He was teasing me when he asked, “You alright there, pal?” He threw an arm around my shoulders and gave me a quick squeeze against his side, which, had he added a noogie, would have made the platonic gesture complete. To this day, I have no idea what compelled him to do something like that. It’s not as though I’d never been treated as one of the boys before. In fact, it’s how I’d spent the first twelve years of my life, and hell, I could still hold my own with my guy friends. But Trip barely knew me and besides, I thought I’d shaken off that persona years before. Had he picked up my tomboy vibe even though I was sure I hadn’t been putting it out there? Dear God. Was it Brian Hollander all over again?
The thought made me so flustered, so determined, that I did something so completely out of character. Just as we were approaching the classroom, I noticed some random kid at his locker. I saw the mirror hanging on the open door and inspiration struck. I whipped my lipstick out of my purse, telling Trip, “Hey, hold on a sec, huh?”
I uncapped the lipstick, leaned into the mirror and applied a swipe of Bing Cherry across my slacked lips, making sure Trip could see my every move. Very Marilyn Monroe. Very not tomboy.
I tossed the weapon into my purse, smacked my lips together and asked Trip innocently, “You ready?”
I caught a glimpse of the poor, unsuspecting freshman staring at me like he had just won the lottery. I guessed it wasn’t every day that a senior girl dropped by his locker. I couldn’t get a read on Trip, but I hoped his blank look was a good thing. “Uh, yeah. Yes.”
Hmph. Take that, “pal”!
Chapter 4
GETTING LUCKY
After final bell, I ran into the girls’ room with my bag of clothes. I’d settled on a pair of flat-front black slacks and a pale pink silk blouse. I ditched my socks and slipped into a pair of black ballet slippers before taming my hair down a bit with a brush. I had to be careful not to overdo it, because too much brushing would cause that armor of Aqua Net to start flaking, making me look like I was The Dandruff Queen. I took a final look in the mirror and decided that I looked professional. At the very least, I looked respectable. And definitely a little older.
By the time I stepped outside, most of the kids had already cleared out, which was a good thing. It wasn’t a long walk over to the strip mall, but it really sucked to be a senior without a license and risk getting caught hoofing it around town. The first four weeks of school were turning into the longest of my life. I suppose Lisa could have driven me, but she already had a job working at the bakery right around the corner from where we lived and I didn’t want to make her late. She wouldn’t have had enough time to schlep me in the opposite direction, fight through the mosh of cars at the mall and still make it to her job by 3:00. No big deal. It was a nice day out and I didn’t mind the walk.
I got about ten steps away from the parking lot when a black Bronco pulled up beside me. The windows were tinted and only cracked an inch, enough to allow me to hear some creepy old dude ask, “Hey, little girl. You need a ride?”
I’d been in these situations before. The best thing to do when confronted with a pervert is to simply ignore them. Just pretend not to hear them. Which is exactly what I did as I kept walking, hoping the freak would just go on his merry way and find some other, more stupid girl to lock in his basement.
But this pervert wasn’t going to be shaken so easily. “Hey! Little girl! Do ya want some candy?” I started to slide my hand into my purse, fishing around for my mace keychain just in case. But then, something about the way he started laughing made me do a double-take and turn on my heel. When I did, the Bronco’s window slid down, revealing Trip in the midst of cracking himself up.
“You idiot!” I yelled, laughing and smacking the door of his truck. “I thought you were a creepy old man, you jerk!”
Trip could barely contain himself. “I know! I thought you were gonna start running. Holy shit that was funny.”
I gave him an “oh really” look.
“Running, huh? You should have been so lucky.” I pulled the keychain canister of mace out of my bag and held it up for him to see.
That sobered him up pretty quick. “What the? Is that mace?”
I gave him a smug smile and said, “Yes. And I would have used it, too.” When he looked impressed, I decided to lose the false bravado. “I’m really glad I didn’t have to, though. Jeez, you scared the hell out of me.”
He winked at me, calling a truce. “Sorry. Hey, where you going? I’ll drive you.”
Truth was, I really wanted to get in Trip’s truck. But I also really didn’t want him to think that I really wanted to.
“Um. Actually, I’m just headed over to the mall.”
“Doing some shopping?”
“Nope. Looking for a job.”
Trip nodded his head in approval. “Good for you. Hey, c’mon. After scaring the hell out of you, the least I can do is give you a ride. C’mon. Hop in.”
Well, when you put it that way...
I rolled my eyes then stepped up into the passenger seat.
“Where to, Miss Daisy?”
Cute.
“I figured I’d start at Totally Videos and work my way down. I guess you can just drop me there.”
He put the car in gear. “As you wish.”
I don’t even know what I wish, I thought.