Shark Bait (The Grab Your Pole Series) (10 page)

“Yeah, really, so don’t go running for the shotgun when you think I have rabies. Oh. Maybe you can help me with the small problem I have too…I need to figure out a way to go to this Friday’s football game without having to sit by myself, or with these girls who won’t help my cause
or
my reputation. Both Kate and my other new friend, Melissa, cheer the games and I haven’t met anyone who’s socially safe for me to pal around with yet. Any ideas?” It’s a long shot, but you never know. Jillian is pretty damned crafty.

“Hmm. Even though we both know how
supremely
cool I am, hanging with your family is out because at this stage of the game, you’ll look like a dweeb if you do that.
Although…
You know what I’d do?” Okay, now this is what I’m talking about… She has the most devilishly devious look on her face right now so I
know
she’s onto something.

“No, what?” I asked and held my breath in anticipation.

“I’d ask Derek,” Jillian said, simply, but with a wicked glint in her eyes.

That look is there for a good reason and her suggestion just proves what an evil mastermind she is, too. You see Derek is our cousin. Not only is he a senior at a neighboring school, and even though we’re related, I can say he’s pretty gorgeous. The girl has style; I’ll certainly say that for her.

“Oh Jill, that’s brilliant! He got all jealous when this other guy he doesn’t like started flirting with me today, so I bet if I show up to the game with some random guy Tristan doesn’t know, it’ll drive him nuts! I’m gonna call D right now and after that, I gotta get some sleep because after today, I’m beat. I love you, Jilly.” I hugged her as she left my room for her own and then, yawning, I thought; if it wasn’t for seeing Kate and Tristan tomorrow, I’d probably throw my alarm clock out the window and go on a school strike.

When Kate picked me up in the morning, I could barely contain my curious excitement. She had the goofiest grin on her face and I was hoping that was a sign of good things to come. Unfortunately for me, her good mood really didn’t have anything to do with Tristan.

“Morning!” I called from the porch as I made my way to her car.

“Morning, how’d
you
sleep?”

The way she asked that made it sound like she hadn’t had the most restful night, but she looked happy and chipper so I didn’t really know what to make of it. “Fine I guess. I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity for an early morning nap, though. I’m not used to waking up so early and I don’t feel like I really got
enough
sleep, you know what I mean?”

I buckled up as she backed out and drove down the street towards school. “Oh yeah. I know. Personally, I’m running on vapors.”

“Well, you look good, if that’s any consolation,” I offered. It wasn’t an empty compliment either. She looks great. Actually, she looks
alive
. Sorry, that’s really the best way I can explain it.

“Aw, thanks. Actually, I’m super tired…I didn’t get much sleep. And I’m sorry, but I don’t really have anything new to report either.”

“Oh, that’s okay. I mean you did try. So, were you not able to find Jeff?” I’m assuming that if she had and Tristan had been there, she’d at least have
some
kind of news.

“Oh, no…I found him alright, but that’s why I’m so tired. He was at Tristan’s and I didn’t think it’d be a good idea to just show up like that right after that conversation. Tristan might’ve read too much into it.”

“Yeah, I can see that. Why are you so tired then?” Even though I’ve only known her for a day, I’m kind of sensing that Kate is distracted. Normally she explains everything so completely, but this morning she seems a little out of it.

“Well, I was doing surveillance until like 9:00 and then decided to go home. I called Jeff when I got there, but his cell was dead. Anyway, I ended up sneaking out around 1:00 a.m. and went over to his place,” she explained, the goofy smile making another appearance.

“Oh. Wow, Kate. Um, that’s real dedication to the cause. You didn’t get in trouble, did you?” I hope I didn’t sound condemning, I’m just really surprised, you know? For one thing, she snuck out on a school night, but the other part…I just don’t know how to respond to that.

She laughed. “No. My parents are clueless and I’ve never been caught.”

“What about Jeff’s parents?” I’m still trying to grasp the idea that she was in her ex-boyfriend’s room in the middle of the night.

“He lives with his dad who acts more like a brother than a father. In fact, I don’t have to sneak into his house at all...I have my own key and go in the front door. Mr. Larson was even awake watching a movie with his girlfriend when I got there last night. He asked how I was and actually offered me a soda,” Kate told me with a frown.

“
You’re kidding?!
So, he doesn’t care that you were there
at all
?” I asked stupefied. I mean,
WOW
.

“Not in the slightest.”

“Oh my God…I can’t even imagine that…I mean I’ve never had a boyfriend but if I did, I think my parents would completely freak if he randomly showed up and stayed the night.”

“Yeah, most parents probably would, but remember, Camie, I grew up with these guys like they’re my brothers. The three of us have pretty much always come and gone from each other’s houses like they were our own. Our parents swapped babysitting with each other
constantly,
too. When my parents would go out, I’d stay at Tristan’s or Jeff’s, and then when Jeff’s dad or Tristan’s parents were gone, it was the same thing…even when we got older and didn’t actually need a babysitter. And lots of times, I’d just stay the whole night so it really isn’t that big of a deal sleeping over now.

“Of course, everyone knows Jeff and I are together, and I don’t sneak out of the house to sleep at Tristan’s, so Jeff’s dad has to know what’s up…I just don’t think he cares. But then again, it’s not like Jeff and I go around declaring to our parents that we’re actually
sleeping
together, so, who knows…” She said, casually admitting that she and Jeff are having sex. Her tone and expression, however, were two very different things as she inspected my face for signs of judgment.

Incidentally, I’m not about to censure Kate for what she chooses to do in that sphere. Like Jillian said last night, everyone is eventually faced with that decision and, sooner or later, I will be, too
.
However, this
does
sort of go to the theory that if we’re successful and I start going out with Tristan, I might have to make that decision on the sooner side of things. And thinking about that possibility, I felt the palms of my hands start sweating.

In an effort to not become obsessive about any of it, I wiped my hands on my jeans and simply accepted her information and moved on. “Huh. So did you guys get back together?”

“Oh yeah. We’re
definitely
back together. He was so damned happy to see me when I woke him up that I couldn’t even get a word in edgewise…I was too busy being mauled all night. But that’s really my fault. I should’ve known better than to just show up in the middle of the night like that after being broken up. I swear it was like I was a five-course meal to someone who hasn’t eaten in weeks. Anyway, that’s why I don’t have anything new about Tristan,” she explained, being satisfied that I hadn’t mentally found her guilty of committing some kind of heinous crime. “Oh! But I did talk to Melissa…she picked up on Tristan’s unusual display of jealousy yesterday, too, and she’s in. She’ll be like another pair of eyes and ears for us, so I think our teams are even now.”

“What do you mean? Even?”

“Oh that’s right…I forgot to tell you. Okay well, I’d totally forgotten about it once we started talking yesterday, but when Melissa and I were discussing the game and who you could sit with, she suggested you sit with Pete and Mike and that reminded me…one of us, and I’m pretty sure it’s you, was being watched yesterday.”

“What?! Like a stalker?” Now
I’m
being stalked?

“No no…not exactly. I didn’t think anything about it during the break yesterday when Jeff and Pete were talking and being all hush-hush because I figured they were just making plans to ditch, you know?”

“Yeah, that would make sense I guess.”

“I know, but that couldn’t have been what they were talking about because I saw Pete at lunch. However, I also saw Pete by the locker rooms after school, texting. And it’s not that that’s unusual in itself or a big deal really, but the timing seemed kinda coincidental to me because about the same time he was doing that, Zack was flirting with you, and then Jeff showed up out of the blue.

“Again, it could just be coincidence, but, I also saw Pete in the parking lot before we left and he was definitely watching us that time. So, I
think
Pete might be acting as a spy for Tristan. Unfortunately, there’s no way for us to know for sure because we can’t ask anyone about it.”

“I thought you said Tristan would wanna keep this really quiet?”

“Yeah, he would.”

“So why would he involve another person besides Jeff?”

“Well, here’s the thing with Pete…he’s a really close friend of Tristan’s and Jeff’s, he’s really dialed in to this school, and, he can really keep his mouth shut. Seriously, he’s absolutely the most frustrating person in the world to try to wheedle information out of. I don’t know anyone who’s ever gotten him to say something against his will…blackmail doesn’t work either because no one has
anything
on him. So, if someone wanted a little help with something but didn’t want anyone to know what they were up to…?”

“They’d go to Pete,” I filled in.

“Right. But regardless, we can’t ask him for help without knowing for sure if he’s already involved or not because if he is, he’ll go straight to Tristan. And another thing, Tristan has a lot of friends and he does a lot for those friends, and although it’d be unlikely, it wouldn’t be inconceivable for him to maybe call in a favor here and there. Which means directly asking Pete or Mike to sit with you at the game is pretty much out and we can’t trust anyone else except Melissa.”

“Well, that’s okay with me…I think I’d rather not have a ton of people getting involved in this anyway and hopefully, I’ll have good news about how to get around sitting alone at the game,” I said with some pride in my voice. I’m kind of liking this whole subterfuge thing. It’s invigorating.

“Oh yeah?” Kate asked, pulling into her parking space in the back lot.

“Yeah. I haven’t talked to him yet, but I left a message for my cousin, Derek, to text or call me about a favor I wanna ask him for. He’s a senior at Valhalla and pretty cute, too. What do you think?”

“Ooh. That’ll totally throw Tristan off! Especially being that he’s
already
jealous…good idea Camie!”

“That’s what I thought, too, but I can’t take credit for it…it was my twelve year old sister’s idea.” I mean come on. I have to give credit where credit is due.

“You’re kidding?” She asked, halting our progress onto campus to stare at my face in surprise.

“Nope. You’d like her a lot. She’s an evil genius,” I told her, becoming exceptionally proud of my little sister.

“I guess so. Wow. Well, hopefully that whole thing will pan out. Lemme know when you hear back…okay, so we’re gonna have to run to make first period on time…I’ll see you later. If we’re lucky,
they
will provide more fodder today that we can use in our playbook.” Kate took off with a wave. I love how she called Tristan and Jeff “they”—for some reason that cracks me up.

Sadly, nothing else noteworthy happened that day. Or the next, or the next…

6.

Everyone Has A Skeleton Or Two

Over those first few days, Kate was doing her best to introduce me to her peers and I was doing my best to remember their names and faces, while also trying to ignore the feeling that I don’t belong. Back when I said I filled the requisite teenagers status, I didn’t realize that just because I’m a teen like they are, it doesn’t automatically make me a teen
like
them. By just watching some of the interactions and listening to some of the conversations going on around me, it was becoming obvious that I’m on the pathetically shallow end of the life experience pool, and even then, I kept feeling like I was in need of a floatation device.

I kept my insecurities about all that to myself, though, and tried to just focus on the fact that, granted, it’s still only my first week and it’ll of course take some time, but, I’ll eventually be swimming with the big kids. Please understand me, I’m not about to jump in head first by drinking, doing drugs, and having sex or whatnot just so I can have something more in common with a lot of these kids other than saying we go to the same school. My insecurity or self-doubt isn’t coming from a feeling of peer pressure to be someone I’m not, it’s more that I haven’t had any experiences to be able to know who I even am. However, I’ll admit that I’m afraid of looking ignorant in
any
way, because in my mind, looking ignorant usually means you are.

Without being obvious about it, I’d been observing Tristan as best I could, too. My findings so far are that he’s almost what you’d call larger than life, and everyone seems to worship him in some way. Girls stare and giggle when he walks past them and guys compete for his attention. I never saw him with the same group of people for more than maybe five minutes at a time either. He’d usually acknowledge the giggling girls with a smile or nod, and if he was asked, he always accepted the invitation to play catch during lunch. With that being said, I think it’s safe to say that for someone who doesn’t care for being in “public view,” Tristan’s fairly good at being generous with himself. Well, aside from with me that is…

Tristan remained more than aloof the entire week and Kate was attributing his complete avoidance of me to Jeff’s slip-up on the phone Monday night. He even foiled our attempts to elicit any kind of interaction in English. Everyday, no matter how early Kate and I tried to get to fifth period; he and Jeff had already beaten us there. By doing that, they were able to pick their seats; Tristan always chose a cushion on the end and Jeff was always next to him. Also, anytime I showed up in his vicinity during the break or lunch, Tristan would wander off to talk to someone and pretend like I didn’t exist. Kate and Melissa, both, have assured me that he’s still paying attention; he’s just doing it remotely. However, since Kate and Jeff are together again,
he’s
been around
constantly
. So seeing as how he’s been attached to her like glue, and thus to me as well, Kate thinks that Tristan is probably using Jeff as a scout, garnering information about me and then reporting what he’s learned to Tristan.