Ten Things We Did (And Probably Shouldn't Have) (16 page)

Dana checked in with Vi-as-Suzanne nightly.

Dana also checked in with Marissa nightly.

“I am not coming home until you and Dad change your minds!” Marissa told her.

They did not change their minds. She didn’t go home.

“I can’t believe my mom hasn’t arrived on your doorstep,” Marissa said, Thursday night while we were Hulaing.

“Maybe she’s enjoying having one less kid to worry about,” Vi said.

Marissa leaned her head back against the tub. “You’re probably right. We are a lot to keep track of. Last week my brother locked himself in the garage, and no one noticed for three hours.”

I couldn’t stop smiling. Sure, I felt bad that Marissa was fighting with Dana, but . . . I loved having Marissa here.

My phone beeped. Text from Hudson.

Hudson: What’s up?

Me: Chillaxing in the tub.

Hudson: How’s Donut?

Me: Doing great.

“Who’re you texting?” Marissa asked.

“Hudson,” I said while typing.

“Reeeaaaally,” Vi said with a smile. “Flirting a little?”

“Why are you so pro-Hudson and so anti-Noah?” I wondered out loud.

“I’m not anti-Noah. I just think Hudson’s a great guy. And when he’s around, you’re . . . different,” she went on. “In a good way. Bolder. You’re—”

“More like you?” I asked, and splashed her.

“I was going to say fearless, but ‘more like me’ will do. And Noah is a little stuffy, don’t you think? I wonder if you’re really still in love with him or if it’s a comfort thing.”

Ouch. “I’m still in love with him,” I told her. “I am.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Does
he
think you’re the hottest girl in Westport?”

I splashed her again. “He better.”

“That’s right,” Marissa said. “Otherwise you should dump his ass.”

I looked over at her in surprise. Marissa used to think Noah and I were the world’s best couple. What had happened?

“Invite him over to join us,” Vi said.

“Noah?”

“Hudson,” Vi said.

I shook my head. “Now
that
would be flirting.”

“Then I’ll invite him over,” Vi said with an exaggerated sigh. “I swear, I have to do everything around here.” She dialed a number and then said, “Hey, Hudson, what’s up?”

I splashed her with my foot.

“Stop splashing,” she said to me. “If you get my phone wet I’m going to beat you. Hud? Why don’t you and your delinquent brother come over and hang out with us?”

Dean had not been over since their fight at the vet. There had been definite weirdness between Vi and him. Weirdness that probably would not just disappear by inviting him over via his brother.

Vi scowled for a second, but then her face was blank. “Oh. Yeah. Whatever. Don’t worry about it. Later.” She hung up.

“They can’t make it?” Marissa asked.

I felt vaguely disappointed, even though I knew it was for the best. Hudson being in my hot tub would not make Noah happy. Also, if he spent too much time with me, surely he would notice that I was not, in fact, the hottest girl in Westport.

“Dean is at Pinky’s,” she said, eyes steely.

“Pinky who writes for your paper?” Marissa asked.

“Yes, that Pinky. Do you know any other Pinkys?” Vi’s voice was tight. She carved her hands through the water like knives.

“You told her to go for him,” I reminded her.

“I know,” she snapped.

“I don’t understand,” Marissa said. “Why would you do that?”

“She’s a real go-getter.” Vi’s voice was snide. “I didn’t know he was going to go for it, though.”

Marissa shook her head. “You were testing him?”

“No. I was trying to get him to . . .” Vi sighed. “Never mind.”

“You okay?” I asked carefully.

Vi rolled her eyes. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be? I don’t care who he hangs out with. We’re just friends.”

Marissa and I shared a look.

“I’m hungry,” Vi said, pulling herself out of the tub. “Do either of you want nachos?”

Marissa shook her head. “No thanks.”

Vi let the door slide closed with a bang.

“She likes him, right?” Marissa asked.

“Yup.”

“Commitment issues?” Marissa wondered.

“She has this thing about boyfriends tying her down and then deserting her. Parent issues.”

She nodded. “Speaking of parent issues, how are you doing here? You seem really good on your own.”

“I am,” I said, smiling. “I’m getting the hang of it.”

“And you’re happy?” She looked at me across the water, eyes hopeful.

I considered. “Yes,” I said. I
was
happy.

“And Noah?”

“Noah is great,” I said. “We’re great.”

She ran her fingers through the water. “If you’re happy, I’m happy.”

“I’m happy,” I assured her. “But Vi isn’t.”

“Then let’s go eat some nachos and cheer her up.”

Once inside, I put my arm around Vi. “Now can I hate her? Or is that antifeminist?”

“Both,” she said, and popped a chip in her mouth. “But please. Go right ahead.”

AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR

“So,” Marissa said on our Friday morning drive to school. She was sitting up front with Vi while I stretched out across the back. “I spoke to Aaron last night and we were wondering something . . .”

“Yeah?”

“Since you have no parents and since I’m very sad that I will not be spending the summer with my boyfriend, can he come visit?”

“Here?” I was glad I wasn’t driving because I would have veered into the sidewalk.

“Yeah,” she said. “Unless that’s not cool. Which I totally understand. But he wants to see me and he could drive in after school if you guys didn’t mind. . . .”

“Of course we don’t mind!” Vi shrieked.

We didn’t? We were kind of enjoying the BFF-bonding time, I thought. Especially me, since I was with both of my BFFs. “No, that’s fine. Fun!” I lied.

“Really? You guys are the best! I’m going to call and tell him right now. Hi!” she squealed into the phone. “They said it was cool! Yay! I told you they had a hot tub, right?”

Is it wrong that I wasn’t overjoyed to share my house—or my Hula—with a guy I had only met a few times?

“Does he have any cute friends?” Vi asked. “Tell him to bring one along.”

Two strange guys. Even better.

ONE MORE MONKEY SLEEPING IN THE BED

They rolled in at eleven. Aaron. Plus Brett.

Aaron ran inside, picked Marissa up and twirled her around. “I missed you,” he said.

She kissed him firmly on the mouth.

“Get a room,” Vi sang.

Marissa blushed and pulled away. I wondered if she was rethinking her sex plan. She
was
going to wait until this summer, but now . . .

“Hey, April,” Aaron said, giving me a hug. Aaron was tall and had dark hair, almost black, and thick eyebrows. He looked a little like Bert from
Sesame Street
, but cute.

“This is for you guys,” Brett said. He had long, blond, straight hair and looked like a surfer. He handed Vi a large bouquet of flowers. “Thank you for having us.”

“That is so sweet!” Vi said, smelling them and appraising Brett. “Very thoughtful.”

“So where should we put our stuff?” he asked.

“Aaron should put his things in my mom’s room with Marissa’s. That’s where he’s sleeping. And you leave your things in the living room beside the TV. And if you play your cards right, you may be able to move them into my room.”

Oh God.

His eyes widened. “I’m a champ at poker.”

Game on.

ALL TOGETHER NOW

Upstairs, all of them were Hulaing, including Lucy.

Aaron had his arm around Marissa, and the two of them were gazing at each other and whispering and giggling adorably.

“Do you find Lucy has a weird stare?” Noah whispered when he got there.

“You get used to it,” I whispered back. “Did you bring your bathing suit?”

“No. That thing is a bacteria soup.”

I didn’t press. He’d been in the hot tub once with me, only when Vi wasn’t home. I guessed he was self-conscious about his weight. Not that I thought he was too skinny, but I knew he did. Or maybe he just didn’t want to have to talk to Vi.

“Hey, everyone!”

“April!” Vi called. She had her arm around Brett. “We’re having such a great time.”

“Great,” I said.

“You have to come Hula. It’s so hot in here. It’s the hottest tub in Westport! Noah, do you know who the hottest girl in Westport is? According to—”

“It seems kind of full,” I interrupted her.

“Ah, Hula can take it,” she said. “Can’t you, Hula? But guess who’s coming over? Miss Teen Westport and her boyfriend.”

“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

“Why not?”

“Um . . .” Because you are secretly in love with Dean and you invited him over to make him jealous with your surfer boy. “Are you drunk?”

“No. I’ve had one beer. I’m going to get Pinky to do her wave.” She flickered her fingers.

“What is she talking about?” Noah asked me.

“Her beauty pageant wave!” Lucy shrieked. Her eyes were shining and I guessed she had already had more than one beer. Maybe I should call her mother.

“Can you get more beers?” Vi asked me. “Since you’re up. And dry.”

I heard the doorbell and dreaded opening it. Dean and Pinky were bad enough. But was Hudson with them? Noah was already weirded out by the random guys here. It would not help if Hudson showed up too.

It was just Dean and Pinky.

“Hey,” I said with a hand flourish. “Welcome.”

Noah and Dean nodded to each other.

“There she is,” Vi sang from the other side of the glass.

“Let’s see a wave!” Lucy hollered.

Oh my. This was not good.

Lucy, Vi, and Brett were now all waving their hands, beauty pageant style.

Pinky waved back, laughing. Dean looked like he wanted to retreat right out the door. “Is she drunk?” he asked me.

“No. Just obnoxious.”

“Who’s that guy?” he asked.

“Friend of Marissa’s boyfriend. They drove in from Boston.”

“And they’re staying . . . ?”

“Here.”

Dean’s jaw dropped. “Both of them.”

“Yes.”

“Where are they sleeping?”

“Aaron is sleeping with Marissa, and Brett will be on the couch,” I said. “Definitely the couch.” I hoped.

As we watched through the glass, Vi put her arms around Brett and kissed him on the mouth.

Poor Jane! Poor Jilted Jane!

JILTED JANE

“Vi,” Marissa told us an hour earlier, pulling Vi and me into the kitchen. “Brett has a girlfriend named Jane.”

I was emptying a bag of tortilla chips into a bowl. “His girlfriend didn’t mind him coming over and spending the weekend with us?” I said.

“I don’t know,” Marissa said, twirling a curl around her finger. “I told Aaron to bring someone else, but Brett has a car and . . . sorry. Seriously. I wanted to warn you.”

“He doesn’t act like he has a girlfriend,” Vi said, shaking her head. “He’s been eyeballing me since the bed comments. What is wrong with guys? No one is forcing him to have a girlfriend. He could choose to be single. Yet instead he chooses to have one, and then still flirts with me. I should hook up with him, take a picture, and send it to his girlfriend.”

I shook my head and knelt down in front of the fridge to find the salsa.

“That’s terrible!” Marissa shrieked. “Why would you do that? Jane would be devastated!”

“Better now than later, don’t you think? Doesn’t she deserve to know that he’s an ass?”

“He might not be an ass! He hasn’t even done anything! He just flirted with you! We don’t know that he did anything. It’s just a rumor!” Marissa said.

“What rumor?” I asked, rummaging through the shelves. Some of these yogurts had expired. We needed to do a sweep back here. Found it! “What are you talking about?” I closed the fridge and put the jar on the counter.

Marissa was red. “Nothing. I’m just saying . . . it’s entrapment.”

“Jane will appreciate it later,” Vi said.

I laughed. “That is a picture I would
never
want to see. Noah with some other girl? No thanks. Trust me. Jane won’t appreciate it at all. She’ll despise you. You’ll be
that
girl. Don’t be
that
girl.”

Vi put her hand on her hip. “Who’d you rather be, the girl who participates in the cheating or the girl who gets cheated on?”

Marissa throws up her hands. “The girl who gets cheated on isn’t doing anything wrong! It’s not her fault. The girl who participates in the cheating sucks!”

“I know which one I’d rather be,” I said, carrying the bowl into the living room. “Neither.”

SOIRÉE CONTINUED

Vi still had her tongue down Brett’s throat in the hot tub.

“You know what?” Dean said. “I think we’re going to go.”

No, no, no! “You just got here! Don’t go. She’s just . . .”

“Pinky, wanna go to Kernan’s?”

Kernan was a senior who was apparently having a competing soirée.

“Already?” Pinky asked. Her voice was deeper than you’d expect. She sounded kind of like a forty-year-old woman.

“Don’t go,” I said. “Hold on.” I ran back outside, knelt down, and squeezed Vi’s shoulder. “Can I talk to you for a second?”

She pulled away from Brett. “What?”

“You’re being a jerk,” I said. “Dean is here.”

“I’m being a jerk? He brought
Pinky.
”

“You made him bring Pinky!”

“Hey,” Pinky said, suddenly looming over the tub. “Thanks for inviting us.”

“Yeah, thanks so much,” Dean said. “We’re just stopping by to say hi. We’re going to Kernan’s.”

“Oh, you are, are you?” Vi asked.

“We are,” Dean said, glaring.

Vi smiled. “Pinky can’t leave without giving us her best beauty pageant wave, now can she?”

Pinky laughed, and did her wave. Everyone in the hot tub cheered. When she was done, she put her arm around Dean. “Ready?”

Dean was still looking at Vi. “Yeah,” he said slowly. “Sure.”

Oh God. Vi very obviously put her hand on Brett’s leg. Maybe it was better if Dean and Pinky left. Having the four of them here was encouraging an X-rated game of chicken. “Okay,” I said quietly, so Vi wouldn’t hear. “Bye. Have a great night.”