Just Ask (18 page)

I didn't want to be pushy, but I was curious about what Matthew planned to wear to the dance. It's not like guys go out and rent tuxes or anything.

“I'm going to surprise you,” he told me during art
earlier this week. “But I think you'll like it.”

And since Matthew has an artist's flair, I'm pretty sure I won't be disappointed. But I told him a little about my dress, just in case he was planning on wearing something that would totally clash. I also wanted him to be warned as to the color. Artists can be very sensitive to color. But he was totally cool about it. “Red sounds great,” he told me. “And it works with what I plan to wear too.”

So we're set. Naturally, Nat had been hanging around Cesar this week, like she thought she could get him into thinking he's going to be her date. But then he pulled a fast one.

“I've invited someone else to join us for the Harvest Dance,” he announced at lunch today. “I thought it might be nice to even out the girls and the guys.”

“You asked a date?” demanded Marissa.

“No, not a date. Just a girl who wouldn't have gone otherwise. And she can hang with me and Jake and Natalie.”

“Who is it?” asked Nat. And I could see the troubled look in her eyes. like some hot chick was going to ace her out of being with Cesar.

“Marty Ruez,” he told her.

“Why her again?” Marissa asked as she narrowed her eyes at Cesar. “Is it like you think she's going to protect you or something?”

“Nah.” Jake winked at his buddy. “Cesar's just got it
bad for Marty. It's his little secret.”

“Yeah, whatever,” said Cesar. “I happen to think she's nice. And she's fun, and she was happy to join us. Is it a problem?”

“Not at all,” I told him. “The more the merrier.”

“Yeah,” agreed Nat. And I could tell she was relieved (since Marty isn't like the most attractive girl in the school). “No problem.”

But now, as I'm sitting here trying to come up with an answer to this “Just Ask” letter, I'm thinking about Marty. In fact, I'm wondering if it's possible that she wrote this letter. If not, maybe she could've.

I had to throw in the last doctor part because of something my dad warned me about. He said that I couldn't say anything that could be perceived as “medical advice” without also telling the person to consult her physician first. Although I can't imagine what doctor wouldn't agree that anyone who wants to lose
weight should eat less and exercise more. But hey, I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Still, I'm thinking about Marty Ruez and kids who are heavy. But I don't think she was the one who wrote that letter since she's not horribly obese, just fairly overweight. And she doesn't seem that miserable to me either. I mean, she's a Christian, she goes to youth group, and she's good friends with Cesar. So really, she's probably not that unhappy.

But there is a girl at our school who's seriously fat. I'm guessing she's three hundred pounds or more, although I have no idea. I hardly ever see her, but when I do, it's like you can't miss her. I don't even know her name, but I feel sorry for her. She's always got her head down, and you can tell that she's totally miserable.

I guess I've wondered why she doesn't do anything about it. But then I really don't know how she feels or what her life is like. And now I'm feeling bad that I don't even know her name. I guess I better do something about that.

It's the day after the Harvest Dance. Where do I begin? I have to say that everything started out pretty cool. Then it got a little freaky. But finally it turned out okay, I think. Let me explain.

First of all, it was fun getting ready. Natalie decided to get dressed at my house since her mom had to hire a
sitter to watch Krissy and Micah, and Nat didn't want to be around when she arrived. So she came over around five, and then we took our time and had fun doing the whole hair and makeup routine.

And I think my parents (especially my mom) really enjoyed the whole show. And naturally, my mom took lots of pictures, and my dad even broke out the video camera. Nat and I strutted our stuff and hammed it up for him while he taped us. So all in all, I think the parents were pleased.

The plan was for the limo to work its way across town to pick everyone up. Our stop was about midway, and by the time it reached my house, Marissa, Robert, Jake, and Matthew were already inside. Nat and I were ready to hop in and go, but my parents, armed with cameras, insisted that we all have our pictures taken. Of course, this also gave them a chance to meet Matthew, which come to think of it, might have been their ulterior motive all along.

After our Kodak moment, we all piled into the limo, and I got the impression that Marissa had been enjoying being the only girl, and I'm sure that those three guys appreciated her rather revealing dress. Even so, they seemed happy to have Nat and me join their lively little group.

“You look great,” Matthew said as he helped me into the stretch limo.

“You look pretty hot yourself.” I checked out what
appeared to be a dinner jacket from the sixties. “Where did you get that?”

He laughed. “My mom is the costume designer for the community theater. She let me go through her stuff.”

“Wow, this is awesome.” I checked out the long leather seats along the inside of this incredibly luxurious car.

“Totally cool,” Nat said as she sat between Robert and Jake.

“They even have a bar.” Marissa held up a plastic cup of what I assumed was sparkling cider since I could see a couple of opened bottles in the bar area. “Want some?”

“Sure,” I told her. “That sounds great.”

“Me too,” said Nat.

Jake raised his hand. “You guys might want to—”

“I'll take care of everything.” Marissa quickly reached for the bottle and poured out two glasses.

Robert took the glasses and handed them to us. Then he and Marissa and Matthew lifted their glasses in a toast.

“To an awesome evening,” Marissa said happily.

Well, as soon as I took a sip I could tell that it didn't taste quite right. “What is this?” I asked Marissa, but she just giggled.

“Is there something in this drink?” Natalie sniffed the contents of her cup.

I took another cautious sip, then decided that maybe
I imagined it. But that's when I noticed that Jake didn't have a cup. Not only that, but he had a funny look on his face.

“What's up?” I asked him.

“Nothing,” Marissa said with a sly expression. “Drink up, girls.”

I turned to Matthew now. “Is this spiked?”

He kind of smiled. “Is that a problem?”

I frowned. “Yeah. That's a problem.”

“I tried to warn you,” said Jake. “But as usual, no one listens to me. She pulled this same little stunt on me too.”

“You're just a wet blanket,” said Marissa. “Come on, you guys, one little drink isn't going to hurt anyone.”

“I can't believe you did this.” Natalie held her cup away from her at arm's length, as if it were poison.

“Yeah,” I agreed. “You should've told us.”

“Lighten up,” said Marissa. “It's just a little vodka. I thought it would be fun.”

I glanced up to the driver in front. “You're going to get us all into serious trouble. What if the driver—?”

“Don't worry about him,” said Marissa. “He doesn't even speak English.”

“But what about—?”

“Hey, I'm not forcing you to drink it,” she said defensively. “If you don't want it, don't drink it.”

“I don't want it.” I handed the cup back to her.

“No problem.” She just poured the contents of my cup into her own and took another sip.

“Me neither,” said Nat.

“I'll take that for you,” Robert said, imitating Marissa's move.

I glanced over at Matthew now. His cup was already empty.

“Does it bother you if I drink?” he asked.

I wasn't sure how to answer but decided to just be honest. “Yeah. It actually does.”

“Then I won't.” He set his cup aside and smiled at me.

Now I turned and glared at Marissa. “I don't see why you had to
do
this tonight. We could have fun without alcohol.”

She just shrugged. “Don't come unglued, Kim. It's no big deal.”

Just then we were stopping at another house, and Cesar joined us. He looked happy and handsome in his khaki pants and dark jacket.

“Everything okay?” he asked as he sat next to Marissa.

I shrugged. “Ask Marissa.”

But she just laughed. “Want a drink, Cesar?”

He glanced at the sparkling cider bottles at her elbow. “Sounds good.”

“Wait a minute,” I said quickly. “You should know what's really in that so-called sparkling cider.”

“Yeah.” Nat moved over to the other side of Cesar. “Marissa spiked it with vodka.”

“And everyone in here has had some,” Marissa said
as she smugly held a cup out to Cesar.

“Thanks, but no thanks.” Cesar folded his arms across his chest.

“Whatever.” Then she split the contents ofthat cup between her and Robert.

“And I don't think you guys should be drinking either,” said Cesar.

But now we were stopping at another house and soon Marty was joining us. Marissa didn't even offer Marty a drink. But before Marty could feel slighted by this, Cesar explained.

“Marissa spiked the sparkling cider,” he told her. “She gave some to Jake and Nat and Kim without them knowing what was up.”

“That's real intelligent,” said Marty.

“Yeah, that's what I'm thinking,” I agreed.

“Well, let's not let these idiots ruin it for everyone,” said Jake. “We can still have fun tonight.”

“I should've warned you that we were riding in the kiddie car, Robert.” Marissa poured herself another drink.

“Haven't you had enough?” asked Cesar.

“What's it to you?” Marissa leaned over far enough for him to see clear to her belly button.

I watched Cesar to see how he would handle this. But he just turned and looked away I could tell he was uncomfortable, and I felt seriously irked at Marissa for spoiling things like this. But really, what could you do? What would Just Jamie say? To distract myself, I looked out the window and imagined the letter I would write.

Of course, by the time I arrived at this solution, we were at the restaurant. But Cesar was the first one to get out, and he took the two bottles of “sparkling cider,” then tossed them in the trash can on the sidewalk.

“What re you doing?” demanded Marissa as she chased after him.

“Keeping us all out of trouble.”

“That wasn't yours to throw away,” she said.

“This evening isn't yours to throw away.” He turned back to the limo to help Marty out.

Matthew helped me out of the limo, and Jake helped Nat. I could tell she was slightly disappointed that she
was getting paired with Jake, but knowing Nat, I figured she'd be a good sport. We'd all agreed on a moderately priced restaurant, and Cesar had made reservations. But when we got inside we realized that we were being split into two groups. As it turned out, Matthew and I got stuck with the boozers, and the rest were seated across the room.

“Are you mad at me?” Matthew asked me quietly.

I forced a smile that probably wasn't very believable. “Not you.” Then I glanced across the table at Marissa and Robert. Okay, I wasn't just mad at them; I was borderline furious. Why did they want to ruin everything for everyone?

Matthew nodded. “Don't let it get to you.”

“Yeah,” said Marissa. “You should lighten up, Kim. Have some fun for a change.” Then she turned to Robert and giggled like she'd just said something extremely funny. Whatever.

Dinner went relatively smoothly. Matthew and I actually had a decent conversation, and I even began to relax a little when it seemed clear that Marissa and Robert weren't going to act like complete morons. Although I wished Marissa had eaten more than a few bites of her salad. The thought of her with all that vodka and not much food in her stomach was not encouraging.