Her Teen Dream (2 page)

“That’s enough!” Mrs. Roddick pushed her
glasses back up her nose. The room turned deathly silent as she
glared at Karin and Lesley. “Perhaps you should do your homework at
home and focus more on the class discussion. Is that clear?”

Suppressing giggles, both girls said in
unison, “Yes, Mrs. Roddick.”

During the rest of class Karin found she
could hardly think about anything, but Reese McKenzie
and
Marcus Payne. She wondered if Reese would ever talk to her again
should her father turn down the request to advise Marcus free of
charge.

* * *

Lesley echoed these sentiments after school.
“And if your father balks about getting Marcus out of his jam, what
then? Does Reese McKenzie go back to forgetting that you ever
existed?”

Karin gave her a sidelong glance. Lesley was
behind the wheel of the Subaru Impreza her mother bought for her
last year shortly after Lesley’s father died suddenly from a
stroke.

“Guess I’ll have to cross that bridge when I
come to it,” Karin responded testily. “It’s not as if Reese
promised to ask me out on dates if my Dad can keep Marcus Payne out
of hot water.”

“Then why even bother?” Lesley asked. “You
certainly don’t owe Reese any favors.”

“I know that. But it took courage for him to
ask for my Dad’s help, even if it was for someone else. The least I
can do is pass on the request. Whatever happens, happens.”

And just what do I expect to happen
realistically?

Probably nothing too exciting, aside from
Marcus possibly being given a second chance after a major screw up.
And maybe a “Hey,” or “What’s up, Karin,” from Reese every now and
then. That would be more than she’d gotten from him before.

Lesley turned onto Cloverdale Avenue. “Just
don’t get your hopes up that Reese McKenzie will get off his high
horse and sweep you off your feet anytime soon. Not if Cheryl has
anything to do with it.”

“Well, she doesn’t,” Karin tossed back with
annoyance. “Even if they hadn’t broken up, it doesn’t mean Cheryl
controls his life. Besides, if I’m not mistaken, aren’t you always
telling me that we shouldn’t sell ourselves short when it comes to
guys?”

Lesley laughed. “Yeah, but that didn’t mean I
thought you could actually end up dating Reese McKenzie.”

“I’m sure I won’t,” Karin uttered, glancing
out the window. But there was still a glimmer of hope.

“
Yeah. I’ve seen you around...and
noticed.”
Reese’s words played over and over in her head.

“Do you think your Dad can actually save
Marcus’s neck?” Lesley asked.

“I don’t know,” Karin said honestly.

“Take a lucky guess,” she persisted.

Karin shrugged. “Depends on whether or not he
thinks it’s worth his time to even try.”
And that could hinge on
my powers of persuasion.

Lesley pulled into the driveway behind her
mother’s Acura. “Well, I think Marcus is
hot
. So if you
happen to start dating Reese and Marcus doesn’t end up in jail,
maybe you could put in a good word for your best friend.”

“I’ll remember that.” Karin smiled. “But, as
you told me, don’t get
your
hopes up. I think Marcus has his
plate full at the moment.”

She thought it wise to keep in mind that
Reese’s plate was probably also full right now. Meaning there was
little, if any, room for her.

CHAPTER TWO

Karin lived in a two-story, stone house right
across the street from Bell Park, which made it nice when she
needed some time to herself or a place to jog. It also came in
handy whenever she and Lesley wanted to escape from their parents
or meet up with other friends.

She had barely been inside their gourmet
kitchen for a snack of crackers and a soda, when Karin’s mother
arrived home from work. Josephine Blanch was a Pilates instructor
who had the advantage of not having to work for a living, but
choosing to do so part-time as a means to stay active and in
shape.

Everyone told Karin that she looked just like
her mother. She didn’t agree. Yes, they were both tall and slender,
but Karin felt her facial features were more like her father’s.

“Hi, honey,” her mother said routinely. “How
was school?”

“Fine.” Karin thought about her talk with
Reese McKenzie, acting as a go-between for Marcus Payne, but
elected not to mention it. “Just the usual.”

Josephine noted the snack she was eating and
frowned. “Now you know you should wait till dinner is ready instead
of eating that junk food. That’s why you’re never hungry.”

“I just had a few crackers,” Karin defended
herself. “And I’m
always
hungry. I just choose to control
it. There’s a difference.”

“Well, you’re making the wrong choices, Ms.
Smarty Pants,” she contended. “And, as your mother, I won’t watch
you become rail thin, then regret it later.”

Karin wisely decided to change the subject.
Never mind that her weight had remained steady over the past year
and there was no chance of her becoming anorexic.

“When’s Daddy coming home?”

“Probably any minute now. He just called me
before I drove up and said he was on his way. By the time I get
dinner ready, I expect he’ll be sitting at the table as usual. Why
do you ask?”

Karin twisted her lips. “No real reason,” she
lied.
I need to talk to him about something that probably
wouldn’t interest you
.

“Good. Then why don’t you go do your chores
and let me cook you some real food.”

“I can hardly wait,” quipped Karin.

She went up to her room and plopped on the
bookcase bed. Chores could wait till later. Grabbing her cell
phone, she started to text Lesley, but decided she wanted to talk
instead.

“What’re you doing?” Karin asked.

“Nothing much,” Lesley replied. “Just
listening to my Mom gripe about too many bills and way too little
money to pay them.”

“So welcome to the rat race.”

“She thinks I should look for a part-time
after school job to help out.”

“Sounds like a really bad idea,” Karin said
candidly.

“I know and I told her that. She says I’m too
spoiled and need to grow up and experience more of the real
world.”

Karin scoffed. “So how much more real can it
be to lose your father so early in life and be expected to pretend
like everything is still normal?”

“Yeah,” groaned Lesley. “Speaking of fathers,
have you talked to yours about Marcus Payne yet?”

“Nope. Waiting for him to get home.”

“Well, let me know what he says as soon you
find out. It could be important for my future relationship with
Marcus. And yours with Reese.”

Karin laughed and rolled over onto her
stomach. “Now who’s jumping the gun a bit?”

“So maybe I’m a little desperate to date guys
that we can look up to for a change. Aren’t you?”

Karin sighed. Her dating experience up to
this point had been fairly limited and that was an understatement.
There was Benjy Cooper, who she had a crush on in elementary
school. Only their attempt at kissing went awry when his braces got
in the way. Then in middle school, Walter Pickford tried to be her
boyfriend, but he was more like a brother she couldn’t get along
with.

Lesley had pretty much experienced the same
bad luck when it came to guys, which made Karin empathize with her
sense of desperation at this stage of their lives.

But turning dreams into reality was a whole
different matter.

“Gotta go,” Karin said reluctantly. “My
Momma’s yelling for me to come down.”

“Are you sure it’s not
my
Mom you’re
hearing?” Lesley kidded. “Cause my ears seem to be ringing with the
same thing.”

Karin laughed, but didn’t find it funny.
“Maybe our Moms are cut from the same cloth,” she suggested. “It
could explain why we and they get along so well.” Most of the time
anyway.

Karin disconnected at about the same time she
heard her father’s car in the driveway. Suddenly her heart began to
pound, as though she would be pleading her own case to him.

* * *

After dinner, Karin found her father where
she often did: in his home office. It was not only where he worked
after hours on behalf of his firm’s clients, but also served as a
place for him to kick back and watch sports and news, or listen to
blues and jazz.

“Hey, Daddy,” Karin uttered tentatively,
resting her hands on the other side of his massive desk.

Greer Blanch looked up at her. “Hey,
baby.”

“Can I talk to you?”

He studied his daughter’s face and put his
pen down. “Of course. What is it, Karin?”

She sat down in one of the chairs usually
reserved for clients and friends.

Hope this works.
An uneasy look
crossed her face.

“I have a friend—actually, a friend of a
friend—who, um, needs some legal help.”

“Oh? What kind of legal help does this friend
of a friend need?”

Karin hesitated, wondering just how much she
should reveal. She realized that if he were to help Marcus, she
needed to be up front about everything and face the consequences
later, if there were any.

She swallowed before blurting it out. “He
drank a little too much and vandalized a house during a party last
night. Now the homeowners want to press charges against him.”

Greer’s brow furrowed. “What the hell did he
expect—them to throw him another party for doing something so
stupid?”

“I know, and I’m not excusing him for what he
did, Daddy,” Karin emphasized. She agreed with her father. But
people did make mistakes and deserved a second chance. “He’s
really
sorry for it and wants to make restitution without
getting wrapped up in the criminal justice system. He’s also a
member of the school’s basketball team,” she added as
incentive.

Her father cocked a brow. He was a big
basketball fan, having played a year at Cal State before a knee
injury ended his playing days. He had even gone to an occasional
Elmwood High Spartans game, though seemingly mostly to impress
clients.

“Who are we talking about?” Greer asked
pointedly. “I need a name.”

Karin sighed. “His name is Marcus Payne.
He’s—”

“The kid from Chicago? Yeah, I know about
him. He has a deadly jumper, but needs to work on his free throws.
And apparently his abuse of alcohol, assuming that’s all it
was.”

Karin shifted in the chair. “So will you
intervene on his behalf, Daddy?” She held her breath hopefully.
“Please—”

“I don’t come cheap,” he warned.

She cast him a worried gaze. “Marcus doesn’t
have a whole lot of money—”

“But he does have my daughter going to bat
for him.” Greer eyed her shrewdly. “Is there something you aren’t
telling me, Karin?”

“No, Daddy. I’m only doing a friend a favor.
Nothing more.”

Okay, so maybe I’m helping myself, too in
hoping that Reese and I can at least come away from this as pretty
tight, if nothing else.

“Must be a pretty good friend.”

“Not really,” she admitted. Not yet. “We see
each other in school mostly.”

“I see.” He gave her an understanding look.
“Well, why don’t you tell Mr. Payne and his parents to drop by my
office. Maybe we can work something out that will be agreeable to
all parties.”

“Oh, thank you, Daddy.” Karin grinned.

“Better hold those thanks till we see the
outcome,” he warned.

“Outcome of what?” Karin’s mother asked as
she entered the room.

Karin looked at her father, hoping he would
keep this between them.

No such luck.

“Karin has a friend of a friend who’s made a
bit of trouble for himself,” Greer told his wife.

“You mean a friend of Lesley’s?” Josephine
asked, as if she couldn’t imagine it being anyone that Karin
knew.

“What makes you think that?” Karin challenged
her mother.

“Because, other than you, it’s her friends
who seem to attract trouble like a magnet.”

“That’s not true,” Karin said. Maybe a
little, she conceded. But mostly just family and school stuff. Not
drunkenness and certainly not destruction of property.

Josephine gazed down at her. “So who’s this
friend? And what does he need your father for?”

Karin looked to him and could tell that he
was mildly curious about the friend, too, but had been willing to
leave it at that for now. Till her mother took the lead, as
usual.

“If you must know, his name’s Reese McKenzie.
He’s on the school basketball team.”

“And he’s a damn good point guard at that,”
Greer declared with a grin. “It looks like our daughter is moving
up in the world with her circle of friends.”

Josephine frowned. “Since when?”

“Since today,” Karin said tersely. “It’s no
big deal.”

“It sounds like one to me, if you never
bothered to mention it—or him—before now.”

“Which only proves my point,” she shot
back.

Josephine dismissed this and turned to her
husband. “So what’s going on, Greer? What type of trouble has this
boy dragged your daughter into?”

Karin bit her lip, wondering why everything
always had to be so difficult when it came to her mother. Her mind
drifted to Reese and she smiled dreamily.

CHAPTER THREE

The following day, Karin looked for Reese at
school to relay the message from her father and was told she would
find him in the gym. She went in and saw that the team was
practicing and working out. Reese was running in place as if he had
run into a brick wall and Marcus was on the other end of the court
shooting free throws. Coach Cleaver, a heavy man with a graying
horseshoe-shaped hairline, was barking out orders to anyone who
would listen.

Maybe I should just wait till later
.
Wouldn’t want to interrupt their practice.

She was about to leave when Reese called out,
“Hey, Karin, wait up—”