In Plain Sight

by Amy Sparling

  Landon finishes talking with the sales guy, who happens to be someone he knows in some business way or another, and then he walks over to me. He taps the top of the car, while I sit inside with the driver’s side door open.

  “I can’t thank you enough,” I say.

  “As long as you’re happy, I’m happy,” he says. “I just talked to Rose and she said they’re having fun in the pool. You wanna stop and get some lunch before we head back?”

  “Sure,” I say, and I really mean it. None of Mom’s other boyfriends have ever asked me to lunch, just the two of this. This guy is pretty awesome.

  We go to a Mexican restaurant and the food is absolutely to die for. I’m starting to wonder if I’ve just eaten the wrong things all my life. Peanut butter sandwiches and cheap instant noodles are no way to enjoy meals, that’s for sure.

  “Do you need a parking pass at the high school?” Landon says over the smoking tray of his fajitas.

  “I don’t know. I think so, yeah.”

  “When I went to school there, they’d tow you away if you didn’t have a pass, so we’ll make sure we get one.”

  “Good to know,” I say. Now I’m realizing I might not even know the fastest route from my new neighborhood to the school. I should probably figure it out before school starts back.

  “Next Spring Break we’ll go on vacation or something,” Landon says. “This one is too boring staying at home all week.”

  I snort. “Trust me, it hasn’t been boring.”

  He laughs. Conversation comes easy with him, and that’s good. He’s genuinely a nice guy and not some creep, and my secret worries that maybe he’s a serial killer are slowly going away.

  “Your friends at school won’t even recognize you with the new hair and car, I bet.”

  I roll my eyes. “I don’t really have friends, so I’m not too worried about it.”

  Colby flashes into my mind, no matter how hard I’ve been trying to ignore him. “Hey, Landon, I actually have a question for you, if you wouldn’t mind.”

  “Go for it,” he says, reaching for some tortilla chips.

  “So I ran into some people from my school the other day when I was shopping,” I say, turning the Colby story into a made up version of the truth. “They thought I was a new girl and offered to show me around school. And, well, I just kind of froze up and didn’t tell them I’ve been going there for four months. I just let them think I was new.”

  “That’d be a fun social experiment,” he says, chewing thoughtfully. “Go back as the new girl and see how many friends you get with pink hair versus your normal hair.”

  “I don’t think it’s the hair,” I say, glancing down at my manicured nails. “I think it’s the whole she-bang. I live in Shady heights now, so I’m not seen as some parasite from the trailer park.”

  He grimaces at this, but then looks at me with sincerity in his eyes. “Are you asking me what you should do?”

  “Kind of, I guess. If I see those same people at school again, they’re gonna think I’m new and I don’t know if I should just tell them the truth or not.”

  “Eh, it’s only high school. I say live boldly. You can be a new girl if you want to be. After all, Rose is all about starting over fresh and leaving behind your old life. If that will make you happier in the end, I say go for it.”

  I grin. “I like the way you think.”

  Landon studies his food for a moment. “I grew up in a situation a little like yours. My dad was an alcoholic who beat the hell out of my mom.”

  I flinch at his candid confession, but I don’t say anything and let him continue. “She died when I was seventeen. Cancer, but I know my dad’s shitty treatment of her didn’t really help. I moved out, got a scholarship to college, and never went back again. I did the same thing you’re doing now, in a way. I started over. I became a new person with a new life and I didn’t mourn the old one at all. Sometimes we just need that, you know? We deserve to be happy.”

  I nod, grateful that he’s shared this part of his past with me. If I can take this opportunity and start over, then maybe I can be happy. Maybe I do deserve the happiness.

  Maybe even I can deserve someone like Colby. Butterflies erupt in my stomach at the thought.

  I wonder if it’s too late to give him my number?

  Chapter 14

  My phone rings early on Thursday morning. Way too early for a friend to be calling, and I almost sleep through it, but then I decide to check the caller ID.

  It’s Marty’s Fine Furniture, and I sit up in bed, clearing my throat.

  “Hello?” I say, putting the phone on speaker.

  “Hi, is this Colby Jensen?”

  “Yes, sir,” I say.

  “This is Julian from the hiring department at Marty’s Fine Furniture, and I have your application here,” the voice on the other line says. My heart skips a beat. “Unfortunately, we can’t hire anymore for the next quarter, but we will be hiring again in June. Would you like me to save your application and give you a call back then?”

  My heart falls, and I rub my hand slowly over my face, letting the disappointment sink in. “Yes, I’d still like to be considered this summer,” I say, trying to be hopeful since three months isn’t too far away.

  We talk a little more and then he promises to call me back in a few months. When the call ends, I set my phone back on the nightstand and prepare to go back to sleep. It’s only eight-thirty in the morning, after all, and I am not all about that.

  My dad appears in the doorway of my room, his lips pressed into a thin line.

  “What’s up?” I say, suppressing a yawn.

  “Marty’s Fine Furniture?” he says, stepping inside my room. My blood turns cold. “What the hell have we told you about getting a job?”

  It is too early and I am too tired to get in an argument right now. “I just wanted to help you guys out,” I say.

  “You are the kid and I am the parent,” he spits. “You should trust that I can take care of this family. I just closed a great deal on a new client, by the way,” he says, reaching into his pocket and taking out his wallet. “You just need to have a little patience,” he hisses. He pulls out two hundred dollar bills from his wallet and tosses them on my nightstand. “Go have fun with your friends.”

  He lets my door close a little harder than necessary when he leaves, and I flop back on my bed with a groan. Parents are weird as shit.

  #

  The next time I wake up, it’s to the sound of multiple text messages blowing up my phone. At least now it’s a little before noon, which is a perfectly acceptable time to wake up on Spring Break.

  I take a piss and then check the messages.

  Josh: Only 4 more days of sb. What we doin?

  Josh: Getaway? Beach? I got gas $

  Josh: dude, wake tf up

  The beach does sound fun, but it’s an hour drive away, which uses up a lot of gas. Josh’s parents own the Flying Mermaid, a surf shop on the water. It’s the perfect place to hang out when we do go to the beach, but I’m not really feeling it tonight. Spring Break on the beach sucks because a million other people are there, especially now that it’s the last weekend before school starts back up.

  I’m about to text him back, when I get a new group message.

  Mindy: party at my house, 7pm. You bitches are invited.

  Mindy has been one of my close friends since we were in the same play group as three-year-olds. She lives in Shady Heights, the nice neighborhood right next to mine, and she’s also one of the M’s. Of course, she’s the nicest one, even if she’s a bit . . . materialistic. Plus, I like her because we’ve never been into each other in a sexual way. She’s my bud, and she’s cool to hang out with.

  Of course, if she’s there, the other M’s will be too, and that means I’ll have to deal with Maria.

  Josh sends me another text.

  Josh: Or mindys party? What do ya say?

  I consider my options, and then decide that I’m sick of making decision
s. I’m also sick of going places specifically because I hope to meet a girl. This time, I’ll let fate decide for me. Or, well, Josh.

  Me: Your call.

  Josh: Mindy’s party will be the shit. Lets go there

  Me: k. be here at 7. We’ll walk over

  Chapter 15

  Pam wakes me up on Saturday morning by lightly tapping on my door. I’m still not used to having a maid make my bed every day and clean up after me, even though I try really hard to keep things clean so she doesn’t have to work as much.

  “Is everything okay?” I ask, sitting up in bed.

  “Ms. Rose asked me to get you,” she says. “There’s visitors here and she wants you to meet them.”

  I quirk an eyebrow. “Visitors?”

  Pam nods and slips into my room, picking up the dirty clothes I’d tossed on the floor last night. I cringe inwardly, wishing I had remembered to put them in the hamper.

  I get dressed quickly, in a pair of jean shorts and a T-shirt, then pull my hair back in a ponytail.

  I hear friendly chatting down in the living room, and when I get down there, one of the most popular girls in the school is standing in the foyer, a beautiful older woman standing next to her.

  “Here’s my daughter,” Mom says, ushering me over. I recognize the girl from school, though I don’t know her name. She’s one of the M’s, though, the one with dark blue tips at the bottom of her dark hair. My cheeks flush red the second she looks at me, and I just know she’s going to recognize me, call me out for being the fraud that I am.

  “Oh my God, I love your hair!” she says instead.

  “Um, thanks,” I say, glancing from her to her mother. “I like yours, too.” Landon is holding a massive gift basket filled with wines and cheeses.

  “These are the Carmichaels,” he says, shifting the gift basket to his other arm. “They came over to welcome you to the neighborhood. They live two houses down.”

  “I’m Mindy,” the girl my age says. “Are you a senior?”

  “Yes,” I say dumbly, followed by, “I’m Maddie.”

  This makes her mom giggle, and Mindy’s eyes go wide. “Oh my God, another M! How awesome is that?”

  “Another M?” I ask, pretending like I don’t already know that Mindy and her friends are called the M’s.

  Landon asks Mindy’s mom something about the homeowner’s association, and Mindy walks closer to me, lowering her voice so it’s like we’re the only two people here. It’s weird how badly I want her to like me.

  “The M’s are my best friends. There’s me, Maria, and Matilda. We’ve all known each other for, like, ever.”

  “That’s really cool,” I say, feeling like more of a moron with every stupid thing that comes out of my mouth. She loops her arm into mine and flashes me a brilliant popular girl smile.

  “And now you can be our fourth M. I’m having a party at my house tonight, so you should totally come over and meet everyone.”

  I nod, a feeling of excitement falling over me. This is the first time I’ve been invited to anything in my high school years. Little kid birthday parties don’t really count in this type of situation.

  “Sounds fun,” I say, trying for casual, but probably totally failing.

  “Great. It’s a pool party, so wear your skimpiest bikini,” she says, giving me a wink. “We’ll have food, too, so don’t eat beforehand.”

  “Awesome.”

  “I’m just two houses down,” she says, staring at her cuticles. They’re just as nicely manicured as mine are, and I realize that to a stranger, we’d look like we belong together in the same social clique. Maybe now we do.

  “Which direction are you?” I ask, nodding toward the front door.

  “That way,” she says, pointing to our left. “It starts at seven but you can come early if you want. That way you can scope out which guy you’d like to flirt with before some other girl gets him.”

  Again, she winks, and then she releases my arm and I’m suddenly back in the real world, free of her captivating spell.

  So that’s what it’s like to be in with the popular crowd.

  I think I like it.

  #

  “I am so proud of you,” Mom coos as soon as the Carmichaels have left. “You made a new friend! I knew this move would be good for us.”

  I roll my eyes. “Do you have a bathing suit? I need one for her party.”

  “No, but . . .” Mom’s eyes flash with that grin that I’ve come to know so well this week. “Looks like we should go shopping.”

  I never thought I’d be sick of shopping, but I totally am. I’ve done enough of it this weekend to last a lifetime, but Mom’s right. I need a bathing suit, especially if I’m going to be properly introduced to the M’s today.

  So we head to the mall and Mom shoves me into a fitting room with an armful of bikinis. They’re all cute, but I feel naked when I step out and model them in front of the three sided mirror. Of course, that’s probably because I am practically naked.

  These things are skimpy, and probably exactly what Mindy had in mind. I don’t think the M’s have a problem wearing these in public, so I shouldn’t either.

  I settle on a hot pink suit with lace trim. It matches my hair, and the bottoms tie at the sides and it’s really cute. Mom also encourages me to pick out some new flip flops, which I get, along with a beach towel and a mesh mini dress swimsuit cover up.

  By dinner time, I’m nervous as hell. I only nibble on the bacon cheeseburger our chef cooks up on the grill, even though it’s greatest burger I’ve ever had.

  I am keenly aware that Mindy’s party will be filled with popular students. No doubt, all of the RCHS “in” crowd will be there. And that means Colby might also show up.

  This fact alone has me questioning my bikini choice as I stand in front of my bathroom mirror, looking at my body. It’s not a terrible body, but it’s also nothing special. I don’t have much of a tan, and knees are all scarred up from when I learned how to ride the neighbor’s bike when I was a kid.

  But my nails are cute, and my hair is awesome, and Mindy seems to like me, so maybe her approval will make other people like me as well. Maybe I can really pull this off.

  Maybe I’ll get the guts to flirt with Colby. And maybe it’ll all work out.

  Chapter 16

  There was a time when we lived in the best neighborhood in Louetta. My parents made sure to talk about it from the second they bought our house on that very first day when I was five years old. We were “moving on up” as the saying goes.

  Then a few years later, they cleared the land to the east of our neighborhood and built Shady Heights, much to my parent’s chagrin. They’ve been wanting to move to the bigger, more expensive neighborhood ever since.

  Josh rambles on about how he’s being talking to this girl from his dating app, but she lives thirty miles away so they haven’t met yet. We’re walking over to Mindy’s house, which takes about ten minutes by foot, and that’s exactly how long my idiot best friend talks about this girl.

  I don’t really listen to much of it. I uninstalled the app from my phone the same day I downloaded it. It’s not worth my time to deal with girls on a stupid app. When I find something real, I want it to be real, not digital.

  Bryce texts me saying he’ll be late because he’s stuck doing yard work for his parents. I’m a little relieved, because the guy can be a bit—loud—annoying—take your pick, at parties. At least we’ll get a little time to chill before he arrives and embarrasses the hell out of me.

  Mindy’s housekeeper lets us inside her house, where the party is happening in the back yard. They have a massive pool house with one wall that’s solid glass doors that slide open, making the entire pool house open to the outside. It’s a pretty sweet set up, and I’ve been swimming here since I was little so I know it all as if it were my own house.

  The party is already pretty packed by the time we arrive. Most of the football team is here, and they surround me the moment we step on the
back patio. I’m given a beer, which I drink quickly, hoping to get more in the party mood.

  When I’m on my second beer, I start eyeing the hot tub. That thing would make my knee feel so much better, since it’s been aching lately.

  I nudge Josh, who’s deep in a text conversation with internet girl. “Let’s go to the hot tub. No one’s in there yet.”

  “Dude, I’m not getting in a hot tub with you unless girls are in it, too.”

  “Fine,” I say, as our quarterback walks by, tapping his beer bottle to mine in a hello. “I’ll go alone.”

  I make my way through the crowd of people, the hot tub sounding better and better with each step closer.

  Someone calls out my name in a high-pitched, drunken girl voice, and I look over. The first thing I see is a shock of hot pink hair.

  The second thing I see are the M’s.

  Maria narrows her gaze on me, a lion ready to devour her prey. Mindy is the girl who called my name, and she’s waving me over now, but all I can focus on is the girl next to her.

  The pink hair is new, but the smirky adorable face is not. That’s Maddie, standing right here with the M’s, as if she belongs.

  Now that I think about it, I guess she does. Even her name fits in with them.

  “How’s it going?” I tell Mindy, raising my beer bottle in a quick hello.

  “I’m introducing everyone to my new friend,” Mindy says, putting an arm around Maddie and shoving her forward a step. “Colby this is Maddie. She’s new, so I want you to be nice to her.”

  Maddie gives me a little wave. “Hey,” she says, and it could be my imagination, but I’m pretty sure her cheeks are turning the same color as her hair.

  “I like the hair,” I say, grinning at her like the fool that I am. I turn to Mindy. “We’ve already met, actually. Just a couple days ago.”