Sleeping Freshmen Never Lie (24 page)

Kelly, Kyle, Vernon. Who else? Did other kids know what happened? It sucked enough to get beaten up. It would be worse if everyone knew. Vernon would probably brag to his friends, like it was some kind of great achievement to jump someone who was half your size. When she’d seen what happened, Kelly had seemed shocked. As for Kyle, I just didn’t know.

As I walked through the halls Monday morning, I looked for any sign that the word had spread. One of Vernon’s pals grinned at me. But other than that, I didn’t get any sense that I was a news story. Fine with me. I’d just as soon forget the whole thing. When I walked past Kyle, he avoided my eyes.

I expected Lee to avoid me, too. But she looked straight at me and tried to act like the whole dance thing was a misunderstanding. I could feel a coldness behind her words. The
worst part was, I’d never seen her hide her feelings or pretend about anything. This must have really cut her deeply.

In English, the moment I sat down, Kelly glanced over and whispered, “I’m sorry.”

“Forget it. You didn’t know.” I glanced past her at Julia, wondering how much Kelly had told her. Probably everything. That’s what girls did. They told each other everything. I could just hear them.

Scott Hudson has this major crush on you
.

Who
?

Scott. You know. Sits next to me in English
.

Him? That runt? Are you kidding
?

No. Really. As if he had a chance
.

Julia must have thought I was a total loser. And I guess she was pretty much right. I’d spent a whole year hung up on a girl who would never be interested in me. And treated the one girl who wanted to go to the dance with me like she didn’t matter at all.

Maybe it wasn’t too late. I had to keep trying. When I got home from school, I called Wesco Limos. They were the only local place listed in the phone book. I figured if I went way overboard—limo, flowers, and all that stuff—she’d have to agree to go.

“Everything’s taken this weekend,” the guy on the phone said, “except for one luxury stretch model.”

“How much is that?” I asked. Nothing wrong with a bit of luxury.

“Seventy-five dollars,” he said.

I wondered whether he could hear me gulp. That was kind of steep, but I wouldn’t need it for the whole day. Just to pick up Lee, drop us off at the dance, and then come back later to take us home. “How much for a couple of hours?” I asked.

There was a pause. Then the guy said, “Look, kid, it’s seventy-five an hour. Six-hour minimum.”

“Oh …”

“I take it you aren’t interested?”

“I guess not.”

Tuesday, when I tried to talk to Lee, she said, “You know what I keep thinking about?”

“What?”

“I remember you telling me about how you were nice to Mouth even though you didn’t like him. And now you’re being nice to me. Is it my imagination, or is there a pattern here?”

“This is different,” I said.

“Those are just words, Scott.”

Words were all I had. I needed to figure out some way to make things right. I couldn’t let her think I was just being nice.

I tried again the next day.

“We’re going to the dance,” I told her.

“I wouldn’t be caught dead there,” she said. “Actually, I guess if I were dead I wouldn’t really care where I was. I’d just never be caught alive there. Especially not with some guy who’s constantly worried about what other people think.” She
stepped close to me—right in my face. “Better run. People might see you talking to me.”

I had to fight to keep from glancing around to see who was watching us, but I stood my ground. This close, I could see individual bits of black flakes in her eye makeup. But I took it as a good sign that she was talking about death. “Look, I’m going to be at your house at seven on Friday. I’ll wait out there all night if I have to. But I’ll be there.”

“Whatever makes you happy. Better bring a tent.”

“Seven,” I said. “I’m looking forward to it.” Then, as she started to move away, I reached into my backpack and pulled out the heart-shaped box of Valentine candy that I’d been saving.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“It’s not a locker.” I held it toward her. “And it’s not a Valentine.”
But maybe it’s a peace offering
.

She shook her head and walked away. But she took the candy with her.

Dance or no dance, I still had a mountain of assignments to deal with. I was in my room after school, trying to get stuff done when I heard these weird sounds.

“Heee, heee, hooo, hooo.”

I went downstairs. Mom and Dad were in the living room. Mom was lying on the floor. Dad was sitting next to her with a checklist.

“You okay?”

“We’re fine,” Mom said. “Just practicing my breathing.”

“Natural childbirth,” Dad said.

“Right.” I went upstairs, got my books, and headed for the town library. I really didn’t want to be around them while they ran a dress rehearsal.

I stayed at the library until I figured it was safe to go home. I was halfway there when a car skidded to a stop by the curb right in front of me. Vernon’s car. It was my turn to make strange sounds.

I expected a gang of his friends to pour out and rip me to pieces. Instead, Julia scrambled out and slammed the door.

“You jerk!” she shouted.

Vernon yelled back, but the words were drowned out by the sound of screeching tires as he shot away in a cloud of blue smoke.

I didn’t know which of us was more in shock. Julia looked stunned. She seemed like she was trying to figure out where she was. As she turned my way, I guess I was the first thing she recognized.

“Scott …”

“You okay?” I asked. I was halfway surprised she remembered my name.

She nodded. Her body jerked a couple times as she bit back a sob.

I took a step closer. “Did he … hurt you?”

She shook her head. “It wasn’t anything like that. He wouldn’t hurt me. It’s just—we fight. He gets angry. I get angry. It’s been real bad the last couple days.”

“I’ll walk you home.”

“Thanks.”

She was quiet until we were about a block from her house. Then she sighed and said, “Why does everything have to be so hard?”

I didn’t have an answer for her. The silence returned as we covered the last block. Couldn’t she see that she was way too good for Vernon? I thought about how I hadn’t realized I’d changed. Maybe Julia hadn’t realized how much she’d changed, either. I wondered what images hovered in her mirror. An invisible girl?

“You’re so lucky,” she said when we reached her house.

I had no idea what she meant. I waited for her to explain. Instead, she said, “Kelly told me you’d asked about me.”

All I could manage was a nod.

She glanced away for a moment, then looked right in my eyes. “I guess you probably have a date for the dance …”

The words were right there if I wanted them.
No, I don’t have a date
. It would be so easy. And it wasn’t really a lie. I didn’t have a date. Lee had turned me down. To my credit, only a couple seconds passed before I opened my mouth and killed a thousand fantasies with a single sentence. “I’ve asked someone.”

“My loss.” She put a hand on my shoulder and kissed my cheek, right where Vernon had hit me. Then she went inside.

Damn.

t
he phone woke me late that night. Someone picked it up after the second ring. I drifted back to sleep, but then I heard another sound.

Guitar music. Real quiet. I couldn’t even make out the song. I got out of bed and went to Bobby’s room.

“What’s up?”

“You know Charley?”

“Sure. The guy from your band.” A ripple ran through my gut. Late-night calls meant bad news. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah.” He shook his head. “It’s like a million-to-one shot. He met this girl down there. She’s a secretary for a concert promoter. The opening act for this tour broke up. They need a new band right away. Charley managed to talk the guy into giving him an audition.”

“Good for him,” I said.

“It’s still just the two of them down there. He wants me to join them.”

“Great. When’s the audition?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.”

“In Nashville?”

Bobby nodded.

“So go,” I said.

“No way to get there.”

“Take the ‘vette.”

He shook his head. “The clutch needs work. And she’s been burning oil. The distributor is still messed up, thanks to me. I screwed it up pretty badly with the wrench. I’d never make it even halfway there.”

“Take Mom’s car. Get down there, do the audition, catch some sleep at Charley’s place, and come back the next day. What is it—a ten- or twelve-hour drive?”

“Yeah. Think they’d mind?”

We both glanced toward their bedroom. I was sure Bobby was thinking the same thing I was.
Wake them and ask permission
? Bobby looked back at me. We both knew the basic rule—when in doubt, don’t ask. I also knew Bobby was trying hard to act more responsibly. It was up to me to give him a push.

“They’d be thrilled,” I said. “Dad can take the ‘vette to work, right? Does it run well enough for that?”

“Sure. It might smoke a little, but it should be fine for a short hop as long as he doesn’t push it too hard. And he loves driving it.”

“Then do it. He won’t mind. He’s proud of you.”

Bobby looked at me like he wanted to say something more. “Go,” I said.

I stood by his bedroom window and watched him drive off. I was glad he had the courage to take a chance. Maybe it would work out great. Maybe not. But at least he wouldn’t spend the rest of his life wondering what might have been.

Later, as I was trying to get back to sleep, I realized Bobby hadn’t only driven off in search of his dreams, he’d also driven off with my ride to the dance. The ‘vette was a two-seater.

“Nashville?” Mom said when I told her the news the next morning. “Please tell me this is a joke.”

“It’s no joke.” I decided not to add that it was my idea.

Dad stared toward the garage for a minute. “Did he have enough money for gas?”

“Yeah. I gave him some.”

Mom and Dad exchanged glances, and had some sort of silent conversation. I expected them to be angry. And I think they were, at first. But then Mom said, “Bobby’s been chasing something all his life. Maybe this is it.”

“It’s a long shot,” Dad said.

“But what’s the harm?” Mom said. “Whatever happens, I’m glad he went. You’ve got your dream. Someday you’ll have your own garage.” She looked at me. “I want my boys to follow their dreams, wherever they lead. Even if I don’t always understand them.”

“He’ll be back tomorrow,” I said. I wanted to tell them more, to help them understand why Bobby had gotten into so much trouble. But that was his decision. I headed off to school, to chase after my own small goal.

I tested the waters when I saw Lee in the hallway by saying, “Hi.”

“Hi.” No expression.

“How was the chocolate?”

“Stale.” Spoken with a frown.

“Seven o’clock. Don’t forget.”

No words. Cold stare.

When in doubt, try humor. “So, what’s your favorite flower? Dead roses?”

Her lip might have twitched with the most microscopic of smiles, but it was hard to tell for sure. She turned to go.

“Seven,” I called after her. “Don’t forget.”

“Downsized,” Mr. Franka said. “What does that really mean?”

“Fired,” someone said.

“Right. We use polite language to avoid words that are considered harsh or rude.
Heck
instead of
hell. Darn
instead of
damn. Put to sleep
instead of
killed
. What do we call that?”

“Euphemisms,” Julia said.

“Shoot,” I muttered. “I knew that.”

Lunchtime. Bravery time. I knew what I had to do. I walked across to Lee’s table. A couple of other girls glanced at me, then turned back to their conversations.

“I’ll pick you up at seven,” I said, raising my voice enough so everyone at the table would hear me. Not that any of them paid any attention to me.

I waited, hoping that Lee wouldn’t shoot me down in front of everyone. Though if she did, I probably deserved it. She didn’t say a word. That was fine. At least I’d made my point that I wasn’t afraid to be seen with her.

• • •

I tried to figure out how to get a ride, but I could only come up with one idea, and the very thought of it sent warning twitches through most of my internal organs.

“I need a huge favor,” I said to Wesley on the way home from school.

“Name it.”

“I’ve got a date for the dance. Can you give us a ride?”

“Sure.”

“One other thing …” I said.

“Yeah?”

I handed him ten dollars. “Would you mind buying gas before you pick me up?”

“You got it.”

“Thanks.” Between Bobby and Wesley, I figured I was single-handedly supporting the petroleum industry.