Tell (18 page)

In the remaining days of that week, one might have noticed a subtle shift in sexual energy in some of the kids at the high school.

Shane had been known to eye girls in the hallways—Amanda if he had the opportunity, though it was rare that an attractive girl would escape his attention if she happened to walk by him.  He had perfected the use of peripheral vision in checking out girls.  Mr. Bell would yell tirelessly at the band members to use their peripherals on the field in order to determine their whereabouts in reference to their peers, but nobody had perfected this skill more than Shane.

Will was not quite an expert at it, but he used it regularly enough to know when to recognize it in one of his friends, and he saw Shane execute it more and more that week, and it was always aimed toward Cadie.  He mentioned this in passing to Stacy, then immediately regretted saying anything at all.  Stacy had pounced on this piece of information and had instantly succumbed to pestering him with questions about what he thought Shane’s feelings were toward Cadie.  Will had grunted and shrugged her off and tried to hide until her curiosity had died away, but this had yet to happen.  He would never understand this need girls had to hear and spread gossip.

So, Shane’s eyes were trained on Cadie instead of anyone else.  And although Cadie’s glances at Shane were rare and brief, they still occurred, and Stacy noticed them each time they did.

Melody had never been subtle about looking at Andy all the time.  He sat in front of her in band during second period, and he sat next to her in music theory.  She had his spots on the field memorized as surely as she had her own, and her eyes could find him easily in any set.

But three things had happened this past weekend that made him, to her, less desirable to look at.  The first was that he had ditched her as a seat partner without explanation.  The second was that he had wounded her when he had snapped at her in the stands at the game and had never apologized.  And thirdly, she had laughed a lot with Lucas when she shared a seat with him on the bus instead.

Now, she found it difficult not to notice that Lucas was often paying a lot of attention to her, a fact that she had never realized before.  He looked at her often during band practice, though she always pretended not to see.  He was quick to come to her aid if she needed help with anything, and thinking back, it occurred to her that this might have been his reason for staying after school that day to help sort music.  Twice he had left notes in her locker that contained jokes that were even sillier than the ones he had told her on the bus (“What would you call it if everyone in the country painted their cars pink?  A pink car-nation”), but they always made her smile.

So, Lucas’s eyes were trained on Melody.  And when she noticed, she had trouble suppressing her smile.

Felicia had never taken the time to look at anybody when she was at school.  The only people she ever talked to were Cadie, Elliot (though this was a recent development), and occasionally Shane, but only in the case of an emergency; she did not like it publicized that she was related to him.

She still did not take the time to look at anybody when she was at school, and any new infatuation that she had would probably not change this aspect of her personality.  But her mind was constantly swamped in thoughts of Elliot, thoughts that she could not explain to herself, thoughts that seemed irrational to her.

So, Felicia’s eyes were trained inward at her own personal transformation.  And nobody noticed, leaving Felicia feeling more alone than she had ever felt in her life.

A lot of people were planning on going to the party at Amanda’s on Friday night.

Stacy was going because she was a cheerleader and they were expected to make appearances at these things.  Also, her birthday happened to be that Friday and she wanted to have a good time.

Cadie was going with Stacy.  Despite her desire to see Shane, she had felt somewhat reluctant about going to another post-game party, still feeling like she did not belong.  However, since Stacy’s birthday was on Friday, she had laid a guilt trip on Cadie the size of Texas, so Cadie eventually agreed.

Melody was going because Cadie invited her.  She and Andy had seemed to have a good time at the last one, and Cadie felt that her sister should not need to rely on Susan for invitations to parties.  Melody accepted the invitation, though (unbeknownst to Cadie) did not ask Andy to come along.  His sour behavior toward her had also soured any future party invitations that she might bestow upon him.

Andy was going anyway, without an invitation.  He had decided that, since he had gone to a post-game party before and his attendance had been well-received by Amanda, he did not need any further invitations.  He found out through the rumor mill that the party would be at Amanda’s, and he decided this would be the perfect chance to try to ask her out.  Because this was the plan, he chose to not let Melody know that he was going—he thought it would be rude to go with her while focusing on another girl.

Shane was going because
he was a football player and they were expected to make appearances at these things.  Also, Will had mentioned in passing that Stacy had convinced Cadie to go with her.  He would have gone anyway, but he thought Cadie’s presence might make this party much more bearable—especially because it was going to be at Amanda’s house, and apparently he and Amanda were on rocky ground, though he was only aware of this because other people had told him.

Elliot was going because she had promised Lauren and wanted to try to make other friends, but she was not looking forward to it.  She tried to persuade Felicia to go with her, several times, but Felicia had a tendency to avoid all gatherings where she might be forced to interact with her brother in a public setting.

Susan was going because she was a cheerleader and they were expected to make appearances at these things.  She was under the assumption that if she did not go, her presence would be missed.  This was not the case.

Every year their school’s football team played their biggest rivals, a school ten miles and two interstate exits away.  Since the schools were in such close proximity to one another, the game was known as the Backyard Brawl.  It was a big deal because the two schools were competitive in every single sport, but it was usually a guarantee that the football team could at least defeat theirs, despite rumors circulating that they kept trying to steal the team’s playbook.  Even members of the band argued that the other band kept stealing their ideas for drill.

Cadie went to the game with her parents again, under the guise of going to watch Melody and the band’s performance, but in reality to watch Shane play.  Because she and Melody were going to the party afterwards, she had driven separately.  In her car she had left a backpack containing her outfit for the evening’s festivities, since she considered
it not appropriate football game attire.  Currently, though, she was just wearing slouchy jeans and a hooded sweatshirt.  Although it was almost October, the autumn chill had not quite settled in yet.

After the band performed for pre-game, Cadie offered to grab her parents something from the concession stand, but they declined; they both had thermoses of hot chocolate.  Although she herself was not hungry or thirsty, she wanted to be down on ground level when the football team ran out through that stupid giant banner the cheerleaders made for them every week.  She wondered how much time went into making a big banner that was just going to be ripped in half by a cavalcade of big, beefy guys in jerseys.  She made a mental note to ask Stacy that night.

Cadie took her time walking toward the concession stand.  The cheerleaders were forming lines on either side of the gates nearest to the locker room, their giant banner in tow.  Stacy caught Cadie’s eye and gave her a wave, which Cadie returned.  She figured her cover was already blown, so she might as well stop and watch the team run onto the field instead of proceeding to the concession stand and pretending to labor over whether to buy nachos or cheese fries.  Cadie walked up to the chain link fence and leaned her arms against it, waiting.

The team was announced and they jogged out of the locker room to the roars of the crowd.  Cadie craned her neck, scaling the gaggle of blue-clad guys for the gold number 87 that would indicate Shane’s presence.  She saw him right after they broke through the giant banner and started heading towards the other side of the field.  He was already wearing his helmet, which made it impossible to see his face, but for a second she was almost certain their eyes locked by the fluttering sensation in her chest.

Immediately she turned and pretended to be incredibly enthralled with looking for the concession stand, as if it had somehow managed to escape her vision.  As she glanced over the crowd, she saw a familiar flash of black hair.

Felicia was actually at a football game, and not with her parents.  Elliot was next to her in line.  Although her back was turned, Cadie could tell it was Elliot from the long blonde hair.  They were talking so animatedly that Cadie almost did not recognize Felicia.  It was completely unlike her to be so enthused about anything, let alone at a football game where she might accidentally be identified as Shane’s sister.

Elliot reached the counter and leaned way off to her left to grab a few napkins from the dispenser that sat on the other side.  As she did, Cadie watched as Felicia’s eyes never left Elliot.  She looked uncertain.  She bit her lip and looked away.

Cadie thought after six years of friendship, she might have finally figured out Felicia’s tell.

“This is a stellar night,” Elliot remarked as she and Felicia headed back to the home side of the stadium.  She was carrying a cardboard container of cheese fries; Felicia had slice of
pizza.  “Not only do you completely break out of your norm and invite me to a football game with you and your parents, I get free cheese fries. 
And
you’re coming to that party with me.”

“Ah, ah, ah.”  Felicia wagged her finger at Elliot.  “I
never
agreed to go to that party with you, and you know it.”

Elliot grinned.  “It was worth a shot.”  She glanced over at the field and nodded in the direction of the football team, who had clustered on the opposite side of the stadium.  “What’s Shane’s number?”

“87.”

“What position does he play?”

“Wide receiver.”  Felicia daubed at her slice of pizza with a napkin in an effort to absorb some of the grease.

Elliot nodded again as she shoved a couple of fries in her mouth.  “I can see that,” she said, her voice muffled.  “He looks fast.”

“Please don’t talk with your mouth full,” Felicia said tiredly.  Elliot held up her hand placatingly as she finished chewing and swallowing her fries.  “Anyway, yes, he’s fast. You should try chasing him down when he steals your piggy bank and climbs a tree with it.”

“Was it your piggy bank or your swear jar?  Because if it was the swear jar, I can’t say I blame him.”

Felicia turned to Elliot and rolled her eyes.  “You have cheese on your face.”

“Oops.”  Elliot wiped at her face, but missed.  Felicia reached up, lightly swiping the side of Elliot’s mouth with her fingertips.

For a brief second, the only sound Felicia could hear in the stadium was that of her own heartbeat in her ears.  She had closed the distance between the two of them without conscious thought, and now they were standing perilously close together.  Her hand had fallen back and was resting awkwardly on her own collar, though for a second she thought she might reach to touch Elliot’s face again.  Her skin had been satiny soft to the touch, a sharp contrast to the rough stubble she remembered from touching Brian’s face.

She took a deep breath and stepped back.  A whistle blew on the field.  She instantly became aware of her surroundings again.  “Shall we get back?” she asked brightly, then cringed inwardly.  Her chipper tone and use of the word “shall” would probably clue Elliot that something was amiss.

“Sure,” Elliot responded with a smile, giving no sign that she had noticed anything abnormal, even though Felicia knew she had.

After halftime, Melody did not do her usual visual sweep of the bleachers to locate Andy and see what he wanted to do.  Instead, she turned and her eyes immediately found the low brass section, or, more specifically, Lucas.  Their gazes locked and she realized he had been looking for her too.  She ducked her head, suppressing a smile, as the two of them climbed down the bleachers and met at the bottom of the steps.

“Do you want to grab something to eat?” he asked her.

“Yeah,” she responded.

They started the trek over to the concession stand in silence.  When Lucas sidestepped someone coming along the path in the opposite direction, the backs of their hands brushed for a moment.  Melody held her breath, waiting, but after they had passed the obstruction in their path, they resumed walking at a comfortable distance apart.  Melody released her breath slowly.

“So, what are you doing tonight?” Lucas asked her as they neared the concession stand and hooked on to the back of the queue.

“I’m going
to the party at Amanda’s house.”

Lucas furrowed his brow.  “Why?”

Melody laughed.  “Because Cadie invited me.”

He looked at the ground and kicked absently at a pebble, scuffing his shiny black shoes.  “So… you’re going with Andy then?”