The Dating Deal (15 page)

The words fit this situation, right?

I almost had myself convinced it
was
Parker, that he gave me the dog food.  And for some reason it made me feel better thinking it was him.  Why?  I’m not sure, exactly.  I guess because I’d actually
done
something to him.  It made the act seem less vicious, petty even, like it was just a slime-ball getting lame revenge.  Not someone who hated my guts for no reason.

Still, it creeped me out thinking he’d been in my room.  Yuck!

Anyway, I was pretty convinced it was Parker that planted the sweet little gift.  That is until Aspen and her friends walked by, barking.  Then they all burst out laughing.

“Watch out or I’ll call the dog catcher on you!” Nina called after them. 

She gave me a sideways glance.  “Guess it wasn’t Parker.”

“Guess not.”

*  *  *  *  *

Tonight at work, I was unloading the morning’s shipment, which I love to do.  Seeing the brand new stuff always puts a little patter into my heart.  Yeah, okay, I need to get a life.  But I’d had a horrible yucky day, full of barking.  I needed something to cheer me up.  And new clothes were … uplifting.

“Wow,” I said, opening the second box to find black leather jackets.  I stood in front of the full-length mirror, trying one on. 
This would be so perfect for tomorrow
, I thought, posing. 

I had no idea what to wear for the “Big Event.”  Nothing seemed right.

This would probably get too hot, though
I told myself.  Of course I could never, ever afford it, anyway.  So it was all good.

“Excuse me.”

I jumped at the unexpected voice.  Then I hurriedly shoved the jacket back into the shipment box, saying,  “Yes?” as crisp and business-like as possible.  But it was hard because there stood Laura with Conner.  And, let me tell ya, there’s never been a face on earth that looked as smug.

“I’m looking for a formal dress,” she informed me, wrapping her arm through Conner’s.  “I’m going to my boyfriend’s sports banquet.  He plays baseball.”  She said all this as though she had no clue who I was, which was just stupid.  She’d
barked
at me earlier today.

But hearing that she was going to Conner’s sports banquet gave a painful jab at my heart.  I had gone with him last year, of course.  We’d gotten into a who-can-eat-the-most-pie war.  It had been fun.

But that was last year.  A world ago.

 “Formals are over there,” I managed to choke out. 

Conner looked back at me as Laura led him away.  I didn’t acknowledge his gaze, though.  Instead, I went back to unpacking boxes.  “At least I broke up with him this time,” I thought.  “So there!” In my mind, I stuck out my tongue in Laura’s direction. 

Actually, it made me feel better.  Sorta.

As I was working, (or manhandling the shipment—whatever you want to call it) Jade, a co-worker and friend, sauntered over to me.  “I think your customer could use a dressing room.”  She gestured to Laura who now had an armload of dresses, and was gathering more in record speed.

“She’s
not
my customer,” I growled.

Jade raised her eyebrows with surprise.  “Am I sensing tension?”

“Little bit,” I muttered.   Then I took a deep breath, trying to summon up my good Mormon upbringing.   

Not easy.

 Still, I did my best. 

Sunday Sister Green, my Laurel teacher, told us that when she gets upset with someone she has a trick.  She plays that primary song,
Trying to be like Jesus
, in her head.  She said it works.  Helps calm her down.  Gets her back in tune with the spirit.

Well, let me tell ya, “the spirit” had packed its bags and left the building.  It was nowhere to be seen.  Or heard.  Or felt.  So, out of desperation, I gave the song-in-my-head thing a shot.  “I’m trying to be like Jesus.  I’m following in his ways …”

Sigh.

Guess I couldn’t call Laura names (out loud).  I had to do that turn-the-other-cheek thing.  But it was
hard
.  She stole my boyfriend.  Gave me dog food. 
Barked
at me.  Grrr!

Carry On, Carry On, Carry On!

I took a deep breath.  “Look, I’m sure she’s going to buy something ultra expensive,” I told Jade.  “You’re welcome to the commission.  Just watch your back.”

“She’s a real witch, huh?” Jade asked before going to help her.

“The
queen
of witches,” I wanted to say.  But didn’t.  Instead, I bit my tongue. 

Jade looked back at me curiously, apparently wondering why I didn’t answer.

So, I explained.  “You know that saying?  If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything?  Well, I’m doing that.”

Jade nodded, smiling.  “You go, girl.”

My tongue hurt.

I went to the front register to ring up a customer, then finished some paper work.  I saw Conner wandering toward me as Laura tried on dress after dress.  When he came near the front counter, I walked away.  He followed as I went from rack to rack, straightening. 

“Look, stop following me,” I told him.  “And don’t say you miss me, or us, or whatever, because I’m not going to listen to you anymore.  You seem to be doing just fine without me.”

 “Yeah, well,” Conner looked into my eyes, “things aren’t always as they seem.”

I gazed up at him, bewildered.  He smiled ruefully.  “Choose the Right, it’s not as easy as it sounds.”

“Conner,” Laura called, “how do you like this one?”

Conner stared at me a moment.  “Well, I have to go.  But I’m going to come hear you sing tomorrow.”

I watched him walk away, for some stupid reason feeling as though I might cry.  But I was getting over him.  Really.  I knew it, because I felt more sorry for him than myself.

Friday afternoon, Trent drove up as I was cleaning out the garage.

“You ready?” he asked.

I tilted my head, wiping sweat off my brow.  “Ready for what?”

“To practice The Road Home with the band.” 

He said it as though I should know what he was talking about, but I didn’t.  When he called earlier, he’d said we would practice “before the show.”  So of course I thought we would practice tonight—
before the show
.  Not right now.  Obviously.

“Well, I have to change,” I told him. 
And take a shower, and put on make up, and do my hair
, I inwardly listed.

Trent shook his head.  “There’s not time.  The guys have to work.  Just bring the dress.  You can change there, before we go on.”

“Uh … okay,” I said hesitantly, unable to protest, although I wanted to.  Desperately.  I hadn’t even decided what I was going to wear yet.  And I wanted to look super nice for tonight.  Not like I’d just cleaned my garage.  But the whole band was sitting in Trent’s car, waiting for me.  What could I do? 

I scrambled upstairs, grabbed one of the dresses I’d thought about wearing (actually, it made the decision way easier), and plastered on deodorant.   Then I undid my pony, fluffed my hair out a bit and miracles of miracles—it looked really good. 

“Thank you!” I gasped. 

I coated it with hairspray, grabbed some lip-gloss, and was out the door, like lightening, sorta.

*  *  *  *  *

I practiced with Baggage.  And to my surprise, they were all super nice guys. 

“You have an awesome voice,” they told me.

 And they complimented my song and treated me as though I was one of them, a musician.  It was cool, especially ’cause I’d always looked up to them.  Like idols.

After practice, they gave me a free hamburger and fries.

“Do you have any more songs?” asked Mike, the super cute drummer, as he brought me another soda.

I blinked.  “Yeah.  I have lots.”

“Cool,” he said.  “Welcome to the band.”

My feet tapped a spastic jig under the table.  I was part of the band!!!  Cool!

When the guys had to go to work—waiting tables and flipping pizzas—I played air hockey with Nina, trying to occupy my brain—keep it from thinking about later, when I’d have to get up on stage in front of the whole school.  Beause basically, the whole school was here.  Yikes!

“Don’t look,” Nina groaned.

There was Laura and Aspen.  They were sitting in a booth with their friends.  When the two saw me, they smiled conspiratorially at each other.  It made me feel funny.  What was that about?  More plans to bark at me? 

“My biggest fans,” I muttered.

“Yeah,” Nina said.  “And they’re holding their fan club meeting right here.  How lucky.”  She eyed me worriedly.  “Don’t let them get to you, Megan.  That’s what they want.”

I nodded.  “I know.”

I tried ignoring them, but it was hard.  Why’d they have to be here?  Why’d they have to ruin
everything
?  I mean, what was the matter with them?  Why were they so evil? 

Why’d they hate me so much?

By the time I had to get dressed, I was sweating.  Not just because of Laura and Aspen.  The place was packed.  I don’t know if it had to do with the flyers or not.  Friday nights were always busy at Flips.  But to me the place seemed even busier than usual. 

 I hurriedly grabbed my dress off the hook.  Then I stopped, cold.  My dress!  I gazed at it in horror, not believing my eyes.  It was ruined!  Someone had attacked it with a knife or scissors or something.  My beautiful dress was slashed to ribbons. 

I couldn’t believe it. 

Who could have done this
?  But the moment I asked, I knew the answer—Laura and Aspen.  No wonder they had looked so pleased with themselves.  Monsters!

I bit my lip, trying to calm down.

What could I do? 

I was supposed to be out on stage in a couple of minutes.  But no way was I going up there dressed like this.  I was still in my cleaning-out-the-garage gear.  What could I do?  There was no time to go home and grab something else. 

I was sunk.

Desperate, I scrambled out into Flips, trying to remember what Nina had been wearing.  Was it something cool?  I passed Aspen and Laura.  They both broke out laughing when they saw me, but I didn’t have time to care.  It was a blur.   Where was Nina?

The first person I ran into was Audrey Tolley, from church.  She, of course, was dressed like a fashion model.  She was
always
dressed like a fashion model.

The outfit was perfect.  But the thing was, could I get her to switch with me?  She came with a hot guy she was crushing on and I was wearing smelly cleaning-out-the-garage clothes.

“What’s the matter?” Audrey asked when I swooped up on her all end-of-the-world like.

“Sure, I’ll trade with you,” she said as soon as I told her what happened.  There wasn’t even any needing-to-think-about-it type pause.  Of course, with her body she could probably make my dumpy sweats look like they belonged on a catwalk.

We finished the swap, and I was smoothing down my new skirt, just as Trent announced me.  I went out onto stage with 10,000 trillion butterflies storming through my stomach.  The crowd went wild, cheering.  But to my horror, some of them
barked
. 

“Great,” I muttered.

But in a way, the barking was good.  Just what I needed.  ’Cause I sorta found a rebellious streak in me.  Hearing the barks, the butterflies flew away.  Suddenly, I had something to prove.  When the music started I belted out my song with everything I had.  No way was I going to let Laura and Aspen and their mangy friends get the best of me.  I was through playing that game.