Taking Flight (10 page)

But then again, she was sitting on a great GPA, had a healthy relationship with her parents, was popular at Collinsville High, and looked great. If one thing was certain, Cammie had her life together. So it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that with the ideal life came the ideal boyfriend. It was just strange that she hadn’t spent any of the past four days gushing about him to me, was all. Caitlyn never shut up every time she so much as spoke to a cute guy she was interested in.

The Marshalls finished their prayer and we all began eating, and as I sat in silence listening to Scott tell his parents about his day, I made a decision: there was no way I was passing up an opportunity to find out just who the two people were that wanted to spend the rest of their lives with the Marshall children.

Chapter Seven

Looking back on my first week that Friday night, I became paranoid I’d been overly complacent. I knew Week One was probably supposed to be the one the Marshalls made the easiest on me, but even so, I’d done all that’d been asked of me as far as farm work went, and I didn’t skip any classes on purpose.

To my credit, though, skipping a class would’ve just meant I’d go sit outside and do nothing but wait for it to be over, and that was never what I was like in Los Angeles. I skipped classes to go have fun, or I didn’t go at all because I wanted to stay home. Rebellion for the sake of rebellion just seemed like an asshole move. And yeah, I’d wanted to be an asshole to the Marshalls before I came here, but it took much less effort to just half-listen in class rather than sit around for ninety minutes doing nothing. Plus, I’d missed church, and I was sure that counted for something.

A third reason to attend classes – the second being that David was constantly and openly checking my attendance record – was that I now had a few classmates that seemed vaguely like people I could call friends. Maddie helped me in Physics class every day, which I enjoyed even more when I realized it bothered Cammie, because although I liked Cammie, she was so uptight sometimes that it made her a really fun person to unsettle. I felt like the SpongeBob to her Squidward.

Plus, an added bonus was that the more I talked to Maddie, the more Maddie seemed like a viable hookup partner. She didn’t have a boyfriend, she’d already proven she was up for trying new things, and thirdly…there was no other way to describe it other than that she “pinged”. There was just something about her that made her a blip on my gaydar, and I was rarely wrong. Maybe she didn’t even know it herself, but I was confident Maddie was at the very least a little bicurious.

Then there were Fiona and Nate, who ate lunch with me, which meant I only saw both of them for half an hour a day. But it was a half-hour of getting to know people I could relate to on a very basic level. They weren’t teased, or beaten up, or called names, but there was a rapport they clearly had with the rest of the citizens of Collinsville. I got the sense that they spent most of their time only talking to each other, despite the fact that they’d lived in Collinsville for years.

So a week into my stay, I was staying strong when it came to David’s prying into my past, Wendy and I were on chilly but polite terms, Scott and I didn’t talk much but at least got along, Cammie and I were steadily becoming friendlier and friendlier, and my three other friends consisted of a girl with her head half-shaved and practically the only two students at Collinsville High who weren’t white. All in all, I was doing better than expected. And although the first week would no doubt be the easiest, I couldn’t help but begin to think I could last five months.

Cammie decided to get all dressed up Friday night, which was exciting for me because I finally got to prove that there was something I was good at: Looking great, and helping others look great. I helped her pick out her outfit, and then, afterwards, I did her hair and makeup. When she got her first look at herself in the bathroom mirror, her eyes went wider than I’d ever seen them.

“Oh my God. How are you so good at this?”

“I do a lot of going out,” I told her, ducking into her bedroom with an outfit of my own and beginning to change. “Eventually you perfect this sort of thing.”

“You’re doing my makeup for Homecoming,” she called after me. I finished changing and rejoined her in the bathroom to do my own hair and makeup, and she smiled at me. “You don’t have to get dressed up if you don’t want to, you know. I’m sure Jill won’t for my brother.”

“So why’d you for Peter?” I asked, continuing anyway. There was always a chance I’d meet a cute girl, even in a town like Collinsville.

“I care what he thinks,” Cammie told me simply, her eyes on me while I worked.

“Jill doesn’t care what Scott thinks?”

“I mean, I’m sure she does, but they’re engaged anyway.”

“So you have to work to keep your man,” I said knowingly. “You know, if he dumps you for not wearing makeup, he’s probably an asshole anyway.”

“Yeah, but my mom really likes him,” Cammie replied instantly, and then avoided my eyes when I paused and looked at her in the mirror.

“Oh?” I asked. She looked like she’d said something she wasn’t supposed to. “But do you?”

“Of course. He’s nice.”

“I think that’s the only word I’ve heard you use to describe him since I first heard about him,” I said.

“Well… I mean, there are other good things about him too,” Cammie told me with a shrug of her shoulders. “He’s kind of perfect. Smart, a total gentleman… and he’s already got this football scholarship lined up for college.”

“He sounds perfect,” I told her lightly, finishing up my makeup. She looked at me in the mirror.

“Wow. I mean, you look really good.”

“Thanks.”

“Mhmm.” She stared at me for another long moment, and then cleared her throat abruptly and left. I watched her as she headed back into her room, and then I turned back to the mirror to do my hair, my eyebrows furrowed as I considered what she’d told me. Boy likes girl. Girl’s mom likes boy. Girl dates boy.

It didn’t seem like quite the cliché a Ryan Hansen fan would hope for.

*   *   *

Our first stop on the way to the drive-in was Jill’s house. She hopped into the passenger’s seat of Scott’s truck, and I got my first glimpse of her when she turned to look in the back and grinned at me. “Hey! Lauren, right? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said politely. Jill was a classic example of a guy ending up with a girl just like his mother, only she seemed genuinely friendlier than Wendy did. Still, she was ultimately a blonde Southern belle who looked like she’d be right at home on a farm. She had the look I’d expected Cammie to have.

But she was nice, and we spent most of the drive making small talk about what I thought of Collinsville and my classes and the Marshalls. I lied about all of it to be polite, and I don’t know if Scott picked up on that, but Cammie certainly did, because she spent about half the remaining ride in Scott’s truck with her eyes nearly rolling out of her head. That was fine with me, though; in fact, it was nice to know that there was someone here who saw through my bullshit, even if it meant that she also might be able to read me in situations where I wanted to fool her in the future. Besides, I was learning pretty quickly how to read her too.

We met Peter at the drive-in itself; he had his own car. He was about what I’d expected: brunette, tall, and subtly muscled, he stood a couples inches taller than Scott and had a certain confident air about him. Like he knew he was a hot commodity in his small country town. I knew within a few minutes of meeting him that Cammie was the one who was lucky to be with him. Not that I necessarily felt that way myself, but it was clear from the way they interacted that she was the one trying to keep him around. It was kind of awkward to watch, actually, especially after my conversation with Cammie in the bathroom.

We wound up sitting in the bed of Scott’s truck as the movie started up, Peter with his arm wrapped around Cammie as they huddled together near the back of the bed, and Scott and Jill sitting together closer to the front. I ended up in a corner by myself, wishing I hadn’t shown up in the first place. It felt silly now, but I’d had this strange hope that I’d come here and meet someone to sneak off with. As though there were lesbians in droves in this small town, just waiting for me to offer them a one-night stand. That clearly wasn’t going to happen.

What did happen was that Cammie ended up deciding she hated the movie ten minutes in. She detangled herself from Peter just as the first monster appeared onscreen and declared, “I want to go buy popcorn. Anyone else want something?”

“I’ll come with you,” I offered immediately, anxious to get out of my small corner and away from Peter and the other couple.

I hadn’t actually been aware that they sold concessions at drive-ins, but as it turned out, they had an entire booth for them. Cammie and I stood in a small line, and as we waited for our turn to order, I saw her sigh and shoot a glance back in the direction of Scott’s truck.

“It’s really hot out here,” she said eventually. She was right. The moist air was doing horrible things to my hair. “I wish he’d give me some air.”

“Ask him,” I told her simply, baffled that she’d keep quiet about something as small as being uncomfortably hot. “You have to ask for things if you want them, you know.”

She rolled her eyes at me, a smile on her lips. “Yes, I’m aware.”

“So he seems like your typical jock,” I told her. “Buff, brunette, and beautiful. What’s not to like?”

“Yep.” She kicked at a wayward stone on the ground in a manner that said otherwise, and then changed the subject. “I can’t stand horror movies.”

“Too scary?”

“Bad stuff happens, worse stuff happens, everyone dies, and so does the monster if they’re lucky. It’s all the same. I hate formulaic crap like that.”

“Except your romances,” I reminded her, only teasing, but she looked like I’d caught her in a lie for just a second.

“Except the romances, yeah.”

We fell silent after that. Cammie seemed strangely subdued. I cleared my throat. “Do you want to leave early?”

“Why would I do that?”

I shrugged my shoulders. “I don’t know… to talk? You seem kind of down.”

“I’m okay. Just not a fan of horror movies.”

“Me either,” I admitted. I don’t think I had as much of a distaste for them as Cammie did, but I certainly hadn’t attended the drive-in for the movie.

She asked me about that, next. “Why come with us, then?”

“I didn’t have anything better to do on a Friday night.”

“Trust me; this isn’t exactly my ideal Friday night, either,” she said.

“What is?” I asked, curious, but we reached the front of the line at that moment, and Cammie turned away from me to order.

When we got back to the truck, Scott and Jill were gone. Peter replied to our questioning looks with, “I think they snuck off somewhere to be alone. It’s kind of a nice night to spend together, don’t you think?” He looked at Cammie in a way that told me he wanted me gone as quickly as possible, but if Cammie noticed, she didn’t care.

“I don’t know; it’s kind of hot.” She crawled back and collapsed beside him, the bag of popcorn in her hands. I kept my distance from them and resolutely glued my eyes to the movie. With each passing second, I felt more and more uncomfortable.

Cammie broke the silence by scooting away from Peter and over to me, then offering me the popcorn. “Want some?” she asked, and I shook my head.

“No thanks.”

“Okay,” she said, but I noticed she didn’t move back in Peter’s direction.

Minutes passed. Eventually, Peter shuffled toward Cammie and asked, “Hey, Cam, wanna go back to my car?”

She was sitting so close to me that our arms were just barely touching, and I felt hers twitch as she turned to look at him. A small smile played on her lips. “What, you don’t like the movie?”

“I like you better,” he joked, and I suppressed the urge to mime a hurl. Guys like Peter were everywhere in Los Angeles; I knew his type, and although I was sure he wasn’t a terrible person, he was certainly a douchebag of a teenage boy. I imagined he was a perfect gentleman in front of Cammie’s parents, though.

She wound up leaving with him. I felt some sympathy for her, unsure of whether or not she’d actually wanted to go, until I became more preoccupied with the fact that I was alone in Scott’s truck bed. I didn’t know whether or not that was a good thing. On the one hand, I didn’t have to deal with being the awkward fifth wheel, but on the other hand, sitting alone was awkward too. And I couldn’t help but eventually go back to thinking about what exactly Cammie and Peter were doing in Peter’s car.

So that was how I spent most of the rest of the movie: sitting alone in Scott’s truck bed, marveling at the irresponsibility of the two children who were supposed to be making sure I wasn’t getting myself into any trouble. For all they knew, I could be smoking pot or having lesbian sex right now and they’d be none the wiser.

I shook my head to myself and tsked, vaguely annoyed. I didn’t
intend
to misbehave, but they were practically asking for it now, leaving me alone like this.

I started to get out of the truck bed, and then paused. I didn’t have a plan. It was dark and kind of creepy out here. And, annoyingly, I seemed to have suddenly developed a conscious that sounded like David Marshall.
“You’ll probably get into trouble if you do this,”
it said.
“Think about the consequences of your actions.”

I ignored it, realizing what I wanted to do. It wasn’t anything I’d get into trouble for, because I wouldn’t get caught, and it wasn’t anything that’d hurt anyone. It was just something I wanted to do to fill my rebellion quota for the week, especially since I was majorly slacking.

Scott had left his cell phone in one of the cup-holders between the front seats of his truck, and in less than five seconds I’d ducked into the vehicle, grabbed it, and then settled into the back seat, lying down on my back. I dialed Caitlyn’s number. I just wanted an uncensored talk with my best friend.