Swim the Fly (30 page)

He shrugs. “How the hell should I know? Supposedly he moved here after his son drowned or something. Maybe it’s the only job he could get.”

“Drowned? How?”

“Some boat accident. Probably the same one he keeps flogging us with every time he wants to make a point.” The guy smirks. “What’s with all the questions, dude? You got a hard-on for him or something?”

“No,” I say, puffing. “I’m just curious, is all. Forget it.”

He glances over at the wall clock. “Yeah, well, save your breath. We still have twenty minutes of this torture.” He spins and treads away from me.

I look over at Ulf lining the kickboards up against the fence. I kind of feel bad now for all the nasty things I’ve thought about him. And just as I’m thinking this, he turns and catches me staring.

“You are sinking!” Ulf shouts. “Keep your head above the water!”

I quickly avert my eyes. And a second later, I feel a dive ring smack me in the ear.

THERE’S ABOUT A HALF HOUR
before I have to meet Val at the bus stop, and my palms don’t want to stay dry no matter how many times I wipe them on a towel. I try rubbing them with antiperspirant, but that just makes them sticky, so I have to wash it off. I have gotten myself so worked up about what Valerie wants to say to me that I’ve had a weeklong stomachache.

I’ve been keeping a close eye on Kelly at swim practice, to see if she might give something away, but so far nothing. She probably wants Valerie to feel me out first. That’s how these things go. Or at least it’s how they go on TV.

I stand at my dresser, looking into the mirror, wondering if my hair looks weird or if I should change my shirt or brush my teeth again.

Mom knocks on my open door and stares at me. “I can’t believe it,” she says, her eyes filling. “My baby’s growing up.”

“Don’t, Mom. Please.” She’s been making a big deal about this ever since I told her that I was going to the movies with a girl.

“Sorry.” She sniffles. “Look what I found.” Mom holds up a small blue sheet of paper. “It’s a free movie pass for two. I got a bunch of these with my Visa points.”

“Thanks, Mom, but no. I’m not going to use a coupon to get our tickets. It’s cheesy. And it’d make me look cheap.”

“Why?” Mom asks. “Just tell her you had it lying around and that you wanted to use it before it expires. You get free popcorn and a drink, too. She’ll be happy.”

I’d argue this more, but Mom looks so pleased that I take the free-movie pass even though there’s no way I’m going to use it. “Okay,” I say. “Thank you.” I fold the coupon and tuck it in my back pocket.

Mom looks at her watch. “You better go. You want to get there before she does so she’s not worried you’re going to stand her up.”

“This isn’t a date.” I groan. “We’re just friends.”

“I know. I know,” she says. “Still. It’s important. For when you do have a date.”

I get to the bus stop ten minutes early, but Valerie’s already there, sitting on the bench, reading a book. She’s all dressed up in a black skirt and a silky blue blouse, and I can smell her familiar perfume.

“Hey,” I say. “You’re here already.”

She closes her book and smiles big. “Yeah. I always give myself too much time.” She waves her book. “That’s why I always carry something to read.”

I’m not really sure what to talk about. I’m so much in my head, wondering how this is going to go.

“What’s the book?” I finally say, my voice cracking a bit.

“This?” Valerie laughs. “It’s kind of embarrassing. It’s a travel guide to Venice.”

“Oh. Are you going there?”

“No. That’s the embarrassing part.” She looks down, her red hair curtaining her face. “I just like to imagine. So sometimes I read travel guides and pretend I’m going to the different places. I know, it’s bizarre. My family makes fun of me all the time.”

“No,” I say. “It’s not. That’s half the fun of going on a trip, anyway. Imagining what it’ll be like.”

“That’s what I think, too,” she says. “And, anyway, I’m going to go someday. It’s beautiful. Here, sit down. I’ll show you.”

I take a seat next to her on the bench, and she shows me some of the pictures in the Venice travel book. Churches and paintings and canals.

“It’s hard to believe there’s a real city like that,” I say.

“Yeah. It’s supposed to be one of the most romantic places in the world.”

I glance up from the book and see that Valerie is looking at me.

“Hi,” she says, smiling.

“Hi,” I say, feeling my heart pound. Like just before a roller coaster takes off.

“So. What I was trying to tell you last week . . .”

“Yeah?” Here it comes: the Kelly’s-interested-in-you speech.

Valerie takes a deep breath. I don’t know why she’s finding this so difficult.

“I like you, Matt.”

“I like you, too,” I say.

“No.” She shakes her head. “I
like you
like you.”

Oh.

Oh.

If my brain could make a noise, it would be the sound of a thousand screeching brakes.

Right. My God. How could I not have seen that coming?

Now that I think about it. The swing. The ice. Asking for my number. Asking my opinion about the bikini. Coming over to see how I was feeling.

And me, like an idiot, trying all the time to get her to talk about Kelly. I mean, Kelly can’t even remember my name. And then, it’s like my mind starts running a bloopers reel of all the things that bug me about Kelly: The way she rips on people like Helen Harriwick. How
she embarrassed Valerie by making fun of her for not shopping. How she got drunk at the party and then used me to get back at Tony.

“Well?” Valerie says, trying to look at me but also trying not to. “What about you?”

Yeah, I like Valerie. She’s amazing. She’s smart; she’s cute; she’s funny. And I don’t feel like I have to pretend to be someone else when we hang out. Which is totally cool. No wonder I was so protective of her in the bikini shop. And why I was so anxious to call her back to let her know I was okay.

I suddenly realize my mouth is hanging open. Not a very attractive look. I quickly shut it. I want to tell her how I feel. Except maybe I’ve waited too long. She’ll probably think I’m lying. But the longer I wait, the worse it’ll be.

“Yes,” I say. “I do. I like you. A lot. Very much. Definitely. I do. Yes.” Okay, bring it down a notch.

“Phew,” she says, brushing a strand of hair from her face. “I thought when you didn’t answer that maybe you didn’t.”

“No. I do. I just thought —”

Valerie leans in and kisses me. Her lips are soft and warm on mine. She smells even better up close.

I am suddenly light-headed.

This is nothing like I’d imagined it would be.

It’s all so surreal.

And I don’t want it to ever end.

But it has to.

Right when the number 87 pulls up and opens its doors.

We step up into the bus and find two seats together halfway down the aisle.

Valerie wastes no time in taking my sweaty hand in her dry one. It was so quick and unexpected that I didn’t have time to rub my palm on my pant leg. “You’re nervous.” She smiles at me but doesn’t let go of my hand.

“Yeah,” I say. “A little.”

She pats my leg reassuringly with her free hand. “Don’t worry. I know
Always a Bridesmaid
sounds like a horror film, but really, it’s just a romantic comedy.”

After several stops, the bus is getting pretty full. The guy sitting across the aisle from me has some serious BO. I’m not sure if I should mention the smell to Valerie, because I don’t want her to think it’s me. But I also don’t want her to think I’m mean by pointing it out. I wish I could just chill out and stop thinking so much, but all of a sudden it feels like everything is so important.

“I loved kindergarten,” Valerie says. Somehow, while I’ve been stressing over some stranger’s body odor, Val’s gotten onto the subject of grade school. “That’s when I started learning English. Before that I just knew French. That’s all we spoke in my house. But my kindergarten teacher wanted to make sure we were bilingual, so she would teach us a new English word every day, and anytime you spoke English in class instead of French,
you got a piece of candy. And I was all over that. I think I had, like, fifteen cavities before I got to first grade.”

“Yeah,” I say, breathing through my mouth. “I took Spanish until fifth grade, but all I can remember how to say is
Mi gato está en el árbol
and
Mi perro está en su casa.
Which, honestly, won’t get you very far if you go to Spain.”

Valerie laughs. “You want me to teach you some French?”

“Sure,” I say. “But like I said, I’m not really good at remembering languages.”

“Okay, wait.” Valerie lets go of my hand and opens her purse. She takes out a small canister of Godiva Mint Chocolate Pearls. “Here. Every time you say something right, I’ll give you a candy. And these are my favorites, so you know I’m serious.” She rattles the little container for emphasis.

“Then I better focus.”

“Okay,” she says. “I’m only going to speak to you in French for the rest of the bus ride. You’ll have to figure out what I’m saying and then repeat it. I’ll give you clues, so don’t worry. Ready?”

“Sure.”

She places her hand on her chest.
“Je m’appelle Valerie.”

Well, at least she’s starting easy.
“Je m’appelle Matt.”

“Très bon.”
Valerie nods and hands me a tiny ball of chocolate.

“Très bon,”
I say, popping the candy in my mouth. This is fun. I could see where this technique might work.

Valerie surreptitiously points to the guy across the aisle from me and whispers,
“Cet homme a une odeur terrible.”
She pinches her nose and scrunches up her face.

I laugh and nod.
“Cet homme a une odeur terrible.”

Valerie picks up another chocolate pearl, but this time she places it in my mouth. Her finger lingers on my lips for a split second, which sends a shiver down my spine. If learning a language was this much fun in school, I would be multilingual by now.

The ride to the movie theater goes by much too fast. We laugh and speak French and eat candy the whole way. It’s strange how easy it is to be around Valerie. It’s like everything about her makes me feel good. The sound of her voice, her jokes, the feel of her hand in mine.

I still feel too embarrassed to use the coupon Mom gave me, especially now that this has turned into an actual date. So I buy the tickets with my own money and Valerie insists on buying the popcorn and soda, which is really cool because I was ready to pay for everything.

We make out through pretty much all of the previews. At first, I’m totally in my head wondering if I’m doing it right, if my mouth is opened enough, or too much, where I should put my hands, wondering if the chocolates have given me bad breath.

I finally have to tell my brain to shut the hell up. It gets better the more we kiss because I’m lost in all my senses. The salty taste of her lips, the clean smell of her skin, her hair, the chills all over my body. Mostly, I keep my eyes shut, but once in a while I open them and see that hers are closed.

If she wanted to, I’d kiss her through the entire movie. But I’m glad we decide to watch the film, because it’s pretty funny and I like hearing Valerie’s laugh. I don’t know why, but it makes me like her even more.

I’VE BEEN HAVING A BLAST
this week with Valerie. She’s shown me how to play chess, which is more fun than you’d think it would be, and I’ve shown her how you can play “Stairway to Heaven” on the guitar and make it sound like you’re garroting chickens. Our French lessons have been coming along
très bon,
as well.

Valerie laughed when I told her that I’d heard she wasn’t allowed to date until she was eighteen. She has no idea who started that rumor, but it made her feel better about having to pursue me so hard.

We’re hanging out with Sean and Tianna in Valerie’s basement. Valerie is letting me beat her at chess, while Tianna and Sean are curled up on the couch, watching one of Tianna’s
anime
DVDs.

“You guys should give this a chance,” Sean says. “Once you start watching, you get totally addicted.”