And he actually said, “Well, you know. You were always too cool to talk to me.”
Can you believe that? What the hell? I should have said that the reason we never talked was because he never opened his mouth in my direction, which was the truth. But did I go and jump to the conclusion that we never spoke because he was “too cool” to do so? No. I couldn’t imagine going through life with such a huge chip on my shoulder like that.
I mean, it’s not like we were such a mutually exclusive group who spent our days trying to find ways to torture and alienate our fellow classmates. If anyone ever wanted to be a part of things, all they ever had to do was show up.
That’s the thing about popularity that no one ever tells you. It’s all about confidence. That’s it. That’s the magic formula, boys and girls. Speaking as a person with experience on both sides of popularity, I can tell you that that’s all it takes. If you can mind the slight angular shift between holding your head up high and sticking your nose in the air... If you can strike the right balance between conformity and originality... If you can be friendly but not perky, optimistic yet unaffected, lead instead of follow... you’re in. It may seem like a tightrope-walk to be sure, but you just gotta fake it until you make it. After a while, you won’t even be that conscious of the fine line you’re walking all the time.
I was anxious to get over to the party, but until I got my license, I was at the mercy of Lisa’s time schedule. I sat down at the top of the stairs where I’d have a good line of sight into the driveway. Not that I needed to keep watch for her. That girl normally started honking the horn from her house. This night was no exception.
I bolted out the front door, simultaneously fumbling with my keys to lock it behind me while flapping my hand down to shush Lisa, who started beeping even more incessantly upon my presence.
When I finally opened the passenger door, I snipped, “Shut up already! I have neighbors you know!”
Lisa just laughed and said, “I know! I’m one of them, Dippy!”
Chapter 7
HOUSE PARTY
Greg Rymer lived in Norman Hills- the “rich neighborhood”- on the northern side of town. Back in the seventies, the land developer who had the area bulldozed was eventually sent to prison for bribing a bunch of government officials in order to get the zoning rights. Prior to his arrest, however, he was responsible for building some gorgeous homes.
Rymer’s was a sprawling ranch nestled into a copse of trees, with huge sections of wall made up almost entirely of glass. I guess the secluded property allowed for them to live in a fishbowl without feeling like exhibitionists. Sometimes, it freaked me out to hang there at night, though. When just a few of us were there watching a movie or something, I always thought that there could be some murderer creeping around out in the woods spying on us. Seriously, the alienated house was the perfect backdrop for a slasher film. There wasn’t another home within earshot. No one would hear your screams.
On the other hand, that’s why it made such a perfect party house.
With the number of cars crammed around the front yard, I rest assured that any potential murderers would be outnumbered by party guests. Besides, all the real creeps were already inside.
I remember hearing once about the correct way to enter a room. A person should stroll in with confidence and head straight for a familiar face. The worst thing you could do was linger like an insecure little wallflower, fumphering around two steps inside the door. Lisa knew this, too, which is why we gave a quick knock before heading right on in. We kissed a few people hello on our beeline to the back deck where we knew the keg would be.
Cooper and Sargento were standing around the boombox, fighting over DJ duties. Rymer was sitting on the railing, using the keg as a footstool and holding a stack of red Solo cups.
He saw Lisa and me walk out and said, “Five bucks.”
I went for my wallet, but stopped when I heard Lisa say, “Rymer, you pantywaste. Are you seriously going to try and pull this shit again? Asking girls to kick in for the keg? No wonder you never get laid.”
The guys snickered into their sleeves which put Rymer in the position of having to retaliate. “Alright, DeSanto. I’ll give you and Janis Joplin here both a cup, no charge. But you’re gonna have to pay for it later, if you know what I mean.”
We all knew Rymer was full of shit, but the guys stopped laughing at the suggestive comment and turned toward us, waiting with anticipation to see how we’d respond.
Lisa didn’t disappoint. She got right up in his face and said, “Rymer, if I actually believed you even had a dick in those pants, we could talk. As it is-”
“Oh, you want to see it?” He hopped off the railing and started making a big, phony show of unbuttoning his jeans. We knew he was bluffing about dropping his drawers, but thankfully, we weren’t forced to test that notion. Because just then, Trip came out the door and stopped him in his tracks with, “Jesus, Rymer. Can’t you ever keep your damn pants on?”
We all started laughing as Trip made the rounds of hellos and handshakes.
Rymer gave Trip a high-five, then handed him a cup. Lisa just went ballistic. “Oh, so you give your buddies beer for free but charge the girls five bucks? Nice racket you’re running here.”
Trip was busy getting a beer from the keg as he said, “Dude. You can’t charge the girls for beer, man. That’s just stupid.”
Lisa chimed in, “I know, right?”
Trip handed her his filled cup and dug a fold of bills out of his pocket. Lisa and I tried to protest as he peeled off a twenty and slapped it on the railing before grabbing three more cups off the stack and filling them at the tap, passing the first off to me as he finished. Lisa and I shrugged at each other and started drinking.
Rymer tried to save face. “Trip- No way, man. Take this back. I wasn’t really gonna charge them and what kind of asshole would I be if I didn’t cover your cup?”
Lisa cut in with, “A huge one!”
Rymer shot her a dirty look, then turned and started jabbing the twenty back in Trip’s direction. “Seriously. It’s your first night hanging with us. Take it.”
By that time, Trip was almost finished filling the fourth cup. “Not gonna happen, dude. Just take it off my tab the next time.”
Then he clinked his cup against mine and gave me a wink which almost made me spit up my mouthful of beer.
“By the way,” he added, “Who the hell tapped this thing? They foamed the hell out of it.”
We all started laughing again because it was a great slam on Rymer, who obviously must have tapped his own keg. Poorly.
Normally, having been shown up in front of his friends, Rymer would have gone on the rampage. I don’t know why Trip was given a free pass. Maybe Rymer was trying to be welcoming to the new kid. It’s possible he may have just realized he was being a jerk. Then again, maybe he thought he’d finally met his match and just didn’t want to get his ass kicked.
The thing was, Trip managed to put Rymer in his place without completely tearing him to shreds. Hell, Rymer actually had a smile on his face! I’d never seen anyone get away with that.
Just as we were pulling it together, Cooper pointed out Trip’s two beers and asked, “Yo. What’s with the double-fisting tonight?”
Trip didn’t miss a beat and answered him with, “Double fisting? What, is your sister around?”
We all lost our minds cracking up. Even Coop was forced to crack a smile as Rymer gave Trip another high-five. While we were catching our breath, Tess Valletti walked out onto the deck.
She walked right over to Trip, who handed her a drink in an unmistakable gesture that said they were together.
Unbelievable. The guy was in town for less than a week and he’d already managed to start dating Tess Valletti.
Here’s the 411 on Tess: She was a year older than us, so she’d graduated the previous June. During her four years at St. Norman’s, she was drooled over by every straight male in the vicinity. Tall, blonde and funny, she was not only gorgeous, but popular, too.
She used to only date college guys, much to the average high-school-girl’s relief. The fact that Trip- a senior in high school, mind you- was able to get her to go out with him was pretty impressive. The fact that she let him drag her to a high school party was nothing short of miraculous.
She and I were in the same typing class the year before, so we actually knew each other pretty well even though we didn’t really hang out too much or anything.
“Hey, Layla!” she said.
“Hi Tess. How’s it going?”
She took a sip of her beer. “Great. Really great. Well, you know, aside from the fact that I’m here at Rymer’s and all.”
Everyone thought that was just hysterical, of course.
Lisa would never admit it, but I knew she was euphoric once Tess finally graduated, giving her the chance to ascend to her rightful and long-awaited position as Queen Bee. Yet here she found herself back in Tess’s shadow only two weeks into her reign.
Lisa couldn’t allow herself to take a backseat any longer and decided to pipe in. “So, Tess... How the heck did you wind up here tonight?”
Tess shot Trip a sly look and joked, “Oh, you know. The usual, boring old story. I was on my way to meet some girlfriends out tonight when I got hit on by some random guy at the convenience store.”