Maybe I Will (4 page)

Finally, it was time to eat the dessert and open my gift from Mom and Dad.

“A new iPhone!” I held the lime green gadget with everything anyone could ever want in my hands. “This is so cool,” I whispered, turning it over and over again.

“Turn it on,” Cassie urged. I pushed the button and the machine came to life.

“I'm so glad you like it,” Mom said. She gave me a hug and kissed my forehead.

Dad nodded. “Happy Birthday, Sandy.”

“I can't believe you got the new iPhone,” Troy said. “We'll have to load it up with music and videos.”

“Sounds good,” I agreed.

Mom started gathering up the wrapping paper and trash, and Dad cleared his throat.
Uh, oh . . . I feel a lecture coming on.
But Dad didn't say a word. Instead, he pulled out his wallet and put three $50 bills in the middle of the table, side by side.

Troy and Cassie were staring, eyes wide open. “What's that for?” I finally asked.

“That little gizmo has apps and texting and internet and all kinds of capabilities,” said Dad. “There have to be some rules that go along with it.”

Mom smiled. “We thought maybe the three of you could help us come up with some reasonable guidelines . . . the cash is because we value your input.”

“Just a little incentive,” Dad added. “Each of you gets to suggest a rule, and if we all agree it's a good one, then you get $50. You go first, Sandy.”

“Wow,” I said. “Let me think.” I took a deep breath.
Leave it to my parents to figure out a way to give me rules I can't complain about.
“I think no texting or surfing the internet in class would be a good rule.”
Especially because that means I get to take the iPhone with me to school every day.

Dad furrowed his brow and looked around the table. “Any discussion?”

Troy shrugged. Cassie nodded. Mom murmured, “Sounds like a pretty good rule to me.”

Dad continued. “All in favor say ‘aye.'” A resounding “aye” rang from the group. “Opposed?” Silence. He picked up the first $50 bill and handed it to me. “Okay. No texting or surfing the internet in class. Who's next?”

Troy jumped in. “I got one.” I shot him a pleading look, but he was focused on the $50.

“Let's hear it, Troy,” replied Dad.

“No texting, talking on the phone or surfing the internet while you're driving, Sandy.” Troy looked at me and smiled. “I mean, it won't be long now before you have your license, right?”

“That's right,” Mom chimed in. “I think that's an excellent rule. Any discussion?” She waited a moment and when no one said anything, she called for the vote, which was once again unanimous. She handed Troy a $50 bill. “This is going very well, don't you think, dear?”

Dad and I looked at each other. “Don't look at me,” I joked. “You're ‘dear.' I'm ‘honey.'”

Dad grinned and turned to Mom. “It's going very well. Only, now poor Cassie has to go last. What do you think, Cassie? Can you come up with one more rule that we all can agree upon?” He reached for his glass of chardonnay and took a deep draw.

Cassie crossed her arms and pursed her lips, and I just knew she had something wicked in mind. Without missing a beat, she suggested, “How about no sexting?”

Dad spewed chardonnay clear across the table and grabbed for his napkin. Troy couldn't help snickering. Cassie just sat there cool as spring break in Alaska. Mom was the first to speak. “I agree completely. Absolutely no overexposed or under-clothed photos on the iPhone.”

“Works for me,” Troy piped up. He gave Cassie an approving nod. “No naked pics.”

Dad didn't say a word. He just handed Cassie the last $50 bill and called for the check.

O, beware, my lord, of jealousy
It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock
The meat it feeds on.

—Othello
, Act III, Scene iii, Lines 165-167

C
ASSIE
, T
ROY AND
I piled into Monte and headed to the movies. “I cannot believe you brought up sexting in front of Sandy's parents!” Troy said to Cassie once my parents were far behind.

“Hey,” Cassie retorted, “50 bucks is 50 bucks. Plus, it's the perfect rule. You don't even want to sext, do you, Sandy?”

I shook my head. “Never even occurred to me.”

“Well, you only had the iPhone for about a minute before Cassie came up with that rule,” Troy countered. He held the steering wheel with his left hand nonchalantly and waved around his other hand holding up just his index finger.

Cassie reached up into the front seat and pushed on my shoulder. “Let me see the phone,” she said.

I passed the phone back to her. “Still, it's a good rule,” I admitted. “I don't see me ever wanting to break it.”

“So what would you do if somebody sent you a picture like that?” Cassie asked.

I turned around in the front seat so I could see what she was doing. “Don't do it, Cassie,” I warned.

“Do what?” Cassie responded. “I'm just checking out the music features.”

“You can sext me, Cassie,” said Troy. “That rule only applies to Sandy.”

“In your dreams, dude.” Cassie continued playing around with my phone. “I'm serious, Sandy. What would you do if somebody sexted you?”

“Nobody's going to sext me,” I said motioning for her to give me my phone back.

“But what if somebody did?” Cassie persisted. “What would you do?”

“I'd delete it,” I said very matter-of-factly. Then I switched to my “mom” voice. “Absolutely no overexposed or under-clothed photos on the iPhone.” I motioned again for her to hand me the phone. “Why? What would you do?” I asked Cassie.

“I haven't decided yet,” she replied mischievously.

Troy was eyeing Cassie in the rearview mirror. “Has that apeman been sending you pictures of his banana?”

“His name is Aaron, and that's none of your business,” Cassie retorted. “I was talking to Sandy.”

Troy gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands and gave a little huff. Whatever he wanted to say, he must have thought better of it.

“Look, Sandy,” Cassie said flashing the phone back toward my face. “There's a song that's been downloaded already.” She played
around some more with the buttons. Suddenly Dolly Parton blared through my phone.

“Give me that!” I shouted.

Cassie laughed and tossed the phone back to me.

“What was that?” Troy asked.

“That would be my mom,” I replied clicking the music off.

“It sure didn't sound like your mom,” said Troy.

Cassie punched him on the shoulder and laughed. “It's not her singing. She downloaded a Dolly Parton song called ‘To Sandy.'”

Troy and Cassie both went “awwwww” at the same time. Then Cassie said, “Isn't that sweet?” They laughed and all of the tension that had been building between them evaporated.

“What else did she put on there?” Troy asked.

“How should I know?” I groaned. “I just got it.” I did a quick check through the music and photos, but didn't find any contraband or other potential embarrassments.

We found a place to park and each bought our own ticket to the show. “Anybody want popcorn?” Troy asked.

“Let's go find a good seat first,” Cassie answered quickly.

As we walked down the hallway to the designated auditorium, I recognized Aaron leaning by the doorway, hands in his pockets.

“Hey, Cass,” he said. He tried to plant a serious kiss on her lips, but she pulled away before he could even get his arms around her.

“What's he doing here?” Troy kind of thrust his chest forward and his shoulders back as he said it.

Aaron held up his ticket. “Free country,” he grunted.

Cassie grabbed his other hand and led him into the theater. “Come on, you guys. Let's find some seats.”

Troy and I followed. “He's got a lot of nerve just showing up here,” Troy muttered under his breath.

“Cassie must have told him we would be here,” I whispered back. “Maybe she invited him.”

“Why would she do that?” Then more loudly he asserted, “It's your birthday.”

Cassie ignored us and picked out four seats together in the center aisle. She made sure Aaron and Troy were on opposite ends. After we settled in, Cassie asked, “Anybody want some popcorn?”

Troy leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms. “I suddenly lost my appetite.”

“I'm not hungry either,” I said.

Cassie kind of bugged her eyes out at us, but drew them back in before she turned to Aaron. “Well, I am,” she said in a syrupy voice. “Why don't you go get us some popcorn and sodas?”

“No problem,” Aaron replied and made his way out of the row away from Troy and me.

As soon as he was gone, Troy leaned forward to get in Cassie's face. “What did you invite him for?”

“I didn't invite him,” Cassie snapped. “I just told him I already had plans, and he showed up. What do you want me to do?”

Troy shook his head and bit his bottom lip. “Send him away before he ruins Sandy's birthday,” Troy said. I detected something close to a tremble in his voice.

Cassie stood up and put her hand on her hips. “Aaron's not ruining Sandy's birthday. You are,” she said pointing an accusing finger at Troy.

I put both of my arms up and out between them. “Guys! Enough!” I barked. “Nobody's ruining my birthday. My birthday's just fine. Let's just watch the movie, okay?”

Cassie glared at Troy, but finally sat back down. “Sorry, Sandy,” she said.

“Whatever,” Troy mumbled under his breath.

We sat in silence until Aaron returned. Fortunately, it was a really good movie. We all sat mesmerized for the next two hours. The only conflict was on the screen before us, and when that resolved, we felt like ourselves again.

The people all around us were leaving, but we stayed through the credits just listening to the music and feeling good. Finally, the lights came up, and we stood to go.

I leaned over toward Cassie and said, “When shall we three meet again?” I didn't want Aaron to hear me, but I did want Cassie to get the hint that she needed to ditch him and come with us. We needed to work out some kind of truce on the whole Ape-man issue, and that wasn't going to happen with Aaron around.

But Aaron took Cassie's hand, and she followed after him without saying a word to me. They were walking out in one direction, and Troy was leaving in the other. Part of me wanted to stay right where I was and make them all come back to me. But the ushers were already picking up trash and getting the place ready for the next show. I had to go, and it wasn't much of a choice. I hurried to catch up with Troy.

Cassie and Aaron were waiting for us by the main exit. He had his arm around her waist and his thumb stuck in her front pocket. Troy just looked away.

“So, Cassie,” I said choosing my words carefully, “are we going back to my place?” Cassie knew that Aaron would not be invited without my parents' approval.

Cassie put her hand on the hand Aaron had latched to her pocket. “I don't know,” she said. “Maybe we could all go back to my house. My mom won't care.” But Cassie knew that Troy
wouldn't go anywhere if Aaron was going, too. So we all just stood there.

Finally, Troy nudged my arm with his elbow. “Come on, Sandy. I'll take you back to your house.”

I nodded to Troy and then turned to Cassie. “Are you coming with us?”

She frowned and shook her head in Troy's direction. “Not right now,” she said. “I'll catch up with you guys later.”

Troy walked brusquely away without a word.

“Right. Later,” I muttered before bolting off toward Troy.

We made our way through heavy traffic back to where Monte was parked. When we got there, Troy slammed both hands on the top of the car. “Man, I hate that guy!”

“Let's just go,” I said. “Unlock the doors.”

We got into the car, but Troy wasn't ready to let it go. “I really do hate that guy,” he said again. “What does she see in him anyway?”

“Maybe he's got a big banana,” I joked. Wrong thing to say. Troy didn't see the humor. “Look, I don't like him much either, but Cassie apparently does. And she's not going to listen to you because she thinks you're jealous.”

“Jealous!” For a second I thought Troy was going to smack me. Instead, he turned the key and revved Monte a little harder than normal for such a cold engine. “How could I be jealous of someone I cannot stand?”

“I'm not saying you're jealous,” I said. “I'm just saying Cassie might think you're jealous.”

“Well, I'm not,” Troy insisted.

“I know,” I agreed. But I had a bad feeling about it all the same.

Beware the ides of March.

—Julius Caesar
, Act I, Scene ii, Line 23

C
ASSIE DIDN'T CATCH
up with us later that night or even the next day. She just sent Troy and me the same text: “Sorry. Don't be mad.” They say March comes in like a lion. It wasn't snowing or anything, but it sure felt cold and ominous. Troy spent the weekend working on cars at his uncle's shop, and I spent the weekend loading music and hundreds of apps onto my new phone.

On Monday we all pretended like nothing was wrong. Hamilton posted the parts as promised. I got Peter Pan, and Shanika was Tiger Lily. We both showed up last period to get a jump start on rehearsals.

“I haven't seen you in study hall before,” I said. “Who's letting you cut class to be here?” I started pawing through the packets of information and lines for each actor and pulled out ours.

Shanika shook her head as I handed her the Tiger Lily packet. “Not class. I just come to school in the mornings and work in the afternoons.”