Trevor, and he watches me while playing. The ballad is everything I profess to hate, with its flowing romanticism pouring out.
I kind of like it.
He only plays it for a minute or two and then pounds into a rousing “Great Balls of Fire” rendition with lots of over-the-top theatrics that please the prunes. I shake my head at his complete lack of inhibition.
We head to the Pizza Palace afterward, and I’m glad it’s not another night of snobby Italian waitresses. Everyone goes to the Pizza Palace, so a geek and freak showing up together creates only a small stir.
A group of my friends sit in the back corner, waiting for a place to party. They wave me over, and I look at Trevor. He shakes his head.
“Go ahead,” he says, ever polite. “I’ll go sit over there.” He indicates the opposite corner, where a group of his friends sit, including the mouse Mary Ellen.
“We came together, right?” I ask. He nods. “Then we’ll stay together. I’ll just go say hi, and you can go say hi, and then we’ll find our own corner to sit in.”
“Okay . . .” He seems convinced I’ll abandon him to eat the large pizza alone. “I’ll go grab the pizza when they call our number.”
“Trev, I promise, I’m only going to say hi. I’ll be right back.” He still looks skeptical. “But if you bring Mary to our table, I swear . . .” I let the growled threat hang, and he smiles.
He leans close. “It’s Mary Ellen .” I don’t know whether to be amused or angry at his defense of her name, but he walks away before I have the chance to be either. I turn back toward my own friends.
“So, that him?” a girl named Gina asks. I don’t know her well since she skips school most days. I’m not even sure why she stays enrolled. My only contact with her is usually at parties and is limited at best.
“Him, who?” I ask, shooting a look at Beth and Ella.
“The one you’re fooling . . . you know, the guy —the bet you made.”
“I’m not fooling him,” I say, “just trying to bring him over to the dark side.” This strikes them all as funny, and they laugh loudly.
“Maybe you should stop wasting your time and come sit with someone who is firmly on the dark side already.” This is Kyle. He’s no longer in high school, though that’s more of an age thing and not so much a graduation thing. He waggles his eyebrows in comic suggestion.
“Where’s the fun in that?” I laugh.
“Is that what this is all about? Fun?” Seth is the only one who’s definitely not amused.
I finger my lip meaningfully while looking at Beth.
“Not just fun.”
“Oh yeah,” he sounds bitter, “I forgot. A lip piercing is involved. That makes it worth it.”
I drop my hand. He stands up angrily and gets right up in my face, eyes glassy and livid. I can smell the pot on him and unconsciously mentally compare him to Trevor, who always smells so good, so clean.
“If I take you right now and get your lip pierced, will you drop this stupidity and start acting like yourself again?”
“She can’t,” Ella comes to my rescue. “It’s not quite time for her to blow it with her fosters yet, right, Jen?”
“Besides that,” Kyle interjects, “I’m interested to see how this plays out, see if she can do it. It’s an intriguing game.”
This is met by agreement from the others.
“Why are you doing this?” Seth asks, whining a little but still standing in his threatening pose.
“Jen?” I look over, and Trevor is standing there, watching me. For a second my heart drops. How much did he hear?
“Are you okay?” He cuts his eyes toward Seth meaningfully. Seth huffs out a sound that is both disgusted and amused that a geek would think to protect me from him , and then he stalks away.
“Introduce us,” Kyle calls out, pretending there’s nothing odd going on. Trevor and I both watch Seth slam out through the front door. I turn back to Kyle.
“This is Trevor,” I say, residual guilt in my voice. “Trevor,
I kind of like it.
He only plays it for a minute or two and then pounds into a rousing “Great Balls of Fire” rendition with lots of over-the-top theatrics that please the prunes. I shake my head at his complete lack of inhibition.
We head to the Pizza Palace afterward, and I’m glad it’s not another night of snobby Italian waitresses. Everyone goes to the Pizza Palace, so a geek and freak showing up together creates only a small stir.
A group of my friends sit in the back corner, waiting for a place to party. They wave me over, and I look at Trevor. He shakes his head.
“Go ahead,” he says, ever polite. “I’ll go sit over there.” He indicates the opposite corner, where a group of his friends sit, including the mouse Mary Ellen.
“We came together, right?” I ask. He nods. “Then we’ll stay together. I’ll just go say hi, and you can go say hi, and then we’ll find our own corner to sit in.”
“Okay . . .” He seems convinced I’ll abandon him to eat the large pizza alone. “I’ll go grab the pizza when they call our number.”
“Trev, I promise, I’m only going to say hi. I’ll be right back.” He still looks skeptical. “But if you bring Mary to our table, I swear . . .” I let the growled threat hang, and he smiles.
He leans close. “It’s Mary Ellen .” I don’t know whether to be amused or angry at his defense of her name, but he walks away before I have the chance to be either. I turn back toward my own friends.
“So, that him?” a girl named Gina asks. I don’t know her well since she skips school most days. I’m not even sure why she stays enrolled. My only contact with her is usually at parties and is limited at best.
“Him, who?” I ask, shooting a look at Beth and Ella.
“The one you’re fooling . . . you know, the guy —the bet you made.”
“I’m not fooling him,” I say, “just trying to bring him over to the dark side.” This strikes them all as funny, and they laugh loudly.
“Maybe you should stop wasting your time and come sit with someone who is firmly on the dark side already.” This is Kyle. He’s no longer in high school, though that’s more of an age thing and not so much a graduation thing. He waggles his eyebrows in comic suggestion.
“Where’s the fun in that?” I laugh.
“Is that what this is all about? Fun?” Seth is the only one who’s definitely not amused.
I finger my lip meaningfully while looking at Beth.
“Not just fun.”
“Oh yeah,” he sounds bitter, “I forgot. A lip piercing is involved. That makes it worth it.”
I drop my hand. He stands up angrily and gets right up in my face, eyes glassy and livid. I can smell the pot on him and unconsciously mentally compare him to Trevor, who always smells so good, so clean.
“If I take you right now and get your lip pierced, will you drop this stupidity and start acting like yourself again?”
“She can’t,” Ella comes to my rescue. “It’s not quite time for her to blow it with her fosters yet, right, Jen?”
“Besides that,” Kyle interjects, “I’m interested to see how this plays out, see if she can do it. It’s an intriguing game.”
This is met by agreement from the others.
“Why are you doing this?” Seth asks, whining a little but still standing in his threatening pose.
“Jen?” I look over, and Trevor is standing there, watching me. For a second my heart drops. How much did he hear?
“Are you okay?” He cuts his eyes toward Seth meaningfully. Seth huffs out a sound that is both disgusted and amused that a geek would think to protect me from him , and then he stalks away.
“Introduce us,” Kyle calls out, pretending there’s nothing odd going on. Trevor and I both watch Seth slam out through the front door. I turn back to Kyle.
“This is Trevor,” I say, residual guilt in my voice. “Trevor,
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