Knockout Girl

by Natasja Eby

  Then he stares at my beautiful, brand-new heels and says, “Comfier shoes.”

  I don’t even ask—I just find a pair of flats that don’t look horrible with the dress, and then we’re out the door.

  “Nice dress,” Adrian says as he starts leading me down the street, my hand tucked into the crook of his arm.

  “Thanks,” I say sweetly.

  “Goes well with the shiner.”

  “Shut up.”

  “Really, you look beautiful, Elli.”

  I blush, and say, “You don’t look too bad yourself.”

  We walk for a few minutes and then I ask, “Are you going to tell me what I missed at the dance?”

  “Let’s see… Oh! Chad and Heather were totally making out in the corner. It was gross.”

  He’s teasing me, but I can’t help laughing. “Come on. Were Julian and Cherry there?”

  Adrian nods. “I hung out with them for a few minutes while we waited for you. I didn’t tell them you were never going to show up. They’ve probably figured it out by now, though.”

  “Oh,” I say. I don’t know what I expected him to tell me. It doesn’t sound like he was at the dance long enough to see anything else.

  “But they were dancing together when I left,” he announces.

  “REALLY?!” I squeak.

  Adrian’s eyes grow huge as he sticks a finger in his ear. “I think you shattered my ear drum.”

  “Sorry,” I say, but I can’t help how excited I still sound.

  “What?” he jokingly shouts.

  I swat at his arm. “Where are we going?”

  “We’re almost there,” he says, like that’s in any way an answer to my question.

  Turns out we’re going to this adorable little ice cream bar. Adrian tells me that normally it would be crowded with kids, but since there’s the dance at school tonight, it’s not so busy. We even manage to snag a corner booth.

  “You’re so different than I first thought you’d be,” I say. I know I’ve caught him off-guard by the look he gives me.

  “How did you think I’d be?” he says.

  Now I feel weird. I don’t know how to be polite about saying that I thought he was a dumb jock. “I guess I got some misinformation about you. Like…that you were this big flirt, and how everyone’s just in love with you because you’re a good hockey player or whatever.”

  Adrian lifts an eyebrow and half-smiles at me. “And now?” he asks, sounding very sweetly shy.

  “I think you’re very…sweet. Perceptive. Optimistic,” I say. He smiles at that, and I wonder if anyone has ever complimented him that way before.

  “Thanks.” He stares at his half-melted ice cream for a few seconds and then says, “To tell you the truth, Elli, I am kind of shallow. Or at least, I used to be. Then I met you, and you were this cool girl who stood up to literally the biggest, meanest guy in our school for the most—how to say this nicely?—uncool guy in school and I guess it inspired me. I think you inspired a lot of people.”

  “Aw Adrian—”

  “Plus, you know, you’re hot. So that helps.”

  He gives me a teasing smile, but I know he means it, too, and it makes me blush. I quickly scoop some ice cream into my mouth to cool my face off.

  “I guess you’re exactly what I thought you were,” I tease back, smiling to let him know I don’t mean it.

  “Yup, you’ve got me all figured out,” he says sarcastically.

  “Tell me something about you that no one else knows,” I say.

  He purses his lips like he’s not sure he wants to answer. Then he looks up at me with serious eyes and says, “My grandma died last year and I cried myself to sleep for two weeks straight.”

  My eyes widen. I almost want to ask if he’s serious, but I can tell by his eyes that he is. “I’m so sorry,” I say softly. “I guess you were close?”

  He swallows hard and nods. “Your turn.”

  I respect that he wants to move on from this topic, so I go for something lighter. “My birthday is next week. And yeah, there are people who know that. But none of my new friends here do. You’re the first.”

  Adrian smiles. “Well, well, well. We’ll have to find something fun to do.”

  Adrian and I stay at the ice cream bar for a good two hours before we decide to call it a night. He holds my hand as he walks me home, and the warm strength of his grasp makes me feel almost like I could stay here in Canada and not miss Hawaii so much anymore. It’s like I can finally stop feeling like I’m betraying my home if I actually like it here.

  And when we kiss goodnight, I think I even forget what the ocean sounds like for a minute.

  CHAPTER twenty-four

  Things are so different today. Or maybe it’s just that I feel different. I mean, if you’d told me five months ago that I’d compete in a boxing championship alongside a nerd-turned-athlete, hang out with an edgy girl, and date the cutest guy at school I never would have believed you. If you’d told me that I would eventually stop missing the ocean, the sights and smells of Hawaii, and the island breeze in favour of man-made parks, skating rinks, and crazy temperature changes, I probably would have had you admitted to a psychiatric hospital.

  Anyway, people are giving me a lot of attention today. Even Red, when I walked past him in the hallway this morning, gave me a headnod in greeting. I returned it, even though it felt totally weird. I don’t know whether people are acknowledging me because of the black eye, or because they thought I was really good at the tourney; or maybe it’s just because they know I’m friends with Julian. Either way, it kind of feels good.

  An even better feeling is when I get to lunch and Cherry is sitting in my spot next to Julian. I watch them for a moment, thrilled to see them interacting in a shy-because-I-like-you kind of way. It’s cute.

  I sit down across from them and say hi like there’s nothing weird going on.

  “Uh,” Julian looks at a non-existent watch on his forearm, “you’re two days late for the dance, Elli.”

  “Whoops,” I say, pulling a textbook out of my backpack just to see if that annoys him as much as when he does that to me.

  “Whoops?” He says, putting a hand on top of the book to prevent me from opening it.

  Gotcha.

  “Didn’t you get my message?” I say, hoping to pin some of the blame on Adrian for not telling them.

  “Oh hey!” I hear a voice behind me. It’s Adrian. He sits next to me. “Look, you guys, I found her.”

  Julian rolls his eyes and Cherry, who hasn’t said anything yet, looks between us and I know I’m caught. Then she smiles at me while Julian’s not watching and I smile back.

  “Did you guys have a good time?” I ask.

  “Yes, we did,” Cherry answers emphatically.

  Julian looks at me, and I think I see gratitude in his eyes. Then they crinkle up a bit and he says, “Nice shiner.”

  I laugh. Julian has three cuts on his face, one of which has a couple of stitches in it. His chin is bruised, and it looks like he hasn’t shaved since before the tournament. I could look a lot worse, is what I’m saying.

  “Soo…I kind of have an announcement,” Julian says suddenly. The three of us look at him expectantly. “I’m supposed to go to the boxing regionals.”

  “But you came in second,” Adrian states the obvious.

  Julian nods. “Yeah…but apparently some other guy got caught cheating and was forced to pull out and Mr. Santini recommended me as a replacement. Soo…” he shrugs.

  “Jules! That’s awesome,” I say, though I can tell he’s not sure about this news. “Are you going to do it?”

  He shrugs again. “I dunno. Maybe. I have a few days to think about it.”

  Julian could be going to regionals and he’s being nonchalant about it! I can’t even understand that. But I know Julian—I know he likes to think through his decisions thoroughly—so I don’t push it.

  ***

  Today is my birthday. I’m a little sad to be honest. My
friends back home all sent me little emails and messages, and I even got a few cards in the mail. But that just made me sadder. I mean, don’t get me wrong—I love my new friends and my new life here. I’ve grown accustomed to this beautiful place where I’m now living. But I always had the most fantastic beach parties on my birthday. It was like a special thing that can never be repeated again.

  But Julian, Cherry, and Adrian are intent on giving me the best first Canadian birthday ever. So far I’ve eaten pretty much every maple-flavoured treat ever made, including fudge, candies, snow cones, pancakes with real syrup (not that fake store-brand stuff), maple bacon, and maple taffy.

  Now I’m being led, blindfolded, to who-knows-where so that I can have more of an adventure. Yay. If only they’d take the blindfold off…

  “Just a few more minutes, Elli,” Adrian says, squeezing my hand. Comforting.

  We’re on a bus, didn’t I mention that? Have you ever been blindfolded on a bus before? Not an easy thing to accomplish. Anyway, the bus finally stops and we get off, and Adrian’s still holding my hand which would be so nice if only I could see.

  “Can I take this thing off yet?” I ask, fingering the scarf covering my eyes.

  “Almost,” Cherry says, laughing a bit.

  Ugh. Because I’m wearing flip flops, I can feel that we’re walking over grass. Did we come to some sort of park? Maybe. Then I feel something more familiar. The ground becomes uneven and hot, and I feel the unmistakable sting of tiny grains of sand squishing up into my toes.

  “Where are we?” I ask in bewilderment.

  Finally, one of them takes off the blindfold. We’re on a beach and there’s a huge expanse of water in front of us. I know it’s not the ocean—it doesn’t smell like the ocean, and the waves aren’t very big. But some people are splashing around and others sunbathing. Off in the distance I see a few boats on the water.

  Julian laughs as he takes in the look on my face. “It’s just Lake Ontario,” he explains. “But we thought maybe it would make you feel a little closer to home.”

  “That’s…a huge lake,” I say. What I really want to say is, “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever done for me,” but I’ve cried where there is sand before and it never ends well.

  “Yup,” Adrian says. “There’s no surfing, but we managed to scrounge up a sailboat for you.”

  “Really?” I squeak. “I love sailing.” I know I sound wistful and probably a little pathetic, but they just look so proud of themselves for thinking of it.

  So then we’re on a sailboat with our picnic lunch in front of us. We’re working on our first tans of the season (though it took a little work to convince Jules that the computer screen look was just not working for him).

  We’ve pretty much eaten everything in the cooler, so I’m surprised when Adrian reaches in and says, “Huh, there’s something else in here.”

  “Ughhh,” I say, holding my stomach. I’m laying down with my eyes closed, halfway to a food coma. “I don’t think I could eat anything else.”

  “Nah, you’ll like this,” he says and something about his tone of voice makes me sit up.

  “What is it?” I ask, curious now.

  Adrian looks at Cherry and Julian who have matching ridiculous grins on their faces, and now I’m really curious because something is definitely going on and I have to know what it is.

  Adrian pulls out an envelope and hands it to me. I really wasn’t expecting another gift, but I open the envelope anyway and inside IS A ROUND TRIP TICKET TO HAWAII AND I CAN’T EVEN.

  “Wait, what?” I say, dumbstruck. “Is this for real?”

  “Yup,” Adrian says, rubbing my shoulder and kind of shaking me because I guess I’m not moving at all.

  “We asked your parents,” Julian says. “They were okay with it. They even pitched in a little.”

  “They had one stipulation,” Cherry adds.

  There’s a special glint in her eyes when I sigh and ask, “Which was?”

  “They didn’t want you to go alone,” she says. And then before I can protest, she quickly says, “So I’m going with you!”

  “Really?” I’m sure my voice is so high-pitched right now that only dogs can hear it, but she manages to answer anyway.

  “Yes!” She’s really excited now and I wonder how long they’ve had to keep this a secret from me. “We’re going for two weeks, and staying with friends, and I want you to show me everything!”

  “Oh, you guys!” I hug Cherry, and Julian, and I kiss Adrian, and then I try to hug them all at once, but I can’t, but I try anyway. This is the best birthday present ever. I don’t even know how to tell them. “I don’t know what to say!”

  “Say you’ll bring me a souvenir,” Julian helpfully tells me.

  “Say you’ll bring me next time.” Adrian winks. I wish.

  ***

  School has ended and Cherry and I are preparing for our trip. I’ve already made extensive plans so that she can experience as much as possible and I can still spend a fair amount of time visiting with my friends. I think it’ll be fun playing tourist in Hawaii. I never thought I’d be doing that, but then I never thought anything that’s happened in the last six months would have happened.

  My uncle seems to be doing really well. I don’t see him very often, but I know he’s working, staying sober, and also training Julian. Yeah, Julian decided to do regionals after all. They’re not until the end of summer, so he’ll have time to get a lot of practice in, but I think it’ll be good for him to not have to focus on school. He might even win. Who knows?

  My mom moved back home. She and my dad haven’t been fighting at all, which is a relief, but also a little weird. Weird in a good way, of course. I much prefer it this way. But I wonder if they’ve saved their relationship at the cost of my dad’s relationship with his brother. I mean, I know it’s not my business, but I wonder if Dan staying away is something that is helping them be closer together. In any case, I think they’ll figure it out. I’m just glad to have my family back in one piece.

  As I pack for my trip, I briefly wonder if it’ll be weird seeing Kai again, but I’ve moved on from that and I can only assume he has, too. I look forward to seeing my friends again. I wonder if any of them have changed like I feel I have.

  Not gonna lie though—I don’t miss old Elli. New Elli is a lot cooler than old Elli. And I like it that way.

  Did you think the story was over?

  Because it’s not…

  Read on for a sneak peek at the sequel:

  Standup Guy

  CHAPTER ONE

  Elli

  Picture yourself on a cruise ship that you’d always wanted to go on but never have because everyone always told you that it was for tourists and it was basically a big waste of money. Now picture being that tourist because you are no longer a Hawaiian—you are now Canadian and you’ve brought a Canadian friend with you to Hawaii.

  Of course, we’re not talking about you. We’re talking about me and Cherry. Cherry and I have spent the last two weeks in Hawaii, meeting my friends, seeing my favourite spots, and playing tourist in places I’ve never even been to. We’re ending our trip with a four-hour snorkeling cruise, just the two of us.

  It was amazing seeing my friends and getting to enjoy the Hawaiian climate again, but I have to say…I really miss my new home in Canada. Call me crazy but I’m happy with my new life. Weird, I know. But there’s a lot waiting for me back home. New friends, snow, boxing…

  Adrian.

  “Elli!” Cherry grabs my hand and tugs me all the way to the other side of the boat. “Look, look, look!”

  I smile down at the part of the water she’s pointing to. It’s so clear that you can see all kinds of multicoloured fish and coral. The boat is slowing down near a crescent-shaped little island called Molokini. This is where we’ll be able to get out in the water and see all the cute little fish that Cherry’s so excited about.

  Once the boat has stopped, the captain and his first mates gi
ve us the basics of snorkeling (which I’ve done before but Cherry hasn’t) and the rules, one of which includes no swimming up to the island. I can tell that disappoints Cherry, but the iconic little crater island is a marine and bird life preservation area so no one is ever allowed up there. She’ll still have fun looking around in the water, though.

  Cherry rips off her sundress and flings it on a random seat before grabbing some snorkeling gear from one of the first mates. While she’s getting the goggles on her head, she’s totally unaware that the guy is checking her out. Admittedly, she has a very nice figure and she looks older than she is.

  She looks back at me and gives me a goofy grin around the mouthpiece. “Less jump in togeder!” she tries to shout at me.

  I laugh as I put my own goggles and snorkel on. Then I take her hand and we run and jump off the edge of the boat together. We crash into the warm water and I shut my eyes, momentarily forgetting that there’s no real need. I come back up and search around for Cherry but she must have dived further under. I wait for what feels like forever, so long that I think maybe she’s drowning. But then she pops up a few feet away from me.

  She spits her mouthpiece out and says, “Elli! That was amazing. You should have gone as far as I did. There’s all kinds of cool stuff down here. Come look!”

  Just as quickly as she came up, she’s gone again, but at least this time she leaves her snorkel out of the water so she can breathe. I put my head down and as soon as I do, she takes my hand. With her free hand, she starts pointing out all kinds of fish, some that look so close she could grab them, which of course, she tries to do. She never succeeds but it’s fun to watch her try.

  Oh! She’s making a little camera motion at me. I spring to the surface so I can go up and get the underwater camera we rented. Oh, Julian’s going to love seeing these pictures, I just know it. I bet he’d even be able to identify the fish and coral we’re seeing. And if not, he’d look it up. He’s a big nerd. But he’s also my other best friend, so I really mean that in an affectionate kind of way.