18 Things (28 page)

By seventh period, Kyle reported the monkey had left the building, returned to its rightful owner. When interrogated, the boys confessed to nothing but the music. Of course, Principal Matthews didn’t buy their omission of truth, but like Nate said, they had no hard proof. So it was lunch detention, as Nate predicted, for the rest of the week for all of us. I just hoped they weren’t dumb enough to pull off another stunt before the day’s end. But I should’ve known better. Boys will be boys.

Nate asked to use the facilities during our eighth period Photography II class. After ten minutes, he still hadn’t returned.

The bell rung, signaling the end of the school day.

The teacher shot me a puzzled look, but I just shrugged and gathered mine and Nate’s things before heading out the door.

Greeted by hundreds of squeals as I exited, it seemed like a million super-sized bouncy balls rebounded off the hard surfaces of the school’s tiles and walls. I caught one ball in mid-air and examined it more closely. Inside the glitter, a tiny, brown, angry monkey floated around. Sliding it in my jacket pocket, I laughed my way through the mania.

I passed Principal Matthews in the hall and heard the funniest walkie-talkie conversation ever. “Dean Reynolds and Janitor Michaels, I need help cleaning up immediately! I’ve never seen so many balls in my life! How are we ever going to get rid of all these monkey balls?”

Nate’s hand gripped my shoulder out of nowhere as he leaned down and whispered, “Best senior prank ever,” Nate said as he gripped my shoulder from behind and spun me around.

I laughed, hugging his side. “I just hope they still let you graduate high school after all this.”

As we made our way outside past the school dumpsters overflowing with boxes from Mario’s Pizza, a weekly Friday special, everyone patted Nate on the back while scurrying past us, already making plans for the weekend.

My phone buzzed from the front pocket of my backpack. I kept my gaze straight ahead and met the rest of the Jedi Order by Sean’s truck, the phone between my ear and shoulder.

“Hello?” I asked breathlessly, feeling dizzy from all the excitement.

“Olga? You’ll never guess what just happened.” The familiar voice practically shouted at me in a rushed, excited tone.

“Calm down, Dad, what’s up?”

I held the phone to my ear, a wide grin on my face as I listened to Dad and watched Nate chest bump with passerby.

Shutting the phone a few minutes later, I smiled from ear to ear. Practically screaming, the old cheerleader came out of me. “My parents invited all of you to Mackinac Island with us for this weekend. Who’s coming?”

“What?” Nate’s brows came together. “Are you serious?”

Mackinac was this place Conner visited with his Boy Scout troop for three summers in a row during middle school. His dad was the scout leader and secured a weeklong gig each summer for duty at Fort Mackinac. Ever since Conner told me about it when he returned from the first trip, I wanted to vacation there. I even thought about writing it on the life list, but then everybody made their suggestions and I ran out of room.

I polished my sunglasses on my T-shirt, then slid them on. “Yeah. One of the wealthy dudes my parents do business with at the marina owns a luxury sailing yacht. They were meeting today about something, and when this guy heard about my acceptance to UM and all the stuff that happened this year, he wanted to do something nice, so he told my dad to borrow one of his boats for the weekend. Dad asked him if it’d be okay if we took it to Mackinac, and he said yes. The vessel houses a dozen people, so we can all go.”

“I’ll come,” Tammy said, lighting a cigarette.

Nicole adjusted the wide purse strap over her shoulder. “Count me in.”

“For sure, yo!” Sean held out his fist to me for a knuckle bump.

The Volvo next to Kyle whirled to life, and he jumped. The kid honked his horn and screamed praises for the band’s prank through the car window.

Nate raised two fingers to his forehead and gave a salute.

“Dude, I’m totally there,” Kyle told me.

Sean opened the door to his Toyota Tacoma and then slid his key into the ignition, waiting.

“Sounds sweet,” Nate agreed, climbing into the back seat of the truck behind Sean as Kyle took the front passenger spot.

“Great. We leave tomorrow from the marina at 6:00 in the morning, and then we’ll arrive back home Sunday around 10:00 at night. Don’t be late. You know how my mom is about punctuality.” I directed my gaze at Tammy. “You ready to follow the boys?”

She nodded.

We were meeting Conner’s family for a small remembrance ceremony by the lake, since today marked the year anniversary of his death. His parents said we’d all release a balloon as a symbol of sending prayers up to heaven and letting go of our grief. Today had been one of those sad happy days. Conner was present in the back of my mind, just like every day, but I was glad the boys went ahead with the prank. It honored Conner more than sitting around and being sad.

Tammy tossed her cigarette on the ground, stomped out the last of the burning ember just before we loaded into her Lexus, then hit the gas with her famous lead foot. I was whiplashed back into the memory of last April Fool’s day, the image of her blowing smoke in my face and peeling out of the same parking lot as I waited for Conner to head out for our first spring sail.

The irony sent chills up my spine.

Nate and I explored the entire ship before settling into our favorite spot on the boat, an area in the front where there was a gracious view of both the sparkling lake and the sails dancing in the wind, and plenty of sea spray to cool our faces. Passing by all the gorgeous homes along the shore caused me to fantasize about plans for the future. But my fantasies came to an end when Sean barked at us to join the rest of the Jedi Order in the hot tub.

I nodded in the direction of our friends. “I can’t believe there’s actually a hot tub built into the back of the boat, because the water we’re floating on just isn’t enough, apparently.”

“Catch up with the times. Hot tubs on boat decks are all the rage now.”

Nate stretched his legs out in front of him and I did the same, my bare feet resting on top of his ankles. “Maybe in South Beach, but it seems out of place for Michigan.”

He laid a hand across my shin. “Well, it’s not really a hot tub. It’s a deluxe jetted soaking tub you have to fill up and drain with each use, probably because a hot tub would be too much maintenance for the amount of time these millionaires actually spend on this thing.”

Rolling my eyes, I gazed up at him and asked, “Why are you always so correct?”

He lifted his hands in an I-don’t-know kind of way, then we helped each other up and hurried below deck to our separate cabins. There were four bedrooms, each with a queen-sized bed, and the extra room served as a study. All three girls shared one room, the three boys in another at the opposite end of the hallway. Mom and Dad’s room separated us, as well as Robert and Loria’s.

My parents invited Conner’s parents because they thought getting out of town on the anniversary weekend of his death would do them some good. Plus, Mom probably didn’t want to be responsible for six teens all by herself.

Searching for my duffel bag in the pile of stuff thrown on the floor, I quickly found it and changed into my yellow and white striped one piece with the fake daisy on the right shoulder strap. I walked barefoot across the hardwood floor with rigid posture, returning to the saloon the same time as Nate. I admired the sight of him shirtless and sporting his black and white checkered swim trunks, then the boat rocked, waves pounding against the low windows. I lost my balance, falling straight into him, just as he also lost his balance. We ended up on the couch together. Warmth I never knew existed assaulted my body. His breath against my throat wreaked havoc on my nervous system as the stubble of his chin tickled me. He tipped my chin, forcing me to meet his eyes.

“Fancy meeting you here.” He smiled, holding me, dragging his fingers lightly across my arms.

“Are you guys coming or what?” Nicole called from above.

Biting my lip, I looked at Nate’s hair falling in his face, thick and dark, and my cheeks flushed.

“Guess we should head up,” he said.

Reluctantly, I flipped over, not wanting to get up and climb the stairs, but I did. When we arrived on deck, everyone was in the water. Most noticeable was Tammy sporting her leopard print halter-top bikini. We passed through a sunken level with chairs just before the Jacuzzi, and above the four seats, a sitcom played on the wall-mounted television.

“Awesome.” I slipped into the warm, bubbling froth. “I didn’t notice the tv here before.”

“Covered up.” Kyle held up a large remote with more buttons on it than my laptop computer. “This little wall slides open with this control.”

“Cool! Let me see.” I snatched the remote and repeatedly opened and shut the secret wall before I noticed their annoyed stares.

Sean whispered loudly to Nicole, “Girl, I hate to tell you this, but your best friend has issues.”

Tammy sighed. “I’m gonna be so spoiled by the end of this weekend. You’ll have no other choice, honey, than to make tons of money so I can marry rich and live on a cruise ship the rest of my life.”

Kyle wrapped her in a hug. “Anything for you.”

“Oh, barf,” Nicole muttered.

“You know, baby, you could try a little more affection,” Sean said.

“Enough of the mushy. What cult classic do you all want to watch?” Tammy asked, stepping out of the hot tub, displaying her supermodel legs and dangling belly ring. She held up
The
Goonies
and
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure
.

“Goonies!” We all shouted in unison, except for Nate.

Nate sighed. “Well, I hate to do this to you kids, but I’m gonna play the patriarch card.”

Sean laughed. “Patriarch? What you talking about, dawg?”

“I’m the oldest member of the Jedi Order, which makes me the leader—or patriarch.”

“Bill and Ted it is,” Tammy said, inserting the DVD.

I moaned. “Where’d you discover these movies, anyway?”

“Ransacked the movie cabinet in the saloon.” Tammy hit play. “Get ready for one sweet adventure.”

“Most excellent,” Nate imitated in Keanu Reeves-like style.

“Most bogus.” Nicole disappeared underwater for several seconds. When she surfaced, she spit water into Nate’s face.

Nate let out a whoop and plunged under, but he laughed when he finally came back up.

Thirty minutes into the flick, we were bored out of our minds. I studied Nate, thinking of what his punishment should be for picking such a craptastic movie, then dunked him. He emerged with a mouthful of water and squirted it in my face. Retaliating, I snagged some bath beads from a fancy soap dish on the ledge above the imitation hot tub, then crushed them on top of his head. Oil oozed down his forehead.

In one fluid movement, he reached for an unopened bottle of champagne, pumped it in the air with all his might, then uncorked it.Sparkling wine spritzed everyone as they scrambled out of the tub, squealing. Then he shot the beverage at me like a loaded gun.

A box of bath salts sat on the ledge and when Nate tried to jump out of the tub, I dumped the contents down the back of his swimming trunks. Then with one giant swoop of his hand, he grabbed whipped cream off the counter, which was laid out with chocolate covered strawberries by the service crew along with the champagne.

Nate sprayed a massive amount onto his hand in record time, then hurled the creamy topping toward me. I ducked under water, only to be hit square in the face when I came back up for air. Wiping the foam off my cheeks with one hand, I stretched my arm back to wind up for retribution, but he tackled me, bringing me under water again.

When we rose to the surface, we could only laugh hysterically for a few moments, his arms still around me from when he dragged me under. Finally we stopped, breathing heavily. I sucked in a deep breath and then let it out slowly. Still panting, his well-shaped lips were just inches from mine. I felt his hot breath and studied his expression, and I was certain something crossed his face I’d never seen there before. But I knew
the look
well. I’d seen it reflected in the mirror many times.

Longing.

I ached for Conner for so long and missed my chance.

Nate pressed his body against mine, my skin tingling, hoping all the things I’d been denied would be mine. At the same time, I wondered again if this risk was worth it. I was still confused about Nate’s feelings for me. Sure, we were attending prom together, but he said as friends. Even if the ‘just friends’ part were true, I couldn’t deny the heat travelling up my body had nothing to do with the hot tub and everything to do with Nate, his moist lips daring me to kiss him.

“Um, hello?” Tammy interrupted my thoughts.

I’d forgotten any of them were even present.

“Like, get a room already.”

The breath I’d been holding rose out in front of me, the moment evaporating. Nate scowled, and everyone laughed. By the time Nate and I cleaned up our mess, the boat docked at Mackinac Island, and all my desires swirled down the Jacuzzi drain. Everyone wrapped themselves in towels and enjoyed the sights of the village and harbor.