Last Chance Summer (3 page)

Chapter Five

When I walk into the house a few hours later I’m really nervous about talking to Arielle. I still don’t know exactly what to say. I’m not happy about the way she acted yesterday. But I’m not exactly happy with the way I acted this morning, either. I find her in the living room watching T.V.

She’s wearing a light purple tank top with jean shorts. Her hair is wild and curly today, and she looks flawless as usual.

Okay. Let’s get this over with.

“Look,” I say, “I’m really sorry about this morning. I was just really pissed about what happened yesterday, but I still shouldn’t have said what I did. So I’m sorry.”

She nods and sets her feet down on the ground. “I shouldn’t have just left you here.”

It’s not exactly an apology, but I know it’s all I’m going to get. And let’s face it, it’s better than nothing.

“So, Alex says you’re coming to mini-golf with us.”

Geez. What, does he have everyone on speed dial or something? “Yeah. I mean, if that’s okay.”

She nods. “It’s fine.” And then, without another word, she gets up and walks out of the room.

***

Elizabeth comes over later that night so we can get ready together. I have to admit, I feel kind of bad for being so quick to judge her earlier. I mean, sure, she talks a lot but she’s actually really nice. She didn’t even hesitate when I asked her to come with me tonight for moral support. She’s already shaping up to be a great friend.

Now we’re both standing in front of the mirror in my room while she does my make-up.

“You have to keep your eyes still,” she tells me.

I try to do what she says. Elizabeth came over with this huge make- up kit, set it down on my bed, and announced she was doing my make-up. I agreed to a little self-tanner and mascara. I’ve never been big on the whole make-up thing, and so I’m not used to wearing it.

She takes a step back and looks at my eyes. “Perfect.”

I grab my hair and pull it up into a silver clip. Elizabeth looks at me and pulls a few strands down over my eyes.

“Sexy.” She grins. “Now what are you wearing?”

I look down at my white shorts and T-shirt. “This.”

She frowns then reaches into the bag she brought and hands me a black shirt.

I hold it against me. It’s a V-neck sparkly black tank top that looks more expensive than anything I own.

“Oh, no. I couldn’t,” I try to protest.

“I’ll meet you downstairs. Hurry up. Arielle will get cranky if we make her wait.”

Then she leaves, and I’m left alone with nothing to do but change into the tank top.

I slip it over my head and look at myself in the mirror. To my surprise, it looks really nice on me. It’s not something I would usually wear, but somehow it works.

I do one last glance in the mirror and then head downstairs.

Arielle and Elizabeth are sitting on the couch eating what looks like fruit salad and chatting away like old friends. Arielle’s wearing a green summer dress with white high heels. Really? I thought we were going mini-golfing?

“Ready to go? We have to pick up Lauren on the way and she gets really cranky if we’re late,” Arielle says. I could be imagining it, but I swear it seems like she rolls her eyes after she says it.

We get in the SVU my Aunt Jenna rented for Arielle to drive for the month and head to Lauren’s house. Which, just as I suspected, turns out to be just as big as everyone else’s house around here. Apparently it’s a rule that if you live in South Carolina you have to be rich.

Lauren’s house is a green color, with a black gate in front of it. It looks like it’s about six stories high, and I can see more than one guest house separate from the main house and off to the side. Arielle stops at the front gate, and a big guy in a black suit comes out of the little gatehouse. He steps close to the car and peers inside, eyeing us all.

“What can I do for you?” he asks, not sounding friendly at all.

Arielle rolls her eyes. “Rich, it’s me. I’m here to pick up Lauren.”

If Rich knows Arielle, he doesn’t show it. Instead, he glances down at the clipboard in his hand and doesn’t bother looking up as he asks his next question. “Is Miss Mendez expecting you?”

Arielle sighs.

Rich looks up at her now and meets her gaze. No one says anything for about twenty seconds and I feel like the atmosphere is getting very awkward.

“Yes! Yes, she is!” I pipe up from the passenger seat.

Rich looks at me like I’m a bug he wants to squish, and then presses a button on the headset he’s wearing. “Mario, will you let Lauren know there’s a car waiting out front for her?”

He doesn’t say anything else for a moment and then he looks back into the car.

“She will be right with you. Please do not pull up any further.” Then he turns around and walks back into the gatehouse.

“Unbelievable! Every time! Every single time! He acts like he’s never seen me before. I’ve only been coming over for, like, years and every time he acts like I’m here to rob them blind or something.” Arielle’s hands are flying every which way as she talks.

I turn to Elizabeth, hoping she’ll jump in and say something but she just smiles and shrugs. Great.

Just then Lauren appears next to the car. She’s with a man just as big as Rich, who I can only assume is Mario. They’re in a golf cart. I kid you not, an actual golf cart.

Mario gets out and opens the back door for Lauren and she gracefully steps inside the car.

What the hell? Is she part of the secret service or something?

I roll my eyes at Arielle and to my surprise, she smiles at me. A full on smile.

Wow. Not used to that.

“Thanks so much for picking me up. No way I could drive in these heels,” Lauren says, holding up her foot as if to show us she’s telling the truth.

I turn around and look at her. She’s wearing cheetah heels that must be about six inches high and a tiny little black dress that barely covers her legs. I’m starting to wonder if these girls have ever even played mini-golf before.

Lauren turns to Elizabeth, noticing her for the first time. “Oh. I didn’t realize you were invited.”

Elizabeth looks a little uncomfortable, so I chime in. “Yup, I invited her.”

I shoot Elizabeth a reassuring smile and she smiles back at me.

Lauren nods. “I figured.” She says it like there’s no way in hell Arielle would ever invite Elizabeth to hang out with us.

The ride to the mini-golf place is kind of short, and I tune out the conversation Arielle and Lauren are having. In part because I have no interest in what they’re saying, but also because I suddenly feel kind of nervous.

I mean, it’s true that I don’t really know anything about Alex, but the two times I’ve been around him I’ve had trouble functioning correctly. He clearly has some type of freaky hold on me. The truth is, he makes me kind of nervous. I don’t know why, but he does.

After we park, we all get out of the car and head to the main entrance where we’re supposed to meet Alex and Mike. I glance over at Lauren and notice how effortlessly she makes walking in those shoes seem. No way in hell could I pull off an outfit like that. Not in a million years.

Unlike most of what I’ve seen in this town, the mini-golf course actually looks pretty normal. It reminds me of something I’d see back home -- not big and fancy, but more cozy and homey.

The boys are waiting next to the register, and Alex immediately holds up the six tickets in his hand. “I got our tickets! You’re all late!”

Mike nods. “Late. Late, late, late.” Then he takes a Snickers bar out of his pocket and starts munching away on it.

Alex breaks off our tickets and hands one to each of us.

Lauren rolls her eyes. “It’s not like I drove, Al. Now come help me pick out the right club.” Then she grabs Alex’s hand and drags him off with her. Al? Oh God, what have I gotten myself into? I turn and look at Elizabeth, and I can tell by the look on her face that we’re both thinking the same thing. We both burst out laughing.

Mike frowns. “Hey, secrets don’t make friends.”

“Ah, but friends make secrets,” Elizabeth reports.

“Don’t use your book knowledge on me, Liz. This is mini-golf, not a spelling bee.”

I don’t even think what he just said makes any sense, but I just nod. From what I’ve seen, Mike doesn’t exactly seem like the type to understand when you correct him.

And did he just call her Liz?

He smirks at her, then turns around to catch up with Alex and Lauren. Arielle quickly follows suit.

Elizabeth grabs my hand and whispers, “You didn’t tell me Mike was coming!”

I frown. “I didn’t know I was supposed to!” Oh, no. I didn’t even think about the possibility that Elizabeth and Mike don’t get along. This is actually perfect. Now I have an excuse to leave. All I have to do is pull Alex aside and explain that Elizabeth isn’t exactly a fan of Mike. That way I don’t look like a brat for not liking Lauren
and
I don’t have to worry about making a fool out of myself in front of Alex. Me and Elizabeth can go back to the house and order food. Maybe a nice grinder. Or pizza! With pepperoni! No sausage, of course, because –

“He is so cute!” It takes me a second to realize that Elizabeth is smiling, not frowning. Oh. Oh.
OH.
So she’s not upset that he’s here, she’s happy.

Well, that changes things now, doesn’t it?

“How perfect is this?” she asks me, jumping up and down a little. “I’ve only been in love with him since like fifth grade!”

I paste a smile on my face. “So perfect.”

She yelps, then heads toward the rest of the group, dragging me with her.

Yup, perfect.

***

“Now the trick,” Alex tells us at the first hole, “is in how you hold your club. You don’t want to be too aggressive, but not too gentle either. You have to find just the right balance, and then…”

He slowly hits his ball, and it travels in a perfect line right down the green and then effortlessly drops into the hole. “Boom!” he says.

“Oh, my God! That was so amazing!” Lauren coos.

Oh, please. It’s mini-golf, not The Masters.

Alex grins and I roll my eyes.

Arielle and Lauren both step up to the green and try to sink the ball in the hole.

Arielle’s ball travels about halfway down the ramp, and Lauren’s flies off somewhere. Of course, then she makes a big show about going to find and bending over in her VERY

short dress.

Next Mike helps Elizabeth hit the ball, which of course she loves. If you ask me I think she knows perfectly well what she’s doing, but Mike loves trying to teach her. At one point Mike hits the ball into the little pond next to the first hole and he just kind of looks at it then says, “And THAT’S how it’s done.”

I have no idea what he’s talking about, but I just nod.

“Okay,” Lauren says, “let’s move on.” She starts to walk to the next hole before I even hit my ball. Arielle and Mike follow. Elizabeth looks at me, and I nod to let her know I don’t care if she runs ahead with Mike.

“I’ll be right there,” Alex calls, and to my surprise he stays back with me.

“Now remember what I told you,” he tells me as I set my ball down.

I roll my eyes. “I think I can manage.”

I pull back on my club and the ball rolls smoothly down the ramp and right into the hole.

Alex’s eyes meet mine and I smile.

“Can you show me that little thing you did with your club again, Alex? I think it’ll really help me,” I say innocently.

He takes a step toward me. “Haha. You’re just so funny now, aren’t you?”

I shrug. “We do have mini-golf in New York, you know.”

He looks at me for a minute before he says anything. “You’re just full of surprises, aren’t you?”

“Being full of surprises beats being full of arrogance.”

He puts his hand in the middle of his chest and fakes hurt. “I hope you aren’t implying what I think you’re implying.”

“Oh, come on, the whole ‘let me show you how to hit the ball right’ routine might impress Lauren, but I have a little bit more self-respect.”

“Ouch,” he says, “you sure are a bitter for someone who’s supposed to like her.”

Shit, he’s right.

“I was joking. Kind of.”

He laughs. “Well, what if I told you I was trying to impress you?”

“I’d say you were lying.”

He sighs. “Oh, no. You’re one of those girls.”

“One of those girls?”

He nods. “You know, the type who can’t take a compliment no matter how many times you say it.”

“Don’t you think it’s a little soon to be judging me?”

He stares at me then for a little longer than I expect, and if it was anyone else I might start to feel uncomfortable, but somehow with him it’s okay.

Finally, he nods. “Fair enough.”

We start to walk toward the next hole. As we walk up the brick steps, he places his hand on the small of my back, like he’s scared I’ll fall without it. It’s a little gesture, probably one I wouldn’t notice with anyone else, but with him, it’s enough to send shivers through my whole body.

The next few holes fly by, and every time me or Alex hit the ball, we share a look and I know it’s a silent competition between us to see who will win. Lauren doesn’t run ahead to the next hole again -- I assume because she’s figured out that Alex wasn’t exactly chasing after her the first time.

I’m just about to hit at the seventh hole when I realize I was supposed to call my parents before I left. Shit. I left my purse in the car. It’s not like I could carry it comfortably while I was golfing. I glance over at Arielle, who’s texting away.

“Um, Arielle?” She doesn’t look up. “I just remembered I told my parents I’d call them. You know, to check in. Only I don’t have my phone. Do you mind if I borrow yours? It will just be a second.”

She frowns, but then shrugs. “Whatever.”

She hands me her phone and I back off the course into the trees surrounding it for a little privacy.

My dad answers on the first ring.

“Hi, Dad.”

“Morgan! We tried to call you, but there was no answer. Your mother just left for the gym.”

“The gym?” I asked, confused.

“Apparently she’s trying to be healthier.”