At the Edge (7 page)

“Billy would never kiss me,” I said.

“Billy's not a girl.” He drew in a deep breath, struggling to control his temper. “Come on. There are people here you haven't met yet.”

He took my hand, led me around the room, and introduced me to a dozen or more of his friends. There were so many names that I forgot most of them almost immediately.

A fast song ended, and a slow one began.

“You want to dance?” Nick said.

I looked up at him and nodded. He escorted me onto the dance floor and put his arms around me. We swayed to the music. It was heavenly. I forgot all about Danny.

The slow song was followed by something faster.

“Hey, Nick,” Danny said, her eyes twinkling. “Remember this one?”

Nick's cheeks flushed. He shook his head.

“Come on, Nick,” someone called. “Show us some more moves.”

Someone else nudged him toward Danny. Nick glanced at me. Danny tugged on his hand. She started to sway to the music. People began to clap. She grinned at Nick, and suddenly they were dancing again. I watched enviously. I was nowhere near as good as Danny. And they seemed to be having a great time. Another pulsingly fast song followed, and they kept dancing.

“Those two are amazing together,” a girl said.

I turned to look at her, but my eyes met Jenn's instead. She smirked at me.

When the music stopped, Nick and Danny made their way over to where I was standing. She greeted me warmly.

“Bet you didn't know Nicky had so many moves,” she said, laughing. “He always told me he wasn't going to practice with me, dancing is for girls. But he's good, right?”

Danny stuck close to him all night. Even though she didn't go to his school, she seemed to have no trouble fitting in. She knew everyone, and everyone knew her. She laughed and joked around and didn't appear to be remotely uncomfortable. I had never seen Nick look so relaxed—and that made me jealous too.

A guy I didn't know came up to me and said hi. Nick introduced him: Devlin. Devlin looked me over and asked me if I wanted to dance.

“Uh, thanks, but—”

“Go ahead,” Nick said. “Have some fun.”

“But—”

Nick took me aside and whispered in my ear, “These are my friends, Robyn.”

“I know.”

“So you could at least try to be nice to them.”

“I am trying.”

“Well, try harder. Loosen up. Have some fun, okay?” His words stung.

“Okay.” I smiled at Devlin. “I'd love to dance,” I said.

I followed him onto the dance floor. His style of dancing consisted of shuffling his feet and waving his arms—until the fast music ended and the slow music began. Then he wrapped his arms tightly—too tightly—around me and started to move to the beat. I couldn't wait for the music to stop. I thanked him and fled.

I didn't see Nick anywhere.

The back door to the party room was open, and half the guests had spilled out onto a terrace where the air was cooler. I found Nick standing at the railing with Danny, looking out over the city.

“—worried about him,” he was saying.

“If he's catching up on his high school stuff, that's good,” Danny said. “And he's a father now. That changes people. Joey's not a bad guy, Nick. He always looked out for you, didn't he? I bet he can't wait to get out of there and look after Jack.”

“But he's got another two years, minimum,” Nick said. “That doesn't seem like a long time, but it's different when you're locked up. A day can seem like a month, and a year can drag by like a century. I'm afraid he'll lose heart and do something stupid.”

“That's why your messages are so important. And he's writing back, right?”

I stared open-mouthed at the two of them. Nick was telling Danny things that he had never told me.

“Keep writing him,” Danny said. “Keep encouraging him.”

Nick nodded and slipped an arm around her. “I didn't realize how much I missed you until I ran into you again. I could always talk to you.”

She smiled up at him.

I wheeled around to run back inside and collided with Jenn. She looked at me and then at Nick and Danny.

“Keep up that jealous act and you'll lose him for sure,” she sneered.

I shoved past her. Devlin grabbed my hand. I shook it off.

“Hey!” he said, wounded. “Come on, let's dance.”

“No,” I said, and quickly added an insincere “Thank you.” I didn't want to dance with anyone except Nick.

At first Devlin looked hurt. Then he looked angry. He muttered something under his breath. I stormed out of the party room. If Nick wanted to stay with his friends and dance the night away with Danny, he could be my guest.

M

y dad knocked on my bedroom door the next morning. He was wearing the same grungy jeans, work boots, and plaid shirt.

“Did you just get in, Dad?”

“Couple hours ago. I had some paperwork to catch up on. Nick is at the door, Robbie. He wants to talk
to you.”

I dressed quickly. I felt all jumbled inside. Had he come to apologize for spending so much time with Danny last night? Or was he angry with me?

I couldn't tell by looking at him.

Nick was standing in the door to my dad's loft. He nodded when he saw me, but he didn't smile. That wasn't good. He glanced at my dad, who was working in his office on the far side of the loft. Then he stepped back out into the hall. I went outside with him, and he closed the door so that my dad wouldn't be able to hear us.

“Why did you take off like that last night?” he said. Definitely angry. His eyes burned into me. “I would never have done that to you, Robyn.”

It was the worst thing he could have said.

“Really?” I said. “You would never leave without telling me where you were going?”

He glowered at me. He had done exactly that before Christmas last year. He had disappeared for two whole months, and I'd had no idea where he was.

“I apologized for that, Robyn.”

“And now you want me to apologize even though you asked me to a party and then spent the whole time with another girl? You didn't even tell me she was going to be there, Nick.”

“I didn't know. Leo invited her.”

“Who's Leo?”

“It was his party. He invited Danny. He likes her. Everyone does.”

“So I noticed.”

Nick drew in a deep breath. “You're right,” he said.

“I am?”

“I'm sorry I didn't spend more time with you at the party. But there's nothing going on between Danny and me. We're friends. That's it.”

He looked so sincere that I couldn't stay mad.

“I'm sorry I left like I did. It's just that ... she's so pretty. And she's such a great dancer. And ...” I hesitated. “And you tell her things you never tell me.”

He looked surprised. “Like what?”

“About Joey. About how he's doing, what he's doing.”

“She knows Joey.”

“I know him too.”

“Yeah, but you think he's a total screw-up. You don't like him. If they never let him out, you'd be fine with it.”

“That's not true.”

“Yes, it is, Robyn. I've seen the look on your face when I mention his name.”

Okay, so maybe it was true.

“He got you into big trouble, Nick.”

“He's my brother.”

“He's your stepbrother.”

“You think that makes a difference?” Nick said. His nostrils flared. “Joey saved my life. He matters to me. He's always going to matter to me. Danny understands that.”

“Danny! I'm tired of hearing about Danny!”

“And I'm getting tired of the way you're acting. It's like a whole side of you that I've never seen before.” He shook his head again. “I have to go. I'm meeting someone.”

“Don't tell me, let me guess—Danny?”

“As a matter of fact, no. I'm meeting some guys from school. We're working on a project together.”

He didn't kiss me. He didn't tell me that he'd see me later. He just turned and started down the stairs. I stood in the hall and listened until his footsteps faded. When I finally went back inside, my dad glanced up from his computer.

“Everything okay, Robbie?”

I nodded. Then I went to my room, closed the door, and burst into tears. I hated the way I was acting, but I hated the way he was acting even more.

  .    .    .

The phone rang and, just like I'd been doing all day, I jumped.

“It's for you, Robbie,” my dad called. The slight frown on his face told me that the voice on the other end wasn't one that he recognized, which meant it wasn't Nick.

I took the receiver from him, and he stumbled back to his bedroom. After being up all night, he had spent most of the day sleeping.

“Hello?” I said.

“Robyn, this is Richard Derrick, James Derrick's father. I hope I'm not interrupting anything.”

“No, not at all.”

“I'm calling to invite you to dinner tomorrow night. I know this is short notice, but I'd love the chance to meet you. James has spoken so highly of you. And I know he'd love some company besides his old dad, especially with such a sad anniversary coming up.”

Sad anniversary? I guessed that he was referring to the death of James's mom.

“Well, I—”

“If the weather holds, I thought I'd barbecue. Do you like salmon?”

“Yes,” I said. “But—”

“I know it would mean a lot to James if you would come.” If that was true, why hadn't James asked me himself? “How about it?”

“Well, I guess I could—”

“Wonderful,” James's father said. “Let me give you the address.”

S

unday started out bright and sunny, but I felt nothing but gloom. I didn't hear from Nick. I wondered what he was doing and who he was with. I picked up the phone a dozen times to try his number. But every time I did, I thought of Danny. By the time I left my dad's place the weather had changed to match my mood. Clouds had started to gather, and the sky turned from blue to grey. When I got off the bus in James's neighborhood, it was completely overcast.

I found his house with no trouble. His car wasn't in the driveway, but a red Honda was. I walked up onto the front porch and rang the bell. I was not at all prepared for the man who greeted me. He had piercing blue eyes, and he smiled at me as if he were expecting me. James's father. One side of his face was badly scarred, as if it had been hideously smashed, and he leaned heavily on a cane when he opened the door for me.

“You must be Robyn,” he said, his voice hearty and booming. “James has told me so much about you. Come in, come in. He should be back any minute.”

As he ushered me into the small but immaculate house, I watched his rolling, lopsided gait. If it weren't for the cane, he might have toppled over.

“Please, come on through,” he said.

I followed him into the kitchen.

“Sit down,” he said. “Can I offer you some lemonade?”

I accepted. He poured me a glass and then perched on a stool at the counter, his cane propped against the cabinets, to cut vegetables for a salad.

“Can I help you with that?” I said.

“No, thanks. I'm fine,” he said. “You just relax. Tell me, how is James responding to your tutoring?”

“He's trying hard,” I said, which was mostly true.

His dad looked skeptical. “But is he learning?”

“We've only met a few times. But when he concentrates, he does well.”

“When he concentrates,” Mr. Derrick said. He shook his head. “James has always had problems with that. When I send him to the store for something, I make him repeat what he's supposed to get. Otherwise he forgets. If I give him a list, chances are he'll lose it.” He laughed. “Thank God for cell phones.” His face grew more serious. “Though James has had other things on his mind for the past little while,” he said. “His mother died, you know.”