Living Backwards (6 page)

“Speaking of Danielle,” she continued. “You better watch out for her. It’s her mission to get your ass to the prom.” My heart started to race. I dropped the pivot bolt and it went rolling across the floor.

“She told you that?” I groaned. I was really hoping that Danielle had moved onto another project.

“You could say that. She claims she’s found you the perfect girl, but if you’re nice to me, I may be able to get her off your back.”

“The girl is insane,” I fumed. “I barely know her and she’s killing me.”

“Danielle’s pretty intense,” she agreed with a nod.

“So who’s she going to spring on me?”

“Don’t worry about it,” she replied waving her hand. “I can get her off your back, but I have a favor to ask.” Now it was my turn to quirk an eyebrow.

“Go on,” I said with caution.

“As you duly noted earlier today,” she began, “my beverage options are very limited. I’m assuming since you have your own flask that you have access to a wider selection…” She trailed off waiting for me to offer her some insight.

“I may have the means to purchase items occasionally,” I offered not giving her any details.

“That’s what I thought,” she replied smugly. “I want one, too.”

“You’re extorting me?” I asked incredulously. “I get you a fake ID and you get your friend to chill out?”

“I don’t like thinking about it as extortion,” she replied innocently. “I’d like to think you’d want to help a friend procure some libations.”

The last thing in the world I wanted was for Danielle Powers to guilt trip me into taking one of her chipper little friends to the prom. No way. I needed Seth to touch up the ink on one of my tattoos anyway so taking Jillian to see him would be killing two birds with one stone. I just wasn’t sure I wanted to drive all the way to Tacoma with Jillian. She was funny in small doses, but stuck in a car for an hour is entirely different. However, the alternative was, by far, much worse.

“There’s a guy I know in Tacoma who can help you out,” I sighed. “I was planning to make a trip to see him soon anyway. When I go, I guess you can tag along.”

“Great. How’s Saturday?” She didn’t waste any time, but obviously noticed my surprise. “I don’t want to impose...”

“No, no. Saturday’s fine.”

“Awesome!” she replied grinning. “We’ll chat about the details later. I should get back to Miss Grease Monkey and make sure that Nate will, in fact, have a
hard
time sitting for the rest of the day.”

She turned and walked back over to Megan, Nate and Scanlon. Scanlon had added some engine block sealant while Megan explained the process to Barrett’s friends. When Jillian slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine, I looked back at the tail pipe and noticed the white smoke was gone. After a few minutes, Jillian and Megan were gone too leaving the atmosphere tense and uncomfortable. Maybe her planned had worked.

When the bell rang, I was relieved to head to chemistry because I still needed to talk to Josh about his girlfriend and why she was trying to torture me. When I got to the lab, he was already hunched over in his seat listening to his Discman. I nudged him on the shoulder.

“Hey, man,” he replied, removing his headphones and placing them on the lab table.

“We need to talk,” I began. “You have to explain to Danielle that I don’t want her searching for prom dates for me anymore. I’m not going so it’s a waste of time.” I didn’t want to sound like an asshole, but her type of crazy just wasn’t funny.

“Oh, you heard about that?” he asked looking slightly uncomfortable.

“Yeah. It’s crazy.”

“She’s not that bad,” Josh countered. “I think she’s actually pretty funny.”

“What? Who are you talking about?”

“Jillian,” he explained giving me a strange look. “Who are
you
talking about?”

I knew I was just staring at him with my mouth open, but I was physically unable to close it. He had to be joking.

“Danielle wants me to take Jillian…to the prom?” Definitely a turn of events I wasn’t expecting.

“Wait, I thought that’s what you were upset about. She’s pretty cool. I picked Danielle up at her place on Saturday and the girl had us rolling on the floor. She’s hysterical. You could do a lot worse, Luke.”

But Jillian knew Danielle wanted me to ask her to the prom and had just agreed to get Danielle off my back. She didn’t want me to ask her, and for some reason, that really pissed me off.

“Earth to Luke.” I jumped when Josh began waving a hand in front of my face.

“Sorry, man. I was…I didn’t know she…Does Jillian know this? I mean, is Danielle harassing her, too?” I was stammering like an ass again.

“Relax,” he replied stuffing his Discman into his backpack. “But, seriously, you should consider it. Once Danielle sets her mind on something, it’s damn near impossible to change it…which is why I’ll be wearing a top hat to the prom.”

“You’ll be what?”

“She watched some Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire movie the other day. I’m going to look like an idiot, but if it makes her happy…” He looked at me like I knew what he meant. But I didn’t. You wouldn’t catch me in a top hat. Ever. Poor Bastard.

“Whatever you say, man,” I replied as Mrs. Quimby called for the class’ attention. Josh began taking notes, but I couldn’t concentrate on the review. I kept replaying my conversation with Jillian over and over. We had only forged our strange friendship a couple days ago, but it seemed like Jillian was everywhere I turned and it was messing with me. I sat for the rest of the class with a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I could only imagine that if I went to the prom with Jillian she’d probably name the limo or insist on flashing her flask in one of those cheesy prom pictures. As funny as that might be, my Nineteen-Day-Plan to survive until graduation absolutely did not involve going to the prom or naming limousines.

After class, I had a few minutes before I needed to report to Mrs. Dupont’s Dungeon of Misinformation. I walked back to Scanlon’s shop to pick up my bike and drive it to the student parking lot. Scanlon would need to lock up, and I had no idea how long Dupont intended to torture me. As I pulled my bike into a spot in front, I looked across the emptying lot. I noticed Jillian, Megan, Josh and Danielle leaning against Jillian’s crappy car. It looked like Jillian was telling them about shop class. With exaggerated motions, she lifted the hood, fluffed her hair and bent over looking inside. It gave me an amazing view of her ass and I bit back a groan. Danielle and Josh were cracking up at the show she was putting on. She sauntered over to Josh, pretending to hand him something and began batting her eyelashes and rubbing his arm. Megan, clearly fed up with being the butt of the joke, threw her coat at Jillian. I continued watching as Jillian put the coat on and began parading around the car fluffing her hair and swaying her hips.

“I’ll kick your ass, Jillian Cross,” I heard Megan yell as she took off after her. Jillian let out a scream and hopped into her car locking the doors. She gave Megan a big grin and started the ignition. With a small wave, she drove off leaving Josh and Danielle doubled over laughing.

Even though I was headed to Dupont’s room for an afternoon of grueling detention, even though my knuckles were throbbing, even though I wanted to be on my way out of school instead of in, I laughed all the way there.

The next couple of days went by in a blur. I had been thrilled with the outcome of our visit to auto shop, and I was still feeling really superior for rocking Phase One. Nate seemed genuinely impressed with Megan’s knowledge of car engines. He also seemed impressed with her other
attributes
as well. If all went well, Phase Two would bring him to his knees. I didn’t want to rush it, though. To maximize the impact of the next phase, I wanted to give him a few days to stew thinking of Megan, her short skirt and many talents. It was the strangest foreplay I’d ever seen, but who was I to question? I was the one who hadn’t had a decent date in months.

In the meantime, I faked my way through my classes, made up elaborate reasons to excuse myself from volleyball and hung out behind the gym with Luke. On Tuesday, he provided refreshments and I only managed two sips of Jack before I found myself giggling like a school girl. Well, I guess I
was
technically a school girl. On Wednesday, he told me Green Day sucked, and I tried unsuccessfully to convince him that Billie Joe Armstrong was the voice of a generation. He scoffed at me and claimed he was going to introduce me to “real music”. On Thursday, he handed me a jewel case with a blank CD inside, offering to enlighten me with a few songs from a “new” band called The White Stripes. He had downloaded the EP from Napster and seemed really impressed with himself. More importantly, he also brought Southern Comfort. I already knew the songs so I appreciated the booze much more.

On Friday morning as I was curling my hair, I began humming an annoying song that played incessantly on the radio in 2011.

I wonder what you’re doing now, Ke$ha.

It sucked having a song stuck in my head that I couldn’t even listen to. Just another awesome thing about time travel the movies don’t seem to cover. I felt like I should be taking advantage of the more lucrative aspects of being sent back in time. If I were smart, I’d forget all about Megan and Danielle and go invent Facebook. Fortunately for them, I still believed Facebook was the portal to hell and didn’t want to be held responsible for unleashing that crap.

Looking at my reflection in the mirror, I ran the new tube of red gloss across my lips and blotted them with a tissue. I felt much better.
That
Jillian had no make-up so I made an emergency trip to the pharmacy after school for supplies. I couldn’t resist picking up a teen magazine with a virginal Britney Spears on the cover looking up at the camera with wide, innocent eyes.

You don’t fool me, Brit Brit. I know everything.

After taking one last peek in the mirror, I grabbed my messenger bag from the floor and looked at the calendar on my desk. Today’s word was
myopic
.

Myopic: Lack of discernment or long-range perspective in thinking or planning.

Well, they can’t all be winners.

I barreled down the stairs and into the kitchen to find a plate of burnt toast on the table.

“Morning, mom,” I sang, shaking my head. “I see you’ve been cooking again and I use the term ‘cooking’ loosely.”

“Have your fun, Jill,” she replied frowning and narrowing her eyes. “When you’re in New York this summer and you need to make your own breakfast, you’ll miss your good old mom.”

I do miss you, mom. Never your cooking though.

“Oh,” she added. “Suzanne Santin called last night. I forgot to tell you. She wanted to know if you were sick.”

I gasped and felt my stomach tie into knots. I was a terrible friend. In the midst of all of the chaos caused by finding myself in another decade, I had neglected to keep up with one of the positive aspects of my old high school life. I had blown off Suzanne all week. Back in high school, I used to meet Suzanne in the library every morning. For me, it was a good place to hide so that I could avoid any awkward socializing before the bell for homeroom rang. For Suzanne, it was an opportunity to spend some time with her boyfriend (now husband) Connor who was a library monitor. I began to panic thinking that she’d be angry that I hadn’t called her to explain. Suzanne was a great friend and although I didn’t get to see her as often as I’d like, she was still very important to me. I had some backtracking to do.

“I have to get going, mom,” I managed to reply. “Are you working tonight?”

“Sorry, honey, but I’m on second shift for the next two weeks to cover Marta’s vacation,” she said sadly. “Maybe you can pop by the hospital for dinner one night. I’m sure I can get one of the other techs to cover for a bit.”

“Sounds good,” I replied absently. “Gotta run. I need to catch up to Suzanne.”

I sprinted out the door with a piece of burnt toast between my lips. I knew it was silly to worry that Suzanne would be angry. She was so easy-going. I just felt really guilty for forgetting about her in my attempt to woo Megan and Danielle.

When I walked into the library, the familiar smell of old books immediately calmed my nerves. It felt like home. Suzanne was sitting at a long table by the window, peering into her textbook. Her long, dark hair was pulled into a bun on the top of her head.

“Suze, I’m so sorry I’ve been MIA!” I said a little louder than was socially acceptable.

“Jillian! You had me worried. I heard Val say that you freaked out in trig and when I didn’t see you for a few days, I got nervous.”

“I’m so sorry, really. I’ve been a little out of it, but I’m doing much better.” Her expression softened and I knew we were cool. I still felt like a jerk, though. “So how are you?”

“Well, I got my prom dress,” she beamed. “Connor is still complaining about having to wear a tux, but he knows I’ll beat him silly if he doesn’t relent soon.”

“I’m sure he’ll be amazingly handsome,” I added smiling. I suddenly wished I could tell her what was going on, but I barely believed it myself.

“So what about you?” she asked hesitantly. “Can I convince you to come with us? You know Connor would love to have a hot babe on each arm.” I chuckled just imagining it. Yes, Connor would love that.

“Did I hear my name?” he asked walking up behind us and placing a kiss on the top of Suzanne’s head. On his t-shirt was some anime girl with big boobs. To this day, his office at home is full of those stupid comic books. I didn’t get it at all.

“Hey, Connor. I was just telling Suzanne that I appreciate the offer to be your second prom date, but I think I’m sitting this one out,” I replied with an apologetic smile. I briefly thought of Danielle’s mission to get me and Luke to go to the prom together. I might have even agreed if I didn’t already know he goes with Val. Even though he’s too good for her.

“Well, think about it, Jillian,” he replied. “There’s enough of me to go around.” With a sweep of his arm, he mockingly bowed in front of us.

“You could help me out with something, though,” I added. “Something that doesn’t involve dancing and public humiliation.”

“Of course, name it.”

“I need to find statistics on this year’s NFL Scouting Combine,” I asked.

“Football? Um, why?” he asked clearly taken aback.

“It’s actually for a friend. I’m helping her with a project.” Suzanne and Connor were gaping at me. As far as they knew, I had no knowledge or interest in football. I didn’t start following it until college, and it wasn’t until I got to know Nate that I truly understood the ins and outs of the game.

“Well, I think we have
Pro Football Weekly’s Draft Preview.
I’m sure that will have the stats for you. Let me check and I can drop it by your locker later.” I thanked him profusely before he set off to dig through the periodicals. I planned to start filling Suzanne in on Operation Nate, but my mind strayed to the spot behind the gym, to Jack Daniels and to The White Stripes.

“Suze, can you keep a secret?” I asked quietly.

“Always,” she replied leaning in closely. I scanned the room to make sure no one was listening.

“Well, lately during my free period and lunch, I’ve been hanging out behind the gym.” Before I could finish and let her know about the bizarre friendship I’d formed with Luke, I was interrupted by the sound of a door creaking open. I looked up and saw Luke himself walking towards the front desk. After he dropped a large book into the book depository, he turned and our eyes met. He smirked and winked at me before breezing out of the library without a word.

“Um, Jillian, what was that all about?” Suzanne asked with eyes as large as saucers.

“Ah,” I stammered. “I’ll catch up with you tomorrow morning. I have to run.”

I tried to walk and not sprint out the door. I honestly didn’t know what possessed me to follow him. I just knew that his smile did bad things to my girl parts. When I pushed through the double doors to the third floor hallway, I found him pulling books from his locker. I kept my eyes trained ahead and tried to act as casually as possible. I wasn’t very successful. He turned around slowly just as I was passing him, leaning his back against the locker.

“Behaving yourself, Cross, or were you just looking for new places to stash booze?” he asked with a sarcastic smile.

“You wound me, Luke,” I retorted with my hand covering my heart, “I take my Reference Rooms very seriously. And just what were you doing with that monstrosity in there? What was that?
War and Peace
? “

“If you had been paying any attention in shop on Monday instead of orchestrating a peep show,” he began coolly, “you’d have noticed that Scanlon was fixing my bike before the class was so rudely derailed. The book was a reference guide.”

I suddenly felt sheepish. I hadn’t considered that barging into class the way we did would actually interrupt something important. What made it worse was that it was something important to Luke. It was two weeks to graduation, and I guess I figured everyone was just goofing off. Maybe I just wasn’t thinking at all.

“Don’t worry about it,” he added pushing off the locker. He towered over me and I could smell the smoke on his jacket and a hint of mint on his breath. “Having a front row seat to the show made up for it.”

“I thought you said she wasn’t your type,” I replied softer than I would have liked, feeling a twinge of jealousy.

“I wasn’t talking about Megan,” he added, before turning and leaving me standing there feeling twitchy and awkward. I didn’t exactly know what he meant, but I was pretty damn sure that Luke was flirting with me. While I had obviously been hoping for some kind of response when I bolted out of the library after him, it nevertheless rendered me speechless. I had a Master’s Degree in English Literature. I was a walking dictionary and knew the difference between
effect
and
affect
. I didn’t do speechless. I had to get a hold of myself.

“Bye, Luke,” I called to him as he walked away. “I hope you’re not too lonely without me today.” With that he stopped, staring at me suspiciously before stalking back to where I was standing. I was beginning to enjoy baiting him.

“And why’s that?” he asked cautiously, arching an eyebrow.

“Phase Two commences at lunch today,” I answered lightly, pretending that I hadn’t noticed the change in his demeanor. “I’ll be in the cafeteria with the law abiding students today. Since you were such a fan of the first performance, I’ll save you a front row seat just in case.”

It was juvenile, but I wanted to be the one to walk away first. I wanted to leave
him
standing in the hallway looking twitchy and awkward. I wanted him to miss me when I wasn’t around. After a few steps I turned back, waving over my shoulder while I tried not to giggle like an idiot. I knew he watched me walk down the hall. I could feel his eyes on me and the charge that ran through my body was like nothing I had ever felt before. Yes, I definitely enjoyed baiting him.

My heart was hammering in my chest after that brief exchange with Luke, but I needed to focus on Phase Two so I tried to push the thoughts of him away even though I still felt the crazy energy coursing through me. When I reached my locker, I found Connor trying unsuccessfully to jam a magazine through one of the slots.

“Are you defiling that poor innocent periodical on my account?” I teased.

“What are friends for?” he retorted, handing me the crumpled up magazine. “And here’s
Pro Football Weekly’s Draft Preview.
Maybe you’ll tell me one of these days why you
really
needed this.” He gave me a playful punch in the arm and turned to leave.

“Promise,” I called to him with a smile.

During my first few classes, I scoured the Combine statistics and took notes on running times instead of reviewing for finals. It was a good draft in 1999 with a lot of talented players. I had all of the information I needed when I met Megan at her locker. I showed her my notes and gave her my opinions based on the player’s actual performances in present day. When we walked into lunch, I was confident that Megan was ready to knock his socks off. A part of me was disappointed that I wouldn’t be hanging behind the gym for Happy Hour with Luke. I hadn’t even realized how much I looked forward to that part of the day, but Operation Nate was important. It was why I was here.

Looking across the cafeteria, I spotted Danielle and Josh at one of the tables. They were sharing a chair, and if it were anybody else I’d say they were about to fall off, but that kind of thing worked for them. I, however, would have landed flat on my ass. Josh had clearly done what I had asked and convinced Nate to sit at their table. What stopped me in my tracks was the sight of the familiar leather jacket in the seat across from Nate. My heart started to race and I felt my cheeks burn. I guess he didn’t need me to reserve a seat for him after all.

“It’s showtime,” I said to Meg under my breath. “Knock’im dead.”

I followed Megan’s lead as she walked over to the table and dropped her books on top with a thud. Pulling out the chair next to Luke, she slid down into it with a sigh.