Be Mine (13 page)

Jennifer's body sagged with relief. “Violet, you're a genius! Why didn't I think of that?”

“Because you're not a genius. Now if you don't mind, I want to go back to sleep. I'll talk to you later.”

After getting off the phone with Violet, Jennifer found the dress in her size and hurried to the nearest cash register. She needed to get back to her own register before someone noticed she was gone. As she did, she stopped in her tracks and groaned.

Could her day get any worse?

Mindy Yee was walking her way.

Jennifer looked for a dressing room to duck into, but they were all taken.

“Jennifer!” Mindy called out when she spotted her.

There was no avoiding it. “Mindy!” Jennifer exclaimed with a smile. “Hi!”

“Girl, we need to talk!”

“About what?”

Mindy playfully swatted Jennifer on the arm. “Don't pretend with me! You know what! You have to tell me all about this Mystery Guy of yours!”

“If I told you, he wouldn't be a mystery anymore, now would he?”

“So he
does
exist? Rumor has it that you made him up.”

I can just imagine who told you that rumor
, Jennifer thought.
And I'm sure you're the one who's been spreading it, since you're the biggest gossip at North Ridge High.

“He exists,” Jennifer said. “Natalie Bauer got to meet him last night.”

“She did?”

“Yes, but I swore her to secrecy.”

Luckily, Natalie had agreed not to let the cat out of the bag. And although The Burger Hut had been packed, there hadn't been anyone else she'd recognized from school. Claudia was still in the dark and she planned on keeping it that way until tonight.

“So you're bringing him to Claudia's party?”

“Yes. You can meet him there.”

“Can't wait!”

Jennifer decided to deflect Mindy's attention off her. She pointed to the stack of clothes tossed over Mindy's arm. If there was one thing Mindy loved talking about, it was herself. “Doing a little shopping?”

“I'm celebrating!” Mindy exclaimed. “My father's restaurants are going national! You know, like McDonald's or Burger King!”

Jennifer knew Mindy's father owned a chain of upscale Chinese restaurants called House of Yee. They made the best egg rolls in town.

“That's great.”

“I told Daddy we're going to need a catchphrase, and we should say our food is
Yeelicious
. What do you think?”

Yeeucky!
Jennifer thought.

“There might even be commercials!” Mindy added. “Can you imagine me on TV?”

Jennifer wished Mindy was on TV right now. She'd aim the remote control at her and turn her off.

“I'd love to chat some more, but I've got to pay for this dress and get back to my department,” Jennifer said, walking around Mindy to the cash register and placing the dress on the counter.

Mindy peeked at Jennifer's dress. “I love it! I've got the same one in three different colors. Don't you love shopping here?”

If I could afford it, I would
, Jennifer thought, trying not to cringe as the cashier rang up her dress and swiped her credit card.

Natalie's neighborhood video store always had the best DVDs. They had a wide variety of films and she always managed to find something to take home. Usually, she rented old black-and-white romantic comedies because she loved the witty dialogue and screwball antics. Today she had found six movies she wanted to see, including
It Happened One Night
, which was from the 1930s.

Natalie wished Tom felt the same way about the movies she liked, but he didn't. He liked watching movies that had car chases and tons of explosions. Days after seeing one of those movies, Natalie never remembered anything about the plot. It was usually all a blur. There was never any sort of character development or smart dialogue. It was just another thing that they didn't have in common. The only reason he'd agreed to see
Romancing Rachel
last night was that he was trying to make up with her. She'd seen him peeking at his watch more than once during the movie.

When Natalie brought her DVDs to the front of the store, she was surprised to see Leo standing behind the counter.

“Leo!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”

Leo looked just as surprised to see her. “I work here.”

“Since when?”

“I started a week ago.” He reached for the DVD cases Natalie was holding and started swiping the backs of them with a silver wand. “You're renting a lot of movies.”

“We're supposed to be getting a big snowstorm this weekend. I figured I'd stock up in case we get snowbound.”

There was an awkward moment of silence after that. It was the first time Natalie was seeing Leo since Thursday night. What happened that night remained unspoken between them. Did she say something? Apologize for Tom's behavior? She couldn't pretend it hadn't happened.

“About the other night,” Natalie began.

Leo waved a hand at her. “You don't have to say anything.”

“But I feel like I do.”

“Why? It wasn't your fault. Besides, I'm used to it.”

Hearing those words, Natalie found herself getting angry. “You shouldn't have to be used to it.”

“Hey, that's life in high school. There's a pecking order and I'm on the bottom. You're at the top. So is Tom.”

“Don't say that! You make it sound like I'm something special when I'm not.”

“Are you serious?” Leo asked in disbelief, his own anger showing. “Have you looked in a mirror? You're gorgeous. Not only that, but you're best friends with two of the most popular girls at North Ridge High and you're dating one of our star athletes. If this was a game of poker, you'd have the winning hand.”

“And that's why you think I'm better than everyone else?” Natalie asked. “I'm not! I'm just like you.”

Leo laughed bitterly. “No, you're not.”

“You don't know anything about me!” Natalie exploded, hating the way Leo was prejudging her.

“That's true,” Leo conceded. “I will say that you're not like the rest of them. You're nice.”

“Thanks,” she said, feeling less angry although she really had no reason to
be
angry. Leo was the one who had been wronged.

Leo handed Natalie her DVDs. “All set. I see you've checked out
Breakfast at Tiffany's
.”

“I've seen it around ten times. I love Audrey Hepburn movies.”

“Have you seen
Sabrina
?”

“Of course!”

“
Roman Holiday
?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, I'm going to stump you.
Wait Until Dark
?”

Natalie shook her head. “I've never heard of that one.”

“She made it in the late 1960s. It's a suspense movie. She plays a blind woman who's being stalked. It's got some scary moments.”

“What kind of movies do you like to watch?”

“I'll watch anything,” Leo said. “Right now I'm into foreign films and Japanese horror.”

“Weren't a couple of those Japanese horror movies remade in English?”

“There have been a couple.
The Ring, The Grudge
, and
Dark Water
are the three biggest.”

“I saw all of those. They were creepy.”

“The Japanese versions are creepier. We should have a movie marathon one night and watch both versions.”

“That would be fun.”

“Doing anything tonight?”

Natalie was caught off guard by Leo's invitation and it took her a second to answer. “I wish I could, but I've got plans.”

Leo busied himself with checking in DVDs that had been returned. “Bummer. Maybe another time. Guess I'll see you around.”

Natalie could tell Leo didn't believe her.
He probably thinks I turned him down because he's fat.

Natalie wondered how hard it had been for Leo to ask her to hang out with him.

“I just had an idea,” Natalie said. “If you're not doing anything tonight, maybe you want to come to the party I'm going to.”

Leo tore his eyes away from the DVDs in his hands. “Where is it?”

“My friend Claudia's house.”

“Claudia Monroe?”

“Yes.”

An expression of sheer terror washed over Leo's face. “I think I'll pass.”

“Why?”

“I don't think Monster Monroe would like me being there. Besides, she didn't invite me.”

Natalie waved a hand. “That doesn't matter. Claudia's parties are always huge. Lots of people crash. And
I'm
inviting you.”

“I don't know. . . .” Leo reluctantly said.

“Think about it,” Natalie urged.

“I'll think about it,” Leo agreed. “If I decide to go, you'll see me there.”

“I'll be looking for you,” Natalie said as she walked out of the store.

And she would.

It would be nice to see a friendly face at the party.

“Wow!” Violet exclaimed as she walked into Jennifer's bedroom. “You look fantastic!”

Jennifer pressed a finger to her lips. “Shhhh!” she warned. “I don't want my parents to hear you.”

Violet unzipped her parka and flopped down on Jennifer's bed. A snoozing Sheba, who was nestled on Jennifer's pillow, opened one eye, stared at Violet, and then went back to sleep. “They're all the way downstairs. Why are you being so paranoid?”

Jennifer closed her bedroom door. “So far neither my mom or my dad has seen me in this dress and I plan to keep it that way. They're getting ready to leave for their weekly bridge game, so I should be safe. If they were to see it, I'm sure one of them would ask me a zillion questions and I don't want to lie to them.”

Violet held up two fingers and pressed them together. “You'd only be telling a little white lie.”

“Lying is lying.”

“But you're lying to Claudia,” Violet pointed out.

“That's different.”

“How?”

“I'm not really
lying
to Claudia,” Jennifer explained as she put on her gold hoop earrings. “I'm playing a joke on her.”

Violet adjusted her cat-eye glasses and stared at Jennifer. “Uh-huh.”

“And Claudia's not going to ground me if she finds out the truth!”

“Nooooo,” Violet slowly said. “But she'll do a lot worse!”

“Maybe she will,” Jennifer admitted. “But I'd rather take my chances with her than with my folks! If Will and I can fool her for a little bit, it will be worth it. Think of all the times she's been mean and horrible to so many people at school. And she never paid Will for those pizzas!”

“Is Will picking you up?” Violet asked, reaching for the copy of
Seventeen
that was on Jennifer's nightstand and flipping through it.

Jennifer checked the time on her clock radio. “He should be getting here any minute.”

“Jennifer! We're leaving!” her father called from the first floor.

Jennifer stuck her head out her bedroom door. “Have a good time!”

“You too,” her mother said.

“Don't forget your curfew,” her father added.

“Don't worry, I'll be home by twelve thirty,” she promised.

After closing the bedroom door, Jennifer turned to the mirror over her dresser and examined herself one last time. The dress was plum-colored and tied around her neck like a halter top. She was wearing high-heeled black slouchy boots with it. She'd used hot rollers so her hair was a wild mane of loose curls, and applied smoky plum eye shadow to her lids and some blush to her cheeks. In addition to the gold hoop earrings, the only other jewelry she was wearing was a bunch of bangle bracelets on one arm.

“Do you think Will will like what I'm wearing?”

Violet's eyes widened in panic behind her glasses and she dropped the copy of
Seventeen
. “Why do you care what Will thinks?”

Jennifer shrugged. “I don't know. I guess my mind is automatically in date mode.”

“Well, get it
out
of date mode. Remember, this is not a
real
date. Will is
not
your boyfriend. This is all fake, remember?”

“Yes, yes, I remember,” she said as she gave herself a spritz of perfume.

Violet sternly pointed a finger at Jennifer. “Good.
Don't
forget it!”

The doorbell rang and Jennifer turned to Violet. “He's here!”

“Talk about timing. He just missed your parents.”

Jennifer took one last look in her mirror before leaving the bedroom with Violet right behind her.

“Why do I feel like an actress about to go on stage?” Jennifer asked as they hurried down the stairs.

“Relax,” Violet said. “You told me the two of you fooled Natalie and Tom last night.”

“That's different. Natalie isn't suspicious of me.”