Her Teen Dream (10 page)

“We will,” both girls promised in unison.

* * *

The dance was held in the school gymnasium. A
strobe light hung from the ceiling and hip-hop music blared through
speakers. Couples were either dancing in an area set up for that
very purpose or standing together talking and drinking punch.
Teachers and parent chaperones tried to be as inconspicuous as
possible while making their presence felt.

After meeting Reese and Marcus at the door of
the gym, Karin and Lesley had paired up with their dates and gone
inside.

“Have fun,” Lesley whispered in Karin’s ear,
even while holding onto Marcus for dear life.

“I will. And you, too,” Karin replied. How
could they not have a good time when they were with the right guys
at the right time?

Reese held Karin’s hand as they wormed their
way through his friends, which seemed like virtually everyone they
came upon. She felt like the luckiest girl in the room with the
most handsome boy. He had already complimented her twice on her
dress and her attractiveness, which she ate up like candy as his
girlfriend.

“Do you want something to drink?” Reese asked
when they reached the table with the punch bowl and snacks.

Karin wasn’t really thirsty, but answered,
“Sure.”

He quickly filled two plastic cups, handing
her one.

“Last year this place was practically dead,”
he said. “Now it’s come to life.”

“Guess the lively people weren’t here last
year,” she quipped.

Reese smiled. “Yeah, I think you’re right. In
fact, I know you are.”

Karin nearly melted from the look of
admiration he gave her. She couldn’t help but think that it didn’t
get much better than this in what had been a far too ordinary life
prior to Reese McKenzie becoming a part of it.

Reese looked over her shoulder and into the
crowd. “Never thought I’d see Marcus out there dancing. Looks like
Lesley’s teaching him a thing or two.”

Karin turned to watch Lesley and Marcus
dancing. Marcus looked awkward, to say the least, but stayed the
course.

“I’m sure we could do even better,” she
challenged.

“You know it, girl.” Reese took her cup and
sat it on the table. He held her hand and said in a formal voice,
“May I have this dance, Ms. Blanch?”

“Why of course you may, Mr. McKenzie,” Karin
responded in an equally formal voice.

They took to the dance floor just as the
music changed into a mellower, romantic song. Karin had little
experience with slow dancing. And most of that had come with
cousins, her father at a couple of weddings, and by herself in make
believe. But with Reese, everything just seemed to fall naturally
into place. He guided her expertly, clearly having had lots of
practice.

Karin tried not to think about that as she
wrapped her arms around his neck, closed her eyes, and seemed to be
almost gliding in a circular motion almost on air.

“Mmmm, you smell really good,” Reese
whispered into her ear. “Is that Red Door?”

“Yes.” Karin opened her eyes, feeling
slightly embarrassed, as if it had been Cheryl’s favorite
fragrance.

But then Reese said, “My Mom wears it a lot.
I think it’s great!”

“So do I.” She smiled, knowing she had
borrowed her mother’s perfume. Did that mean their mothers had more
in common than the two of them being together? She hoped they would
get to meet soon and liked one another.

In her reverie, Karin had not noticed that
Cheryl and Jeffrey Jamison were now dancing alongside them. Cheryl
was hanging all over Jeffrey as though afraid he might slip away.
Karin thought she looked stunning and made sure everyone knew it.
Especially Reese.

“I wasn’t sure if you were coming, Reese,”
Cheryl said in a syrupy voice, ignoring Karin as though she were
invisible.

“Wouldn’t have missed it,” he said
evenly.

“Neither would we,” Jeffrey said.

“That’s cool.” Reese held Karin a bit
tighter. “It’s what the dance is all about, being with our
sweethearts.”

Karin felt her heart flutter and gazed at
Cheryl with a smile of delight. Cheryl sneered at her and began to
move with Jeffrey away from them.

“I hope it wasn’t something you said,” Karin
couldn’t resist whispering to Reese.

He chuckled. “Maybe, but that’s her
problem.”

Karin could not agree more. They danced till
the song ended.

Afterwards, Reese saw a group of friends
huddled together like they were on a street corner. He excused
himself, leaving her alone. Rather than be accused of being the
clingy girlfriend that most guys disliked, Karin was willing to
give Reese his space. Even at a dance where most couples stayed
together throughout. Or so she wanted to believe.

Karin searched for Lesley, but couldn’t find
her, so she made her way over to the refreshment table. At least
holding a cup of punch would keep her from looking too stupid.

No sooner had Karin filled the cup, when
Coach Cleaver walked up to her. She almost didn’t recognize him in
a suit instead of his usual sweats.

“Hello, Karin,” he said in a watered down
version of his normal gruff voice. He used the ladle to put some
punch in a cup.

She didn’t even realize he knew her name.
“Hi, Coach Cleaver.”

“Don’t tell me McKenzie’s gone and left you
all alone.”

“He went to talk to his friends,” she
practically apologized for him. “I told him it was okay.”

Coach Cleaver shook his head. “When will you
girls realize that you give these guys an inch and they’ll take
two
miles? Maybe three. Anyway, you’ll learn.” He paused to
sip some punch. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something
else, since we both seem to have a few spare moments on our
hands.”

Karin raised a brow and quickly drank some
punch as if it were an elixir.

“Have you ever run track?” He studied her
face.

“No. Why do you ask?” She knew the answer
before he responded.

“I think you should consider trying out for
the girls’ team,” he said bluntly.

Karin winced.
Marilyn’s going to get it
when I get my hands on her!
Who else would have planted such
thoughts in his head?

“Uh, thanks, but I think I have too much on
my plate right now.”

He frowned. “You mean like boys? Trust me;
they will still be around long after your high school days are
over.”

“It’s not just boys, er, a boy,” she
corrected. “I’m on the drama debate team, a peer counselor, I write
articles for the school newspaper...then there’s my home life
and—”

Coach Cleaver cut her off when he raised his
massive hand. “Okay, I get the picture, Karin. But you’re young and
can have many things on your plate at once without it shattering.
Marilyn Chamberlain made the team and she tells me that you’re an
even better runner than she is. I’d like to see for myself. You
should come in and try out. If not for yourself, do it for your
school. You’re a bit behind in practice, but we can deal with that.
Think about it.”

“I will,” she promised after he waited for a
response.

His eyes crinkled when he smiled. “Good. Now
go find that boyfriend of yours and get him to take you out on the
dance floor.”

Karin watched him walk away. Running track
was the last thing on her mind right now. What if she tried and
failed? Could she ever face Marilyn again, knowing she was the
better runner?

“Looks like you’ve been talking to Coach
Cleaver,” Karin heard the voice say. She turned and saw Cheryl
standing there with a crooked smile on her face. She was alone.

“Yeah, I was.”

“Does he want you to try out for the
cheerleading squad?”

Karin stifled a chuckle. If only. She felt
somewhat flattered that Cheryl obviously considered her in good
enough shape to be on the squad. Or maybe even pretty enough to be
a cheerleader.

“No, he wanted to know if I was interested in
trying out for the girls’ track team.”

Cheryl batted her lashes as if the thought
had never entered her mind. “You’re a runner?”

“Sometimes.” She downplayed her love for the
sport.

“Well, good luck if you decide to go for
it.”

“Thanks.” Karin watched her warily, as if
this was the calm before the Cheryl storm. She assumed that Cheryl
wouldn’t dare attack her at the dance. Would she?

“Where’s Reese?” Cheryl asked.

Karin had a feeling she already knew the
answer and had come over to rub it in. She looked to her left and
saw him still jawing with some others she recognized from the
team.

“Oh, there he is,” Cheryl murmured, following
the flight of her gaze. “Get used to it—being ignored that is. It
pretty much comes with the territory with high school athletes.
Especially this year’s starting point guard.”

“What about the president of the high school
student council?” Karin tossed back at her.

Cheryl flinched. “Yeah him, too. Guess all
guys can be jerks. Some more than others.”

Karin figured that was probably true, though
her experience had been limited on the male jerk scale thus
far.

“So how are things with you and Reese?”
Cheryl inquired.

“Fine.” Karin didn’t know where this was
going and wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Has he asked you for
anything
yet?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

Cheryl smiled. “You will soon enough. And
when he does, if I were you, I wouldn’t keep him waiting too long.
Guys like Reese don’t like to take no for an answer and can get
pretty impatient after a while.”

Karin was speechless. She wasn’t sure if
Cheryl was trying to warn her off Reese or push her into sex with
him. She had heard that Cheryl wasn’t a virgin and was almost
certain that Reese wasn’t. But he had not tried to pressure her
into anything yet. In fact, it had been just the opposite. They had
rarely even kissed. She had just assumed he was being a gentleman
about it. Was she being naïve?

Cheryl painted a false smile on her face.
“Oh, there’s Jayne. I have to go. Later.”

Karin saw Jayne and her date leaving the
dance floor, where Cheryl practically corralled her friend. She
went in search of Lesley, but couldn’t find her. Had she and Marcus
left the dance? Just how far was Lesley prepared to go with
him?

How far am I prepared to go with
Reese?
No answer surfaced. Only more questions.

“I was looking for you,” she heard Reese’s
voice from behind her.

“Obviously not very hard,” Karin said a
little coldly and batted her eyes at him.

He stiffened. “Hey, don’t be mad, baby. We
were just talking about the remaining schedule and what we need to
do to get the job done. I didn’t mean to neglect you.”

Karin thought about what Cheryl had said
about getting used to being ignored. Could she ever get used to
that—even if her boyfriend was Mr. Popular and a star basketball
player at Elmwood High? She could only hope that in the future
Reese would make more time for her.

“It’s all right,” she said, making her lips
curve into a smile.

Reese smiled back, making her heart quiver.
“Do you want to dance again?”

An Alicia Keys song was playing and Karin
knew she couldn’t resist. “Sure, I’d love to,” she responded
without hesitation.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

When Karin and Reese left the dance, Lesley
and Marcus were already gone. That meant Karin’s ride was also
gone, leaving her to get a ride home with Reese.

“Do you want to drive around for a while?”
Reese asked, starting the car.

Karin hesitated, but only because it was
nearly eleven o’clock and she had a midnight curfew tonight. Were
it not for trying to remain on her parents’ good side, she would
have been happy to stay out with Reese for hours.

He sensed her unease. “Don’t worry, I’ll have
you home on time.”

She relaxed, believing him. “Okay.”

They drove around town, listening to music
and enjoying each other’s company.

“You really were something else tonight,”
commented Reese. His cologne filled the car with a musky scent,
which Karin found intoxicatingly delightful.

“Thank you,” she said, feeling slightly
giddy.

“I’m serious. My friends were checking you
out, too. I told them, ‘Don’t even think about it! She’s
mine.’”

And you’re all mine.

Karin reveled in his proprietary stance. She
got courageous and reached over and kissed his cheek.

“That felt nice,” he said, keeping his eyes
on the road.

“It felt nice for me, too,” she admitted.

Reese pulled into the empty parking lot of a
strip mall, shutting the car off. If not for the illumination of a
solitary lamppost, it would have been totally dark.

“I think this would feel even nicer for both
of us,” he said. Tilting his head, Reese leaned forward and lightly
brushed his lips against hers.

Karin agreed that it was nicer to have their
mouths touching, as it reached down to her very core. When Reese
moved back in again with a little harder kiss, she reciprocated in
kind, wanting this as much as he did.

Soon they were hot and heavy with their
kissing. Karin loved the taste of Reese and the way he had his arms
around her. She wasn’t sure when her arms magically found their way
around his neck. Only that it felt totally natural.

When they finally pulled apart, Karin’s lips
felt swollen with delight. She could not imagine that anyone could
be a better kisser than Reese McKenzie. She wondered if Cheryl felt
the same way. Then Karin reminded herself that what was past was
past. She was the one in the car sitting beside Reese, not Cheryl
or any other girl.

“I could kiss you till the wee hours of the
morning,” Reese confessed, starting the car. “But I don’t want you
to get in trouble with your parents.”