Night Sky (2 page)

I jump behind the wheel. The chair is
already as far back as it’ll go. Dad and I are both six foot three,
but he’s a lot broader than I am, which makes him good at his job.
For the most part, no one ever gives him any crap.

The engine purrs. I plug
in my iPod.
Infectious
Grooves
. Two years ago for an assignment
in…well, I don’t remember what class…but that’s not important.
What’s important is we had to find something from our birth year
that we truly loved. I loved the music. Now I have all sorts of
early nineties grunge on my iPod. Sarah makes fun of me for it, but
she secretly likes it, too. Another hit to the chest.
Someone should kick me in the bits, it’d hurt
worse and take my mind off Sarah. Oh, and bits? If you watched as
much British TV as I do, you’d call them bits, too.

The car slides into reverse and I drive it
slowly out of the garage. The speed bumps in this place are murder.
Dad never lets me drive his car so I’m determined to be really nice
to her tonight, but then I hit the strip and lay out fifty feet of
rubber. The opportunity is too good to pass up.

The wind hits my face, the strip is lit up,
and people are everywhere. I love this. Maybe life won’t suck
forever. Going back to school—watching Sarah and Eric meeting at
each other’s lockers—it’s gonna be torture.

Suddenly the precious
Boxster doesn’t seem so precious anymore. I hit the gas and head
toward Boulder Highway to really get some speed on. Not the
smartest move on a Saturday night, but I’m feeling reckless.
Primus
comes on the
stereo. Love those bass lines.

I take a left on Tropicana, and two seconds
off the strip, the stars come out and my music isn’t tainted by
anything but the satisfying rumbling of Dad’s car.

I have to pass my
neighborhood before I can make it as far south as I want to go. All
the houses here look the same. Almost everyone has the same terra
cotta tile roof and some slight variation of stucco siding.
I slow down through the stoplights, and there’s a
girl by the side of the road walking in a scandalously short jean
skirt, flip-flops, five layers of tanks in different colors and
long, black hair.
Wow.

I’m stopped at the light next to her, and
she’s staring at her phone, looking lost.

“You need a lift?” I
offer.
How brave am I?

“I don’t think so.” She glances at her phone
chuckling while shaking her head.

“You look lost, and I
live
just
around
the corner so…”

Her head snaps up. All I
see is her huge brown eyes. She looks exotic, maybe half Indian
with a beautiful straight nose and high cheekbones only girls from
the reservations seem to have. The car door opens and just like
that, she gets in. She doesn’t even pull down her skirt, which
is
barely
covering…

I can’t believe this girl
is in my car. Well,
Dad’s
car. But still…

“Green light.” She points as her eyebrows go
up.

“Right.” I hit the gas and the car jumps out
from underneath me. Okay, take a deep breath. Don’t make an ass out
of yourself.

“Whoa, warn a girl, will ya?” She smiles. “I
never do this sort of thing…so promise you’re not going to cut me
into a million pieces and scatter my body across the desert.”

“I promise.” I smile back. “And that was a
rather specific request.”

She shrugs. “You can never be too
careful.”

“Then why are you riding in a car with a
total stranger?”

“Good point,” she admits with a grimace.

“I don’t scatter bodies across the desert
anyway, too far for me to drive.” I wait for her reaction.

“And…where would you put the body?” She
looks around. “Only one seat and I’m sure I wouldn’t fit.”

I glance up and down her lean frame.

“That was not an invitation to check me
out.” Her lips pull into a scowl, but there’s too much tease in her
eyes for me to take her seriously.

“Sorry.”
Only, I’m not really sorry. This is better than
any distraction I could have dreamed up tonight.

“Okay, so I’m with my grandparents while I
go to college. I know it’s lame, but it was the only way to go to
school and I really wanted to.”

“Oh…”
That came out of nowhere.

“Here’s my address,” she says, holding up
her phone.

Shit.
I crank the wheel to the right and we just make the
turn.

“Drive much?” She stares at me as the
Porsche screeches onto the quiet street.

“Sorry, you’re like, almost right across
from me.” I glance at her. “Your house…I mean.”

“Really?” She looks around. “So how does a
young guy like you end up in a car like this living in such a nice
neighborhood?” Her pause isn’t long enough for me to answer. “No,
wait, don’t tell me. You’re in the mafia, right? And my body isn’t
gonna get spread across the desert. It’ll get fed to pigs.”

“
Snatch
.” I blurt out.

“Yeah.” She smiles and nods. “Guy Ritchie is
a freaking genius.”

“I didn’t think girls liked that stuff.” I
can’t take my eyes off her, even though I should probably be
watching the road.

She laughs. “Then you’ve been hanging around
the wrong kind of girls.”

Sarah.
I let out a sigh. I don’t even mean to.
I’m pathetic.

“This look right?” I pull to a stop.

“This is it.” She makes no
move to get out. “I was only turned around, not
lost
…just so you know.” Her head
spins around, scanning. “Which house is yours?”

“That house, there.” I point up ahead across
the street. “And to answer your earlier question, this is my Dad’s
car and that’s my parent’s house.” Really, I don’t want to admit
this. I’d be a lot cooler if I didn’t.

“Okay.” She nods, but doesn’t move.

Should I do something? Say something? Maybe
I’m supposed to get her door. I reach for the handle.

“What are you doing now? Tired? Going to
crash?” She runs her hand across her forehead to catch a loose
strand of dark hair.

“I’m probably gonna
swim.”
It’ll clear my head.

She doesn’t move, just
stares at me.
What do I do?

“This is where you invite the girl next to
you for a swim.” She smirks.

“Um…wanna come swim with
me?”
Wow.

“I probably shouldn’t.” She shakes her head,
but still makes no move to get out.

“You wanna just tell me what I should say
next?” This whole conversation—and this ride with a girl in Dad’s
Porsche—is completely out of my league, but I can’t stop. It feels
good. I haven’t bothered paying attention to anyone but Sarah since
the beginning of senior year.

“You could offer me a snack or a drink or
something…” She leans toward me, not a lot, just enough to keep me
going.

“I have snacks. No drinks.
My Dad is a recovering alcoholic and he sees enough at work, so we
don’t keep any in the house.”
Will she
think that’s weird?

“Well, I don’t drink
either, so a Pepsi would be great.”
How
old is she? And is she inviting herself to my house? And why am I
worried about this?

“I have Pepsi.”

“Then yes, I’d love to come swimming with
you…” She pauses narrowing her eyes. “What’s your name? I can’t
believe I didn’t even ask.”

“Jameson.”

She laughs again, showing
me a big smile of white teeth. “So, like, do people call you James,
for
short
?”

“Nope, just Jay.” I’m still in shock that
I’m about to take this girl back to my house for a swim.

“Well,
just
Jay, I’m Sky.” I realize that
her voice is quiet, smooth, even though it’s filled with
tease.

“Sky? Really?” I must sound like a
prick.

“My mom is…into her native roots. So yeah,
Sky.”

“I kinda like it. Did you
grow up on a reservation and everything?”
Did that save me?

“I’m half Tlingit, from Alaska. We have
corporations, not reservations.”

“Oh.” I’m lost and feel like an idiot.

“But I grew up in a small village. Does that
make you feel better?” She punches me softly on the shoulder.

“Definitely.” I look her straight in the
eye. I don’t know if it makes me feel better or not. I feel like
she’s one step ahead of me as I try to keep up.

“Are you gonna drive me to your house, offer
me a Pepsi and get me into your pool?” Again, her voice is still
full of tease.

This is crazy. I think we’re totally
flirting, and I’m keeping up…or I will be soon.

I laugh, filled with
nerves and excitement as I hit the gas.
Maybe my night won’t be so bad after all.

***

I step out of the house in my swim shorts,
with a Pepsi in each hand and towels under my arm.

“Thanks.”
She’s checking me out.
“So…” She gestures with her hand from my head to my feet.
“You look totally comfortable in front of a stranger, almost
completely naked.”

“I’m on the swim team.” And I’m not totally
comfortable; I’m just used to being uncomfortable.

“At your high school, huh?” She lets out a
sigh.

“I’m a senior.” Will she just take off? Will
she think I’m too young?

“Hmm…” She pops her Pepsi, and takes a few
sips.

I’m not sure what to do with myself. This
whole situation feels a little unreal. The backyard is still the
same. Large stone patio, scattered lawn furniture, long in-ground
pool for laps…and then there’s Sky.

“Well, let’s swim.” She
stands up, slides her denim skirt off and two of what now looks
like three tank tops. Her hair is past her shoulder
blades…
and she’s standing in my backyard
in panties and a barely-there shirt
. She
walks in light, almost gliding steps and jumps into the water
without hesitation.

And because I’m a bit of a show-off, I wait
until her head emerges before doing a leaping dive. The warm water
hits my skin and immediately dissolves some of the surface
tension.

“Nice. You put me to shame.” She laughs as I
come up for air.

“Do you have a pool?” I ask, trying not to
dwell on the compliment.

She stretches on her back, floating, looking
up.

“Funny story, actually.”
She continues to stare at the sky. “My grandparents
do
have a pool, but they
don’t want to pay for the water or to maintain it so…”

“So you have a pool in the backyard that’s
sitting empty?”

“Pretty much.” She stands up while staying
low in the water.

“That sucks.”

“You said it.”

And now I want to ask her if she wants to
come swimming again. But I chicken out.

“So, are we going to get together again?” A
corner of her mouth pulls up. “Or, have I scared you away
forever?”

“You haven’t scared me away.” Standing in my
pool, in my backyard with a girl who looks like…I don’t know
what…but she’s gorgeous, and she’s wearing barely anything. It’s
kind of erotic or something. Exciting. Different.

“Here’s all I need from
you, Jay.” She moves closer to me in the pool
…wearing next to nothing.

My heart sprints. “What’s
that?”
Does my voice sound normal? This
night feels anything but normal.

“Be honest…all the time…no matter what.”
There’s a sudden softness to her that I want to see more of.

I want to say yes, but I
know better.
How many years have I been in
love with Sarah and never said anything?

“Oh man.” She lets out a sigh. “You can’t do
it. That really sucks because I like you, Jameson.” She starts to
swim away.

“I like you, too.” It just comes out. She’s
so relaxed. She’s going to tease me no matter what. I might as well
tell the truth.

“Nice. Maybe we can be friends.” She turns
in the water to face me. I wish I could read her better. She still
has that teasing look in her eyes, but her face seems totally
relaxed.

“Friends.” It comes out
flat.
Did I just say that?

“What’s wrong with friends?” She laughs.

“I…”

“Truth,” she demands, pointing.

“I’ve been in love with my best friend since
tenth grade and like a moron I helped her to get the guy she wanted
and…”

Her face falls. “And it worked.”

“It worked.” And it punches into me again,
just saying it out loud.

“Sucks.”

“Yep.”

She swims to the side of the pool and climbs
out. I stand here kind of wishing she’d left on the white tank
instead of the black one. Why is it different that she’s in panties
instead of a bathing suit? One doesn’t cover more than the
other.

“Thanks for the swim.” She sits on the edge
of a long lawn chair, still in her panties, with her elbows on her
knees. “It’s freezing out here.” She pulls a towel over her
shoulders.

It’s March and still cold for swimming, but
Mom and I use the pool year round. I slide easily out of the pool
and sit on the chair across from her.

“So, this girl.” Her hands are on her
shoulders, holding the towel tightly.

“Sarah.” Someone I don’t want to talk about
right now.

“This, Sarah. You’ve known
her a while?” We’re facing one another.
Our faces are a little too close for normal conversation and
for two people who just met.
Her warm
breath hits my face.
I love it.