Boyfriend From Hell (Falling Angels Saga) (10 page)

“Señora Marisol! Do you hear me?” Armando’s voice commanded.

“Yes,” I said. Why I said it in a bad imitation of a computer voice, I have no idea.

I stepped through the doorway and around him, moving to the far side of the super-sized picture, where I stooped. From here he couldn’t see my face.
But for how long?

“Who are you? Where is Señora Marisol?”

“Granddaughter,” I said, continuing with the computer voice.

“Oh? Okay. Easy, granddaughter. This painting is most precious.”

“No problem.”

With outstretched arms, I grasped the frame. The large picture was between us as we began maneuvering it through the doorway.

“You are from out of town?” He tried gazing over the painting to get a glimpse of me.  I lowered my head.

“Si.”
Okay, so now I’m doing the computer voice in Spanish. I know five words of Spanish and I’d just used one up.

“Where are you from?”

Good question. But since I couldn’t come up with a reasonable answer, I replied: “Heavy.”

“Oh, yes, of course. We can chat after we put this down.”

I could imagine the conversation.

“Megan, what are you doing here?”

“Oh, I just happened to see this lady on the street and thought I’d follow her home. Who knew she worked for you?”

But if she was working for Armando that meant he lived here. And while the place was nice enough, it wasn’t Armando, not the Armando we knew. A new thought occurred to me out of the blue.
Armando is leading a double life.

We maneuvered the painting through the doorway. The dog was suddenly in a barking frenzy.

“Quiet, Robin.” The dog immediately quieted.

“Good dog,” I said.

“Very.” We moved down the hall and into a tiny study. “I can take it from here. Thank you.”

I eased myself from behind the large picture, my head lowered as he placed it against the wall. And while his back was still to me, I did the first sensible thing I’d done all afternoon. I ran.

The dog was barking again.

#

“Where have you been, young lady?”

My mother had gotten home from work early and was scowling at me when I walked in.

The jig was up. Armando had known it was me all along and called to tell her. How was I ever going to explain it?

“But, Mom, this old woman was staring at you at the art gallery, and I just had to find out why, and I was on my way to the mall when I saw her again, and so...” I stammered out an incomprehensible explanation.

Her eyes narrowed. “And that’s why you got kicked off the mathletes?”

“Oh…. that!”

#

I was grounded.

When I asked for how long, she kept blinking at me, so I guess it’s for the rest of my life.

Someone told on me. Even though I’d intercepted the letter, taking every precaution for her not to find out, someone had told her everything.

Who had it in for me so bad they would call my mother?

Matt or Erin. It had to be one of them.

Matt asked when was I going to snitch on myself. But that was just yesterday. I’m sure he would have given me more time. Erin. She was jealous of my friendship with Matt. Oh, she pretended not to be, but lately I could sense it. One more reason why the two of them did not belong together.

I called Matt, and he said he didn’t know who told. He was sorry I was being punished. I believed him.

“But I wonder who could have ratted me out like that?” I was fishing around for him to say the obvious name.

“Does it matter? You were going to tell her yourself anyway. You still would have gotten punished.”

“That’s not the point, Matt!” I complained, as if he were a pea-brained idiot. “Someone told her, and I need to find out who.”

There was a brief silence in which I could feel him calming himself. “They usually send a letter home, Megan. Maybe that’s how she found out.”

“It isn’t.”

“How do you know for sure?”

“Because the letter’s in the bottom of my backpack!”

Another silence before he spoke again. “What’s gotten into you?” His words were filled with disappointment.

“What do you mean?

Still more silence, but this time it was like a weight against my conscience.

“I wasn’t ready to tell her yet, okay? Is that what you want to know?”

“You guys used to be so close. Best friends.”

“First off, you and Erin are my best friends. She’s my mother. Besides, it’s hard to be close to somebody who wants to punish you all the time.”

“She hardly ever punishes you.”

“Whose side are you on!?”

The conversation ended with Matt telling me he didn’t like the recent change he’d seen in me.

So what if I’d changed?  I wasn’t a little kid anymore. I had been kissed like never before and was on the verge of having a boyfriend, a boyfriend who was smart and cute—the Dating Daily Double.

Eventually my thoughts turned to my afternoon adventure and Armando. There was something not right about that house. It wasn’t him. The more I thought about it, the more I realized there wasn’t a sign of Armando—or anyone for that matter—in any of the rooms I’d seen. They were big, and dark, and totally devoid of personality.  The house seemed a lot like the pictures on its walls—filled with emptiness.

But there was something else, something I hadn’t noticed while I was there.  The place seemed really, really creepy.
And what was with Señora Marisol?
When she said Armando’s name, it was as if she were speaking of royalty. And yet she seemed frightened by his presence.

Like I could be his mother? Like I’d
want
to be his mother.

Strange words from someone so protective. When she let me in she began taking me  toward the rear. But where was she taking me?

A slow dread began to build within me. Armando was up to something in that house—gun running, or maybe he was a drug kingpin. That would explain why Señora Marisol was so afraid of him.

Of course if I tell Suze, she’ll think I’m just making it all up to keep from being grounded. So, I wait. I hold my tongue and keep an even closer eye on Armando. He’ll slip up, and when he does, I’ll be there to nail him.

#

Dinner was unusually quiet.

“Who is this boy?” my mother asked after a long spell of silence, each word its own sentence.

“Nobody.”

“Good. Because you are forbidden to have any contact outside of school with
nobody
ever again.”

“That’s not fair! I’m not forbidding you from seeing
your
boyfriend.”

She winced.

“I don’t have a boyfriend. And I didn’t know you had one, either.” Definite pain in her voice. She was finding out too many things about me too fast.

“He’s not my boyfriend… yet,” I practically whispered.

She nodded and went back to pushing food around on her plate. She didn’t speak to me again for the rest of the night.

Later, as I sat alone in my room, my cell phone rang. The name Guy Matson popped up in the window.

He probably thinks I stood him up.

I stared at the phone, waiting for the ringing to stop. I was clearly torn, but I couldn’t answer it. I was already in enough trouble. Voice mail finally picked up.

Then my phone hummed. A Text:

Where R U?

Grounded

Sneak out. There’s a party tonight

Sneak out?

I found myself again imagining the kiss.  The way our lips met; the electricity that flowed through my body. This was my chance to have a boyfriend—a cool, cute boyfriend who was an excellent kisser and wasn’t intimidated because I spouted trivia or was a mathlete.  

I’d never snuck out before. I’d never done anything bad in the past. And yes, it was me who took that bite out of one of my mother’s fresh-baked cupcakes when I was five. Who else could it have been? I’m sure she didn’t buy my jealous Keebler elf theory. But that was more little-girl mischief than bad.

I realized at that moment, my enjoyment of the bad girl image had been false.  You can’t be a bad girl unless you actually do something bad.

I picked up the phone and pressed two letters.

OK

There.  It was done. I was sneaking out into the night to be with a boy who cared for me, even though I stood him up at the mall.  

I waited for the bad girl thrill to once again surge through me. Nothing. Actually, I did feel something, a tiny hatch of butterflies in the pit of my stomach. Fear. I knew if I snuck out now I’d be starting down a path of no return.

I wasn’t a bad girl—not yet anyway. I wanted to be with Guy, but I couldn’t.  I just couldn’t. The
OK
in the screen of my phone stared up at me, waiting for me to hit send.

I erased the letters, and turned off the phone.

I was standing by my locker the next morning, wondering if Guy would ever speak to me again, when Erin and Matt walked up. His varsity jacket was draped over her shoulders. They were holding hands. Matt isn’t the hand-holding type. She was turning him into something he wasn’t. When Matt saw me, he dropped Erin’s hand and hung back as she approached.

“I heard you got grounded,” she said with what I’m sure was fake remorse. “For how long?”

“Who knows? She’s hardly speaking to me. It’s so strange.”

“Well, Matt and I—”

La, la, la, la.
The mental humming again. I didn’t need to hear another word about Matt and Erin.

“I wonder who told on me?” It was supposed to be a question, a casual musing off the top of my head, but it came out a dagger of accusation that jabbed into her. She stopped mid-sentence.

“You don’t think it was… me?”

“Of course not,” I lied. “You’re my best friend. I was just wondering out loud.”

She didn’t buy it.

“Megan, she probably got a call from school. I mean—”

“Yeah. That’s it, I’m sure. Hey, great seeing you guys. Gotta go.” I slammed my locker and headed off to English—alone.

I slid in next to my new pal, Maudrina Salley. She was cloaked in the fragrance of canine domesticus.

“Hey, Maudrina, I was wondering what kind of dog you have?” I know it was wrong of me to ask, but the question just slipped out.

“How do you know I have a dog?”

 “Umm, just a guess.”

A small smile appeared on her lips. She leaned in. “You’ve never spoken to me before.”

“Oh, sure I have.”

“Well, once in the girl’s bathroom, when you told me to make sure I used soap and water. But that was the only time.”

“Soap and water? That couldn’t have been me.” I drew back slightly as I recalled the incident.

Erin and I had had a good laugh after she’d gone.
Oh my goodness.
 I was beginning to feel horrible for teasing her that way. Maudrina was a cute brown-skinned girl who didn’t dress very well. It suddenly dawned on me that I was the type of snob I detested—girls who looked down their noses at the geeks, or the poor , or those who talked with an accent.

“No. It was you.” She stared at me waiting for a response, her expression warm and hopeful, not a hint of accusation.

“Sorry about that,” I said softly. “I’m not saying it
was
me, but whoever it was must have been having a bad day.” I was so ashamed.

Her smile widened. “It’s all right. It’s cool. I have two dogs. A toy poodle named Piddles, and a smelly old boxer named Sam.”

Just then Erin entered the room.  My eyes moved to her and Maudrina’s followed. Erin gave a pained expression before heading to her seat.

“You guys have another fight?” Maudrina suddenly asked.

“No,” I replied defensively.

“Last time you sat next to me I assumed it was because you had a fight. You two are always together. Best friends, right?”

“Yes… umm, no… umm…” She was getting me all flustered. “So, two dogs, huh? I like dogs.” I couldn’t believe how easily she saw right through me.

Am I
that
obvious?

“Would you like to come over some time and play with them? They love company, and we don’t get much.”

A vision of me rolling around with smelly old Sam and coming to school stinking of boxer invaded my thoughts. That would definitely be the end of me having a boyfriend.  “Sure, I’d love to,” I said.  “That sounds like big fun.”

“Cool. When?”

“Umm… Soon,” I replied. “As soon as my grounding’s over.” I never thought I’d be thankful for being grounded, but here I was, using it to keep from hanging out with Maudrina Salley.  

I was feeling worse and worse. All I had wanted was a little light conversation before class, some friendly chatter to pass the time. Instead, I was reminded that I’d been horrible to Maudrina in the past, and to make matters worse, I was now pretending I wanted to be her friend.
Sheesh!

“Cool,” she said again. Her smile widened. “Just let me know.”

Thankfully, class began.

As soon as the bell rang ending the period, I snatched up my things and rushed out before Maudrina or Erin could corner me. The last thing I wanted was conversation with either of them. I was jetting down the hall, away from the room when…

“Somebody’s sure in a hurry today.” Guy’s voice rang out behind me.

I turned to find him beaming at me.

“Guy!”

I thought he’d never speak to me again, and yet here he was smiling at me, talking to me. He was wearing a fitted V-neck sweater over an untucked shirt, jeans, and grungy white Addidas. He looked so cute, so cool, so unlike a math geek.

“How long are you grounded for?” There was a casualness to his question, as if he’d said
‘how long did you sleep?’
Groundings were clearly no big deal to him.

“I have no idea, but from the look on my mom’s face—forever!”

He laughed, and I found myself once again entranced by his lips. All of a sudden he grabbed my hand and began pulling me down the hall.

“Come on.”

“Where are we going?” He didn’t respond. He continued pulling me  toward the north end of the building.

The first bell rang.

“We’re going to be late to class,” I called, as the crowd in the halls quickly thinned. Still no response. He pulled me into the stairwell at the far end and stopped.