Rock My World (23 page)

The next
time they hung out he challenged her to be scared while watching a horror film
on mute. She hated the idea but didn’t want him to think she was chicken so she
took the bait. When they got to the part where the actress’ head got chopped
off and ketchup launched itself from her decapitated body, Felicity got the
giggles so bad that milk shot out her nose and Trey doubled over laughing at
her laughing at the movie. And just like that, no more nightmares.

If Trey
hadn’t suggested watching on mute, she would never have seen another horror
flick. That’s what she loved about Trey—he wasn’t like everyone else. She
grinned up at him and he gave her a suspicious look in return as he handed her
a slice of artichoke/pineapple/Canadian bacon pizza (her favorite) and popped
in the film du jour.

“I don’t
know how you eat this stuff,” he said, shoving half a slice down his throat.
She smiled. He always complained about it, yet ordered it every time without
asking.

“You know
you love it,” she teased, pulling out a slice with cheese stretching between
the box and her plate.

“
Mmmm
!” he exaggerated a look of ecstasy like an actor in a
food commercial. She mock laughed back.

“Have you
made any plans for prom yet?” he asked, his voice much quieter than before.

“No, I
hadn’t thought about it yet.”

“Oh.”

“Why?”

“Well, I
thought if you wanted to go, maybe we could go together?” he said, the words
strung together as one. His aquamarine eyes shone in his tan face. She cocked
her head like a puppy, confused.

“Yeah, sure.
Let’s go,” she said, amused by his awkwardness. It occurred to her she’d never
noticed how attractive he was, objectively speaking, of course.

“Cool.”

“Cool,” she
mimicked, poking fun at his sudden seriousness.

Later that
night, under the fluorescent lights of the high school gymnasium, they sat
together on the bleachers, legs nearly touching, paying little attention to the
basketball jumping across the court in a flurry of limbs vying for possession.
They didn’t say much. After the final buzzer,
their
side of the gym cheered the win and people swarmed all around, making plans,
giving high-fives, cracking jokes. Trey and Felicity stood up, arms at their
sides, close enough to but not quite touching.

Breaking the
electric silence, Trey said, “Don’t look now.” Felicity looked up. She saw
Sadie strutting across the court, heading right for
them,
her banana highlights peeking out of their ebony cage. Felicity swore under her
breath. Trey grabbed her hand. She squeezed his. It would have been sweet if it
hadn’t been for Sadie.

“I saw your
dad yesterday. My aunt flew me out to Aspen to meet this producer who’s dying
for me to be in a band he’s putting together,” Sadie said, rolling her eyes as
if she couldn’t care less.

“Super,”
Felicity said.

“Yeah. Anyway,
it sure looks like your dad’s having a
great
time on the road,” she said, emphasizing “great.”

“Is that
what you came to tell me? That my dad’s enjoying his sold out tour?
Thanks.
 
Update complete.
Buh
-bye,” Felicity said, waving Sadie along like an annoying
dog. Sadie was not so easily thrown off course.

“I just
wanted to check on
you.
It must be so
hard on
you
now that your dad is
sleeping with other women.”

“You’re
pathetic, Sadie. Seriously, don’t you have anything better to do?”

“Oh, it’s
not me. Everyone knows about it.
It’s even in
Rolling Stone
,” she said
,
triumph spreading across her face
.

Felicity’s bravado fell away and she snatched the
rolled up magazine from Sadie.
 
Instantly, she recognized her dad’s signature and the photo of him
climbing a wall of amps, guitar dangling from his back.
No
,
she’s lying
.

Felicity had
no idea what Sadie was still yammering on about. She could have been speaking
Swahili for all she cared. She forced her eyes up from the pages, which, no
doubt held the answers she’d been trying to get from her mom and grandmother.
Be careful what you wish for
, she
remembered.

She looked
up to see a satisfied Sadie spin around and leave, flanked by her gaggle of
minions. It would have been comical if not for Felicity’s family’s business
being plastered across
Rolling Stone
magazine. Her mom warned her.

There it
was. In black and white print, the soft flowing script promising entertainment
to the rest of the world and disaster for one insignificant family. The title
read, “Love Knows No Bounds: Exclusive Interview with Alex Anders and his New
Love.”

She couldn’t
read it. It wasn’t that she’d never seen a tabloid with a story like that
before, but this was
Rolling Stone
,
the magazine that broke the story that got a general fired during a war. They
didn’t waste time with unsubstantiated stories. This was bad.

Trey coaxed
it out of her hands, slipped his arm around her lower back, steadying her
enough to escape the crowded gym. They didn’t say a word until they got back to
his house. His mom was still at work, and half a cold pizza sat on the coffee
table where they left it. The congealed grease sat atop the cheese, like
petrified tears of lard.

“Hungry?” he
asked, moving around in the kitchen.

She shook
her head, staring at the wall. She looked so hard she saw a corner of wallpaper
curling up, revealing a previous owner’s taste below it—faded ugliness.
She knew how it felt. A wall, held together by a flimsy paper façade, peeling
off to reveal its deepest darkest secrets.

Trey made
her a mug of microwaved water with a packet of chamomile tea. She put it to her
lips, taking the smallest of sips. It tasted horrible. The lukewarm water
hadn’t quite absorbed the tea, and a hint of something else she couldn’t quite
place—probably whatever had been in the mug before—remained. Trey
wasn’t known for his domestic skills.

She thanked
him. He watched her carefully, making her feel self-conscious.

“Do you want
to read it?” he blurted.

“I can’t.”
She struggled to find her breath. “Will you?” she looked into his beautiful
turquoise eyes. They widened, but he nodded.

He opened it
slowly enough to give her time to change her mind before his eyes scanned the
page. Her agony intensified during his silence, as she was simultaneously
desperate to know and not. She couldn’t take it any more.

“So?
 
How bad is it?”

He shushed
her with his hand, turning the page. After what felt like hours, but was
probably only a few minutes, he closed it and set it down.

“Are you
sure you want to know?” he asked.

“Yes!” she
said, louder than she meant to.

“Okay, but…”

“Just tell
me. I’ll find out anyway.”

“It’s
Airika
—the other woman,” he said, looking at his
hands.

“What!” she
screeched, snatching it from
him.

‘…The
feelings were always there, waiting for the right time. We knew it would be
painful whenever it came out, and we really didn’t want to hurt anyone. But the
truth always comes out. And in the end, love wins.’

“I can’t
believe this,” she stood up, pacing around the small living room, palm pressed
against her forehead. Trey looked down at his shoes. His own dead-beat dad was
off raising someone else’s family, barely deigning to pay enough attention to
foot the bill for his private education and extravagant birthday gifts every
other year. He was familiar with the male-bashing session he presumed would
imminently follow. He braced himself.

“How could
my mom not tell me? I feel awful. I’ve been such a brat. I was blaming
her
for being a drama queen. How could
he do this to us?”

“Maybe it’s
not true?” he said, testing the waters. Now that she was acting off-script, he
wasn’t sure how best to proceed.

“But why
would they print it?”

“I
dunno
. I just don’t think your dad is the cheating type.”

She didn’t
know what to say. Collapsing onto the couch, she didn’t think so either, but
what other explanation could there be? Every scenario she imagined seemed less
plausible than the first.

Trey put his
hand out, halfway between them on the couch. She reached out, squeezing it. He
interlaced his fingers between hers, the warmth of his hands radiating up her
arm. An unfamiliar twinge of excitement ran through her body. She hadn’t yet
identified it when she felt his full lips press against hers. The kiss was
soft, affectionate. He pulled back, looking carefully for a response. She
closed her eyes, kissing him again, this time pushing her tongue toward his.

They kissed
and kissed, bodies unmoving on the couch, hands linked together, cutting off
the circulation to her fingers. She didn’t care. The most surprising part was
how natural it felt. Before tonight, she could honestly say it never crossed
her mind to think of Trey like that, but she found herself wondering how she
could have missed it. Her brain told her it was an inappropriate time to be
kissing someone while talking about her parents’ marriage collapsing, but her
body didn’t seem bothered. The evening was full of surprises, horrifying and
electrifying in equal measure.

The sound of
a key twisted in the lock. They shot apart, sitting on opposite ends of the
couch.

“Hey Mom.”

“Hi Mrs.
Parker,” Felicity said, running her hands over her hair.

“How was
work?” Trey asked, getting up, taking the pizza remnants up to the kitchen
counter. Mrs. Parker raised an eyebrow, looking from one to the other of them.
She sighed and pulled a Tupperware container of leftovers out of the fridge and
popped it in the microwave.

“Fine. What
were you two up to?” she asked.

“Nothing,”
they said in unison.

“
Mmm
, hmmm.” She turned her back so they couldn’t see her
smile.

“I should
go. My grandmother will be worried.”

“Okay,
sweetie. Trey, honey, take my car so you can make sure she gets home safe.”

“I will,” he
gave his mom a peck on the cheek, grabbed her keys, and followed Felicity out
the door to his mom’s Mini Cooper, parked in the driveway.

“That was
close!” she said when they were safely inside the tiny car.

He turned to
say something, changed his mind, and turned the key in the ignition. As they
twisted their way down the narrow streets, bumping shoulders, their every touch
excited her. The trip to her grandparents’ was quiet. She wanted to say
something, but needed time to sort out how she felt. She wasn’t in any position
to make life-altering decisions after the night she’d had.

He pulled
into the long gravel drive, turning the lights off before killing the engine. They
sat, unmoving. A million different things ran through her mind at once. She
looked over at her best friend. Without thinking, she kissed him. He kissed her
back, this time moving his hands around her shoulders. When they finally pulled
apart, he was smiling.

“What?” she
grinned.

“Nothing,”
he said. She punched him on the arm. He pretended it hurt.

“See you
tomorrow?” she asked.

“See you
tomorrow.”

She floated
up the steps to her room, forgetting, for the moment, about the demise of her
family unit. That could wait. She flopped onto her bed, happy.

Chapter
39

Can we talk?

Jenna read
the text message blinking on her phone’s screen. It was from Alex. She sat up
on an unfamiliar bed, worried before remembering where she was: Noelle’s guest
bedroom. They had a good old-fashioned sleepover, grown up style: wine, bread,
cheese and chocolate. It had so refreshed her that without thinking, Jenna
replied:
I’ll call you in an hour.

As soon as
she sent it, fear gripped her heart. She hadn’t spoken to Alex since their
fight and she didn’t know what to say or what he wanted to talk about. She
didn’t know if she was ready to talk. In a panic, she got up, throwing her
clothes on, hardly noticing that they’d been washed, dried and folded for her
overnight.

Noelle
seemed miniaturized sitting at the giant breakfast table, bathed in early
morning light. Her snow-white hair was perfectly coiffed and she exuded
sophistication even dressed in her pajamas.

The table, set for two, reminded Jenna of the tea
parties she and
Airika
used to throw for their dolls
when they were little. Noelle ate a bowl of oatmeal, a newspaper open in front
of her.
J
enna didn’t want to be
rude.