You Knew Me When (11 page)

“Well, then, we'd better get started while you're still here. I'll ask for a few days off next week. Thanksgiving is a slow time at the spa.” She regretted it as soon as she'd said it. Tina would flip out. She didn't like it when Laney left for a few hours, much less three days off at the last minute. “Are you planning to stay through the holiday?”

“I am.” Katherine stirred her untouched iced tea. “So you want to work together?”

“I didn't say that.”

“Okay.”

“It's a big house.”

“Fine. But we'll never get through it all in a week.” Katherine folded her arms across her lean torso.

“We'll cross that bridge.” Laney was pleased with herself. She'd taken control of the conversation, which Kitty likely hadn't expected.

“Whatever you say.” Katherine's cell phone buzzed, and she answered instinctively. “Hi, Brooke. Okay, I see. No, that's not okay. No, it's not. Tell Derek he's going to have to answer to me. I don't give a shit. Exactly. Brooke, hold on.” She stood up suddenly, causing the waitress to scuttle over. “Please charge this to room six twenty.” Katherine turned to Laney. “I'll meet you at Luella's tomorrow morning. Eight a.m.” She lifted the phone back to her ear, swiveled on her four-inch heels, and walked away.

And once again Laney was caught off guard.

I
t may seem unusual, but my idea of a good time does not involve hanging out with the obnoxious, not to mention immature, boys in our class. Unfortunately, it's all Laney ever wants to do these days, especially since she started dating Roger King. He's going to be a senior like Grant, except they're not really friends. Roger plays football, and Grant's on the lacrosse team. Even though he fits in with the jocks, Grant prefers his student-council friends, which means he and Roger are in completely different groups. Roger's group is more the burping-contest, chest-bumping, fling-boogers-at-the-teacher kind of crowd. Grant's friends are much cooler, at least in my opinion. They know how to open a book not involving pictures of naked women. Laney doesn't date Grant's friends for a few reasons. One, Grant would flip out. Two, Grant would flip out. And three, Laney doesn't usually fall for the intellectual type. She's more about brawn than brains. I, on the other hand, would completely go for one of Grant's friends if any of them would look twice at me, which they don't, because I see them all the time at Laney's house. I'm Grant's little sister's friend as far as they're concerned.

Anyway, this whole Roger thing has been kind of a bummer. I know it sounds selfish. I mean, obviously I want Laney to be happy, but ever since she had a falling-out with Lisa at Karen Mann's sweet sixteen, we haven't been hanging out with her or Meg anymore. Honestly, I can live without having Lisa around. In five years, we've never really bonded. Lisa, like Laney, is completely melodramatic and enjoys nothing more than having all eyes on her. I guess at some point there were only so many eyes to go around. I'm sorry that Meg and I can't stay friends, but that's how it works when you're sixteen. There are sides. Team Laney. And Team Lisa. Sadly, Meg and I were recruited by opposing captains. So now it's just me and Laney. And Roger.

It's not like Laney's had any shortage of boyfriends over the years. But there's something different about this Roger thing. It's like she's addicted to him. All she talks about is Roger this and Roger that. Roger has the most field goals. Roger's the most popular guy in the senior class. Roger has the biggest muscles. Roger has the biggest . . . I told her I did
not
want to know that. She lost her virginity to him three weeks after they started dating. She said it hurt, I guess because he has the biggest . . . She also said he yelled
touchdown
when things were finished on his end. Laney thought it was sexy. I didn't tell her I thought it was the cheesiest, most pathetic thing I'd ever heard. Mainly because that would have made me sound jealous, which she already thinks I am. As it happens, I haven't kissed a boy yet. That's right. I'm sixteen and never been kissed. There have been a couple of opportunities, but I just don't see the point in letting some sweaty, pimply, fidgety idiot play tonsil hockey in my mouth. And I'm certainly not about to let anyone take my clothing off until we've been dating for months, maybe even a year. So, essentially, I'm destined to be a virgin forever, which I think I'm fine with.

Today, Roger brought his friend Dan to Luella's pool to hang out. According to Laney, Dan is here to kiss me. I wonder if Dan knows. I also wonder if he knows he won't be getting anywhere near me, seeing as he's a bit of a Roger clone. Same spiky blond hair; same sunburned, beefy body; same stupid grin; same empty head. I'm sure I couldn't count on both hands how many mouths his tongue has explored. I told Laney that under no circumstances is she to leave me alone with Dan. She just smiled deviously and said, “Whatever you say, Moody McPrudy.” Charming, huh?

Yet here I am, sitting on the edge of Luella's pool, in a blue bikini, dipping my feet in the water while Laney, Roger, and Dan do cannonballs off the diving board to see who can make the biggest splash. Laney has no shot, since she's ninety pounds of skin and bones, but the boys seem to enjoy watching her lose her bikini top. Every. Single. Time. Somehow it never gets old.

“Come on, Kitty! Do one jump!” Laney called from the tip of the diving board, wriggling her body in her teeny- tiny sparkly gold bikini.

“No, thanks. I'm good here.” I waved her on. Splash. And the top was off. She shrieked for the hundredth time and swam to retrieve it, continuing on to my side of the pool.

“If you sit over here, you're never going to get to know Dan.” She whispered it, as if the whole thing was a massive secret.

“That's kind of the idea.” I tilted my face up to the sun and closed my eyes.

“Kitty, don't be such a dork. He likes you.”

“He does not.” I looked down at her, chin deep in the water, her blond hair slicked back off her forehead.

“Yes, he
does
,” she insisted.

“How is that possible? We haven't said more than two words to each other.” Come to think of it, words are probably not the key to Dan's heart.

“Well, he thinks you're hot.”

“He thinks anything in a bikini is hot, maybe with the exception of Roger.” I do have to hand it to Laney. She's been diligent in helping me improve my appearance. She took me to a great hair salon in town to get a pretty, fashionable cut that grazes my shoulder blades and looks all bouncy, like the woman whipping her head around for no reason in the Pantene commercials. They even put in a few reddish highlights for free. Laney talked them into it. She also taught me how to do my makeup, even though she does it better, and I always leave it to her when we have a party to go to. And she went through my whole closet with me before school this year. We dumped all the “heinous” stuff, as she put it, and then we raided some old boxes of my mom's clothing my dad had packed away when we made the move from Bennington five years ago. Turns out my mom had some amazing stuff, and most of it fits me now that I've shed some of the baby fat, except the tighter tops, because my boobs are bigger than hers were. I've definitely had more interest from some guys at school and around town, but still, they're not what I'm looking for. Sometimes I wish Laney could understand that and get off my back.

“Would you stop? Do you want to be eighty and yet to be kissed?”

“I'm okay with that.”

“You are not.”

“Fine. I'll find a great guy when I'm seventy-nine.”

“You're infuriating.” Laney looked back at Roger, who was about to do a flip off the diving board. “Listen. Roger wants to go back to my house. My parents are in Boston for the whole day, and the house is empty.”

“Where's Grant?”

“I don't know. Around, I guess. But he doesn't care what I do.”

“Or who.”

“Very funny.” She slapped me on the leg.

“That's fine. I'll stay here. I told Luella I'd help her make a pie for her dinner guests tonight.”

“Okay, well, I'm leaving Dan with you.”

“No, you are not!”

“Kitty, he came with Roger, and I can't very well ask him to sit in my house while we go upstairs.” She hoisted herself out of the pool and sat next to me.

“You're getting me wet.” I moved over. “Can't he just hang out with Grant?”

“Grant hates Dan.”

Go figure.

“I'm sure he doesn't
hate
him. They're not even friends.”

“He thinks he's stupid or something. I don't know. Can you please just give Dan a chance? If you don't like him, just let him stay here and swim.”

“Fine.”

“Thank you!” She wrapped her soaking-wet body around my very dry body and planted a soggy kiss on my cheek. “You're the best!”

“You're WET! Get off me.” I shoved her playfully. “Do you have . . .” I raised one eyebrow at her.

“Condoms? It's okay to say the word, Kitty.” She rolled her eyes. “Roger has them.”

“Good old Rog.”

“I really don't see what you have against him.”

“Nothing.”

“Well, you're not very nice to him.”

“Would you get out of here before I change my mind?” The last thing I needed was to explain Roger's shortcomings to Laney. I really don't like to lie to her. Part of our best-friend pact is total honesty, no matter what. Like when one of us doesn't look good in an outfit, we always tell each other. Of course, it's rare that Laney doesn't look good, actually great, in something. Thank God she's still intent on fleeing to New York City after college, so she won't end up marrying this guy.

“Okay, we're going. I owe you one!” Laney grabbed her white Keds and gold hoop earrings from next to her lounge chair and shimmied over to the other side of the pool where Roger was tossing a football with Dan. I watched her drape herself on him and whisper something in his ear. Then I heard him summon Dan with one word: “Dude.” Moments later, Laney and Roger were hand in hand, ducking through the bushes to Laney's house, and I was left alone with Dan the Man. Awesome.

Before I knew it, he was walking toward me. I got up and retreated to one of Luella's lounge chairs. His idea of a laugh is probably throwing girls in the pool. And I'm so not that girl.

“Whassup?” He sat next to me. Apparently, the five other empty chairs weren't calling to him.

“Not much.” I folded my hands in my lap.

“You wanna swim?”

“No, thanks.”

“Yeah, that's cool.” I think three words is his max.

“Do you want something to drink?” Any excuse to get away.

“Nah.”
Crap.
He put his hand on my thigh.
Double crap.
So much for small talk.

“Something to eat?” He actually paused to think on this one, and I took the opportunity to slide over, forcing his hand to fall onto the chair.

“Nah.” He placed it back on my leg. “You're kinda hot.” My whole body tensed, and I wasn't sure whether to run or laugh in his face. Clearly, these were his moves. Not that I know anything about moves, but I'm pretty sure there are better ones than his. I looked at Dan. He was actually passably attractive, and it should be said that most of the girls in the junior class would jump at the chance to hook up with him. Probably why he didn't need better moves. Unfortunately for Dan, I'm not most of the girls. And there would be no jumping.

“Thank you.” Really, what does one say to that? Obviously, I could just let him kiss me. Get it over with. But I'd prefer my first kiss not be a matter of getting it over with. Though this is Dan Perry, and while he isn't the star quarterback, like Roger, he is still a really good football player, about to be a senior, and one of the most popular guys in the whole school. Maybe it's crazy not to let it happen. It would certainly improve my cool factor.

“Sure.” He moved closer again and wrapped his left arm around my waist, pulling me against his rib cage. The word
awkward
didn't even begin to describe it. He leaned over and kissed my shoulder and then my neck. I sat frozen, praying he would stop or that Luella would come outside. I turned my face toward his to tell him I wasn't really interested, but before I could say anything, his mouth was pressed against mine and his tongue was stabbing at my pursed lips in an effort to pry them open. I tried to speak, but that only gave him the chance to thrust his tongue down my throat and slobber all over the outside of my mouth and even a little on my cheeks. Before long, his hands were on the outside of my bathing suit, smooshing my boobs.

“Actually, that's enough.” I tried to move away, but the back of the chair was up against mine.

“Come on. We're just getting started.” His hand was traveling down my stomach.

“Seriously, stop.” I was firm but not panicked. It's not like we were trapped in a closet or something.

“I'm all worked up.” He took my hand and tried to get me to stroke his penis, which was hard against his wet swim trunks.

“No.” I jerked my hand away and attempted to stand up. He pushed me back down with his palms on my shoulders.

“Don't leave me hanging, Katie.”

“Kitty.”
Seriously?

“Sorry, yeah.” He tried to kiss me again.

“It's enough, really.” I was struggling to get him off me. I knew I could scream at any moment and Luella would come rushing out, probably hit Dan over the head with a pie pan, but I really didn't want to cause a scene unless absolutely necessary. Still, he was freakishly strong.

“Hey, asshole! You want to get the hell off her?” Dan jumped back and we both turned around, startled. Grant was marching toward us, red in the face.

“What the fuck, dude?” Dan stood up, and I moved away immediately.

“I said, get the hell off her. Got it?” Grant was as tall as Dan, but not as big otherwise, and I estimated he might lose in a physical fight.

“What's it to you?” Dan got in his face, and Grant didn't back down. Not even a little. My heart was beating a mile a minute. Laney would kill me if anything bad happened.

“Just get out of here, man.”

“Whatever.” Dan grabbed his T-shirt off one of the chairs. “She's a cold bitch anyway.” Grant started to say something, and I shook my head at him vigorously. I just wanted Dan to leave, which he did, stalking off toward Laney's house. I really hoped he wouldn't make a big deal of it.

“You okay?” Grant turned toward me after making sure Dan was really gone.

“Yeah, I'm fine. He's a meathead.” My heart was still beating triple time and my knees were all wobbly.

“Where the hell is Laney?” He looked pissed.

“She's at your house with Roger.”

“Fabulous. That guy's such a dick.”

“I know.”

“You should tell her.”

“Me? Why don't you tell her?”

“Believe me, I have. You think she listens to a thing I say?”

“Yeah, that's true.”

“Here.” He picked a towel off the table and wrapped it around me, holding it there until I could feel his breath on the back of my neck. “You're too good for him, Kitty.” I didn't say anything.