That Boy (12 page)

A little too fine lately, if you ask me.

He may be getting too cute and confident for his own good.

He pushes my hands into the ground, “I'm serious. No more cheap shots.”

“You can't tell me what to do, Phillip.”

“Maybe not, but I'll tell your dad you've been a poor sport.”

Shit. He's got me on that.

“Fine. Get off me.”

Phillip stays where he is and says in his calmer, sweeter voice. “What are you so pissed about anyway? Are you mad at Danny?”

Is he serious? I mean is he really that clueless? How could he possibly not know what has me so upset? And really, why do I care what he thinks anyway? He's just a big, fat dork who dates clueless girls. Girls who wouldn't know a tight spiral pass if it hit them in the uh, well, you know.

“Hey! You guys gonna get a room, or do you wanna play some football?” Danny yells from across the yard.

Danny. Wow. I had almost forgotten he was here.

But I'm glad because his comment jerks me out of my feeling-sorry-for-myself mood, and my cockiness comes rushing back. I raise an eyebrow at Phillip and then let my eyes wander down the length of his body.

I mean, he is on top of me.

He gives me the evil eye, gets up, and throws the ball back to Danny. “I've had enough,” he says.

I hop up and follow Phillip to where Danny's standing.

All of a sudden my legs feel itchy.

Crap.

A bunch of loose grass clippings have stuck to the oil on my legs. Not particularly attractive, I think, as I try to brush them off.

Danny, trying to ease the unusual tension between Phillip and me, laughs and points at me. He calls me the Grass Monster or something equally juvenile and stupid.

Phillip finally laughs too and then says, “I'm starving!”

“Yeah, me too. Let's go,” Danny agrees. He bends down, grabs his T-shirt off the grass, and slides his feet into a pair of flip-flops.

“I've gotta run home and grab a shirt and some shoes,” Phillip tells us.

I start to head to my house to grab a shirt too.

Danny responds to Phillip by saying, “Jay's driving that hot new Mustang of hers.” Then he runs up behind me, snaps me on the butt with his T-shirt, and follows me home.

“What was that all about?”

“Oh, he was just pissed because he thought I tripped him on purpose.”

Danny looks at me like a human lie detector, “Did you?”

I chuckle. “Maybe…”

I shove my shoulder into his and say, “So, I know what
Phillip
thinks of the bikini, but you never gave me a straight answer. So do you like it? Come on Danny, I value your opinion, and I really don't want to wear it to the party if it looks stupid on me.”

Danny thinks for a moment, like he's not sure what to say.

I mean, come on!

Any other girl in a bikini and Danny would be giving me
much
more information about the bikini than I would
ever
want to know. You'd think he'd at least be able to answer one simple question about
my
bikini.

Finally, Danny turns to me and says blandly, rolling his eyes, “Jake will love it.”

YAY!

“But you better just have water at the Shack, or you might outgrow it before the party.”

I flash angry eyes at him, but I can tell by his smirk that he's just teasing me.

“Cheapskate. You're just trying to get out of buying me lunch.”

“Mom,” I yell, as I am bounding down the stairs to the kitchen. “Can you tie these strings in tight double knots for me?” I'm holding my bikini top up to my chest, the straps are trailing behind me.

It's the day of the Summer River Bash, and I'm running late, as usual. Jake will be here any minute, and I am so not ready.

Mom is standing at the kitchen sink. Dad is sitting at the table, drinking a cup of coffee and reading the sports section.

He glances up and quickly reverts to the paper. Then his head comes flying back up. He looks at Mom and then at me and says, “You're not wearing that,
are you, Jadyn
?”

Duh. I just put it on for fun and am having Mom tie it for no reason.

But I don't have time for any hassle right now. I'm late enough as it is.

So I say in my sweet, polite voice, “Yes, a swimsuit is required attire for a beach party.”

I give him my
I'm your little angel and can do no wrong
look, as I slide over with my back towards Mom, holding my top against my chest with one hand and my hair up with the other.

“Double knots, please,” I say quietly to her.

I don't want it coming undone at an inopportune time.

Dad says to Mom in an edgy tone, “Don't you think that swimsuit is a little
skimpy
, Ronny?” My Mom's real name is Veronica.

Veronica James Reynolds.

James was my great-great grandma's maiden name. All first-born girls since my great grandma have had James as their middle name, thus
my
weird middle name. And evidently giving your daughter a boy's name for a nickname also runs in the family. I seriously didn't even know my name was Jadyn until I went to kindergarten. Daddy always calls me Angel and everyone else has always called me JJ.

I'm only Jadyn when I'm in
big
trouble.

Crap. I know what's coming next.

I don't let Mom answer Dad's question. I jump into the conversation by saying, “Mom helped me pick it out, Dad. She thinks it's cute.”

“Well it may be
cute
, but I don't think it is
particularly appropriate
for someone your age,” he declares, like he is the Ruler of the Free World.

Unfortunately, of my Free,
I think not,
World.

“Dad. Come on. I'm 17, besides Mom said I should wear…” I glance at Mom. She is clearly giving me the shut up signal, crossing her hand in front of her neck and bugging her eyes out. That or she is threatening to kill me.

Uh. Okay, I get it, I think. So I finish, “….uh, I should wear this suit for
sunning
purposes only.” I nod.

Which I will be doing at the lake.

All day and maybe even into the night.

“Besides, I have a tank top and board shorts that I will wear over it to swim in.”

“Well, you can wear them to
sun
in at the lake too, or you're not wearing it at all. I think it should only be worn for sunning in the back yard.” Then he thinks about it, squints his eyes at me and adds, “And
definitely
no playing football in that thing.”

Ah, yeah. Well, it's a little
late
for that.

I've got to get out of here!

Mom saves the day by saying, “Maybe you should come swimsuit shopping with me and JJ this week, Paul. You can help us pick out something
you
feel would be
appropriate
.” She gives Dad a look of defiance, one eyebrow raised in challenge and her arms crossed in front of her chest.

She's got him
so
beat.

He'd never go shopping with us in a million years. He still says he is allergic because he equates shopping to torture.

“Uh,” he backtracks, “why don't you let me see it with the shorts. It'll probably be okay that way.”

Yeah, I'm sure it will.

After promising to keep the shorts on and finally getting his approval, I fly back up the stairs.

When Jake arrives, I rush out of the house, so he won't have a chance to talk to my Dad.

Needless to say, I didn't wear the shorts at the river, and Jake liked the suit just fine.

Later in the week, I have what starts out as a great dream. I'm in the empty lot playing catch with Phillip and Danny. We're having so much fun because Danny and I don't fight about anything.

It's like the perfect day.

Strangely, Danny disappears and I relive tripping Phillip, sort of on purpose, the other day. He sits on top of me and holds me down.

Then the dream gets really weird.

He leans in to yell at me, but starts KISSING me instead. And, well, he does some other stuff too.

What a nightmare!

Phillip is like a brother to me.

I don't….. I mean, I can't…..well…I
shouldn't
think about him like that.

It's practically incestuous!

But evidently I'm
pretty warped
because not only did I
really
enjoy the dream, I keep finding myself wanting to have it again.

And it's freaking me out.

It really, really is.

The music is cranked up, and the top is cranked down. Phillip and I are in my car, driving to Lincoln, Nebraska on Thursday afternoon.

Why are we going to Lincoln?

We are going on a College Campus Visit.

Now for the rest of your questions, the answers that I give will depend on who you are. For example, if you are a teacher, parent, or guidance counselor, you will hear the following:

Why are you going on a campus visit?

Well, Phillip and I are really looking forward to having the opportunity to get a first hand view of the University of Nebraska. I mean every campus has online tours and information, but there really is no substitute for visiting, when it comes to getting a real feel for what the school is like.

And what will you be doing there?

We will be taking a guided tour of the campus, as well as taking part in a group orientation session. We will also try to sit in on a class, check out the food, and the dorms. We will look at the activities available to us and try to meet with an advisor or professor in our chosen major. Oh, and I especially want to check out the library and the bookstore.

And how will you make the difficult decision of which college to attend?

Well, I'm sure I will make a lengthy pros and cons list for each school we visit, but basically I will choose the school that has the best combination of academics, in my chosen field, and overall best feeling. You know, how comfortable I feel there.

OKAY, so that's a college campus visit in
theory.
The reality of this trip is probably going to be a bit different from that.