Double Clutch (16 page)

Once I was dressed, I needed something productive to take up my time and keep me from pacing a hole in my bedroom floor. I did some more work on my sketches for the Folly shirt, listening to their music in the background as I worked. I was starting to piece some things together I thought would look cool. While I worked, I finally managed to lose track of the time, and before I knew it, Thorsten knocked on my door.

“
I’m off to work, Brenna.”

I got off of the bed and kissed his cheek. “Drive safe, Fa.”

“
Have fun today,” he said and put a twenty in my hand. “For the movie and snacks.”

“
Thanks.” I gave him a quick hug.

When it was exactly time to go, I bolted off my bed, got my purse and coat, put on my hat and scarf, and went to get Mom.

“
Ooh, honey, you look so cute,” she gushed as she grabbed the keys.

“
Thanks.” I hoped Jake thought so.

We drove to the theater, and Mom kissed me and reminded me to have my cell on vibrate and call after the movie if I was going to get something to eat with my friends. I wondered how long Jake would be allowed out.

When I got out of the car and looked around, it wasn’t Jake I noticed, but Saxon, leaned up against the wall, one leg bent behind him, smoking a cigarette. I saw Kelsie near him and the guy Chris who was in our Crafts class and the lead singer in Folly. There were two other girls and a guy I didn’t know.

Saxon and I met eyes, and he looked me up and down slowly, but he didn’t greet me or call me over. I hated the warm flush that came over me as his eyes worked over my body, assessing. I wanted to erase my memory of Friday afternoon with him. I could tell from the way he looked at me that he was thinking about it.

Kelsie waved her hands over her head. “Brenna! Come here!”

I waved at Mom, who smiled and pulled away, and I went to say hi to Kelsie, trying to avoid looking at Saxon while at the same time looking for Jake without being too obvious.

“
Where is he?” She tugged on my dress. “You look so adorable. I almost finished a necklace for you. It would go perfect with that dress if you had a blue belt. Do you?”

“
I don’t know. Where he is,” I clarified. “I do have a blue belt. Thank you for the necklace.” My head was spinning. “I didn’t realize Saxon would be here. And Chris?”

“
I know.” She dug her fingers into my arm. “Saxon actually got everyone together.”

“
Oh.” My mind immediately turned suspicious. I wondered if he asked Kelsie to ask me. I could ask him if he had, but I definitely didn’t want to.

“
He’ll be here.” Kelsie grabbed my arm and started to lead me to the group.

“
It’s okay,” I said, though it definitely was not okay. Where was he? What if he didn’t show up?

And then he was right there. I didn’t see him arrive, but once he was there, I didn’t care about anything but pressing my lips to his. I was aware, somewhere in the back of my mind, that Saxon would see it, but I tried to push that thought away.

Jake looked slightly embarrassed when he saw the crowd. He pulled me over to the side before he kissed me. His kiss was hungry but quick, and not too indecent. I had a feeling Jake wasn’t much of an exhibitionist and that was fine with me. Making out in the privacy of my room was one thing. Making out in front of a Newton movie theater was skanky.

“
You look great.” He pulled back from me and let his eyes wander from my head to my toes. “I really like your dressy thing.”

“
Thanks.” I pulled closer and kissed his nose. “It’s usually called a ‘dress.’”

He laughed and pulled his hat off, running his hand over his shower-damp hair. “You know what I mean. So these are your friends?” He threw a pointed look at the group clustered nearby, watching us without looking too obvious about it.

“
Hey Jake.” Kelsie waved and smiled. “This is Chris, Amanda, Joey and Megan, and this is Saxon.”

Jake nodded and smiled politely until he saw Saxon. His mouth thinned into a hard line. “Saxon.”

“
Hey Jake.” Saxon dragged on his cigarette and talked through the smoke that billowed out of his mouth. “How’s it going?”

“
Alright.” Jake pulled me closer to his side possessively.

Did they know each other? There was an animosity between them that crackled in the air. I gave Jake a questioning look, but he shook his head slightly, letting me know he couldn’t talk about it there.

The weird vibes suffocated the group into an awkward silence, but neither of the guys looked ready to do more than glare.

“
Maybe we should go and buy tickets,” I suggested.

“
Good idea.” Kelsie raised her eyebrows at the huge group that had congregated at the ticket booth. “It looks like the crazy fans are getting here.”

Sure enough, gaggles of middle-aged women in handmade ‘No one puts Baby in the corner!’ t-shirts jostled at the ticket window.

“
I’ll go get our tickets.” Jake squeezed my hand.

I took the twenty out of my purse. “Here,” I offered.

“
No.” He held his hands up and shook his head. “This is a date, Brenna. I’m not letting you pay for anything.”

“
But you have truck parts to buy.” I held the twenty out again. “You worked hard for your money.”

“
And I want to spend it on you, so let me.” He closed my hand over the bill and pushed it back towards me.

He walked over to get the tickets, and Saxon snaked into his place, his mouth close to my ear.

“
So that’s why you ran out of my car?” His cigarette was out, but he reeked of smoke. “You’re Jake Kelly’s latest conquest. Have some self-respect, Brenna.”

Jake turned his head and scowled at Saxon, obviously aggravated, but stuck in his place in line. Saxon gave him a cruel wave.

“
I got out of your car because I was tired of your company. That’s it, Saxon. And what I do or who I do it with is not your business.” I waved at Jake and he looked relieved.

Saxon reached out and tightened my unfurling scarf like he’d done the other day at school. “You could do a hell of a lot better than Jake Kelly. I’m an asshole, but even I’m a better choice than he is.”

I could see Jake’s body tense as he waited, switching from foot to foot impatiently.

I batted Saxon’s hands away and threw my scarf ends over my shoulder. “Jake’s a great guy, and I don’t really want to talk about him with someone like you.” I narrowed my eyes and stepped away from him. “Back off.”

“
He’s a walking STD, Blix.” He closed the space between us. “The guy’s slept with more girls than I’ve looked at. And he’s an idiot. He can’t even read.”

I was so done with him. “Shut the hell up!” I hissed. Jake had paid for our tickets and was hurrying towards me. “Just because he doesn’t have a photographic memory doesn’t make him less intelligent than you. In fact, he’s ten times smarter and more interesting than you could be on your best day.”

He threw me an indulgent smile, like I was a toddler having a temper tantrum. “It’s your life.” He shrugged. When Jake was almost next to me, he pulled me over and kissed me on the cheek, his eyes on Jake the whole time. I twisted away from him, and he winked at me. “She’s a real hellcat, right Jake?”

“
Come on, Brenna.” Jake linked hands with me and led me inside. He smelled so good and clean after the smoky, musky smell of Saxon. “He’s such an asshole,” Jake muttered. “Was he bothering you?”

“
No,” I lied. “We just have classes together at school.”

Jake’s mouth tightened. “Oh. That’s cool,” he said, even though it was evident it was anything but cool as far as he was concerned.

“
We’re not friends.” Even as the words were out of my mouth, I wondered why I said them. Even if Jake and I were dating, I wouldn’t expect him to ask me to give up friendships just because he didn’t like someone. Not that Saxon was someone I cared to keep a friendship with, but there was still the principle of it.

“
He’s just a lot of trouble.” He looked me in the eyes. “And he’s charming as hell. You don’t even know he’s screwed you over until he’s done.” He shook his head. “Never mind. You want some candy?”

I was glad for the change in subject. “Yes. How about Raisinettes?”

He made a face.

“
What?” I jabbed him in the ribs with my elbow. “You don’t like Raisinettes?”

“
It’s like fake candy. I always thought of it like candy an adult would trick you into eating. Look Brenna,” he said, his voice all high. “It’s not a raisin! It’s yummy candy!”

I laughed, as much because I liked his silly joke as because I was glad we had moved past the weirdness with Saxon. “Well, I love them.”

“
Then you’re getting them.” And suddenly, right in the line, he pulled me close and kissed me. “I never thought I’d be so excited to go see, arguably, two of the dumbest movies in the world.”

I slapped him on the arm. “These are cultural icons! These set the bar for all other dance movies!”

“
Wow. I’m so glad,” he said drily. We were at the counter now, and the pimply girl selling refreshments didn’t bat an eyelash in my direction. She batted her eyelashes at Jake and asked if she could help him in a way that suggested she had more than scooping his popcorn in mind. “Raisinettes, Mike and Ikes, a large popcorn and a large…what do you want to drink?”

“
Coke is great,” I said, then saw all of the options. “Oh, how about Cherry Coke? Do you like that?”

“
Yeah, that’s cool.” He never took his eyes off of me. The girl behind the counter looked at me with daggers in hers. “A Cherry Coke, please.” He finally looked her way and she smiled, then tossed me a look and went to get the drink.

“
Does that happen a lot?” I asked after Jake paid a horrifying amount for our tiny candy boxes, tub of popcorn, and soda, and we moved away from the counter and the girl still throwing him longing looks.

“
What?” He juggled everything in his arms while he tried to slide his wallet into his back pocket.

I took the popcorn and soda and tossed a kernel in my mouth to enjoy the perfect salty crunch that only movie theater popcorn possesses. “Do girls fall all over you every time you go out?”

“
What are you talking about?” he asked, genuinely puzzled.

“
Jake, that girl would have hopped in your pocket and gone home with you if you looked her way. How could you not see that?” I offered him a piece of popcorn. He opened his mouth and I fed it to him, thrilled at the touch of his tongue on my fingertips.

“
I don’t know. She just seemed nice. To tell you truth, I really didn’t even notice her. Why would I be looking at any other girl here?” He put his arm around me.

“
Very true. Very smart of you to mention,” I said and gave him a quick buttery/salty kiss.

We found Kelsie and the group in the theater and tried to figure out how to sit all together. We moved back and forth along the row so everyone could find a seat. Somehow in the shuffle, Saxon just happened to wind up next to me. I tried not to care, but how could I not?

Jake looked completely pissed off, which was understandable, even though I didn’t know their backstory. Saxon was so obnoxious, I could understand someone being irritated with him for no reason other than his being in the same room.

Jake put his arm around me and held me close as the lights dimmed and the movie began. I leaned my head on the hard, hot muscle of his shoulder. He was wearing a faded t-shirt and faded jeans with his boots and the same jacket. It occurred to me suddenly that Jake wasn’t making any kind of fashion statement. Jake didn’t have many clothes.

I snuck a sidelong glance at him as the movie flickered on the screen, panning the rolling hills and sparkly lake of Kellerman’s. He was always clean, but there was something about him that made me ache to help. He looked like he had enough - enough to eat, enough to wear - but nothing special. It was like no one had ever considered pampering him in any way. He had exactly what he needed and nothing more.

Suddenly I wanted to see where he lived. What was Christmas morning like at his house? Did someone make him a birthday cake? Had he ever been on a vacation? I had a feeling every answer would depress me. I squirmed a little when I thought about how much money he spent on this one date. He could have bought himself something nice. Or maybe his money didn’t go to extras at all. Maybe a lot of it went to the basics. I had no idea what his dad did for work.

“
What’s up?” Jake whispered. “Can’t get comfortable?”

“
These seats are so hard, aren’t they?” I said, grasping gladly at the rope he threw for me.

“
Here.” He moved the soda down to the floor so he could lift the armrest between us and press it back. “Lean on me.”

I was able to drape myself across his lap and snuggle completely in his arms. I tucked my feet up on the seat and nestled against him. I was so comfortable physically, I was able to calm down mentally.

Then I felt the oddest sensation. It was like someone was tracking a fingertip over my ankle. My ankles were bare since my leggings ended mid-calf and my socks were super short.

I hoped it was some kind of big crawly bug. I actually prayed that was the explanation.

Because if it wasn’t, the only thing that could explain it would be that Saxon was deliberately touching me. I was torn. If I acknowledged it, I would help irritate Jake’s fury and give Saxon the satisfaction of drama. If I ignored it, Saxon might take it as a sign I wanted it or liked it. I pulled my legs up and away, but Saxon still managed to discreetly keep one fingertip gliding along the sensitive skin of my ankle.