by Liz Botts
Instead of listening to the low murmur of Jake’s voice, broken by his deep chuckle, I tried to think about Rory. He was yummy, and so tolerant of my high school faux pas. Still, every time I heard that laugh that I knew so well, my stomach turned over.
My poisonous thoughts were interrupted by the curve that I had failed to pay enough attention to anticipate. I slammed hard against the window, wincing as pain radiated through my shoulder. My sisters had always joked that this curve was the one place they could slug each other without our parents noticing.
I was still rubbing my shoulder when we pulled up the familiar driveway. That was yet another moment where I wished that Jake was sitting next to me. We had come to the farm last summer like every year before, but it had been bittersweet because we knew that it was the last time we’d get to come there.
“Oh, wow, this place is beautiful.” I heard Mary Beth squeal as the bus lurched to a stop in front of my grandparents’ house. I had a strange sensation of wanting to revoke the whole deal, and tell the driver to take us back to school. I didn’t want to share this place with someone like her.
When Mr. Carson stood to announce the plans for this excursion, I jumped up in my seat, and sprinted down the aisle past him. Jake made an undistinguishable noise as I went by, and the bus driver barely had time to open the door before I smashed through it. My grandma had appeared on the wide front porch, and I couldn’t explain why but I needed her right then. I needed a hug, comfort, something to make sense of this weird tangle of emotions in the pit of my stomach.
“Allie, what’s wrong, chickadee?” Grandma folded her arms around me. I knew she thought I was being strange because I never was the first to initiate affection. I wasn’t a huggy type of person.
I took a deep breath, inhaling vanilla and cinnamon. She must have been baking. That was just like her, to make cookies or cake for my class after we toured the reception facilities. I simply shook my head, unable to answer. Of course, I would have to get used to sharing this space with more people I knew. I still couldn’t believe we had chosen this as prom location extraordinaire, and that everyone in my class would be out there.
“Nothing, Gram. Everything’s great.” I winced at the false brightness in my voice, but fake it til I make it became my mantra again. “I’m just really happy to see you. Christmas was so long ago.”
When the words slipped out of my mouth, I was shocked at the reality that three months had gone by without a visit to the farm. Had we all really been that busy? I tried to remember all of the important things I had done this past semester, but I came up with nothing truly significant. Shame coursed through me.
Instead of looking upset, though, Gram just laughed. “Come on, chickadee, take me to meet your class.”
She tucked her arm through mine, and led me back toward the bus where everyone was congregating on the gravel drive. When she saw Jake, she let go of me to hug him. I felt his gaze shift to me before I even looked up, like heat on my skin. It was his disapproving gaze, the one he had spent the summer before seventh grade perfecting. That was the year his mom had hired him to baby sit his younger brother and sister after school. I giggled to myself. When I did look up at him, Jake didn’t look critical, though, he had a bemused expression on his face.
Before I had a chance to wonder about the look, he let go of Gram, and said, “Gram? This is my, uh, good friend, Mary Beth. She’s in charge of this little shindig.”
Mary Beth laughed as she scooted next to Jake, and stuck her arm through his, hugging it to her in a disgustingly possessive way. “I’m just the committee chair,” she said. “It’s so nice to meet you Mrs. Jones.” She paused, shifting her gaze up to Jake’s face. “And, Jakey, you can introduce me as your girlfriend. I don’t mind.”
My heart stuttered to a stop. I gasped for breath. There was no way that I had heard her correctly. Gram laughed in her gentle way, and patted Jake’s arm like she was congratulating him. Bile rose in my throat at the thought. As the rest of my class followed Gram toward the reception barn, I had to turn away from it all. My world seemed to be tilting off axis, dangerously close to spinning out of control.
It wasn’t like I cared if Jake was dating Mary Beth, but he hadn’t even mentioned that little fact. Granted we were barely speaking at the moment, but a new girlfriend seemed like information that would supersede any silly fight. I took a deep breath. That’s why I was feeling so off, I told myself. If I could just get used to the fact that Mary Beth would be at least a semi-permanent part of Jake’s life for a while, then everything would go back to feeling normal.
When I caught up with the rest of my class, they were just entering the barn, which must have just recently been used for a reception because it was still decked out. When my grandfather retired from farming he and Gram had decided to transform their sixty acres into a wedding destination. The idea had been golden. They had the property for it, sitting in gently rolling hills about half an hour away from the city. Their old horse barn had been converted into a state of the art reception hall, complete with catering kitchen. Even I found the space impressive after seeing it hundreds of times.
“So what exactly was the theme of this wedding?” Mary Beth asked, wrinkling her nose slightly as she looked around the space. The tone of her voice made me want to punch her in the face.
“Batman.”
“Excuse me?”
Gram nodded. “Batman. The groom actually had a Batman tuxedo.”
Mary Beth turned to the rest of us. “We are not basing our prom on a comic book, so don’t suggest it.”
Despite the distance between us, Jake slanted his gaze at me, and gave me a smirk. Then he said, “Why not, Mare? I think that could be really fun. I bet you’d get a lot of creativity points. Have you ever heard of a comic book themed prom?”
Even though they were dating, he was still messing with her, and he knew that I’d enjoy it. Maybe there was still hope for our friendship yet.
Mary Beth just rolled her eyes at him, swatted his shoulder, and moved to further inspect the space. The rest of us stood back as she strolled between tables, and I realized that I was holding my breath. It was actually important to me that this girl liked this place. A girl who made my skin crawl. Everyone seemed to inch forward as Mary Beth peeked into the kitchen. Only Gram didn’t seem on edge. I knew that was because she had to deal with crazy brides every day.
“It’s…nice,” she said finally. “I sort of expected hay and animal smells.”
Gram laughed. “Nope. This place is state-of-the-art. Though if you wanted an authentic barn dance, my neighbors still keep horses and chickens. We could probably borrow some.”
“That won’t be necessary.” Mary Beth forced a laugh, and pulled her lips back from her teeth in an approximation of a smile. I thought the grimace looked pretty good on her, actually. “Now, can we see the whole lights and music display? That’ll be the most important part of our dance, after all.”
As Gram headed over to the DJ booth to oblige Mary Beth’s request, I again had the urge to stick my fist in her smug face. I could just tell from the way she folded her arms across her chest and looked around that she fully expected Gram to fail.
A smooth love song spilled from the speakers. I thought maybe it came from the ‘nineties, but I couldn’t really be sure. Soft blue and yellow light illuminated the dance floor, making everything look ridiculously romantic. I dredged up a scowl just so none of my classmates would see some sappy expression and make the mistake that I actually liked the class or that I was getting excited about prom. That was so not the case.
I was always impressed with the caliber of wedding experiences that Gram and Pops put on here. When they put their minds to something they really went all in. That was a good philosophy to live life by, I realized, as I watched tiny pink hearts dart across the floor from one of the special lighting units. What was the point of doing something halfway? All in or nothing. I needed to add that to my fake it till you make if outlook.<
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“Dance with me?” I nearly jumped out of my skin as Jake’s voice hovered near my left ear.
“Why?” I scoffed at him, still feeling the bitterness from our last fight lingering in my heart. “You should be asking your girlfriend.”
Jake chuckled softly. “Is that what this is about? We can talk about it later if you want, but right now I’m asking my best friend to dance with me.”
I crumbled. How could I say no? Besides, the flood of memories of dancing with Jake in this space would have knocked me down anyway, so I desperately needed him to hold me upright. We twirled around the floor in our scuffed gym shoes, jeans, and hoodies, but I felt the same light elegance that I did every time we danced in this space. One of the perks about being the proprietor’s granddaughter was that I got to attend an awful lot of receptions. Usually with Jake as my date.
As Jake spun me around like we had learned to do the summer before eighth grade, I stumbled over my shoelace, and Jake had to catch me. When I pressed my hand against his chest to steady myself, I was surprised by how solid he felt. The thought lodged itself uncomfortably in my ribcage, making it hard for me to breathe. Jake had held me like this plenty of times, but I’d never noticed anything physical about him before. Not like that anyway. When I looked up at him, he was regarding me seriously, and it turned my stomach that I couldn’t read the thoughts behind his eyes.
“When did you grow up?” The question left my mouth before I could think about it.
Jake’s features’ lightened as he smiled. “What do you mean?”
I shook my head, and looked away. How stupid was I? He had grown up while I hadn’t been paying attention. His shoulders had broadened, and his jaw seemed squarer. There was no way he looked like a high school boy anymore. His hair had grown longer than he normally wore it too. The slight curls suited him. I couldn’t tell him any of that though. If it sounded weird in my head, it would sound triple-y weird coming out my mouth.
“Al? You okay?” Jake had lowered his head so I could hear him crystal clear, but I pretended I didn’t because something about the tone of his voice or the way his arm was around my waist made me squirm.
Thankfully the song ended, and Jake released me. Gram’s voice came over the speakers. “How was that?”
Mary Beth still stood at the edge of the dance floor, but now her hands were on her hips. I wondered again why I had ever thought that girl was perky. She was a prom dictator, a promtator. As I mashed the words together in my head, I had to giggle, but sobered quickly at the reality that she was. Even Mr. Carson let her get away with charging straight ahead with her own plans, while only giving lip service to the rest of our ideas. The only reason she had taken me up on my suggestion of Gram’s and Pops’s place was that she was out of other options.
I hung back as Mary Beth led the rest of our class through the barn. The Batman wedding theme really hadn’t made it into most of the decorations. In fact, the whole space looked beautiful. Strands of white fairy lights were draped from the rafters of the barn, casting a soft glow over everything below. Now that the dance floor lights had been turned off the ambience was even more romantic.
“Jake has certainly grown up since last summer.”
“Hmmm? Oh, yeah, I was kind of wondering when that happened.” I leaned against Gram, still feeling confused.
Gram settled her arms around me, and I let myself be hugged like I was still a little kid. I needed that safety for whatever reason today. “You’re both growing up. Pretty soon you’ll both be off at college. Make sure you enjoy these last few months without responsibility.” She paused, and poked me gently in the ribs. “You know, have some fun.”
I sighed. “Yeah, fun.”
“Go join your class. I don’t want you getting in trouble just because you know the owner.” Gram laughed her good natured laugh, and gave me a soft push toward the rest of the group.
The reluctance I felt made my feet feel heavy and I had to drag myself to catch up. Mary Beth was saying, “If we cleared out that tacky corner over there we could set up the photographer. And if we used assigned seating we might be able to make a better configuration with the tables on the west wall. Oh, and we can have the prom court sit at the head table.”
“Shouldn’t we all be able to sit with our friends?” I fought an eye roll as I asked the question. I knew my tone wasn’t the sweetest either, but someone had to voice the dissension of the group.
Mary Beth gave me a frosty smile. “We’ll consider all options. Thank you so much, Allison, for this recommendation. I think this barn will be perfect for prom, don’t you all agree?”
There was a large amount of agreeable murmuring from the group, but I had to wonder what people really thought, considering the fear Mary Beth evoked. Even Mr. Carson was nodding sycophantically. He looked like a bobble head with a bowtie.
“Perfect,” I said, not rising to her bait, but only just barely. By the end of the semester I would definitely be introducing that girl to my fist. “I’ll go tell Gram.”
“Perfect,” Mary Beth echoed. “We’re going to have a barn dance instead of a prom.”
Chapter Nine
The fun just kept coming with Mary Beth. When we got back to school she announced that we were all expected to attend Farmingham Academy’s prom the next night. In her words, it was mandatory.
I was still fuming when I got to work that afternoon. Even sitting down at my own desk didn’t take away the irritation, at least not entirely. There was a note from Marika sitting on the pristine space. I realized that it was an assignment. I felt the bubble of annoyance that had been building all day ready to pop. Grabbing the note, I stormed over to the internship coordinator.
“I thought I got to determine my own stories,” I said in a snarky tone as I clutched her note in my sweaty hand.
Marika barely glanced up from her laptop. “You get to pitch your own stories, and if I approve them, that’s fine, but you haven’t given me any reason to do that yet. So this is your first on camera story. Honestly, Allison, I don’t know why you’re complaining. This is a great little piece. Now run along and get ready.”
I knew when I had been dismissed, and I turned away from the cubicle, deflated. She was right, or course. I didn’t really have a leg to stand on. I was lucky to have gotten the on camera spot, and I didn’t want to blow it before I got a chance to start.
“Hey, Beautiful, ready for your big debut?” Rory popped up beside me. When my response lacked gusto, he said, “Hey, what’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “I don’t know. Stuff at school. Nothing. Listen I can’t go out with you tomorrow night.”
Now it was Rory’s turn to frown. “What do you mean? I’ve got the whole night planned. It’s going to be awesome.”
“Yeah, well, awesome or not, I have to go to prom tomorrow night.”
“What? You’re ditching me, and a great date, for prom?” Rory’s frown deepened, his forehead crinkling as he leaned back against my desk.
He looked so cute that I had to smile. “It’s for one of my classes. I have to go because if I don’t I might not pass the class, and I need to pass this stupid class to graduate. Look, I’m really sorry. You know I wanted to go, and—“
“I’ll go with you.”
“What?” I stared at Rory in disbelief.
He nodded. “I’m serious. I’ll go with you. Who knows, it could be fun, right?”
“Um, maybe? You don’t have to do this, Rory. Seriously.”
“I want to. Listen. Good luck today. You’ll be great, but you need to hurry. Your cameraman is waiting for you.” Rory patted my hand, which was all the PDA we felt comfortable risking at work. I sure didn’t need a human resource complaint form going into my file.
No one had advised me on what I needed to take with me. Rory assured me that the two man crew going with me would have the equipment, and all I needed to do was have some killer questions. Considering that I’d had no time to prepare, my nerves were at an all-t
ime high. On the elevator ride down to the ground floor, I rifled through the file that Marika had left on my desk. There wasn’t much information in it minus the pertinent details.
When we got out of the building, I looked at Steve, the cameraman. “So, um, how do we get there? I mean, do we get to take the news van or something?”
Steve laughed, but not in a mean way. “We could. It’s pretty nice out, though, so why don’t we walk? I checked the address, and it’s only a few blocks away. That way if you decide that you want to interview anyone along the way, it’ll be easier to set up.”
Appreciation washed over me. Rory had been right. My crew wasn’t going to let me down. I could do this. I repeated my mantra to myself as we started toward our destination. Steve had been right; the day was nice for early April. A warm breeze blew in from the southwest, bringing with it the slightly fishy smell from the river. Since it was still early afternoon, the sidewalks downtown weren’t crowded, and because my piece wasn’t essential news, we had no rush.
When we got to the bakery where we were shooting the spot, I took a minute to review the hastily scrawled notes I had made. I could barely read my own handwriting. Still there was enough there that I wasn’t going in blind. Mr. Fisher always insisted that a journalist had to be prepared. Going into any story without some information made the reporter look bad, besides it was disrespectful.
“Ready to do this, kiddo?” Steve asked as he held the door open for me.
I nodded, my heart suddenly hammering in my throat. The inside of the bakery was warm with delicious sweet, yeasty smells filling the air. My stomach grumbled, and I decided to buy treats for me and the crew after the segment was over. There were several small white wrought iron tables and chairs scattered throughout the space, along with a bright blue sofa in one corner.
Behind the counter there was a grandmotherly looking woman, her white hair pulled back in a bun and secured with a hairnet. She wore a bright pink apron with a winking owl on the front. I liked her immediately. As I approached the counter, she caught sight of me, and a smile lit her face. She adjusted her glasses as she waited for me to approach.
