Kasey Screws Up the World (5 page)

“You’re such a dork.” Hayden messed up Finn’s hair with his knuckles.

There were only five people in front of us by the time we joined the line.

Hayden shook my arm to loosen it. “Stop shaking. Act cool.”

I straightened my posture. “Do I look eighteen?”

“No, you look guilty. Relax.”

The bouncer turned away a drunken girl at the front of the line. That wasn’t a good sign.

“So tell me about your brother,” I said. Hayden was even easier to talk to, but I knew that was only because I wasn’t trying to impress him.

Hayden made a clicking sound with his tongue and feigned shock. “What? You don’t want to know about me?” He leaned in closer. “I’m cuter.”

I gave him a dirty look attached with a telepathic message:
Watch it, buddy. You’re supposed to be interested in my sister.
“He told me his personality was ‘confidential’“ I lifted up my hands to air-quote and then froze in a Tyrannosaurus pose as I realized how dorky and un-eighteen-like that was.

“That’s just his way of not revealing what a loser he is.”

He seemed pretty cool to me. I glanced at Finn, who was busy flipping his room key over and over in his hands. “Is your brother this much of a player?”

“Nah, he’s the nice one. Nice guys finish last.” He winked.

“Well, I like nice guys.” I nodded my head forward. “Line’s moving. And don’t use these cheesy lines on my sister. She won’t fall for them.”

“Dude, I plan to wow her with my dance moves.” Hayden flashed the bouncer his card.

I snorted. “Good luck with that.”

“I like a challenge.” He walked forward, waiting for me by the entrance.

I tried to pretend this wasn’t the most terrifying moment of my life and put on my best Lara stare: far off into the distance as if something better captured my attention. The bouncer glanced at the photo, back at me, then at the photo again. My nerves ratcheted into high gear.

The bouncer shook his head.

I could feel the color drain from my cheeks. Now what? Hayden made an exaggerated frowning face before he turned around and reentered the club. I walked back to Finn with my head down. A spoiler alert warning blared in my mind: Finn would go inside, watch Lara, and then she’d have two boys fighting over her while I was left with none.

Finn clapped his hands. “Nice.”

“Great, there goes that idea. Hopefully you’ll have better luck.”

“I hoped you wouldn’t get in. Now I got ya all to myself.”

Deep down, I let out a sigh of relief. Because Finn wouldn’t see me dance and realize I wasn’t good enough.

He stood up. “So where to? Since you’re not old enough for the disco, we could check out Kiddie Kare and get you a babysitter.”

I glared at him.

“Just kidding. I have a better idea.”

We made our way to the open-air deck. The pool was covered and lounge chairs had been piled on the sides to make room for pedestrians. Calypso music blasted from speakers surrounding the main pool. Waiters carried trays of frozen drinks, and some middle-aged women danced in a large group in front of the band at the opposite end of the deck.

“I’ll buy you a drink. A legal one, unfortunately.” He pulled out his room key, which also acted as currency on the ship. “Well, actually, my parents will buy you a drink. What do you like?”

I shook my head. “Nice try. I’m not divulging any further info until I get some good stuff on you.”

“Ah. So Hayden was tight lipped. Nice. Hush money well spent.” He motioned for the bartender and ordered two sodas.

I leaned against the bar’s counter, watching the brown liquid splash into the tall glasses. “He did tell me something about you.”

Finn rested his hand on the counter. “Oh yeah. What’s that?”

The bartender set the two sodas in front of us and grabbed Finn’s card to swipe. I lifted the straw to my mouth, keeping eye contact with Finn and trying to keep the smirk off my face. I felt like an actress, playing the role Lara wrote for me.

He positioned the straw in his mouth, and sipped as well. We stared each other down. Finally, he broke. The straw twisted around the rim of the glass. “So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh?”

I set the glass down on the counter. The cool breeze whipped my hair around my face. “I don’t need to share this information about you. I already have it.” No need to tell him the info I had was that his brother thought he was a loser.

“Okay, let’s make a deal. We’ll trade, one piece of coveted info for another.”

His eyes shone from the reflection of the overhead lights outside, and his hair picked up a little of the shimmer. Cute dimples undulated as he talked that made his smile seem even brighter. I extended my hand to him to shake on it.

His fingers wrapped around mine, and his thumb caressed my palm. “If we’re shaking on this, it’s gotta be good. It’s gotta be something really confidential.”

I nodded. “You first.”

“Fine but not here. I can’t reveal my sensitive information in front of…” He jerked his head toward the bartender.

Finn twisted his hand and interlocked our fingers. He pulled me forward, and I grabbed my unfinished soda. We walked along the perimeter of the boat, our arms swinging between us. I was so proud of myself for the way I held my own in our flirting.

With Lara gone, I was able to shine.

He pushed me against the ship’s ledge, my back to the ocean, and spun his body forward against me. The wooden bar dug into my shoulder blades. Finn looked left and right before leaning in and whispering in my ear, “I’m not really seventeen. I’m actually thirty-five and work for the C.I.A. I’m here watching your family for, you know, confidential reasons.” He traced his lips along my cheek. The music disappeared under Finn’s whispers. All I could hear was his breath tickling my skin. The soft sensation of his mouth on my cheek sent chills down my spine and just as his lips were about to reach my mouth, he pulled back. The cool air hitting my cheek instead of his warm breath made his departure that more shocking. “Even being this close to you could get me fired.”

I placed my arm on the top of the rail and turned toward him. “I understand. After all, I’m the reason the C.I.A. is following my family. I’m on the run for—uh—well, I can’t tell you now, can I? You being the enemy, and all.”

He nodded toward the purse. “Oh yeah? Let me see your ID. As a C.I.A. agent, I need to verify your false identity for your protection.”

I opened my purse and handed him my high school ID. The one with the horrible picture of me when I was riddled with braces freshman year. Finn flipped it over in his hands. “Yep, that’s fake all right. So, Kasey Fishbein, what’s your real name? Bambi, I presume?”

“No, Bambi was my previous alias. My real name’s uh…” The word
Lara
waited on my lips, but instead I scanned the scenery for some inspiration. All I could see was the name of the ship,
The Ocean’s Victory
, written in large blue letters across a sign above the slide. “Victory…uh. Victoria Cruise…”

His eyes followed mine over to the ship’s name. A smirk turned his dimples into deep canyons. “Quite a coincidence that your last name is ‘Cruise’ and you’re on one.”

“Well, I’m only on this cruise because it helps me get out of the country easier. When we stop in Cancun on the second to last day of our trip, I’m so gone.”

“What’s wrong with St. Thomas or Belize? We stop there first.”

I couldn’t remember the other ports, but I didn’t want to say that. Goosebumps popped on my arms from the cool breeze. “I’m wanted in those places.”

He laughed and grabbed my hand again. “You’re wanted here too.” We kept walking, this time toward the limbo party. “Well, Miss Victoria Cruise, let’s say we forget our old identities on this trip and be ourselves, you know, the people we’re pretending to be. You be Kasey and I’ll be Finn, the seventeen-year-old.”

But I didn’t want to be Kasey anymore. Kasey was no one. Kasey could never be someone like Lara. Maybe Victoria Cruise could.

“Kasey, come out already,” Lara yelled over the dripping water of the sink. “Have to check my email before we hit the pool and I need to tan before the audition later.”

Lara had petitioned Mom and Dad to take this ship specifically because this year’s cast of
Next American Dance Star
would be performing as part of their tour on the last night of the cruise. Lara hoped if she won the talent show, she’d impress the producers enough for them to cast year her in next season’s reality competition.

If anyone had the ability to impress them, it was her. If the producers were even on the ship. I wasn’t convinced.

“How was the club?” I emerged from the bathroom with a brush sticking out of my hair like a white flag, defeated by my knotty hair. It felt weird to see my sister ready before me. Usually I had time to run a marathon before Lara even decided on an outfit.

“Really fun.” She abandoned her magazine and grabbed the brush handle. “Hayden was impressed…and intimidated, just as boys should be. Hopefully some of the producers were there watching me dance.” She handed back the brush. “Come on.”

I examined Lara’s sexy black bikini, then leafed through my drawer, trying to find something hotter. My old brown plaid one was so faded it looked like it had spent too much time in the company of detergent, but I yanked it out anyway.

“Wait, I have something better for you.” Lara rummaged through her suitcase and pulled out an ornate royal blue dance leotard. I used to admire that uniform whenever she wore it on stage. It was usually hard to take your eyes off her, but the leotard made it impossible with the way it shimmered in intricate swirly patterns. Mom had made this for Lara as a Sweet Sixteen present two years ago. I had hoped I’d get a similar one when I had turned sixteen, but Mom must have run out of supplies.

“Wear this,” Lara said, jiggling the leotard in front of me. “It’s not quite waterproof, but perfect for boy-getting.”

“This is for me?” I hesitated before taking it from her. As soon as my fingers brushed against the soft material, it took all my effort not to hug it to my chest.

“I’ve got lots of new ones, and I know you always liked this one.”

“Thanks, Lara. Really.” I pulled it on. The fabric fit snuggly against my middle and was a little loose in the shoulders, but to me it was perfect.

“Looks great on you.” She threw her magazine and tanning spray into a bag. “So what did you do with Finn?” Her voice went high-pitched, and I could hear the real question hidden beneath. What did you
do
with Finn?

My cheeks flamed with embarrassment that the answer was nothing. Nothing she would care about anyway. I borrowed a spritz of her perfume. “Just flirted a lot.”

“
Flirted!”
She sat up straight and clapped her hands. “So my advice worked?”

“Yeah, actually, it did. Though I think I should take most of the credit myself,” I joked.

“Just wait until he sees you in that.” Lara touched my shoulder. “We’ll figure out another way to get you into that club, Kase. Then you two will really hit it off. Without words.” She winked.

But with Finn, it all came naturally. We moved to the rhythm of conversation. Maybe I didn’t need dancing to stand out.

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Lonnie
said…

Raise your hand if you feel awkward reading this? *raises hand*