Friends Forever (4 page)

In the end, the school had agreed to suspend Kevin for two weeks, and put him on probation until the end of the year, but they didn’t kick him out. Mike and Connie had gone to bat for him and convinced the school to give him another chance, but Mike had warned him, and so had the headmaster, that if he did something like it again, he would be out. Kevin said he understood, and behaved until the end of the year, and then left for survival camp in the Sierras. He looked stronger and more muscular and healthy when he came back, and was better behaved and seemed more responsible. He had turned sixteen by then, and Mike commented to Connie, when he got back, that he didn’t look like a boy anymore, he looked like a man. The survival camp had given him confidence in himself, and they hoped it would turn him around.

“I wish he acted like a man,” Connie said with a sigh and a worried look. For the first few weeks, he was perfect and even helped his mother around the house. But Sean knew it was just an act. He saw Kevin sneak a beer a week after he got home, and he had a pack of cigarettes in his backpack. Sean never squealed on him to their parents, but he saw a lot, more than Kevin knew. Sean knew his brother well. He wasn’t fooled.

Sean and Izzie walked into the first day of fourth grade together when the carpool dropped them off, and the others—Billy, Andy, and Gabby—were right behind them. The five friends were always together, inseparable pals, wherever they went. It had been that way for four years, and they assumed it always would be. All five of them carved the words “Friends 4Ever” into their school desks every year. It was a sacred pact they had made in second grade. And Connie always referred to them as the Big Five. They had been devoted to each other since kindergarten, and she hoped they always would be. They were a family they had formed on their own. Izzie and Gabby pretended to be sisters sometimes, with new teachers or strangers. And Billy, Andy, and Sean had once told someone at the bowling alley that they were triplets, and the person had believed them. The five of them were like quintuplets, with different parents and one heart and one soul. “Friends 4Ever” above all.

Chapter 3

N
othing much changed for any of them until they reached eighth grade, and then a number of things began to happen to alter their familiar landscape. First, they all turned thirteen and became teenagers. They would be going to high school at Atwood in a year, which seemed like a major step into adulthood for them. Connie teased them that they were no different than they had been in kindergarten, they were just bigger. Sean was still obsessed with any kind of law enforcement, watched every possible crime and police show on TV, and had taken to reading books about the FBI. Billy was equally obsessed with sports, especially football, and had a huge collection of signed baseball and football cards. Gabby had gotten several more local modeling jobs and was in
The Nutcracker
and two school plays, in the leading roles. Andy was at the top of their class with flawless grades, and Izzie was developing a strong social conscience and had done volunteer work at a homeless shelter for families, and collected toys for the children at Christmas. She even used her allowance to buy more toys than the donations covered.

Billy and Gabby were the first to announce a major change. They spent a lot of time together over Christmas vacation, and when they came back to school, they said they were boyfriend and girlfriend.

“You are?” Izzie stared at her best friend with wide eyes when Gabby told her. “What does that mean?” She lowered her voice conspiratorially and glanced over her shoulder to make sure no one was listening. “Did you
do it
?” she whispered with a look of amazement, and Gabby laughed, that clear bell-like sound that Izzie was convinced would one day make her a movie star.

“Of course not, we’re not stupid,” Gabby said confidently. “We’re not old enough to ‘do it.’ We’re going to wait till high school or college. We just know we love each other.” She seemed absolutely certain, which impressed Izzie immensely.

“How do you know?” Izzie was fascinated. They all loved each other in their tight little group of friends, but she wouldn’t have thought of becoming boyfriend and girlfriend with Sean, Andy, or Billy. As far as Izzie was concerned, they were best friends. So how did Billy and Gabby know they were different? What had happened to them over Christmas?

“He kissed me,” Gabby confessed to her, “but don’t tell my mother. We just decided to be boyfriend and girlfriend.” Gabby seemed extremely pleased about it, although she looked no different to Izzie. And they were the only two in the group who had kissed. There wasn’t even a boy Izzie liked in eighth grade, and certainly not enough to kiss. “You and Sean should hook up like we did,” Gabby said, sounding very grown-up and older than her years, but Izzie looked appalled.

“Yerghhhkkk! That’s disgusting. He’s my best friend!”

“I thought I was,” Gabby teased her, amused at her reaction to the suggestion about Sean. He was getting better and better looking as he got older, although he was still a lot shorter than Billy. But some of the other eighth-grade girls thought he was hot. Sean didn’t care. He had no interest in girls yet, just crime shows and sports. And he treated Izzie like a sister.

“You know you are my best friend,” Izzie said uncomfortably. “You all are. It just seems weird to have a boyfriend at our age.” Izzie looked confused and mildly disapproving. But Gabby always seemed more sophisticated than the others, and Billy was physically more mature. Gabby shrugged her shoulders, unconcerned.

“Yeah, maybe. He’s nice to kiss, though,” Gabby said, and Izzie looked a little shocked at that, and after talking about it for a while, they walked into class together.

Billy had basketball practice that day and was in the gym, but he had made the same announcement as Gabby to Sean and Andy that morning. Both looked impressed and wanted to know how far he’d gone with Gabby. Billy said they’d made out but hadn’t gone all the way. But his two best guy friends were as shaken as Izzie. It was the beginning of a whole new era in the group, now that Billy and Gabby were a couple. It made the others feel like losers and a little bit left out, since Gabby and Billy had added an element to their relationship that they didn’t share. It felt very strange to the remaining singles in the group, but gave Izzie no desire to have a boyfriend among them, or outside the group. Andy and Sean were like the brothers she didn’t have, and she liked it that way. It would have felt creepy to single out one of them as a boyfriend, and she didn’t want to.

It took a while for them to get used to thinking of Billy and Gabby as a couple, but by spring they had all adjusted and considered Billy and Gabby as a unit. The romance was still going strong, and had remained chaste. Just “going together,” hanging out, and kissing was enough. Larry had had a talk with Billy, at Marilyn’s insistence, about using condoms and being careful that Gabby didn’t get pregnant, but Billy insisted they didn’t need them. His father looked disappointed, and his mother was relieved. Marilyn had a long talk with Judy the next day and asked her if she thought their kids were telling them the truth about not having had sex yet. She hoped they were, but she wasn’t sure. One heard stories about some kids having sex even before high school.

“Gabby tells me
everything
,” Judy said confidently, and didn’t seem worried. “I want to get her on the Pill before she does anything, just in case.” She seemed surprisingly calm about it, although she hadn’t mentioned it to Adam, because she knew how protective he was of his daughters, but he had commented on seeing Billy around more lately, so he was aware.

“They’re just thirteen,” Marilyn said with a worried look. “They’re not old enough to handle a serious relationship and everything that goes with it.”

“Sometimes I’m not even sure I am,” Judy quipped, and Marilyn smiled ruefully, but she knew Judy was only kidding, she and Adam had a good marriage and seemed to still enjoy each other after fifteen years.

Marilyn and Larry had had a harder time of it for the past few years. His drinking had continued at a steady pace, and several times she had suspected he was having an affair, but he insisted that he wasn’t. He liked to hang out with his important clients and sometimes didn’t come home till three or four
A.M.
, but he always swore there was nothing to it. Marilyn wasn’t as sure, but she couldn’t prove otherwise. And she spent a lot of time at home with her boys, Billy and Brian, who were thirteen and eight, and they kept her busy. It startled her sometimes that at thirty-eight, she had become a homebody. Larry hardly ever took her out anymore. He went out with the “guys.” She complained once in a while to her women friends, but there was nothing she could do about it. And when she said something to Larry, he got nasty and told her to stop whining. He reminded her that he gave her a nice house and plenty of money to spend and if she wanted someone to be around all the time, get a dog. He said he wasn’t going to be on a leash for her. He had his freedom, whenever he wanted to get out, and she had the boys.

And he wasn’t always pleasant to them either, depending on how much he’d been drinking. He ignored Brian completely because he was indifferent to sports, and the last time Billy had lost a baseball game on the Little League team he played for, Larry had taken a swing at him when they got home and called him a loser. Billy had gone to his room in tears, and Marilyn and Larry had gotten into a fight that nearly came to blows. She had finally backed down and locked herself in her room. And he had gone out and didn’t come back till the next morning. He never apologized, to any of them, and she sometimes wondered if he even remembered what he’d done the night before. Marilyn had apologized to Billy when his father hit him after the game, and tried to explain that his father was so obsessed with winning every game that he didn’t know what he was doing. But they both knew he did. And Billy had signed up for the football team for freshman year. He was on a path, the only one that would please his father, and he was determined never to be called a loser again.

Marilyn and Judy talked about their children’s relationship often. Marilyn was as worried about Gabby as if she’d been her own daughter, and was terrified they’d lose control and have sex. By contrast, Judy was astoundingly relaxed and confident in her daughter.

“Gabby’s too smart for that,” Judy said calmly. But Marilyn knew plenty of girls who had been smart, lost control, and wound up pregnant. Marilyn didn’t want that happening to their kids, and hoped they would avert a disaster before it happened. It was a lot to expect at thirteen.

Connie had pointed out to both Judy and Marilyn that Kevin had become sexually active at thirteen, although her younger son, Sean, was far from it. All kids were different and moved at different speeds through adolescence.

For the moment, Connie’s worries with Kevin had abated. He was a junior at UC Santa Cruz by then and doing well. He looked like a hippie, with tattoos, piercings, and long hair, but his grades had been decent for two semesters. It gave her some respite, but she worried about him anyway. He called from Santa Cruz from time to time, but not often. He loved being on his own and independent, and Connie concentrated her efforts on Sean, knowing that he needed attention and guidance, and at twenty Kevin would have to be responsible for himself at school.

The star student in the group, among the five friends, was always Andy. It was expected of him, and both his parents never questioned for a moment that Andy would get straight A’s. He never let them down, and said he wanted to be a doctor, like his parents. A medical doctor like his mother, not a psychiatrist like his father. Andy wanted to heal people’s bodies, not their minds, but he wanted to go to Harvard, like his father. Just like the A’s he got in school, that was expected, and he got the science prize every year. Andy had real talent in science, and sometimes Izzie teased him and called him “doctor.” He actually liked it. He was good in sports now, and had a natural athlete’s grace. He was on the tennis team at school, and entered tournaments on weekends. His four friends always went to see him play, just as they went to Sean and Billy’s baseball games, and the boys showed up to root for Gabby and Izzie when they played girls’ basketball and soccer.

Larry was always at the baseball games, and shouted at Billy during the entire game, telling him what he should be doing. He had a fit after the game, whenever they lost, and Sean tried to intercede for Billy with his father several times, and got Larry angry at him too.

“Mr. Norton, we played a good game today,” Sean stood up to him bravely. “Billy hit two home runs, which is more than anyone else did on either team.” After the game was over, the coach had even congratulated him for how well he played.

“He screwed up when the bases were loaded, or we’d have won. Or didn’t you notice?” he said nastily to Sean, who refused to be intimidated by Billy’s father. No one liked Larry, and neither did Sean, who hated to see what he did to Billy. And Mr. Norton didn’t even bother to talk to Brian, who came to all his brother’s games too. Larry still acted like Brian didn’t exist. As far as Larry was concerned, since he wasn’t an athlete, he didn’t. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, O’Hara,” he said viciously to Sean, “you can’t hit the ball for shit. They ought to kick you off the team, and have you play volleyball with the girls.”

“That’s enough, Dad,” Billy said quietly, defending his friend. He could see that his father had been drinking, and Billy was mortified by the way he was behaving. He was used to his father’s verbal abuse at home, but he didn’t want his friends to know.

“You’re a pathetic bunch of sissies,” Larry said, stormed off, got in his car, and drove away, as Billy looked at Sean and shrugged. He had tears in his eyes as Sean put an arm around his shoulders, and they walked into the locker room together without a word. Brian was waiting for them when they came back dressed in jeans and out of their uniforms. Brian had watched the entire scene and felt sorry for both of them. He loved to watch them play. None of the three boys commented on Larry’s behavior. They were used to it, and everyone had seen him drive away in a rage. As they left the field, Billy caught up with Gabby, who was waiting for him too. Billy put an arm around her waist and hugged her when she complimented him on the two home runs.