Adventures in Funeral Crashing (16 page)

Ethan and I were early, so we got a booth and
sat down, waiting for Ariel and Troy to arrive. There was still a
sort of weird tension between Ethan and me, so I spent the time
staring at my menu like I wasn’t sure what I was going to order. I
did get absorbed by looking at the different milkshakes, though, so
I didn’t see Troy walk in the door until he was almost at our
table.

“Hey, Kait,” Troy said, sliding into the
booth next to me. He looked at me, appraisingly. “You look
awesome!”

“Thanks,” I said, smiling back at Troy, but
not before I saw Ethan scowl. “Oh, and this is Ethan.”

Ethan’s scowl had disappeared and he had on a
smile instead as Troy turned to look at him, “Hey, man.”

They shook hands. Ethan was a good actor.
You’d never know that he was really thinking that Troy might be a
serial murderer. Poor Ariel. Now that I thought of it, she really
didn’t know what she was walking into. I almost felt sorry for
her.

“Ethan!” I heard her squeal a moment later,
as she walked toward our table.

Troy was studying the menu, but looked up to
study Ariel as she walked up. He was totally checking her out, even
though he was on a date with me. Strike one against him, but even I
had to admit that Ariel looked amazing. I was a wilted flower
compared to her tonight, and I had thought I looked pretty good.
Ariel had curled her hair, but she had the
I-always-look-this-good-effortlessly thing going on. I wish I could
look good effortlessly. I had spent over two hours getting ready
for this date.

I didn’t see Ethan’s immediate reaction to
Ariel, but he seemed preoccupied as she slid into the booth next to
him, and I mean right next to him, since he only said, “Oh, hey,
Ariel.”

We did the introductions all over again and
then it was an awkward silence as we looked at the menus. At this
point, I felt like I had the thing memorized. I had decided on
trying their peanut butter banana milkshake, in addition to the
burger. I wanted to see how it would compare to Wired’s. It
couldn’t be as good, but hey, I wanted to experiment. Let Ariel
order a Diet Coke and a salad with nothing on it. I was a real
girl.

The waiter came by and we all ordered, Ariel
shooting a smirk at me when she heard my totally unhealthy order.
Whatever. Ethan and Troy ordered burgers and shakes too, so Ariel
was the weirdo with her salad, dressing on the side.

“So, Steampunk art is what exactly?” Ethan
was asking Troy, while Ariel was busy trying to seem
interested.

“I was trying to explain it to Kait. Its
background is really science fiction and fantasy. It’s got a
Victorian feel to it, but with modern objects. Has anyone here seen
Hayao Miyazaki’s movie,
Castle in the Sky
or the anime
Steamboy?”
Troy asked.

“I’ve seen both,” I said, trying to remember
more than just the stories from those movies. Working in a video
store had its perks sometimes.

“Me too,” Ethan added.

Ariel just nodded.

Ethan continued, playing up his interest to
keep Troy talking, “So, you actually make things look like they do
in those movies? That’s pretty cool. I’m a huge fan of sci-fi.”

Ariel was unusually silent. She obviously
knew nothing about anime or science fiction. Actually, it looked
like Ethan had more in common with Troy than either me or Ariel.
Too bad there was no way that they were actually going to be
friends.

The burgers and shakes came (with a salad and
diet Coke for Ariel) and Ethan and Troy had monopolized the
conversation moving on from Steampunk art to talking about
Cyberpunk novels like
Snowcrash
by Neal Stephenson. They
both wished that someone would make it into a movie.

Although it was great that Ethan was getting
a chance to get to know Troy and see how he couldn’t possibly be a
psychopathic killer (unless he was really, really good at hiding
it, being that he didn’t give off a creepy vibe at all), I hadn’t
had any sort of chance to try and talk to Troy about the dead
girls. Not that I knew how I was going to bring the subject up or
anything. I mean, I couldn’t just interrupt Troy and Ethan’s
conversation and go, “Excuse me, but Troy, what do you know about
four girls overdosing on heroin?” That would just be a party
killer.

I think Ariel and I were getting equally
bored. It wasn’t like we were going to talk to each other, so we
were stuck listening to the science fiction chat that the guys were
having. Ariel had spent a little of this time trying to get a
little closer to Ethan than I liked. She put her hand on his arm
and a moment later, he casually brushed it off, while making a
point to Troy. She put her hand on his leg, at least I hoped it was
his leg, but he moved over. The girl was trying. I’ll give her
that. Thank goodness, Ethan wasn’t having any of it. I mean, I know
I was on the date with Troy and all, but I didn’t want or need to
see Ariel hanging all over Ethan. What Ethan did on his own time
was fine, but I didn’t want to know.

I needed a break from the cyber/sci-fi talk,
so I interrupted a discussion of the movie
Bladerunner
,
“Hey, Troy, can I get out?”

Troy looked at me like he was just
remembering I was there - so much for the lasting effects of my
dress. I heard the conversation resume as I walked to the
restroom.

A few minutes later, I was washing my hands
and debating how to get Troy to myself. I needed him alone if I was
going to interrogate him. I knew Ethan wasn’t going to go for it,
but I had an idea. There was a small arcade at the back of The
Burger, just past the restrooms. Normally, I ignored it. I went
there for the food and I hadn’t played video games since grade
school. I will admit to having been pretty great at them back then.
Right now, though, I just needed a few minutes alone with Troy and
the arcade might be a great distraction, away from everyone.

And, then Ariel walked into the restroom and
broke off my planning, “Are you as bored as I am? Those guys should
be on a date together.”

Ariel headed straight for the sink next to me
and started re-applying her make-up. First powder was applied, then
eyeshadow, and eyeliner. I guess it wasn’t as effortless as she
made it look.

I was going to regret what I was going to say
next later, but it had to be done, “Hey, Ariel, how would you like
to help me get a few moments alone with Troy?”

It took Ariel a second to figure out that
also meant that she would get a few moments alone with Ethan. She
turned to me with the most real smile I had seen on her face since
we had been friends. I almost felt a pang of sadness at not being
friends anymore. Almost.

“What do you have in mind?” She asked,
halfway done with applying cherry lip-gloss.

I caught myself hoping that Ethan wouldn’t be
tasting that lip-gloss when Ariel had him to herself. I pushed that
thought away. I was doing this in the name of the investigation. It
was for Liz and all of the dead girls. I was trying to let the
world know what really happened to them. That was more important
than any jealous feelings I was having. Still, could I help it if I
wished that I could be the one distracting Ethan by making out with
him with cherry lip-gloss?

Ariel and I
walked back out into the restaurant together, closer than we had
been in a long time. We had a shared purpose – to get each of our
guys alone. And, okay, her purpose was probably more fun, wanting
to make out with Ethan, while mine was just to investigate a
murder. Still, it had to be done.

Ariel made it to the booth first, like we had
planned. She pushed herself right up on Ethan, surprising him
midway through a sentence about
Star Wars
.

I tried not to gag at Ariel’s overt coming
onto Ethan, as I grabbed Troy’s hand and pulled him out of the
booth and said as seductively as I could manage, “Come with
me.”

I definitely got his attention. Troy was up
and next to me, as quickly as I was able to pull him away from our
table and Ethan and Ariel. As I led Troy away, I could see Ariel
make her move. Her mouth was heading straight for his. I couldn’t
watch. Still, on the upside, Ethan was too busy dealing with that,
to notice that Troy and I were gone. Things were all going
according to plan.

The arcade was an old school video arcade
with only 1980s video games like Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Donkey Kong,
Space Invaders, Galaga, and Joust. There was usually nobody in it,
just because they were so old school. Besides, it was getting to be
well after eight o’clock on a school night and all the little kids
were at home in bed.

So, Troy and I had the small arcade to
ourselves for the moment. I hoped Ariel would be able to keep Ethan
busy enough (gag), so that I could have a moment with Troy before
Ethan raced to find me. That is, unless Ethan was enjoying whatever
Ariel was doing. I didn’t want to think about that. I had to
focus.

“What game do you want to play?” Troy was
oblivious and actually looking around at the video games.

“I actually just wanted to get you alone,” I
said, in a voice that I hoped sounded sort of seductive. I’ve never
really done the whole seducing thing, but I had seen enough movies
to know what it sounded like.

Troy definitely got it because he grinned and
moved a step toward me. It surprised me that it actually worked. I
unwittingly took a step back and my butt hit the back of Ms. Pac
Man. Hey, in the back of my mind, I was still a little worried he
was a serial killer. He wasn’t in the clear yet.

Well, if Troy was going to make a move on me,
I guess I was going to have to go with it. He was no Ethan, but he
was pretty cute. And, it was all in the name of the
investigation!

“You wanted to get me alone, huh?” Troy said
and moved a step closer, getting into the game, his hands resting
on the game console on either side of my body.

I had to hurry up and say something or I was
going to get kissed. Not that I would mind. I mean, he was even
sexier up close and he had this great cologne on, actually I think
it was the same one Ethan wore. It actually made Troy more
attractive. My stomach started doing nervous flips.

“How did you know Olivia Reynolds?” I blurted
it out.

Troy stopped mid-lean, “Huh?”

“How did you know Olivia Reynolds?” I asked
again.

“What does Olivia… What?” Troy was
confused.

I had to think fast, “I noticed you were
friends with her and some of the girls who ODed on Facebook
and…

Troy frowned, “It freaked you out? Well,
yeah, me too. But didn’t everybody know them?”

He dismissed it. What should I do?

I nodded, thinking, and Troy took that as an
invitation to lean closer, saying, “Let’s not talk about it, then.
Let’s…”

And, Troy was suddenly an inch from my lips.
I moved my head slightly, “But, I’d feel better knowing how you
knew them.”

“Fine,” I could tell Troy was getting
exasperated. He leaned back and crossed his arms and stood in front
of me. “Olivia and I took Art 101 together. She was really creative
and we’d have lunch after class, and talk about art. I hadn’t seen
her since that class ended, though. Melissa Kent was my math tutor.
I suck at math. I don’t know how I’m going to pass now. She was an
awesome tutor and okay, we did go out a few times, but nothing ever
happened. And, yes, I did date Liz O’Reilly for a second, but we
had barely been a couple when she broke up with me. She thought I
was dating someone else. I wasn’t. She stopped calling me back.
Then a couple days later she ended up dead from a drug overdose. I
mean, we had texted and it looked like maybe we’d get back
together, but we weren’t even officially back together when she
died. And, how was I supposed to know they were all doing heroin?
It doesn’t have anything to do with me.”

“What about Vanessa Martin?” I asked.

“Who?” Troy’s brows were furrowed
together.

“Vanessa Martin,” I repeated.

Troy shook his head, “I don’t know a Vanessa
Martin.”

Okay, that was weird. Jenna said her sister
had dated him and even though she hadn’t remembered his last name,
but come on, it had to be the same Troy! How many could there be in
this small circle of girls? It was too much of a coincidence unless
Troy was just lying to me to cover his tracks or he really was a
major player and couldn’t remember the names of all the girls he
had dated.

Troy seemed puzzled for a second longer,
“Wait, I did date a girl named Jenna Martin the summer after high
school, but that was a long time ago. Wait, maybe she did have a
sister named Vanessa. I kind of remember that, maybe. It ended
really badly. Why are you bringing her up?”

Hold on one second, I thought Jenna said that
Vanessa had dated Troy. Was I confused? I was sure I wasn’t. That’s
why I wasn’t sure how to proceed. Was Troy the one I should be
questioning? Had Jenna lied about Troy? Why? Did she date him? Or
was Troy lying after all? Somehow, I doubted that. Why admit to
knowing either sister at that point? That pointed me right back at
Jenna. Okay, now I was really confused.

Troy took my silence as an invitation to get
back to what he thought we were starting. His arms took back their
positions on either side of the game console. I should ask him more
about Jenna or was it Vanessa, I thought, but it was quickly wiped
away by realizing that Troy was going to kiss me.

I was going to get my first kiss ever. I
closed my eyes and…nothing. I opened them and saw Ethan pulling
Troy away from me.

“What are you doing, dude?” Troy was saying,
totally caught off guard, since he thought he was going to be
kissing me, not being attacked by some other guy.

“Stay away from her,” Ethan said, trying to
pull Troy even further away from me.