Kassidy narrowed her eyes, then plastered on a fake smile. “Wouldn't you like to know?”
He shook his head. “Not interested ... I'm not into doorknobs,” he said, accusing her of being so loose that any boy could have his turn with her.
Kassidy couldn't help herself. She had to dig into him, and she couldn't scream or throw anything at himânot if she wanted the agency to represent herâso she did the next best thing. She got up and went over to sit next to him. “Let me tell you something, Diggs,” she spat, as low as she could. “For your information, no one had a turn with me. I got food poisoning last nightâat least that's what I think I gotâand I had to stay with Carsen's mom. He wasn't there. I chucked all over my clothes, so I had to wear what she gave me,” she explained, not knowing why she felt the need to do so. Diggs wasn't anybody to her.
Diggs surprised her by laughing. “So you had the linguini cioppino, too? I think there was something wrong with the clams. That's what you get for slumming itâand I'm not talking about the restaurant. You're lucky that food poisoning is all you got, dealing with that Carsen character. You could've wound up in jail.”
Kassidy's eyes widened. “How do you know so much about me? Boys, and now what I eat? And what do you mean by jail?”
“Diggs! I'm so glad you could make it. I've been trying to get my hands on you for a while. Glad you've come to your senses! Come on back,” a very petite lady said, beckoning from the entrance to the back offices. She stopped, glancing down at a pile of papers she had in her hand. “And I guess you must be my eleven o'clock, Kassidy?” she said, looking at Kassidy. “You might as well come on back with Diggs. Seems you two know one another. . . which might be good. Ralph needs a male and female. I'm Ms. Rosschild,” she said to Kassidy.
Diggs and Kassidy stood at the same time.
“Wow ... someone must've leaked it to you, Kassidy. They're looking for an androgynous look for the girl, and your men's garb fits.”
Kassidy smiled and followed behind Diggs as they followed Ms. Rosschild. “You still haven't told me how you know all my business.” She purposely stepped on his heel.
“The girl I was with, you know, the chick with the blue hairâthe receptionist slash wannabe model slash agent-in-the-making who was sent out to woo me for the other agencyâordered the linguini and got sick, too. Everything else I know is confidential. Let's just say you talk too much, obviously.” He stopped and looked her in the eyes. “Let's just pretend we like each other, so we can get through this, and I can get up the coast.”
“Who says we have to pretend?” Kassidy asked, winking.
19
JACOBI
I
t had taken Jacobi almost two days to come up with a bulletproof plan to get to the beach house. She knew she had to be careful, because if there was just one hole in it, her dad would see through it. His foresight was eerie; he always seemed to figure things out before they occurred. His years in the military before she and her brothers were born had given him the ability to weigh every situation and proceed with caution. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have thought of manipulating and deceiving him. But getting to Shooby wasn't normal; it was urgent. He said he'd be able to spend one day and night with her, and she wanted every hour she could get. As much as she hated tricking her dad, she had no choice. Her time was running out.
She sat in front of the computer, her privileges restored, checking e-mails and “legally” gambling. She was day-trading, and the market was working in her favor.
“Jackpot!” She jumped up, yelling and dancing.
“What is it?” her dad asked, running into her room. “What happened?”
“Who's your favorite child?” she asked, pointing to the computer.
“You know girls are daddy's girls, but don't tell your brothers I said that.” He made his way over to the desk.
“And don't tell Mom I just made you three big ones. She'll be mad because she doesn't want me âwasting time' trading.”
“Three hundred dollars? How did you do that? The market just dropped yesterday. I could've sworn it was in a rutâ”
“Not three hundred dollars. Three
thousand
!” Jacobi informed him, excited.
Her father picked her up and spun her around. “Name it.”
“What?”
“Name it. Whatever you want, it's yours.” He put her down.
She knew not to move too quickly. “I'm fine, Dad. I don't need anything. Really, I just love the rush of it.”
He looked her in the eyes and she felt really guilty for manipulating him. He beamed proudly. “Jacobi, you never cease to amaze me. In fifteen years you've never let me down.” He smiled. “And I'm not just saying that because of the money. I love how you go after things. You don't limit yourself, and that's why I don't stop you from trading. You have your camera and the stock market.” He shrugged. “Who would've known?”
“I know.” She hugged him, not only because she felt bad, but because she knew he meant every word.
“At the rate you're going, you'll have all our stuff paid off. And that's a good thing, because I'm getting another car.” He kissed her cheek. “I know you're on punishment, but here,” he said, handing her her cell phone. “I've got to run out for a few minutes. Make sure you call me if you need anything. And don't leave ... the neighborhood.”
Time moved slowly as Jacobi waited for Shooby to return her call. She had things to do, and he was holding her up because she couldn't make her next move without him. Executing the next part of the plan was crucial, and she needed to get to the store before her father got home. She knew he'd told her not to leave the neighborhood, but if he believed it was for an urgent reason, one he wouldn't want to deal with, he wouldn't mind; he'd always trusted her to do things she wouldn't normally be able to do when
that lady
was around. It was a part of their truce; she and her father did each other favors they knew
that lady
wouldn't approve of, like when he gave her back her cell phone and she made money for him on the market. She increased his worth and, in turn, he made her happy by giving her more freedom than her mother allowed.
Â
The grocery store was packed. Too many people for the afternoon, Jacobi thought. Teenagers lingered and loitered as if it were Saturday at the mall. The girls she didn't mind so much, but the boys ...
Dang
. It was like everywhere she went, there they were. She couldn't shake them for the life of her. And she needed to.
“Hey, Jacobi!” a male yelled from behind.
She jetted in the opposite direction, not caring who the voice belonged to. She was embarrassed, and hadn't yet put anything in her cart. She perused the aisles with as much speed as she could muster, pretending to look for things that she hadn't planned to buy. Still, it felt as if everyone were looking, as if they knew what she was shopping for.
A hand tapped her shoulder. “Wait up, Jacobi. Where're ya running off to?”
She turned slowly. It was Malone. Curiosity moved through her. She thought he was supposed to be at the beach with everyone else, and she wondered why he wasn't. But she didn't dare ask. She didn't want to open the door for his questions. By now she was sure Alissa had told him she was on punishment, and why, and she didn't feel like explaining. More importantly, she didn't want him to know why she was at the store. She winced inside. Even though Shooby was the hot topic in her life, Malone's perfection and star power got to her. She wanted to expose only her good side to him; not the sneaky part of her she was now exercising. She smiled despite her dismay. “Oh, nowhere. I just need to pick up a couple of things for the house ... for my mom.” She laughed uneasily. She still wasn't a pro at lying, and she knew they both knew her mom wasn't home. “Things she told me to have when she gets back.”
“Cool. I have to pick up some things to get me through the weekend while I'm home
alone
. Mind if I join you?”
Jacobi had no idea what he was up to, but whatever it was, she wasn't having it. She had to get to Shooby. “Look, Malone, if this is some sort of game or setup to get me caughtâbecause you and I both know I'm on punishmentâand my mother has you watching me ...”
He held up his hands in surrender. “No games, I promise. No one has me watching you. And even if they did, I wouldn't tell. I just wanna talk, that's all.”
She eyed him for a minute and did a quick comparison. He was Hollywood cute and a professional; Shooby was popular and fine. Malone was a good guy; Shooby was skating on the edge of badâa definite hook for a girl. But Malone was a bit different today. He wasn't his usual all-eyes-on-me self. He was still dressed in the latest clothes: cut-just-right jeans, hot down-played sneakers, and a loose shirt. He was dressed differently, but that still didn't make him Shooby. But why did Malone make her feel so uncomfortable in her skin? she wondered. Why did she feel like running home to remake herselfâboth her appearance and her characterâto seem like a better person for him?
“So talk.” She resumed walking the aisles.
“I was just wondering if you'd like to go somewhere with me.”
“Where?” she asked, realizing that she didn't know much about Malone, other than him being on television.
He moved her away from the cart and took over pushing it. “Just somewhere. I mean, why not? We're stuck home while everyone else is having a good time.”
She felt stupid. She hadn't even considered that he wanted to go to the beach house; she assumed he was home because he wanted to be. “Not everyone. My dad's home.” She shrugged. “I don't know if he'll let me,” she said.
“Well, if you change your mind ... ?” he said, looking at her like he could see through her and her plan.
Jacobi stopped and deadpanned him. “Malone, please.” She didn't know who he thought he was, gaming her. She'd heard about his type, and knew he just wanted to use her up. Perfect guys like him didn't fall for girls like her. “Turn here,” she directed, ignoring his offer. She looked left and right, wondering if she could send him on a mission somewhere else in the store. She didn't want him to be with her, but he stuck by her side. “Okay,” she said as they approached the aisle she'd planned on going down alone. It was obvious that she wasn't going to get rid of him, so whatever he saw, he just saw. She shrugged.
“Please, what? You're dangerous in a good way, Jacobi. You just don't know it. You're intelligent, pretty, you've got a good head on your shoulders, and you're creative.”
God, did he sound like her parents. “Thanks, but I'm kinda seeing someone,” she said to throw him off. It wasn't entirely true, but her heart did belong to Shooby. Plus, she needed him to back up. She'd been watching him from day one, and he was too tempting. “And I got a lot of work to do. I think there're some film workshops ...” She stopped mid-aisle, grabbing several packages of feminine pads and dumping them in the cart.
Malone's eyes shifted as he glanced around. A look of disbelief masked his face and his jaw dropped slightly.
“What's the problem, Malone? Is it that I probably can't go with you, or that I put all of these feminine products in the cart?”
“I'm good.” He smiled, picked up a package of pads, and scribbled on it. “That's the address where I'll be this weekend, if I'm not home. Stop by the crib first, and if I'm not there, come by this address,” he said, pointing to the maxi pads. “Better yet, just call me to come get you if you change your mind.”
Jacobi laughed, still in disbelief that he wrote an address on a package of maxi pads. “Since you were man enough to ask me out, you should be man enough to keep trying. Aren't you going to help me to the counter?” Jacobi asked lightheartedly. She was joking, but, in a way, she thought
why not?
Â
Jacobi put the second part of her plan in motion when she heard her father enter the house. As soon as the front door closed, she moaned as loud as she could to make sure he could hear her. Balled up in the fetal position, she yelled for God's help when she heard her father talking under his breath. She paused, listening for the direction of his footsteps. He walked toward his bedroom, and Jacobi jumped at the sound of a slamming door followed by a stream of mumbled curses.
“What's gotten into that girl?” He shut another door.
She smiled, knowing that phase two of her plan was in full swing as his steps grew closer to her bedroom.
“Oh God!” she yelled at the top of her voice, rolling around in mock pain.
“Jacobi, you okay?” he asked from the hallway.
“No, Daddy,” she lied, slipping the endearment on like a comfortable shoe. She hadn't called him Daddy since before she became an official teenager, and she knew it would warm his heart. There was one other thing she'd planned that she knew would affect him. She was playing a dirty game, and had every intention of going all the way.
“Jacobi, there's a lot of women's
stuff
in the bathroom that wasn't there before,” he said as he entered, “and
every
where else. Both the bathrooms are flooded with ... with ... stuff. Did your mom come back early?” He stopped short of her bed and stared at the floor.
A trail of white pills led up to the open bottle of Midol. She'd overdone it a bit, and hoped he wouldn't catch on. The path was too staged, as were the open packages of tampons and maxi pads.
“Oh God, Jacobi. Not you, too. You're so young.” He wiped his forehead with the back of his hand.
She held her breath to prevent herself from laughing. Clearly, her dad knew nothing about women other than they were, well, women.
“How many did you take?” He held up the pain relievers.
She held her stomach and jerked. “Not enough. No one told me it'd hurt so much. You should've seen all theâ”
“Never mind, I've heard enough. I'm calling your motherâshe should be here for this, not me.”
“But, Dad-deee, she's not taking any calls. I tried already. I think she's lost her phone signal.”
“What about Alissa's? You called over there yet?”
“Remember, that's who Mom went with.” She still rocked in pretend pain. “I don't know what to do. I don't know how I can bear this pain, and there's still a couple of days of my cycle left.”
“Well, I don't see why you should sit around here and babysit me. It's supposed to be your weekend awayâyou should be with friends and around a woman. You know I'd help you if I could ...”
“I can call Katydid from the old neighborhood. Her mom won't mind.”
He kissed her cheek carefully, as if he were avoiding touching the bed, which was also strewn with women's stuff. “If it's a problem, let me know. I got an important meeting to go to in a half hour. I can take you when I get back, but I don't know when that'll be.”
Jacobi rolled side to side. “No, don't worry about it. I'll just catch the bus.”
Her father shook his head. “I'm not comfortable with you getting on a bus in your condition. We'll have to find another way, or we'll just have to get through this ourselves,” he said, gulping.
Jacobi could tell that he didn't want to deal with the situation, but would because he was a parent. She couldn't let that happen, so she did what she was doing best todayâworking her way through her problems. “I can ask Malone, Alissa's brother. He's home.”