Part 13 (1/2)
Today, of all days, Fred had taken her spot and was joined by two freshman girls, one on either side. He was wearing one of his new outfits, and as Christy approached, she overheard the girls asking how they could get their pictures in the yearbook.
”I'd say for freshmen your best bet is to do something out of the ordinary in cooking cla.s.s. If you know when you're going to be baking a cake or something, you two can add some, say...green dye, and simply let me know ahead of time. I'll come to your cla.s.s and record it on film.”
He sounded so official. Christy had confused feelings. She didn't exactly want to join them, especially now that Fred had this new image that seemed to help him attract girls, even if they were freshmen. Still, the sad part was that now she had no one to eat lunch with.
At this moment, more than ever, she realized how few friends she had at school. Teri had graduated last year, and Brittany and Janelle, two girls she used to hang out with during her soph.o.m.ore year, had both moved. Katie was the only person Christy had spent lunchtime with for the last two and a half years. Except for Fred. Now even Fred had other friends.
”Miss Chris,” Fred called out, spotting her as she tried to slide past him, ”come here!”
Christy sighed, blinked back the renegade tears, pasted a smile on her face, and joined Fred and his fan club.
”What's wrong?” Fred immediately asked when he saw her.
I must be the worst faker in the world. I can't even hide my emotions from Fred.
”My jaw is still a little sore,” Christy said. It was true. She involuntarily had been clenching her teeth while she was talking to Katie, and her jaw did hurt. ”Makes it kind of hard to eat.”
”Why don't you try some pudding or Jell-O from the food machines?”
Christy nodded her appreciation for the suggestion and noticed her camera sitting on the table. She thought it would be good to have it back so she could take it with her this weekend. ”Are you done using my camera yet, Fred?”
”There are about four more shots on the roll.”
”Mind if I take it back?” Christy picked up the camera and removed the lens cap so she could look through the viewfinder. ”You didn't mess it up or anything, did you?”
”Of course not!” Fred looked shocked that Christy would ask such a question. She could see him clearly through the small box and had a sudden inspiration to snap his picture so he could see what it felt like. A sneaky idea came to her.
”Did you girls know that Fred sort of got a makeover last weekend?”
Fred looked pleased that Christy was still noticing and commenting on the vast improvements. She had him centered perfectly in the viewfinder. Now to get both the girls to move in just a little closer.
”Yeah, he got his hair cut, and he even got his ears pierced!”
Both girls cooperated beautifully by leaning in to get a closer look at the ear nearest them. They had expressions of curious amazement on their faces. Fred's mouth opened, and his eyes bulged at the exact instant that Christy snapped the photo.
”This will be perfect for the yearbook,” Christy said.
The two freshmen looked at each other in delight. Their wish had been granted. Fred jumped up and tried to s.n.a.t.c.h the camera away from Christy. She held it over her head out of his reach. ”Now, Fred, that's the only picture I have of you so far, and you have at least a dozen candid shots of me. Don't you think it's only fair that I get to keep this one?”
Fred plopped down hard on the bench. ”Okay, okay. I get the picture, Christy. Har har. Just a little joke there. We can deal on this one. You give me that photo, and I'll give you back the ones I've taken of you.”
”I don't think so, Fred. I think this picture will cancel out only the one from last year at the pizza place that Rick so easily persuaded you to take of me. That means I have about a dozen more of you to take before the year is over.”
”That one last year was Rick's idea, not mine. Come on, Christy, have a heart!”
She was about to hold out to even the score when she remembered how things had turned out between Katie and Doug as the two of them had played their game of sweet revenge. As innocent as it had seemed in the beginning, someone kept getting hurt as their game progressed. Christy surrendered.
”Okay, Fred. Truce. I do need my camera back though. When we get the roll developed, you can decide what you want to do with the picture.”
Fred broke into a toothy smile. ”Thanks, Miss Chris. You're the best.”
Christy walked away with her uneaten lunch and her camera, deciding to shoot the last few pictures of the parking lot like Katie had suggested at the beginning of school. Something inside her felt right for having made peace. Maybe it was that fragrance Todd talked about, the fragrance that comes when you nurture love instead of cut into it.
Great! Christy heard a condemning voice inside her head. I have this wonderful relations.h.i.+p I'm nurturing with Fred of all people, while nothing but anger keeps bleeding out between my best friend and me. It's time for a truce, Christy. How are you going to do it?
”Jon I'm leaving,” Christy called out to her boss at one minute after nine on Friday night as he began to lock up the pet store.
”Have a great weekend.” Jon called back. ”Say hi to Todd for me.”
”I will. Thanks! And thanks for letting me have tomorrow off.” Christy closed the door behind her and hurried to her car in the dimly lit parking lot.
Todd should be waiting for her at her home. She had her bags all packed so they could leave right away for the drive to Bob and Marti's.
She was so excited about seeing Todd that the keys trembled in her hand. On her first attempt to put the key in the lock, she dropped her ring of keys and bent to pick them up. Straightening, she tried the wobbly key again.
”Need some help?” a deep voice behind her asked.
Christy spun around and practically screamed. ”Todd, I didn't see you!”
He opened his arms, and she wrapped her arms around his middle and pressed her cheek against his broad chest. She could hear his heart beating. Was it racing as fast as hers, or was it her imagination?
Todd held her for several minutes, pressing his cheek against her hair. ”It's so good see you, Kilikina,” he whispered.
Christy felt like crying she was so happy and so excited to finally be with him, to feel his strong arms around her.
”I thought you'd be waiting at my house,” Christy said as he let go and held her at arm's length, carefully examining her face. She wondered if he noticed the slight black-and-blue mark on her lower jaw, a fading souvenir of her collision with Doug's arm last week.
”I only got into town a few minutes ago. I knew you'd be getting off work, so I thought I'd come here and surprise you.”
”You surprised me, all right! Where did you park Gus?”
”Over there.” Todd motioned with a chin-up gesture over his shoulder. ”Why don't I follow you?”
”Okay,” Christy agreed, laughing at her trembling hand as she tried once more to get the key in the lock. ”If I can ever get this door open.”
”Allow me,” Todd offered, sounding like her private knight in s.h.i.+ning armor. He placed his hand over hers. It felt warm, strong, and confident. Together they unlocked the door.
”Thanks!” Christy beamed. I'll see you at home.”
Her hope had been that they could leave for Newport Beach right away. Todd seemed less eager to leave. He had brought a present for Christy's dad, which she had to admit was a very thoughtful gesture. It took a while before her dad opened it because Mom offered Todd some pumpkin bread she had just baked, and she kept asking him questions about school.
David, of course, had stayed up to see Todd and was trying to coax Todd into taking him skateboarding again.
”Okay, dude. How about if I come down next weekend on Sat.u.r.day?” Todd suggested.
”Cool,” David said. ”Wait till you see all the new tricks I can do.”
”Oh yeah? Can you block a punch yet?” Todd playfully swung at David's right ear, and a wrestling match broke out between them on the living room floor. Mom quickly moved the coffee table out of the way and watched the two of them wrestle like brothers.
Nothing like sharing your boyfriend with the rest of your family!