Double Threat My Bleep (21 page)

The paint on the walls of this old school is peeling. Okay, I’m bored as hell if I just noticed that. The posters need to be updated too. I bet those have been there since Steph’s parents were students here. Next. What can I do next? I take out my agenda to look at the calendar. I flip through the pages, passing all the school events. Homecoming—been there. Winter break—done. All the President’s days—over. Backwards—that was last weekend. What’s next? Spring break. Omigod. Only a month away.

What’s on the books for this year?

Well I know what’s NOT going to happen. This year my boyfriend is not going to start having
lunch
with my best friend. Those days are long gone.

“So what’s up Meggie? How’s our little trouble maker doin’?” Travis says, splashing down next to me in the quad. The others laugh. It’s become a joke since Friday. I’m the hell raiser now. People steer clear of me in the halls. Yeah right.

“Ha ha,” I tell him.

“Hey you don’t want to piss her off, Travis, she might go ape shit and kick your ass,” Josh teases. I swear he’s trying to be the funny guy now that Jon isn’t here. Right now, it’s not working for him.

“Don’t worry, I’ll protect you,” Dom rings in.

“I don’t know, I think the Megster could take ya, babe.” Even Steph is in on this too.

“You guys suck,” I tell them.

“Uh oh,” Keesh says. “She’s pissed now. She’s gonna turn green.” Omigod. We all start laughing. Yeah, I’m gonna tear my clothes off, burst out in muscles, and terrorize the school.

I catch my breath. “You guys done yet?”

They simply smile and eat their lunches.

“That’s what I thought,” I say, trying to be hard. But even I can’t help but laugh.

“Good try.” Travis pokes me in the side.

I take a bite of my PB & J. With peanut butter and bread stuck to the roof of my mouth, I try to ask, “So what’s the plan for spring break?” They look at me like I’m speaking Chinese. I unstick my lunch and take a swig of my Diet Coke, and ask again.

“Oh, that’s what you said,” Keesh jokes. “I dunno. Beach again?”

Last year I would’ve cringed, but not now. I was kind of hoping someone would suggest the beach. I think I can handle it, more like my ass can handle it. Ever since my mom stopped giving me shit about watching calories and banning junk food from the house, I’ve actually lost some weight. I’m not trying too. I guess when the forbidden is allowed, it’s less appealing. I really have no idea what happened, but I feel really good. I’m not super skinny or anything, I’m just not embarrassed to get in a bathing suit. It’s pretty freakin’ cool.

“We’re out,” Steph shouts. “We’re going riding.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you are,” Josh says. Dom doesn’t even skip a beat. Before I can even blink, he smacks Josh in the back of the head. I’m surprised the poor guy doesn’t have brain damage. He’s always taking a beating. “Damn, Dominic, I was just joking.” He rubs the back of his head.

Dom chuckles. “So was I.”

“Are you guys gonna be gone the whole week? Maybe we can wait till you get back,” I suggest.

“Probably, so go ahead and make plans without us,” Steph says.

“Make sure you call Ben though. He wants to know what’s up,” Dom tells us.

“When did you talk to Ben?” I ask.

“I talk to him all the time,” he says.

“So do I,” Josh agrees.

“I don’t,” Travis adds. Dork.

“Oh. Okay, I will.”

I guess it’s just gonna be the four of us. And Ben. That’s cool. I hope Vanessa has gotten over her bitchiness, or else she can’t come, or do whatever is that we’re doing.

The days leading up to spring break drag ass. Teachers are already in state testing mode, throwing practice question after practice question in our faces. Whatever works, I guess. Although I’m not sure it does. Math hasn’t been horrible, thankfully. Amy got moved away from me, but Eric stayed put. I’m thinking it’s some lame compromise so my teacher doesn’t appear weak. I can’t imagine the math nazi giving in to separating us all. But whatever.

Josh has been keeping us busy. Baseball is insane. It takes a lot of dedication to play that sport. They practice longer than we did in soccer and it seems like they have a game every other day. We try to catch as many as possible but we haven’t witnessed another no-hitter yet.

He’s still a freakin’ stud on the field though and he draws crowds of girls, especially the freshmen who can’t help but giggle every time they get a chance to look at his ass in his tight pants. Okay, he does look pretty cute in his uniform but c’mon ladies…this is Josh. He’s cute, but sexy? No way.

The funny thing is Josh doesn’t pay any attention to the girls. He acts like they’re not even there and instead meets up with us after the games. Most guys would soak up the attention and talk to as many girls as possible. Maybe he’s not over Erica. He sure isn’t in any rush to find someone to take her place.

Spring Break without Alex isn’t what I really had in mind. The fact that our schedules don’t exactly match is annoying. My boyfriend should have looked at that before deciding on a college. What am I saying? Alex is going to Berkeley for crying out loud. Who cares about our lack of matching days off? Well, apparently I do.

A knock at my door startles me from my thoughts.

“Come in,” I yelp.

My mom enters my room. Her eyes light up and I can’t decide if she’s happy or in shock, or maybe both.

“Wow, Meg, you look great.”

“Thanks, Mom. But don’t sound so surprised.”

“Well who would’ve known you had such a nice figure under some of those baggy hoodies you’re always wearing.”

I guess she’s right. I’ve pretty much made my Berkeley sweatshirt my uniform since I got it in the fall.

“Too bad Alex isn’t here to witness this.” She flutters here brows up and down. “On second thought, maybe that’s a good thing.” I toss a pillow at her. She catches it and throws it on my bed. “So when are you leaving?”

“Ben is gonna get the guys first and then come and get us girls here in about an hour. Keesh should be here soon.”

“Well, you guys be careful. Tell Ben not to drive too fast.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure.”

“Uh huh, see you tonight.”

“Bye, Mom, have fun doing whatever it is you do.”

She comes over and plants a kiss on the top of my head. In that instant, I feel like a little girl again. Butterflies wiggle around in my belly.

When she leaves, I take another peek at my reflection in my closet door mirror. Board shorts. Without board shorts. No board shorts with a tank. Or do I just go bold? No board shorts. No tank. Just me and my bathing suit.

Ugh. Decisions, decisions.

At the beach, Keesh and I set up all the chairs and towels. The guys drag out the heavy stuff: cooler, fire wood, and toys. I swear they can’t go anywhere without a football, soccer ball, volleyball, and whatever other balls they can come up with.

Luckily, we make it just in time to snag the last fire pit. We left early enough, there was just a lot of traffic. I didn’t notice it right away, but Ben was pretty irritated. I was too busy gettin’ my groove on and singing along with the tunes on the radio. Keesh, Travis, and I were dancing away in the backseat—busting a move, making the car shake. Ben would try to join us and I would scold him to pay attention to the road.

Once we got off the freeway, at each stoplight, Ben would break it down though. The people in the cars next to us tried not to stare. Some would shake their heads. Some would laugh and others would get down too, putting their hands in the air, and bobbing their heads.

“Should we start a fire now,” Travis asks.

“No way, man. We don’t have enough firewood to last us all day. We need to save it for tonight,” Ben explains.

“But it’s so cold,” Travis whines, rubbing his hands together. Poor guy is shivering.

“You big wuss,” Josh teases him.

Travis sinks into a chair and wiggles his arms into his t-shirt for warmth. What did he expect? The sun to be shining and the temperature to be a hundred degrees. What a dork.

“So what do we do then? Until it warms up?” Travis asks. Has he never been to the beach before?

Ben grabs a boogie board and holds it out to him.

“Now? Shouldn’t we have wetsuits or something? I don’t wanna freeze out there.”

“Omigod, dude, stop being such a girl,” Josh sneers.

Keesh stands up, flicks off her top, and kicks off her shorts. She snatches the board from Ben’s hand. “Excuse me. What’s that supposed to mean?” She kicks some sand up at Josh and walks out toward the water toting the board along with her.

“Fine,” Travis mutters. He takes off his shirt, grabs a board and flips it up over his head, and heads out to the water too.

Josh follows with the last board.

“So much for me boogie boarding this morning,” Ben says. I gaze out at the water. Keesh, Travis, and Josh are still wading out, holding their boards.

“Oh. Bummer.”

We only brought three boards. One for each of the guys. Keesh and I didn’t plan on using them. As a matter of fact, I don’t even plan on going in the water at all. My feelings about the beach haven’t changed. I still think it’s disgusting. I just can’t wait for the sun to come out so I can get rid of this hoodie and slide off my shorts.

Who am I kidding? They probably won’t even notice anything different about me.

I look over at Ben staring off into the ocean in deep thought.

“What up?” I tell him. “Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

“Just stupid shit.”

“Like what?”

“Vanessa.”

“Since when is she stupid shit?”
Since always
, I think to myself.

“Uh. Since…nah. She’s just…”

“What? How come she didn’t come?” I’ve wanted to ask since he picked us up.

“We broke up.”

“When? Why?”

“She broke up with me a couple weeks ago. She’s been acting like Girls Gone Wild with Erika. They’re out partying in Mexico this week. I guess she didn’t want me holding her back.”

“Wow. So much for old fashioned. I thought she was little miss innocent.”

“I know right.”

“Well I’m sorry.”

“Nothing to be sorry about. It’s probably a good thing.”

“Yeah. Those girls don’t know what they’re missing. They’re going to regret letting you and Josh go.” I know this is true, and my friends are much better off without them.

“Thanks, Meg.”

“Anytime.”

Chapter Twenty Eight

Finally
, the clouds part and the sun peeks through just enough to make it warm. And warm enough for me to shed my hoodie and make the big reveal.

“You guys ready to head back in the water,” Josh says, standing up to throw his trash away. He takes the bag and holds it out to each of us so we can toss our plates in from lunch.

Here’s my chance. “Sure, I’ll go.” Keesh looks at me like I’ve just told them I have the plague.

“You’re gonna go in the water?” she asks me.

“Yeah, why not?” I tell her. “It’s getting hot out.”

“Yeah and you’re dressed for the effing winter in that hoodie of yours,” Travis teases.

“Whatever. Let’s all go in. That way if I start to drown, I’ll have more people out there who can save me.”

Ben chuckles. “I was thinking I might drown. Did you see that lifeguard? She looks like Baywatch Pamela Anderson right there.” Josh and Travis lean into him with their fists out to do their manly ritual.

“Shoot, I’d still take Pam Anderson now, forget the Baywatch days,” Travis tells them.

I’m thankful the attention is off me now.

Ben and Travis stand up and start pulling off their shirts. Keesh get’s up too, peeling off her shorts and tank. I finally take their lead, unbutton my shorts and let them fall to the sand. I pull my hoodie over my head and toss it into my chair.

“Let’s go,” I tell them, standing there in my two-piece bathing suit. Omigod, I can’t believe I’m wearing a bikini.

Keesh stops suddenly, like she’s inspecting me. “Oh shit,” she practically yells. The guys stop fumbling with the boards and look over at us in a panic.

“Whoa,” Josh says, eyeballing me up and down.

“You got that right,” Ben tells them, ogling too.

“Omigod, you guys,” I say, unsure what to think of their responses. I suddenly feel like I’m naked in front of them and grab for my sweatshirt.

“No, don’t,” Travis says. “Keep it off.” Ben back hands him in the chest.

“Gimme a break, you idiots,” Keesh yells at them. “You’re acting like you’ve never seen a woman in a bathing suit before. We’re at the beach remember. Take a look around. Everyone’s wearing one.” She walks over to me, links her arm through mine and tugs me toward the water. “Dang, girl, have you been doing Hip Hop Abs or something? You look fine,” she whispers to me as we hit the shoreline.

“No hip hop whatever, but I’ve lost a few pounds.”

“Well you look great. But I’m sure you knew that right? Did you see their faces? I think they all got hard when they turned around and saw you.”

I push Keesh playfully, “Eww. You’re sick.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t be surprised if Travis jizzed in his pants right there. Did you hear him? ‘Keep it off’.” We both chuckle. “Alex is gonna have him some competition here.”

“Don’t be silly, Keesh. I’m still the same person I was before. A bikini doesn’t change that.”

“Look at them.” We look back at the guys, who turn away instantly, pretending not to watch us. They still haven’t come down to the water. “That bikini just did that.”

As uncomfortable as I am being looked at by the guys, I still feel a little pride. While I wasn’t supremely fat, I was far from skinny. Last year, I wouldn’t even take off my shorts when we came to the beach. And I’m still not super thin, not that I’d ever want to be, but I’m definitely feeling good about myself. Dropping a size feels great, and the only muffin tops I have now will be on a pastry.

The guys stop acting like boys and finally join us. We spend most of the remaining hours of sunlight body surfing and splashing around.

S’mores. This is what the beach is all about. Camp fires, graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate. Plunging a straightened out hanger into a marshmallow is the highlight of my day for the moment. I pass the spongy thing through the fire and wait for it to get a little scorched. Not too much though, I don’t want it burnt to a crisp.