Naked

by Stacey Trombley

  Alex keeps trying to convince me to get a nose ring or cut my hair into a pixie cut, but Jen is actually beautiful when she’s done with her. She pins her hair into a gentle updo, and after some serious peer pressure, Jen lets Alex take actual scissors to her and give her a side bang. She’s softer this way, less plain. After a little mascara, eye shadow, and lipstick, Jen’s ready to break some hearts. She looks happy, really happy, since the first time I’ve met her.

  Homecoming might not be what I was hoping it would be, but this is pretty great, too. I have friends, and I’m helping someone have a little more power. And maybe, just maybe, help me keep a little of my own. As long as they’re around, the janitor can’t afford to show himself.

  I just hope we can actually pull this off.

  Once we’re all dressed, Alex in her tight black dress with feathers hanging off the bottom, Jen in a long light blue A-cut dress, and me in my black strapless with the pink-and-black zigzag pattern at the top, we sit down to go over the plan.

  I thought Jen might be hesitant to go along with this. But if nothing else, my plan brings a confidence into her that I’ve never seen her have. She doesn’t want to hurt Brandon. She’s sweet like that, desperate to not hurt even the bad guys who hurt her.

  But she also won’t stand by if she has a chance to stop him from hurting someone else. I just hope this helps her feel like she doesn’t have to live in fear anymore. I hope this lets her know she still has the choice I never had.

  Marissa can’t be here because that would tip off Brandon, so Alex texts her to let her know the plan is on. Honestly, we’re not asking much from her. She’s to act normal. Do what she usually does, so Brandon won’t know something is up.

  Finally, my mom knocks on the door, tired of waiting for us to finish our powwow and way too eager to take pictures. When we leave the room, I feel like we’re spies or something. This secret, it feels exciting, and I can tell the other girls feel the same.

  Mom spends way longer than necessary, pulling us to five different places around the house, getting shots of us all together and each by ourselves, saying she’s sure Jen’s and Alex’s parents will want some, too.

  Even my dad stands behind her, watching. Quiet, seething, and always watching. He must be thrilled to see us having a good time, so I put on a big smile and laugh with my friends.

  “It’s too bad that boy couldn’t be here,” Mom says. “Are you ever going to tell me what happened?”

  I groan.

  “Don’t worry, Mrs. Rodriguez,” Alex says. “She won’t even tell us.” She sticks her tongue out at me.

  I roll my eyes. “I don’t need a date,” I say, defiantly.

  “Besides, Czar here is more handsome than any high school boy,” Jen says, her voice light and happy.

  “It’s Zara, actually. But she is pretty, isn’t she?”

  Zara’s eyes get big when we turn to her, like she’s wondering what in the world we’re talking about. I walk over and lean down next to her and scratch her neck. She lifts her head and licks my cheek.

  “Wait!” Mom calls. “Hold that.” She picks up the camera and snaps a shot of me hugging Zara, and I’m pretty sure that’ll be my favorite picture.

  Alex drives us to school in her mom’s old Lancer. When we finally pull up to the big brick building, my palms are sweating.

  I remember my first moments standing in front of these glass doors. It’s dark now, but really, it’s exactly the same as it was then. I’m the one that’s different. Oddly enough, I’m more scared now than I was then. Because now, I have more to lose.

  “I’m so nervous,” I admit.

  “I’m excited!” Jen says.

  “Yeah, this was your idea. How can you have cold feet?” Alex says.

  “I don’t! I’m just nervous. What if it doesn’t work?”

  “Then everything will be the same as before. But it’s going to work.”

  I nod. No matter what, I’m going to make sure Marissa isn’t the one to blame if this goes bad.

  But it has to work. It will.

  The parking lot is already dark by the time the dance starts.

  I watch the other students walk into the school with their fancy dresses and shirt-and-ties.

  We walk through the parking lot, me much too comfortable in the high heels, and I march quicker than Jen and Alex, but I stop when I see a cop car pull into a parking spot. What the hell?

  Three boys hop out of the back seat, laughing. The one who hops out first has those sexy glasses, and even from far away, I know it’s Jackson. His father’s in the driver’s seat. I guess he came as a chaperone.

  I turn away quickly and keep walking.

  As soon as we enter the school building, all three of us stop and stare. Jackson recruited a few guy friends to help with the actual setup of the dance, so none of us have seen it all put together. Jen and Alex’s sign hangs right at the entrance, candles light the path down the hall to the gym, and a little plastic runner leads the way all the way down.

  It’s pretty, but it’s nothing compared to the way the gym itself looks. There are lights over both sides of the gym, covering the walls from ceiling to floor. I didn’t even realize we had this many. The Eiffel Tower Jackson and I worked on sits behind the DJ, and it’s beautiful. The background is dark, with hanging little twinkling stars.

  We did an amazing job.

  I just wish I could share this pride with Jackson.

  From what I can hear around me, everyone else seems to admire the work done on the dance decorations, too. The only real proof this is the same sweaty gym we use for classes and games and prep rallies is the floor. There wasn’t much we could do to cover up the basketball court.

  “This is awesome!” Jen says, her smile stretching all the way across her face. I grab her hand, and she grabs Alex, and I feel so close to them at this moment. I’ve never been in this position, but now I see there can be safety in numbers.

  As kids head out onto the dance floor to dance to the heavy beat music, we just stand there, watching.

  Finally, the moment’s over when Alex goes running into the crowd, pulling me and Jen with her. I laugh as I’m dragged onto the dance floor and start dancing with my friends.

  It feels good. Surprisingly good.

  We take turns gawking when Marissa and Brandon walk in. She doesn’t even look our way, which is good. She’s good at this faking thing. Guess she’s been doing it for a while.

  Everything has to seem normal, so our job right now is to have fun. The real mission doesn’t start until a little later in the night. So we dance, and we laugh, and we have fun. Part of me is just pretending to complete the illusion and help Marissa, but it’s not all fake. I’m actually having fun.

  Alex messes up her hair by swinging her head around to every song. She’s the kind of girl whose hair should always be down. It’s so pretty anyway. Still, I can’t help but give her a hard time.

  “I put a lot of work into that!” I yell over the loud music.

  She pulls out one of the bobby pins and flings it into the air.

  After a few songs, I see Marissa and Brandon through the crowd, only a few random grinding dancers over. Brandon’s hands are all over her. I hate the expression on her face, complete misery. There must have been a time when she loved him, wanted him, but that time is clearly long gone. That tends to happen when someone treats you like shit.

  I don’t know what Brandon deserves, but Marissa at least deserves better than this.

  Marissa pushes through the crowd, and as she passes us, she stops to lean in and whisper in my ear, “The decorations are awesome.” I’m careful not to smile at her kind comment, knowing Brandon needs to think it was something nasty. She gives me a wink and then pushes past us, pulling her boyfriend behind her. He gives me a smirk and a wink, and I shiver.

  We stay and dance a little longer, and while this is fun, I’m starting to get restless. I want to get this over with.

  “Want to get a drink?”
I yell out to Alex and Jen, who both nod, and we head back up to the cafeteria. It’s there that I see Jackson.

  He’s wearing black slacks, a white button-up, a checkered vest, and a bright green bow tie. Sticking to his too-attractive-for-true-geekiness geeky thing. It’s weird, but it’s so him. So Jackson.

  He’s with his goofy gamer friends. They’re debating about something serious, but then again, knowing Jackson, it’s probably about which food item or cartoon character is better. His head pops right up when I stop at the doorway though, his conversation forgotten, and we just stand there for a few seconds, watching each other.

  I so wish I were with him tonight.

  I shake my head. There’s a reason I sent him away. Eventually, he’ll find out the truth. And the closer we are, the more it’ll hurt when he does. I could deal with it, but I’ll do anything to save him from that pain.

  There are a bunch of round tables covered in tablecloths and little Eiffel Towers and candles in the center. We sit at one of them to catch our breath from all the dancing.

  “The decorations turned out great, didn’t they?”

  I spin to see Jackson standing there, his hands in his pockets and a hopeful look in his eyes.

  “They’re amazing,” I say.

  Jen and Alex agree. Alex lifts up her cup and says, “Cheers!”

  She’s so weird sometimes. We all laugh politely, but there’s nothing else to be said, so after another awkward moment, Jackson says, “I’ll see you around,” ending our conversation much too soon, and he heads back to the dance floor with his friends.

  “Think it’s almost time?” Jen asks as soon as Jackson is gone.

  My eyes are still following Jackson, but I force myself to turn to Jen. “I hope so.”

  It’s been about a half hour, enough for us to get kind of bored dancing, so maybe it’s enough for Brandon, too. We head back into the gym and search through the crowd of packed bodies, hopping and bobbing and grinding to the heavy beats until we finally find them.

  Marissa is dancing halfheartedly alone, eyeing up a blond girl now dancing with Brandon.

  Yup, it’s definitely time. I nod to Jen. She gets this look on her face like she’s a lioness or something. Brandon is her prey. She hands me her phone and then pushes in.

  I like this Jen. Powerful, confident, determined. I hope, after tonight, she’ll be more like this. Happier, stronger.

  Alex and I casually drift over to Marissa.

  “Game on,” she says.

  I lean in and whisper to Alex, “You should probably get going.”

  Alex nods and winks dramatically before pushing into the crowd toward the door. Jen has about ten minutes to get where she needs to get to. By the expression on Brandon’s face, she might not need that long.

  Marissa and I bob awkwardly and watch Jen work. She grabs Brandon’s upper arm and pulls him down just enough to whisper in his ear. His eyebrows raise, confusion written on his face. Jen said she had this part under control, but I kind of wish I knew what she was saying. Last thing I want is for her to have to relive her own nightmare. But she was pretty damn adamant about being the one to take him down. I think she deserves the right. Even Marissa was okay with that.

  The goal is to keep Marissa clean no matter what, just in case it doesn’t work. I’ll take the fall if I have to.

  Jen manages to pull Brandon away from the dance floor and to a dark corner, then gets him talking about something. She’s stalling, I know. We need to give Alex enough time to get to his house.

  Marissa and I exchange a look and follow them, just far enough that we won’t be noticed. Except someone notices.

  “Hey!”

  I spin around and nearly run into Jackson.

  “Oh, hi!” I say.

  “I just wanted to say…” He shifts on his feet, his eyes cast to the ground. Then he lifts his head and our eyes meet. My stomach flips. “You look really nice.”

  My lips twitch, fighting a smile. “Thanks. You, too.”

  It takes everything I have not to take his hand and go with him to the dance floor, where he could hold me, make me feel safe, wanted.

  I glance over my shoulder to Marissa, who’s watching me with impatience written all over her face. Right. Jen needs my help. I can’t leave her to the wolves.

  “I’m sorry. I’d love to talk and stuff but…I’ve got to…” How the hell do I explain this?

  He takes a step back. “Yeah, no problem. See you around.”

  I take a step past him and then turn back, giving him a shy smile. Damn it.

  I watch him walk away, back into the crowd. Once he’s gone, I take in a deep breath and head back to finish what I started.

  I check the phone, but no word from Alex yet.

  Brandon already seems to be sweating this, running his hands through his hair and looking anywhere but at Jen. I take a step in front of Marissa, because I don’t want him to see her watching. Then again, he’d probably think she’s just jealous.

  Jen looks at us over his shoulder and winks. We both stifle a laugh.

  The phone in my hand vibrates with a message from Alex.

  Talking to his mom now.

  All of this is riding on Alex’s ability to convince Brandon’s mom of the sex tape on his computer and letting her in to delete it. We have a plan B, but I’d much rather not get into that one.

  I make sure Brandon can’t see me, and then I hold up the phone and wave it at her. She nods and pulls him out of the gym, and they walk down the hall to the nearest door outside. Marissa and I sneak down the hall after them.

  “Keep out of sight,” I whisper-yell at her. “Don’t let him see you!”

  “Shut up. I know what I’m doing!” she whisper-yells back.

  Is this what they mean by frenemies? I ignore her defensiveness. That’s just our dynamic. She knows the risks. She’ll be careful.

  We reach the end of the hall and stand next to the cracked door and listen to Jen and Brandon.

  “Wow. It’s so cold out here,” she says.

  “You kidding? It’s blazing inside, this feels good.”

  “Give me your jacket then,” she says playfully. I sneak a peek through the crack and watch him place his jacket over her shoulders.

  “So what are you doing after the dance?” he asks her.

  She casually reaches into the pockets of the jacket but comes away empty-handed. Strike one.

  “Going home,” she says, her voice flat. She’s rocking back on her heels now, and I wonder if she’s getting nervous.

  “Can I come?” he asks.

  Marissa pretends to stick her finger down her throat. I wonder if this is getting to her. Deep down, does she still care about Brandon? Does it sting every time he cheats on her?

  It has to hurt. Maybe she’d still be with him if she had a choice. But there’s no worse feeling in the world than feeling like someone’s taken that choice away from you.

  Tonight, we have to make this work and give her choice back to her. Back to Jen. Back to anyone Brandon would ever take that choice away from.

  It’s too quiet on the other side of the door. My heart pounds. I want to see what’s going on, but I’m scared. I can’t tell if he’s still looking the other way.

  But I have to take the risk, so I step over and peek through the cracked door. Brandon is leaning over her, pushing her toward the wall.

  Not good. I know it’s part of the plan, but it’s all I can do not to run over and shove him off her.

  “I know you’re lying about the pregnancy thing. You just wanted to get close to me again, didn’t you?” he says into her hair.

  Damn. Telling him she’s pregnant? That was pretty genius. But now what?

  “No,” she stammers, stumbling back, all confidence gone. “I’m telling the truth… I…you…”

  He shrugs and leans into her, and when his back turns to me, I see it. His phone, tucked in the back pocket of his jeans.

  Bingo.

  I take a ste
p forward. Enough of this. Time for a little improvisation. He won’t make her feel weak again, not while I’m around.

  “Hey, Jen, don’t keep him all to yourself,” I say with a light, flirty voice.

  He looks up, interested. “The slut wants a piece?” He steps past Jen.

  Good boy.

  Just a few steps closer, buddy.

  Perfect.

  He’s just inches from me now, and I stare up at his handsome face and smile. “Want to know what we do with guys like you in New York?” I ask him, still flirtatious. He raises his eyebrows, and I place my hands on his shoulders—

  And with one quick motion, I push down as I thrust my knee up to his groin.

  He groans and bends over. “You bitch,” he says.

  While he’s bent over, struggling to contain the pain, I grab the phone from his pocket. I hold on to the phone for dear life and then grab Marissa by the hand and sprint down the hall and into the gym. We should be able to lose him long enough to delete the video before he finds us here.

  Jen barely catches up before we push into the crowd of dancers and wonder what took her so long.

  We push our way through the room and circle around the phone.

  “Hurry,” I say, then pull out Jen’s phone and type a text message.

  We have the phone. How’s it going with you?

  “I can’t believe we did it,” Marissa says triumphantly. “How’s it going on their end? Did Alex do it?”

  Only a few seconds pass before a reply finally comes from Alex, but it feels like forever.

  His mom wants to hear it from Marissa.

  I show the message to Marissa, who groans.

  “I don’t want anyone to know,” she says.

  What do I tell her? I had the same problem, and I chose to say nothing.

  “What do you want to do?” I say.

  She looks back and forth, then at me. “Let’s do it. I won’t be able to live with myself if he gets away with it. What if he does this to someone else?”

  She starts forward, but I stand there, her words a heavy weight over me.

  She turns back to me and says, “Come on.”

  I walk closer to her. The music is thumping so loud it’s hard to talk to each other, let alone on the phone.