Burn Girl (13 page)

“Pardon me,” he said. “I promise not to fart, pick my nose,
or
burp when I meet your young man.”

“Cody's sense of smell and hearing are exceptional, so definitely no farting and burping, but he wouldn't be able to see you pick your nose,” I said.

“Whew. I was starting to feel the pressure.”

My uncle squinted against the midday sun. Dusty, a little rumpled, and definitely in need of a haircut and beard trim, but he was growing on me.

“This house isn't going to build itself,” I said. “I have a few more hours before Mo picks me up. Put me to work.”

Frank draped an arm around my shoulders, this time without asking. I didn't mind.

Bits of sawdust clung to my sweaty skin, and the tops of my shoulders radiated from too much sun. Frank and I had worked nonstop for several hours, lost in our weird new relationship of master craftsman and apprentice.

I found myself working harder,
faster
, as if the completion of this house had been my lifelong dream instead of his. Frank's musings on recycled insulation, bamboo flooring, nontoxic paints, and energy-efficient windows started to fill out my mind's hazy picture of what the place would eventually look like.

His words broke into my daydream. “Hey, weren't you meeting Mo this evening?”

“Oh hell! I completely forgot.” I shed my carpenter's belt and gloves. “I need to take a shower before she gets here.”

“Too late,” Frank said, pointing to the street. “And she's not alone.”

My legs, already fatigued from the day's work, almost gave out. Mo emerged from her mom's car and rushed to the passenger side. She held out her elbow and Cody grasped it so she could help him navigate the uneven yard.

“Is that your boyfriend?” Frank teased.

“Shut up or I will kill you. Seriously,” I hissed at him.

Mo spoke first. “Cody, I want to introduce you to Arlie's Uncle Frank.”

Cody held out his hand and Frank shook it vigorously.

“Nice to meet ya. Heard a lot about you, man,” Frank said, even though I'd told him very little.

“Same here,” Cody offered.

I shot an angry, questioning glance at Mo. “So, this visit is a surprise.”

“Don't be mad. I sort of invited myself along,” Cody said. “I ran into her at the Book Nook. She said you two were going to hang out and I asked if I could join you.”

I guess Cody heard the tension in my voice.

“No worries. It's a nice surprise. Just unexpected.”

“Duh. That's what a surprise is … unexpected.” Mo snorted and then exchanged googly eyes with Frank. My discomfort brought them loads of enjoyment. Frank was right—they'd become buds.

“I've been working on the house all day,” I said. “I could use a shower. Give me a few minutes?”

“You girls head inside,” Frank said. “I'll show Cody our progress.”

I almost blurted out that he wouldn't be able to see it anyway, but between Cody's directional sense and Frank's vivid descriptions, I suspected Cody would get a pretty good idea of the layout.

“Say, man, grab my elbow,” Frank said. “Don't want you tripping over all these bits of lumber.”

Before Mo and I had even made it into the trailer, Frank had begun his tour with a boisterous rant on green building methods.

“What were you thinking?” I asked Mo when we were inside.

“They get along great. Don't worry.”

“I'm not worried about Frank. I meant, why did you invite Cody over at all?”

“Just shower,” Mo ordered. She lounged on the couch with her feet up against the trailer's wall.

I stripped out of my dirty work clothes and left them in a pile on the floor while I stepped into the cramped shower stall of the Airstream. The cool water stung my sunburned shoulders so I washed hurriedly. I also didn't want Cody stuck with Frank for too long. No telling what well-intentioned damage my uncle could do.

After I'd dressed in jeans and a black tee, I called Mo over to braid my hair so I wouldn't have to blow-dry it.

“You should be thrilled,” Mo said, tugging my hair a bit too tautly. “Quit wigging out and try to enjoy the attention. He wants to be with you.”

“I need to throw up,” I warned Mo.

“No, you don't. It will pass. Let's find you something awesome to wear. You're not wearing that ugly T-shirt.”

“I don't even know where we're going,” I whined.

Mo rummaged through my things until she found my tight black jeans and a sky-blue halter top.

“It's April.”

“So? Bring a sweater.”

“It's too revealing,” I protested.

“You're sixteen. You sound like your mother.” Mo brought a hand to her mouth. “I'm sorry. Didn't mean to mention your mom again.”

“She never cared what I wore. Maybe that's why I do.”

“Please, Arlie. This is so pretty. The pale blue looks awesome with your dark hair. You obviously liked the top enough to buy it at some point. Why not wear it?”

I'd spotted the halter at a consignment shop a few months ago. The owner had pestered me until I tried it on and then wouldn't let me leave without it. She even gave me fifty percent off so I'd have no excuse.

“Isn't this a little dressy? Where are we going?” I pulled the cool, satiny top over my head.

“To a dance.”

Mo practically dragged me from the trailer to where Cody and Frank were sitting at the picnic table.
Dance? Hell no
, I told her under my breath.

“We're ready!” Mo exclaimed.

Frank let out a low whistle. “You look great. Way to scrub up.”

Heat traveled up my neck and into my face. I gave him a crusty stare.

“What am I missing?” Cody asked.

“Well, she's wearing this shiny, blue halter thing and black jeans,” Frank began. “And her hair is all twisted up with braids.”

“Stop, Frank. Please.” I was going to die of embarrassment before I even had the chance to kiss Cody.
Where did that come from?

“So, what's the plan?” Frank asked.

“We're going to a dance at the high school,” Mo said. “If it's lame, we'll probably head to the movies.”

“The place will be crowded, right?” Frank asked.

“Dances usually are,” I said. “Why?”

“Just be safe.”

Was all this fatherly concern for Cody's benefit?

“Of course we'll be safe. Stop being so weird,” I said.

“And there will be teachers around?”

I gave Frank my angriest stare and mouthed the word “stop.”

“Yes, plenty of adults,” Mo said. “No drugs, no alcohol, no sex.”

“God, Mo. Just shut up,” I said. “Let's go already”

We made our way over to the car, and Cody climbed into the backseat so I could sit in front with Mo. My face flushed. What the hell was Frank thinking?

As Mo pulled away from the curb, Cody leaned forward so his lips were near my right ear.

“It's cool your uncle looks out for you,” he whispered.

“Yeah, right,” I said.

“And by the way, you smell nice.”

I shivered and hoped Cody didn't notice how my breathing had changed.

The high-school gym pulsated with strobe lights, pounding music, and a mass of kids all moving as one organism. Mo took my hand and I grabbed Cody's, and we snaked our way along the wall until we reached the bleachers.

“I'm going to talk with Mindy a bit,” Mo shouted above the music. “I'm sure you two will be fine.”

Cody and I sat on the first row of the bleachers, pulling in our feet so we wouldn't be trampled by students moving to and from the dance floor.

“You can't even tell what song this is with all that techno garbage in the background,” I shouted to Cody.

“That's how they can stretch a four-minute song to twelve minutes,” he said.

Even though I'd just labeled it techno garbage, I tapped my feet against the wooden floor in perfect rhythm.

“A percussionist, I see.” Cody leaned in closer. “Or are you hinting you'd like to dance?”

“I … uh … I don't …”

“Mo said you're a great dancer, so no excuses. Or do you think I'll embarrass you?”

Mo and her big mouth had been sharing way too much lately.

“If I step on your feet, don't say I didn't warn you,” I said.

“There's a better chance I'll step on yours … and everybody else's. Don't let me drift away from you in the crowd or I'll never find my way back.”

I laid my sweater on the bleacher seat and took his hand. We pushed our way onto the dance floor. Sensation after sensation assaulted me: the music ringing in my ears, the press of bodies around me, the heat of Cody's sweaty palm, the stares of people who stopped to gawk at the burned girl who dared to show up at a dance—and with her hair swept up off her scar.

The scene could have been straight out of a teen movie where the unlikely couple moves in slow motion as their stunned classmates part and allow them to enter the dance floor. The only thing missing was a spotlight.

Suddenly, Mo eased up beside me, dancing her heart out with a guy I didn't know. She winked, her arms waving above her head. I could no longer ignore the music and began to move my body. Soon, my movements mirrored Cody's. He closed his eyes and leaned forward, pressing into me slightly. I touched his hand, letting him know I was still near. He smiled at the contact.

“Close your eyes,” he shouted.

“I can't. I'll get sick,” I shouted back.

“Take my hands. I won't let you fall.”

I reluctantly closed my eyes. Cody's confident grip held me in place. Without the sense of sight, everything felt bigger, louder. Even Cody's touch felt more intense, as if our skin was fused. Laughter erupted from deep in my belly.

“It's great, right?” Cody pressed even closer. “I'm so glad you're here.”

The music stopped abruptly and I swayed, feeling unbalanced. I opened my eyes and found Cody looking at me,
through
me.

Jay-Z's “Empire State of Mind” rang out from the speakers, slowing the movement of the crowd, which instinctively lowered its energy to match the easy piano rhythm behind the lyrics.

Cody pulled me against him. He placed one hand on my bare back while the other pinned my hand at my side. When I put my arm around his neck, he gasped softly. I closed my eyes again, willing myself to stay present, to feel the electricity as his thumb moved down the curve of my back.

I began to sing the Alicia Keys parts of the song and Cody answered by singing Jay-Z's parts. We sang softly enough that only we could hear ourselves. Someone looking at us might have thought we were just talking.

The song merged directly into another with a much faster beat, breaking the spell between us.

“I want to go outside,” Cody said above the music. “Take me outside.”

The frantic tone of his request set my teeth on edge. I led him back through the crowd and out the front doors of the gym, not bothering to go back to the bleachers to retrieve his cane or my sweater. The night air chilled the perspiration trickling down my back.

“Is there anyone else out here?” he asked.

“Just a couple of kids leaning against a car and smoking. A few others sitting on the steps. Why?”

“Let's go around the side of the gym.” He used our conjoined hands to point in the direction he wanted me to lead us. As soon as we rounded the corner, he asked me to stop.

“I want to touch your face. It's how I'll be able to see you.” He reached for my scar, but I pulled his hand down to his side.

“No, don't,” I whispered. As much as it hurt to deny him, I couldn't bear the thought of his hand brushing the disfigured skin and the ridges left by the grafts.

“Please, Arlie.”

His breath tickled my neck.

“I don't want you to,” I said.

“You can trust me.”

He didn't know what he was asking. If he recoiled in disgust, I wouldn't be able to bear it.

“It's not that. Let's just go inside.” I walked off without him.

“Wait up. I don't have my cane.” Cody held out his arm and I had to scramble back to him.

We didn't speak as we walked back into the gym. I led him over to the bleachers, unsure what to say. My face burned with shame.
You're an idiot. He wanted to kiss you
.

“I'm going to talk to the guys.” Cody grabbed his cane. “I'll see you later.”

I watched him maneuver expertly through the crowd. I had to find Mo. I had to go home.

“I don't understand. Did he do something to upset you?” The music almost drowned out Mo's question.

“No. I just want to go home. Can you drive me?”

“What happened?”

“Never mind, I'll call Frank.” I turned on my heel.

Mo struggled to keep up. I was already outside on the gym steps when she finally tugged at my shoulder.

“Arlie, what the hell?”

“I'm fine. Let's talk tomorrow.” If I tried to explain, I might never stop crying. “Please go inside. Frank will pick me up.”

I walked through the gym parking lot and onto Main Avenue, trying to shake the last thing I saw before leaving: Cody and Brittany dancing.

CHAPTER 16

If I dared to walk all the way home, Frank would kill me so I stopped at the Exxon station and called him. With any luck, the fact that I was waiting in a well-lit public place would make him forget the several blocks I'd already walked alone. After being tailed by the Mustang yesterday, I should've known better, but I wasn't thinking when I bolted from the dance. Shivering, I sat on the curb at the far end of the gas station's parking lot and waited.

Frank's Suburban rounded the corner and came to a halt directly in front of me. He left the engine running and hopped out before I could get up.