"I told him I had a boyfriend and that if he didn"t leave me alone, Todd was going to beat him up."
"You didn"t!"
"No, of course I didn"t tell him that. I did tell him I had a boyfriend though and that I worked Friday nights, and Todd and I had plans for Sat.u.r.day nights."
"And do you and Todd have plans?"
"Well, not yet. But I"m sure we will. You know Todd is sort of a last-minute, spontaneous kind of guy."
"Christy, this is not the time to get in the habit of stretching the truth," Mom said as she sliced up a cuc.u.mber and added it to the salad in the big wooden bowl.
Christy snitched a cuc.u.mber slice. "I know. You"re right." Pointing to the tomato, she said. "Did you know that tomatoes are full of vitamin C and something-noids?"
"Is that what you learned in science today?"
"No, that"s what I learned from Michael." Christy gave Mom a rundown on how they had met Michael at lunch. "Then after school, if you can believe this. I waited for Katie at the car for at least ten minutes. She finally shows up with Michael in his beat-up little sports car, and she says she"s taking him to Baskin-Robbins to introduce him to all the vitamins in Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream."
Mom chuckled and shook her head. "This could be a very interesting situation for Katie. Does she seem to like this Michael as much as he seems to like her?"
"I"m afraid the rest of the world has ceased to exist when he"s around. It"s kind of scary though. Mom. She doesn"t know anything about this guy. He"s different. Not in a bad way, just unique. And he seems really interested in her"- black eyes and all. I don"t know. It doesn"t feel right to me."
"Well, now"s not the time to abandon her. Keep up with her in this new relationship, and keep those channels of communication open."
"I will," Christy said. "Are we ready to eat? Where are Dad and David?"
"Dad is in the garage, and your brother should be out front riding his bike. Could you call them both in while I put dinner on the table?"
Christy stepped out onto the front porch of their small rental home and called for David. A moment later the red-haired eleven-year-old came pedaling fast up their tree-lined street with his bike aimed at his homemade wooden bike jump. Up went the front tire as David let out a hoot and sailed through the air a full five seconds before landing on the gra.s.s.
"David, time for dinner."
"Okay, after one more jump." David pushed up his gla.s.ses.
"Mom said to come now."
"All right, all right! You don"t have to get bossy."
"I"m not bossy. You just never come to dinner on time. And don"t forget to wash your hands and put away your bike."
In a squeaky voice. David mimicked. "Wash your hands! Put away your bike!" Bossy, bossy, bossy!"
"David!" came a deep voice from inside the garage. That was all Christy"s dad ever had to say to get either of them to straighten up. In his firmest, strictest growling voice, he would call out their names, and both Christy and David knew they had better straighten up right then.
"I"m coming," David answered, sheepishly wheeling his bike into the garage.
"Tell your mom we"ll be right there." Dad called out to Christy.
He was a large man who had worked on a dairy farm nearly all his life. Moving to Southern California had been a big change for him, and Christy knew it had taken him quite a while to make the adjustment. Now that they had been in Escondido for several years and things were going well for him at the Hollandale Dairy. Christy thought he seemed a little more settled. They still didn"t have a lot of money, and her dad still wore his overalls in public, which embarra.s.sed Christy, but in a lot of ways she knew she was blessed to have the parents she did.
Christy had some of those same thoughts later that week in English cla.s.s. Their a.s.signment was to describe someone they knew well and to use all five senses in the description. Her dad was the first person who came to mind. Christy jotted down some descriptive words the way the teacher had instructed them to. She wrote about how her dad"s hands felt big and rough and how he smelled like cows a lot of the time, but on Sunday mornings on the way to church he always smelled like a forest, green and mossy. Sometimes the car would still smell like that on Monday mornings when Christy drove to school.
Her dad chewed Dentyne gum, which Christy listed under the sense of taste since she had chewed many pieces along with him over the years, and that strong cinnamon tang on her tongue always reminded her of her dad. His bushy eyebrows and thick brownish-red hair made him look like an elf inside a giant"s body.
For the sense of hearing, Christy wrote about the way his deep laughter tumbled from his huge chest and how whenever he laughed it made Christy"s mom smile.
The last line of her description read, "Even though he comes across kind of gruff, my dad has a teddy bear heart. I"ve never doubted that he loves me, although I don"t think I"ll ever fully understand how much."
Feeling pleased with her conclusion and glad she had it done before cla.s.s was over, Christy handed in her paper and used the rest of the cla.s.s time to finish some of her Spanish a.s.signment. It was due Friday, and she wanted to take home as little homework as possible.
As soon as school was over she would have to go to work at the pet store. She worked all day on Sat.u.r.days and went to church Sundays. That didn"t leave much time for Todd and left even less time for homework.
When the final bell rang, Christy hurried to her locker and saw Fred standing there waiting for her. "Hi, Miss Chris. What time shall I pick you up for the game?"
"Fred." Christy impatiently spun through the combination on her lock. "I told you I work tonight. I can"t go to the game, and I can"t take yearbook pictures with you."
"Sure you can! After the game. We could meet at one of the pizza joints where all the football players hang out and catch them with their mouths full."
"I don"t think so, Fred."
"Come on, Miss Chris. We"re in this together, besides your camera is nicer than mine."
"Would you like to borrow my camera?" Christy pulled it from the corner of her locker and offered it to Fred. It had been a Christmas gift from her Uncle Bob. She knew it was a nice one, but she didn"t know how nice until Fred had drooled over it the first time she brought it into cla.s.s.
"Are you sure?"
Christy hesitated. Maybe it wasn"t a good idea to loan such an expensive gift to this guy. Still, it would keep him out of her hair for a while. "Yes, you can borrow it on one condition."
"Wow, thanks! Anything. What"s the condition?"
"That you promise to stop taking pictures of me and not to take any more for the rest of the year."
Fred made a face. "I can"t promise that."
Christy reached for the camera. "Promise me, Fred, or else you can"t borrow the camera."
"I can"t promise that." Fred sadly handed the camera back to Christy. He looked dejected.
"Oh, all right." Christy pushed the camera back into his arms. "You can borrow it, and you don"t have to make any promises. Just don"t break it or lose it or hurt it, okay?"
"Not a problem. I promise I"ll take perfect care of it, Christy." Fred flashed her a big smile. "You"re the best, you know. Anyone ever tell you that?"
"Just take good care of it, okay?"
As Christy drove to work, she wondered if she would regret her decision to loan Fred her camera. She decided to ask Jon, her boss at the pet store, what he thought. He tended to be a pretty good judge of character, or in Fred"s case, judge of a character.
It felt strange going to work without Katie. Ever since last Christmas when Katie had landed a job as one of Santa"s elves, Katie and Christy had shared rides to work. Katie had stayed on with the mall photographer and worked pretty much the same hours as Christy. Now with Michael to drive her around, Katie didn"t seem to have much use for a best friend anymore.
It bothered Christy more than she had admitted to anyone. Especially since Katie was beginning to change. Not in any huge, obvious ways, but Christy noticed little things, like the way Katie had started to wear funky sandals like Michael"s and how yesterday at lunch she drank bottled water instead of a c.o.ke.
Jon was on the phone when she arrived at the pet store, so Christy went right to work, checking on the fish in the large aquarium section in the back of the shop. The soothing sound of the bubbles in the tanks and the gentle motion of all the fish made this hideaway Christy"s favorite spot to go when she arrived at work and tried to make the transition from school to pet shop.
"Christy," Jon called from the front, "could you come up to the cash register, please?"
Christy slid the cover over a tank of angel fish she was feeding and hurried to the front. She had a feeling it was going to be one of those nonstop nights.
What she didn"t count on was becoming one of the customers. By the end of the evening, she had a new pet to take home.
Christy tried to quietly open the front door around 9:15 when she arrived at home. The screen door didn"t cooperate, and a loud screech announced her arrival. The eyes of both her parents were instantly on her, focusing on the rather large animal cage she held gingerly in front of her.
"Guess what? I got a bonus. From Jon. See, he thought I should have a pet since I work at a pet store and don"t own any animals. He gave me everything free. There"s even a big bag of food out in the car."
"What is it?" Christy"s mom asked, rising from the couch and coming closer to inspect their new houseguest.
"A rabbit. I had a hard time choosing. You see, there was this little girl who came into the store with her mom. and she said she would pick whatever kind of pet I had. Since I didn"t have a pet, Jon told me to pick a pet, any pet, and he would give it to me. So Abbey and I both picked rabbits."
"And what are you going to name it?" Mom asked, still appearing calm.
"Hershey. Because he"s so dark, like chocolate. I can keep him, can"t I?"
Mom and Dad exchanged glances. When Dad gave Mom a slight nod, Christy knew Hershey had pa.s.sed the test.
"Not in your room though," Dad said. "Keep the critter in the garage until we can come up with a hutch for it in the back."
"Hi there, little Hershey." Mom peeked in the cage. "What a cutie. Good choice. Christy."
"I"m glad you think so." Christy let out a sigh of relief. "I felt like I had about five thousand pets to choose from. It was so hard to decide! I"m glad you guys like little Hershey."
"Your brother will be thrilled, you know."
"I know. I"m hoping I can talk him into pellet-patrol when I"m real busy." Christy noticed her Dad smirking at the unrealistic goal. She knew it was a fat chance, but she could always hope.
"Todd called earlier," Mom said. "He"s coming down tomorrow for the day."
"But I have to work," Christy said with a groan. "What time is he coming?"
"Before noon probably. Do you get off at six as usual?"
"Yes. I wish I could get off earlier. Tell him to come see me at work."
"David talked to him about some kind of skateboard park he wanted Todd to take him to. Maybe they can stop by the mall afterward."
"Nothing like sharing your boyfriend with your little brother," Christy muttered on her way to the garage with Hershey.
Deep down, she knew she shouldn"t be jealous of David spending so much time with Todd. It seemed to be good for both of them, since Todd was an only child and David looked up to him as the big brother he had never had. Any girl would be thrilled to have a boyfriend who got along so well with her family. And Christy was glad. It was just that she wished she could spend more time with Todd.
Todd and David didn"t show up at the pet store the next day until after five. David wore a huge smile as he told Christy all about the skateboard park and how Todd had taught him some new, totally cool tricks.
"He"s a natural," Todd said confidently.
"Hang on a second." Christy left Todd and David in the dog food section and slipped behind the counter to wait on a customer.
"Are you ready?" she asked the woman, who held out a dog leash and collar.
"Yes," the woman replied, "unless you happen to have the latest copy of Gun Dog magazine."
"All our magazines usually come in the last week of the month. We probably still have some of September"s issue, but October"s won"t be here until sometime next week."
"Fine. Just this, then."
Christy reached for the leash to find the price tag. She noticed the woman seemed to be paying particular attention to Christy"s hands.
"That"s a charming bracelet," the woman said, looking at Christy"s "Forever" ID bracelet. "Very unique design. Did you buy it here at the mall?"
Christy was about to say. "No, my boyfriend gave it to me." Then she realized that, yes, she had bought it back from one of the jewelry stores at the mall after Rick had stolen it and traded it in for a silver bracelet engraved with his name. But that wasn"t what the lady was asking.
"Actually," Christy said, lowering her voice, "it was a very special gift from my boyfriend." With her eyes she motioned over to Todd, who was too far away to hear their conversation.
The woman followed Christy"s visual gesture and turned back toward Christy with her face lit up in approval. "You are a very lucky young lady!"
Christy could feel herself blushing. "Thank you. I think so too."
After she had placed the leash and collar in a bag and handed it to the woman, Christy remembered a detail about the bracelet she hadn"t thought about in a long time. Last year when she was making weekly payments at the jewelry store to get back her bracelet, Todd was still in Hawaii. Yet some guy had come into the jewelry store and paid off the remaining balance so Christy could have her bracelet back. It still remained a mystery who that guy was.
For a while she thought it had been her boss, Jon, but he had denied it more than once. She even thought it was Rick since she thought she saw him at the mall the day she got her bracelet. It might have been, but Rick didn"t seem to fit the profile of a benefactor who could keep a secret, especially when his silver subst.i.tute bracelet and his ego were involved.
It also occurred to Christy, as she rang up the next customer"s purchase on the register, that she had never told any of this to Todd. Did he even know that the bracelet had been off her wrist for weeks while he was gone? Should she tell him?
Christy thought about the bracelet mystery again after dinner while Todd and she drove to the movies in his old Volkswagen, Gus the Bus. She wasn"t sure how to bring up the subject. Todd was still talking about skateboarding and his adventure with David that afternoon. A heart-to-heart talk about the ID bracelet, the symbol of their relationship, didn"t seem to fit in at this particular moment.
She decided to wait until after the movie. Maybe if it was a real mushy one it would help Todd get into a more serious mood.
"Looks like we have a choice." Todd scanned the list of movies at the ticket window. "It"s great when they"re not all R"s. Do you think they"re getting the hint in Hollywood that people want something other than blood and guts?"
Long lines had formed, and Christy and Todd slipped into one, even though they hadn"t decided what they were going to see yet.
"Could be," Christy said. "What sounds good to you?"
"That second one on the list starts in five minutes," Todd said. "I don"t know much about it, but the rating is right. What do you think?"
"Sure. Sounds fine. I don"t know anything about it either."
"Christy!" came a loud voice from across the parking lot.
Todd and Christy turned around and saw Katie and Michael jogging toward them, holding hands.
They"re holding hands! Why are they holding hands? Katie and Michael are really together. Katie, do you know what you"re doing? You met this guy five days ago, and here you are, obviously on a date, and you"re holding hands!
"Can you believe this?" Katie said breathlessly as she joined them. Her face looked flushed but happy. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt with a Save the Whales slogan on it. Christy noticed that Katie"s black eyes had greatly improved. And she wore a new necklace made from tiny, brightly colored beads. "Todd, this is Michael. Michael, this is Christy"s boyfriend, Todd."