“You were great,” she whispers in my ear.
“You too,” I wheeze.
Jeremy runs up, throws his arms around us, and yells, “FIERCE!”
We rock back and forth for a while before he starts to kiss Abby on the cheek a bunch of times. I’m not mad, but I don’t want to be a third wheel, so I let go of Abby and pat Jeremy on the back before retreating into the dressing room to peel my costume off. My gangster suit feels like I’ve been swimming in it for the last couple of hours.
It happened like that for the rest of the run. Diarrhea every night. My family was there for all of the performances. Brock never missed a show, and neither did EJ. And then it was over. I’m glad, because I’m exhausted, but when the curtain closed for the last time on Saturday night, it felt like somebody died. I don’t get to be Sky Masterson anymore and the thought bums me out, terribly. I’ll miss him. I’ll miss the drama nerds. I’ll miss kissing Abby every day and putting on that suit and strutting around. I can’t just bust out a song and dance whenever I want to. I could, I guess, but I don’t really want to be “that guy.”
When things suck, time stands still, but when you have an epiphany and you’re having the time of your life, it goes by in fast-forward.
47. Knockout
It’s Sunday afternoon and the Guys and Dolls closing party is in full swing at Pizza Barn. Lots of kids, lots of hugging, and lots of noise! The drama kids must not even know about the arcade in the back room. They’re probably all too smart to be into video games, so I break off for a second and pop a quarter into the old Punch Out game. I doubt if anybody has even played this thing since I wasted a quarter on Amber Lee back in August. I knock out the first opponent like I play this game every day, and am stretching my wrist and warming up my punch finger for the next digital chump that needs a “Mighty Blow!” when I feel a tractor beam coming from behind me. I could’ve knocked out the next guy, but I let go of the controls and turn around to grapple with a more worthy, prettier adversary.
“KNOCKOUT!” the machine yells as my guy falls to the canvas.
Abby smiles and groans, “That’s got to hurt.”
“You could take ’em, I bet,” I say.
She nods, and we stare at each other for a couple of seconds. We’re cool again and I know it, so I ask, “You waitin’ for the Punch Out game?”
“No.” She laughs.
“So you’re just back here stalkin’ me?” I ask.
“Ohhh? It’s like that? I could go,” she replies, all sly.
“No, I’m just kidding. I don’t want you to go. I’m done playing games,” I say.
She seems a bit uncomfortable, but, like, in a good way. She finally asks me, “So there’s a party after this, at Gray Goose Lake. Are you going?”
“I don’t know. Gray Goose Lake kinda makes me nervous. I got knocked out myself last time I was there,” I say.
She nods and says, “Yeah, I guess you did. But you’re tougher these days, right? I’ve slapped you at least fifty times since then.”
“Yeah, that’s true; I’m pretty much a total badass now,” I reply.
“So it wouldn’t even be a big deal if I pop you, for old time’s sake,” she says as she cocks her hand back.
I grab her forearm and pull her close to me. “It’s lucky you’re pretty . . . so it doesn’t matter that you’re not funny.”
I’m really close to her, and we both stop kidding around. I’m not sure if it’s a green light, but the back room of the Pizza Barn gets really intense for a second as I look into Abby’s eyes. She shuts it down by looking away, and starts another round of jokes. “I understand if you’re scared to go back, though.”
“No, no, I could maybe stop by. Did that security guard die or something?” I ask.
“No, Jeremy’s house is out there. It’s a drama party,” she clarifies.
“Oh, ohhh, so are you gonna ride over there with Jeremy?” I ask, and break away from her.
“Well, I wasn’t planning on it. I saw your bike out front and was wondering if anybody was riding on your pegs tonight,” she replies.
“No, my pegs are free so far. But, wait . . . I’m confused. Aren’t you with Jeremy? It seems like he’s your boyfriend. I see you guys kissing and dancing all the time and giving each other massages. So what’s this?” I ask.
“Oh, Carter, I love Jeremy,” she says, shaking her head. “He’s amazing. He’s my new best friend. He’s got style. He can sing and dance, and he has a car, and . . .”
“Did you know he has a peg leg?”
“He’s also gay.” She laughs.
“Oh . . . What? You mean, he’s gay, like, he’s a dumbass?” I reply. “No, I mean he’s homosexual, like, he’s attracted to boys,” she clarifies. “You’re gay, like, a dumbass.” Man, she’s quick. I grab her by the waist and joke,
“How great would it be if you were funny?”
She gets closer to my face and softly says, “Pretty great.”
That’s a green light if I’ve ever seen one, so I lean in and give her a kiss. I do the leadoff peck like I’m supposed to, but it’s just a formality. We kiss for about twenty minutes when she pulls back and says, “We better get going.”
“Where?” I ask like a dope.
“Gray Goose Lake, remember?”
“You were serious about that?” I ask. “It’s really far.”
“Yeah, but you’re a total badass now, right? So we should get moving.”
I shake my head and say, “All right, I hope you like back sweat.”
She laughs, “We can jump in the lake to cool off when we get there.”
“Oh, I don’t have my trunks,” I reply.
She turns as she’s walking out of the back room, grabs my hand, and says, “Maybe you don’t need them. . . .”
I almost fall down as we walk into the main room. Jeremy runs up, hugs Abby, and says, “You two were back there for a long time!”
Abby laughs and tells him that we’ll see him later on tonight at the lake.
“Do you guys need a ride?” he asks.
“NO, NO! I got it,” I reply as we head for the door.
I’ll regret not taking the ride after about five miles, but if I’ve learned anything this year, it’s that nothing good comes easy, focus is everything, and hard work sucks when you’re doing it, but the payoff is usually incredible. I’m pretty focused on getting to that lake, not needing my trunks, and possibly seeing Abby naked!
I unlock the Redline 500a and throw my leg over the seat. Abby climbs on the pegs, and we roll out like the coolest thing on two wheels. Her arms are wrapped around me tight as we pedal through the streets of Merrian and talk about the upcoming summer and how great it’ll be not to be freshmen anymore. How sweet it’ll be to go off that rope swing, and how great it is that Jeremy is Abby’s new best friend. I just ride and listen to her talk about how Nicky and Amber will always be her girls, but that she kind of deserves better (than those bitches!). And how tough this year was for her, but that she wouldn’t change anything about it because this bike ride might not have been possible without all the heartache.
I tell her that I’m sorry for any role I might have played in that heartache, but I too am so glad to be on this bike with her, and I probably wouldn’t change any of my screwups either.
We may have cruised out to the lake in about an hour, just in time for the sunset, stripped down to buck naked, and swung out on that rope swing twenty feet in the air before splashing down into the clear, refreshing water. We may have made sweet, passionate love on the bank of Gray Goose Lake, on the party dock, in an open boat, in the woods, in the lake, and maybe on the rope swing itself! It may have been incredible, everything I ever imagined it would be. Or we may have ridden the wheels off that damn Redline piece of crap for three hours before realizing we were going the wrong way, sweated out all of our fluids, and gotten severe leg cramps. We may have had to call my dad in complete disgrace to pick us up and take Abby home, without ever maki
ng love anywhere or going to any lake or party. Either scenario could have happened. Anything is possible.
Carter Finally Gets It Page 24
