took them off, then put them on again.
My clock read 8:03, but it was always a little fast.
I brushed my hair with rapid strokes. Maybe I should cut it short, I thought. Seeing the cleft in my chin made me frown at myself. Why couldn’t I have a smooth chin like normal people?
I was still staring unhappily at myself in the mirror when the doorbell rang. I heard Mom’s footsteps downstairs. I heard her pull open the door. I heard Dennis’s voice.
He’s really here! I thought. It isn’t a joke.
I took one last look at myself in the mirror, then hurried downstairs to greet him.
Melody’s house was big and very modern. The living room furniture was all chrome and soft white leather. The walls were covered with framed movie posters. Track lighting on the ceiling cast pale triangles of light over the room.
“How’s it going?” Melody asked me as she led us into the room. She eyed my yellow sweater. I suddenly felt even more self-conscious. Maybe I should’ve worn the blue one.
“My parents are at the movies,” Melody told Dennis. “The house is all ours!” She didn’t seem at all surprised to see me with Dennis instead of Caitlin.
I saw eight or nine kids as Dennis and I followed Melody across the room. They were all from school, but I knew only a few of them. Most of them were seniors.
Lanny and Zack were standing in front of a TV in the corner, staring at a basketball game, taking long sips from cans of beer. A red-haired girl I didn’t know kept asking them to turn down the sound so she could put on music, but they ignored her.
Two couples had squeezed onto the couch and were laughing loudly about something. The two boys slapped each other high-fives.
Two girls were at the table against the wall, helping themselves t
o sections of an enormous submarine sandwich. The girls both had long, frizzy blond hair that shimmered in the cones of light from overhead.
“You get anywhere with Northwood?” Melody asked Dennis. Before Dennis could reply, the doorbell rang, and Melody hurried to answer it.
“You know these kids?” Dennis asked, turning to me. He was wearing a denim vest over a blue workshirt and faded jeans torn at the knees.
“Some of them,” I replied.
“Most of them live in North Hills,” Dennis told me. He motioned to the red-haired girl who was entering the room with Melody. “You know her? That’s Reva Dalby. Her family owns all those department stores.”
“Hey, what’s up?” Dennis called to Reva. The two of them talked for a short while about a tennis instructor they both had. I stood close to Dennis, but Reva didn’t seem to notice I was there.
Dennis and I got Cokes. Then I followed him as he joined Lanny and Zack in front of the TV. He started teasing Lanny about the red jeans he was wearing. “I dare you to wear those to the dance at the club,” Dennis said.
“Hey—no dares tonight,” Lanny protested.
“Chicken,” Dennis muttered.
Lanny pretended to get angry. They started laughing and playfully shoving each other, and Lanny spilled some of his beer on the white carpet.
“That’s okay,” Lanny said, making sure Melody wasn’t watching. “Beer is good for the rug.”
Several more kids arrived. They all seemed to know one another. Melody got her CD player going and drowned out the sound of the basketball game. I saw a couple making out on the stairway by the front door.
Since Dennis was busy kidding around with Lanny and Zack, I made my way to the table and took a section of the sub sandwich. I talked with some kids from my English class. “You’re Margaret Rivers’ friend,” someone said to me. “She’s very funny.”
I wondered what Margaret was doing tonight. I wondered what I would tell her about this party, about my date with Dennis.
So far there wasn’t much to tell. Dennis was pretty much ignoring me.
Around eleven o’clock, some kids left. The rest of us were sitting on the two couches or sprawled on the floor, eating tortilla chips and salsa and drinking Cokes.
Melody had turned the music off. A conversation started about school.