Fantasy Summer

by Susan Beth Pfeffer

  Finally the girls posed for some pictures together. At first it was tough to do, since it was hard to relax and act natural when they were being scrutinized so carefully by so many different people. But after a few minutes it almost felt normal, and the photographer started shooting more and more, and the editors were all smiling and nodding, and even Mrs. Brundege came in to congratulate them all.

  When it was finally over, Robin was bone-tired, headachy, grouchy, itchy, and much to her surprise, still sick to her stomach. One makeover a lifetime, she decided, was more than enough.

  13

  “Come on, Robin,” Annie said. “You know it will be fun. Say yes.”

  Robin didn’t know anything of the sort. In fact, the more she thought about it, the greater her doubts grew. “I don’t know,” she said. “Tim and I have so little time together.”

  “You have plenty of time together,” Annie replied. “You must see him three or four times a week. And you always go out.”

  “Not always,” Robin said defensively. The truth of the matter was, she and Tim guarded their time alone. There wasn’t all that much time left to the summer, and they didn’t care to share what little they had.

  “It’s just one night,” Annie said. “And Tim and Harvey hit it off real well.”

  “But this sounds so weird,” Robin said. “You want Tim and me and Ned and Torey to go out with you and Harvey and Ashley? That is what you’re saying, isn’t it?”

  “Basically,” Annie replied. “If Torey isn’t even harder to convince than you are.”

  “Do you and Harvey and Ashley go out often?” Robin asked. “I didn’t realize you liked Ashley that much.”

  “She was so nice about Harvey and me,” Annie said. “I guess I feel I owe her one.”

  “But I thought she was dating Harvey also,” Robin said. “Don’t you think it’s time you filled me in on your dirty little secret?”

  “You’re right,” Annie said. “Everyone else knows, so you might as well. Harvey isn’t going out with Ashley anymore. He hasn’t since the night of the party. She’s been going out with one of the guys in his band. A real sleazeball. Harvey hates him.”

  “What’s his name?” Robin asked. “David Disaster?”

  “He calls himself Morrison,” Annie told her. “For Jim Morrison. Even Harvey doesn’t know what his real name is. His hair is almost as long as mine, and he has tattoos on both arms, and he definitely is not premed. I don’t know what Ashley sees in him, and neither does Harvey, who feels terribly responsible for it. He keeps making the four of us go out together so he can keep an eye out for trouble.”

  “That sounds like lots of fun,” Robin said. “You enjoying your summer, Annie?”

  “It’s kind of interesting, actually,” Annie said. “And Harvey really is sweet about it.”

  “Does Ashley have a date with this Morrison person on Saturday night?” Robin asked. “Are we all invited to protect her?”

  “Morrison and Ashley don’t make dates,” Annie said. “He either shows or he doesn’t. But this Saturday night we’re all invited to see Infanticide perform at their club. That’s really why I’ve asked you and Tim. I’m kind of nervous about going there with just Ashley. And I really want to see Harvey perform.”

  “I thought they didn’t go on until late at night,” Robin said.

  “They don’t,” Annie replied. “But if all of us are going, there’s a chance I can convince Jean to let us stay out an hour or two late just once. We’ll all act as each other’s chaperones.”

  “I still don’t know,” Robin told her. “It just doesn’t seem like that great a way to spend an evening.”

  “Come on,” Annie said. “Do I ever ask favors of you? And do I need to remind you that if it weren’t for my grandmother, you wouldn’t have met Tim in the first place?”

  “That’s not fair,” Robin grumbled. “But all right. If you can convince Torey to go, and if Jean will let us, I’ll get Tim. I’ve done almost everything else in New York. I might as well go to a punk-rock club.”

  “Oh, thank you!” Annie said, and gave her cousin a hug. “You’ll have a great time, I promise.”

  Robin still had her doubts. But since she was sure Jean would never agree, it seemed a safe offer to make.

  Jean, it turned out, was relatively easy to convince. Now that the girls had posed for the makeover article, she didn’t care if they lost an hour or two of beauty sleep. And since Ned Brundege was going to be part of the party, the evening obviously had Mrs. Brundege’s sanction.

  Robin then set about convincing Torey, and she turned out to be fairly easy also. “I’m worried about Ashley,” she said. “I want to see this Morrison person close up.”

  “You mean you’ll actually let Ned spend money on you?” Robin asked.

  Torey blushed. “He keeps trying to, whether I want him to or not,” she replied. “At least this time it’s for a good cause.”

  That left only Tim to convince. Robin waited until after they’d had dinner and were walking back to the hotel to bring it up.

  “Do you know what those clubs are like?” Tim asked her.

  Robin shook her head.

  “They’re noisy and smoky, and everybody drinks,” he informed her. “Ned’s the only one of us old enough to order drinks, so we’ll be stuck sipping club soda all night long, and we won’t be able to hear ourselves think, even before the bands start playing, and I hate cigarette smoke. It makes me sick to my stomach.”

  “It sounds like you don’t like the idea,” Robin said.

  “You’re right,” Tim replied.

  “We don’t have to stay forever,” Robin said. “But the only way Jean will let anybody go is if we all do. We can leave early.”

  “I don’t understand why you’re making such a big fuss about this,” Tim said. “Do you want to go?”

  “Not especially,” Robin replied. “But it’s important to Annie, and I want to do it for her.”

  “You always want to do things with them,” Tim said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m not just dating you, I’m dating all of you.”

  “That’s not fair,” Robin said.

  “That’s how it feels, though,” he said. “You never just talk about yourself. You certainly never just talk about me. It’s always Annie this or Torey that or Ashley something else. You’ve made us go out on double dates twice now with Ned and Torey because you’re worried that’s the only way Torey will agree to go out with him. Do you know how many more Saturdays we have left, Robin?”

  “No,” Robin admitted.

  “Three,” he said. “Four if you can convince your parents to let you stay in New York the weekend after your internship is over. And then it’s back to Ohio for you and Long Island for me.”

  “I don’t want to think about that,” Robin said.

  “You may not want to, but it’s the truth,” Tim declared. “And I don’t want to spend one of my last three Saturday nights with you someplace where I won’t even be able to breathe.”

  “We’ll do something else on Sunday,” Robin suggested. “We’ll jog in Central Park. We’ll go swimming or horseback riding. Something wholesome and good for our lungs.”

  “I can’t,” Tim said. “My grandparents are coming into town on Sunday. I have to spend the day with them.”

  “I was counting on doing something with you Sunday,” Robin said. “How long have you known about your grandparents?”

  “For a couple of days now,” he told her. “I’d really much rather spend the day with you, but my father won’t let me. He says he’s hardly seen me at all this summer, and my grandparents are coming in just for the day and I’d better plan to spend it with them if I know what’s good for me.”

  “This is great,” Robin said. They had reached the hotel, but she didn’t feel like continuing their discussion in the lobby. “I have plans Saturday night and you have plans for Sunday. At least my plans included you.”

  “You mean you’d go to the club even withou
t me?” Tim asked.

  “Of course I will,” Robin said. “If I don’t, Annie can’t. I have to go, just as much as you have to spend the day with your family.”

  “It’s not the same thing at all,” Tim said angrily.

  “It sure is,” Robin said. “Annie is my family. I’m spending the evening with my cousin. You’re still welcome to come along if you want.”

  “You know perfectly well I don’t want,” Tim said. “I want to spend Saturday night alone with you.”

  “And I want to spend Sunday alone with you,” Robin said. “I guess we don’t always get what we want.”

  “I asked my father if I could bring you Sunday,” Tim said. “He said no. He said my grandparents wanted to see me, not my girlfriend.”

  “My family is nicer,” Robin said. “Annie told me to invite you.”

  “Annie’s a real sweetheart, all right,” Tim said.

  “Don’t you talk about my cousin that way!” Robin said.

  “I’ll talk about your stupid cousin any way I feel like,” Tim shouted.

  “And don’t you call her stupid!” Robin shouted back.

  “I’m going home,” Tim said. “If you come to your senses, give me a call.”

  “I won’t call you until you apologize,” Robin informed him.

  “I won’t apologize,” Tim said. “So I guess I’d better expect never to hear from you again.”

  “I guess so,” Robin said. “I mean, I guess not.” She was too angry to be sure what she meant.

  “Well, it’s been fun,” Tim said. “See you on the cover.” He turned his back on Robin and started walking away.

  Robin stuck her tongue out at him, and then realized she was in the middle of New York City, where sophisticated people did not stand on street corners sticking their tongues out. The thought that she looked like a fool only made her madder. She’d go out Saturday night and have a great time without him. If he was unwilling to share his time with her friends, then he wasn’t worth her time at all. Or something like that.

  Robin wasn’t sure about anything anymore except her anger and her confusion. Maybe some punk rock would clear her head.

  She spent the next couple of days waiting for Tim to apologize, but he never did. The longer she went without hearing from him, the angrier she got. He had some nerve. He knew she didn’t want to go to the dumb club, especially not without him. They only had three Saturday nights left. Why was he choosing to be so difficult about one of them?

  She considered calling him, but her pride wouldn’t let her. Besides, Annie was so grateful that she had agreed to go to the club that Robin knew she couldn’t put herself in a position where she might get talked out of it. And as the time to go got closer and closer, her desire to go got weaker and weaker. By Saturday night it felt like she was preparing for an evening with the dentist.

  “What do you wear to one of these places?” Robin asked Ashley as they dressed for the evening.

  “Whatever you want,” Ashley replied. “I’m going to wear this dress.”

  “It’s so short,” Robin said, watching Ashley slip it on. Even for Ashley, it showed a lot of leg.

  “You can wear jeans if you want,” Ashley said. “How about jeans and that blouse you bought way back?”

  “Would that be okay?” Robin asked. “I won’t be underdressed?”

  “Nobody is going to care,” Ashley said. “Nobody will even be able to see you. The lights at the club are real dim.”

  “How do you know?” Robin asked. “When have you been there?”

  “Morrison’s taken me a couple of times,” Ashley said. “Of course, I’ve had to leave real early because of the curfew, but I still got some feel for the place. It’s really fun, Robin. There are a lot of great-looking guys there. You won’t miss Tim at all.”

  Robin knew that wasn’t true. She missed him already. But Annie was depending on her, and she wasn’t about to let her down.

  Harvey had arranged to meet the girls at the club, so Ned got the job of picking the girls up at the hotel and taking them downtown. The four of them waited for him in the lobby, and sure enough, he showed up right on time.

  Robin examined him carefully. He and Torey looked perfect together, tall, regal, and graceful. Although they held hands, Ned made a point of acting as all their escorts. He told Robin how sorry he was that Tim couldn’t join them, and mentioned to Annie how much he was looking forward to hearing Harvey play. He even chatted pleasantly about Morrison with Ashley. His mother had obviously taught him well.

  It was a fairly long cab ride downtown, and Robin wasn’t thrilled with the neighborhood when she finally saw it. Still, there were plenty of people on the street, and a lot of them seemed to be going into the club.

  Ned paid for the cab and escorted the girls inside. The place was so dark Robin could hardly see a thing. And Tim was right. It was thick with cigarette smoke. But Harvey met them almost immediately, and that made Robin feel better. Of course he was in full regalia for his performance that evening, but Annie didn’t seem to mind. She and Harvey kissed hello, which only made Robin miss Tim even more.

  “Is it always this crowded here?” Torey asked as Harvey showed them to their table.

  “On weekends,” he replied. “Infanticide is getting bigger and bigger. There’s even a chance we might get a recording contract.”

  “Oh, Harvey, that would be great,” Annie said.

  “It wouldn’t be a big company,” Harvey said. “But sometimes these things lead to bigger clubs, better bookings. It might make paying for med school a little easier.”

  “I can’t wait to hear you perform,” Annie said. “I’ve been looking forward to this so much all week.”

  “And I’ve been looking forward to it too,” Harvey said, giving Annie another kiss.

  Robin found all this difficult to take. Her straight-arrow cousin, the one she always had to be better than, was kissing a guy with no eyebrows in the middle of a punk-rock club, surrounded by strangers in New York City. She only wished she’d brought her camera.

  “I see you made it.”

  “Morrison,” Ashley said.

  Robin squinted. Her eyes had begun to tear from all the smoke, but she was determined to see what this character looked like.

  Annie had gotten the hair and the tattoos right, but she’d left out the very real scar running down the left side of his face, and the meanness in his eyes, and the missing front tooth. Harvey Horrible looked fragile in comparison.

  “This is Morrison,” Ashley announced. “Morrison, this is everybody else.”

  “I see,” he said. He ran his fingers up and down Ashley’s arm. “Wanna split?” he asked her. “I don’t have to be back here for another couple of hours. Right, Harv?”

  “An hour,” Harvey said. “At most an hour. Why don’t you just stay here with us, Morrison? You don’t want to be late.”

  “I’m willing to take the chance,” Morrison declared. “Come on, Ashley. You can join your buddies later.”

  “All right,” Ashley said, and got up. Morrison half-pushed her away from the table, but Robin didn’t notice Ashley resisting.

  “So that’s Morrison,” Torey said. “Is he as bad as he looks, Harvey?”

  “Probably.” Harvey grimaced. “He doesn’t hang around much with the group. He’s a good guitarist, though, and we can’t afford to get rid of him.”

  “He gives me the willies,” Annie said, and snuggled up to Harvey.

  “I’m sure Ashley can take care of herself,” Ned declared, putting his arm around Torey.

  Robin stared at the two couples and felt very incomplete. She didn’t miss Tim all that much when she was working, although she certainly did think of him on occasion. But watching Torey and Annie couple off made her feel alone and unhappy.

  It wasn’t that late yet. And she’d done what she had to do, made it possible for Annie to get a chance to hear Harvey play. There was nothing keeping her from leaving the club, going back to the hot
el, and seeing if Tim was home to be apologized to.

  “I have an awful headache,” she half-lied to Torey and Annie. “Harvey, would you be offended if I didn’t stay to hear you play?”

  “No,” he said. “Morrison gives me a headache too sometimes. But how will you get home?”

  “I’ll take a cab,” Robin said. “I’ll be okay once I get there.”

  “I’ll go out with you while you hail one,” Harvey said. “It shouldn’t take too long.”

  “Are you sure you’re all right?” Annie asked her. “Do you want me to go back with you?”

  “Absolutely not,” Robin said. “Enjoy your late night out. Have a good time. I’ll expect all the details in the morning.”

  She and Harvey made their way out of the club together. Hailing a cab turned out to be quite easy, since a lot of people came to the club by taxi. Robin tapped her foot impatiently the entire trip home. She had to talk to Tim. She had to make it up with him. She had to see him on their third-from-last Saturday together.

  She ran up to her hotel room, after first checking in, and called Tim immediately. There was no answer.

  Robin stared at the walls of her hotel room. It was Saturday night and she was in New York City, and somehow she had managed to arrange to spend it all alone with nothing to do and nobody to do it with. She could have spent it with Tim, having a good time. She could have spent it with her friends, having an interesting time. But somehow she’d managed to arrange it so she was all alone, having a miserable time.

  She spent the evening calling Tim every half-hour on the half-hour, waiting for him to answer. He never did. Between calls she tried to watch TV, attempted to read a book, started a letter to her best friend at home. She showered and washed her hair to get the smell of the club off her body. She polished her fingernails. She did some exercises. She hand-washed some lingerie. She went to the deli and bought a box of chocolate-chip cookies, all of which she ate. And she called Tim and let the phone ring eight times at first, then ten, and finally twelve.