Freefall (15 page)

“Both. School dances, too.”

“What do you think would happen to you?” she asked, letting some of the tension out of the strings so I could see again. “Hives? Rashes?”

“I’m not sure. It could be serious though.”

“That’s too bad. You could have added ‘going to the dance’ onto your list of challenges. And maybe you’d even have fun?”

“I guess we’ll never know,” I said.

8:38
P.M.

Trevor and I had just finished putting the hoses and scrubbers away at the car wash and were about to leave when Mikey said, “Seth, don’t clock out yet. I need to talk to you.”

Trevor gave me a questioning look. I shrugged in response. If I was in trouble for something, I had no clue what.

After Trevor took off, Mikey locked the door. “I’m leaving on tour in about two weeks,” he said, switching off the neon
OPEN
sign. “My dad’s stressing about me not being here since he’s busy with the other store and doesn’t want to have to run both on his own. And he doesn’t want to hire someone new to take over, either, since I’ll be back in six weeks.”

“Oh,” I said, trying not to let on that my insides were feeling a little twisted all of a sudden. If they were going to close down the car wash until Mikey came back, I was going to be
so
screwed. My car was falling apart around me; I needed all the money I could get.

Mikey kept talking. “So what I’m hoping for is that between you and a couple of the other guys, we can work something out to keep things running smoothly so my dad doesn’t have to go too crazy. I’m thinking I’ll adjust the schedule so you can all pick up a few more hours to cover me. And you’ll take turns being in charge of opening and closing, balancing the register. Stuff like that. Lyle’s already trained, so I’m thinking maybe you and Ian can give him a hand.”

This idea was sounding way better than having to lose a month and a half of pay. Except for the me-being-in-charge-sometimes part.

“I suck at math, you know,” I said.

He rolled his eyes. “Dude, it’s simple addition and subtraction. Nobody’s going to make you find the square root of
x
divided by
y
or anything like that when you’re putting together the day’s sales here.” He walked around behind the counter and tapped the computer screen. “Besides, the register does most of the work for you. If you’ve got time, I can show you right now.”

So I watched and listened to him explain the closing procedures while he pressed buttons on the computer, counted the till, and took all the paperwork to his office to get it in order.

“Think you can handle it?” he asked afterward as he piled up the receipts on his desk and stapled them together.

From where I was sitting on the chair next to him, I shrugged. “There’s lots to remember.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll have you practice a bunch of times before I leave. And I’ll put together step-by-step instructions you can follow if you ever run into a snag.”

“Well, if you’re
sure
I won’t screw anything up.”

“I’m sure. I know I can trust you with this. Which is more than I can say for most of the
other
dildos I’ve hired on this crew.”

“Thanks a lot,” I said, letting out a short laugh. “Seriously, though, I’m glad to do it. And I’m even gladder that you’re not pissed anymore. Jared and Daniel have had the hate going for two weeks straight now.”

“You knew that was going to happen, though, right?” he said,
swiveling his chair to put the deposit in the safe. “Especially with Jared. He made a plan and he was fully expecting all of us to go along with it. I’m putting off my night classes at the community college until next quarter. You really chose a hell of a time to quit on us.”

“I can’t make all my decisions based on what my brother wants.”

“You’re right,” Mikey said, spinning back around and facing me. “And I guess I’ll give you a pass for not coming on tour. I mean, if it’s really about you finishing school like Jared was saying. I can’t say I get why it had to be this way, though.”

“What way?”

“Come on. You joined another band without even telling us. You, me, and Daniel, we’ve all been tight forever. And Jared’s your brother. You just bailed like you didn’t give a shit anymore.”

I shook my head. “That isn’t how it was.”

“Well, that’s what it seemed like.”

“Xander and those guys had nothing to do with it. I didn’t even know they were looking for a bass player until after I’d told Jared and Daniel I was out.”

Mikey didn’t respond. He just busied himself by separating slips and paper-clipping things together in an order that made sense only to him.

I went on. “Look, playing with you guys hadn’t been the same for me since Daniel and Isaac’s fight. And with Isaac
not even here anymore, everything’s just . . . way different.”

“Well, that’s true,” Mikey said. “Now we only have to worry about Daniel getting into fights and passing out in random alleys.”

He was smiling when he said it, but I didn’t find it funny. Yeah, Isaac did used to get hard-core wasted when he was bored or pissed off or having too good a time. But was that seriously the only thing Mikey could say about him?

Mikey sighed, obviously picking up on my mood. “We’ve had a lot of good times in this band. That weekend trip to Portland where we spent more at the strip joint than we made at the gig. Camping on the way to and from Boise during spring break because we couldn’t afford a motel. The parking lot duels with those swords from the truck stop. And a lot of it was because of Isaac.”

I nodded, glad he could at least admit that Isaac was fun and not just some pain in the ass.

He went on. “But we’ve got to keep going. Isaac isn’t here anymore, but we are. And now we’re gearing up for our biggest adventure yet.”

Right then I had a pang: doubt, regret, and a tiny bit of jealousy all rolled into one. There was nothing I could do about it, though, and nothing I
wanted
to do about it. “And while you’re having your adventure,” I said, “I’ll stay here and solve the square root of
x
divided by
y
for you.”

“You can handle it,” Mikey said. “And Seth, you and me are cool, okay?”

“Thanks.”

“No problem.”
He locked all his paperwork into the filing cabinet, then grabbed his jacket off the hook and motioned that I should get up too. “You know what I was thinking the other day?” he asked as he flipped the lights and set the alarm. “With you gone, there’s only one real McCoy left in the band. How stupid is that? I think Daniel’s on to something with his Fake McCoys idea.”

I couldn’t help laughing as I followed him through the store in the near darkness. “How have things been working out with my replacement?”

“Craig—he said he’s having a hard time figuring out my go-to beats, but he’s doing good and having fun with it. And so far your brother gets along with him. Which means a lot less arguing and bullshit at practice. I’m thinking in that way, you might have done us a favor.”

“Cool. You should tell that to the other guys.”

Mikey turned to me with raised eyebrows. “Maybe
you
should.”

7:25
P.M.

I was finishing my dinner at Good Times when cold hands covered my eyes. I didn’t even have to wonder who it was.

“Hi, Kendall,” I said, twisting out of her grasp.

Her shiny peach lips formed into a pout. She looked trashy as always, but also kind of hot in a tight top and denim skirt. “How’d you know it was me?”

“Because I don’t know anyone else who goes around smelling like a pack of gummy bears all the time.”

“Gummy bears?” She sniffed her hands. “All I smell is my mango lotion.”

“Mangoes. Gummy bears. Whatever.”

She took a seat across the table from me. “You can’t hide, you know. I know where you live, where you work, where you hang out. I’ll always
find you, driving around on that ridiculous spare tire.”

So dramatic. So Kendall. But in spite of the threatening words, I wasn’t worried; she was looking a lot friendlier than she had during our last conversation.

“Was I trying to hide from you? Because I don’t think I was.” I looked over my shoulder toward the bar. “Does my mom know you’re here?”

“She’s the one who told me where you sit.” Kendall pushed some orangey strands from her face, all serious. “Anyway, I’ve decided that you’ve had enough time to think things over, so we’re going to come to an agreement now.”

Kendall could stand to learn a thing or two about communication. Based on our past conversations she should already know that her ordering-Seth-around strategy was guaranteed to fail.

“If this is about that dance, my answer is still no.”

She clasped her hands together and stared at me pleadingly. “Please? If you do this for me, I’ll do anything you want!
Any
thing.”

I could think of very few things I wanted from her. “I’m getting the feeling this doesn’t have much to do with you wanting to be better nonenemies with me like you said before.”

She sighed. “Well, of
course
it doesn’t.”

“So what’s the deal?”

Kendall grabbed my Coke and sucked on the straw. “I didn’t
want to get into this with you, but the truth is, I’ve kind of been hooking up in secret with someone from school. I figured we’d finally be going public at the dance. But as it turns out, he
likes
keeping me hidden. He’s taking someone else, if you can believe that. We can’t let him get away with it.”

Typical Kendall, getting herself mixed up in something like this and then trying to make it
my
problem. I wondered if the secret-boyfriend thing was about her moving on after Isaac, or if she was still just trying to convince herself that she was over him. “Who is this guy?” I asked.

“I can’t tell you.”

If she was hoping I’d try to get it out of her, she was about to be disappointed. “Why do you want to go with me so badly?”

Kendall laughed. “Oh, Seth. Fishing for compliments! I never thought I’d be seeing
this
.”

“I’m not—”

“No, it’s okay. I’ll do it.” She grabbed a steak fry from my plate and shoved it into her mouth. “My plan is to make him jealous,” she said, chewing and talking at the same time. “So whoever I go with has to be hot, right? You happen to be the hottest single guy I know,
and
you don’t have a date. That makes you the one I need.”

She was laying it on a little thick.

“What do you think’s going to happen?” I asked, wadding up my napkin and throwing it at her. “He’ll drop the other
girl in the middle of the dance when he sees us together?”

“That would be the best thing
ever
.” She grinned and threw the napkin back. “But don’t worry. No matter what, you’ll still get your payment.”

My payment. When she said it like that, it sounded sketchy.

She went on, taking another fry. “Now, this is the part where we negotiate a deal. If you spend the evening of the homecoming dance looking like a sex god and pretending to lust madly for me, I’ll do something for you. Whatever you need,
lover
,” she said, winking.

Good thing I could tell she was messing with me, because there was no way I was going to go
there
. But the more I thought about the dance itself, the more I was realizing that it might not be all bad. I could keep an eye out for Rosetta and make sure Carr wasn’t harassing her. I’d surprise her.

Of course, I still couldn’t make things easy for Kendall. This was a big favor, after all. “Yeah. You know, I’m not so sure about this.”

“I’m willing to spend money,” she said quickly. “How about if I buy something you need for that rust bucket you call a car? A new tire, maybe?”

“Perfect. You give me a hundred bucks for new tires and I’ll go to the dance with you.”

She dropped the fry she was holding into the ketchup glob on my plate. “You think I’m made of money? How about fifty?”

I could tell I had her, though. Making her loser secret boyfriend jealous was obviously important to her. “Seventy-five. And you have to knock off the ‘lover’ bullshit too.”

She nodded slowly. “Deal.”

We reached across the table and shook on it. Then, as I tried to let go, she gripped tighter and wiped her oily fingers all over my hand.

I jerked free and grabbed a fresh napkin. “You suck.”

Kendall laughed and then, looking past me, said, “I wonder what those two are doing.”

I turned. Next to the bar, Xander and Taku were talking to my mom. “They’re probably looking for me.”

With nosy Kendall following, I headed over to see what they wanted. I was sure I hadn’t told them I eat here, and I park out back so no one sees me coming and going. But I guess it wouldn’t have been too hard to find me if they were looking. Kendall had proven that.

I was still a few tables away when Taku handed Mom a folder. “We stuck a band biography, lyric sheets, and a CD with three of our songs in there for you to check out,” he said. “Is that all you need?”

It wasn’t looking like they were there to see me after all. No, it was looking a lot like they were there trying to book a gig. For their band. Their band of which I was also a member.

Shit.

Just like that, my heart was racing, and the cheeseburger I’d eaten was wreaking havoc on my insides. Kendall
pushed her way through to stand next to Mom and grabbed the folder. Like I said,
nosy
. “‘Scratching at the Eight Ball,’” Kendall read from the cover. “Kind of a long band name. Cool logo though.”

Taku and Xander stared at each other like they were trying to figure out what Kendall was doing there and why she’d busted in on their conversation. I couldn’t say I blamed them.

Since they still hadn’t noticed me off to the side, I stayed back and tried to decide how to handle this. They’d played together for a year before even bothering to find a bass player. What was the rush to play a live show all of a sudden?

Xander started rambling. Like he does. “We did the demo in a home studio, but it’s good quality. Oh, and you’ll see that we don’t have any press clippings. And our bio doesn’t have much going on either. But I know we can get a bunch of people here to see an all-ages show if you’ll give us a chance.”