Capture the Wind for Me (10 page)

I shrugged away, disdain on my face. The problem with Billy, I told myself as my ankles trembled, was that he knew his own good looks.

“What's the matter, Billy?” I looked at him out the corner of my eye. “Afraid I'm too much for you to handle?”

“Oooooh.” His friends sucked in a collective breath and exploded into laughter. Billy blinked, then recovered by pretending to faint at my feet. I flounced away without looking back. But my shoulder still tingled from the warmth of his hand.

“Oh, my,” Alison sighed later that day. “Guess the cat's totally out of the bag.”

“Yeah, and it's got claws, too.” I shoved a book into my locker and yanked out another.

“Well, things could be worse. I mean like Billy practically
hugged
you.” I banged shut my locker and shot her a look. “I wasn't talking about things here at school, Alison. I was talking about
her.”

“Oh.” Alison's shoulders rose. “Sorry.”

We headed down the hall toward our next class. “But you like her some, right? And Clarissa and Robert still think she's great? And isn't your daddy happy?”

“Yes, to all of that,” I said glumly.

“So what's up, Jackie? I don't get it.”

I skidded to a stop, fingers pressing into my books. “What if she's not like she says she is, huh? What if she . . . disappoints us?”

I wanted to say the rest of it but couldn't admit the depth of my pettiness. Even then I recognized that Alison's very empathy bared the darkness of my soul. I, who worked myself silly serving my family, now begrudged their joy, partly because I felt left out. Everyone, including my daddy, was falling in love but me. It didn't help matters any that Alison was now officially going out with Jacob. I didn't even have a close friend to commiserate with over my loneliness.

Alison peered at me, forehead wrinkling with concern. “Things will be okay, Jackie, you'll see. Just—be thankful. After losing your mama and everything bein' so horrible, finally you and your family have a chance to be happy again. I know,” she added quickly, “that Katherine will never replace your mama. But she can give y'all new things to look forward to.” Alison sucked a portion of her lower lip between two teeth. “She can be a friend to you, Jackie. Don't look at her as tryin' to replace. Look at her like a new friend.”

I forced a nod. Alison's words reminded me of Mama's. “Yeah, you're right. Thanks.”

She gave me a lopsided smile, then headed for her seat.

Only Derek seemed completely unfazed by the budding relationship. Even as my girlfriends whispered questions and the boys slid meaningful gazes between him and me, he said nothing. Perhaps he didn't know what to say. Perhaps he simply didn't care about the teasing. He always had seemed immune to such comments. He did smile at me when we passed in the hall, and he asked me once if our computer worked okay. I felt conspicuous talking to him at all, aware that two words passed between us would only fuel the fire.

I mulled about Derek as I walked Clarissa home from school one Wednesday afternoon, only half listening to her chatter about how Alma Sue and Della were fighting again. Most likely over her friendship. Robert had stayed behind for softball practice. The sun warmed my skin, and a light breeze dipped the leaves on our maple trees as we climbed the steps to our porch. “Well, try to keep out of their fight,” I told Clarissa.

“The phone's ringin',” she said.

“Oh, yeah.” I unlocked the door and trotted into the kitchen, reaching the phone just before the message machine kicked on. “Hello?”

“Hi, Jackie, it's Katherine.” She sounded excited.

“Oh. Hi.” I dropped my books on the counter, panting. “Um, sorry. Had to run to get the phone.”

She laughed. “I knew you might not be home yet, but I couldn't wait to call. I just heard some news that I thought you'd like to know.”

Oh, really. Katherine had never called just to talk to me. I leaned against the tile, firming my lips. “Okay.”

“Do you know the singing group LuvRush? They're new to this country. They have one hit song called ‘Hung Up on You.'”

“Yeah. They're hot.” The group's song had climbed the charts in a hurry. I'd read something about them in the last issue of my
Teen Dream
magazine but couldn't remember the details.

“Well, guess what. Their lead singer, Greg Kostakis—his brother grew up in Bradleyville and is related to me.”

That stopped me cold. I gazed out the glass door, trying to register the news.

“Jackie? You still there?”

“Uh-huh.”

She laughed again, a tinkling sound that could have come from one of my friends. “Guess you didn't know either.”

“Tell me,” I said tersely, giving myself over to the moment. I scuffed out of the kitchen and toward my bedroom to find the magazine.

“Who is it?” Clarissa wondered as I passed.

“Nobody.” I waved a hand to shush her.

“Who
is
it?”

“Katherine, okay? Now beat it.”

“Lemme talk to her, lemme talk to her!” Clarissa jiggled on her toes, trying to grab the phone.

I jerked it away. “Clarissa! You can talk to her when I'm done!” Hurrying into my room, I shut the door in my sister's face.

“Don't hang up without letting me talk to her,” Clarissa's muffled voice filtered through the wood.

So obvious now, isn't it—how easily I changed. Fighting with Clarissa over talking to Katherine merely because she'd dangled a carrot before my nose.

“Sorry.” I jerked open my top desk drawer and pulled out the magazine. “Go ahead.”

I flipped through the glossy pages as Katherine explained. His brother's name was Danny Cander, she said. Actually, half brother. Danny's father had been a first cousin to her mama, making Danny and Katherine second cousins. Since Greg had a different father, she wasn't really related to him at all. “But it's sure close!” she exclaimed.

“You just found this out?” I couldn't believe what she was telling me.

“Yes, Aunt Jessie happened to tell me about him. She's never met Greg, but she's stayed in contact with Patricia, Danny and Greg's mama.”

The article lay opposite a full-page picture of LuvRush. Greg Kostakis posed in the middle, the other three singers around him. He looked so hot. “It says in this magazine that the group's from Greece.” “Yes. Danny left Bradleyville at eighteen, just like I did. He ended up working for a cruise line that's headquartered in Greece. His mama went with him. His daddy had already died. His mama married a man over there, and Greg is their son.”

Just like I did.
I couldn't help noticing the comment, almost as if Katherine sought to justify her own choices through the success of someone else. I ran my finger over Greg's picture. “I can't believe it,” I murmured.

“There's more.” Katherine paused. “Danny Cander recently married Celia Matthews—your mama's best friend all through school.”

“Oh,” I breathed, staring at Greg's oval face, his dark hair cut short on the sides, thick on top, shaggy over his forehead. His deep-set brown eyes stared almost
through
me, a tiny smile playing around his naturally upturned lips. This new star had ties to my hometown. To my mama. Practically to me. We were
connected

My eyes fell on another paragraph of the article. “Oh, wow. This magazine says they're startin' their first tour in the States soon!”

“I know, that's how Aunt Jessie and I got on the conversation. The group's going to be in Lexington, at Rupp Arena. I used to go to concerts there when I worked for the radio station.”

“Lexington!” A
concert.
I closed my eyes and dreamed of it. I'd never been to a concert in my life. I wondered if Daddy would let me go. I wondered if I could possibly meet this guy.

“One more thing. The real reason I called.”

“Uh-huh.” My voice wavered. I wasn't sure I could take any more.

“Well, I want to tell you. But first I have to say that it's a very big secret. So you have to promise not to breathe a word.”

“I promise.” I hunched in my chair, muscles taut.

“You sure? I mean, it'll be tempting, but it's really important.”

“I'm sure, I'm sure.”

“Okay.” She took a breath. “Greg's coming here to Bradleyville.”

I stared at my carpet, expecting to sink right through it. Took me a while to find my voice. “You're kidding.”

“I'm not! The group's already in California, practicing for their tour. But Aunt Jessie just heard that Celia and Greg are going to visit here before it starts. Celia wants to visit her parents, and Greg wants to see where his brother grew up. Plus he wants a place to rest for a few days.”

“When are they arriving?” I asked, now floating somewhere near the vicinity of my ceiling.

“Next week.”

“Next
week!”
The news pushed me to my feet, across the room and back again. “Can I see him? Can I meet him? Oh, I can't
believe
it!” I brought a fist to my mouth.

“Yes, you can meet him,” Katherine exclaimed. “That's why I'm telling you. It's just that he wants it to be a quiet visit, which is why all the girls in town can't know. He's already having to deal with fans recognizing him, and he doesn't want that here.”

“Okay, sure, sure.” I ran fingers through my hair, trying to
think,
trying to believe this was really happening. “So, how do I—what do I
do
? I mean, what if he doesn't want to meet me?”

“Don't worry, he will,” she assured me. “Aunt Jessie will be talking to Celia again. They're very good friends. I'll make sure she tells him about you.”

“Katherine, thank you,
thank
you. I—.” My throat swelled, and I couldn't continue. A part of me knew that she did this as a way to win my favor. For the first time I realized just how important my acceptance must be to her. Still, who but Katherine May King could have come up with something so wondrous? Suddenly, I felt very glad for those eleven years Katherine had spent outside Bradleyville.

“Jackie.” Her voice filled with warmth. “You are so welcome.”

We talked a few more minutes, planning, imagining. I still could hardly believe the news. Finally, I had to go. Somehow I remembered to give the phone to Clarissa. As she giggled her “hello” to Katherine, I returned to my room to stare at the face of Greg Kostakis before the chore of monitoring my sister's homework pulled me from my heavenly daze.

chapter 12

I
was dying to tell Alison, but for two days I flipped back and forth on whether I should. After all Katherine had promised to do for me, I owed her
my
promise of silence. Still, as I daydreamed my way through classes and listened to the talk of boys at our lunch table, I could hardly keep from pulling Alison aside. By Friday afternoon, I thought I'd burst with the news.

“What
is
it with you?” she demanded as we met at my locker after the bell had rung. “I swear like you've been walkin' around in a fog the last two days.”

I clamped my teeth down. “Oh, nothin'.” I took my time pulling out my geography book.

“Don't give me ‘nothin',' Jackie Delham, I know you better than that.” She leaned against the locker next to mine, hugging her books to her chest. “Has Billy Sullivan been talkin' to you or somethin'?”

“Oh, right.” I closed my locker. “With Mary right beside him, swingin' her hips.” We headed together down the hall toward the exit. I could not keep Clarissa waiting.

“Well, what's up then?”

I threw her a meaningful look out the corner of my eye. She caught my arm.
“What?”

So much for promises to Katherine. The news spilled out of me like frothing milk from a bottle. Alison nearly tripped over her jaw. “Oh, glory!” she exclaimed over and over, digging her fingers into my arm. “Do you think like maybe one of the other band guys will come with him?”

“No,” I replied, surprised. “And besides, you're goin' out with Jacob, so why should you care?”

“Oh, I know! But a singer, Jackie! This is so cool!”

“You can't tell a soul, Alison, and I mean it.” I slid to a halt and eyed her squarely. “I promised Katherine. I'd feel terrible if this got all over town. She wouldn't trust me anymore.”

Alison raised her eyebrows. “Listen to you—all of a sudden worried what Katherine feels.” She smiled wickedly. “You just don't want to share Greg Kostakis with anybody else,
I
know.”

“That's not true. Well. Maybe it is. But it's also true that Katherine deserves for me to keep my promise.”

“Uh-huh. So why didn't you?”

Ooh, touché. “You know I couldn't hold out on you.” I spotted Clarissa waiting impatiently for me by the corner of the school yard.

“You managed to hold out for two whole days.” Alison's tone tinged with accusation. “You never would have done that before.”

“Like I've never exactly been in this position before.”

“Like you've never exactly had Katherine to talk to before.”

I gave her a look. “I thought you wanted me to get along with Katherine. You've told me more than once what a ‘friend' she could be to me.”

“I know.” She furrowed her brow. “It's just that—I mean, usually I'd be the first to know, and—”

“You
are
the first to know. And the last.”

She blew out air. “Okay, okay. Sorry. I should just be happy for you.” “Jackieeee!” Clarissa waved an arm. “Come on!”

“All right, all right,” I said under my breath. I shrugged at Alison. “Duty calleth.”

Smiling ruefully, Alison pushed her hip against mine. I pushed back. “I'm jealous,” she pouted.