Blue with Black Dots (The Caprice Trilogy Book 2) (3 page)

Yvette felt guilty about sharing Georgia’s lap without sharing her support for Patrick so she raised her hand as well. Even though Diane slapped Tanis five, she didn’t vote along party lines. Tanis’ hand stayed down but Diane’s hand went up. The girls were mostly solid in their support of Patrick. The boys weren’t. Only Bryan’s hand went up. But four hands were enough for an acquittal. Patrick didn’t have to take his shot. Patrick was the King of Spades. The Queen of Spades followed him, Georgia. Georgia was different. She had something going for her that the others didn’t, she was the group’s sweetheart. No one in the group had a sour thing to say about her. Yvette had an initial jealous streak toward Georgia. They were roughly the same height but Georgia had more form on top of the same frame. It was the same jealousy as two shoppers paying for the same item but one getting the special edition. Yvette was no wallflower. She was used to drawing eyes and did what she could to draw more. The problem was, around Georgia, it didn’t matter what she did. She was a placeholder—second place. And she knew it.

Georgia was about a half-inch shorter but candid round lines set the tone of her shape. Yvette had skinny arms and legs making her shoulders look wide and giving her a rectangular figure. Her angular body was attractive on its own but seemed at an early stage of development compared to Georgia’s complete hour-glass. The contrast was obvious to anyone with healthy eyes. But no one needed eyes to see Yvette was bothered by it.

Georgia was soft-spoken contrasting her out-spoken figure. Unlike Yvette, who clamored for attention, most of Georgia’s actions took place in her head. She wasn’t shy. She just had more activity going on inside than she saw outside. It made her own interests more interesting and more intriguing than anyone’s interest in her. She never played into Yvette’s jealousy. It gave Yvette nothing to moor her feelings to. Georgia wasn’t overly talkative but when she spoke she had something to say. It made the sound of her voice more precious and welcomed. She only chimed in when she knew exactly what she was talking about. It was a habit that led to her rarely putting her foot in her mouth. She wasn’t that young girl spouting annoying euphemisms in an attempt to sound intelligent. The things she said were actually well thought out. When she tried to speak the others began to notice it was beneficial to listen. Yvette was the last to notice but she eventually did. As the boys began to pay more and more attention to Georgia, Yvette began to realize why. The alarmism of seeing her old plays to gain attention fail repeatedly served as a wake up call. Georgia’s physique made her attractive but her personality made her likable. It wasn’t just that Georgia’s body was more womanly that Yvette’s. Georgia herself was more a woman. The Peers were all young ranging from early to late twenties. They all had a bit of maturing to do. Georgia was at the top of that curve. Yvette was at the bottom.

Yvette took refuge in the category where she was better than Georgia, athletics. Tanis had a boy’s build. Her cleavage took the form of well-developed pectoral muscles. She was always first among the girls in running or any other physical timed-trial. Yvette was a not-too-distant second. Diane was third. Georgia was last, always. Georgia’s thick thighs brushed against each other as she alternated legs while running. Her breasts became a single feature as they tried to find a path of least resistance, while she ran. She had to find a running rhythm to minimize the movement of her breasts. Her running rhythm lacked aerodynamic flow. She was slow, quite slow. On most of her physical tests, Georgia was close to time. She passed but far behind the rest of the girls. Her shape even affected her marksmanship. Her breasts weighed on her posture and interfered with her ability to square off her shoulders toward her target. She was an ok marksman but her body interfered with every shot.

It became a joke between Yvette and Georgia. One day during running time trials, Georgia was almost a minute behind the other girls. Yvette met a heavy breathing Georgia at the finish line and asked a simple question,
did your curves keep you?
Georgia nodded. From then on, it was a running line between Yvette and Georgia.

“Where were you, Gigi?” asked Yvette.

“My curves kept me,” said Georgia.

Georgia’s ability to make fun of herself won Yvette over. Yvette was ten months younger than Georgia and looked at her as an older sister. She modeled her personality on Georgia’s, especially Georgia’s modesty. Yvette was used to seeking the spotlight but she began questioning the amount of energy it took to keep the spotlight on her. She saw how Georgia didn’t do anything for the spotlight. She got her spotlight but got it effortlessly. Yvette’s focus became less on the spotlight and more on effortlessly. The amount of energy involved in getting and maintaining the spotlight was becoming a bit more than Yvette was willing to take on. She found something new to revel in, her relationship with her big sister, Georgia. She copied Georgia’s quiet dignity but not entirely. She had to emote, to be expressive. She was the third most expressive of the girls, behind Tanis and Diane but ahead of Georgia.

Georgia’s quiet nature was inherent. She was the second of two children and had always felt split down the center. Though she was born in Virginia both her parents were British. That meant for holidays they would fly back to the England so she would get to know her grandparents and cousins. She had tried to mimic their accents when speaking to them. It made her feel more like family and less like an outsider. But she didn’t view the position of outsider with disdain. In Britain, she felt very American. In America, she felt somehow more British. She wasn’t one thing or the other. She was perforated down the middle, two things in one. She started getting attention in middle school as an early bloomer. She had a growth spurt between seventh and eighth grade, not the vertical kind but the horizontal kind. She started to wear plus-sized shirts to hide her growing bustline. She never wanted for much attention but she began to stand out in comparison to other girls her age. Georgia didn’t need attention but needed a way to manage the attention she was getting. She found a way, she asked for favors—help. She got boys to carry her books to class or wait with her for her parents to come pick her up. She didn’t like to do it but the enthusiasm was there. She just gave it an outlet. Boys simply liked being near her. She couldn’t imagine the feeling it gave them to walk beside her but she knew the feeling was there. To her, it felt like leverage. She would later come to see it as control.

“My mother lived through the London bombings during the Second World War,” said Georgia, “She always said to pay attention to history and not to forget it because history is everywhere in everything.”

“So what’s your quote?” asked Bryan.

“
History is everywher
e
in everything
,” said Georgia. Yvette’s head went up along with her hand.

“Good quote, Gigi,” said Yvette.

“I like it,” said Diane.

“Me too,” said Tanis.

“I guess none of us wanna vote against Gigi,” said Bryan.

“Wait,” said Alan, “You’re supposed to be working on getting her drunk.”

“Next game,” said Bryan. Georgia’s status as the group’s sweetheart was reaffirmed, by seven out of seven hands going up. None of them would vote against her on their last night together. Georgia got a pass. The Clubs, The Diamonds and The Spades had all taken turns. The last suit was Hearts, Alan and Yvette.

“Ok,” said Alan, “If we’re going guys first then I’m up.”

“No,” said Yvette, “Ladies first. I’ll give you some more time to think of an intelligent quote. You’ll surely need it.”

“Ouch,” said Alan, “Are you sure we’re both Hearts.”

“Training’s over Big Boy,” said Diane, “Alliances get broken.”

“Ok,” said Alan, “I understand. Our alliances are busted, just like your face, Diane.” Diane got up from her prone position on the bed. Alan started to laugh.

“Oh no,” said Hagan, “Don’t mess with this chick she’s got training.”

“Here,” said Alan, “I’ll let you get in a free lick.” Alan closed his eyes and stuck his face out as a fresh target. Diane slapped him as hard as she could with her right hand. The boys got a kick out of it.

“You hit like a girl,” said Alan.

“Only cuz you take it like one,” said Diane.

“At this rate,” said Hagan, “Ain’t no one getting drunk.”

“Yeah,” said Alan, “C’mon Yvette. Whatya got for us?”

“How about this,” said Yvette, “
It’s not what you know. It’s not who you know. It’s what you know about who you know
.”

“Oh damn,” said Hagan, “This chick has dirt on all of us.”

“Yeah,” said Alan, “Are you talking about blackmailing the people you know or what?”

“A quote’s a quote,” said Yvette, “Evaluate it how you want.”

“Ok,” said Bryan, “Evaluate you guys.” Georgia’s hand went up in support of her little sister. Diane liked to stick with Georgia out of principle. After over forty weeks of training, together she realized Georgia did more thinking than talking. She figured anyone who did as much thinking must be good at it. Tanis viewed Georgia in much the same way as Diane, but she was a free spirit. Tanis went her own way always. Still, the girls liked to stick together. All their hands went up. Alan raised his hand in favor of Yvette, his suit mate. It assured Yvette would stay dry. Bryan liked the quote as well. Patrick’s hand was already up. Hagan’s hand was up as well.

“Full House,” said Alan, “Pun intended.”

“Sorry crew,” said Yvette. Yvette took her shot even though she didn’t have to.

“Forty weeks and four days of pushing my body to the limit and people playing mind games,” said Yvette, “I’m just ready to get this party started.” Yvette received a standing ovation from Tanis. Alan stood up and went to hug Yvette.

“That’s why we’re the same suit,” said Alan, “This chick takes no prisoners.”

“None,” said Georgia.

“You’re one live girl,” said Tanis. The game started to fall apart as everyone who hadn’t taken a shot took it. Georgia held her shot so did Alan, waiting for his turn.

“Wait,” said Alan, “I haven’t hit you guys with my quote yet.”

“Ok,” said Bryan, “Hit us.”

“Better be good, Forsythe,” said Yvette.

“I’m good on a bad day,” said Alan.

“Wait does that count as his quote,” said Yvette.

“I think it does count,” said Diane.

“Wait a minute,” said Alan.

“Too late Forsythe,” said Tanis, “Your money’s not gonna buy any votes. Shut up and drink.”

“No one has voted yet,” said Alan.

“I think the game is over,” said Bryan, “Go on and take the shot.”

“The game is over but the party is getting started,” said Diane.

“You breaking the seal already?” said Tanis.