Drive Me Crazy (5 page)

Just as Adam hit the water with a loud thwack—his triple spin had gone awry and had turned into a basic cannonball—Sierra’s cell phone rang. Sierra shushed them all and flipped her phone open to answer it.

“Hey, Mom,” she said innocently. “Yeah, we’re having a great time. We just got to our hotel for the night…. No, it’s pretty nice. It has a pool.” She smiled at the others, holding her finger to her lips while her mom talked on the other end of the phone. “No, Mom, don’t do that…. It will get easier…. Please. I’ll be there in a few days.” She paused again, and they all sat silently, listening to Sierra’s end of the conversation. “Can you just try? For Sasha…. Okay, I’ll see you in a couple days…. I love you, too. Say hi to Daddy.”

She closed the phone, and exhaled a huge sigh. “Everything okay?” Kate asked.

“Yeah,” Sierra mumbled. “My mom is threatening to go back to Jersey.”

“Things aren’t going so well with her and your dad?” Alexis guessed.

Sierra fidgeted with her phone, clearly uncomfortable and on edge. “I think it’s getting better. But my mom isn’t really willing to try. She gets herself in a huff every time they have any kind of little disagreement. I just want her to try to get along with him. I feel like she’s keeping things from getting better between them.”

They all waited for her to continue. Sierra leaned her head back against the chair, eyes closed. Kate climbed out of the pool to move closer to her friend. She sat on the pool deck at the end of Sierra’s chair, dripping wet. Sierra finally murmured, “I mean, she’s always looking for some excuse to be mad. She expects me to smooth things over between them, and when I’m not there, it all falls apart. I’m glad they have this time to themselves to try to figure things out without me. My sister’s too little to really notice everything that’s going on…. I can’t be in the middle.” She cut off, her voice cracking. “I just can’t.” Her eyes remained closed, but it was obvious that if she opened them, she would start to cry.

Alexis and Kate looked at each other, unsure of what to do or say. Kate finally said, “Sierra, you can’t deal with their issues for them…. It’s not your fault.” Alexis chewed her lip and remained silent—she didn’t like to deal with emotional issues. Kate reached out to hold Sierra’s hand.

Finally the silence was broken by Adam. “My folks went through something similar a few years ago.” He spoke quietly. “My brothers and I were always caught in the middle, and it felt like crap.”

Sierra opened her eyes to look at Adam. “Really?”

“We used to hide under the stairs while they were fighting. No one wanted to be around them after a fight, since we either became targets for criticism or had to deal with my mom moping around, which just sucked.” He hoisted himself out of the pool. “We used to escape to Lex’s house whenever we could, just to get away. But then something must have clicked, because after about a year things started to get better. Every day a little bit more of the tension would ease up. Now it’s cool again. This will sound crass, but I have to say it: They’ll either work it out, or they’ll end it. Something will change.”

“Yeah,” Sierra agreed. “I guess that’s true.” She nodded. “I’ve gone through the trial separation, then the reconciliation, then the real separation, and now whatever this is…. I guess it can’t get a whole lot worse than this. I just want them to get to a place where it’s not a mystery every day. The uncertainty makes me crazy.”

Adam was nodding, as though he knew exactly how she felt. Kate hadn’t known any of this about Adam, and watching him relate to Sierra so compassionately made her start to see another side of him. “It will get better,” he told Sierra again. “The bickering might not end the way you’d like it to, but it
will
end.”

Sierra smiled at him gratefully, then said, “You know what? There’s really no point in me worrying about this here. For once I can’t do anything about it, so let’s just enjoy ourselves. Here we are, uninvited guests at this gorgeous pool, and I’m moaning about my parents’ issues. Kate, can you teach me a double flip?”

Kate nodded, happy to see her friend in a better place. She knew Sierra was still dwelling on her conversation with her mom, but felt like the best thing they could do was help her forget about everything for a while. So they all practiced backflips and spins and cannonballs, enjoying the privacy and relaxation of the pool. At one point Adam raided the concession stand, grabbing candy bars for each of them. When he handed Kate her favorite—a 3 Musketeers—she jokingly shot him a scolding look. He grinned, then pulled four soaking-wet dollar bills out of his pocket and left them under the counter as payment for their snack.

It was near eleven when they finally decided they’d better get moving to find a place to crash for the night. Kate slipped back into the cabana to trade Adam’s wet T-shirt for her jeans and tank top, and they all sat on the chairs to dry off for a few minutes.

Suddenly a loud voice boomed out, “Who’s in there?”

Kate and Sierra screamed, startled and scared of getting caught. They all jumped up, and Sierra quickly pulled the lifeguard rescue ladder from its stand against the wall. Together she and Adam propped it up against the fence.

Adam scaled the ladder first, and flung his leg over the top to drop down to safety on the outside of the country club wall. The girls could hear a ring of keys rattling in the lock on the fence, and they hustled to follow Adam up and over the ladder. They had to jump from the top of the fence down into the grass on the other side of the wall, but Adam stood on the ground, ready to help catch each of them. Just as one of Kate’s legs flung over the top of the fence, the door of the pool popped open and a security guard came barging in. He and Kate locked eyes for one brief moment before she flipped her other leg up and over and dropped to the ground.

As Kate scrambled to her feet on the safe side of the fence, she heard the guard call out, “You better hit the road, girls.” All four of them went running, wet, happy, and a tiny bit freaked out, back to the safety of their car.

A few minutes later they were back on the road again.

“How do my boobs look?” Alexis adjusted her shirt so it was barely covering the top edges of her bra. Her tiny chest had been squished into a push-up bra that made her A cups look like a solid B-C, and every little bit was spilling out of the top of her shirt.

“Pretty impressive,” Sierra replied. “If you’re not careful, those suckers are going to take that last step right out of your shirt and walk to the party themselves.”

Kate laughed. “She’s right, Lex. Your boobs are pushed up about as far as they can be without actually removing them from your body. Great shirt. I’m sure Kevin will be glad to see them…uh, you.”

“Funny,” Alexis said dryly. “Geez, you guys. I’m so nervous!” She giggled, then covered her mouth with her hand. “I don’t know why I’m being such a ditz. You would think the nerves would disappear after two years together, but I swear…I’m panicking at the thought of seeing him.”

Kate squeezed her friend’s hand, but stayed silent. She was just as nervous as Alexis about this reunion with Kevin. A surprise visit to a total cad of a boyfriend just wasn’t a good idea, and Kate was paranoid about what they were going to find. She really wanted to support Alexis’s relationship but just couldn’t. Much as she wanted to believe in true love, Kate had a hard time understanding Alexis’s romance with Kevin. She just didn’t get it—but watching Alexis prepare for her reunion all day had made Kate even more excited about the fact that they were only a day away from Love!

They had spent the night before at a seedy roadside motel very near the country club. It had been late when they’d left the pool, and Adam had wanted to sleep on a real mattress so he’d be rested for his interview the next day. The motel was only an hour from the university, so they had slept in and then had driven to Ann Arbor around lunchtime to check out the campus and check into their hotel. Since they’d gone cheap the previous night, they decided to splurge and stay at a hotel with an indoor corridor, rather than a place where you could drive up to your room door.

Alexis had called Kevin at work that morning, but hadn’t told him they were in town. She was determined to surprise him. He had mentioned the fact that his fraternity was hosting a party that night. So the three girls were on their way there now, with Alexis’s boobs leading the way. Adam had spent the afternoon at his interview, and was now having dinner with a student on the scholarship committee. He was planning to meet up with them later at the frat house.

“Kat, can you figure out where we’re going?” Alexis had stopped and was scanning addresses for the right frat house. Lex had never been to visit Kevin before, and was struggling to reconcile the setting Kevin had described over the phone with the real-life college block they were wandering down now.

“It’s right there, Alexis,” Kate responded, pointing at the big brick building directly in front of them. “Are you ready?” Kate adjusted her own shirt, pulling uncomfortably at the stretchy, shimmery green material in the humid heat. She noticed Sierra was doing the same thing, and Kate smiled to herself.

Alexis had insisted upon outfitting them all for the party, which meant Kate and Sierra were both uncomfortably stuffed into shirts borrowed from Alexis’s suitcase. Kate’s was far tighter than she would usually wear, and she felt like she was squeezed inside a roll of duct tape. The electric blue strapless shirt Sierra was wearing was a few inches too short for her long frame, but pulling it down to cover her belly risked a full-frontal boob flash. Sierra squirmed to try to shrink herself to fit into it.

There was a mob of people on the porch outside the frat house, several of whom looked drunk already. As the three girls made their way up the steps toward the front door, a scrawny guy shouted out a second-floor window. “Caitlin!” He was waving at Sierra out the window, so she timidly waved back.

She crinkled her forehead at Alexis and Kate. “Who is that guy?”

They shrugged, and proceeded into the house. Inside, the living room—if you could call it that—was packed. It was humid and hot, and the music was so loud they couldn’t hear their own voices. Alexis led them through the room, scanning for Kevin in the crowd. He was nowhere to be found on the main floor, but Alexis found herself stalked by potential suitors as she made her way through the kitchen and den. She was constantly cut off by guys who looked first at her chest, then at her face, and usually said something along the lines of, “Where have you been all my life?”

Alexis seemed flattered at first, but quickly bored of the cheesy line. “Kevin chose
this
over
me
this summer?” she mused, flipping her hair over her shoulder. Sierra shrugged, clearly unimpressed by the party.

Kate’s left butt cheek was squeezed as they made their way upstairs, but when she turned around to see who it was, all she saw was a guy and girl making out a few steps below her. Sierra’s window friend appeared out of nowhere when they got to the second floor. He wrapped Sierra in a big hug and said, “I was hoping you’d come!”

“Babe, I think you’re mistaking me for someone else,” Sierra said gently, prying the guy’s hands off her back.

“Get lost, loser,” Alexis said with more force. When the guy just stood there staring, she said, “Seriously, freak. You don’t know her.”

“Lex,” Kate cautioned. “Be nice. He’s just confused.”

“He’s drunk,” Alexis said. “So he’s acting stupid. I don’t want him to touch my friend and use booze as his excuse. It’s vile.”

The guy chuckled, then wandered off down the hall. He yelled back, “I’ll find you later, Caitlin. We have catching up to do.” He blew a kiss at Sierra, and they all burst out laughing. The guy laughed too, confident that he was in on the joke.

“Ick.” Kate shuddered. “Creepy.”

They peeked into each of the rooms on the second floor, but found no sign of Kevin anywhere. A group was playing Twister in one room, and Alexis knocked one guy down when she shoved the door open. “Oops.” She looked amused rather than apologetic. Continuing their climb up to the third floor, Alexis said, “What if he’s not here yet?”

“Then we’ll wait for him,” Sierra promised. “We can dance and hang out. We’re meeting Adam here, anyway, so we have time to kill.”

The third floor was quieter than the lower levels, and each of the rooms they peeked into were either empty or had small clusters of people who were listening to music and chilling. The door at the far end of the hall was open, and they could hear John Mayer playing inside. Kate peeked in, and what she saw made her close the door quickly behind her. “Nothing in there,” she said cheerfully, her voice squeaky and high.

Alexis whitened. “You’re clearly lying, Kate. You always do that high voice thing when you’re lying. Is Kevin in there?” She looked nervous.

As she should
, Kate thought. Kevin was, in fact, inside—and he wasn’t alone. “No,” Kate lied, flashing a desperate look at Sierra. Her voice went up another octave and she sounded overly excited. “We should go back downstairs. I’m thirsty.”

Alexis pushed past Kate and opened the door. Kate and Sierra followed apprehensively. Kevin was sitting on a beanbag chair, with a girl who looked eerily similar to Alexis perched squarely on his lap. The girl’s head was resting on his shoulder, and his hand was cupped around her knee. They both looked up, and Kevin’s face caught on faster than his hand did. The shock was evident in his expression, and finally he released his hand from the girl’s knee. He pushed her off of himself and jumped up.

“Surprise,” Alexis muttered, her eyes narrowing.

“Lex!” Kevin cried. “What are you doing here?”

“It’s good to see you, too, asshole.”

“Lex, she’s not…” He looked at the girl who’d been on his lap and who was now standing there staring at Kevin with her hands on her hips. “We’re just…” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “I can’t get her away from me. She’s totally nuts. I mean, psycho, and she thinks she has a chance with me.”

Alexis smiled at Kevin. “Oh, isn’t that an unfortunate problem. You’re being so sweet to let her play out her little fantasy.
On. Your. Lap.
” Alexis was acting tough, but Kate knew her friend was hurt. On Kate’s right Sierra crossed her arms and stepped up to show she had Alexis’s back.

“Lex, don’t act like that,” Kevin pleaded. “I’m so glad you’re here.” He moved to hug her. “Why
are
you here?” Alexis shrugged him off.

“I came to see
you
, you lying, disgusting pig. Now I’ve seen you, and I don’t need to again.” Alexis turned and walked out of the room.

Kate and Sierra turned to follow her. Kevin grabbed Kate’s arm as she stepped into the hall, and he said, “She’s really mad, isn’t she? Will you let me explain?”

Kate looked at him in disbelief. “Kevin, I think you got off pretty easy. You’re a jerk—you always have been, and always will be—and she should have done a lot more than just walk out of here. I’m surprised you’re not in physical pain. If you ever try to call her again, I’ll find you and make sure that you regret treating Alexis like this. Got it?” She delivered this message with a big sugary smile, then hurried off to find her friends. Her blood was boiling and her hands were visibly shaking. Alexis didn’t deserve to be treated like this, and—even though she had sort of seen it coming—Kate hadn’t thought Kevin could be so completely disrespectful of their relationship.

If Lucas ever did that to me…,
Kate thought somberly as they climbed back down the stairs. But she knew Lucas would
never
do that.

Back downstairs Alexis yelled through the noise, “I guess I can’t say I’m surprised.” She looked more angry than hurt. “When he told me he wasn’t coming home at all this summer, I guess I sort of knew we were close to the end.” She shook her head. “I didn’t really prepare myself to actually
see
him with someone else, so that really sucks. Man, this is so embarrassing.” She chewed her lip.

“Lex.” Kate reached out to pull her friend into a hug. “Lex, you guys have been together for two years. You don’t have to be embarrassed about feeling sad.”

Alexis blew her bangs away from her face and blinked a few times to compose herself. “No, he’s an asshole, and I don’t want to waste any more time on him by feeling crappy about our relationship fizzling out.”

Kate couldn’t stop herself from smiling. She and Alexis were such opposites—Kate couldn’t help but think about how she would have felt if that
had
been her with Lucas. She knew that she and Alexis processed things differently. It would have taken Kate at least a year to recover; she suspected Lex would be mostly recovered by later that night. “If it makes you feel better,” Kate yelled over the music, “I will remove his toenails one by one if he ever calls you or in any way hurts you again.” Sierra nodded her agreement.

“Oh, Kat.” Alexis smiled. “My hero. Grrrrrr…,” she growled. “If you girls don’t mind, I see no reason to waste this Wonderbra. Excuse me.” She air-kissed at them, then sauntered over to a hot guy who had been eyeing her from across the room. Sierra and Kate watched as Alexis expertly flirted with him, laughing and chatting as though nothing had happened that night to put her off her game.

“How does she
do
that?” Sierra wondered aloud.

Kate shrugged. “That’s Lex, right?”

“I’m actually sort of jealous. How long did it take me to stop mourning my breakup with James last winter? Like, four months?”

“Something like that. You were miserable! I’m sure Lex is pretty broken up too, but she’s so good at distracting herself.” Kate pursed her lips, remembering Sierra’s breakup with the guy she’d gone out with for a few months at the beginning of the year. “If it were me…”

“Let’s not even go there,” Sierra said, and shook her head. “I really have to pee,” she declared. “Look, there’s Adam.” She pointed toward the front door, then said, “Will you be okay if I go look for a toilet?” Kate didn’t say anything, but Sierra grinned and said, “Oh, of course you’ll be okay…You and Adam will be just fine.”

Kate called after Sierra, “Hey, what does that mean?” Sierra just smiled and headed off into the crowd. Kate waved at Adam—he looked so different with his hair all tidy and his shirt tucked in. He’d bought a blue and white striped button-down for the interview, and it still had some of the crisp creases from being folded into its package. Kate couldn’t help but giggle when she saw how straight-laced he looked, considering his usual tousled hair and T-shirt style.

“How’d it go?” she shouted over the music.

Adam gave her a thumbs-up and looked around the crowded room. “Is Lex off with Kevin?”

“Um, no,” Kate shouted back. She pointed toward the front door and said, “Let’s go outside and I’ll fill you in.” They headed out onto the porch, which was emptier than it had been when they’d arrived. The keg had been set up down in the basement, and most people had migrated down there to be closer to it.

They sat on the front steps, and Kate recounted the events of Alexis and Kevin’s reunion. She also told Adam that Alexis was now off exacting her revenge on Kevin with one of his frat brothers.

“Oof, that’s brutal,” Adam declared. “I’ve always hated Kevin, so good for her.”

“Really? You hated Kevin?” Kate asked. She’d figured Adam hadn’t ever really thought about it or cared about his cousin’s relationship, but maybe he had.

“Didn’t
you
? He never treated Alexis right.” Adam grabbed a soda out of the cooler on the porch next to him. “Want one?”

“Oh, sure. Can I get a Cherry Coke?”

“Not a diet?” Adam asked.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing. It’s just that girls always take diet soda.”

“I don’t.”

“I guess not. That’s cool.” Adam clicked his can against Kate’s in a little toast. “You’re cool, Kate.”

Kate furrowed her forehead.
Is he being serious, or rude?
Kate couldn’t read Adam, and it bugged her. “Why do you say that?”