Meet Me in Manhattan (True Vows) (9 page)

There were so many things in the room you were leaving that you
had never bothered to appreciate. So many knickknacks you'd never
stopped to admire, so many leaks around the window you should
have taken the time to seal. Maybe you could have learned to sit still
more often, and pay attention, and you could have taken proper
notes in English instead of drawing caricatures of the teacher.
Damned good caricatures, but maybe you could have learned something more important than how to draw a nose so the nostrils didn't
look like bullet holes.

There were people in the room you could have gotten to know better. Friendships that might have gone deeper than the sock-in-thearm how's-it-going? level. Teachers you ignored when they insisted
you were smart and ought to apply yourself more.

Girls you could have dated.

One girl in particular. One girl with long, honey-brown hair and
a smile that was both shy and mischievous, and a fantastic figure
and, as it turned out, beautiful feet.

Maybe, when all was said and done, you never could have dated
her. But you could have tried. You could have made a move. You
could have taken the risk. You'd never been afraid to make a fool of
yourself-except with her.

The prom reminded you that in a few days you were going to
walk through that door and leave the first eighteen years of your life
behind. And although you would journey forward, see new places,
try new things, live your life, and have a damned good time while
you were at it, you'd always wonder what might have happened if
you'd dared to make a fool of yourself with Erika Fredell.

Prom night had been fine, Erika supposed. Bland food, tooloud music, a few maudlin speeches that provoked both nostalgic
sniffles and raucous jeers, everyone looking just a bit too shiny
and only a few girls dissolving into tears in the bathroom. Erika's
pedicure had survived a lot of boogying on that crowded dance
floor, and her head ached only a little bit from the constant din of
rock and hip-hop thumping through the deejay's speakers and
people shouting to be heard above the music.

She hoped with all her heart that prom night wouldn't turn
out to have been the best night of her life, however. Because honestly, it wasn't that great.

The truth was, she was looking forward to the party at
Jennifer's house that Laura had told her about much more than
she'd looked forward to the prom. Khaki shorts and a camisole
top were much more her style than a formal gown, and Teva sandals were a lot kinder to her feet than three-inch heels. Peter
would be at the party, but they'd never really been a couple, so he
wouldn't expect her to hang out with him. And if the music was
too loud, she'd ask Jennifer to turn it down, or go into another
room.

"You're so quiet," Laura said as she drove down a winding
road dense with evening shadows. "What's up?"

"Nothing." Erika sighed. She hated lying to her friend.

"It's going to be a good party," Laura remarked. "Everyone'll
be there. And we're all free now! We've been sprung."

"I know," Erika said, trying not to sound melancholy.

Laura shot her a quick glance. "You're not worried about seeing Peter, are you?"

"No. Everything's cool between us." She sighed again. "The
thing is ... I've kind of got this crush on someone else."

"Who?"

"Promise you won't laugh?"

Laura looked offended by the question, then grinned. "I'll
laugh only if it's funny."

"It's funny," Erika warned her. One final sigh, and she confessed. "Ted Skala."

"Ted!" Laura didn't laugh. In fact, she swerved halfway over
the double yellow line bisecting the road, then steered back into
the lane and hooted. "Of course Ted."

"What do you mean, of course Ted?"

"He's perfect for you. I've known this for months."

"You have?"

"Why do you think I keep dragging you to parties where I
know he'll be? Same with him. If I know you're coming to a party,
I'll call him and tell him to come."

"But he's already got a girlfriend."

"Eh." Laura steered with her left hand and waved her right
through the air, as if brushing away a mosquito. "He is so perfect
for you. It's about time you realized it."

"First of all, he's not perfect," Erika debated calmly. Ted Skala
might be handsome, he might be intriguing, he might have amazing green eyes that expressed so much. But he was a little wild and
a little rough-hewn, and he wasn't going to college, and ... and
she was sure she could come up with a long list of his shortcomings if given the time.

Not that it mattered. She wasn't looking for perfect. She wasn't
even looking for him. It just happened that she had a crush on
him, that was all.

"Okay, that's first of all," Laura said. "What's second of all?"

"Second of all, he's got a girlfriend-"

"-Who is absolutely not perfect for him. I'm going to get you
two together," Laura resolved.

Erika felt her cheeks warm with a blush. "How? What are you
going to do? Will I die of embarrassment?"

"The only way you'll die is if I kill you for being stubborn and
uncooperative. Trust me, Erika. I'm going to make this happen."

Erika snorted. Laura might be one of her closest friends, but at
that moment, Erika didn't trust her at all.

Ted had gotten a ride to Jennifer's house with Will. A week ago,
he would have driven over with Kate, but a lot could happen in a
week. Kate could throw a hissy fit to end all hissy fits, tell him she
thought he was an asshole because he'd wanted to spend the
night before graduation with his buddies instead of with her, tell
him he would never amount to anything because he was a jerk
and jerks never amounted to anything, and in a fairly anticlimactic conclusion to her tirade, tell him that if he was planning to
go to Jennifer's graduation party Friday night she wouldn't go,
because she didn't want to be at a party with him.

After Kate had called him an asshole and a jerk and informed
him he'd never amount to anything, he couldn't really get all
worked up about how she planned to spend her Friday night.
She was gone. Good-bye. Good riddance. Too bad she hadn't
decided he was an asshole and a jerk before he'd spent all that
money on the prom.

So he'd gone to the party with Will, and plenty of people were
there, and he was free. Free from school, free from Kate, free from
any expectations other than to show up at the golf course tomorrow for a day of caddying gigs. A beer and his friends tonight; lots
of big tips tomorrow. No complaints.

He sat on a lawn chair on the slate patio that sprawled shapelessly out from the rear of Jennifer's house, sipping his beer and
inhaling the beefy smoke rising from the gas grill, where burgers and hot dogs were sizzling. Placed on one end of a long table
draped with a fluttering paper tablecloth reading, "Congratulations, Graduates!" in screaming red letters, a boom box blasted
Nirvana into the warm evening air. The rest of the table held
bowls of chips, pretzels, and other snacks. After a few more sips
of beer, Ted might bestir himself to get a burger. But right now, it
felt good just to sit and empty his mind of everything except Kurt
Cobain's howling voice.

He closed his eyes, rolled his head back, and savored the peaceful emptiness of his mind. He was almost annoyed when someone poked him in the arm. Opening his eyes, he saw Laura
plopping herself into the chair beside him and he decided not to
be annoyed anymore. "Hey," he greeted her.

"I know the perfect girl for you," she said, unable to suppress
a giggle.

"So you told me once before. I've been waiting ever since to
find out who Miss Perfect is."

"Sometimes these things take time," Laura said. "Especially
when everyone's being stubborn and foolish."

"You can't possibly be talking about me," he said with a grin.

"Well the thing is, this perfect girl has a crush on you."

As long as the allegedly perfect girl wasn't Kate, Ted was okay
with it. "Yeah? So who is she?"

Laura gazed around the backyard. At least twenty-five kids
were there, talking, eating, cutting up. Which one had a crush on
him? Someone in the yard? Someone inside the house? Someone
who hadn't arrived yet or hadn't been invited?

Laura turned back to him. "Erika," she whispered.

He bolted upright in his chair. "Fredell?"

"How many Erikas do you know?" Laura gave him another
poke and stood. "Go get her," she said before waltzing off.

He recalled that day, months ago, when Laura had accosted
him in the parking lot outside Country Coffee Shop with the
news that she knew the perfect girl for him, and then driven away
before he could ask her who. He'd stood in the lot, feeling-all
right, foolish-and thinking of Erika. No wonder Kate thought
he was an asshole and a jerk. She probably knew that when he
thought of the perfect girl for him, the girl he was thinking of was
Erika.

The perfect girl was Erika, and she had a crush on him.

Maybe that door hasn't slammed on you yet, Skala. Maybe it's
time for you to do what you've wanted to do for years. Time for you
to get this right. Time to go for the pin.

ERIKA HOVERED NEAR THE GRILL. She wasn't particularly
hungry, and the heavy scent of broiling meat made her even less
hungry. But she'd promised she'd grab a hamburger for Laura
once they were cooked, and she figured she ought to take one for
herself, too. The backyard was filled with a lot of famished
teenagers. If she didn't grab a burger now, she might not get one
for a long time.

She didn't know why Laura couldn't get her own food. Laura
had scampered away as soon as they'd reached the backyard,
barely pausing to ask Erika to grab her a burger before she disappeared into the crowd.

Erika picked up a paper plate from the stack on the table,
flipped it back and forth and exhaled, trying to blow away her
irritation. Just because Laura had driven to the party didn't mean
Erika had to be her slave, did it?

Someone tapped her on the shoulder and she spun around,
expecting to see her slave mistress. Instead she saw Ted Skala. He
was wearing a funny, quizzical smile, and his eyes glowed. He curled
his fingers around her wrist and eased her away from the grill.

"I'm supposed to get a burger for Laura," she protested.

"Laura can get her own damned burger," he said.

That he shared her sentiments regarding Laura and the burger
pleased Erika. That he continued to hold her, his fingers warm
and strong as they circled her wrist, pleased her even more. He
led her around to the side of the house, away from the crowd and
the music and the hiss of the grill, and then loosened his grip on
her slightly. He didn't completely let go of her, though.

"Is it true, what Laura told me?" he asked.

Erika's first thought was, What did Laura tell him? Her second
was, If she told him what I told her in the car, I'm going to kill her.
Her third was, If she told him what I told her in the car, he doesn't
seem too upset about it. And he's still holding my wrist.

Her fourth and final thought was that if she was brave enough
to fly over fences on the back of a horse, she was brave enough to
tell Ted the truth. And if he laughed at her, well, high school was
over. After tonight, she'd never have to see him again.

She drew in her breath, ordered herself not to fidget with the
paper plate she still held, steeled her nerves as if preparing to fly
over one of those fences, and said, "If she told you I have a crush
on you, that's true."

He let his head fall back so he was staring straight up into the
deepening night sky. Then he laughed. Then he straightened and
stared straight into her eyes. "I've had a crush on you since the
first moment I saw you."

"Oh." The first time he'd seen her had been, what, two and a
half years ago? Her family had moved to Mendham in time for
her to start her sophomore year at the high school, and soon after
she'd arrived Allyson had taken Erika under her wing and introduced her to the kids she was friendly with, and so had Laura, and
Ted had been one of those kids.