If I Were Your Boyfriend (38 page)

"
t's about time you came around to your dang senses." I was dribbling a basketball while standing beneath one of the hoops in the gymnasium. I'd just asked Ed Daley to let me know the time and location of Liz's next party. "I thought they'd completely fried your brain. You were really creeping me out talking about how you'd changed. At one point you got on my nerves so bad that I was planning on kicking your—"

  "Whatever, man," I interrupted Ed midsentence. "You can just call it temporary insanity or something. I really want and need to party. I'm all stressed out."

  "I'll bet you are. I heard about that girl Keysha setting your house on fire. What kind of crazy chicks are you hooked up with?" Ed asked. I wanted to correct him, but I decided not to, especially if he honestly thought Keysha set my house on fire. I could use his ignorance to my advantage.

  "Yeah, man. That's why I need to get high. I need to just forget about that crazy girl and what she's done. My dad is talking about pressing charges against her," I lied.

"Really?"

"Yeah."

  Ed leaned in closer to me and began to whisper so no one would hear him. "Well, you should because according to Liz, Keysha's attorney has summoned her to court. Keysha is trying to say that Liz planted the drugs on her. Can you believe that?"

  "No, that's hard to believe," I lied.

  "Well, believe it. Liz is highly ticked off about it. She says that she plans on destroying and humiliating her in front of everyone." I was silent for a moment as I processed what Ed had just said. I was also thinking of ways to use it to my advantage.

  "How does she plan on humiliating her?" I asked.

  "I don't know. You know Liz is creative. She'll come up with something that's brilliant."

  "Has Liz been asking about me since I was gone?" I asked.

  "Now, you know that she has. She's all irritated that you won't party with us and she's been calling you a Goody Two-shoes and a punk ever since you started hanging with that Keysha chick."

  "A punk." I didn't like being considered a punk.

  "That's what she's been calling you," Ed reiterated.

  "Well, when I see Liz, I'm going to let her know that the old Wesley is back. And if she calls me a punk while I'm standing in front of her, I'll make her regret it." I was bluffing but Ed understood where I was coming from. "So, when are we going to celebrate my return, Ed? I want to do something wild like get completely smashed and then go out in my dad's car and smoke the tires by doing doughnut circles in the school parking lot. We need to get back to doing all of the fun stuff we used to do," I said, filling my voice with enthusiasm and using my hands to express how much I wanted to do something reckless.

  "That's what I'm talking about." Ed knuckled up his fist and lightly punched my shoulder. "The old Wesley is back."

  "Yeah!" I said, shouting out. "I just want to party and release all of my pent-up stress and anxiety. I know Liz has to have something coming up."

  "Yeah, she does." Ed smiled. "And I know for a fact she'd love to see you come and hang out."

  "Well, stop being so secretive, man. Give me the details. When is the party and where is it at?"

  "Calm down. You sound like some eighth grader who has never been to a party before," Ed teased me.

  "Shut up!" I flinched as if I were about to punch him out for calling me an eighth grader.

  "Okay, here is the real deal. You remember Neophus, don't you?" Ed asked.

  "Yeah, that's Liz's contact, right?" I wanted to make sure that Neophus was the person Liz got all of her drugs and alcohol from.

  "Yeah. He's throwing a birthday celebration for himself at his house in two days. He's asked Liz to make sure that there were plenty of clients who wanted to have a good time, if you know what I mean."

  "Yeah, we're going to be partying like a rock star, dog!" I behaved as if I were superexcited. "Come on, Ed, get me hooked up, man." I slapped Ed's chest with the back of my hand.

  "Nope. You've got to hook your own self up on this party," Ed informed me. "I know Liz wants to party with you again because she's said it. So what I suggest you do is find her and ask her for all of the details. I'm pretty sure she'll be glad to hook you up, but since this is something big for Neophus, you need to go directly to her. She may want to do a different party with you."

  "Okay, that makes sense," I said. "I know I'll see her at some point later on today. I'll pull her to the side and talk to her at that time."

  "Oh, one more thing. Don't let her know that I told you about the party. She's only telling certain people about it."

  "Cool," I answered just as the bell rang.

  I had a permission slip to travel through the hallway from my English class to the resource center where I was planning to take a make-up test. As I exited the hallway, which was lined with blue lockers, I ran into Liz as she was coming out of the bathroom.

  "What's up, Liz?" I said as I walked up to her.

  "What's going on, Wesley?" She looked at me suspiciously. "I didn't think I'd ever see the day you'd start talking to me again."

  "What are you talking about?" I played dumb. "You're my girl. How is your mom doing?"

  "She hasn't changed. She's never around— You haven't been acting like your old self lately. I heard you were spending time at the library trying to get all bookwormed out."

  "I was suffering from temporary insanity." I downplayed my frequent visits to the library.

  "So, what's up with that twisted and demented girl Keysha I've seen you around with?" Liz asked.

  "Nothing," I answered.

  "Yeah, right." Liz didn't believe me.

  "Hey, there isn't anything between us. She's just some girl I was tying to kick it with, but she isn't giving it up like I thought she would." A sinister grin formed on Liz's face.

  "So you couldn't get it either?" She laughed and I felt a chill wash over me.

  "Nope. She has her stuff on lockdown. Maximum security—you know what I'm saying?" She laughed again.

  "So, why are you suddenly talking to me again, Wesley?" Liz captured my gaze and I knew what she was waiting to hear.

  "Come on, you know why." I continued to play dumb.

  "No, I don't, boo." Liz wanted a direct answer from me.

  "You know being locked up in juvie kind of messed up my head a little bit. They had me sitting with counselors trying to get me to talk about my feelings and why I was locked up. It was so damn lame but I had to play the role in order to get out. Because if I didn't the judge would've kept me detained and I just wasn't feeling that."

  "What was it like for you in there?" she asked.

  "Jacked up," I answered honestly. "The officers were constantly trying to get inside my head."

  "So they got to you?" Liz asked.

  "They tried but I outfoxed them."

  "Oh, okay," Liz said, seeming to understand.

  "Say, now that I'm back to my old self—" I leaned toward Liz so that my voice wouldn't carry "—do you have something on you right now?" I asked. Liz snickered at me.

  "No, fool." Liz quickly searched our surroundings looking for any hall monitor that might be approaching.

  "Liz. It's me. Your boy, Wesley. I need something bad. I'm back to my old self and I need to get my head back to where it was. Those people in juvie had my thinking all twisted up in knots. Now everything is cool and I'm telling you that I need something to get me through the rest of the afternoon."

  "I told you. I don't have anything on me."

"No wine cooler, no small bottle of gin? No Ecstasy?"

"Dude, I'm telling you. I don't have anything like that."

  "Okay," I said, not pressing the issue. I gave her a look of disappointment

  "I tell you what. There is an intimate gathering in about two days. I'm only allowing certain people that I know and trust to come to it."

  "How many people will there be?" I asked.

  "Trust me, there will be enough people."

  "So, are you going to let me in on this great secret or what?" I asked. Liz smiled at me.

  "You are so cute." She caressed my face with the palm of her hand. "When are you going to stop fronting and start expressing your true feelings for me?"

  "Liz, you know that I've always liked you," I lied again in order to gain her trust. That was the trust connection between Liz and me. At one point we were both attracted to each other and shared some special moments.

  "Do you remember the time that you and I drove into the city and took a stroll along the lakefront?"

  "Yeah, I remember. It was you, the entire crew and I. We had a good time."

  "I'm not talking about the crew, Wesley. I'm talking about how you and I shared a little time together. I liked the way you kissed me." She placed her index finger on my lips. "Do you remember that kiss, Wesley?"

  I wanted to forget that we ever shared an intimate moment but I couldn't.

  "Yeah, I remember that," I said.

  "Our kiss was electric. No one has ever kissed me the way that you did."

  I licked my lips. I got a charge out of hearing that. Liz was stroking my ego and I couldn't help but get excited about my kissing prowess. My body was suddenly deceiving me by sending out signals of readiness.

  "So you were feeling that kiss?" My ego was now talking and it was clouding my judgment.

  "Yes, do you think I can get another one?"

  I licked my lips again. "Yeah, we can make that happen."

  "I want you to kiss me now." She stepped closer to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. She craned her neck toward me and I felt myself going with the moment.

  "I've missed you, Wesley," she whispered.

  In my mind I didn't want to kiss Liz, but my body was aching for attention and it didn't care where it came from. I justified the desires of my body by telling myself that I needed to play along with her in order to get her to trust me enough to tell me about how she'd set up Keysha.

  "Kiss me like you mean it," Liz said as more of a demand than a request as she pressed her body against me. Just as our lips were about to meet, we were interrupted by Mr. Sanders, one of the guidance counselors.

  "Don't you two have some place you should be?" he asked.

  "Yes," I quickly answered him.

  "Damn, he is everywhere. You owe me," Liz whispered as we gathered our composure.

  "We can discuss it over a pint some time," I whispered back.

  "Check your e-mail later tonight. I'll send you an address, a date and time to a party in two days. Make sure you're there," she said, and then continued on her way.