Spring Fling (8 page)

As soon as she heard those words, the memories came flooding back.

Damian Marsala was standing across from her. They had gone to junior high together, but he didn‟t look like this back then!

The old Damian was short and chubby with braces on his teeth and pimples on his face. This Damian looked like he could star on a teen soap on the CW. And he knew it. He was well aware of the way the Princess Posse was checking him out and he was loving every minute of it. Who could blame him? Back in junior high, none of the girls had wanted anything to do with him, including Mindy. She hadn‟t laughed at Damian or teased him, but she never went out of her way to be friends with him.

In the spring of eighth grade, they‟d had to work together on a project for science class. Damian was constantly slacking off, so Mindy told him if he did his fair share of the work, she‟d give him a kiss on the last day of school. She figured if Damian told anyone about the kiss—and she was sure he would—it would be forgotten by the time classes resumed in September. It was the only thing she could think of that he might want. And cheek only! No lips! Damian agreed and they finished the project, which was a reproduction of the human digestive system, complete with sound and blinking lights. They got an A on it.

Unfortunately, Mindy was out sick the last day of school. Then her family went away for the summer, and that fall, she and Damian started their freshman year at different high schools. So Damian never got his kiss.

“We can discuss collecting later,” Damian whispered, his breath blowing lightly against Mindy‟s earlobe and sending shivers down her spine. “I‟m going to go get something to eat.”

“How do you know him?” Wanda demanded as soon as Damian walked away.

“Tell us everything!” Lacey gushed.

“Did you used to date him?” Vivienne wanted to know. “Does he have a girlfriend?”

Mindy‟s head was spinning from all the questions being thrown her way. She didn‟t know whose question to answer first, so she played it safe and gave Wanda all her attention.

“We went to junior high together,” she said. “His name is Damian Marsala. This is the first time I‟ve seen him in years.”

“He‟s from our town?” Vivienne gasped. “Where‟s he been hiding himself?”

“He goes to South Ridge High.”

“If the guys at South Ridge High look like that, I‟m transferring!” Lacey exclaimed.

“You‟re going to have to get his cell phone number so we can hang out with him this week,” Wanda said.

“Go get something to eat!” Lacey urged, pushing Mindy in the direction Damian had headed. “And his digits!”

Mindy walked over to the barbecue. As she waited to be served, Vivienne came up behind her.

“Thanks for helping me out before,” Mindy said. “You know, with that curfew stuff.”

Vivienne shrugged. “Not a problem. Friends help each other out.” Were they friends? Mindy wondered. Wanda had said they were friends, but had she meant it? Now Vivienne was saying the same thing.

“If I can ever help you out, all you have to do is ask,” Mindy said, wanting to show Vivienne she could count on her.

“Really?”

Mindy nodded.

Vivienne looked around, as if wanting to make sure she wasn‟t overheard. “Do you think you can get me a date with Damian?”

Mindy didn‟t know how to answer. She didn‟t want to make Vivienne mad. At the same time, she did want to prove she was a friend.

“I haven‟t seen Damian in three years,” Mindy said. “I don‟t know anything about him. Hopefully, I‟ll be able to reconnect with him this week and I can feel him out. See if he‟s dating someone, and if he isn‟t, if he‟d be interested in going out with you. Is that okay?”

Mindy held her breath, waiting for Vivienne‟s answer.

“That would be great! Thanks, Mindy.” Vivienne peeked over her shoulder. “This is just between us, right?”

Mindy knew what she was asking. Vivienne was no dummy. She knew that Wanda and Lacey were also interested in Damian, and she didn‟t want them to know she was.

“Just between us,” Mindy promised.

After getting a chicken breast, some salad, and a soda, Mindy found a seat on a chaise lounge next to the pool. As she sat down and started to eat, Lacey slid into the lounge chair next to her.

“You‟ve got to help me, Mindy!”

“With what?”

“Wanda‟s setting her sights on Damian and it‟s not fair.” Lacey pouted. “She already has Rick.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“You‟ve got to get me a date with Damian!”

Mindy almost choked on the soda she was sipping. “What?!” Lacey nodded eagerly. “You‟re his friend. If you tell him how great I am and that he should ask me out, he‟ll listen to you.”

“Damian and I aren‟t really friends,” Mindy said, her mind scrambling for some sort of answer to get herself out of this mess.

“But
we’re
friends, aren‟t we?”

There was only one answer that Mindy could give. And once she gave it, she was doomed.

“Of course we‟re friends!”

“Then you‟ll come through for me? You‟ll get me a date with Damian?”

“I can‟t promise a date with Damian,” Mindy hesitantly said, watching as Lacey‟s face started to turn red with anger. “Wait! Let me explain.” In a rush, Mindy told Lacey the same thing she had told Vivienne. Luckily, Lacey calmed down and was fine with Mindy‟s answer.

“If you come through for me, Mindy,” she said, getting up from her chaise lounge,

“I won‟t forget it.”

After Lacey left, Mindy tried to keep eating, but she had lost her appetite. How was she going to get Damian to go out with both Vivienne and Lacey? And not have them find out about it?

“Mindy!”

Mindy turned to see that Wanda had slid into the chaise lounge where Lacey had been sitting.

“We need to talk.”

“About?”

Wanda‟s red lips curled into a satisfied smile, and her dark almond-shaped eyes sparkled. “Damian!”

Mindy swallowed over the lump in her throat. She had a bad feeling about this…

“What about him?” she asked, forcing the words out.

Please don’t say what I think you’re going to say. Please don’t say what I think
you’re going to say.

“I want to go out with him.”

She said it!

“And you‟re going to make it happen!”

Mindy knew there was no way she‟d be able to tell Wanda what she‟d told Vivienne and Lacey. No way. Wanda wanted a date with Damian, and she expected Mindy to deliver a date with Damian.

No matter what.

Mindy gave Wanda a huge smile. “Absolutely!”

After Wanda left, Mindy tried not to panic. She had to think of the positives and not the negatives. This was the opportunity she had been waiting for. If she came through on what she had promised, she would be
in
with the Princess Posse.

There was only one problem.

Wanda, Lacey, and Vivienne all wanted a date with Damian.

And Damian was only one guy!

How was she going to pull this off?

Unless…

Unless she did a group date. Yes! A group date. That way, they all got to spend time with Damian, and Damian got to know them. Hopefully, he‟d click with one of the girls, and Mindy would be off the hook.

Mindy jumped off her chaise lounge and searched for Damian. Where was he?

“Looking for me?”

Mindy stared into the pool and saw Damian floating on his back, wearing only a pair of neon blue swim trunks.

He looked good without his T-shirt on.

Very good.

Mindy forced her eyes to move from his chest up to his face and found that equally distracting.

Focus. Must focus! My social life is at stake!

“Why don‟t you come out of the pool so we can talk?” she suggested.

Damian swam over to the side of the pool and pulled himself out, shaking himself off and scattering droplets of water everywhere.

“Ick!” Mindy screamed. “You‟re getting me all wet!”

“Stop being such a girl!” Damian teased, flicking some more water at her.

“I
am
a girl!”

“And a very pretty one,” Damian said.

It was nice to hear the words, but Mindy wasn‟t gullible. She had a feeling that Damian was always saying things like that to girls. He was definitely a flirt. He knew what to say and do to make a girl feel special.

“Where‟ve you been hiding all these years?” he asked. “North Ridge isn‟t such a huge town.”

“Maybe I haven‟t been hiding. Maybe you‟ve been too busy dating to think about some girl you went to junior high with.”

Damian shrugged. “I do have a busy social life.”

I’ll bet
, Mindy thought. Damian was probably South Ridge High‟s biggest heartbreaker.

“Are you doing anything tomorrow?” Mindy asked. “I thought if you didn‟t have plans, you might want to go to the beach.”

“Just you and me?”

“And my friends.”

Damian shook his head. “Two‟s company and five‟s a crowd.”

“Come on!” Mindy pleaded. “It‟ll be fun.” He had to say yes. If he didn‟t, she didn‟t know what she would do! “Please? I really would like to spend some time with you.”

“I‟ll go to the beach with you and your friends tomorrow, but only if we can sneak off and spend some time alone,” Damian shot back. “So we can catch up with each other.” Mindy knew if the other girls found out, they‟d go ballistic. But that didn‟t mean they had to find out…

And it wasn‟t like she and Damian would be going out on a
date.

They would be two old friends getting together and catching up.

She didn‟t have anything to feel guilty about.

The words slipped out before she could stop them. “It‟s a deal!” Danielle gazed longingly at the sparerib Ethan was gnawing on. It looked so yummy, slathered with barbecue sauce. Not to mention the corn on the cob oozing with melted butter on his plate.

“These ribs are delicious,” Ethan said, licking his fingers. “Are you sure you don‟t want some?”

“I‟m fine with my salad,” Danielle said, holding up a forkful of tomatoes and greens.

She really did want some spareribs and corn on the cob, but she couldn‟t eat them tonight. They were too messy. She could wind up with corn stuck between her teeth or barbecue sauce smeared across her face. Hardly the look she wanted!

“Thanks for helping me barbecue,” Danielle said.

“I‟m pretty much a disaster in the kitchen,” Ethan admitted. “But I‟m good at barbecuing. All you do is light the charcoal and toss the meat on the grill and flip it over a couple of times.”

Danielle gazed around the backyard. “I think everyone is having fun.”
Including me
, she wanted to say. Even though this wasn‟t an “official” date, they were having a really nice time. Of course, she‟d had great first dates in the past and then disastrous second dates, so she wasn‟t feeling confident quite yet.

“This is so weird,” Ethan said.

“What is?”

Ethan waved his sparerib in the air. “This. Not only are we all from the same town, but our beach houses are right next door to each other.”

“Maybe it was fate.”

“Fate?”

“Maybe we were destined to meet each other. It‟s like something out of a movie.”

“So who‟s playing me and who‟s playing you?”

“I‟m Anne Hathaway and you‟re Zac Efron.”

Ethan made a face. “I can‟t stand
High School Musical.
”

“Bite your tongue! That was my favorite movie when I was a tween.”

“Are you a big moviegoer?”

“I love seeing movies on the big screen. Especially the ones with tons of special effects.”

“Me, too!”

“I waited two hours in line to see the last
Star Trek
movie.”

“Do you like going to the beach?” Ethan asked.

“I love the beach,” Danielle said.

“Want to go tomorrow?”

“Sure!”

Date number two!
Danielle happily thought. Hopefully, it wouldn‟t be a disaster.

“I see you‟re a ketchup girl,” Cooper said.

Ava gazed up at Cooper. “Huh?”

Cooper pointed to her hot dog. “You put ketchup on it, not mustard.” He held up his own hot dog, also covered in ketchup. “Just like me. Kids at school would always look at me like I was a freak when I put ketchup on my hot dog.”

“Join the club.”

“Is anyone sitting next to you?” Cooper asked, pointing to the spot next to Ava on the picnic bench.

“It‟s all yours.”

“I‟m Cooper,” he said, putting his plate down and sliding next to her.

“Ava.”

“Are you the matchmaker responsible for getting Ethan and Danielle together?” Ava shook her head. “I can‟t take the credit for that. Danielle‟s skills with a supermarket cart are what did it.”

Cooper couldn‟t figure out what it was, but there was something sad about Ava.

And he wanted to take that sadness away. He could see it in her eyes. He tried talking to her, but every question he asked, she gave him a one-word answer. Finally, he gave up.

“It was nice
not
talking to you,” he said after he finished eating.

“What?”

“You hardly talked to me. Did I do something to offend you? Because if I did, I‟m sorry.”

Ava sighed. “It‟s not you, it‟s me. I‟m just in a funk. My boyfriend and I recently broke up. We were dating for a year. Just when I think I‟m ready to move on, I find out I‟m not.”

“Oh,” Cooper quietly said, feeling bad for criticizing Ava. “Well, if it‟s any consolation, I think he was a jerk for breaking up with you.” Ava gave Cooper a small smile. “Thanks. I think he‟s a jerk, too.”

“You know what would cheer you up?”

“What?”

“A day at the beach. There‟s nothing like the feel of sand between your toes.