“Okay.”
Since I didn't have the slightest clue where the park was, I let Roy lead. He seemed to know his way around pretty well. The walk there didn't take too long, and I could hear music before it actually came into sight. When I did get my first glimpse of the area, I was surprised by the size of the crowd. It was a huge turnout considering I hadn't even heard about this shindig until Roy told me. The majority of the people I saw were college age, but many from the neighboring communities had shown up as well.
We waded into the masses, edging our way towards the stage area. The band hadn't taken the stage yet. The music I'd heard was just being pumped through the system. After Roy, who was busy scanning the crowd as if he were looking for someone, almost ran over the third vertically-challenged person, I caught his arm and dragged him to a stop.
“Are you expecting someone?” I asked him.
“Huh? Um, no.”
I raised an eyebrow. Roy was a lousy liar. “Do you have something up your sleeve?”
He looked at me blankly, and I decided I was giving him way too much credit. He turned towards the stage and laughed suddenly.
“Look, Jake. You're famous!”
I followed his pointing finger to see a banner stretched across the back of the stage. Written on in two foot tall red letters was my name. “That must be the name of the band,” I mused.
Roy pushed his way toward the stage with renewed vigor, leaving me to endure the disgruntled frowns of the people he bumped out his way as I scrambled along in his wake.
We found a spot to his liking just as the band members took the stage. The band was made up of three dark-haired guys and a petite blonde woman. The woman took the lead microphone while the guys settled in with their instruments.
“Hey everybody!” the girl yelled. She received a tepid response from the crowd. “Come on! You can do better than that! Make us feel welcome!” The crowd responded a little more enthusiastically. “We're Jake and we're gonna have fun tonight, right?” The crowd cheered. “Right?” The cheering grew a little louder. “Come on! Let me hear you! Right?” A roar rose up from the crowd, and she finally seemed appeased. “Strawberry Letter 23!” she screamed and the crowd roared again as they broke into a funky beat and she began to sing.
“Hey, they're pretty good!” I said with a little surprise. I don't know what I had been expecting but it wasn't this. When that song ended they launched into a much more mellow song.
“That song was a big hit for us a couple years ago,” she said as it ended. “It's called `Cowboy'. Let's rock out a little now.”
They did a couple faster numbers, then eased into a slow, funky song that caught my attention. The words made me think of Kody so strongly I felt tears well up in my eyes.
Imaging red the nights
Too fast to burn too bright to fly
We were spirit tone
Flash black on night
Just a little bit behind the light
Cover yourself up in wishing well
Too cold to drink too blind to tell
We could not speak but we think that we just
Might as well admit that the time
Holds us still
And I need to know the way
To have you hear
Despite the rage
In spite of my fear
And I need to know the way
To say it out loud
There's a 1000 years between us now
Thoughts and thoughts on all these ties
Too soon to know too much to compromise
We were spirit tone flash black on night
Just a little bit behind the light
And I need to know the way to take you there
Despite the rage in spite of my fear
I need to know the way
To say it out loud
There's a 1000 years between us now
I was lost in the music when I felt a hand on my arm. I turned to find myself looking into Kody's beautiful dove-grey eyes.
Chapter 10
Breaking Masks
Josh Aterovis and Dave Dabeagle
© 2004
"Kody"
Friday afternoon had the promise of freedom in the air, and every ass wiggled in its seat as we waited for the last class to end. Okay, maybe I was the only one wiggling, but just looking outside would make anyone want to be out of school. Economics had to be the most boring thing on the face of the earth. Picking out socks excites me more. Why do I need this for a journalism degree anyway?
Finally, the warden, err, teacher dismissed us. Naturally we were saddled with more reading from that ponderous tome they jokingly call a textbook. I headed out of the building at a pretty quick clip. Nick broke from a crowd of people and flagged me down.
“Kody! What are you doing tonight?” he asked as he closed the distance.
I shrugged. “Avoiding my Economics book, mostly,“ I replied.
“There's a free concert in the park, and some of us are going. Let's hang out tonight.”
I looked over at his group of friends, many in lacrosse jerseys, and thought about how my last chat with someone from the Lacrosse team had gone.
“You know, I think I'll pass,” I told him.
“Kody, you have to go.”
“Why?”
“See that guy with the black hair and the killer grin? No, the one on the left?” he asked as he tried to not be conspicuous.
“What about him?”
“His name is Steve, and he is totally hot!” Nick made a moony expression in Steve's general direction.
“What does that have to do with me?” I asked.
“I need you to chaperone, you know, in case he turns out to be a dick.” He looked at me as if I should have known this.
“What am I supposed to do?” I asked uncomfortably. After all, I'd never done this before.
“If I give you the signal, you go into a fake epileptic seizure or something.” He burst out laughing at my expression. “Kidding! You just remind me we have someplace to be, and it gives me an out.”
“Um,” I said while Nick gave me his best puppy dog eyes.
“Please, Kody? I'll go tell Jake you like him if you don't help me.” He looked at me with a serious face.
“That is so not fair! In fact, it's blackmail.”
“You are making me be bad, Kody,” he said, and then laughed at me.
“Would you really tell him that?”
“Only if you asked me to.”
“I'd feel better about things in general if I had some kind of sign about Jake. I just can't shake him from my thoughts.”
“Research.” Nick grinned.
“Huh?”
“Do some research and see what you can find out about your guy. Might give you a clue about whether or not you want to chance getting over your shy little self.”
“You're funny. Not.” I replied.
“Serious, man, go find out which building he lives in and then talk to his RA. They might know something.”
Roy joined us moments later, flashing a welcoming grin. It seemed he too would rather be outside than in class, clad in shorts and a tee shirt that showed he indeed was as solid as he appeared, and not a trace of learning to be seen. No books, no pens or note books. Just the planet Roy, settling into orbit.
“Hi Kody.”
“Hi, Roy, do you know Nick?” I asked.
“Yeah, you were with the drunken loud mouth guy at the party last week, right?” Nick asked.
“Yeah, but he's usually not that bad; only when he drinks.”
“Okay, no more for your buddy then. Kody, I'll see you about eight, and thanks.” Nick flashed me a grin and took off. He was perfectly nice, good looking and sane. Why wasn't I attracted to him like I was Jake?
“Going out tonight?” Roy asked me.
“Yeah, I guess I am.” Roy gave me a look and I felt guilty. “I'm sorry, Roy. We're just going to the park. Nick says there is a free concert there. Do you wa
nt to go?” I asked. Roy's face lit up and I felt very good about myself. His face went from being enlightened to what might pass for thoughtful, or maybe he just had gas.
“Maybe I'll meet you there. Would it be ok if Jake comes too?” he asked.
Oh no, how did I get myself into this? Stupid, stupid, stupid! All I needed was to act like a freaking goofball with Jake in a place with tons of people.
“Uh, well, I guess I'd have to ask Nick if it was okay,” I responded weakly. He looked at me with what might be termed a thoughtful expression. It was kind of interesting to see this huge lug working something out in his mind. I imagined his thought processes required much the same effort moving boulders would.
“Why don't you like Jake?”
“Is that what he thinks?" I
“I dunno.” He shrugged. “I don't know what he thinks. But you get…different when I talk about him.”
“Well,” I said as I shifted from foot to foot, “I was pretty embarrassed about the way I left things with him.” Jesus, I was talking out my feelings with a Neolithic Dr. Ruth.
“I don't understand.” I looked at him and wondered exactly what went on in his head.
“Don't worry about it. I am going to go home and get changed. I'll see you there, okay?” I felt very weird as I left Roy. I wonder how much Jake confided in Roy, the immovable object. I wandered home, idly thinking about Jake and his sidekick. Roy seemed more and more like a faithful dog-maybe not the brightest dog, but loyal none the less.
I wandered into my apartment, pulling off my tee shirt and dropping it in the laundry hamper. I would need to do laundry this weekend. I grabbed a fresh pair of my illicit underwear and took a shower so I'd look presentable for the concert. After combing my hair and getting that little flip in the front back in place, I switched on my radio and lay down on the couch.
The radio was playing back to back songs by the same artist for `the drive at five' as they called it. Cher's “Dark Lady” floated through the air and I sighed. I knew I would have to get dressed soon. I stretched, enjoying the feel of my mostly bare skin on the couch. The song changed, and the second Cher tune came on, “Song for the Broken Hearted”. I sighed deeply again.
“Kody!” My door handle jiggled and the door popped open. “I told you about….Oops!” Nick laughed and covered his eyes, then cracked his fingers to get a look at me. I was horrified as I scuttled to my bedroom to the sounds of his laughter.
“I'm sorry, I'm sorry,” he gasped as he laughed at me and I glared at my closed bedroom door.
“Don't you knock?” I yelled at him. I pulled on some cargo shorts and grabbed a tee shirt, then grabbed my shoes and ankle socks before going back into the living room to find a grinning Nick.
“I really am sorry to have embarrassed you, Kody. I heard the Cher, and I told you no moping over Jake if you don't have the `cojones' to go after him!” Nick emphasized this by pantomiming carrying objects roughly the size of bowling balls near his crotch.
“Whether or not I go after Jake is no one's business but my own. Besides, he could go after me too, you know.”
“Well, don't get your panties in a twist, although I admit those boxer briefs looked damn fine on you.” Nick licked his upper lip and I threw my balled up socks at him.
“You're not going dressed like that are you?” Nick asked as I searched for the armhole in my shirt.
“What's wrong with it?” I asked. He looked at me critically.
“Come with me, my young Padawan. What if Jake is there?” Nick clucked at me and headed for my bedroom.
“Where are you going?”
“Kody, can I be honest here?” Nick asked while looking at me, then continued without waiting for my reply. “You have a nice body, and I think Jake appreciates that. But what if you dressed to take his breath away tonight, huh? Let's just try to blow him away. I mean, let's look in your closet and see what we have to work with, okay?” Nick rifled through my hanging clothes while I stared at him.
“Nick, I don't even know if Jake likes me.”
“Of course he does. Why else would he call me for your number?”
“He called you for my number?”
Nick appeared to be in deep thought then handed me a blue button-up shirt, shot through with black thread. It had a shimmer to it that wasn't silk, but it looked nice.
“Let's see how this looks on you,” he said.
“Nick, he called you for my phone number?”
“Isn't that what I said?”
“He didn't call me though.”
“Will you put on the damn shirt?”
I took the shirt from his outstretched hand and slipped it on. The material was cool as it slid across my skin. I turned to face him once I had it buttoned.
“Okay, take off the shorts.”
I stood looking at him.
“Okay, fine. I'll look for pants while you take `em off, jeez!” He grinned and, taking his eyes away from my waist, began going through my closet again. I took off the shorts, then cleared my throat.
“What?” he said, popping his head out of the closet; I blushed as his eyes dropped to my legs before speaking.
“Pants are in the dresser, second drawer.”
“Huh? Oh, right.” He crossed the room and opened the dresser, rooting around for a proper choice. He straightened up with a pair of khaki colored cargoes. “We need to iron these. You stay here. I'll iron, I don't need any distractions or I'll burn your pants,” he joked.
I felt good that Nick was paying me this attention, but when did Jake get the phone number? More importantly, why hadn't he called? Why did he get the phone number if he wasn't going to use it? My pants flew through the doorway and landed on my head.
“Cover yourself, you pervert!” Nick laughed. I pulled on the pants and walked into the living room where Nick was waiting.
“Damn, Kody!” Nick whistled at me, and I blushed again. “If Steve's a dick, I'm jumping you tonight!”
“Nick, when did Jake ask you for my number?”
“Monday I think….yeah, Monday.” Nick tossed me the socks I had thrown at him, and, as I slipped them on, I thought about Monday. The phone rang several times, a bunch of no answers and then Charlie called….Oh my God! Could I have yelled at Jake on the phone after Charlie had pissed me off? Wait a minute.
“Why did Jake call you for my number?”
“I don't know, He didn't say.”
I sighed. “So do I look okay?”
Nick gave me a critical eye, told me to turn around and I complied, feeling silly. Once I had completed my turn, he looked at me as though thinking deeply. His eyes met mine and he waved his hand in a circular manner.
“Do that again?”
* * *
I walked over to the campus and headed for the first dorm, Iroquois. I approached the beat-up desk in the lobby with a simple mission in mind-follow Nick's advice and get some information on my crush.
“Can I help you?” a girl with lank brown hair and an industrial strength acne problem asked me.
“I'm looking for Jake….Uh...” It dawned on me I didn't know his last name. Oh shit! Now I looked like an idiot! The door behind me opened and a very tall girl with red hair walked to the desk with a sheaf of papers.
“Hi Kate, I have the weekly memos,” she said while handing pages to the now identified Kate.
“Thanks Erin.” Kate returned her gaze to me. “We don't have any Jake's.”
“Right, thanks,” I said, feeling I got off easy.
“Are you looking for Jake Sheridan?” the red-head asked.
“I'm really not sure what his last name is.” I looked at her. How could she know Jake? I hoped she wasn't his girlfriend.
“Blond hair, pretty smile and big beautiful blue eyes?” I blushed with each description she added. That was Jake all right! “So that would then make you Kody, the coffee boy?”
My jaw dropped.
“Yep, must be you.” She smiled at me. “Jake lives in Mohawk, roo
m number five-oh-three. Come on, I'll show you where it is.”
I followed her in a daze. How did she know who I was?
“So you're the strong silent type, huh?” she asked.
“Um, how do you know me?” I blurted out.
“You mean Jake didn't mention me?”
“Well...” I began.
“Don't worry. I'll get even with him. You guys going out tonight?” she asked as we approached a building with metal letters bolted to the side of the wall, naming this building Mohawk.
Breaking Masks Page 14
