What Would Emma Do? (10 page)

I jogged up to the front door and rang the bell. Joann’s mom opened the door almost instantly.

“Oh, Emma. How unexpected,” she said in a flat tone. I had the sense I wasn’t what she would consider a pleasant surprise.

“Do you mind if I run up to Joann’s room?”

“Joann’s busy. I’ll let her know that you stopped by, and she can give you a call when she’s free.”

I was getting the sense that she didn’t want me in the house. I looked down at myself. I was a bit sweaty and nasty. I looked past Mrs. Delaney to see if I could see Joann behind her. I tapped my foot and thought over my options. Staging a sit-in protest in the Delaney family foyer wasn’t likely to gain me any extra points with Joann or her parents, but I really wanted to talk to her right now.

I heard a step on the stairs, and a smile broke onto my face. I stepped to the side so I could see Joann, but instead I saw Darci. She walked down the stairs like a debutante, with Joann trailing after her. Darci had the beauty-queen stroll down pat. All that was missing was a wave and a bouquet of roses. I stood awkwardly in the doorway for a minute. Joann’s mom looked back and forth between Darci and me as if she expected us to pull out six-shooters and duel over her daughter. She gave us a nervous smile and wandered away.

“I didn’t know you had anyone over or I wouldn’t have bothered you,” I said, my voice sounding like it was coming from far away. Joann shrugged without meeting my eyes.

“Goodness, you certainly work up a sweat,” said Darci, looking me over.

“It’s running. A sport. Sports are sweaty.”

“I’m terrible at sports, a real klutz,” Darci said in her fake shy-Di voice. She paused, waiting for me to disagree. Darci was the kind of girl who had finely honed the art of the insult/compliment. She would insult herself: “I’m so fat” or “I look wretched,” and then pause while everyone rushed in to tell her not to be silly, that she was Nicole Richie–thin and as stunning as a supermodel. Personally, I couldn’t be bothered to play this game. Besides, she did suck at sports. We’d had gym together for years, and she was the only girl I knew who would put on lip gloss before her turn at bat.

“Yeah, well, not everyone is good at sports.”

“I guess it wouldn’t be fair if I were good at everything, huh?” She giggled. “The Lord works his ways to keep us humble.”

I laughed along with her to avoid gagging.

“The Lord sure is wacky,” I added.

“Joann and I were just spending some time working on plans for the dance.”

I turned to Joann in surprise. “I didn’t know you were on the committee.”

“I just joined.”

Darci squeezed her arm gently as if they were old friends. “You can imagine how thrilled I was when Joann gave me a ringle-jingle.”

“Yeah. I can imagine.”

“Do you need a ride? We were wrapping up, and I was just about to call my mom.” She looked around as if she were afraid someone might be listening in on this riveting discussion. “I’m surprised your mom would let you out on the streets, what with everything going on.”

“My mom works. She can’t drop everything to give me a ride.” As the words left my mouth, I wondered when I’d started channeling my mother.

“This is why God designed man and woman to bind together. To be each other’s helpmates. Families work better when they work together. I would never get a divorce.” She shook her head. “Would you, Joann?” Joann shook her head in tandem. Darci turned back to face me with her eyes wide and innocent. “Not that it’s your fault. Or your mom’s, of course.”

“I’m sure she’ll be relieved to know you don’t think less of her.”

“Of course not. It’s not my place to judge,” said Darci, totally missing my sarcasm.

Maybe the Lord could send her a helpmate that would point these things out to her.

“Would you like a ride? I’m sure my mom won’t mind.”

“I’m fine,” I said.

“You aren’t scared?”

“Nope.”

“Well, I guess he’s only attacked the popular girls so far,” Darci said.

I took a step back. Did she just say that? Tell me she didn’t imply that I was too much of a loser to merit being attacked. Darci gave me a smile. What a fucking cow. I waited for Joann to say something, but she didn’t. I felt my nostrils flare as I took a deep breath and focused on not popping Darci right in the face.

I couldn’t think of a thing to say, so I turned and started running. I felt their eyes on me as I jogged away. I raised my head and lengthened my stride.

When they say pride goeth before the fall, they aren’t kidding. Before I rounded the corner and would have been out of sight, just as I was thinking how smooth I looked, I tripped over a tree root and took a facedown header.

15

God, I think the world would be a lot more interesting if you had things like gravity be a bit more optional. Just once in a while, to keep us on our toes. It’s been some time since you showed up in an obvious way. No burning bush, so to speak. I’m thinking, you turn off gravity for a minute or two and you’d have our attention. Maybe I’m speaking just for me, but I sure wouldn’t mind a bit of proof that you’re still around. With the way things are going, it makes me wonder.

It figures that if I were going to fall, I wouldn’t do a small trip or a ladylike slump to the ground. Instead I took off Superman style, arms fully outstretched, and flew from the sidewalk into the street. I heard a squeal of brakes as a passing car came to a stop. I hit the ground and skidded on my elbows. When I stopped sliding, I looked up to see a tire three feet from my face.

The only thing worse than falling and hurting yourself is falling and hurting yourself when other people are watching. I jumped up, ignoring the pain in my ankle. My hands, elbows, and knees were bleeding. I had bit open my lip.

“Oh my goodness!” Darci cried.

“Are you okay?” called Joann as she ran over.

“Oh yeah. I’m fine,” I answered, swallowing the sharp taste of blood in my mouth. I spit a pink blob into the gutter. Darci wrinkled her nose in disgust.

The car door squeaked open, and Todd Seaver leaned out. “Holy shit, you should have seen yourself fly,” he said with admiration.

“Now, you leave her be,” Darci said, stomping down Joann’s lawn to join our group and shooing Todd like he was an annoying insect. Todd took a step back.

“I’m fine,” I said again.

“Why don’t you come in and we’ll get you cleaned up? You’re bleeding,” Joann offered.

I looked down and gave my knees a swipe, making the blood smear.

“You want me to give you a ride home?” asked Todd.

Darci grabbed my elbow, making me wince. She leaned in to whisper in my ear.

“You shouldn’t go with him. I don’t trust him.”

Todd looked at her and gave a snort of disbelief. He probably couldn’t quite make out what she’d said, but I guess he had a general idea.

“Thanks for the advice. Really, I’m fine. I’ll just run home. Coach Attley thinks it’s important that when we fall we get right back up again.”

“Come inside,” Joann offered again, her voice softer this time.

“Yes, come inside with us,” Darci chimed in.

I had this image in my mind of the three of us sitting in a circle in Joann’s pink bedroom. The two of them huddled together whispering, while I sat there with a fake smile plastered on my face. I tried to give everyone a reassuring smile.

“I’m okay. I think I just need to go home.” I gave a wave and headed off again at a slow, limping jog. The last thing I wanted was to be dragged into the Darci Evers fan club. Joann was now one of them. Next thing you know I’d be signing up for Bible camp and pinning my hair back with sparkly clips. Ignoring the pain in my ankle, I jogged around the corner. I could feel my eyes stinging with tears, and I choked back a pathetic sniffle. I made it a block when I heard a car behind me. Todd trailed me, driving slowly. I stopped.

“Is there a reason you’re following me?” I asked, trying to look tough.

“I didn’t want to get too close in case you threw yourself in front of my car again.”

I looked at him for a second and then started crying. I sat down on the curb. Once I started, I couldn’t stop. Todd parked the car and got out. He sat next to me but didn’t say anything. I gave a juicy sniffle, and he handed over a crumpled-up Kleenex from his pocket. I looked at it with some distrust.

“What? You want a pressed hankie?”

I laughed and gave my nose a big honk.

“I did something to my ankle.” I held out my leg as evidence, although both of us knew I wasn’t crying over my ankle. Todd leaned over and took my leg, holding it by my calf. His hands felt warm. He felt down my leg carefully. I found myself holding my breath.

“It’s not broken,” he pronounced.

“So you’re planning to be a doctor, huh?”

“Me? No. I’ve got horses, though. You’re in luck. We’re not going to have to put you down.”

“Whew. It felt a bit touch and go there.” I turned my leg around so I could see all sides of my ankle. “It’s probably fine, but I should get it elevated.”

“C’mon, I’ll give you a ride.” Todd stood and slapped the dirt off the back of his pants. I stayed on the curb, looking up at him. He bent down and took my hand and pulled me to my feet. Once I was standing, he looked me over. “Hang on,” he instructed. He took the tails of his shirt and leaned in to brush the gravel off my knees and elbows.

“I got blood on your shirt,” I offered as a brilliant conversation opener.

“Makes me look dangerous, don’t you think?” He gave me a smile and then opened the door, bowing as if he were a butler. I gave a small laugh and sank down in the deep bucket seat.

I wasn’t sure what I expected, perhaps a small Star of David flag hanging off the rearview mirror, but his car looked like every other guy’s I knew. A bunch of CDs were jammed into the center and the backseat was awash with candy wrappers and old gym clothes. I flipped through the CDs, noticing that we liked some of the same stuff. Todd came around the side of the car, and I pulled my hand away quickly.

“You’re going to have to tell me which way to go. I haven’t lived here from birth,” he said, turning on the car.

I looked out the window for a second. I didn’t want to go home. I didn’t want to stay near Joann’s. I couldn’t go to Colin’s. I couldn’t think of anywhere to have Todd take me—it seemed a bit much to ask him to drive me to Chicago. I gave a sigh.

“You okay?” he asked.

“You afraid I hit my head and don’t remember my way home?”

“That wasn’t my primary concern.” Todd drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “You want to take a drive?” He didn’t look at me when he asked, but kept staring out the windshield.

“Yeah. That would be good.”

We didn’t talk while he drove. It didn’t feel like we had run out of things to say, but instead that we didn’t have to say anything. We went out to the edge of town near the highway where an old drive-in theater, the Night Light, had been abandoned years ago. I vaguely remembered going there as a kid, falling asleep in the backseat after the early movie, the smell of buttered popcorn in the air. Todd got out of the car and moved the large wooden sawhorses that closed off the driveway, and we cruised in. The screen hung down from its frame in sheets, with holes punched in here and there. There were a few posts sticking up that used to hold the sound system for the movies. The refreshment counter was still standing, but it didn’t look like it would take much for it to go down.

We took a front-row seat and Todd pulled a blanket out of the trunk, spreading it across the hood. It was a kid’s Spiderman fleece blanket, the bright blues and reds worn and faded.

“Nice blanket.”

Todd held up a warning finger.

“Don’t mock Spidey. Good man, Spidey: loyal, good use of powers, looked nice in the suit.” He climbed onto the hood and lay back, his head resting on the car windshield, and stared up at the sky. It was starting to get dark. “Come up here. You can put your ankle up.” I hopped up onto the hood, bunching up the Spiderman blanket at the bottom to give my ankle a bit of height.

“See that?” he said, pointing into the sky. “That’s Venus. It’s almost always the first light you see at night. If we wait a bit, Orion’s Belt will be just over there.” He pointed in another direction. I leaned back against the windshield and looked up. We were no more than three or four inches apart. Todd seemed to give off heat. I could feel him beside me without touching him. I had pretty much cooled down on the ride, but I gave myself a sneaky sniff to see if I smelled like I had been running. Either I smelled better than I thought or Todd didn’t care.

“I don’t know anything about astrology,” I said.

“Astronomy.”

“Huh?”

“I’m not into the horoscope, age of Aquarius stuff. I like astronomy, though. Physics is my favorite subject.”

“Physics? I didn’t think anyone liked physics. That’s like saying you like going to the dentist.”

“Don’t underestimate the pleasure of clean teeth.”

I rolled my eyes at him.

“Whatever. I’ll be sure to get you a bottle of fluoride rinse for Christmas.” As soon as I mentioned Christmas, I felt myself blush. How stupid could I be?

Todd looked over at me and gave a laugh.

“Make it jumbo bottle from Costco at Hanukkah and you’ve got a deal.” Todd went back to looking up at the sky. “Here’s one nice thing about Wheaton. There isn’t a lot of light pollution. In the city you can rarely see the stars.”

“You moved from Chicago?”

“We lived outside of the city in a town called Vernon Hills, but yeah, Chicago.”

“What was it like?”

“Different, but the same. It wasn’t rural; there was no place like this, a place you could go to be on your own. It’s subdivision after subdivision, each house allotted its set amount of space. Lots of shopping centers and mini-malls, an SUV in every driveway. You can’t really tell where Vernon Hills ends and Libertyville starts. But it was like here in a lot of ways too. It’s hard to explain.”

“But you could get into the city?”

“Yeah. I used to go in with my brother on the train. He had this love affair with the science and industry museum. My parents bought him a pass, so he would go all the time.”