AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“There were ten people in your class. ”
“And three of them flunked out. Come on, Caro, come up and visit us. Run on the beach with me like we used to . . . slam tequila and dance with me. Lets see-finally-who we are. ”
“RUBY! Can you hear me?”
It was Moms voice again. This time she was yelling at the top of her lungs.
Ruby accepted defeat. “I gotta go. I love you, big sis. ”
“You sound like the big sister now,” Caroline answered, "and Im proud of you, Rube. And jealous.
God . . . Bye. "
Ruby hung up, then hurried downstairs. “Good God, is there a fire in the-”
She skidded to a stop in the kitchen.
Dean was standing there, holding a bouquet of Shasta daisies wrapped in tinfoil.
“Oh,” Ruby said, feeling heat climb into her face.
Mom stood beside the table, grinning. “You have a visitor,” she said in a perfect sorority-housemother voice.
Ruby took stock of herself: She hadnt brushed her teeth yet and she was still in her pajamas-an old Mega death T-shirt and fuzzy pink knee socks. If she were lucky-and she couldnt be-the oak floorboards would simply open up and swallow her.
Dean stepped forward and handed her the flowers. “Do you still like daisies?”
She nodded.
He closed the gap between them. “We need to talk. ” His voice dropped; its quiet timbre matched the soft pleading in his eyes. “Please. ”
The way he said it made her shiver. “Okay. ”
They stood there, staring at each other. Finally, Mom thumped toward them and gently tugged the flowers out of Rubys hand.
“Ill put them in water,” she said.
Ruby turned to her. It felt as if shed just stumbled into a weird Bradys-gone-wild episode. Then she realized that moms were supposed to say things like that.
“Thanks, Mom. ” Ruby turned to Dean. “So, where are we going?”
He grinned. “Just wear a bathing suit under your clothes. Oh . . . and tennis shoes. Ill meet you outside. ” He gave her another quick smile, then kissed her mother on the cheek and headed outside.
Ruby could hear his footsteps crunching through the gravel behind the house. She looked at her mother.
“Did you organize this?”
“Of course not. ”
“This is not a good idea. ”
“Ruby Elizabeth Bridge, you dont have the sense God gave a banana slug. Now get upstairs and get dressed. If youre too damned scared to go out with your first love, then try remembering that he used to be your best friend, too. ”
She couldnt think of anything brilliant to say, so she left the room. Upstairs, she stood in front of her opened suitcase, staring down at the clothing shed brought.
A bathing suit. Yeah, right.
Had she noticed when she packed that everything was black? Or did she always dress this way? Every T-shirt said something--MEGADEATH, UCLA BRUINS, PLANET HOLLYWOOD. Her personal favorite was a white T-shirt with a cartoon drawing of a plumber bent over a broken toilet. His low-slung pants revealed a huge part of his ass. The punch line was: Say no to crack.
