I didn't think of it like that. I was lucky to have someone who cared as much as I did, more even, about getting me in to the school of my dreams. "Maybe once I get in to USC, he'll back off both of us," I said.
"Have you thought about any other schools?"
Her hair looked soft, fanned out over the comforter. I ran my fingers through it. "Not really."
"Maybe you should just to be sure. There are a lot more options than 'SC."
I shook my head. "It's always been my first choice."
"I know." She looked away. "As long as it's what you want, and you're not doing it just for Dad."
She sounded concerned, and that didn't happen a lot. But she'd grown up in the room next to mine; she knew I had a drawer full of USC merchandise and that Dad and I had toured the campus once a year since I was ten. "It is."
She turned back to me. "By the way, Manning's coming to the fair with us."
My fingers stilled in her hair. "What?"
"He's so serious. I was hoping he'd ask me out, but when he didn't, I told him about Saturday and he's never been to Balboa Island. Can you believe it?"
I needed to blink or swallow. I just stared at her with a dry mouth. An evening with Manning excited me, but were they going on a date? No. He hadn't asked her, and brave as Tiffany was, she didn't want to seem desperate. That's what she'd said earlier about making the first move, anyway. "What about Brad?"
"Who?"
"The guy you were hoping would call."
"Oh." She shrugged. "I talked to him this afternoon. I'm not sure how I feel about him."
I didn't ask if that had anything to do with Manning, afraid she'd say yes. How would I respond to that?
She sat up. "Isn't Manning gorgeous? I should hang around you more often. You're good luck."
My neck and cheeks flushed. I loved my sister-she probably knew me as well as my mom. Regardless, hearing her call Manning gorgeous made my ears hot. I'd thought he was handsome before she'd even met him. Didn't that count for something? Just because I didn't fawn all over him didn't mean it was okay for her to.
"I can't believe he's from Los Angeles," Tiffany said. "It sounds so glamorous."
"Pasadena's outside of L.A."
"Guys my age just don't get me, you know? It's bad when you have more experience than a guy."
"What do you mean?"
Tiffany smiled a little, watching me. "Sex."
My face got even hotter. I didn't know what to say. Last year, I'd aced an AP English test most of my classmates had flunked. I could recite Pi to the fifteenth digit. I'd made Principal's Honor Roll the last two years. But on this topic, I knew hardly anything. I didn't hang around with any girls who'd had sex yet. They weren't in my classes. They didn't belong to the clubs I did. They were like Tiffany. "I don't want to know," I said. "I'm not interested."
"You will be soon." She grinned as she looked over my face, which was surely red. I could never hide my blushing. "I started that stuff around the time I was your age."
A knot formed in my throat. What did that mean-"stuff"? I mean, I knew the logistics of it. At least, I thought I did. I tried not to think about it, though . . . sex. Girls like me worried about different things.
"Manning just looks like he knows what he's doing," she added wistfully.
That made me think of his hands, how they'd enveloped my waist and my forearm earlier, of his fingers, the way they'd set my skin prickling. I didn't want him to touch Tiffany the way he had me.
I bent my leg under me, picking at my sock. "So he said he'd come to the fair?"
"Yep."
"What about dad?" I asked. "I doubt he'd want you going out with one of the workers."
"Imagine how he'd react if I brought home someone who's older and a construction worker," she said.
I didn't understand her sudden, strange smile. "So then maybe you should think about, uh, not going out with him."
"Why?"
"If it'll make Dad mad . . ."
Tiffany pulled me down onto the bed, hugging me as she laughed. "You have so much to learn about life. Don't you realize part of Manning's appeal is that he'd piss Dad off? A blind person could see that, Lake."
It was lot to wrap my head around. In one afternoon, everything about my small, easy world had changed. Tiffany was talking to me about sex. I'd met Manning, who fascinated me beyond my understanding. And the three of us were going to the fair.
But I couldn't shake the feeling that even though I'd met Manning first, for some reason, Tiffany thought he belonged to her.
4
Lake
Tiffany thought she had the better room between us and didn't often let me forget it. That's because she didn't know what she was missing. My window opened to a flat part of the first floor's roof. Saturday night, I crawled through, sat, and pulled my knees up to my chest to wait.
Already, Tiffany was breaking the rules. She'd told Dad we were getting a ride with her friend Sarah instead of Manning, who was on his way to pick us up. I didn't like lying to my dad, but to spend time with Manning, I was willing to do it.
I set my chin on my knee. I'd been ready for hours, not that getting ready meant the same to me as it did to Tiffany. I'd put on shorts and Converse before running a brush through my hair. My fitted, pink-and-purple paisley tee came from Wet Seal. I never shopped there, but it was a hand-me-down from Tiffany. She'd been in our bathroom for an hour doing her hair and makeup, but that wasn't unusual.
I'd been to Balboa Park lots growing up. It was a small amusement park on the water. It'd never sounded romantic until now. It was known for its Ferris wheel, games, and chocolate-covered ice cream bars with sprinkles. There were always young couples holding hands and making out. I'd always thought that was gross, two people French kissing against a wall where others could see. I wouldn't have minded holding Manning's hand, though.
Headlights appeared at the corner as a white truck pulled up outside. I got off the roof to knock on the bathroom separating Tiffany's room from mine.
"What?" she asked.
I opened my door and leaned in. "I think he's here."
Her hair was coiled around a curling iron. The drawer between our sinks had been pulled all the way open, sagging as if it were about to fall out. It held countless lipsticks, all kinds of eye makeup, bobby pins, compacts, and more. Up until recently, the only interest I'd had in that drawer was the urge to organize it. I'd never wanted to play with makeup like Mom and Tiffany. They knew just how to apply lipstick, dab perfume, shop designer, balance in high heels. All that made their beauty rituals more intimidating than exciting.
Tiff looked at me in the reflection of the mirror. "Go tell him I'll be right down."
"What if Dad says something?"
"Like what?" she asked. "Just lie."
He might stop me on my way out and ask if Sarah was out front. Or want to make sure she wasn't drinking-he'd done that with Tiffany's friends before. Then what? I'd omitted the truth so I could go tonight, but I wasn't sure I could lie to his face. If I got caught scheming with Tiffany, I'd be grounded for good. Then again, these next few minutes might be the only time I got alone with Manning tonight.
I went downstairs. The foyer fed into the living room, where my parents sat on the couch watching some action movie. Their backs were to the windows overlooking the front yard. I tiptoed past.
"Lake?" Mom called, looking over.
"We're leaving for the fair," I blurted.
I couldn't see my dad from where I stood. "Where's Tiffany?" he asked.
"Finishing her makeup."
"What's Lake wearing?" I heard Dad ask.
Mom playfully rolled her eyes at me. "Shorts and sneakers, Charlie. Hardly party attire."
She turned forward again. Every second I stood here was less time talking to Manning, but if I sounded too eager to leave, Dad might suspect something. The clock in the entryway ticked. A car exploded on the TV screen.
"Fine," Dad said. "Home by ten, all right?"
I was relieved, but not off the hook until we were driving away. "Okay," I said on my way out the door.
The truck was parked at the curb of the lot next to ours, the construction site. It looked like an older model, but it was clean. A large, shadowy figure leaned against the driver's side.
I smelled smoke before I saw the cigarette. "Manning?"
He turned his head but didn't speak.
I pushed some hair off my face. I should've brushed it one last time. Because it was long, it got tangled easily. "Tiffany will be ready soon."