In Plain Sight (8 page)

My phone rings early on Thursday morning. Way too early for a friend to be calling, and I almost sleep through it, but then I decide to check the caller ID.

It’s Marty’s Fine Furniture, and I sit up in bed, clearing my throat.

“Hello?” I say, putting the phone on speaker.

“Hi, is this Colby Jensen?”

“Yes, sir,” I say.

“This is Julian from the hiring department at Marty’s Fine Furniture, and I have your application here,” the voice on the other line says. My heart skips a beat. “Unfortunately, we can’t hire anymore for the next quarter, but we will be hiring again in June. Would you like me to save your application and give you a call back then?”

My heart falls, and I rub my hand slowly over my face, letting the disappointment sink in. “Yes, I’d still like to be considered this summer,” I say, trying to be hopeful since three months isn’t too far away.

We talk a little more and then he promises to call me back in a few months. When the call ends, I set my phone back on the nightstand and prepare to go back to sleep. It’s only eight-thirty in the morning, after all, and I am not all about that.

My dad appears in the doorway of my room, his lips pressed into a thin line.

“What’s up?” I say, suppressing a yawn.

“Marty’s Fine Furniture?” he says, stepping inside my room. My blood turns cold. “What the hell have we told you about getting a job?”

It is too early and I am too tired to get in an argument right now. “I just wanted to help you guys out,” I say.

“You are the
kid
and I am the parent,” he spits. “You should trust that I can take care of this family. I just closed a great deal on a new client, by the way,” he says, reaching into his pocket and taking out his wallet. “You just need to have a little patience,” he hisses. He pulls out two hundred dollar bills from his wallet and tosses them on my nightstand. “Go have fun with your friends.”

He lets my door close a little harder than necessary when he leaves, and I flop back on my bed with a groan. Parents are weird as shit.

#

The next time I wake up, it’s to the sound of multiple text messages blowing up my phone. At least now it’s a little before noon, which is a perfectly acceptable time to wake up on Spring Break.

I take a piss and then check the messages.

Josh:
Only 4 more days of sb. What we doin?

Josh:
Getaway? Beach? I got gas $

Josh:
dude, wake tf up

The beach does sound fun, but it’s an hour drive away, which uses up a lot of gas. Josh’s parents own the Flying Mermaid, a surf shop on the water. It’s the perfect place to hang out when we do go to the beach, but I’m not really feeling it tonight. Spring Break on the beach sucks because a million other people are there, especially now that it’s the last weekend before school starts back up.

I’m about to text him back, when I get a new group message.

Mindy:
party at my house, 7pm. You bitches are invited.

Mindy has been one of my close friends since we were in the same play group as three-year-olds. She lives in Shady Heights, the nice neighborhood right next to mine, and she’s also one of the M’s. Of course, she’s the nicest one, even if she’s a bit . . . materialistic. Plus, I like her because we’ve never been into each other in a sexual way. She’s my bud, and she’s cool to hang out with.

Of course, if she’s there, the other M’s will be too, and that means I’ll have to deal with Maria.

Josh sends me another text.

Josh:
Or mindys party? What do ya say?

I consider my options, and then decide that I’m sick of making decisions. I’m also sick of going places specifically because I hope to meet a girl. This time, I’ll let fate decide for me. Or, well, Josh.

Me:
Your call.

Josh:
Mindy’s party will be the shit. Lets go there

Me:
k. be here at 7. We’ll walk over

Pam wakes me up on Saturday morning by lightly tapping on my door. I’m still not used to having a maid make my bed every day and clean up after me, even though I try really hard to keep things clean so she doesn’t have to work as much.

“Is everything okay?” I ask, sitting up in bed.

“Ms. Rose asked me to get you,” she says. “There’s visitors here and she wants you to meet them.”

I quirk an eyebrow. “Visitors?”

Pam nods and slips into my room, picking up the dirty clothes I’d tossed on the floor last night. I cringe inwardly, wishing I had remembered to put them in the hamper.

I get dressed quickly, in a pair of jean shorts and a T-shirt, then pull my hair back in a ponytail.

I hear friendly chatting down in the living room, and when I get down there, one of the most popular girls in the school is standing in the foyer, a beautiful older woman standing next to her.

“Here’s my daughter,” Mom says, ushering me over. I recognize the girl from school, though I don’t know her name. She’s one of the M’s, though, the one with dark blue tips at the bottom of her dark hair. My cheeks flush red the second she looks at me, and I just know she’s going to recognize me, call me out for being the fraud that I am.

“Oh my God, I love your hair!” she says instead.

“Um, thanks,” I say, glancing from her to her mother. “I like yours, too.” Landon is holding a massive gift basket filled with wines and cheeses.

“These are the Carmichaels,” he says, shifting the gift basket to his other arm. “They came over to welcome you to the neighborhood. They live two houses down.”

“I’m Mindy,” the girl my age says. “Are you a senior?”

“Yes,” I say dumbly, followed by, “I’m Maddie.”

This makes her mom giggle, and Mindy’s eyes go wide. “Oh my God, another M! How awesome is that?”

“Another M?” I ask, pretending like I don’t already know that Mindy and her friends are called the M’s.

Landon asks Mindy’s mom something about the homeowner’s association, and Mindy walks closer to me, lowering her voice so it’s like we’re the only two people here. It’s weird how badly I want her to like me.

“The M’s are my best friends. There’s me, Maria, and Matilda. We’ve all known each other for, like, ever.”

“That’s really cool,” I say, feeling like more of a moron with every stupid thing that comes out of my mouth. She loops her arm into mine and flashes me a brilliant popular girl smile.

“And now you can be our fourth M. I’m having a party at my house tonight, so you should totally come over and meet everyone.”

I nod, a feeling of excitement falling over me. This is the first time I’ve been invited to anything in my high school years. Little kid birthday parties don’t really count in this type of situation.

“Sounds fun,” I say, trying for casual, but probably totally failing.

“Great. It’s a pool party, so wear your skimpiest bikini,” she says, giving me a wink. “We’ll have food, too, so don’t eat beforehand.”

“Awesome.”

“I’m just two houses down,” she says, staring at her cuticles. They’re just as nicely manicured as mine are, and I realize that to a stranger, we’d look like we belong together in the same social clique. Maybe now we do.

“Which direction are you?” I ask, nodding toward the front door.

“That way,” she says, pointing to our left. “It starts at seven but you can come early if you want. That way you can scope out which guy you’d like to flirt with before some other girl gets him.”

Again, she winks, and then she releases my arm and I’m suddenly back in the real world, free of her captivating spell.

So that’s what it’s like to be in with the popular crowd.

I think I like it.

#

“I am so proud of you,” Mom coos as soon as the Carmichaels have left. “You made a new friend! I knew this move would be good for us.”

I roll my eyes. “Do you have a bathing suit? I need one for her party.”

“No, but . . .” Mom’s eyes flash with that grin that I’ve come to know so well this week. “Looks like we should go shopping.”

I never thought I’d be sick of shopping, but I totally am. I’ve done enough of it this weekend to last a lifetime, but Mom’s right. I need a bathing suit, especially if I’m going to be properly introduced to the M’s today.

So we head to the mall and Mom shoves me into a fitting room with an armful of bikinis. They’re all cute, but I feel naked when I step out and model them in front of the three sided mirror. Of course, that’s probably because I am practically naked.

These things are skimpy, and probably exactly what Mindy had in mind. I don’t think the M’s have a problem wearing these in public, so I shouldn’t either.

I settle on a hot pink suit with lace trim. It matches my hair, and the bottoms tie at the sides and it’s really cute. Mom also encourages me to pick out some new flip flops, which I get, along with a beach towel and a mesh mini dress swimsuit cover up.

By dinner time, I’m nervous as hell. I only nibble on the bacon cheeseburger our chef cooks up on the grill, even though it’s greatest burger I’ve ever had.

I am keenly aware that Mindy’s party will be filled with popular students. No doubt, all of the RCHS “in” crowd will be there. And that means Colby might also show up.

This fact alone has me questioning my bikini choice as I stand in front of my bathroom mirror, looking at my body. It’s not a terrible body, but it’s also nothing special. I don’t have much of a tan, and knees are all scarred up from when I learned how to ride the neighbor’s bike when I was a kid.

But my nails are cute, and my hair is awesome, and Mindy seems to like me, so maybe her approval will make other people like me as well. Maybe I can really pull this off.

Maybe I’ll get the guts to flirt with Colby. And maybe it’ll all work out.

There was a time when we lived in the best neighborhood in Louetta. My parents made sure to talk about it from the second they bought our house on that very first day when I was five years old. We were “moving on up” as the saying goes.

Then a few years later, they cleared the land to the east of our neighborhood and built Shady Heights, much to my parent’s chagrin. They’ve been wanting to move to the bigger, more expensive neighborhood ever since.

Josh rambles on about how he’s being talking to this girl from his dating app, but she lives thirty miles away so they haven’t met yet. We’re walking over to Mindy’s house, which takes about ten minutes by foot, and that’s exactly how long my idiot best friend talks about this girl.

I don’t really listen to much of it. I uninstalled the app from my phone the same day I downloaded it. It’s not worth my time to deal with girls on a stupid app. When I find something real, I want it to be
real
, not digital.

Bryce texts me saying he’ll be late because he’s stuck doing yard work for his parents. I’m a little relieved, because the guy can be a bit—loud—annoying—take your pick, at parties. At least we’ll get a little time to chill before he arrives and embarrasses the hell out of me.

Mindy’s housekeeper lets us inside her house, where the party is happening in the back yard. They have a massive pool house with one wall that’s solid glass doors that slide open, making the entire pool house open to the outside. It’s a pretty sweet set up, and I’ve been swimming here since I was little so I know it all as if it were my own house.

The party is already pretty packed by the time we arrive. Most of the football team is here, and they surround me the moment we step on the back patio. I’m given a beer, which I drink quickly, hoping to get more in the party mood.

When I’m on my second beer, I start eyeing the hot tub. That thing would make my knee feel so much better, since it’s been aching lately.

I nudge Josh, who’s deep in a text conversation with internet girl. “Let’s go to the hot tub. No one’s in there yet.”

“Dude, I’m not getting in a hot tub with you unless girls are in it, too.”

“Fine,” I say, as our quarterback walks by, tapping his beer bottle to mine in a hello. “I’ll go alone.”

I make my way through the crowd of people, the hot tub sounding better and better with each step closer.

Someone calls out my name in a high-pitched, drunken girl voice, and I look over. The first thing I see is a shock of hot pink hair.

The second thing I see are the M’s.

Maria narrows her gaze on me, a lion ready to devour her prey. Mindy is the girl who called my name, and she’s waving me over now, but all I can focus on is the girl next to her.

The pink hair is new, but the smirky adorable face is not. That’s Maddie, standing right here with the M’s, as if she belongs.

Now that I think about it, I guess she does. Even her name fits in with them.

“How’s it going?” I tell Mindy, raising my beer bottle in a quick hello.

“I’m introducing everyone to my new friend,” Mindy says, putting an arm around Maddie and shoving her forward a step. “Colby this is Maddie. She’s new, so I want you to be nice to her.”

Maddie gives me a little wave. “Hey,” she says, and it could be my imagination, but I’m pretty sure her cheeks are turning the same color as her hair.

“I like the hair,” I say, grinning at her like the fool that I am. I turn to Mindy. “We’ve already met, actually. Just a couple days ago.”

“Okay asshole,” Mindy says, throwing me a playful glare. “You’re supposed to alert me when you meet new girls that are totally perfect for my exclusive group of beautiful best friends.”

“Sorry,” I say, taking a sip of my beer. Maddie’s eyes haven’t left mine, and I give her a smirk. “Maybe I just wanted to keep her to myself.”

Okay, I think two beers have already done me in. Normally, I wouldn’t be so bold to flirt with a girl who has turned me down before. Of course, no girl has ever turned me down in the past, so maybe I don’t really know what I’m capable of.

I’m vaguely aware of how Maria is slowly turning into a human flamethrower, her jealousy making her lips twitch, but it’s not my fault that I like someone else. It’s not like I’ve been leading her on or anything; it’s actually quite the opposite. I’ve told her twice in the last few days that I’m not interested.

So she can get over it.

Mindy smacks her lip gloss. “Well, Maddie is my new friend, so I trust you’ll take care of her, okay?”

“I’d love to take care of her,” I say. As badly as my eyes want to trail down Maddie’s body, taking in all of the curves her see through dress barely covers, I keep my gaze focused on her face. “Unfortunately, you might need to find someone else, because I don’t think your new friend likes me very much.”

Maddie’s cheeks flush even more and she opens her mouth like she’s going to object, but Mindy beats her to it. “What did you do to her, you pig?” she says, putting her hands on her hips.

“Nothing,” I say, holding up my hands in surrender. “I just asked for her number and she shot me down.”

Matilda, who up until now had been playing on her phone, looks up and laughs. “Nice,” she says, giving an approving look to Maddie. “Colby could use a girl who keeps his ego in check.”

Mindy nods, throwing an arm around Maddie. “Hmm, come here,” she says, motioning me forward. She pushes Maddie toward me, then takes our arms and lines us up until we’re standing next to each other. I can smell Maddie’s coconut shampoo again, and it makes something flutter in my stomach.

Now Mindy steps back, thumb and finger on her chin while she surveys us. “Ya’ll do make a cute couple . . .” She glances over at the other two M’s for confirmation. Matilda wobbles her hand back and forth like she’s torn on the answer, and Maria just glares at me.

If she could shoot daggers out of her eyes, I’d no doubt be dead by now.

“Okay, ya’ll are cute together, but step aside Colby,” Mindy says, shooing me away with her hand. “Before I hook you up with my new friend, I need to make sure there’s no better options available.”

I grin, knowing Mindy loves messing with me. Maddie still hasn’t said much this whole time, but it almost seems like she might have changed her mind about me. Or maybe she’s considering it. She’s definitely not looking at me like she hates me.

I decide to play it cool, and let the cards unfold as they will.

“I see how it is,” I say, taking another sip of my beer. “I’ll be in the hot tub if you change your mind.”

I wink at Maddie and it makes her bite her lip nervously, which makes me feel amazing.

As I’m walking away, I stop in front of Mindy and lean in, pretending to whisper but really keeping my voice loud enough for Maddie to hear.

“You know I’ll take good care of your girl,” I say.

Mindy rolls her eyes and shoves me away. “Get out of here. I’ll decide if you’re worthy when I feel like it.”