Wicked Sense (31 page)

“Do you have one of Priscilla?” I ask. She gives me her ‘seriously?’ expression. “I mean, Boulder would love it.”

“
Right…” she says,
doubting
me
.
“Let me ask you something,” she adds with a hesitant
tone
.
“
Do they make fun of Priscilla
?”

Uh-oh. We’re entering confidential territory.
This is supposed to be just between us guys.
I don’t want to go there, but I don’
t want to lie to her either. It’s
not cool that she’s asking, though.
“Of course,
”
I finally reply.

“
W
hy?”

“Come on, Skye…”

“No, I want to know.”

I shrug.
“It’s not a mean thing. At least they don’t think it’s mean.
”
She looks at me, and I explain,
“They
make fun of her, all right?
” My tone is annoyed. “
It became a competition.
They
like to be creative and top themselves.
I mean
,
we
do
. We all do it, okay?
”

“What do you say?”

“I’d rather not go there.”

“But I don’t understand… Boulder
even
has a crush on her.”

I shrug.
“
Don’t read too much into it. It’s just guys being guys.
Yeah, it’s not cool, but that’s how it is.
We
have a lot of
free
time
.
Why are you asking this?
”
I
use
an accusatory tone.

Skye looks away. “She doesn’t have friends. I mean, at all.”

“She has many male friends, believe me,” I say, still feeling guilty about betraying my peep
s’ confidence and
confessing to
my own shortcomings.

“Don’t be insensitive, Drake. All the girls look down on her; they think she’s a slut.”

I want to say ‘T
here’s a reason for that’ but
keep my mouth shut. Am
I bitter today or what?

She continues, “And the boys too. I guess that’s why she came to
the
new girl in
school.” Skye points to herself.

I had never thought of that. It must be hard for
Priscilla
.
But she must have known she’d
get
this reputation when she started
serial-
dating all the guys.

Worst of all, she is a nice girl. I remember my hangover morning after the Jane debacle and how Priscilla, even ma
d at me, was nice
and offered me good advice.

Now I’m feeling doubly guilty.
For Priscilla, and for betraying the guys.

I don’t like it that Skye pointed that out. I already have trouble
dealing with my things;
no need for her to make me feel bad for something like that.

“You don’t respect her.”

“Come on, Skye…”

“No, really. Would it be okay if you made fun of me behind my back? Actually… do you?”

I don’t answer. I just look away, disgusted.
We are at the same place where we had our first day together, but the mood couldn’t be more different.

Skye and I
don’t speak for a long time.

***

That argument ruins
our afternoon. We don’t talk about it, but I don’t feel like hanging out anymore
,
and I sense she doesn’t either. I drop her off at her house and go
see the guys
.

Sean is at Boulder’s. I think he lives
t
here.

Boulder is rummaging
through
his garage. He
comes up with a couple of snow
boards.

“What do you say, D-Man? Website says it snowed in Stevens overnight.”

“I don’t know,” I say.

Boulder stops for a moment. “Come on, I’m paying for you
r
lift, how about that?”

No offense meant, and none taken. I shrug. “All right, then.”

Sean sticks his head out from some boxes. “You’ve got a bad case of the downers, Drake. What’s up? Your wife left you hanging?”

“
Kinda
,” I say. I really don’t want to talk about it. “Isn’t
it
a little too late to go to the mountains?”

“
I
just woke up,” Boulder replies, his back turned to me while he looks for his boots. “We have to stop by a
McD’s
on our way.” He fishes bright yellow boots out of a box, turns
,
and points beyond
me.
“Is your ride all-wheel drive?”

***

We make stops at a fast food joint and a
7
-Eleven. I’m the designated driver while
Boulder
take
s
care of a six
pack. Even though
he’s
exposing me to a
n open container citation
, I’m glad to pay back my lift ticket.
Sean is just having a soda.

We
didn’t need a ski rack
.
The Volvo is a long wagon, and we
just put the snowboards in the back.
Sean and Boulder
didn’t even make fun of the car
.

Daringly, I double-check that Boulder doesn’t remember his potion-induced confessions. “Hey, big man, do you remember what you told me the other day about Priscilla?”

He squints. “When?”

“Yesterday? At the parking lot?
Ring any bells?”

“No…”

Sean, who is in the backseat, leans on my seat, pressing me forward.
“Speaking of
T
he
Predator,” he says, “I got a new one
for the twins
: Priscilla can ride the three
-person carpool by herself.”

“Ouch!” Boulder says, but he high-fiv
es Sean nonetheless. “I had one
, but
it was only a variation of ‘They
have their own zip code.’… Not worth it.”

“Do one, D-Man!” Sean slaps my head.

“Hey, driver here!” I
yell
.

“Come on, Drake,” Boulder shoves me lightly, ignoring my protest.
When he sees I’m not following for it, he sing-songs, “
Her boobs arrive on time, but Priscilla is
always a couple of minutes late
…”

In spite of myself, I
chuckle
.
I’m so going to hell.
I was
just a victim of peer pressure, I justify myself.

“He has a soul!” Sean
roars.
He
takes a big gulp of
soda and belches
.

“He’s got a sense of humor,” Boulder corrects. “Come on, Drake. We won’t tell on you.”

I wrestle with my conscience
. But it’s not that hard of a decision. I just don’t feel like it. “
I can’t think of anything
,
”
I say.

Boulder frowns.
“
Damn, Drake. You did one the other day. A geek one. What was it?”

“
I know. ‘
Her center of gravity is two
fe
et in front of her belly button
.
’
”
Sean laughs out loud, slapping my seat.

I was very proud of that one. Today, it doesn’t sound so funny.
“Come on. Priscilla is cool.”

“Of course, she is! What does that have to do with it?”
Boulde
r
asks
,
puzzled.

I don’t answer.

Boulder shakes
his head.
“
D-Man, I’m all for you and th
e new girl
.
But don’t forget your friends. And don’t forget who you are.
”

I just realized that I almost compromised Mum’s career. I dodged at least underage drinking
, trespassing,
and public indecency charges last night, and I might even have done other
illegal things I’m not aware of… yet.

I owe Priscilla.

After Drake leaves
me
at my house, our mood ruined, I feel alone. Aunt Gemma is somewhere bird
watching, and the house feels empty.

This itch compels me to call Priscilla
.
I
wonder if
she
has more adventures for me.
She takes her time to answer
.

“Hey,” I say. “Are you awake?”

“I am
now
.
” I hear
a long yawn on the other side of the line. “What’s up?”

“Thanks for
taking
my picture. Drake
loved
it.”

She chuckles. “Guess he didn’t know
the girl
he
is
dating.”

“Do you have plans for
today? Drake kind of ditched me.
”

“Really?” S
he
sounds
fully awake now. I guess she’s thinking the same as me: not a good sign when you show your boyfriend your naked picture and he leaves you
alone
. But she
reacts
fast. “I was thinking spa.”

“Spa?”

“We’ve got to
recover from last night
’s
hard work,” she argues.

Once again, when I play my objections in my mind, they
sound
silly. “What time?” I ask.

***

It’s a salon/spa. The salon
staff and
clients are the nosiest bunch of people I’ve ever met.
Surely, they do pay back—and then some—in the form of over
-
sharing. The woman to my right, for example, a soon-to-be Master in Chemistry from WSU, just told me she doesn’t want kids and imposed only one condition to her fiancée: that he gets a vasectomy before they marry.

I look around and realize
I’m the only one cringing. It gets worse. The woman giv
ing her a pedicure comments non
chalantly, “I hope it doesn’t give him an excuse to cheat.”

The kid-hater doesn’t even blink. “I thought of that. I told him if he ever cheats on me, I’ll give him a more permanent
solution
,” she says while making a cutting motion with her hand. They all laugh.

I want to stuff my head inside the paraffin bowl. By my other side, Priscilla shows an unconcerned smile. 

This is an experience
.

Later,
Priscilla
and I
l
ie
on massage tables side-by-side, belly-down. A girl a little older than me is laying warm rocks on my back, while a
short
middle-aged woman massages Priscilla. The two women are silent, and I guess that’s the most privacy we’re going to get in this madhouse.
T
he spa side is much
less crowded
,
and
much
quieter
,
than the salon side.

I ask Priscilla something I’ve been meaning to mention since last night.
“So, have you hooked up with
Boulder?”
I know the answer, but I try to keep Boulder’s secret…
secret.

She turns her head to face me. “I did,” she says,
a little loud. Then she mouths, “OMG, he’s huge.”

I raise my ey
ebrows, feigning surprise. “And?
”

“It was fun,” she says. She tries to shrug, but the masseuse’s hands
are stronger than Priscilla’s back muscles. “Ouch!”

“That’s called a deep-tissue massage,” the diminutive woman says, unapologetically.

“Do you like him?” I ask.

“Sure, what’s not to like?”
Priscilla grins
.

“Have you thought of… you know… going steady?”