Her Teen Dream (6 page)

Karin suddenly got a second wind and was up
to the challenge. “You’re on.”

They started to sprint. Karin knew she was
the faster of the two, even if her legs felt like lead weights. But
she let Lesley win because she wanted to keep their competition
friendly. Unlike with Cheryl Green, where it could apparently turn
into an all-out war.

* * *

When they got back, the girls found Karin’s
parents sitting on Lesley’s porch with Shelly and her new
boyfriend, Edgar Crompton.

“Looks like a nice, big happy family,” Lesley
joked to Karin as they cooled down in front of the house.

Karin smiled. “Well, we are like sisters, so
don’t knock it.”

“Hey, I wouldn’t dream of it. And if we could
just add Marcus and Reese to the mix, we could really have a family
to talk about—as long as they’re our boyfriends and not our
half-brothers.”

Karin giggled. “You’re crazy, girl.”

“One day, I hope to be crazy in love.”

“Don’t we both,” offered Karin, as she
wondered if that day could be sooner than either of them ever
thought possible.

They walked up to the house.

“You two look like you’ve had a nice
workout,” Karin’s father said.

Karin wiped her brow. “Yeah, we worked up
quite a sweat.”

“So I see. The shower’s ready when you
are.”

Karin wrinkled her nose at him. “Thanks,
Daddy. I’ll try to remember that.”

“Shelly didn’t tell me that you’re a runner,
Lesley.” Edgar smiled at her and took a puff of his cigarette.

“I’m not, really. I only run mainly to keep
Karin company.”

“I doubt that,” he said, smoke streaming from
his nostrils. “It’s obvious that, like your mother, you’re in great
shape.”

Shelly chuckled at his flattery. “I think
it’s more a genetic thing with us. But I do Pilates exercises every
now and then with Josephine, who’s a very good teacher and an even
better friend.”

Josephine smiled graciously. “I try to be
both.” She looked at Karin. “Your father and I have given Shelly
and Edgar a standing invitation to go out to dinner. Of course you
girls are invited, too.”

Karin knew her mother was just trying to be
neighborly and make Edgar feel right at home. She wondered if he
was just a passing phase for Shelly. Or could he actually become
Lesley’s stepfather someday?

“We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Karin
said, and playfully nudged Lesley. “Would we?”

“Not in a million years,” she concurred.

“Oh, you two get out of here and let us
grownups talk a bit more,” Josephine chided them.

The girls giggled and went inside to the
kitchen for bottled waters.

“Looks like my Mom is serious about Edgar,”
Lesley said. “Or about as serious as one can get after dating for a
little over a week. They text more than we do.”

“Does that scare you?” Karin gulped down
water, feeling its chilly journey down her parched throat.

Lesley shrugged. “Maybe a little. I do want
my Mom to be happy. I just don’t want her to forget my Dad in the
process.”

“I’m sure she won’t. What they had together
can’t be replaced any more than what my parents have. Your Mom’s
just at a new stage in her life now. Edgar seems nice enough, I
guess, although smoking is a definite minus in my book. I say you
should try to keep an open mind and see what happens.”

“All right, Dr. Phil, if you say so. Or
should I say, Dr. Phyllis?”

“How about just plain old Karin, your best
friend!”

Lesley grinned. “Sounds like a plan.”

“Speaking of plans,” Karin said, “we need to
focus on capturing the hearts and minds of the guys we have our own
eyes on.”

“I’ll drink to that.”

They toasted with the bottled waters. Karin
felt fresh new enthusiasm where it concerned Reese. But her
immediate attention turned to something less exciting. Playing
babysitter to Pia Fisher tonight.

* * *

“I can’t believe how much you’ve grown,”
gushed Josephine, looking wide-eyed at Pia.

“Momma says I’m growing up way too fast,” Pia
responded and seemed happy being the center of attention.

“I know just what she means.”

Karin caught her mother’s gaze, and felt a
trifle self-conscious of her height.

“Come here and give me a hug, honey,” Althea
Fisher ordered Karin.

Karin took two steps forward and was nearly
crushed to death by the woman who wore a pungent flowery perfume
that nearly made her gag.

“You know, I was there when your Momma’s
water broke and we had to rush her to the hospital to have
you.”

“I remember,” Karin said, having heard the
story every time she saw Mrs. Fisher. She quickly amended that to
say, “I meant, I remember hearing from Momma and you how it all
went down.”

Althea broke into an almost embarrassed
chuckle, causing her silk braids to shake.

Karin watched her father and John Fisher head
into the living room, where they started to talk about old times.
It wasn’t long before Karin's mother gave her a knowing look.
“Karin, why don’t you take Pia up to your room?”

Since she knew it wasn’t a request, Karin
ushered Pia toward the stairs. She would have taken her next door
to Lesley’s, but she and Shelly had gone out to dinner with
Edgar.

Meaning I’m stuck with Pia all by
myself.
Karin bit back her irritation.

Pia, who had thick pigtails and big brown
eyes, flopped onto Karin’s bed as though her own.

“Do you like boys?” Pia asked, curling a
corner of her mouth upwards, as if she couldn’t imagine such a
thing.

“Yes, I like boys,” Karin admitted almost too
quickly.

“Why?”

“Because that’s what girls are supposed to
do.”

“Well, I think boys are silly.”

“They can be.” Karin sat beside her. “They
can also be very cute. And funny. And, most of all, sexy!”

“Do you have a boyfriend?” Pia asked,
wide-eyed.

Now this was where it got rather complicated.
Reese filled Karin’s mind like on a movie screen. She looked at Pia
and said dreamily, “I’m working on it.”

CHAPTER NINE

When Karin filed out of homeroom, she saw
Reese leaning against the wall as though holding it up rather than
the other way around. Her first thought was that he was waiting for
one of his buddies. But the smile on his face told her that he was
actually there for her.

The notion made Karin want to jump for joy,
but she controlled her voice. “What are you doing here?”

“Uh, I go to this school.” He put a
dumbfounded look on his face.

She wasn’t letting him off the hook that
easily. “Well, I have to go to my next class. See you.”

She began walking and smiled when he caught
up to her, matching her step for step.

“I wanted to see you. There, I said it.”

Karin looked up at him, continuing to walk,
ignoring the other students. “Well, here I am.”

“You’re gonna make this really hard for me,
aren’t you?”

“What?” Now it was her turn to act
confused.

“Look, I’m sorry about the other night. I
would’ve liked to talk more—you know, in private.”

“It’s okay,” Karin lied, knowing she’d wished
the same. But neither of them could help it if Cheryl Green had
chosen that moment to stick her nose where it wasn’t wanted. What
was done was done.

Reese gazed down at her. “I’d like to make it
up to you.”

“Oh. How?”

“Dinner.”

She raised a brow. “You mean like McDonald’s
or Burger King?”

He laughed. “No, I mean a real restaurant.
Just the two of us. We can talk without friends interrupting
us.”

Karin stopped, even as her heart kept racing.
“When?”

“How about tomorrow night...after the
game?”

She considered playing hard to get, but
doubted that worked very well. Besides, if she gave Cheryl even an
inch, she would probably take five miles with Reese. And if not
her, then some other girl.

“Okay,” she gave in.

Reese smiled broadly. “Great! Gotta run.”
After separating from her, he yelled back, “I hope you were
planning to come to the game?”

“Of course,” Karin fibbed. In fact, she had
planned to go shopping with her mother. But that would definitely
have to be postponed for something even more important.

Karin found Lesley in the hall by her locker.
“Doing anything tomorrow night?”

“Yeah, I’m going to the game.”

“Well that makes two of us,” Karin said.

Lesley cocked a brow. “Since when?”

“Since Reese invited me out to dinner
afterwards a few minutes ago.”

“You go, girl!” Lesley’s lips lifted at the
corners and they gave each other a high-five. “Marcus really wanted
me to come and see him play. Like I could say no.”

“Not in a million years,” joked Karin.

“Look who’s talking? Seems like somebody’s
really trying to get on someone’s good side. And it’s obviously
working.”

Karin chuckled. “It’s just dinner, not a
marriage proposal!”

“Yeah, but no guys have ever asked me out to
dinner.” Lesley pouted.

“Maybe Marcus will,” Karin tried to give her
hope.

“Maybe, but he doesn’t seem the type. Not
unless it’s a fast food place or something.”

“So ask him,” Karin suggested.

“No way,” Lesley said adamantly, then did
somewhat of an about face. “At least not till I know it’s me he
really wants to be with.”

That was something Karin had to ask herself
about Reese. Did he really want her? Or was this just a way for him
to get under Cheryl’s skin for unresolved issues, if not as a means
to get back together.

* * *

“I think it’s great that you and Lesley are
going to the game,” Karin’s father told her at the dinner table
that night. “You should be there rooting for your team.”

“I agree,” she said, now that she had a good
reason to.

“Just so long as you’re not neglecting your
homework,” her mother warned.

“I’m not.”

“What time does the game end?”

“I don’t know.” After a pause, Karin said
hesitantly, “Anyway, Reese invited me out for a bite after the
game.”

Josephine lifted her brows. “You mean a
date?”

“Not really,” she sought to downplay it.
“Just a meal.”

“That’s at a
restaurant
, I assume?”
Greer asked.

“Yes, Daddy. I’m not going back to his
hideaway with him, if he has one.”

“Well, good,” he said happily.

“Not good,” her mother begged to differ.
“That boy’s eighteen and too old for you to get involved with,
Karin.”

“I’m not
involved
with him. We’re just
friends, Momma.” Karin didn’t want to make any assumptions or make
things more complicated than they had to be. “And I’m only two
years younger than Reese,” she added, feeling it was no big
deal.

“He’s an
adult
and you’re a minor,
young lady,” Josephine argued. “Tell her, Greer.”

He dabbed a napkin at his mouth. “She’s
right, Karin. I’m sure Reese is a nice boy and a fine basketball
player. But he’s still a man legally.”

“And a high school senior who plans to go to
college and become a lawyer.” Karin glared at her mother, and then
looked pleadingly at her father.

This seemed strike a chord with him. “Lawyer,
huh? Good choice. Always money to be made.”

“But, for now, he’s just a student who
happens to play basketball,” she said. “I should be allowed to hang
out with my friends after the game like anyone else.”

“You are, Karin,” her father said. “Just make
sure you do so responsibly.”

“I always do,” she reminded him.

“True.”

“And we want to keep it that way,” her mother
added with concern.

“You can grab a bite to eat with Reese after
the game, Karin,” Greer told her. “All we ask is that you be home
on time...and be careful.”

“I will, Daddy.” She smiled and, looking at
her mother, could tell that she wasn’t happy with his final word on
the matter.

* * *

The gymnasium was packed as the Spartans
played their cross-town rivals, the Mumfree High Canooks. Karin sat
next to Lesley, each paying particular attention to how Reese and
Marcus did on the court. Never mind the fact that it would take a
team effort to beat the talented Canooks.

“My mother nearly derailed things,” Karin
said dramatically, counting her blessings. “For a while there, I
thought I’d miss the game
and
our dinner date.”

“Mine was okay with the game, especially when
she found out you’d be here,” Lesley said. “I think she probably
would’ve been okay with me going out with Marcus, too. It’s not
like I haven’t had a boyfriend before.”

Karin rolled her eyes. “Since when? Those
crushes from afar don’t count, any more than the guys who’ve liked
you that you couldn’t stand.”

Lesley grinned. “All right, so Marcus will be
my first real boyfriend, if it happens.”

“Yeah, for you and me both. First time
boyfriends who happen to play b-ball,” Karin quipped. She wondered
how she might get around her parents’ rejection of Reese as
boyfriend material before they even got the chance to know him.

Suddenly the crowd cheered as Reese stole the
ball and arched a perfect pass to Marcus, who was running in full
stride. He finished off with a one-handed dunk. Karin and Lesley
jumped up and screamed when his basket tied the score with less
than two minutes to play.

A win or loss for the Spartans came down to
the final five seconds. Coach Cleaver called a timeout with the
team trailing by one. The Spartan cheerleaders ran onto the court,
led by Cheryl Green, and wooed the crowd with their choreographed
moves.

“Why does she have to be so good?” muttered
Karin, feeling a touch of envy. Not to mention beautiful.

“It’s called practice makes perfect,” Lesley
replied. “We could be cheerleaders, too, if we really wanted to
be.”