Chapter 3 - Don't Be...Like Whatever You Are
I woke up early and went for a run, only to find that everyone else was still asleep when I got back. I showered and changed, feeling the need to look somewhat nice again. I couldn't help but wonder how the boy talk went after I left last night. I forced myself not to care. Grabbing my keys, I went out to the garage, but just before getting in my Jeep I heard a 'sploosh' from somebody jumping in the pool.
Curious, I walked around the side of the house to the backyard, and up on the deck surrounding the pool. It was Kelly doing laps. She was pretty fast, and she did those fancy underwater racing turns I've seen people do. When she finally spotted me she stopped and came over to the side.
"Hey," I said. "You're up early. Well, compared to everyone else."
"Yeah. I couldn't sleep any more, so I came out here." She sounded like she was kind of bored. I wondered if she was having a good time.
"You're a really good swimmer. I'm guessing you were on a swim team?"
She looked a little more enthused as she answered. "Yeah. Our school didn't have a swim team, but we had teams through the YMCA. I think that's what I'm going to miss the most about Madison."
"Have you checked the YMCA here? There's one about 40 minutes away."
"Not yet. I think I'll stick with school sports for now. At least that way I'll get to know more people here."
"Hey, I was just about to go get some giant cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Wanna come with?" I'm not sure why I offered. I'd like to say it was because she looked like she needed company, but truthfully, I think I was enjoying the idea of her sitting next to me in my Jeep.
"Sure! Just let me throw on my clothes."
She hopped out of the pool. I took a sudden interest in looking at the surrounding trees while she grabbed her clothes and headed for the little shower stall my dad had built next to the pool to get changed.
She came back out in athletic shorts and a white t-shirt displaying a big purple and gold "E" on it. "Old high school?" I asked, motioning to her shirt.
"Yep. Madison East."
"It's going to be quite a change, going to Welling-Sanders-Preston High, you know?"
"I can tell. It's a shorter walk from my grandma's house to the school than it was between classes at my old school," she laughed. "I think it'll be nice, though," she hastened to add, searching my face for offense. "Cool Jeep!"
We had made it around the house to the garage. "You, girl, are easily impressed. When I got my driver's license, my dad wanted me to have something with 4-wheel drive. He bought this third hand from a guy he works with."
As we got in, I was a little embarrassed by its condition. I'm one of those people that never cleans their vehicle.
"Hold on a second." I brushed as much of the crud as I could off of her seat and moved the old shoes, water bottle, and fast food wrappers to the back seat. "Sorry about that," I said.
"Don't worry about it," she smiled. "You should see my step-dad's car. It's so gross I can't stand it!"
So, there's a step-dad. Sometimes it isn't the kid that's the troublemaker when they get sent up here to live with grandma and grandpa. Sometimes the problem is with the parents. Mom is a junkie, dad is abusive, etc. My curiosity grew, but I didn't want to get nosy.
I pointed to my Honda, "That's the vehicle I take care of."
"You ride a motorcycle, too? Seriously, I want to be you when I grow up! Not even joking."
I backed out, and as I drove down the road I told her, "Well, I always thought motorcycles looked like fun. When one of the guys in my band wanted to get rid of his because it was having troubles, I bought it cheap. My dad's an engineer and pretty good with that kind of stuff, so he helped me fix it. Now I get to bop around on a motorcycle and feel all cool. Truth is, they scare me to death. I drive like a little old lady on it."
"Take me for a ride on it sometime?"
"Absolutely. That would be awesome." I thought of riding my motorcycle with her arms around my waist and started to feel...warm. "She's a friend of my little sister," I reminded myself. "Get a grip, Analee."
We got to "The Gutterball," a local restaurant known for its giant, gooey, cinnamon rolls. We went in and I asked the girl behind the register for seven of them. When she went to box them up, Kelly asked, "Don't we need eight?"
"I don't want one," I said. "I went vegan a while ago. Well, nearly vegan anyway. It was an attempt to force myself to eat better. It's easier to lose weight if you don't eat ice-cream and chocolate."
"You do not look like you need to lose weight," Kelly said, looking me up and down.
"Girl, don't do that!" I thought. I could feel myself blushing.
"Well, ever since I quit school sports after my sophomore year, I didn't get much exercise, and I started to notice a little pudge. That's when I decided to radically alter my diet and start running."
"Why did you quit sports?" Kelly asked.
"I guess I just...wasn't as close to all of my friends on the team as I was in years past. That's how I started to find all of these hobbies like playing the bass in a garage band and riding a motorcycle. When your friend group phases you out, you have lots of time to fill."
"What do you mean they 'phased' you out?"
I didn't want to freak her out with the whole gay thing, not knowing where she stood on that subject. I just shrugged, "You know, sometimes friends just drift apart. Don't get me wrong, I still have friends, but I guess I never was like Kristy. She and her friends are so close, they're like sisters."
"I noticed." Kelly's eyes rolled. She didn't look disgusted. Exhausted might be a better word. "It's easy to feel like the new girl around them. They have whole conversations where I have no idea what they're even saying."
"Give it time. They like you. I can tell."
The girl brought our cinnamon rolls, and I paid for them using money my parents had left for us. I carried the large box out to the Jeep, and Kelly hurried to open the back door for me. When we got back in and buckled I said, "Enough about me. I want to hear about you. That's really neat you're related to Nurse Annie." I was sort of dancing around the issue I was dying to ask her about. "Did you already know the town from visiting her?"
"Sort of. When my dad was around more we would come up here a lot. They'd take me fishing and stuff. We'd go for hikes and have fires at night, things like that. Now that my dad isn't around as much and my mom got married, I mostly just get to talk to them on the phone. Well, until now, of course."
"Oh," I hoped she'd continue, but she just looked out of the window as the miniature town went by. The windows were down, and I kept glancing at the way her dark hair would send out little wisps to wrap around her freckled cheeks. When the sun hit her hair the red would brighten dramatically, making her look like she had a fiery halo. I think she caught me looking at her about the time I pulled into the local grocery store.
"I need to grab some more milk. Wanna come in with me?"
"Sure." She jumped out and followed me.
When we went in, she saw a rack of cheap sunglasses and started trying them on. I walked to the back where the coolers are and grabbed a gallon of milk. When I turned around, a guy was standing right behind me.
"Gah!" I exclaimed less than elegantly, then I laughed. "What the chunk, Timmy?" My guitarist stood there with a goofy grin on his face and a sucker in his mouth.
"I had to get the tea on the red head you walked in with. Cuteness level over 9,000! Is she yours?"
"Timmy, don't be...like whatever you are. She's a friend of Kristy's. We're just hanging out waiting for the rest of the girls to wake up. They had a sleepover last night-"
"Dibs!" Timmy started walking quickly toward where Kelly was trying on sunglasses.
"Timmy!" I hissed, but he was already halfway up the aisle.
"Hey there," he said as he slid up to the counter next to her and leaned an elbow on it. He was being cheesy, not smooth, and he knew it. "I wouldn't buy those if I were you."
"I know you," she smiled. "You're the guy in Analee's band. She said you're pretty awesome." I regretted complimenting him for some reason. Dear gods of impropriety, I realized I was getting jealous.
"Well, I don't like to brag...," he said with obviously played up false modesty.
"So what's wrong with these sunglasses? I thought they looked cool," Kelly said, looking back to the little mirror.
"Oh, there's nothing wrong with the glasses. I would just hate to see you hide those beautiful amber eyes," Timmy crooned.
Amber, that's it! Why couldn't I think of that color to describe her eyes? I was kind of ticked off that I had been fixated on her eyes for almost 24 hours, but Timmy beat me to complimenting her on them.
"Okay, cheese ball," I said to Timmy. "I'm going to go pay. Practice Wednesday?"
"I think so," said Timmy, not taking his eyes off of Kelly. "So, do you go to school here now?"
I walked over to the counter and paid for the milk, keeping half an eye on Kelly and Tim. I saw them pull out their phones and trade info. They waved good-bye and Kelly walked over to where I was waiting. We walked outside and got back in the Jeep without saying anything. I couldn't read whatever look was on her face.
"You really made an impression on Timothy," I said, trying to gauge her reaction, even though I knew I shouldn't care.
"Yeah, I guess," she said, looking out the window.
After a couple seconds of silence, I felt the need to defend my friend from my own thoughts. If she was going to date someone, she could do a lot worse than Timothy.
"I know you said yesterday you didn't want to start dating right away, and believe me, I wish every sophomore was as self-aware as you are. I'll just say that...well, Timmy is a nice guy. He's totally corny, as you saw, and he's so enthusiastic and high-energy about everything that I imagine dating him would be something like having a puppy, but you wouldn't have to worry about him being a scumbag in disguise."
"So, do you think I should go out with him if he calls?" She didn't ask it like she was looking for an opinion, but more like she wanted to know my expectation.
"That's not what I said. I think you should do whatever you want to do. If you want to stick to not dating right away, I think that's totally cool. Some girls feel like they have to have a boyfriend all the time, you know? I always think of those girls as really needy. I just wanted you to know that you wouldn't have to worry about him being a player or something if you do end up liking him."
She looked back out the window for a minute. "Are you dating someone?"
When I laughed, her forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Girl, my love life is the least interesting topic in Preston." Her expression didn't change as I pulled into the driveway, so after I parked I added, "No, I'm not seeing anyone. Remember? Lots of time for hobbies. Hey, Tim was right about one thing."
"What?" I tensed up, realizing what I was about to say, but I was stuck saying something now, so it might as well be the truth.
"Those eyes of yours are crazy beautiful."