Playing the Game (13 page)

Do something to piss your mom off for
me.

My grin widened at the sign announcing
walk-ins were welcome and I pushed open the door.

***

I had a slight spring in my step as I left
the salon an hour or so later. My hair bounced off my shoulders
happily. The stylist had been a little surprised when I told her
what I wanted but was positively cooing by the time we were
finished.

Yeah, my mom was going to have a fit.

My once long locks now reached my shoulders
– all one length – and curled slightly under sort of like a bob.
But the kicker was the highlights - the purple highlights that went
remarkably well with my dark hair color.

I nearly ran to my car.

***

“
Aubrey
Rose!
” my mother gasped when I walked
through the door.

Wincing, I steeled my spine. My dad looked
up from his recliner and his eyes grew to the size of basketballs.
Once his initial shock wore off, a tiny smirk curled his lips.

“
Do you like it, Mom?” I
asked, amazed at how calm my voice sounded. “I wanted something
different.”

“
Your beautiful hair!” she
cried, circling me like a vulture, picking up the ends and dropping
them in disgust. “Why would you do this?”

“
It’s my hair and I was
tired of it. I wanted something new,” I shrugged. Good. I sounded
confident. Maybe I
was
growing a backbone.

“
Oh, this is going to ruin
your chances on the show, I just know it!”

“
Oh, Susan, calm down,” my
dad barked. “They judge her on her voice, not her hair. If she
wants purple hair, so be it. She’s not a child.”

I winked at him, smiling widely. He returned
the wink and turned his attention back to the game. I’d forgotten
the Racers were playing. I plopped down on the sofa.

“
What’s the
score?”

“
Five to four,” he said,
crease in his forehead. “Racers are up.”

Nodding, I watched as Troy Neal fielded a
ball and threw it to first. Jess wasn’t pitching – he was still on
the DL – and I hoped the camera would take a quick peek in the
dugout so I could maybe see him.

“
How can you worry about
baseball when we have to deal with your hair?” my mother exclaimed.
My dad and I both looked at her as if she was mad.

“
There’s nothing you can
do about it now,” I said. I settled back into the sofa so I could
watch the game.

“
Where did this attitude
come from?” my mother demanded in an angry voice. “From your
sister? She’d do anything to turn you against me. Before you know
it, she’ll have you moving in with some man just like she
did.”

My heart flipped at the idea of living with
Jess.

Easy
, the voice in my head cautioned.
You don’t even know if he wants you for more than a bed
partner yet.

“
Gwen has nothing to do
with my attitude or my hair. Please, leave her out of
this.”

“
Oh, I should call her
right now,” my mother threatened.

Leaping to my feet, I raced to the phone.
“No, leave her alone. She’s been sick lately and she needs to
rest.”

“
She’s been sick?” my dad
asked, turning in his recliner to look at me. “What’s the matter
with her?”

“
Just a stomach bug. I
went to see her Friday and she was feeling much better,” I assured
him. I didn’t want to raise suspicion but I didn’t want my mother
pestering her either.

My father nodded and focused on the
game.

My mother stood with her hands on her hips,
appraising me like someone she didn’t know. “This is unacceptable,
Aubrey Rose. I don’t know what’s gotten into you lately.”

I opened my mouth to speak but stopped when
I heard Jess’s name mentioned on the television. I hurried to my
dad’s side in time to catch a quick glimpse of him in the
dugout.

“
What did they say about
Jess?” I asked my father.

Without looking at me, he answered calmly.
“They just said he’ll be off the DL soon and they expect him to be
back in the rotation next week.”

“
Jess? Jess who?” my
mother asked. She’d managed to walk across the room still holding
her angry stance. She was a woman of many talents. “Not that awful
Jess Rivers you used to date in high school?”

“
The very one,” my dad
answered. “He’s been pitching for the Racers the last few
years.”

I stared at the television to avoid the
burning glare I knew my mother had fixed on me.

“
Have you been seeing him
again?”

My dad tugged my sleeve and I dropped to the
arm of his chair. I knew he was giving me his support. Dad had
always liked Jess.

“
I’ve talked to him a few
times,” I said nonchalantly. “It’s not a big deal.”

She groaned in frustration and took the
phone from my hands. “I need to call my hairdresser and see what
she can do about your hair.”

“
Good luck,” I called
cheerfully. A shock of guilt jolted my heart but I ignored it when
my dad snickered. Once she left the room I wrapped an arm around
his shoulders and concentrated on the game.

During a commercial,
without sparing me a glance, he spoke. “
Are
you seeing Jess Rivers
again?”

I panicked. “Um, I have seen him a couple
times.”

“
Well, it is time you
lived your own life. Just don’t lie to your mother – it’s
disrespectful. I know she doesn’t like him for some reason, but
that’s no reason to be deceitful.”

Nodding, I kissed the top of his head. “I
know. I’m going upstairs.”

I turned on my TV and dropped to my bed,
rolling on my stomach. My eyes were focused on the screen but my
mind was elsewhere.

My mother would have a fit – a humungous fit
– if I was to tell her of my ‘relationship’ with Jess. My dad did
have a point about lying to my mom but I wasn’t ready to tell her
anything yet. I snorted. What was there to tell, anyway? I was more
than certain she wouldn’t want to hear about my escapades with him
last weekend. But my dad was right – it was time to live my
life.

Slipping off the bed, I walked in the
bathroom to study my new hair. My heart jumped as I shook my head,
watching the tresses fall back into place. I’d taken a tiny step
today. Hopefully that would lead to more.

***

Jess called that night and I was thrilled to
hear his voice. He asked what I’d been up to and I told him I’d
succeeded in angering my mother. His rich laugh drove my internal
organs into a frenzy.

“
What did you do?” he
asked.

“
You’ll have to wait and
see,” I responded, trying to be coy.

“
Will I like
it?”

I froze. Would he? Would he miss my long
hair? Would he think the highlights were stupid and juvenile? He’d
never once commented on my hair before.

“
I’m not sure,” I
muttered.

“
I bet I will.” He sounded
confident, as usual. “I gotta go. I’ll be home next Monday and I’ll
see you then. Talk to you later.”

And he hung up. But instead of the
irritation I usually felt when he did this, I laughed. One of these
days I’d get the upper hand on him.

***

My mother refused to accompany me Wednesday
night to the studio. She was still pouting because I wouldn’t let
her take me to her hairdresser to recolor my hair. It was a small
battle but I was still triumphant.

Samantha had rolled her eyes at me earlier
that day when I'd shown up with my new style. I ignored her as Gary
continued to do to me.

This was the last regular week of the show.
Next week we’d be down to the final five. We would perform on
Wednesday and be cut down to three by the end of the show.
Thursday, the final contestants would battle it out and the
audience, as well as the judges, would decide who was the new
American Star.

Although my mother was angry with me, she
still influenced my clothing and music choices. The theme this week
was summer and the Beach Boys. I couldn’t hold back my eye roll as
I dressed in white capris and a light summer blouse. I managed to
smuggle matching flip flops, much to my delight.

I sang the boring “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”
while Samantha shimmied her way through “Fun Fun Fun.”

Richard and Marissa passed us both, but I
didn’t receive as much enthusiasm as I had the previous week.
Marissa did love my hair and that only enhanced my mother’s
sulk.

I barely made it to my room before my phone
rang. When I answered, I received a loud laugh.

“
Aubrey Rose, what the
hell did you do to your hair?” Jess asked with amusement in his
voice.

“
I cut it,” I announced
proudly. “What do you think?”

“
I think it’s hot and I
can’t wait to get home,” he replied, his voice thick with
insinuation. Trembling, I wished fervently for him to come back
early, somehow.

“
My mother doesn’t quite
agree.”

He laughed again and my heart swelled. The
ache I held inside widened and I longed for him to be here.

“
I did ask you to piss her
off. I can only imagine what she said.”

“
She is disappointed, to
say the least, but I’ve wanted to do this for a long time,” I told
him.

“
Good, I’m glad you did.
What did Gwen say?”

Gwen. My heart sank. She still hadn’t called
me and my concern grew with each passing day.

“
I haven’t talked to her
in awhile.”

“
What’s the
problem?”

I took a deep breath. I wanted to confide in
someone – him – but it wasn’t my secret to tell. “She’s….going
through a little thing right now. She needs a little time. She
promised she’d call soon.”

The anxiety in my voice was louder than the
actual tone. “She will, don’t worry. You know Gwen; she’s
tough.”

“
I know. How’s your
shoulder?”

“
Fine. They’re going to
let me pitch after the break. We’ll see how it goes.”

I nibbled my lip, worry returning. “Are you
sure you're ready?”

“
Of course,” he scoffed.
“Hell, I could pitch tomorrow if they’d let me.” He yawned loudly
in the phone. “I have to go get some sleep. I’ll be home next week.
I’ll see you then.”

He hung up again, naturally. I expected
nothing less.

***

My mother woke me the next morning, anger
positively blazing in her eyes. I sat up, all sleep fleeing my
body. “What’s wrong?”

“
Is it true that you had
Jess Rivers and some of his baseball friends attack Gary
Lester?”

Crap. Damn. Hell. This could not be
good.

“
Mother, I didn’t
have
anyone attack Gary
Lester.
No one
attacked Gary Lester. Where are you getting your information,
anyway?”

With a huff, she drew her body to full
height, towering over my bed. “I received an email this morning
from a friend who had me read Samantha Roper’s blog. She wrote that
you had Jess Rivers and two others threaten Gary so he would bow
out of the competition and convince Samantha to do the same. Is
this true?”

Her anger was nothing next to mine. Flinging
my blankets aside, I raced to my computer. It booted up far too
slowly for me so I paced in front of the desk while I waited.

“
Is this true?” my mother
demanded behind me. “Tell me it’s not. This could ruin your
chances.”

My stewing fury boiled over as I spun to
face my mother. “I don’t care about my chances, Mother. What I care
about is if this causes Jess any trouble!”

She paled as her hand flew
to her mouth to cover her gasp. “You
are
seeing him!”

Turning back to the computer, I logged onto
the Internet. It took no time at all to find Samantha’s blog. Rage
nearly struck me blind as I read her nasty words, accusing me of
cheating and Jess of intimidating a contestant. I shot out of the
chair, spilling it to the floor, and snatched my cell phone off the
charger. I hit Jess’s number and paced again while it rang. He
didn’t answer so I was forced to leave him a message to call me as
soon as possible.

“
This is a nightmare,” my
mother mumbled as she sank to the edge of my bed. “I’ll have to
call the show and see what’s happening. Oh, I hope we can salvage
this.”

What would happen to Jess? Would he be
suspended? Arrested? My heart fell to my feet as my stomach twisted
violently.

“
Let’s just hope no one
reads Samantha’s blog,” my mother continued to mutter as she
scurried from my room.

Sitting down in the computer chair, I
clicked on all the news and entertainment pages. There was no other
mention of the incident and that helped to slow my pulse. But I
still worried what would happen when the story did get out as I
knew it would. I wondered if they’d question me about it when I
went to the studio later. I would defend Jess fiercely, no question
there. But would it be enough?

My phone rang and I grabbed it off the bed.
“Jess?”

“
What’s up, Aubrey? You
sounded pretty upset on voice mail.”

I explained about Samantha’s blog as I paced
once more around my room. My legs began to tremble, forcing me to
sit. “Jess, what’s going to happen?”

“
They won’t kick you off
the show, don’t worry,” he assured me. “I’ll make sure of
that.”