Love and Fandoms (15 page)
Authors: CJ Zane
MANDY
"I really did
appreciate all of the pictures you sent," Allyssa said to Mandy. They and
Wyatt sat at their normal Tuesday-Thursday table in the library. "I think
I got more texts from you than from my supposedly attentive boyfriend."
"I had to
remind him to text you most of the time, too," Mandy said, and she and
Allyssa laughed, while he blanched. She leaned over had gave him a playful
punch to his shoulder. "To be fair, though, he and Kareem were like kids
in a candy store most of the weekend."
Allyssa reached
over and caressed his forearm, which Mandy did everything she could to ignore.
"To be honest, when I told him to send me a text every five minutes, I
fully expected to only get one or two every couple of hours, and those being
half-completed, distracted thoughts. So I owe you, sister."
"Considering
you gave me your three-day pass, I'd say I still owe you."
"Tell me more
about it from your perspective, and we'll call it even. I got the king geek
version from the two king geeks," she pointed to Wyatt and the empty chair
where Kareem usually sat. He hadn't joined them yet, if he was going to.
"Now I want to hear what you thought."
She opened her
eyes wide. "Where to start?" Luckily Allyssa took the bait and began
asking guided questions. Wyatt didn't offer any comments, simply sat listening,
a slight smile on his lips. Oh, lordy, she hadn't realized how hard this would
be. When Alex had gone back to his old self, it should have been the end of all
her problems, right? It's what she wanted. But she hadn't factored in how much
Wyatt would still mean to her. She saw his surprise yesterday at break when she
and Alex met up with him, but after that initial shock, he looked happy for
her. Since then, he acted totally unaffected, like they were nothing but
buddies. That was good, and it was right. He had Allyssa, and she had Alex.
Despite the exceptionally hot make-out session yesterday morning with Alex, and
an almost as incendiary one this morning in the same hidden spot (though she
wouldn't let him make her late again), she couldn't get Wyatt's kisses out of
her mind, and couldn't forget his other touches from the weekend, either.
As she explained
her thoughts on the Danger Squad panel, she wanted to lean across the table and
hug Allyssa. Not once, after her initial query yesterday, did she ask about the
mugging incident. Mandy was fine that it happened, and didn't feel any
post-incident shakes or anything. Quite the opposite, actually; it left her
feeling empowered. It only took a few seconds of scoping the guy out to see he
wasn't confident with the gun, and as long as she was careful, it would turn
out exactly as it had. No, the reason she was glad Allyssa didn't want to harp
on it was because she was tired of talking about it. It was all anyone wanted
to discuss.
When she finished describing
the Xavier Logan presentation, Wyatt told a story of how Kareem got into a
mini-argument with a guy who sat next to them at that show about which was the
better team of super heroes: the Avengers or the Justice League. Neither
changed the other's mind, but they earned each other's respect despite the
argument getting heated at times. They'd parted ways on friendly terms,
exchanging Twitter handles before they went. Both Allyssa and Wyatt proclaimed
how like Kareem that was, and now that Mandy knew him better, she could see it,
too.
She still had no
idea where Kareem was today. It was possible he'd gone home with Luci. She'd
taken him home before, and her family, especially little Ricky, loved him.
Kareem had some comic books he didn't read anymore, and weren't worth keeping
in his collection, so he gave them to Johnny and Ricky to share. Luci told her,
eyes chock-full of love, how Kareem had read a few of the issues to Ricky, even
doing different voices for the characters.
As if on cue, he
sauntered into the library. Neither Wyatt nor Allyssa seemed surprised to see
him, but their expressions both showed they wondered what had taken him so
long. When he sat down, he didn't make them ask.
"Talking on
the phone with one of the guys in my teen group. We've been discussing doing a
haunted house for Halloween at our clubhouse, but no one took any initiative.
Clay and I decided to go for it. We have almost two weeks, and we know there
are a bunch of decorations ready to go in the church attic, so we can get it
done."
"Cool,"
Mandy said. "That'll be a lot of fun."
"Yeah. We'll
make it a free attraction with food for sale. It'll be a party. Since Halloween
is on a Saturday, we can do it both Friday and Saturday nights, and get a bunch
of people there. Of course, I figure my boy here and his best girl can help.
We'd need you this weekend for set up, and Halloween Friday and Saturday as
part of the show. I mean, you can back out, but that would be kind of douchey
of you, seeing how this is for church."
"Says the
douche who volunteered us without asking," Wyatt said.
Allyssa smacked
Wyatt's arm. "We'll be happy to help."
Mandy wished she
could have been the one to give Wyatt that playful swat.
No, no, no
. It
wasn't her place to even wish. That was Allyssa's job, and she did it well.
Besides, Alex was back. Her Alex. She was happy. She should be, anyway. She had
to be.
"I'll be glad
to help, too, Kareem," she said.
"Your boy
going to let you? From what I heard, you two are hot and heavy again."
"He doesn't
have much of a choice. My boy, as you call him, is grounded until after football
season. In fact, I can probably get him there, too."
"Even with
being grounded?"
"I can't
imagine his parents saying no to something church related. I'm guessing they'll
hope some of it rubs off on him."
"Awesome! So
do you think he will? I know even kids from other schools will be stoked to see
the great Alex Jacobs helping." Mandy laughed at that, but Kareem
shrugged. "I'm not kidding. They really will be. He is a local celebrity,
after all."
"I can't
imagine he'll say no. Otherwise he'll be stuck in his room all weekend, and
that's not his style."
"Cool, cool,
cool. We have our weekly meeting tomorrow night, and I'll know more after that.
I'll let you guys know what's going on sometime Thursday, but plan on most of
the day Saturday and most of the afternoon on Sunday."
They all agreed it
sounded great, and decided they should probably get started on their homework.
Mandy didn't know about everyone else, but she thought this would be a lot of
fun. No doubt Kareem would recruit Luci, too, and if he didn't, she would. Yes,
the next two weekends looked like they'd be winners in her books.
WYATT
Allyssa had driven
him home Wednesday afternoon, and stayed to do homework. As they sat on the
couch, she leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on his neck, but quickly pulled
back before Mom wandered into the room. She made it look like she was simply
wandering, anyway, but he knew she was really keeping tabs on them. He gave
Allyssa a smile, cast a quick glance to the kitchen where Mom was to make sure
she wasn't coming, then leaned over for a kiss. She pushed back into him, and
their lips met. The tips of their tongues had only just touched when Mom
cleared her throat.
"You two got
here before me. You should have gotten those out of your system before I got
home. I don't want to see it."
Wyatt groaned and
said, "Mom," while Allyssa blushed and said, "Sorry. We'll be
good." Mom rolled her eyes and crossed the room towards her bedroom.
Allyssa gave him a
playful smack on his arm. "You got us in trouble."
"Me?" he
said, which got her to giggle and stick her tongue out at him.
"Anyway, I
don't know about you, but I'm looking forward to the haunted house. But how
scary do you think a church group will get?"
"Have you met
Kareem? Do you think he'd let them go anywhere but all the way?"
She nodded and
laughed at that. "Very true. Now I'm looking even more forward to it. I
also can't wait to meet Alex Jacobs. Did you know I've never actually met the
hero of our school? I've seen him on campus and on the football field, of
course, but that's as close as I've ever gotten to him."
"He's cool.
Or he was before this year. It sounds like he's back to his old self. Mandy was
ready to break up with him this past weekend, but they seem happy again."
He hoped his voice didn't crack or otherwise go weird when he said that. He
also thought he saw Allyssa's eyes go cold when he mentioned Mandy's name, but
that might have simply been paranoia on his part, as her smile never left her
face. "Anyway, hopefully his parents will let him help."
"Yeah, sounds
like everyone hopes that. Should be a fun couple of weekends."
As they refocused
on their homework, Mom came in. "Would you like to stay for dinner,
Allyssa? I'm ordering pizza. I had a rough group of fourth graders today, and
they seem to have stolen my will to cook anything."
"That sounds
great. Thank you."
MANDY
The sun beat down
on them as they worked making things look spooky around the church clubhouse,
as Kareem and the others of the teen group called it. It was a much bigger
building than the name suggested, easily as big, square footage-wise, as the
church itself, if much less ornate. Now she knew how they could build a haunted
maze inside that would take longer than 20 seconds to navigate. According to
Kareem, it was the preparation center for any church-sponsored party or event,
as well as offices and meeting spaces for the various church and city clubs,
including the teen group. For these two weeks, it had been turned over solely
to them for use and storage of the haunted house.
The outside of the
one-story beige stucco building would be covered in cardboard sheets decorated
to look like ancient brick castle walls. The various plants and bushes, mostly
easy to maintain juniper bushes that seemed part of most landscapes in the
city, would be filled with rubber and paper mache spiders and white string
strung around to look like giant webs. On the lawn around the clubhouse there
would be a party, with food, music, and maybe games or contests. That would be
decided by the teen group before next weekend. The maze would be made out of
office cubicle partitions with cardboard sheets, painted to look like dark and
dank dungeon walls, attached. As for what else would go inside the maze, she
hadn't yet heard.
She and Allyssa
were one of the teams putting the finishing touches on the cardboard sheets
mocked up like dungeon walls, and then stapling them to the cubicle partitions
with industrial-strength staplers. The original plan had simply been to string
the cardboard sheets together to form a flimsy but workable maze, but they
found dozens upon dozens of the much more stable partitions in the church attic.
There were more than enough to create a sturdier maze.
Alex had been put
on general labor. He'd been part of the team that carried everything down from
the church attic, and now he'd taken the lead in constructing the temporary wooden
fence that would form the courtyard around the maze entrance. It wasn't a
terribly hot day, but the sun was intense, so he peeled off his shirt. She had
to admit she enjoyed seeing that. She stared for a few seconds, and then
realized she should get back to work. It wasn't like she hadn't seen him
shirtless plenty of times before — they'd been to pools and the beach often
enough, and though she wouldn't let him slip his pants off during make-out
sessions, she never argued when he lost his shirt.
She looked up to
Allyssa to apologize for not concentrating on their work, but noticed her eyes
boring into him even harder than hers had been. She giggled when she saw there
might be a little bit of drool forming on her lips.
"Enjoying the
view?" she asked, no malice or jealousy in her voice. Practically every
girl there had their eyes trained on his naked torso. A little shiver of pride
ran through her when she thought how he was hers.
Without averting
her gaze from Alex, Allyssa said, "How do you ever leave the house?"
"We have our
share of epic make-out sessions."
"That's all
well and good, but I'm not talking about kissing. How do you not have constant
sex with him? Just by the way he moves, you can tell he's a god in bed."
Mandy felt her
face explode in heat and was glad Allyssa and anyone else close enough had
their eyes firmly planted on Alex. "I guess no one will know for a while
because we haven't done it yet."
Allyssa dropped
her stapler and tore her eyes from Alex to give her an incredulous look.
"Say that again? I obviously misheard you."
"We're
waiting."
"For what?
You've been dating for four years. How do you not jump him every chance you
get? Is it religious reasons?"
Mandy wished she
could walk away from this conversation, but she didn't want to offend Allyssa.
She'd been a good friend to this point. "No, I decided I wanted to wait
for marriage. But we decided …"
"Marriage?"
She said it in a whisper. A loud whisper, but one that wouldn't draw attention
to their conversation. As uncomfortable as this line of questioning was making
her, Mandy had to at least be thankful that Allyssa was showing some sort of
tact.
"As I was
trying to say, we decided to compromise, and we're going to do it on Prom
night. That'll be special, and it's not too far off."
Allyssa shook her
head. "You must have some amazing oral or manual talents for him to put up
with that."
It took her a
second to figure out what Allyssa meant, but when she got it, her eyes went
wide. "No … we don't … What about you and Wyatt?" She winced. Why had
she asked that? Oh god, she didn't want to know. Especially if the answer was
yes.
"Wyatt? He's
sweet, and I really like him, but he doesn't exactly scream sex like your hunk
of man meat. Wyatt's too scrawny, too non-masculine. Don't get me wrong, he
totally rocks that look, but …" She tilted her head towards Alex.
"And let's be honest, he's way too meek to even begin to initiate anything
along the lines of sex. I'm lucky he kisses back when we make-out. Sex with him
isn't in the cards anywhere in the near future. I'm sure I'd have lost my
V-card by now if I was dating anyone else."
Mandy did her best
to give a shrug and neutral expression, but she didn't particularly like
Allyssa anymore. She didn't care what she thought of her and Alex's
non-existent sex life, but how dare she say those things about Wyatt. Her
statements might not have been overly horrible on their own, but when she said
it, Wyatt had been nearby, and he froze for a second. He had to have overheard,
and she hated Allyssa for hurting him. If Wyatt was hers, she'd never show him
disrespect. He was too special a person. Maybe he wasn't built like Alex, but
so what? And even though she was spot on about him being too meek, she saw
glimpses at the comic-con that proved he could work through that.
Before either of
them could say anything else, Luci came over. "Go grab your purse, girl.
We're being sent on an errand to get spooky decorations." She turned to
Allyssa. "You okay doing this on your own?"
"It's not
exactly rocket science. Besides, I have a good view." She nodded towards
Alex, and when Luci saw what she meant, she laughed.
"He's
eye-candy all right." She nudged Mandy, who smiled because she figured
that would be the best thing to do to get them out of there quicker.
As they walked
towards the car, Luci said, "There's that shopping center in Brea that has
a Wal-Mart, Party City, and Michaels. If we can't find things there, we're out
of luck."
"Uh-huh."
Luci waited until
they were in the car before saying, "Spill it."
She considered
denying anything was wrong, but Luci knew her too well. "Does everyone
think I'm crazy for not sleeping with Alex?"
"You guys
have fallen asleep in each others' arms more than once. I've seen it."
Mandy snorted.
Luci always could make her laugh even when she didn't want to. "You know
what I mean. Does everyone think I'm crazy for not sexing him up every chance
we get?"
"Most people
probably assume you do. You've been with him long enough. What did Allyssa say
to you?"
"When she saw
him without his shirt, she wondered how I ever let him leave the house."
Luci busted out
laughing. "And I'm sure your parents and his would allow that. You have to
keep your bedroom door open when he's there, don't you?"
"I know,
right?" She didn't bother bringing up what she said about Wyatt.
"What do you
care what she thinks? Honestly, I'm surprised you're even going to do it at
prom. Up until last year, you were pretty adamant about waiting until
marriage."
"Don't say
anything, especially to Alex, but I'm thinking a night in a hotel room alone
might be our couples Christmas gift."
"Oh, good,
because nothing says 'Happy Birthday, Jesus,' like going to a seedy motel to
lose your virginity."
"Stop it.
Maybe a couples Valentine's Day gift."
Luci didn't say
anything, and Mandy wondered if the conversation was over. A minute or so
later, though, she said, "Is Alex pressuring you?"
"No, not at
all." This Alex, her Alex, wasn't, anyway. "I guess I'm just curious
what it's like."
"You know I'm
of no practical help there, but from what I've heard, if you rush it, even if
you love him, it's not as good. I'm not saying don't spread 'em for Jesus or
Cupid, but only if you're ready."
Mandy tried to
hold back, but she physically couldn't. She howled with laughter right there in
the passenger seat. The windows were up, the AC was cranked, and the radio
belted out tunes, but she was sure everyone in the surrounding cars could hear
her. Crude advice? Sure, but Luci was good at doling that out, and she was spot
on. Mandy owed her bestie a big hug when they parked.
As they neared the
shopping center, a thought struck Mandy that made her freeze for a few seconds.
If she was with Wyatt instead of Alex, would she even question if the time was
right? On Sunday, when their lips met, their tongues intertwined, she knew she
would have gone all the way with him if the circumstances had been different.
Oh, where was this coming from? She couldn't be having these thoughts, not now
that everything was back the way it should be. She took a deep breath and was
glad Luci didn't notice. At least she could take solace in the fact that
Allyssa hadn't had him. She wasn't sure why that made her feel better, but it
did.
WYATT
Wyatt kept the
cardboard sheets for the maze coming for those painting and stapling them to
the cubicle walls. He also had boxes of extra heavy-duty staples in his pocket
in case anyone needed more, and would rush over to the supply table if they
needed more paint or sponges to apply it. (Using the sponges instead of brushes
gave it a textured look when the paint dried.) Kareem and Clay, who were in
charge of the event, thought it quicker to have Wyatt and another kid keep
those supplies coming rather than having the workers get up for more when
needed. It hadn't seemed like it at first, but now that everyone was in a
rhythm, it really did prove faster. Anyway, he didn't mind this job. He felt
useful without going outside his comfort zone. The only problem he'd run into
was Allyssa, and she had no idea he thought so.
Every time he
looked over at her, her eyes practically popped out of her skull as she stared
at a shirtless Alex. That was fine; he didn't care. Heck, he considered himself
100% heterosexual, and he was sneaking peeks. Alex looked like he could be on
the cover of a fitness magazine. Besides, most of the girls stared just as
blatantly as Allyssa. So, no, her ogling him wasn't the problem; the problem
was what he overheard her saying.
Okay, to be fair,
he might have caught it all out of context, and he didn't catch much anyway. But
from what he did hear, she not only didn't want to have sex with him, but she
wouldn't hesitate to do it with Alex. Or, more likely, anyone who wasn't as
scrawny as Wyatt. She was talking to Mandy, after all, and he didn't think
she'd be telling her she wanted to sleep with her boyfriend.
Maybe he was too
scrawny. Actually, there was no maybe about it. He should really start trying
in PE, and he could join a gym. There was a new one close to his house that was
offering membership for $10 a month with cheaper than normal enrollment fees.
They'd sent enough fliers in the mail for him to know that. He'd never look
like Alex, but at least he could get to a place where he wouldn't be called
scrawny.
He supplied a
couple more groups with cardboard and gave one of them more staples. As he went
back for more supplies, he decided he should confront Allyssa about it. Maybe
it was all a giant misunderstanding. Or it was something they could hash out
before it ruined their relationship. He could also talk to Mandy. She'd tell
him the truth of the situation.
Heh, yeah, right,
like any of those things would happen. He knew himself. He'd simply let it go
and hope everything worked out. The gym would be a good place to start. His mom
might even pay for it instead of taking it out of his allowance. He could get Kareem
to join, too. No doubt his dad would be more than happy to shell out money for
Kareem to do anything sporty. Though he should probably wait to bring it up
until after Halloween. He knew Kareem. He'd be obsessed with the haunted house
and nothing else until it was over.
As he finished
gathering the next batch of cardboard, Kareem came over. "How goes
it?"
"Going
well," he said, not bothering to mention his problem with Allyssa. Kareem
didn't want to hear it. "The maze walls are shaping up nicely."
"Excellent.
Hey, there's a new supply of cold bottled water in the cooler over there."
He pointed to a fold-up picnic table by the parking lot where some other
supplies were being kept. "Would you mind handing some out to the staplers
and painters?"
"No problem
with the painters, but don't you think the people doing the stapling would
enjoy them more? I don't think the staplers can drink anything." He'd been
thinking of the kids doing the stapling as staplers, too, but, come on, he
couldn't pass up the little poke of fun.
Kareem answered
his joke with a shake of his head. "Make sure you get one, too,
smartass." He gave Wyatt a friendly slap on the shoulder, but before he
could walk away, a girl with smooth ebony skin a bit lighter than Kareem's dark
complexion walked up to them, clutching the hand of a guy Wyatt could only
think of as a stereotypical surfer. He had sandy blonde hair that hung over
half his face, and wore Hawaiian print board shorts and a Maui & Sons tank
top cut so it basically showed off his entire upper body. He wasn't built to
the magnitude of Alex, but Wyatt couldn't help but think that Allyssa would
much rather look at this guy than him. The girl, with her black hair braided
with beads throughout, stunning brown eyes, and a killer smile, could only be
Noel, Kareem's one-time imaginary girlfriend. Kareem had told him about her
enough before he had Luci.
