NORMAL (5 page)

Robin unleashes his full-on, panty-dropping smile and runs his fingers through his dirty blonde hair, a little brighter now from months of summer sun.
God
, he's handsome. And he knows it too. "Well, what do you think people would say if I had the pleasure of spending as much time with the prettiest girl in school as Foster does? Do you think they'd believe me if I said we were only
friends
?" That's the second time he's called me that. Hearing something like that, from him, it's alien enough that a part of me still thinks he may just be teasing me.

"If y'all had grown up together and were like brother and sister, then, yeah, I'd believe it. And, of course, the prettiest girl in school is Maddie Stern, everyone knows
that
,
and from what I understand you do spend quite a deal of time with her," I reply, vaguely wondering where this courage is coming from. Maddie is a senior like Robin, homecoming queen, beauty pageant winner extraordinaire, and everyone knows she's dated Robin on and off for years. If you could call blowjobs in the locker room dating.

"Correction Miss Rory, Maddie
was
the prettiest girl in school, and maybe I wouldn't have to spend so much time with
her
if
you'd
do the honor of lettin' me take you out," he drawls, as if him asking me out is the most normal thing in the world.

My wits go back into hiding and I swallow nervously. I open my mouth to speak, but can't find words. Robin smirks with satisfaction.

"Well I'll let you think about that a bit. Why don't you be a good girl and make sure they put you up in the guest room upstairs tonight. I'll come by later for my answer."

I'm still processing his words as he winks at me before he turns on his heel and saunters to his BMW M3 convertible, folding his tall, lean frame into the driver's seat and peeling out of his family's long drive.

It's minutes before I'm composed enough to ring the doorbell and enter the Forbes' mansion. Lacey and the girls are excited about my arrival, or so they portray. I don't mention my encounter with her brother, I'm not even sure if I imagined it or not. I spend most of the evening of movies and gossip quietly trying to work out what the hell happened on that porch. Was he serious about asking me out? Do I want to go out with him? He makes me feel... nervous. He's real attractive, but I have no experience with this. I don't know how I'm supposed to feel, how I'm supposed to know if I even like him or not. I don't even know him.

I should talk to Cam. He's the only person I'd even feel comfortable talking to about anything personal, but here I am, stuck in a gaggle of girls talking about nothing real, nothing that matters. I feel lonely. Just as I'm thinking how much I need my friend right now, I get an incoming text.  No one else texts me except for the people currently with me, so I know it's Cam before I even pick up my phone.

You good Rory girl?

I smile. Cam knows me so well that sometimes it's like we're the same person. Only he would think to check on me right now. Only he would know that a slumber party with a bunch of chicks who are supposed to be my new best friends isn't the most comfortable situation for me.

Yep, u got a minute?

I know he's out with Missy Potter. I know he has sex with her. But not only her. And she seems to be just fine with that.

I want to talk to him but I don't want to interrupt anything. I don't want our friendship to be a burden to him. Ever. And if he's busy and takes my call anyway, it wouldn't be the first time he's bailed on someone else because he thought I needed him.

For you? Always. Give me 5, I'll call u.

That means he is busy. If he wasn't, my phone would already be ringing.

Don't worry about it, let's talk tomorrow.

I'll figure this Robin thing out myself. Maybe he was joking anyway. I wouldn't have bothered Cam at all tonight, it's just that if Robin wasn't joking, he said he was going to come by tonight to get my answer so I won't have time to talk to Cam before then.

I feel like I'm dependent on Cam, and I feel guilty. Maybe I can just sleep in Lacey's room like the rest of the girls and avoid the whole thing. What excuse would I even have to stay in the guest room anyway? As I'm putting my phone back into my bag it starts vibrating.
Cam
.

"Hey I told you not to worry about it," I answer, "And it hasn't even been five minutes."

"Stop, Ror. If you didn't need to talk you wouldn't have asked. Out with it," he demands, straight to the point as ever. "Those girls treatin' you good?"

"Yeah, they're fine. I'm fine," I insist. "Get back to Missy, I'll call you in the mornin'."

"Missy can wait. Don't you worry about me, Rory girl, what d'ya need? If Lacey fucks with you just tell me, I swear to God-"

"Cam!" I cut him off. I'm not three feet from Lacey and I glance at her wondering if she could hear him through my phone. She looks at me and her eyes brighten. It's clear she's only just heard me say Cam's name. I excuse myself out the french doors that lead to the side of the house as Lacey calls for me to tell Cam that she says "hi". Once on the porch, I forward her greeting.

"Yeah, yeah, hi back, or whatever," is his response. I'll dress it up when I pass it on to Lacey. "So what's up Ror? You need me to pick you up?"

"No, Cam, I'm fine, really." I take a deep breath. "Okay. I ran into Robin Forbes when I got here tonight," I begin.

"He say somethin' wrong to you?" Cam's voice is low and deathly serious, the threat implicit.

"No! Jeez, Cam, why do you always assume someone is mistreatin' me? Am I such a goddamned victim?"

"Nah, Rory girl, you're no victim, but you are beautiful and innocent and Robin Forbes doesn't do innocent. What'd he say to you?"

"He, uh, he asked to take me out," I murmur softly, suddenly unsure of what Cam's reaction will be. He's always been so damn protective of me. There's a long pause and for a moment I think the call got dropped, before Cam lets out a long, resigned sigh. "Cam?"

"I was afraid a' this." Another sigh. "Damn, Rory girl, what'd you say?"

"I... said nothin'. I stood there like a stupid deer in headlights!" I grumble.

Cam chuckles. It's a comforting sound, reminding me of childhood, of home. "Well you musta said
somethin'.
Was he a gentleman about it?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess. He was... sweet. Kinda. I don't know. But no. I really said nothin'. When I couldn't make myself talk he just smiled and told me to think about it. That he'd come by for my answer later tonight." I don't mention that he instructed me to make sure I was sleeping alone in the guest room. I know what Cam will make of that, and vaguely I wonder why it's not sending up red flags for me.

"Well, don't hold out on me, what's your answer gonna be? Don't keep me waitin', Rory girl, I ain't him."

"Of course you're not, Cam. I... don't know. That's why I called you! What do I do? What do I say?" I'm desperate, completely out of my comfort zone.

"Say
no
," Cam says immediately, the big brother in him shining through.

"Cam!"

He sighs again. "Well hell, Ror. You're the one who's gonna have to make this call. Guys are gonna ask you out. You're too damn adorable for your own good. I was worried about this the other day. The seniors were talkin'. Sayin' how hot you've gotten, askin' me all about you, and about you and me. they aint gonna stop askin', and I can't hold them off forever. Forbes ain't a bad guy, but you know he gets around. You ain't that kinda girl."

"Well I know I ain't that kinda girl. But surely Robin must know that, right? I mean, why would he even wanna go out with me?"

Cam laughs again. "Why would he wanna go out with you? Seriously Rory girl?" He lets out another frustrated sigh. "Whatever, it's probably best you keep on not knowin' what you got goin' on. But Forbes sure has noticed, along with the rest of the damn town. The fact that he must know how inexperienced you are is the only reason I believe his intentions might be alright. But that doesn't mean you gotta go out with him. That's your choice... what do you want, Ror? Do you wanna go out with him?"  

Cam asks the million dollar question. And the truth is, I have no idea. I was much more comfortable admiring him from afar - when he was unattainable. And I know I should want to go out with him, every other girl sure does... and maybe I do, too. I think I'm just so thrown off and nervous that I can't quite get a grip on how I feel about it, but how do you decide if you like someone if you don't even know them? I suppose that is what dating is for - to get to know them.

"I suppose I'm not sure, Cam, can't you just decide for me?" I groan. He always makes decisions for me when I can't decide something, which is pretty often. But this is different than choosing my lunch order.

"I did, remember? I said 'no'. You didn't like that answer," he reminds me.

I hear Lacey call me from the living room and realize I should get back to the girls. I tell Cam I'll call him tomorrow and sarcastically thank him for his "help".

The rest of the evening flies by and I'm no closer to knowing what the hell to do about Robin when Lacey starts telling us where we're all sleeping, which I'd thought would all be in her room. Courtney is sleeping in Lacey's bed with her, and Emmers and Stella will sleep on the pullout in the den. I have a choice between an air mattress in Lacey's room or the guest room on the third floor. She explains that it's the only room on the third floor so I may not want to be alone up there. Without thinking too hard, I tell her I don't mind, and climb the second staircase to the converted attic room.

Everyone's gone to bed, but I can't sleep. The guest room up here is lonely, like Lacey warned, but it is lovely. There's a canopy bed with a soft cream quilt that matches the gauzy drapes. The queen size mattress is comfortable, but still, I can't sleep. I can't stop wondering if Robin was joking or not about coming up here for my answer, or even if he was joking about asking me out in the first place. When I glance at the mahogany wall clock and see it's almost 1:00 am, I realize he wasn't serious, or maybe he changed his mind. Part of me is relieved, but another part is disappointed, and I drift off to sleep wondering why I'm the only girl in my grade that's never even been kissed, let alone the only virgin in my group of girlfriends.

****

I'm startled out of sleep by a bang and a muttered curse.

"Shit."

I open my eyes, but it's too dark to see the door, which I'm pretty sure has just slammed shut.

I lean up onto my elbows.

"Who's there?" I ask, frightened, as the figure approaches my bed.

"Well, it's just me a' course. I told you I'd come, I'll be needin' that answer now, sweetheart," Robin drawls and I notice there's a slight slur to his accent. He's been drinking.

He sits down on the bed as I sit up.

"You scared me," I whisper.

Robin reaches out and brushes my hair out of my face, pushing a chunk of it over my shoulder. I must look like such a mess. "Well now I see why that daddy a' yours calls you Sleepin' Beauty." He grins sloppily and it’s somehow incredibly endearing, but I can smell the beers he's drunk tonight. And perfume. A woman's perfume.

I blush at his compliment, grateful that it's too dark for him to notice. A pang of disappointment stabs deep in my gut and I wonder where it came from. I have no right to be jealous of the owner of the perfume, but part of me is wondering why he's bothering to ask me out at all when he obviously has some other girl ready and willing to do whatever is required to get her scent to cling to him so fervently.

"Didn't mean to scare you, but I can't go to bed, not yet. I'll never fall asleep 'til you agree to let me take you out next Friday."

"Um..." Again, words evade me.

"How about I'll pick you up at seven, and you wear a pretty little dress for me. I'll take you out somewhere nice, and maybe, if I'm real good, you'll give me a nice kiss. How does that sound?" He's smiling sincerely, and I think he's trying to ease my nerves by saying he'd only expect a kiss if things go well. The thought warms me and I smile timidly up at him in response. "Don't you worry, Sleepin' Beauty, I know you're a good girl, and I'll treat you right, I promise." He holds up three fingers like a boy scout and I laugh.

"Okay," I murmur, surprising even myself. Robin grins widely in triumph and I can't help but laugh again.

"Well you just made my night," he says excitedly, and I wonder if perfume girl hadn't already made his night before he ever got home. "How about a little preview of that kiss?"

My heart drops. Alluding to a potential kiss if we had a good date is one thing, but now?

I've never been kissed. Ever. Cam once offered to be my first kiss - to teach me, but I'd balked at the idea.

I'm anxious and disappointed until Robin turns his head and points to his cheek. I smile again and press my lips chastely to where he'd just pointed.

Robin presses his index and middle fingers to his own lips and plants a kiss on them before touching them softly to my cheek. It's innocent and sweet and for the first time, I'm actually excited to go on this date.