Meadow Perkins, Trusty Sidekick (10 page)

My mouth curled up in a smile. I was one-quarter of the way to my dream of going to a fancy party with something sweet to drink instead of warm beer. “Nice.”

“Well, it’s almost classy. We are going to have to drink it out of the bottle.” Isla flashed me a wicked grin.

“Oof,” I said, getting smashed into Isla by some guy who didn’t even apologize. “A little crowded. Probably against fire code.”

She giggled. “You are so funny.”

I’m not being funny. This is a legitimate concern of mine.
I took the bottle when she handed it to me and sputtered on my mouthful of wine.

“Slow down, killer.” Isla nudged my arm.

I glanced around the packed house.
Where are everyone’s parents? Where do they all go and leave their children? My mom still won’t let me stay home alone.
I pushed my glasses up on my nose while trying not to look like a major dork.
I’m like the makeover girl in all the teen movies. Hey, everyone! Welcome to the debut of the new me! Groan.

We waited for the band to show up. I looked around but didn’t see Alejandro anywhere. I did see more than one boy looking in our direction.
Probably they are all l
ooking
at Isla.

“Do you know any of these people?” she asked, tossing her hair for their benefit.

“Some of them, sort of.” I bobbed my head toward my left. “He goes to HSA and so does that whole crew standing there.”

“I should go to HSA,” Isla whispered, raising her eyebrows.

“I guess they aren’t so bad, as far as their looks are concerned anyway.”

The same tall, black-framed glasses and whooshy-haired guy I’d pointed out broke away from his group and made his way toward us.  

He marched right up to Isla and leaned toward her ear. She giggled. I turned my head in the opposite direction and busied myself with my phone.

Isla grabbed my arm. “He asked for my number,” she squealed. Her blue eyes sparkled with glee. She’d cheered up considerably and smiled to herself as she adjusted her fitted, long-sleeved black scoop-neck shirt which she’d tucked into a flared black skirt. She looked like an actress or a ballerina. I could see why everyone wanted to talk to her.

Before I had a chance to say a word, another guy had sidled up to her.
Good grief
.

I jumped when I felt a hand on my back. I whirled around and came face-to-face with Alejandro. My face relaxed into a smile. 

“Wow,” he said. 

“Hi.” My face went hot. One of the curses of teenage girl-dom is blushing all the time. I hoped I grew out of it before I turned thirty.

His hand was still on my back in a very not-obvious-to-passersby sort of way. “I’m glad you came. I like the glasses.”

“Yeah?”

“Oh yeah.” His hand slid down and around my waist.

Would it be possible to die from this?

I cleared my throat. “I can’t wait to hear your band.” It took almost everything I had to not run my fingers through Alejandro’s mess of tangled curls.

“We’re about to start, I think.” He glanced at Isla and my heart sunk. 

“Okay.” I chewed on my lip.

“I gotta go,” he said after hearing the drummer warming up.

He squeezed my hip and waded through the crowd toward the makeshift stage, which was really just the corner of the living room next to the fireplace. Whoever’s house this was hadn’t bothered to take down the family portraits. Someone’s grandmother smiled down at the party from the mantle.  

“What a weirdo,” Isla was almost yelling. The guy she’d been talking to was gone. 

“What happened?”

“Nothing. He wanted my number and to talk about the fantasy novel he’s writing.”

“Really?” I asked, intrigued.

“Don’t get excited. It sounded very bad.”

“Oh.”

I could see Declan and Alejandro take the stage. The rest of the band was hidden from my view. They started playing a loud and fast song. Declan sang, but there was no way to discern what he was saying without subtitles. It wasn’t bad, though. Alejandro had the brooding guitar player look down pat and I completely got why groupies existed.

The crowd grew larger and we got smashed against the stairs. Isla elbowed me, held up the bottle, then nodded toward the kitchen.

“Yes!” I followed her, and we squeezed our way to the through until we spilled out into the back garden. Potted plants filled the concrete space and twinkle lights brightened it up.  

Isla plopped down on a chair. “I wonder if someone has a cigarette.”

“You don’t smoke,” I pointed out, sitting down next to her.

“I know. But I’d like to right now.”

“It’s still gross.”

She held up the wine bottle and squinted. “Almost gone. I guess we will have to get terrible beer.”  

“How do you know it will be terrible?”

“It always is.”

“Oh. I’m kind of new to beer.”

Isla laughed. “How new are you to beer?”

“To party beer? Very new. This is my third party ever.”

Her eyes widened and she laughed. 

A bunch of guys came outside right then. I noticed that there were more guys than girls at this party. It wasn’t a terrible thing.    

As soon as the new additions to the patio saw Isla, they started roughhousing to show off. She rolled her eyes and leaned back in her chair. One of the guys got brave enough to talk to her.

A tall, blond guy stepped up to her and stood in between our chairs, which put his butt right at my face level. “I don’t think I’ve seen you around before.”

Hello, dude, thanks for the view.
I shifted in my chair to face a different direction.  

“Meadow?”

I looked up expecting to see Alejandro even though I didn’t recognize his voice.
Oh shit.
“Hi, Jack.” I grinned, but my body tensed up.

“I was going to ask you to come tonight,” he said and frowned slightly. “Did you get my message the other night?”

“Yes. I’ve been having some family drama and I forgot to text you back.” That was partly true, but I felt guilty anyway.

“Oh, okay.” His face relaxed a little. “Is everything all right?”

“Yeah, I think so. Just been kind of a strange week.”
That part true anyway
.

He sat down next to me in an orange chair that was too small for his lanky frame. “Well, I’m glad you’re here.”

My heart fluttered, and I shifted in my seat, suddenly uncomfortable. In a normal situation, I’d be elated to see Jack, but I just felt confused and a little worried that the band would take a break. “Me, too,” I finally said and dropped my shoulders. They kept creeping up to my ears.

“Have you seen these guys play before?” he asked. 

“No,” I said. It was kind of weird that I hadn’t. Emilia never really invited me when she would see them. 

“They’ve gotten better,” he said.

I laughed. Unlike everyone else in the concrete garden, Jack wasn’t holding a beer.  

“Hi.” Isla caught my eye and smiled.

“Hi, I’m Jack.” He reached over and shook her hand. “I think we met a couple of weeks ago.” She looked impressed. He sat back down and looked back at me. He didn’t seem impressed by her anymore and that made my heart swell up and nearly burst.

He returned his attention to me. “I got some new records. Maybe want to listen to them sometime this week, or something?”

“Sure,” I said. He started talking about the difference in sound on vinyl versus MP3. I had no idea what he was talking about. While he talked, I looked at the contours of his face and thought about how I would paint them, what colors I would need. I wasn’t actually listening to him anymore. It was cute how enthusiastic he was. I remembered that I didn’t feel that way about painting anymore and I sat back and tried to listen. I adjusted my glasses.

He ducked his head near mine. “I like those. I haven’t seen you wearing glasses before.” 

My heart fluttered in a different way than before. “Thanks.”

“Are they prescription?” he asked. 

I laughed. “Yeah.”

“They, uh, really add to the effect,” he said.

I went hot and dizzy all over. I could feel the blood creeping up my neck and it was on its way to my face. Maybe my big Buddy Holly frames would obscure some of the blush.

Before I could say anything, my phone buzzed in my waistband. I didn’t have any pockets.

Home. Now.
It was my mom.

My blush turned into terror.

I stood up. “I have to go.”

Jack unfolded himself from the tiny chair. “Is everything okay?”

“Um, I’m not sure.” I wished I knew what I would be walking into when I opened the front door. A flash of irritation hit me. Twist said she would cover for me. “Do you have any gum?” I asked Jack.

Jack walked me home. Isla had decided to stay at the party as she was surrounded by a bevy of potential suitors.

When we left, Jack said we shouldn’t try to wade through the crowded house. I discreetly told Isla to say goodnight to Alejandro for me. We went through the garden gate and around front to leave.

On the way home, Jack walked along beside me talking easily about this and that. I wasn’t even paying attention. I did take a moment to appreciate that he was walking me home and to appreciate his hair which was brown but almost auburn, and wavy. His eyebrows were thick and the same color. It worked perfectly on his face. 

Assuming Mom was mad about the party, I figured I would be grounded for life.

When we reached my street, I was filled with dread. I felt like I was getting marched off to face a lion in the Colosseum, Mom being the lion. I stopped Jack a few houses away. “That’s my house up there,” I said. “I’m probably getting grounded,” I added unnecessarily. 

“Does this mean you want me to leave you here?” Jack teased.

“It’s probably for the best.” 

Jack looked like he was going to say something but hesitated. He fidgeted, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

I cleared my throat and adjusted my glasses.

Crickets chirped waiting for us to fill the silence so they didn’t have to. Finally he said, “Text me back next time.”

“Okay.” 

Flashing me a crooked smile, Jack loped off in the other direction. With someone that tall, it could only be called loping. I trudged toward the house. I spit my gum out in the neighbor’s bushes and then immediately felt bad. Mom was waiting for me when I opened the door. So was Twist. Without a word, she stomped into the kitchen. Twist shrugged and we both followed Mom. I thought I saw steam coming out of her ears.

“What’s this about you not going back to HSA?” Mom demanded once we got to the kitchen.

Confused, I asked, “What?”
Did she read my email? What’s going on?

“Your dad called.” Her mouth formed a hard line and she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Oh.” I focused my attention on my feet.

“He said you sent him an email saying you weren’t going back.”

I glanced up at Mom. I wouldn’t have been surprised if foam came out of her mouth. “Uh.” I dropped in a kitchen chair and prepared to lose.

“Look, I’m glad that you are meeting people and making friends, but you can’t leave school for them!” She was definitely upset.

I caught Twist’s eye. She looked at me questioningly. “I’ll wait in your room,” she mouthed.

Mom’s face had turned red. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d seen her so mad. “I don’t even think I can talk to you about this right now.” 

“I—” I started.

Mom cut me off. “I don’t want to hear it! Why would you throw away an opportunity like this? It’s your senior year! It’s not a good time to start over! Not to mention how disappointed your grandfather would be!”

A lump filled up my throat. I hadn’t thought of that. It was true, he would have been very disappointed, but probably more disappointed that his own granddaughter was such a terrible artist.

“It’s not about my friends.”

“Stop.”

She had a way of not letting people get a word in when she was worked up, and boy was she worked up. She paced around the kitchen banging cabinets.

Thanks a lot, Dad, you traitor.
I’d had this crazy idea that my dad would be on my side and help me talk to Mom later. Obviously that backfired.

“What’s this all about?” Mom demanded finally after slamming almost every cabinet door. 

There was no way she would understand. Just no way. 

“Your father will be here in the morning. He’s taking you to breakfast.” Mom sat down at the table.

“I thought he was traveling,” I said.

“He’s between trips. And he’s postponing Paris,” she said flatly.

Oh man, this was bad. “Mom,” I began.

“What?” she barked.

“Goodnight.” 

She glared at me. “What did you say?”

“Goodnight.” I stormed off to my room. I expected her to follow me, but she didn’t.

I burst into my room and Twist waited, sitting cross-legged on the window seat.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I flopped down on the bed disturbing Hank.

“Did something happen?” Twist asked carefully.

“No,” I lied. “I just hate HSA and I don’t want to go anymore.” I kicked my shoes off and sent them flying across the room, hitting the closet door.