Robyn (9 page)

The next morning I rolled out of bed without a purpose. I didn’t have to go to work. Mom had taken care of the dust bunnies a few days ago so I was pretty sure none had multiplied since then — and if they had, well, I wasn’t going to go looking for them.

So I had the whole day to myself and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with it. I almost always hung out with Caitlin. Usually at the mall, sometimes at a movie, occasionally in her bedroom scouring through all her teen mags for the answers to life’s toughest questions. Like how to give yourself a professional-looking pedicure in ten minutes
or how to lessen the sting when plucking your eyebrows. Not that I was plucking my eyebrows yet, but when I was ready, I’d be prepared.

So I stumbled around my room getting dressed. I was sure Mom had already left for work. When I was dressed, with my hair clipped in back, I walked to the window and just looked outside. Caitlin’s house was two streets over. Since my bedroom was on the second floor, I had no problem seeing the roof of her house.

What really bothered me was that I was wondering what Sean was doing today. He wasn’t working either. I guess he was going to take Caitlin to the water park and then either hang around there or go home. I wondered if I’d gone if he would have hung around with me. Probably not. But I was a little interested in knowing what might have happened if Whitney wasn’t around.

He and I had been getting along fine at the ballpark, talking and everything until Whitney showed up. If she hadn’t shown
up would he have still sat on the quilt with us? Would it have been like he was there with me?

I was still looking out the window when a car caught my eye. A white car. No, not a car. A limo. What was a limo doing on our street?

It came to a stop in front of our house and my heart nearly stopped. What if it was Stacy and Clinton from
What Not to Wear
? What if Mom and I were going to get a clothing makeover? Or maybe it was someone coming to make over the house?

A front door opened and a man — - dressed like a chauffeur in a movie — got out and walked around to a back door. He opened it —

All the while I was holding my breath. I had a feeling our lives were about to change —

And then Whitney stepped out.

Whitney? In a limo?

She walked toward the door. I was too stunned to move. The doorbell rang. This was just too much.

It rang again.

She was probably expecting my butler to answer the door.

I hurried down the stairs, then wondered why I was rushing for her. What was it about her that made people respond like she was a princess or something? I slowed my step, then my curiosity spiraled and I found myself hurrying once again. I opened the door.

“Hey,” Whitney said brightly.

“You drive around in a limo?”

She laughed, like she was embarrassed. “What? Oh, yeah, that. My dad had to work today so he rented a limo for me. It’s no big deal. He’s feeling guilty. Do you want to ride around in it?”

“Uh …” Did I? Maybe. “I don’t know. How’d you know where I live?”

“I asked Mr. T.”

“And he just gave you my information?”

“Well, uh, yeah. See, helping with those parties over the weekend just really put me in a party mood, and I thought it would be great fun to have an employee get-together
after work Sunday night. And I told him you’d help me plan it, so” — she lifted her shoulders — “will you?”

“You volunteered me without asking me?” Did she think everyone did what she wanted? I wasn’t Sean, who was wrapped around her finger.

“I thought you’d want to. Why wouldn’t you?”

She seemed completely baffled.

“Shouldn’t you have asked me first, though?”

“Well, I would have if I’d known it was such a big deal. I just figured you’d want to help with a party. Who doesn’t want to help? But if you don’t, I can tell Mr. T you weren’t interested. I can do it by myself.”

It was a little sad that she’d come to me. We weren’t really friends. Did she even have any friends?

“I might be interested. I have to think about it. Do you want to come in?”

“That’d be great. Thanks.” Whitney looked back over her shoulder and waved.
“Just letting David know that I’m coming in.”

“Who’s David?” I asked.

“The chauffeur. He has to stay with the car.”

Whitney walked inside and looked around. I didn’t want to look at my house through her eyes. It was mostly decorated with stuff from Target, but Mom always pronounced it Tarjay — like it was French and fancy. I wasn’t totally convinced that all Whitney’s stuff were really knockoffs. And now that she’d arrived in a limo —

My stomach rumbled. I felt the embarrassment warm my cheeks. “I haven’t had breakfast yet. I was going to make a peanut butter sandwich.”

“For breakfast?”

“My culinary skills are limited. Do you want a sandwich?”

“No thanks, but you go ahead. I’ve never seen one being made.”

“You’re kidding?”

“No, we eat out a lot. It’s just my dad and
me since Mom died, and Mom never cooked either, so …”

While she rambled, I led her back to the kitchen.

“Nice house,” Whitney said.

Was she actually giving compliments? This was really a little weird.

When we got to the kitchen, she sat at the counter and I grabbed all the sandwich makings. “So what does your dad do?”

“Oh, you know. He’s involved in some business. Boring stuff. I don’t pay much attention.”

After I finished making my sandwich, I offered Whitney something to drink, but she wasn’t interested. I poured myself some milk and sat at the counter. “I just realized that I don’t even know where you go to school.”

“It’s a private school. Very private. You’ve probably never heard of it. So are your parents around?”

“It’s just me and Mom. Dad left when I was little. I don’t even know him.”

“Oh, gosh, sorry. What a jerk! My dad’s okay. Just overprotective.”

“Mom’s pretty neat. She’s at work right now, though.”

I couldn’t believe that Whitney and I were actually talking like normal people. She was revealing things about herself. Not in great detail, but I was getting a glimpse into her life.

“So will you help me plan the party?” she asked.

“You want to plan a party for all the employees?”

“Well, duh, yeah. I don’t want anyone feeling left out.”

“Do you have any idea how many employees there are?”

“Two hundred and forty-five.”

“You know the exact number?”

She looked guilty about something, like she was trying to think of the answer. “Well, yeah. I mean, I asked Mr. T.”

“Where could you have a party for that many people?”

“At the water park. After it closes.” She leaned forward. “Look, all we have to do is come up with a list of things that we want to happen. I’ll give the list to Mr. T. His staff will take care of it. It’s not like we have to actually
do
anything.”

Again, it seemed odd that she’d come to me.

“Anything we want?” I asked.

“Look, it’s like my dad always says, you always reach as far as you can. If you don’t make it, you’re still farther along than you would have been if you didn’t reach at all. Corny, I know, but his point is, we ask for everything we want. We might not get it. We probably won’t get it. But even if we don’t, we still have something. So are you in or not?”

I couldn’t think of a reason not to be.

“I’m in!”

*  *  *  

We spent an hour at the counter tossing ideas back and forth. Whitney knew a lot — I mean, a
lot
— about the park and how it
operated. She knew the things we could use without too much hassle — like all the water stuff that just needed lifeguards, not attendants. There wouldn’t be lifeguards on duty, but since we were all essentially lifeguards, we didn’t need any on duty. We didn’t want anyone having to work. And food. The dishes that were easy to prepare. Things that could just be set up — like the ice-cream and drink carts — that we could just take things from. I was amazed by her knowledge. I’d been going to the park as a guest for a few years and there were things I hadn’t noticed.

“It just seems boring,” she said.

“How can it be boring?” I asked. “We’ll have a chance to play, to go down slides without getting yelled at.”

“Still I want something different. Something … I don’t know. Exciting. Something that’s never been done at the park before.”

“Like what?”

“If I knew, then I’d know.”

She wasn’t much help. But then maybe she didn’t think I was either. She was scribbling on a pad of paper, then she stopped, looked at me. “My dad goes driving when he has a problem he needs to figure out. So, you want to take a drive in the limo?”

Okay, it might be geeky but I really did want to ride around in the limo.

“I’d love to.”

I called Mom at work and told her what was going on. She was okay with it.

The inside of the limo was spacious, luxurious. Lots of leg room. The seats were leather. The windows were tinted. We could see out, but no one could see in. Whitney reached into a little fridge and handed me a soda.

This definitely wasn’t a knockoff.

She told the driver to start driving until she figured out where she wanted to go. It was such a smooth ride.

“Wow,” I said, totally amazed. “This is really awesome.”

“A sports car would be more fun. Anyway, what can we do that’s different?”

I took a sip of the cola. Shook my head. “I don’t know.”

“Money’s no object.”

I laughed. “You think the park owners are going to want to spend a lot of money on this?”

“I just mean that we can think big, not worry about cost, and the owners can say no. Or not. Who knows? They might surprise us.”

“I can’t think of anything different. When I’m at the park, I like to play in the water. And we’ll be doing that.”

“True. But think big, different. Bold.”

I looked out the window. We passed a movie theater. Maybe when Whitney got tired of playing party planner, I’d go to a movie. Alone. Gag. Then something started teasing me.

“Okay,” I said. “I might have an idea.”

“Spill it.”

“Well, it’s kinda out there.”

“Robyn — reach!”

“Okay. Okay.” I was used to Caitlin being the one with the ideas, the one who said what we did, when we did it. This was a little scary, which was silly really. The worst she could do was laugh.

“What if we showed a movie?”

“I don’t get it,” Whitney said. “Like in the little theater they use for talent shows every now and then? What’s special about that?”

“No, not indoors. Outdoors. Like when they used to have drive-in theaters. But this would be a
float
-in theater.”

“I still don’t get it.”

I was doing a lousy job of explaining.

“Well, you know that big white wall behind Tsunami?”

“Yeah.”

“We could set up a projector on the roof of the pavilion across from it and show a movie on that wall. Have people in inner tubes in the pool area, not run the waves of course, or maybe we would — I don’t know.
But we could do a movie like
Jaws
or
Open Water
— kinda like, not only watch it but experience it.”

Whitney smiled. “That’s not a bad idea. As a matter of fact, it could be genius. I mean, if it works for the employees, then maybe we could have a movie night for guests — something special. I like it. I’ll talk to my dad about it,” Whitney said.

“Why would your dad care?” I asked.

“Oh, he wouldn’t, but he does a lot of business stuff, so maybe he’ll have an idea about it, can tell me how to pitch it so the TPTB are convinced.”

“You really think they’ll go for it?”

“Most definitely,” Whitney said. “Trust me. I always get what I want.”

The next morning on the ride into work, I told Sean and Caitlin all about the party. I was pretty pumped, talking like I’d had way too much caffeine. Whitney had called me last night to let me know that the party had been approved and that they were even looking into my movie idea.

“Can you believe it?” I asked. “Whitney says that if the float-in movie works for the party, they might even do it as a special night at the park for guests.”

“Do you know how many times you’ve mentioned her name since you got in the car?” Caitlin asked.

“Well, she’s part of this. I mean, we planned this together.”

“Didn’t I tell you that you’d like Whitney?” Sean said, grinning.

“I don’t know if I’d go that far. Well, maybe I would. She seemed so different yesterday. Well, except for the whole limo experience.”

“I can’t believe you went driving around in a limo and didn’t call me,” Caitlin said.

“You were busy.”

“Still.”

When we got to the water park, Caitlin and I hung back while Sean hurried to get to work. He had another supervisors’ meeting, which worked for Caitlin and me because it gave us a chance to talk.

“So how were things with Tanner yesterday?” I asked.

“Awesome.” She grinned broadly. “He gave me a ride home.”

“Did he kiss you?”

“No, but I think he wants to. Or at least I want him to. I found out he plays on his
high school football team so he can only work through July — then he’ll have to start practice.”

“So that’s the reason he looks so strong.”

“Yeah,” she said, bobbing her head. “Because he’s really a jock. Pretty cool, huh?”

“Very cool.”

When we got to the employee locker rooms, we discovered flyers announcing
EMPLOYEE GET ACQUAINTED NIGHT
taped to every locker.

“Wow! Whitney works fast,” Caitlin said, taking the flyer off her locker. “I really hope this gives me a chance to hang out with Tanner when he’s not working.”

Caitlin and I had always hung out at the water park together. I couldn’t imagine going through the park, rushing down the slides, experiencing all the thrills and spills that the park had to offer without her. But I guess it was only fair — things between us were changing a little. Me missing lunch. Me hanging out with Whitney.

“So you and Tanner — you like each other that much already? I mean, to hang out together, for the whole night?”

“Yeah. I think so. Or at least that’s what I’m planning on.”

Which meant I had to find a guy to hang out with — and quick.

*  *  *  

“Okay, we need to stop by the mall on the way home,” Caitlin said after we got in the car. It was Saturday evening after work and the big bash was tomorrow. “Employee Get Acquainted Night — I need a new bathing suit.”

“I thought you just bought one,” Sean said.

“I did, but I need another one.”

“Caitlin —”

“Come on, Sean. It’ll be almost eight thirty when we get there, so I’ll be forced to shop fast. It’s thirty minutes out of your life.”

He grumbled some more, before agreeing to take us to the mall. As we drove, I
wondered where Caitlin got the energy to go shopping. I was exhausted. Maybe it was more tiring watching little kids all day instead of cute guys. And in typical Caitlin fashion, she’d figured if she needed to shop for a bathing suit, I did, too.

For most of lunch, Whitney and I had listened to Caitlin talking about how much she liked Tanner, every cute thing that he did, and how she planned to spend time with him during the employee bash. I was glad he was showing interest in her. Really, I was. But how many different ways could you say a guy was cute?

The good thing, if there was a good thing, was that Caitlin and Whitney weren’t being catty toward each other anymore. I couldn’t tell if they really liked each other yet, but at least they weren’t putting each other down.

When we got to the mall, Sean parked near the main entrance. As we walked inside, Sean said, “Call me when you’re ready. I’ll be at the food court.”

“Oh, that sounds so good,” I said, without thinking.

Caitlin looked at me like I’d just told her the mall had disappeared. She’s a shop-till-she-drops kind of girl. Usually I am, too, but tonight I was tired, hungry, and didn’t need a bathing suit.

“What about the employee party?” she asked.

“I’ve got something to wear.”

She pulled me aside. “That night is our chance —”

“I know, but I’m tired
and
hungry.”

“Fine. I’ll meet y’all at the food court.”

She headed off and I felt the need to yell an apology after her. Then I realized it was just Sean and me. I had an urge to run after her then. I’d responded from survival instincts — wanting to eat. And now —

Sean was looking at me like it had just dawned on him that I was joining him at the food court and he didn’t know what to do with me.

“We should probably get up there before they start shutting down,” he said.

“Yeah.”

Okay, it was just Sean, Caitlin’s brother. It wasn’t like he was on my “Top Ten Guys” list.

Although he certainly could be. Quite honestly, I was a little confused about how I was feeling about him these days. I was thinking about him way too much.

We took the escalators to the second floor and the food court. We parted ways. He went to the left, I went to the right. We both ended up standing in line for quick Chinese. After we got our food — he went with a noodle bowl, I went with fried rice — we sat at a table at the edge of the food court.

“I like to people-watch,” he said.

“Usually I like to shop,” I said, which I guess made me one of the people he might have watched. “But I’m so tired.”

“Caitlin has some sort of crazy shopping gene,” he said.

I tried not to stare at him; it was really weird sitting here with him and almost talking like two people who liked each other.

“So, really, how do you like working at the park?” he asked.

“Really?”

He grinned, nodded, before using chopsticks to gather up his noodles. I’d never mastered the use of chopsticks, which made me feel self-conscious as I used my fork.

“It’s not nearly as exciting as I thought it would be. I’m really just standing around watching people.”

“It’s definitely more fun to be a guest.”

“How do you like being a supervisor?”

“It’s harder than I thought — especially when I have to get after someone for misbehaving. I never realized how many people goof off.”

“People like Whitney?”

“She’s doing better.”

He was always defending her. “Do you like her?” I asked.

“Well, yeah, don’t you?”

Guys can be so dense. “I meant, like, you know. Girlfriend, like.”

He laughed. “What is it with you and Caitlin? Always trying to figure out who I like.”

“
Is
there someone you like?” I asked.

He poked his noodles. “Yeah, there is.”

I didn’t know why I was disappointed to hear that.

“Do I know her?”

He looked up, held my gaze. “Yeah, I think you do.”

“Are you going to tell me who?” I asked.

“I don’t think so. At least not yet. So, is there someone you like?” he asked.

Okay, this was weird. It was like a question Caitlin would ask, something I’d tell her. Not something I’d tell her older brother, who also happened to be my supervisor.

“I like a lot of people,” I said.

“Not fair. I confessed.”

“You didn’t confess. You hinted.”

He went back to eating his noodles. I went back to eating my rice.

What had we been doing? Talking, sure, but it seemed like there was more to it. Maybe a little
what
? Flirting?

No, we were just killing time.

“Hey, guys,” Caitlin said, dropping down in a chair between us.

Sean and I both jumped, like maybe we’d been doing something we weren’t supposed to.

“I found the cutest red bikini,” Caitlin said.

“You’ve got a red bathing suit,” Sean said.

“That’s my uniform. It doesn’t count. You just so don’t get it.”

He’d finished off his noodles, and I was stuffed. They announced that the mall would be closing in five minutes.

“Guess we’d better go,” Sean said.

We tossed our trash. He was walking
ahead of us as we went toward the exit. Caitlin opened her bag.

“Look, isn’t it the cutest?”

I know she was talking about the bathing suit, like I could really see what it looked like, folded up at the bottom of the bag.

But when I said, “Yes, totally cute,” I didn’t think I was talking about the bikini. I thought maybe I was talking about her brother.