Aimee ignored me altogether, looked directly at Jack, and said, “So, what exactly are your intentions with my friend? Isn’t she a bit young for you? Or wait, did you fuck everyone at your college, and you felt like slumming it?”
“God…Aimee! What the hell is wrong with you?” I was shocked by her behavior.
Aimee’s intense gaze on Jack’s face never faltered, but luckily for me, he said, “I guess I deserve that.” He turned to me and explained, “Aimee’s upset about some things that happened last summer. I wasn’t very nice to one of her friends.”
He turned back to Aimee. “However, I’ve grown up a lot since then, and I’ve apologized to Margo. I was young and stupid, and I made some big mistakes. I have really changed, and I hope you won’t hold my childish behavior against me now. We have all made our share of mistakes. Haven’t you made a few errors in judgment that you wish you could take back?”
She looked at me with sad eyes and said quietly, “Yeah, I’ve made my share.” I couldn’t believe it. Aimee never backed down to anyone. Then her mood changed, and she suddenly piped up and said, “So, are we doing this or what?” She picked up a piece of pizza and took a huge bite, shrugging her shoulder. The sudden shift confused me, and I looked over at Jack. He smiled at me and grabbed my hand. I nearly swooned.
The next thing I knew, Aimee slammed her hand onto the table, causing us both to jump.
“Here’s the plan,” she said with an evil grin.
It was then I saw the paper under her hand. The top of it read, “Volunteers Needed.”
I quickly scanned the page. It was a flyer asking for high school students in need of community service hours. The Dallas Outreach program was putting together a group to go and spend a week in Houston to help rebuild houses destroyed by the recent hurricane. It was a worthy cause, and they needed a lot of help.
I was confused. “Okay, not exactly what I planned to do over spring break. I mean, it’s a worthy cause, but I thought we were trying to get me to Padre?”
This time both Jack and Aimee laughed. “Come on, Maddy. Think about it. What better way to get your parents to let you spend a week away from home?”
It finally clicked. “Oh! Wow. What a great plan,” I said as I got excited again. “But wait! It says here that all hours need to be signed off by a volunteer supervisor. How are we going to get around that?”
Aimee shook her head. “Do I have to think of everything?”
Apparently so. I had no clue what she was talking about, and by the look on Jack’s face, neither did he.
She took another bite of pizza, looking nonchalant. After chewing for an eternity, she wiped her mouth. “Maddy, meet your volunteer supervisor,” she said, motioning to Jack.
“Wait…What?” Jack and I replied at the same time.
Aimee just shook her head again. “Neither of you have any imagination. It’s simple. Jack signs up at his university as a volunteer supervisor. He signs your forms and viola! You’re at the beach with the perfect cover.”
She was good. I had to admit, it did sound easy. I looked at Jack, who was staring at her in disbelief. “And you said I was the evil one. Remind me never to get on your bad side again. You’re diabolical.”
“Thank you. Thank you very much. Coming from you, that’s quite the compliment,” she said in a mockingly sweet voice and then added, “I hope you never get on my bad side again either.” She eyed him warningly.
I coughed and steered the conversation away from their bickering again. “Do you think it will work, Jack? How hard would it be to become a supervisor anyway? Do we even have time?”
Aimee answered for him. “Once again, it’s Aimee to the rescue,” she said as she reached back into her bag for another piece of paper. “This is for you.” She shoved the paper at Jack. “Fill it out today and get it signed by the people at Dallas Outreach. That’s it. It’s simple.”
I was so confused. Was this really happening? “But won’t they want to know where I am at night when I don’t show up after work?Won’t someone know I’m not really there?”
“Girl, you aren’t actually going to sign up for the job. You’re just going to get the paper signed. They won’t even know you exist. It’s perfect. Your parents think you’re doing charitable work, and you get your community service hours for school because Jack here will sign that you were there the whole time,” Aimee said with a smug expression on her face.
“What do you think, Maddy?” Jack asked me.
“I guess this means I’m going to Padre!” I exclaimed with a grin.
Aimee reached over and squeezed my hand. “Well, all right!”
The next few weeks were a whirlwind of activity. It was surprisingly easy to convince my dad to let me go to the Dallas Outreach Program. He’d heard good things about them and was proud that I wanted to help those in need. Yes, I did feel like an ass for lying, but I promised myself that when I returned from my fabulous week in Padre, I would make it up to the program somehow. Mom and I still weren’t talking. I was acting like a child, and I did feel guilty, but my mind was on other things. I knew she was hurt by what I’d said, but I just didn’t want to get into it right now. I’d deal with it after the excitement was over.
One of the most amazing parts of those two weeks was that Jack and I had been able to go on several outings after school. Seeing that I had to make up stories about where I was going, I wasn’t able to stay out very late, but we did make it to the park once, went out for coffee another time, and one Friday night, we went to grab a bite to eat.
I told my parents I was spending the night with Aimee, and it was lucky that her mom wasn’t home most of the time. Apparently, she was dating some high-powered attorney. Aimee wasn’t thrilled, but he was keeping her mom happy.
She had chilled out some about my dating Jack. She may not have been over the moon about the idea, but true to her word, she was supporting me in my decision. I was thrilled when she said she’d help me get dressed for our first official date.
“What you wear on a first date really sets the mood for your whole relationship,”she explained.
“How is that?” I asked more confused than ever as I looked at the clothes I had packed.
“Well, if you start out your date wearing drab, boring clothes, he’ll think that he doesn’t have to work hard to get you. Now, if you knock his socks off with some kind of killer outfit, he’ll know you’re a woman to be reckoned with. He will never mistake you for a pushover.” Then she put her hands on her hips as if to say this was common knowledge amongst all women.
“Good grief. You sound like an article in Cosmo. ‘How To Get a Man in Ten Outfits or Less,’ ”I teased.
“Laugh all you want, but I’m telling you now, show him an ounce of boring, and you’ll never get out of the rut.”
Maybe she had something there. It’s not as if I’d ever been on a date before. “So, what would you suggest?” I asked as we both eyed my choices.
Before I knew it, she had me in a tight-fitting button-down blouse and a pair of skinny jeans. For a finishing touch, she gave me a pair of sexy-looking pumps that made the outfit look fun. As we appraised my appearance in the mirror, she reached around and gave me a hug. “You look really good. Any man would be a lucky son of a bitch to go on a date with you.” As I was about to reply, she added, “Too bad you’re going out with a worthless son of a bitch.”
“Here I was about to get all warm and happy with your sweetness, and you have to bring that up again. Let’s just agree to disagree for tonight, shall we?”
Luckily, for me, our conversation was cut short when my phone rang, and I raced to answer it.
“Hello?” I answered, trying to catch my breath.
“Hey there, beautiful. Are you ready to go?” I was putty in his hands already, and he wasn’t even here.
“Hi, Jack. I’ll be rig
ht there.” Aimee flipped the phone her middle finger. “Oh, and Aimee says hi,” I said, trying not to laugh.
After I hung up, Aimee reminded me to call if I had any problems, saw me to the door, and watched as I got into Jack’s car.
“She’s a bit protective of you, isn’t she?”Jack observed as I pulled on my seatbelt.
“Yeah, don’t mind her. She’s just excited about our first date.”
He didn’t start the car right away, and I turned to him, wondering if there was a problem. “What’s wrong?”I asked getting a little nervous.
“You look very nice tonight. I’m really glad we were able to go out this evening.”
Then he started the car as I mumbled, “Thank you.”
The evening was wonderful.I had told him I loved Chinese food, so he surprised me by taking me to a quaint Chinese restaurant on Lower Greenville Avenue. All evening he was a perfect gentleman. He opened doors for me, pulled out my chair, and made polite suggestions about what was good to eat.
Never once did I feel uneasy or self-conscious around him. In fact, the only part of the night that I felt nervous about was when we arrived back at Aimee’s house. I wanted him to kiss me again, but I didn’t know how to go about initiating it.
It turned out I didn’t need to worry. As he was dropping me off, he leaned in close and asked, “Is it all right if I kiss you again? I am sorry to say this, but I have been thinking about our goodnight kiss all night.”
“Me too,” I whispered as I moved closer toward him.
He chuckled softly and then moved in. His lips were soft as he kissed me, and I parted mine. Then he ran his hand up my arm and wrapped it around the back of my neck, sending shivers down my spine. I was in heaven.
When he pulled back and reached up to cup my face, I was disappointed. “Thank you again for a lovely evening. I can say without a doubt this was one of the best dates I’ve ever had.”
“Me too,”I said again sounding like a broken record.
He reached across me and opened my door, and the cool night air brought me back to reality.
“Thanks, Jack. It really was a great date.”
He kissed my cheek and said, “I’m looking forward to many more.”
I smiled at him and he gave me one of his little smirks before winking at me as I closed the door. My heart was still pounding as I climbed the stairs to the front door. Is this what love was? If so, I wanted more of it.
The door flew open as I turned to wave at Jack as he drove off, and Aimee dragged me inside. I gave her all the details of our night,and she actually looked shocked that he’d been so sweet. I hoped that as time went on, she would see how different he was in reality from the rumors she’d heard about him. I was sure that once we’d spend time together in Padre, our relationship would take a new turn, and the thought made me incredibly happy.
On the nights that we weren’t together, Jack and I talked on the phone a lot. He’d done his part to secure his supervisor application and was excited because he would receive credit for his hours. He even offered to call my parents to introduce himself as my “supervisor,” but I didn’t think that would go over too well. Besides, how could I bring him home as my boyfriend when we returned? It would be difficult to explain.
Packing my bag was interesting. I didn’t want my parents to see all of the swimsuits and cute going-out clothes I was taking, so I placed most of those on the bottom of the suitcase and put my more drab-looking “work clothes” on top.
Anyone opening my suitcase would think it belonged to two people. In all reality, I suppose it did as the new adventurous Maddy was emerging.
Aimee was ecstatic I was going with her. We agreed we’d use her car, but I would help pay for gas. Thank God, Dad gave me some spending money. As for me, I was feeling more and more guilty about deceiving my parents. I was starting to lose sleep at night from the worry of getting caught. Many nights I woke up in a cold sweat and wondered if this was all worth it. The lies had spun way out of control, and I didn’t see any easy way out.
Finally, the day had come for Aimee to pick me up for my first real adventure away from my parents. I was praying I’d stop feeling so guilty about the lies once we were on our way. A part of me believed that once I was having fun in Padre that I would forget about all the lies I had told to get me here. This was all so new to me. Everyone expected me to be this perfect daughter, but just once, I wanted to cut loose and have some fun. As I waited for her in the living room, my dad came in.
“Honey, I wish you’d go say something to your mom. She’s going to miss you.”
“Dad, she obviously doesn’t want to talk to me that much if she sent you in here to do her dirty work,” I retorted. I couldn’t face her right now; I knew I was in the wrong and promised myself I would fix it when I returned. Right now, I couldn’t bring myself to do it.
“Now, young lady, you’re just as guilty of being difficult as she is, and I came in here on my own. I just don’t think you should leave before making up over a petty argument.”
He was right, and I really thought for a second that just going and giving her a hug wouldn’t be so bad, but just then Aimee honked for me.
I quickly grabbed my bag, gave Dad a quick kiss, and said, “I’ll be back in a week. I promise to talk with her then. Tell her I love her.”
As I jumped into Aimee’s car, I did what I promised myself, and attempted to leave the guilt behind. Aimee must have seen the torn look on my face because she put her hand on my thigh and said, “Don’t ruin your vacation. You’ll have plenty of time to worry when you get back.” I realized she was right. I had made it out of the house, and I needed to make the most of it.
She handed me a pair of sunglasses.
“What’s this?” I asked with a smile. “I have my own sunglasses.”
“Not like these, you don’t. They’re my special ‘Thelma and Louise’ shades, and girl, we are going to show those two bitches a thing or two about having some fun,” she said, then added, “Let’s do this!” With a screech from her tires and a giggle from me, we were off into the great unknown.
We had promised to meet Jack and his friends at the condo later in the afternoon. The drive down was long, but we made the most of it, singing to music and dancing in our seats.
Finally, we got to the Queen Isabella Causeway Bridge that would take us over to the island. This had always been my favorite part of coming to South Padre as a kid. I loved looking out over the side of the bridge at all the boats and fishermen. The seagulls would flock to certain beaches and seemed to be sunbathing as they sat in row after row. As the water came into view, I rolled down my window. We were assailed with the scents of salt, fish, and fresh sunshine, and it brought a smile to my face. I could almost taste it. It was the perfect moment, and I felt so free and alive.
Aimee grumbled something about her hair being messed up from all the wind and humidity, but I was too excited to care about her complaints.
“Just give me a second. I’m feeling the moment here.” I laughed into the sun.
“Whatever, bitch. If I get seagull poop in my car, you’re gonna clean it.”
The trip was long, and we were both tired. I began to think that maybe I should drive on the way home if she was going to be this grumpy. She kept complaining about feeling dirty because of the road scourge. I just tossed it off, not really knowing what she was talking about.
I closed my eyes and listened to the thump the seams of the bridge made under our tires, but soon my window slowly went up.
“Hey, I was enjoying that,” I whined. When I turned to give Aimee my best dirty look, she surprised me with a very serious expression on her face.
“So, when we get there, you do know what to expect, right?” she asked, eyeing me with a smirk.
Truth be told, I had no clue. I’d seen an episode of
MTV’s Spring Break Blowout, but that was the extent of my knowledge. I didn’t want to seem like a total dork, so I said, “I guess.”
“Yeah, well, be prepared. Drinking does crazy things to people who’ve been lying out in the sun all day.” She gave me a devilish look. “If that’s even all they’re doing.”
I tried to hide my shock, but it must not have worked because Aimee laughed and said, “Oh, God. You should see your face. All the color just drained away.”
“Whatever. You just said that because you’re trying to freak me out.”I shrugged.
She got serious again. “No. Not really. I want you to understand what you’re walking into, and to be aware of your surroundings. Don’t take open drinks from strangers, don’t stray from the crowd, and never let anyone know where you’re staying.”
Now I was openly staring, “What are you talking about? You sound like a public service announcement about the dangers of spring break. How many times have you come down here?”
Aimee shook her head. “It’s just good advice. You’re new, and everything is going to be exciting and fresh for you. Just don’t do anything stupid.”
“Like I would. You do remember who you’re talking to, right?” I joked, trying to lighten the mood.
Aimee grinned too. “I’m serious, though. I feel like you’re my responsibility. I helped you get here without your parents knowing, and if anything happens to you, I would never get over it.”
I put my hand on her shoulder and said, “Aims, you didn’t force me to come. In fact, I was really the one doing the forcing. Don’t worry. I’ll do everything in my power to avoid becoming a teen statistic.”
This time we both burst out laughing. “God, now who sounds like the public service announcement?”
I was glad the tension was over. I didn’t need her feeling guilty about bringing me here. Speaking of guilt, I was already going back on my promise not to worry as my thoughts went to my parents, and I checked my phone to see if I had any messages, but there weren’t any. At least Mom and Dad hadn’t started to worry yet. I would call them as soon as we got to the condo.
Mistakes Page 6
