The Cinderella Society (15 page)

“Hey! I’m just saying someone might be impressed is all.” He turned to me. “Remind me never to date anyone stronger than me again.”

I’d never spent much time around couples before—hello? Not so fun—but the Cindys and their boyfriends were pretty entertaining to hang with. They didn’t overdo the PDA, they all joked around like the old friends they were, and they teased each other in a playful but nice way. Best of all, the guys treated the girls like equals instead of acting like possessive jerks. No wonder the Cindys called them Charmings.

I quickly discovered, however, that this kind of good, wholesome fun did not extend to every male at MSH. The Villains were nowhere near as stable and had a tendency to snarl and get into arguments at the drop of a hat. Or sarong skirt. They thrived on the same kind of drama as the Wickeds. I shuddered to think what kind of offspring they’d produce if given the chance to procreate.

Satan Jr. came to mind.

Dale nabbed us chairs in the corner by the outdoor kitchen, where Ben was guzzling a Coke and Kyra was sipping a peach freeze.

Ben and Kyra scooted their chairs so we all had a piece of sun, and Dale helped Gwen tuck her towel over the chaise. We settled in and watched the drama unfold in the middle of the pool deck, where, naturally, the Wickeds and Villains had positioned themselves. The perfect place to command attention.

I’d begun to realize something about the in crowd. The Cindys/Charmings and the Wickeds/Villains had to coexist in the social fabric of high school. Case in point: Lexy and a few other Wickeds being invited to Kyra’s party. Exclude them all and it could turn into a big nasty deal. But invite a few and you kept things kosher. A definite irritation, but I had to admit it was smart politics.

The groups weren’t chummy by any stretch, but they were civil. Even friendly, if only on the surface. A few people, like Ryan, seemed equally at ease with both groups. But for the most part, people stuck with their own. It made me glad I was firmly on the side of the Cindys, because the Reggies didn’t have the benefit of an unspoken truce. Reggies were fair game, as Heather and I knew too well.

Ben and Dale got up to take orders. A peach freeze for Gwen, another for SJ, and a—

“I thought a Coke would be safer to start,” Ryan said, sneaking up behind me. He handed me a tall blue cup, still foaming from the pour. “I’m glad you came.”

“Me too.”

We stayed like that, grinning at each other longer than we should have, before Ryan looked away. “Pool volleyball starts in fifteen minutes. Coed teams. Dale and I are captains.”

“It’s a summer tradition,” SJ explained. “Ryan and Dale have been playing against each other since the summer before sixth grade. It’s the only time they’re ever on different sides.”

Gwen stripped down to her athletic Speedo in record time and huddled close to Dale, whispering about strategy. Strategy for pool volleyball? Were they serious?

The series was tied at three and three, so this was a critical year. I couldn’t wait to watch. Seeing Ryan dive and pound the ball, muscles a-ripplin’? I should’ve brought popcorn.

The rules were that they had to alternate girl and guy picks. I made Ryan promise not to pick me before he hopped into the pool to join Dale. Ryan won the coin toss, gave Dale an evil grin, and took the all-state Gwen to get back at Dale for winning last year’s battle. Dale sized him up and called out his own first pick. “I get Jess!”

I froze. I was
not
a volleyball player. Dale gave Ryan an evil grin right back, and I saw that Ryan’s own smile had disappeared. But there was no way I was jumping into the fray and making a fool of myself, so I resisted the pressure of thirty or so pairs of eyes.

“Sorry,” I begged off. “I hurt my shoulder at work yesterday.” A slight exaggeration, but a small price to pay for my self-esteem.

Dale narrowed his eyes at me in mock suspicion and looked at Ryan, who had a triumphant gleam in his eye. Dale nodded knowingly, then went on with the picking. With everyone’s attention on Dale, Ryan gave me that killer smile again. With a wink like we had an inside joke. My heart skipped a beat.

They finished picking sides, and the game started. My refusal to play had given Sarah Jane an easy out to keep the teams even. She collapsed next to me after a quick conference with Dale and Ryan. “Thank you,” she said. “I’m always the worst player on the team.”

A few minutes later, I understood why. This was no ordinary pool volleyball game. These kids were pros.

They bumped and set and spiked the ball, diving over each other, calling shots. I would’ve been a total nuisance to Dale’s team. Or Ryan’s team. Which reminded me …

“Why did Dale—?”

“Exactly why you think.” She turned to me, her eyes
lit with mischief. “Ryan’s definitely got you in his sights.”

I couldn’t help it. I panicked. “But he’s way out of my league. What could he possibly see in me other than I’m a new challenge?”

“No Wicked chatter. You should know exactly what he sees in you. You’re smart, funny, and a total cutie. And you’ve got a good heart. Charmings always go for the girls with good hearts.”

I thought about Fake Blondie. “Always?”

“Well, mostly,” she hedged. “Sometimes big boobs override their common sense.”

I took a sip of the drink poured for me by the object of my affection. I couldn’t deliver much in the boobs department—me and my just-barely-Bs—but I might be okay if he went for good-girl types. Somehow I couldn’t see Fake Blondie fitting that bill, though.

I took another sip, wondering how much of Sarah Jane’s view was based on reality, when the volleyball came blasting onto my chaise, splattering Coke down the front of my new suit.

“Oops!” came the snarky voice. “My bad.”

I looked blandly at Lexy, and she gave me her best Wicked Witch of the West smile until Ryan turned around and yelled at her. She scowled at him and splashed away to her position in the back row. She flipped me off, then proceeded to ignore me.

I went over to the hot tub and splashed water on my suit. SJ wiped down my chair and came over to join me.

“What is it with me and drink spills?” I complained. “I’m like a human magnet for stains.” With aim like that, Lexy should’ve been playing varsity volleyball instead of cheerleading. Though I’d never sic her on Gwen.

“The Wickeds love public fights. You handled that perfectly.”

“The Wickeds love public everything,” I grouched.

“They crave attention like other people crave air. It’s how they measure their power. Being ignored is like having their power stripped away.” She bent to scoop bubbles from the jet into her cupped hands. “They don’t respond well to that.”

“Do they respond well to anything?”

“Not that I’ve seen. That’s why the Reggies are so afraid of them.” She let the water stream through her fingers. “They never know what’ll set the Wickeds off.”

We dangled our feet in the jetted water as we watched the game. I’d never seen that kind of volleyball ferocity off an actual court. Even with Gwen being first-team all-state, I was shocked at how many other kids held their own against her power spikes.

The game wore on, and it was down to the wire, with Dale’s team serving. The volley lasted forever, with a brilliant save by Dale that I thought for sure was going out-of-bounds. Kyra set up the shot to use the surprise save to their advantage, and Dale spiked it for the win.

You’d have thought it was the Olympics. Dale’s team erupted in cheers and screams and several loud renditions of “We Are the Champions” as Ryan’s team faked heart attacks and moved to slap hands with the winners. Ryan and Dale tried to dunk each other for the next few minutes, but neither one showed signs of superiority or grief.

Life without drama was bliss.

“Too bad Parker bailed with her fake injury,” Lexy said too loudly from her prime location mid-pool. “We’d have crushed ’em for sure.”

Morgan and Tina giggled loudly. Not that I cared. In fact,
it was hard to be upset about anything. We were having fun, Ryan might really be into me, and it was a perfect sunny day among the Populars.

Ryan came out of the pool. “Got any hugs for the losers?” he asked, dripping all over the concrete.

Always
. “Sure,” I said, forcing myself not to stare as water dripped off pecs worthy of a Calvin Klein ad.
Football does a body mmm-mmm
good. “Go dry off,” I teased, “and I’ll see if I can find a girl to soothe your ego.”

“What?” He faked another heart attack. “You’d forsake a dying man his final wish? After being humiliated on the battlefield—”

“Pool.”

“In the pool. I guess I’ll have to play the part of conqueror, then,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows at me.

I shrieked as he made a grab for me—totally girly, I know—and he chased me down the length of the pool. I dodged people, laughing like a fool, and even put Dale in his path as I came around the far end, but Ryan still gained on me. I’d almost sprinted away when Lexy gave me a huge bump with her shoulder. I was going so fast that the change in direction sent me sailing out over the pool, where I promptly took out the volleyball net.

It toppled down on me as I went under, my feet getting caught up in the netting. I tried to right myself but couldn’t shake loose and couldn’t push off the bottom with my feet to stand up. I groped for the pool floor to push off with my hands, but my fear made me disoriented. Were the net poles floating on the surface above me or hovering below me?

Water bubbles burped out of my mouth as panic set in. I tried to free my feet, but I couldn’t get a good grip on the nylon. I thrashed around, trying to clear my limbs from the tangle—

And then Ryan was there, pulling me up to safety. We broke the surface and I gulped fresh air. He untangled me from the net and hauled me against his side as I caught my breath. He smoothed my hair off my forehead and cupped my face in his hands. “You okay?”

I put a shaking hand on his and nodded, a lump in my throat that tasted like adrenaline and fear.

He put my hand on the side of the pool for support, even though it was shallow enough to stand, and hoisted himself out of the pool in one fluid motion. He stalked over to Lexy and got right in her face. “What were you thinking? She could’ve gotten hurt!”

Lexy’s eyes were twice their normal size. They filled with tears before her normal defense—pure hate—surfaced to cover it. “What do you care about the freak?” she spat. “Why did you even invite her when you know what she did to me?”

Excuse me? What I did to
her?

“Pool party’s over!” she blurted out. “We have to have the pool sanitized. For STDs,” she added with a glare in my direction.

Another rumor had just been unleashed.

“Shut up, Lexy,” Ryan growled. “Go make yourself useful and get the net out of the pool.” He turned to me and leaned down to pull me out. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

By now, Lexy’s tears were full force, and she was making a dramatic exit up the stairs to the deck. As Ryan handed me a towel and helped me dry off, Lexy stopped short. “For God’s sake, Ryan, don’t let her infect you. Use gloves!”

“How would you know about it unless you’d given it to her?” Dale asked loudly.

Lexy stormed away as several people snickered. Ryan
gave Dale a
watch your step
look but didn’t say anything. Apparently, it was okay for siblings to fight, but big brother’s protective instincts didn’t permit outsiders to trash-talk his little sister. Even though she was the queen of trash talk herself.

SJ handed me my beach bag and towel, and I realized the party really was breaking up. Nothing like a little Wicked drama to ruin a great afternoon.

People were already heading out through the gate, waving thanks to Ryan and gossiping quietly about me and Ryan and Lexy and, probably, the odds of me actually having herpes or something even nastier.

Despite Lexy’s attempts to embarrass me, I experienced a fleeting moment of superiority. From someone who always managed to hit the sorest spot in your psyche, this was a pretty generic rumor. Especially to use against someone who didn’t have a slutty reputation (unless she’d given me one I hadn’t discovered yet). Lexy must’ve been majorly flustered about Ryan choosing me over her for it to knock her off her game.

The thought pleased me to no end.

Ego and emotion were Lexy’s weak spots. Sarah Jane was right on the money about Lexy’s need for attention, and being ignored by the brother she adored trumped all. I tucked the information away.

“Let me walk you out front,” Ryan said, easing the beach bag from my scraped-up shoulder. Ryan’s offer pleased me even more. Maybe this wasn’t such a disaster after all.

People continued to offer their thanks to Ryan for the party and high fives to Dale for winning. A few even stopped to see if I was okay, though I suspected some of that attention was more to get fodder for the grapevine than out of concern
for my well-being. But at least they acknowledged me by name.

SJ and I exchanged hugs with Kyra and Gwen and headed to the convertible. Being the super-cool Big Sis she is, Sarah Jane skirted the car and busied herself with something in the trunk to give Ryan and me privacy.

Ryan leaned a hip against the passenger door. “I’m sorry about my sister. She’s not really as bad as she seems.” When I didn’t meet his eyes, he retracted that. “Okay, maybe she is. My mom died a couple years ago. She’s had a rough time.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” From what Nan had told me, Mrs. Steele’s death in a car accident had been a blow to the whole community. “But hasn’t it been rough on all of you?”

Now Ryan wouldn’t meet my eyes. “It’s been worse for her.”

I remembered that part too.
Because she was in the car
.

“Let me make it up to you,” Ryan said, perking up. “The new Adam Sandler movie came out last weekend. Why don’t we grab dinner and go check it out? How about tomorrow?”

“I can’t.”

“Oh.” He straightened and slid my beach bag into the backseat, looking disappointed but casual. “No problem.”

What?
Oh
. “No!”
No no no no NO!!!
“No, I mean … it’s not that.…” I stopped and tried again. “I have to work tomorrow, that’s all.”