Tutor Me (9 page)

I turned around inquiringly.

“Which is your favorite Led Zeppelin album?” I saw the others look at each other and shake their heads.

Arjun spoke up. “Don’t mind Matt, he asks everybody he meets this stupid question.”

I was skeptical. “What, is that like some personality test?”

“Yes of course, it is very revealing of a person’s character,” Matt said seriously.

“But most people don’t even know their albums anymore.”

“What can I say? We live in desperate times.”

“Ok then, my favorite is In Through the Out Door.”

“That’s Lumpy’s favorite too!” Theo howled.

I gave Callum the peace sign in acknowledgement of our shared taste, waved to the rest of them, and walked back into the kitchen.

As I collected my book bag from the kitchen floor, Callum caught up with me. “I’ll walk you out.” He never forgot his old school manners.

When we got to the front door, I turned to him. He was a few feet away. “Thanks. That was fun. You guys play really well together.”

Callum looked pleased. “It’s funny you should say that because we have different tastes in music. Arj would amp us up to 11 and turn us into a metal band if he could, and if it was up to Matt he’d unplug us and probably hand out tambourines. Theo and I are broader in our tastes.”

“So, all together you balance each other out.”

“Something like that.”

“Your bandmates are sweethearts.”

Callum snorted. “Yeh right. They want you to believe that,” but he said it with affection. 

He ran his hand through his fauxhawk absentmindedly. “It was great to see you get so into it. You were a big hit with the guys.”
How about with you?

The next day at lunch, Theo was passing my table in the cafeteria when he suddenly pointed at me. “You were working as a waitress at a cocktail bar,” he crooned.

I nodded at him and sang back, “That much is true.” We both burst out laughing and he continued on his way. Lacey, Bryce, Kai, and Alex looked at me as if I’d lost my mind.

Kai spoke up first. “You waitressed at a cocktail bar?” he asked incredulously.

“No no” I said, still giggling. Those are the lyrics of that Human League song from the 80s.”

“Why did he sing to you like that?” Bryce demanded.

“Just a joke- we were singing it yesterday and he was referencing that.” Somehow my explanation seemed to make things worse.

“Singing together? As in a duet?” asked Lacey. Her eyes narrowed. “You went to their band practice, didn’t you?” She made it sound like I’d done something wrong, which I did not appreciate. I could feel all eyes around the table on me.

“Callum’s bandmates came over to his house while I was tutoring him and I stuck around for part of the practice. No big deal.” I blew it off.

“Just as long as you don’t become a groupie,” Bryce said darkly.

“Jenny was just being polite, weren’t you Jenny?” said Lacey, as if she wanted to convince herself.

I nodded mutely, then got up to go. “I need to get to class.” I found myself annoyed that my friends would somehow try to tarnish the terrific afternoon I had yesterday.

Lacey and I met up to work out at her gym after school. I had come along as her guest. The facilities were gorgeous and it was way cleaner than the school gym. On ellipticals next to each other, I was about to put in my earbuds when she brought up the incident in the cafeteria earlier. I wasn’t at all surprised. Lacey was intuitive enough to know I’d been pissed by the interrogation, and I’d observed that she always liked to patch things up, clear the air after even a minor disagreement. It was one of her more endearing traits.

“So, I’m sorry if we- I – came across kind of harsh at lunch. It was just a surprise to see you so chummy with Theo.” She was keeping her pace deliberately slow while we talked. I held off turning my machine on.

I nodded. “It’s alright. I know it must have seemed weird. And I get Bryce’s reaction cuz I wouldn’t have liked some girl serenading him in front of me either. But I’ve got to say that sitting in on their practice was like hanging out with brothers- the guys were so great. We had a blast.”

Lacey was looking at me intently, like she wanted to say something but was seeking the right words. This was a rare situation for Lacey. Finally, she asked, “Were all the band members there?”

“I guess. Aren’t there just four? Theo, Callum, Arjun, and Matt.”

She said, “That’s right. So, they were nice guys?”

“Lacey you wouldn’t believe it. They were so friendly right off the bat- friendlier than Callum is I might add- and Matt had me up singing with them even though I can’t carry a tune, and they played all these songs I love and made me feel so welcome. Arjun was kind of shy but with this great dry sense of humor, and Theo is like the classic charming lead singer, and Matt just exudes this kindness, like you could tell him anything and he wouldn’t judge. They were all so great.” I was gushing.

“Callum too?”

“Well, because we now know each other from the tutoring it wasn’t the same lovefest. But his friendship with his bandmates is really tight.” I wanted to avoid that discussion.

“Yeh,” she said, and I was surprised to hear that her voice sounded bitter. Before I could probe further, she pushed a bunch of buttons on the elliptical and upped the pace dramatically. The conversation was over. I turned on my machine and put in my earbuds, wondering about Lacey’s reaction.

On Friday I didn’t talk to Callum at all, and besides Calc, when we ignored each other, I only saw him across the cafeteria at lunchtime. He and Theo always sat with Noelle and a couple of similarly skanky girls. Meanwhile Bryce stepped up his game with a lot more texts and calls and plans for the weekend. My half-brother Ben was coming into town though and I wanted to hang out with him.

We had an away game that evening. It was a short drive, and I drove myself so I could leave right after and head home to see Ben, whose flight had gotten in earlier that evening. I walked through the door in my cheerleading costume and Ben began chuckling.

“What, do I look that ridiculous?” I said huffily, after we hugged.

“No you look adorable, all high school hottie. What happened to ball-busting nerd?”

I rolled my eyes. “Spare me the labels. I’m just trying something different this year.”

He flopped down on the couch while grinning at me, not in the least put out by my pissiness. “So how’s this new look working out for you? Does it come with new friends too?”

Bored, my dad drifted out of the living room to get more wine from the kitchen.

“Yep. I have my own ringtone on the alpha girl’s phone, and I’m dating the quarterback.”

Ben high-fived me. “Right on! You don’t do anything half-assed.”

We talked for a couple hours, my dad coming in and out of the conversation before eventually going to bed. Ben and I stayed in the living room, him stretched out on the couch with a beer, me in the armchair. I asked about his girlfriend Tanya, whom I’d met last summer. They were buying an apartment together.

“It’s going to need a lot of work, but we’re going to try to do some of it ourselves.”

“What, in your free time?” Ben worked like 70 hours a week.

“I don’t know, I think it’ll be a fun project.”

“I can picture it now: screen falling off the door, door falling off the hinges.”

“Oh dear. I was wondering when you would start this.”

“You guys tearing up the walls, sleeping on couches.”

“I’m picturing Tanya and me up against the wall in the West Mezzanine.”

“You got the song!”

He threw a cushion at me. “Of course I did! I taught you that game.”

The conversation came back to me. “So does the quarterback have one of those monosyllabic names?”

“Like Ben?”

“I was thinking more like Holt.” Arrested Development was one of our favorite shows.

“His name is Bryce.”

“He sounds uptight.”

“Says the Wall Street guy. I guess I’d describe him as preppy. He looks good in khaki. He’s a great player.”

“That boring, huh? Does he like music at least?”

“Well not really but he’s great, super cute and attentive. It’s just…” my voice trailed off.

Ben was looking at me expectantly. “Spill it.”

I decided to tell him. I really needed a guy’s perspective. “Well there’s this guy I’m tutoring in Calc who is not part of my new group of friends: quite the opposite, in fact, they all hate him. And he’s arrogant and this bad boy type, and yet I can’t stop thinking about him.”

“Does Bad Boy know how you feel about him?”

“I don’t know. Probably a bit. He kissed me as part of a bet.”

Ben looked interested. “What bet?”

“We bet on how he’d do on the first Calc quizz, kind of as incentive, and he asked for a kiss for his prize.”

“And let me guess, the kiss was spectacular.”

“Yeh it was pretty earth-shattering. But I’m dating Bryce.”

“Are you guys exclusive?”

“No, it’s casual.”

“So what’s the problem then?”

“Kissing one guy and dating another… not to mention that Bad Boy has several bad girl groupies following him around. I don’t know, someone’s going to get hurt and it’s probably gonna be me.”

“That’s my sis: wise beyond her years.”

I skipped another party on Saturday so that I could hang with Ben. He and my dad and I went out for Mexican food: he said he couldn’t find decent Sonoran food in New York. While we were at dinner my mom called me for the first time in weeks. That she called then was definitely not a coincidence: she was insecure about Ben’s visit, as always, and wanted to insert herself into it somehow. I almost didn’t answer but Ian gave me a rare look so I did, chatting with her outside though my food got cold.

On Sunday I drove Ben to the airport before heading to the Y for the swim lessons. On the ride we were talking about music and swapping lyrics back and forth.

“So, do you play this game with your friends?”

I shrugged. “Only people I feel comfortable with. Tina of course, although she tires of it quickly.”

“Head cheerleader?”

“Nope. She would think I was crazy.”

“Quarterback?”

“No. He barely knows band names let alone lyrics.”

“Tutee?”

“Yes. But don’t read anything into that. He just happens to be into music.”

“I’m reading everything into it, actually.”

Monday morning at the lockers Alex broke it to me not so gently. “Bryce hooked up with a Dixon girl on Saturday.” Her glee was barely concealed. Dixon was our rival high school.

Lacey responded before I could. “Geez Alex, you can be a real biatch, you know that?”

“What? I just thought she should know. I’d want to know if I were in that situation.” She paused to sip her Starbucks frappucino, then tossed out a final dig: “Which thank God I’m not.”

I shrugged. “We’re not exclusive. He’s a free agent.” My lack of jealousy surprised even me. I walked off, leaving Alex looking at me appraisingly.

Lacey cornered me in the hall just before lunch.  “Nice poker face with Alex this morning. That’s the way to play her. If she smells blood she goes in for the kill, but your reaction threw her.”

She leaned in conspiratorily. “You know, Bryce is almost ready to commit, with a little incentive on your part.”

“What, sleep with him?”

“Why not? You’ve already given up your V-card.”

I wanted to shut this conversation down as we were entering the cafeteria. “We’re getting there. So what else did I miss this weekend?”

I didn’t confront Bryce about his hook-up. It did kind of piss me off, maybe because it bruised my ego, but it seemed better to just let it go. If we did get exclusive there would be a zero-tolerance policy but we weren’t there yet, and the Epic Kiss meant that I wasn’t blameless myself.

Apparently frustrated by the lack of contact with me, and in spite of falling into the arms of another, Bryce insisted on taking me out to dinner that Tuesday. Making out in his sumptuous living room afterward, I felt him on my neck.

“Ow! Bryce did you just give me a hickey? Jesus!” I shoved him away.

“I guess I got carried away.” He had the nerve to wink.

Carried away? Yeh right. I jumped off the couch and stomped over to the mirror above the mantel. Looking at my reflection, I groaned. Sure enough, there was a big purple spot on my neck. Ugh.

I rounded on him. “It’s going to be like 90 degrees tomorrow: I can’t wear a turtleneck. I’m not kidding Bryce, I’m seriously pissed about this. Please drive me home.”

We drove to my house in silence. After he’d pulled up in front Bryce swiveled in my direction, looking pissed himself. “You need a chill pill. You’re being a bitch about this. It’s practically invisible.”

I glared at him and got out without bothering to reply.

The next morning I put half a tube of cover up on my neck and wore my hair down and the offending hickey seemed well hidden. None of my teachers appeared to notice, which I suppose was the most important thing.

Bryce came up to me at my locker between classes, to patch things up. “I’m really sorry about the hickey, babe.” He made a mock pouty frown, then added, “What does it matter anyway? Everyone knows we’re going out, and many girls would be happy to have my hickey.”

“I am in charge of my own body and the impression I make. I don’t want the teachers to see this and change their opinions of me,” I hissed.

He looked surprised by the vehemence of my response. He grabbed my hand. “Please don’t stay mad. I promise it won’t happen again.” He made these puppy dog eyes and I softened. We hugged before heading to class.

I showed Lacey the hickey at lunch, before the others joined us at the table. “Look what Bryce gave me last night.”

She inspected it. “I heard. You’ve done a pretty good job of covering it up at least. Anyone said anything?”

“No, I don’t think anyone’s noticed, thank God. How did you hear about it?”

“From Kai. Bryce told him. He said you were pretty pissed.”

“Furious, actually. I do not appreciate being branded like a steer.”

Lacey shrugged. “I never thought of it like that. I don’t know, when I like a guy I’m sort of proud if he gives me love bites, even if they are kind of trashy looking.” She looked at me carefully. “Do you always hate hickeys or is this about Bryce?”

“I don’t want anyone giving me a hickey,” I said firmly. I was definitely not prepared to go there with her. Just then Alex and Chloe arrived with their trays so we dropped the conversation, thankfully.