Loved In Pieces (47 page)

I looked into
Manuel’s
eyes
, telling
him how I felt without words, “I’m really good. I very much liked that kiss.”

Alan was watching us. “
Wow,
m
an. I never thought I’d see that in Marie’s face. She totally wants to fuck you,
m
an. Damn
.
You squeezed her so hard she fainted. Who’d think Marie would go for S&M?
”

“Shut up, Alan,” Beth ordered
in her slight Polish-English accent. “You think you’re entitled to talk like you’re Tweeting about some porno. Show some respect.”

Alan
ignored her.
“Dude, you have to give me pointers.
You’ve
seen
the hottest girls in the school
naked
.
If I could be half as powerful as you, I’d have every hot girl in Santa Monica.
Damn.
Kate
’s
the hottest cheerleader.
Beth is the hottest girl in school.
Marie’
s the hottest girl in
the world
.”

Mitch complained to Beth, “When did Manny see you naked?”

She shrugged her shoulders, “
I
t’s not sexual. We swim in the ocean together. We don’t
ride
home from the beach in our
soaking wet
suits. Alan is just trying to piss
off
you and Marie.”

I already knew that they saw each other naked
. They held a
towel
up for each other so they could change
. I didn’t care. I looked at Alan. He knew so he must have seen them. I asked, “How did you know
,
Alan?”

He answered, “
D
uh, Kate told me. It pissed her off.”

I asked, “So did you spy on them or something, see them change?”

He glared at Manuel, “I didn’t want to see Manny naked, just Beth.”

This time
Alan
was too inappropriate. He felt our contempt.
Beth spoke slowly, “
You are such an asshole
, Alan.
I’m so done with you!
”

Alan backpedaled,
“Sorry, I’m too drunk.
I didn’t mean anything by it. Don’t be pissed Mitch; she loves you. Forget I said anything.
”

Beth shook her head, “No, Alan, I’ve had enough. I don’t give a shit anymore, trying to get along with you for the peace of the group. I freakin
’
hate you!”

Alan whined, “No, you don’t. I’m sorry. I’m just drunk and stupid. Please like me. I l
ove
you so much. And besides, I have your graduation present here. Please let me give it to you. You guys are my best friends. I’m sorry I’m a dick. You know I don’t mean it.”

Beth and Mitch stayed seated
.
Beth didn’t comment.

Alan asked apologetically, “Marie, do you want me to make you your one drink
? C
osmo?”

“
No
, Alan.
I won’t be drinking tonight. I don’t want
to
lose control with Manuel in front of anyone.” I laughed but I was absolutely serious and had affirmed my feelings.

Alan changed the subject, “Hey, did you guys read
o
n today’s school pa
ge
that over fifty girls from our class admitted that they are getting their tits done after graduation?”

Beth responded
, “Weak. There’
s no way I’d change my body to be sexy for a man. Not a chance.”

Alan said, “Beth
, y
ou don’t need to. You’re hot. You’ve got good tits already and you have a great, cut body.
I
can see your abs through your swimsuit and
your ass is perfect
.
You’re
‘ripped
perfect.
’
And look at Marie’s body.
‘Smooth
p
erfect.
’
”

Mitch
glared at Alan and then
smiled at Beth, “
You’re
perfect
ju
st the way you are.”

I
ignored Alan.
Manuel held my hand as we walked toward the table, but his arm was stiff.
Beth said something to Manuel in German. He answered her in German and kissed my cheek.

Manuel
spoke slowly to Alan
, “
Don’t talk about Marie and Beth
disrespectfully. Got it?”

“Fine, asshole.
” Alan explained,
“I’m not saying anything they don’t know already.
Everyone voted on my Facebook page
. Beth was voted nicest ass
, second best tits,
and best
athlete
and Marie best tits.
Sorry, Marie, you didn’t make the nice ass list
but got hottest actress
.
That bitch I took to prom got hottest future porn star.
”

Manuel addressed Alan, “Another comment from you about our girls and the four of us are out of here.”

Alan
glared at
Manuel
and
asked Mitch, “So are you
guys
going to do that triathlon on
Saturday before graduation?”

Manuel answered, “I’m
not
. I want to be with Marie.”

Beth responded, “Oh, okay, then we don’t need your mom’s car, Mitch. We can take yours.”

“Or yours, Beth,
” Alan interrupted.

We all looked at Alan. Beth didn’t own a car. He took out an envelope out of his backpack and handed it to Beth.  “Happy graduation. I bought you a car, a Subaru Outback
,
so you can put your bikes on top and take your dog with you
. It’s parked in front
.
I put your name on the title
and threw on a bike rack
.”

Beth
’s jaw dropped. She
slowly opened the envelope. She put the keys in her hand and looked at the title. She looked
conflicted
. I didn’t understand her reaction.

Beth spoke slowly, “Alan, this is too much. I can’t accept it.
What are you going to beg me for in return?
I won’t let you see my body, ever
…n
ever, ever.” She looked at him coldly.

Alan grinned, “No strings attached this time, no threats to get your mom fired, nothing but appreciation for you. Please take the fucking car so you can stop getting naked with Manny all the time and go run with your dog on those trails north of Malibu instead of running with him.”
Alan’s eyes narrowed at Manuel. Manuel
’s anger
filled the air.

I interrupted, “Oh, Beth, I forgot to ask if you decided on your scholarship. Man
uel
told me you
got four great scholarships but
were still trying to get out of L.A.”

Her face fell, “Yeah. I didn’t get the scholarships to either Stanford or Berkeley.
I would have if I won State but I didn’t swim my best time.
They both have girls who swim faster than me. One was injured at Stanford so I really wanted the spot
but she’s
three
seconds faster in the
8
00 Free, which is a lot. Of course they are
one of
the top
programs
in the nation. UCLA is about
twentieth
,
but the scholarship was awesome. I get to be an academic there, too.
The program
would set me up for a great medical school
.
The other scholarships were from schools in the top ten, but would be just swimming.
I don’t want that.
Swimming is a means to an end.
I want the academics.”

I agreed, “
M
aybe
you’ll
fall in love with UCLA.”

She laughed, “Marie, no
t likely. I hate living in L.A.
There’s no place to run, bike, swim. The ocean is polluted, freezing, full of
critters
and jellies
. Every path is crowded.
It’s not safe. I can’t have Manny protecting me for the rest of my life.
After we did the awesome Boulder tri series,
I did the Malibu t
riathlon in September last year
.
F
ive thousand people on Zuma Beach. Thank God Mitch was my gear guy or we would have missed the start because there was absolutely nowhere to park.
Ya know
, you run fast, too. I hate running on pavement
, stopping at the traffic lights all the time
. I hate running
around some track.
It would be so cool to run with my dog off leash.
Ya know
the Stanford
H
ill; it’s heaven and right there!
And biking here sucks.
Okay, you’ve got the PCH at dawn. That’s it. Within
an hour
from Berkeley you’ve got wine country. From Stanford? You’ve got
Los Altos or
Atherton and Woodside. It’s heaven.
”

Alan interrupted, “Now you have a car. You can drive to open spaces. Will you take your gift, Beth, please?”

Beth looked at Alan and sighed, “Thanks, Alan. I love it
. You’ve got the power again so be happy. You rich kids get so very happy when you’re in control
.”

“
You poor baby
,” Alan
sneered
. “
It’s my
little
thank you
for putting up with me being an ass.”

“
You guys seem
mad at
each other.
Are you guys kidding?” I asked.

Beth answered, “No. Alan can have anything he wants but love and power, just like you.
Every guy at this table loves you Marie, but it’s never been enough for you. You need to own Manny, don’t ya?”

Manuel bellowed, “Alright! Enough
you guys
!”

Mitch whispered something to Beth and they excused themselves. Alan and Manuel
glared
at each other and then Alan got up to get himself another beer.

I asked, “What’s going on with you and Alan
and Beth
?”

“You.
Beth and I’ve been arguing
about everything
.
She doesn’t like that I act like a puppy around you. And
Franz
pissed her off when
he
told her she was a product
. Alan
’s pissed that I got my girl. He’s liked you for a very long time but not as long as I’ve loved you.”
Manuel leaned forward in his chair and held my hand. “I’m still in shock that you love me.
Ya know
that I’m yours forever.”

“And I’m yours forever, too
. It’s not puppy love
.”

I wanted to get
the discussion with
Kate off my chest.
Manuel and I
found a large chaise on the other side of
Alan’s
pool and cuddled together.
I wanted to get right to the point. His closeness made me tingle again.

“
Kate
talked with me yesterday about her side of the break-up. She asked me to promise that I don’t tell anyone, but
she
knows that I’ll tell you. If I tell you, will you try to keep it between the two of you?”

“Do you think less of me now that she talked to you? What did she tell you bad about me?”

“No, Manuel, no. I don’t think any less of you. I do think less of her, though. But she knew that I would, that you would, that
we
would think less of her, too.”

Manuel moved me over so that we were facing each other. He demanded, “
Lia
, what…did…she say?”

“
It wasn’t like that.
She told me what she d
id. How she hurt you. That she’
s sorry
.
She knew you were in love with me, and it pissed her off.”

Once I brought myself into this, it changed how I had imagined how I would tell Manuel that the pregnancy was a ruse. Now
that
we were having
the
conversation
,
I didn’t want Manuel to explain himself to me. What he did in his relationship with my former best friend was not my business. I felt awkward.