The Dance (5 page)

They watched TV. He liked the old “Star Trek” reruns—with the sound on. They talked a little, but then he started to yawn. She led him upstairs to her own bedroom. He was such a gentleman, he didn’t expect her to put out right away. He just said good night and closed the door. She crashed on the couch downstairs.

Her aunt kept her up half the night. She didn’t mind. It was nice having a man in the house.

How could you be so careless?” Jessica asked.

“I took it into the store because I was trying to be careful,” Sara said.

“Leaving a purse stuffed with three grand sitting in a supermarket freezer isn’t my idea of being careful,” Jessica said.

“I didn’t just leave it. I set it down and then he chased me out of the place.”

First period would begin in minutes. Jessica and Sara were in the parking lot, sitting in Jessica’s car. Sara had let Jessica drive all the way to school before admitting she’d lost the majority of the ASB council’s money.

“Russ chased you out of the freezer?” Jessica snorted. “More likely you locked him in the freezer. What did you find when you went back last night?”

“Well…”

“Did you find your bag?”

“Yes.”

“With all the money gone?”

“Yes.”

Jessica studied her old friend, suspicious. “What else?”

“The freezer door was gone, too.”

“What happened to it?”

“The store manager says Russ chopped it down.”

“
What
? You did lock him in! What the hell got into—Never mind. I don’t want to know. Was Russ there when you went back?”

“No. His boss fired him for ruining the door.”

“Did you explain that it was your fault?”

“No. I was trying to get my money back. I didn’t want the boss mad at me.”

“Man, you are dumb. You are the dumbest president I have ever seen.”

“I was hoping you would cheer me up.”

“You don’t deserve it.” They sat in silence for a moment. “He must have taken it,” Jessica said finally. Sara only shook her head. “But you tried to turn him into a Popsicle. Why wouldn’t he have taken it in revenge?”

“Russ wouldn’t do that.”

“Have you spoken to him?”

“I called his house.”

“And?”

“He isn’t living there anymore.”

“Great. Fabulous. What are you saying?”

“His old man kicked him out. I don’t know where he is.” Sara scratched her head. “After Russ got fired, a half-dozen people ran in and out of that freezer for a couple of hours. They were moving all the frozen goods to another store so they wouldn’t spoil. One of them must have found the bag, and stolen the money.”

“A half-dozen employees shouldn’t be that hard to check out.”

“Oh, yeah.”

Jessica drummed her fingers impatiently on the dashboard. “You’ve screwed up everything. You won’t be able to afford the band. You won’t be able to pay for the food. Homecoming will have to be postponed again. It’ll probably be called off.”

“And your crown might start to rust.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.”

“The hell it isn’t! I’m in trouble, Jessie. And all you care about is winning some horse-faced beauty pageant!”

“That’s not true!”

“It’s all you think about!”

“So! What do you want me to do?”

“Give me some moral support! Quit telling me how dumb I am!”

“You are dumb! You go in to buy a can of Spam and find a date and you end up spending three grand and almost killing a guy!”

Sara gave her a weird look and sat back in the car seat. “You’ve made your point,” she muttered.

Jessica took a deep breath. “I still think Russ must have taken it. I would have taken it.”

Sara sighed. “No. I know him. He’s not that kind of person. The money’s gone, and it’s gone for good.”

“How much is left in the account?”

“About two thousand. But half of that will be eaten up by checks I’ve already written.” She shook her head. “There isn’t going to be enough.”

“How about hitting up Polly?”

“I tried that already. I talked to her this morning. She says she needs her aunt’s signature to get hold of that much cash.” Sara shrugged. “I believe her.”

“Could you find another car to raffle?”

“There isn’t time.” Sara gave a miserable smile. “I’m open to suggestions?”

Jessica thought a moment. “I don’t have any.”

The varsity tree was at both the physical and social center of Tabb High. A huge thick-branched oak, it stood halfway between the administration building and the library, near the snack bar. At lunch, without fail, at least half the jocks would gather under it to enjoy the good looks of half the girls on the pep squads. For the most part, except for the week before the party when she had been vigorously pursuing Bill Skater, Jessica avoided the area. Crowds, even friendly ones, often tired her. But today was different. The results of the balloting to determine who would be on Tabb High’s homecoming court would be announced from a platform set up beneath the tree.

“Where’s Sara?” Maria Gonzales asked. “Isn’t she going to read the names?”

“No, I hear Mr. Bark, my political science teacher, is playing MC,” Jessica said. “Sara’s got a lot on her mind.”

Maria was sympathetic. “It must be hard for her to keep track of everything.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Are you nervous?” Maria asked.

“I feel like I’m waiting to be shot.”

Maria nodded to the crowd. “You’re the prettiest one here. Anyone can see that.”

“Anyone but me.” Dr. Baron had been right about the letters and the numbers on the board making more sense when she had her glasses on, but all morning she couldn’t help feeling people were staring at her and thinking she looked like an encyclopedia. At the moment, however, she had her glasses in her hand, and for that reason, she wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating when she saw the long-legged blonde sitting all alone on one of the benches that loosely surrounded the varsity tree. Jessica pointed to the girl. “Who is that?” she asked.

Maria frowned. “Clair Hilrey.”

“What’s she doing?”

“Nothing.”

Glancing around, Jessica quickly slipped on her glasses. The cheerleader was indeed by herself, and if that wasn’t extraordinary enough, she looked downright depressed. “I wonder what’s the matter with her.”

“She’s probably worried she won’t be on the court.”

“Clair’s got the self-confidence of a tidal wave. No, that’s not it. Something’s wrong.” Jessica took off her glasses and hid them away. “Which reminds me. During chemistry this morning,
you
were looking pretty worried.”

“I’m fine.”

“Come on, Maria. Haven’t we been friends long enough? You’re not happy. What is it?”

Her tiny Hispanic friend shyly shook her head. “I’m happy.”

“Are you still thinking about Nick?”

“No.”

After Alice’s party, when the police were running in and out of the McCoy residence and questioning them all, Maria’s parents had suddenly appeared. When Jessica had called her mom to explain what had happened, she forgot to tell her not to call the Gonzaleses. That had been a mistake. Mr. and Mrs. Gonzales didn’t even know their daughter was at a party—and at two in the morning. And then Maria’s parents arrived precisely when Bubba was telling a detective about the fight in the pool between The Rock and Nick. Of course Maria had played a vital role in that fight, which Bubba mentioned right in front of her parents. It took them no time at all to figure out that Maria had been dating Nick. And it didn’t help that the police chose Nick—along with Russ and Rats—to detain for further questioning. Jessica didn’t hear exactly what they said to Maria, but from a quick glance at their faces as they were leaving, Jessica knew it couldn’t have been anything gentle.

Parental law was still in effect in Maria’s family: For absolutely no reason was she to go near Nick Grutler.

“Liar,” Jessica said. She knew Maria was still thinking about Nick.

Maria started to protest again, but stopped herself. “I wish I could choose what to think about,” she said sadly.

“It’ll work out. It usually does.”

Maria had her doubts. “I can’t even talk to him about it.”

“Sure you can. Your parents won’t know. Explain the situation to him.”

“How can I say that because he’s black, my mom and dad assume he murdered Alice?” She shook her head. “It’s better if he thinks I don’t like him anymore. It’s simpler this way.”

Mr. Bark climbed onto the platform. The crowd quieted. Jessica hoped he wouldn’t give a speech. A minute more of this waiting and she would scream.

He gave a speech—fifteen minutes—about how wonderful it was to be a teenager and to be alive in such exciting times. Bless him, he even worked in the need for nuclear disarmament. Finally he pulled out the envelope.

“And now, the new homecoming court,” he said, excited, opening the list. “Princess number one is…”

Jessica—Jessica—Jessica—me—me—me.

Mr. Bark paused, perplexed. “There seems to be some mistake. There are supposed to be five girls on the court…” He stepped away from the microphone, spoke quietly to Bubba for a moment. Bubba kept nodding his head no matter what the teacher seemed to ask. Finally Mr. Bark returned to the mike. “The vote has resulted in an unusual situation,” he said. “There was a six-way tie for fifth place. It has, therefore, been decided that there will be only four girls on the court this year. They are: Clair Hilrey, Cindy Fosmeyer, Maria Gonzales, and Jessica Hart.”

Maria dropped her books and pressed her fingers to her mouth. Jessica let out a totally involuntary scream. Then they hugged each other and laughed with tears in their eyes. It felt good, Jessica thought. It felt better than just about anything had ever felt in her whole life. She couldn’t stop shaking.

“I can’t believe it,” Maria kept saying. “I can’t believe it.”

“We don’t have to believe it.” Jessica laughed. “We’re living it!”

People they knew and didn’t know gathered around to offer their congratulations. Cindy Fosmeyer was one of them. She had huge breasts and a big nose. Jessica gave her a kiss. Everything seemed to be happening so fast. Pats on the back, smiles, hugs, kisses. But none of them were from Polly or Sara, and Jessica had started to look for them when Bill Skater came up and shook her hand.

“I knew you’d get on the court,” he said.

“If you knew, why didn’t you tell me!” She giggled, giving him a quick hug, which took him by surprise.

“Well, Jessie, you didn’t ask.”

She felt brave. She felt like a tease. “So I didn’t. So why don’t you ask me something?”

Such boyish blue eyes. He gave her a sexy look—with his face, it was the only kind he could give—but his voice was hesitant. “Do you want to go out tonight?”

The icing on the cake. Maybe she’d get a scoop of ice cream later. “Absolutely!”

She was a princess. She had a prince. She gave him her number, another hug, and went to find her friends.

She accidentally bumped into Clair instead, in Sara’s locker hall, far from the hustle and bustle. Clair was alone. She in fact
looked
lonely. But they shook hands and she offered Jessica her congratulations.

“Four little princesses,” Clair said. “Sounds like a bad fairy tale, doesn’t it?”

“It’s amazing about that time,” Jessica said.

“I wasn’t surprised. Is Maria a friend of yours?”

“Yeah.”

“Give her my regards.”

“I will.” Jessica smiled. “Aren’t you excited?”

Clair turned to dial the combination on her locker. “Ask me in a couple of weeks, when they call out my name during the dance.”

So that’s how it was. “Maybe you’ll be asking me.”

Clair paused, giving her the eye. And now she smiled, slow and sure. “You may as well know, dearie, I can’t lose.”

Unknown to Jessica, Sara had watched the announcement of the homecoming court. But she had shied away from congratulating her best friend for a couple of reasons. First, as she had told Jessica in the car that morning, she thought Jessica had become overly preoccupied with the whole queen business. Second, with the loss of the money and Russ’s getting fired, she was in a rotten mood and was afraid she’d say something nasty just when Jessica was enjoying her high moment. The fact that these two reasons were contradictory didn’t make any difference to Sara. In reality, she was happy for both Jessica and Maria, and not the least bit jealous. She wouldn’t have wanted to be a princess for anything. Being ASB president was enough of a pain in the ass.

She needed money and she needed to get Russ’s job back for him. She didn’t know which troubled her more. She was still smarting from his comments. She liked to think she didn’t care about being popular. She had always thought of herself as subtle. But if Russ honestly believed—and it didn’t matter whether he was right or wrong (although he was most definitely wrong)—she was using her position of authority to seduce him, then maybe there was something lacking in her approach. It was a possibility.

He was not at school today. All right, she’d worry about him the next day. Big bucks and fat Bubba were what mattered now. She followed Bubba as he left the varsity tree after the announcement, watched him disappear into the computer science room. It was general knowledge that Bubba dealt in the stock market, and after checking around campus, she found out that he did extremely well. He was, in fact, a genius when it came to turning a few dollars into a few thousand. Knocking on the computer-room door and turning the knob, she hoped he didn’t charge for advice.

He was already at a terminal, typing a million words a minute on the keyboard. He dimmed the screen the instant she entered, but appeared happy to see her. He offered her a chair.

“What do you think of our new batch of princesses?” he asked.

“I was surprised Maria Gonzales and Cindy Fosmeyer were selected,” she said. “Maria’s probably the quietest girl in the school, and Cindy—she’s not exactly the princess type.”

“You mean she’s a dog?”

“Yeah.”

Bubba nodded. “But she does have big breasts, and those babies go a long way with half the votes in the school.” He glanced at his blank screen. “She’s always been one of my favorites.” He seemed to think that was funny, smiling to himself. “What can I do for you, Ms. President?”

“I have a small problem. I’ve been told you might be able to help me with it.”

He leaned back in his seat, apparently satisfied that it was his reputation that had brought her to him. “Is it a financial or a sexual problem?” he asked.

“You have a lot of nerve.”

“I also have a big bank account, and a huge—Well, let’s just say I am willing and able to help in either department.”

“It’s a financial problem.”

“A pity.”

“I need three grand, and I need it by next week.”

“Why?”

“There’ll be no homecoming unless I get it.”

“Why?”

“What do you mean, why? I need it to pay for everything.”

“Have you already spent the money from the car raffle?”

“No, not exactly.”

“What happened to the money? Did you lose it?”

“I—yeah, I did.”

“How did you lose it?”

“What difference does it make? I lost it!”

“If you lost it on a guy, then I would have to say you have both a sexual and a financial problem. I like to know what I’m dealing with before I invest my time.” He picked up a pen. “Are you going out with Russ Desmond?”

“What business is it of yours? No, I am not going out with him. Look, can you help me or not? Because if you can’t, I haven’t eaten lunch yet.”

“Where would you like to go for lunch?”

“What?”

“I’ll buy you lunch. Where would you like to eat?”

She stood. “Nowhere. Thanks for your time.”

She was at the door when Bubba stopped her with the line, “I can get you the money, maybe.”

“How?”

“Come back here and sit down.” She did as she was told. He put aside his pen, leaned toward her, studying her face. “You’re cute, Sara.”

“How?” she repeated.

He shrugged. “Does it matter? You should be asking what it’s going to cost you.”

“What is it going to cost me?”

“Sex.”

She chuckled in disbelief. “What?”

“Sex.”

“Are you crazy? Are you saying you’ll pay me three grand for my body?”

He sat back, shook his head. “No offense meant, but I would have to be crazy to spend that much money to sleep with you, or any girl for that matter. No, I said I can get you the money. I didn’t say I would give it to you.”

“Where are you going to get it? From your own account?”

“No, most of my money is tied up.” He thought a moment. “How much do you have left?”

“A grand.”

He considered again. “Can you get to that money this afternoon?”

“Not without Bill Skater’s counter-signature on a check.”

“Do you have a copy of something Bill has signed?”

“Yeah.”

“Then you can fake his signature.”

“No, I’m not that desperate. I see what you’re driving at. You want me to turn over the thousand to you.”

“You
are
that desperate or you wouldn’t be here. And, yes, I’ll need what you have.”

“No way. What are you going to do with it?”

“Invest it.”

“Can you invest money and get that big a profit that quickly?”

“In the commodities market, you can lay out a hundred dollars today and have five hundred tomorrow.”

“But I’ve heard investing in commodities is the same as rolling dice.”

“Not if you know what you’re doing. But I only mentioned commodities as an example. I haven’t decided exactly what I will do with the grand. I’ll have to think about it.”

She shook her head. “This sounds pretty thin to me. I told you, I need this money within a few days. If you’re not willing to get it out of your personal investments, then I can’t take you seriously.”

He was amused. “I notice you haven’t said anything about my demand for sexual favors?”

“What am I supposed to say? You were kidding, weren’t you?”

“No.”

She realized she was blushing, and that he could tell she was blushing. “But you need to triple whatever I give you in less than a week,” she persisted. “Nobody in the world can guarantee they can do that.”

“Nobody in the world can guarantee anything. But I do believe—in fact, I’m almost certain—I can do great things with your money. Now as far as your deadline is concerned…” He picked up his pen again, reached for a piece of paper. “Who do you owe?”

“Mainly the caterer and the band.”

“I need their names and phone numbers. I’ll arrange it so we can pay them later.”

“They won’t go for that.”

“They will after they talk to me. Give me the information.”

“Wait! Let me get this straight. I’m going to give you a thousand dollars, and in return you’re going to take responsibility for all the homecoming bills?”

“What is this responsibility crap? I’ll do the best I can. That’s all a man can do.”

She swallowed. “And when you pay everything off, I have to sleep with you?”

“Yes.”

“How many times?”

“Once.”

“Is that all?”

“When it’s over, you’ll wish there were a hundred times yet to come.”

“But you’ve been through half the girls on campus. God only knows what diseases you have.”

“My vast experience has only made me all the more careful. Trust me, Sara, I’ll take exquisite care of you.” He paused. “Have we got a deal?”

She grimaced. “Has anyone ever told you what a sleaze ball you are?”

Bubba threw back his head and laughed.