Spring Breakdown

by Melody Carlson

  “I wish I could go with you girls,” Grandmother was saying to Taylor downstairs.

  “Why don’t you?” suggested Taylor.

  “Oh, I’m meeting the general at three.” Grandmother feigned disappointment, but DJ could tell she was actually relieved. “I’m afraid I’ll have to do my beach tog shopping next week while you girls are in school.”

  “Less crowded then,” said DJ.

  Grandmother nodded. “Yes. Now, you girls have fun. And Taylor, don’t you let DJ come home empty-handed.”

  Taylor laughed as they headed out the door. “Don’t worry, I won’t.”

  “I’m sure I must be one of the few teenage girls on the planet that has to be encouraged to shop.”

  “Unless you’re buying sportswear, anyway.”

  “Come to think of it, I could use a new—”

  “No way.” Taylor gave DJ a gentle shove toward the car. “Forget about going to any sporting goods stores.”

  “Hey, I’m the driver.” DJ pushed the button to unlock her car.

  “But I’m buying your gas.”

  “You are?”

  “Sure.”

  “And lunch?”

  Taylor laughed. “If that’s what it takes to keep this shopping trip on track, yes.”

  “Okay, I’m starving.”

  “And that’s something new?”

  DJ patted her stomach. “Just one of the many benefits of doing sports, Taylor. You should try it sometime.”

  “I used to do sports…” Taylor leaned back in the seat and yawned lazily. “But then I realized that I didn’t particularly enjoy sweating.”

  “But you do some kind of exercise.” DJ glanced at her sleek roommate and wondered. “Don’t you?”

  “A little yoga here, a little Pilates there…it all seems to work out. At least, I haven’t heard any complaints. Have you?”

  “Yeah, right. People come up to me all the time saying, ‘That Taylor, she’s such a wreck.’”

  Taylor laughed loudly and then the car got quiet. DJ was still thinking about Casey and wondering if any of what she said could possibly be true.

  “Something wrong?” Taylor asked after a few minutes.

  “I was just thinking about Casey…trying to figure her out.”

  “And?”

  “And I can’t.”

  “What about your P.M.S. theory?”

  “I think it’s more than that.”

  “Like what?”

  DJ sighed. “Like jealousy.”

  “Oh…” Taylor nodded in a knowing sort of way. “Is Casey jealous of you?”

  “Not me.”

  “Who then?”

  “Maybe you.”

  “Seriously?” Taylor sounded surprised.

  “I know I probably shouldn’t have told you. You won’t say anything, will you?”

  “Of course not. But why on earth would Casey be jealous of me?”

  DJ gave a short laugh. “I can think of a few reasons. In fact, I’m sure there are a lot of girls who are jealous of you.”

  “Like who?” Taylor’s voice sounded a little bit catty now, like she was enjoying this.

  “Like Eliza for starters.”

  “Oh, well, Eliza is jealous of anyone who takes one tiny beam of limelight away from her glittering stage.”

  “And there are girls at school…you know, like Madison and Tina.”

  “Madison and Tina are jealous of all the Carter House girls.”

  “Well, maybe.”

  “Seriously, why would Casey be jealous of me?”

  “I think she’s worried about Seth.”

  “She should be worried about Seth.”

  DJ felt slightly alarmed. Was Casey right? Maybe Taylor really was up to something in regard to Seth. “Why?”

  “Because Seth is bad news.”

  “Well, yeah, that’s what I think too. But what do you mean specifically?”

  “I mean, you can’t trust him. Oh, he’s great at looking good and acting sweet and innocent, and he’s very smooth, but underneath it all he’s after only one thing.”

  “Meaning?”

  “You know exactly what I mean, DJ.”

  “Sex?”

  “Duh.”

  “But don’t you think Casey knows that?”

  “I don’t know. I mean, Casey tries to act all tough and street smart, but I’m not so sure that it’s not just that—an act, I mean.”

  DJ nodded. “Yeah, I’ve wondered the same thing.”

  “But Seth might not see it that way. He might just assume that Casey is like him. In fact, I’m willing to bet that’s what he thinks.”

  “Really? How can you be so sure?”

  “I can see it in his eyes.”

  “So what makes Seth different than, say, Harry or Garrison?”

  “It’s hard to explain, but there’s a difference. For sure, Harry and Garrison aren’t angels. But they do know how to take no for an answer, if you know what I mean.”

  DJ nodded. “So are you saying that Seth didn’t take no for an answer from you?”

  “He gave it his best shot, but he didn’t know what he was up against. Once I set him straight, it got better. But it still wasn’t easy. And, as you know, I’m not exactly a pushover.”

  “Well…unless alcohol was involved.”

  Taylor didn’t say anything.

  “Sorry.”

  “No, that’s a good point. But even then I sometimes had to draw the line with that boy. I sent him packing more than a couple of times.”

  “Do you think we should warn Casey?”

  “I think someone should. But I’m just not sure she’ll listen to me if she really is jealous.”

  “Which seems to be the case.”

  “She might assume I’m setting up some kind of smokescreen, you know, so I can get old Seth-boy back.” Taylor laughed. “Like I’d want him back. Puh-leeze. I mean, when I was drinking, he could be a kick. Nowadays, I think he’d be just a great big pain in the…”

  “So…do you think I should tell Casey about him?”

  “Do you seriously think she’d listen to you?”

  DJ thought for a moment. “Probably not.”

  “She might listen to Rhiannon,” Taylor said suddenly.

  DJ nodded. “You know, I think she might. In fact, I’ll bet that part of her attitude problem is that she’s missing being Rhiannon’s roommate.”

  “Well, before she starts planning her pity party, she should remember that Rhiannon’s got her own problems with Eliza.”

  “Can you believe they went shopping together today?” The irony of this hit DJ. “I mean, can you imagine Rhiannon dragging Eliza into one of her second-hand shops? Forcing her to look at old shoes that have been worn by someone else?”

  Taylor laughed. “Or our penny-pincher Rhiannon being forced to watch Eliza trying on five hundred dollar bikinis?”

  “Five hundred dollars for a bikini? You gotta be kidding!”

  “Well, that might be a little over the top. But four hundred dollars for a top designer wouldn’t be surprising.”

  “That is so sad.” DJ shook her head to think of what Rhiannon might do with four hundred dollars. And, really, it was sad to think that Eliza would have no problem plunking down that much cash—make that plastic—for a few scraps of fabric and strings. More and more, DJ respected Rhiannon’s interest in frugal fashion. Too bad everyone didn’t see the sensibility of just saying no to ridiculous designer price tags.

  5

  “I already have swimsuits,” DJ said as Taylor held up a skimpy red bikini.

  “You don’t have this one.” Taylor waggled the stringy pieces back and forth as if she were tempting DJ—which she wasn’t.

  “I don’t want that one.”

  Taylor made a face then added the bikini to her own pile. “Fine, I’ll try it on and then you’ll be sorry.”

  “I doubt it.”

  “Please don’t tell me you’re planning on wearing your swim te
am suits in Palm Beach,” teased Taylor.

  “I might.” DJ fingered through the swimsuit rack until she found a navy one-piece that was actually pretty cute. “How about this?” She held it up and Taylor’s brow creased in disapproval.

  “Looks like something your grandmother might wear.”

  DJ held up the suit and frowned. “I think it’s cut a little low for her, uh, sagging cleavage.”

  Taylor laughed. “You could be right. And, who knows, it might look good on you. Why don’t you try it?” She shoved another one-piece toward DJ. “And try this one too.”

  DJ laughed. “Zebra stripes? I don’t think so.”

  “Give it a shot, okay? And this one too.” The next one-piece was slate colored with silver metallic rings holding it together. Before long DJ had quite an assortment of one-piece suits. But once they were in the fitting room, Taylor insisted on seeing DJ in a bikini.

  “What are you afraid of?” Taylor asked as DJ modeled a skimpy bikini.

  “You mean besides losing my top or bottom if I go swimming?”

  Taylor laughed. “It’s not really made for swimming.”

  “But I like to swim. And I like to move around. And, unlike some girls, I don’t like parts of my anatomy hanging out while I’m moving.”

  “You’re such a prude.”

  DJ frowned. “Well, think about it, Taylor. I mean, you’re a Christian. What do you suppose God thinks about us running around practically naked? And, if Lane’s plan for getting his grandparents’ house pans out, there will be guys around.”

  Taylor grew thoughtful. “So, what are you saying?”

  “I’m saying that wearing this”—DJ pointed down to the small triangles of fabric that barely covered her private parts—“is kind of like waving a red flag in front of a bull—or in other words it’s like waving a naked girl in front of a hormonal teenaged guy. It might spell trouble.”

  “Sometimes you remind me of an old woman.” Taylor sighed. “Honestly, don’t you ever want to…you know…with Conner?”

  “Of course.” DJ laughed. “I’m human and so is he.”

  “So what keeps you from…going there?”

  “We have an agreement.” DJ wondered how much she should say and whether Conner would mind.

  “An agreement?”

  “Well, we’ve had some times when things got a little too hot and heavy.”

  “Like the night at the fleabag motel in Vermont?”

  “No.” DJ made a face. “We were both pretty creeped out by that sleazy place, and it was, you know…”

  “Unromantic.”

  “Totally.”

  “So?” Taylor reached for another bikini. “It sounds like you guys never went too far. I don’t get it.”

  “You might not remember, but Conner and I quit dating for a while—”

  “I remember you broke up, but there was the Haley factor.”

  “To start with we broke up mostly because we were worried that our relationship was going to compromise our convictions—it was pretty mutual.”

  Taylor’s eyes lit up. “Meaning you both wanted to have sex?”

  “I don’t know that we wanted it—not like it was all preplanned and agreed on—but, yeah, when things went too far, we both probably wanted it. It was a temptation.”

  Taylor’s expression grew skeptical. “But you and Conner both have so much self-control.”

  “Maybe…” DJ considered this. “But why push it? Why set yourself up? I mean, you wouldn’t bring a bottle of vodka to our room and just set it on your bedside table to prove you had self-control, would you?”

  Taylor laughed. “Yeah, right.”

  DJ pointed to Taylor’s bikini again. “I guess that’s my point.”

  Taylor thrust her ample chest out and struck a pose in front of the mirror. “You think I’m trying to flag down guys, begging them to come jump my bones?”

  “Sorry, but I’m just being honest. That’s kinda how I see it.”

  Taylor studied her reflection with a more thoughtful expression. “But you could be right.”

  DJ brightened. “Really?”

  Taylor flipped a string of DJ’s bikini top, causing it to slip down. “I suppose this is kind of like baiting the hook, like we’re trying to reel them into bed. And I, for one, am not.”

  “Me neither.”

  “Maybe I’ll look for some more conservative bikinis.”

  “Is there such a thing?”

  “I saw some DKNY pieces that aren’t quite so revealing. And who knows, they might even look classy.”

  “And if it’s all the same to you, I’m sticking with the one-piece numbers.”

  “To be honest, you looked really hot in that one with the rings.”

  “I actually liked it too.”

  And so by the end of the shopping afternoon, they had managed to accumulate some new swimwear that could actually function in water as well as some shorts and tops and sandals. Although DJ’s choices were far less expensive than Taylor’s designer choices, she was perfectly happy with them. And even if her grandmother wasn’t impressed, DJ thought she should appreciate the fact that DJ had saved her a few bucks on her credit card.

  DJ had barely pulled into the driveway before Eliza’s little white Porsche pulled up behind them.

  “Perfect timing,” Taylor said with sarcasm.

  “Hey, y’all,” called out Eliza as she emerged from her car with about a dozen shiny shopping bags hanging from her like appendages. “Have any luck shopping?”

  Taylor held up her bags as if they were proof. “We did okay.”

  “I found some real treasures,” said Rhiannon as she pulled a motley-looking bunch of bags from the back of the car. “I can’t wait to see what you guys think of them.”

  “Let’s go inside and have show and tell,” said Eliza in an excited voice.

  Taylor made a smirk, which Eliza fortunately didn’t see.

  “That’s a great idea,” said Rhiannon. “You guys want to come to our room?”

  So the four girls and their bags crammed into Eliza and Rhiannon’s room to show what they’d purchased. Naturally, Eliza made fun of DJ’s one-piece swimsuits. And, in return, DJ made fun of Eliza’s outrageous price tags.

  “I cannot believe anyone in her right mind would pay two hundred and fifty dollars for this.” DJ held up the lacey pink bikini and just shook her head.

  “It happens to be a Dolce and Gabbana.” Eliza said this as if it explained everything.

  “I thought D and G only made purses.” DJ set the skimpy swimwear back down in the tissue paper.

  “That shows how little you know about fashion.” Eliza nodded to Rhiannon. “Even Rhiannon knows better than that.”

  “What do you mean, ‘Even Rhiannon’?” Rhiannon demanded.

  “Sorry, that came out wrong.” Eliza put a finger to her lips. “I meant that even though you don’t buy the big designers, you still know who they are and what they do. Right?”

  Rhiannon smiled now. “Absolutely. It’s part of my education.”

  “Look what I got for our little designer girl,” said Eliza as she pulled out a leopard-print bikini. “Isn’t it adorable? It’s a D and G too.”

  “You got that for me?” Rhiannon looked stunned. “I didn’t know—”

  “It was so great on you,” gushed Eliza. “You looked totally hot.”

  “Wow.” Rhiannon fingered the fabric and sighed. “Thanks, Eliza.”

  “See, it pays to shop with Eliza.” She tossed a smug look to Taylor and DJ. Like they’d even care.

  “Show us what you got for our Rockabilly outfits,” said Taylor suddenly. “Did you find any boots?”

  “I actually marked some things on eBay and a couple other retro sites, but I want you guys to look at them and, of course, you’ll need to bring your credit cards. They have some pretty good deals, and we’ll need to act fast if we want them shipped in time for the dance. But at least they’ll be broken in since they’ve been prev
iously worn.”

  “Used footwear?” Eliza made a face. “I don’t think so.”

  “They’re retro,” said Rhiannon. “And it’s not easy finding new cowboy boots with the kind of character that these old collectable ones have.”

  “Does character come with anti-fungal foot powder?” asked Eliza.

  DJ couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ll bet they might throw that in for free if you asked nicely.”

  “Or throw it at you,” added Taylor.

  “Fine,” said Rhiannon, “get your boots new if you want, Eliza. But if you find anything as cool as the ones I found, you might end up paying a thousand bucks for them.”

  Eliza just shrugged. “So?”

  “You’re willing to throw away a thousand bucks for a pair of boots that you’ll only wear like once?” demanded DJ.

  “I might wear them more than once.” Eliza held her head up. “And if I don’t, I can always donate them to a good cause.”

  “If my feet were bigger, I’d volunteer to be your good cause,” said Rhiannon.

  Then Rhiannon showed them some of her shopping finds. Although her bargain pieces of plaids and polka dots and bandanas and old belts and buckles and things didn’t really look like much to DJ. She tried to act interested as she wondered how Rhiannon would possibly pull this off. And yet, she’d seen Rhiannon turn rags into riches before so she wasn’t really worried.

  “You’re amazing,” she said to Rhiannon finally. “I mean, you look at a bunch of, well, junk and you see cool clothes. Whereas I look at a bunch of junk…and that’s all I see.”

  “Just give me a few days and you’ll see cool clothes too.”

  “Now, let’s see what you girls got.” Eliza turned her focus onto Taylor and DJ.

  “I doubt you’ll be too impressed with my shopping.” DJ dumped her bags out onto Rhiannon’s bed. And, just as she thought, Eliza was unimpressed. “What’s with these boring one-piece suits, DJ? You might as well have just gone with your swim team suits.”