Rotten Apple (10 page)

“Well, I’ve got more schoolwork to do,” Apple said, “See ya!” She headed up to her room.

What had she done? How was it possible for her to make so many wrong turns in one day? There was nothing for Apple to do now but wait. Wait to see if Zen broke his date with Happy. And, if he didn’t, wait to see if Happy followed her awful advice. She also had to wait to see if she would get caught having snuck into her mother’s e-mail. And, worst of all, she would have to wait to see, if the date did in fact happen, if it turned out to be a good date, where the conversation flowed effortlessly, they made each other laugh, and, gulp, they couldn’t keep their hands off each other.

t 10 p.m. on Friday night, Apple found herself sitting next to Brooklyn on a beanbag chair at Club Rox. Guy had driven her there, after dropping by the house to pick up some work. Apple had had butterflies in her stomach all week. For most of the week, in fact, she had felt like lying under her covers in bed and never coming out. And now that it was Friday, she was in pure obsession mode. It was good for her to be out, she thought. It was good that Zen hadn’t seemed to tell Happy about her telling him about the lifeguard fling. At least, Apple thought, being out with Brooklyn will hopefully help me keep my mind off Zen and Happy, who are on their date right now. The club was packed, teeming with students. Her mother had some event that night, and her dad had gone to the club with some of his co-workers. God only knew where Aunt Hazel was. Or with whom.

Apple sipped on a rum and Coke, thanks to Brooklyn’s foresight. They had poured it into their Cokes under the
table. Apple was impressed. Not only had Brooklyn managed to sneak out of her house from under the watchful eyes of the Helicopter, she had managed to steal a bottle of rum on her way out. It was exactly what Apple needed. She wasn’t a drinker, but she wanted to at least try to shut her brain off. She wanted to try to have fun. And if she had to get drunk to do it…

Apple couldn’t help but think, at that point, that Happy and Zen had been on their date for almost two hours. She looked at her watch. Yup. Two and a half hours now.

“I bet it’s going well,” Brooklyn said. “Don’t you think it is?”

Apple knew Brooklyn was talking about Happy and Zen’s date. Like her mother, Brooklyn was always optimistic about love.

“Probably,” Apple answered. “What could go wrong?”

“Right! It’s Happy after all. Everything always works out for Happy,” Brooklyn said. “She puts out good vibes into the world.” It was all Apple could do to grunt out a response. She was here to have fun and keep her mind off The Date, not here to talk about it all night.

“So, see any cute boys?” Apple asked Brooklyn, scanning the room, trying to get out of the conversation.

“I see a few,” Brooklyn answered, nodding her head toward a guy standing by a wall alone. “What do you think about him?”

“Not my type,” Apple answered. “He’s wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt. I think he’s way more your type, Brooklyn.”

She knew her only
type
was Zen, but she couldn’t exactly say that to Brooklyn. She didn’t even know why she had such a huge crush on him and had for so long. She just knew that
she did. Apple didn’t think she could ever be attracted to a guy who wasn’t Zen. She had invested so much time into liking Zen and obsessing about him from afar that she hadn’t even thought about other guys in years.

“Brooklyn, I think that guy is staring at you right now,” Apple said. “And it looks kind of like he has a yoga body, too.”

“Where? Where?” Brooklyn asked.

“That guy you pointed out standing alone by the wall!” Apple said, and Brooklyn slyly looked over.

“He’s kind of cute, isn’t he?” Brooklyn asked, after furtively checking him out again while pretending to look for someone she knew in the club.

“He is,” Apple agreed.

“I think he’s checking
you
out, not me,” Brooklyn said.

“Um, no. He’s definitely checking
you
out. You should go talk to him,” Apple suggested.

“No, I can’t leave you. Hey, I think I hear your phone ringing,” Brooklyn said. “It’s definitely not mine. Remember? The Helicopter took it away.”

Apple looked into her bag, which was on a low table in front of them. Brooklyn bopped her head to the loud music.

“Hello?” Apple yelled over the noise, holding a hand over her other ear. “Happy? Is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me! Are you guys still out? Where are you? At Rox? I can barely hear you. I’m coming to meet you guys now,” she heard Happy say.

“What?” Apple screamed.

“I SAID I’M COMING TO MEET YOU!” Happy screamed into her ear. “I’ll be there in about twenty minutes. Sailor’s just leaving the house now, so she’ll drop me off. See you soon!”

Apple closed her phone and put it back into her bag.

“That was Happy?” Brooklyn asked.

“Yup. She’s coming to meet us,” Apple said, taking a long sip of her drink. When had she become so nervous about seeing her best friend?

“Cool! Wait. It’s only twenty to eleven.” Brooklyn said, looking at her watch. “Do you think that means her date was crappy or something?”

“I don’t know,” Apple said. “I guess we’ll find out soon.”

“Oh, God. I really hope it didn’t go badly. I really think Happy likes him. I hope she’s okay,” Brooklyn said, twisting her hair around her fingers viciously. It was what Brooklyn did when she was nervous and there were no yoga mats around.

“I’m sure she’s fine. It’s Happy! Happy never has a bad time,” Apple said, trying to sound convincing. “Like you said, she has good vibes.”

“You’re right. You’re right. She’ll be here soon and will tell us everything.”

Almost exactly twenty minutes later, they saw Happy saunter in. Apple couldn’t help but notice all the guys studying her as she walked by them. That was the effect Happy’s look had on strangers. She was like Moses parting the Red Sea.

“Hey!” Happy said, lightheartedly, taking a seat on the beanbag. “This place is crazy! Apple, you look
pretty. Hey, are you drunk?” Happy asked. “Your eyes are so red.”

“Thanks. And, yes, I think I may be a little drunk. So, how did the date go? Where did he take you? What did you guys do? Did you have fun?” Apple asked, hating herself for sounding so, well, so much like her nosy mother.

“It was fine,” Happy said. “It was fun. We had a good time.”

“Fine? Fine? What does ‘fine’ mean?” Brooklyn pressed.

“It was fine, that’s what I mean. It was fine,” Happy repeated, shrugging her shoulders.

Brooklyn and Apple exchanged looks. Usually Happy was so open and willing to talk about the details of every aspect of her life. Happy was like the guests on
Queen of Hearts with Dr. Bee Bee Berg
. She had no problem sharing the most intimate details of her life, especially not with her two best friends. She even liked shocking her friends with her antics.

“Come on, guys! Don’t look at each other like that,” Happy said. “I’m sitting right here! I can see you!”

“Okay,” said Apple carefully. “So what exactly did you guys do?”

“We went to dinner and walked around and went for a coffee,” Happy said. “God, the music is rocking tonight. Anyone up for some dancing? Because I know I am.”

“Wait,” Apple said, grabbing her friend’s arm. Happy had stood up, ready to hit the dance floor. “So was dinner good?”

She knew, from being a private person herself, when someone didn’t want to talk, and yet she couldn’t stop pressing Happy for information. She felt the way she imagined her mother must feel when she pressed Apple for answers. It was frustrating not to get answers, especially detailed answers.

“It was fine, like I said,” Happy responded, starting to shake her hips to the beat of the music.

Apple knew the date with Zen couldn’t have been that good if all Happy would say was that it was “fine.” Fine was not good. She knew that something must have gone wrong, and that Happy didn’t want to talk about it. She wondered if Happy had followed her advice and had spent dinner complimenting and flattering Zen, something Apple knew made him very uncomfortable. She wondered if Happy had made a fool of herself by “flirting mercilessly” like she had suggested while pretending to be Dr. Bee Bee Berg responding to Happy’s e-mail.

“I’m going to the dance floor,” Happy said. “Are you guys coming with me or not? I just feel the need to dance.”

“I’m in,” said Brooklyn. “This guy has been checking me out, and I think he may follow us.”

“I think I’m going to go home, actually,” Apple said. She felt so woozy suddenly that she wondered if it was going to be possible for her stand up, let alone dance.

“Don’t go! I just got here,” Happy said, pouting at her friend and grabbing her arm. “Let’s dance! Sailor told me the Fire Room is so freaking cool, all painted in flames. We should go check it out. And then we’ll go to the Ice Room, where they have these huge ice sculptures.”

“No, I think I really am coming down with something. I feel a bit woozy. I should go and get some rest,” Apple said.

“That’s the rum talking. You drank quite a bit, you know,” Brooklyn said.

“Yeah, silly,” Happy said, laughing. “You’re drunk!”

“Well, drunk or not, I’m not feeling great. So I’m going to head home. But you guys stay. Stay and have a good time! I have to go out and help with the clothing drive tomorrow, and I should sleep this off.” She could hear herself slurring her words. “Hey, Happy. You want me to ask Zen anything for you? He’ll be there tomorrow too.”

I’m definitely drunk, Apple thought. She had gone from not wanting to meddle in anyone’s life to actually offering to meddle.

“Nah, that’s okay. Oh, but Apple?” Happy said, grabbing Apple’s hand.

“Yeah?” Apple asked. Maybe now Happy was going to tell her what had really happened on the date. That it had been a total failure and that she felt like an idiot for thinking she might ever really like Zen.

“There’s something you should know,” Happy said. “Do you think you’ll remember what I tell you now, or should I wait for tomorrow?”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Happy! I’m not
that
drunk!”

Apple instantly felt paranoid. Did Zen mention to Happy on their date what Apple had told him about Happy’s fling with the lifeguard?

“Just tell me,” Apple pressed.

“I wrote an e-mail to your mother asking her for advice,” Happy said.

Oh, Apple thought. Phew. Happy
didn’t
know that she had told Zen about the lifeguard. “Why? And when?” she asked, even though she knew the answer.

“When I got home tonight. I just thought you should know, since I know how much you hate that I think she’s good at giving out advice,” Happy said, looking slightly guilty.

“Just tonight? After your date?” Apple asked, bewildered.

“Yeah, to tell you the truth, I’m not that confident the date was all that great. So I really needed an expert’s opinion. I hope you don’t mind,” Happy said. “It just seemed like such an easy thing to do. And she is an expert, after all. And I didn’t want to ask you again, to ask Zen about it. You’ve already done so much for me.”

“No, I don’t mind,” Apple told her friend. “If you think it will make you feel better.”

“Thanks, Apple, for understanding,” Happy said appreciatively, giving Apple a huge hug.

Happy’s date must have really gone awry if she felt it necessary to go to Apple’s mother for advice—again.

“I understand. So why aren’t you confident?” Apple asked Happy, with concern. “It couldn’t have been that bad.”

“I don’t want to discuss it here. Some other time I’ll tell you. For now I just want to dance. Let’s go, Brooklyn.”

Apple hugged her two friends goodbye. She was shocked to realize that she was smiling as she walked out of Club Rox. She got into a cab that was waiting out front and gave the driver her address.

Maybe Zen wasn’t that into Happy after all, she thought. Maybe they realized that beyond their initial attraction, they had nothing in common.

She couldn’t help but wonder what Happy had written to her mother, though. No, thought Apple, I must resist the temptation. I’m never going to sneak into my mother’s personal e-mail again, even if she did it to me first. I’m not that person, Apple thought to herself. I believe in a person’s right to privacy. Happy would tell her what happened eventually, probably even the next day. Happy wasn’t the one who kept secrets and feelings to herself. That was Apple’s role.

Apple rolled down the taxi’s windows. The cool air was making her feel better. She looked out and saw the stars. Maybe life wasn’t that bad after all. Maybe it had just been a bad couple of weeks and now things would get back to normal and Zen would realize that the one he should have asked on the date was Apple.

As soon as she walked into her house, Apple knew she needed a distraction from her mother’s computer, which seemed to be calling out to her, “Log on! Log on!” She swore she could hear it whispering to her. No, I will not log on, she told herself. She thought she had clearly made up her mind during the taxi ride home, but it was as if she couldn’t make the decision stick.