Saving Face (a young adult romance) (2 page)

            The next morning
Alyssa woke up at 7:00 am despite the fact that she had been with Brent until
after 2:00.  She was a little sleepy, but staying in bed wouldn’t do anything
to fix her social problems.  Damn Pete.  She should have known better—he was
basically an ass.  But come on!  Head cheerleader and the captain of the
football team?  It should have been perfect.  No way was she showing up at
school to face that humiliation without some kind of game plan. 

            Wiping the steam
from her bathroom mirror, Alyssa tried to decide if she was prettier than Lisa Thompson. 
Her brown hair, which her mom called chestnut, hung just past her collar bone. 
When it dried she knew it would bounce up to graze her shoulders.  She liked
her hair.  She liked her eyes too.  Also brown, they were a nice shape—Lisa Thompson
had really big eyes.  Satisfied with the view Alyssa shimmied into a pair of
blue jeans, and a stretchy white turtle neck.  She wasn’t vain, but she wasn’t
dumb either and she’d never had any complaints about the way she filled out her
cheer uniform.  So no way was Lisa Thompson prettier.  Showered and changed
Alyssa walked back into her room to start strategizing.  She screamed.

            “Jesus Lyssa!” 
Brent caught her before she fell backwards.

            “Brent.  You
scared the crap out of me!  You can’t just crawl through my window—what if my
dad caught you.”

            His face wiggled
in an amused way.  “I came through the front door; your dad let me in.  I just
wanted to ask you to go to the corn maze with me today.  And I would have
called, but you left your cell at my house last night.”  He held the phone out
to her.

            “Oh.  Well,
whatever.”  Alyssa waved off the moment and took her phone from him.  “I can’t
go today; I have serious angst to suffer through.”

            “Sounds fun.”  He
commented wryly.  “You love the corn maze.  We could race.”

            “You’d lose.” 
Alyssa was starting to waver.  “Do you know how popular the corn maze is?  It’s
gonna be crawling with people from school.”

            “So you are going
to hide out here forever?  Lame.”  Brent could tell she was caving.  “Come on Chere.” 
He said reaching for his best Cajun accent (and it wasn’t very good) “I’ll do
my Gambit voice all day.  One drunken party isn’t going to ruin your social
standing. 
C'est la vi
.”

            The Gambit voice
did it for her.  “All right, but if we see anyone I know…”

            “You can hide in
the corn.”  Brent finished for her.

            The corn maze was
actually one of Alyssa’s favorite parts of the fall.  The town really went all
out with a huge corn maze, lots of food vendors, hay rides, games, and all
sorts of other fun stuff.  The maze itself was always really impressive.  They
advertized an average of 90 minutes to find your way out.  Alyssa usually made
it in 45.  Most years she went so many times that by the end of the season she
could walk through it blind folded.  One year Brent had bet against her doing
just that and at the end of that day Alyssa was the owed one homemade quiche.  She
hadn’t gotten around to it this year yet though.  And the season was half way
over.  Being seniors was extremely time-absorbing. Plus Pete hadn’t been
interested.  Really Pete had only been interested in one thing—something Lisa Thompson
was a little freer with than Alyssa.

“So
did you really want to race?”  Brent slung his camera over one shoulder as he
climbed out of the car.

“Nah,
but let’s get some hot chocolate before we go in.  It’s freezing out here.” 
She wasn’t wrong.  Halloween was still a two and a half weeks away but the
temperature was dipping dangerously closer to icy every morning. 

“Ooh
yeah, and some of those cinnamon roasted cashews too.”  Draping his free arm around
her neck they headed off for their snacks.

The
line for hot chocolate was pretty long, so they agreed Brent would go get the
roasted cashews and come back.  “Au revoir Chere” Brent winked at her and
walked off towards another line.

“Alyssa! 
Who’s the French guy?”

Alyssa
turned around to find Jennifer Pastings and another girl from school waiting in
line behind her.  Jennifer was the biggest gossip—and she had had a front row
seat to the previous night’s events.

“Hey
Jenn, what French guy?”

“Don’t
play coy with me Alyssa Maddow!  You’ve been holding out—he’s a hottie.”

Alyssa
smiled.  Brent was pretty hot these days, and she was happy for him.  “Yeah he
is.  You remember Brent.  He went to middle school with us.”

“That’s
Brent Carter?  No way!  He’s sure been eating his Wheaties.”  Both girls turned
their heads straining to find him in the crowd.

“That
is super sexy.  Chere is ‘sweet’ right?  I didn’t even know he was French.” 
The other girl, who Alyssa couldn’t have named if her English grade depended on
it, spoke up.

“Not
French, ladies,—Cajun.”  Brent reappeared holding a large paper cone filled to
the brim with sweet smelling roasted cashews.  “And I’m not—it’s just my little
pet name for Lyssa.  Sort of an old joke we have.”  Brent gave them an amiable
look while he offered around the snack.  “How are you Jenny?  Sue?”

Sue! 
Of course that was her name.

“Bre-ent”
Jennifer was purring.  “What have you been up to?”

“Same
as you I imagine.  Just in a jacket and tie.  I’m at Hillfield.”  Jennifer was
flirting—and Brent was flirting back!  Alyssa very much wished the corn maze
was closer so she could hide.  As it was, sprinting 50 yards before darting
into the stalks would probably make a spectacle.

When
they’d paid for their hot chocolates Alyssa and Brent headed for the corn
maze.  It was fairly obvious that Jennifer wanted to tag along, but Alyssa
didn’t invite her.  Inside, the corn stalks were tall enough to throw them into
shadows.  Wind was kept at bay by the thick growth making the pathways warmer. 
Not
take off your hats and gloves
warm, but more comfortable than the
open fields.  Alyssa took the lead and they walked in silence awhile with her
making sure turns and Brent snapping occasional photos.  Alyssa considered
asking him what the visual appeal of a bunch of dried up old corn could be, but
she knew better than to question his muse.

“You
were flirting with Jenn.”  Alyssa said after several minutes.

“Was
I?” 

“You
know you were.  I just want to know why.  She’s not a very nice person—actually
she’s kind of a bitch.”

“I
remember.”  Brent sighed.  “I wasn’t flirting Lyssa.  I was just saying hello. 
Why are you being so weird?  You’re not jealous are you?”

Alyssa
stopped short and reversed directions past the last fork they had taken. 
Wisely, Brent followed.  “No.”  She answered honestly.  “I’m not being weird. 
I’m just trying to think.  I have to go to school with those girls on Monday, they
were both at the party last night, and they are pretty major tongue waggers.”

“I
think you are worrying too much Lyssa.  Maybe you should try and care a little
less about what other people are thinking or saying.”

Alyssa
snorted.  “Boys.”  She shook her head.  “Don’t people talk at that school of
yours?”

“Of
course, but I don’t have to listen.  You know I hate gossip; aren’t we getting
too old for that crap?”

Typical
Brent, Alyssa thought.  And she decided to give up.  He either couldn’t or
wouldn’t understand the all consuming awfulness of an entire school knowing the
intimate details of your rejection.  To punish him for not understanding,
Alyssa took three extra wrong turns.

By
the time they reached the exit gates she had forgiven him—mostly because he let
her finish the last of the cashews.  “Hay ride?  Or there’s pumpkin bowling
this year.”  Brent crumpled their garbage and tossed it into a nearby trash
barrel.

“Pumpkin
bowling?”  Alyssa inquired doubtfully.

“Come
on Chere, where’s your sense of adventure?”   Brent grabbed her wrist and towed
her off in the direction of the makeshift bowling lanes.

“Alyssa?”

Brent
and Alyssa both turned around to find Pete trotting over to them.  Behind him
stood a group of guys from the football team, all laughing and shouting after
him.

“Alyssa! 
Let’s talk.”  Pete was slightly out of breath when he reached them.  “I was a
little drunk last night.  I think I could have been nicer.”

Alyssa
fixed him with a disbelieving look.

“Okay. 
I was a lot drunk.  But I didn’t mean for you to find out about Lisa that way. 
I just thought … you know homecoming is in a few weeks.”

“You
were waiting to tell me after homecoming!”  Shock spurred her into speaking.

“It’s
not like you left me much choice, babe.  Two months is a long time to
wait
for you to get comfortable
.  Or maybe you really have been more comfortable
than I thought.”  His eyes settled on Brent’s hand still wrapped around her
wrist.

“Pete—I
didn’t…”  Alyssa trailed off too angry and hurt to keep talking.

“Oh! 
Pete!”  Brent made an exaggerated gesture as if just realizing who this guy
was.  Dropping Alyssa’s wrist Brent held out his hand.  “Brent Carter.  Nice to
meet you.” 

Pete
shook hands with a shocked expression that only got more shocked when Brent
withdrew his arm and wrapped it across Alyssa’s shoulders.  “Yeah—I know we
went to middle school together.”  Pete found his voice.

“Did
we?”  Brent responded as he began twisting a section of Alyssa’s hair. 
“Sorry.  I don’t remember.” 

“Sure
you do.  Pete Edser?  I play football?”  Pete puffed himself up a bit as he
recovered.  “Or maybe you don’t, you always seemed to be buried in a comic
book.”

“Hmm?” 
Brent was nuzzling Alyssa’s ear.  “Oh yeah, I did have quite the comic book
collection.”  He didn’t even turn his head when he answered.  “How bout that
pumpkin bowling?  I’ll win you a prize.”  He whispered to Alyssa—loud enough
for Pete to know the conversation had come to an end.

Brent
steered a still stunned Alyssa back around walking her toward the pumpkin
bowling.  Pete stared after them.

“I
have always hated that guy.”  Brent bit off when they were out of ear shot.

“And
I thought you didn’t recognize him.”  Alyssa elbowed him teasingly.  “You were
perfect!  What happened to being too old for gossip and not caring what others
think?”

“I
don’t Lyssa.  But that doesn’t mean I want you to sign up for doormat classes
either.  What were you doing with that guy?”

“Not
much—that was the problem, remember?”

Brent
didn’t respond.  Suddenly he needed all his attention to be focused on the
small pumpkin barreling down the lane towards pins painted to look like corn
cobs.  It must have worked because when they left that afternoon Alyssa had two
big stuffed bears.

           
Monday morning
Alyssa dragged her feet.  It took her twice as long as usual to shower and dry
her hair, and then she needed to find the perfect how-could-anyone-want-Lisa-more-than-me
outfit.  The result was worth the extra effort though.  Her clingy knee length
chocolate colored skirt made the most of her legs—not that anyone would be
looking at her legs while she was wearing her burnt gold sweater with the extra
scoopy scoop neck.  She was totally an autumn. 

It
wasn’t really her style to be so dressy for a Monday and she would surely be
regretting her skinny heel ankle boots by fourth period, but if people were
going to be staring she was going to give them something worth staring at.  Feeling
pretty good about herself, she didn’t even let the rain bother her as she
dashed to her car.   Her mood however took a quick plunge when she couldn’t
start her car.  It was the third time this month.  Maybe she should buy a new
battery?  Hers was the only car in the drive—her dad must have left for work already. 
Frustrated, Alyssa screamed and banged her fists against the steering wheel.

“Okay
in there?”  There was a knock on the driver’s window.  Brent was bent over
witnessing her melt down.  Even though he was holding an umbrella she could
tell he was getting wet.  The maroon of his Hillfield blazer was spotted along
his back with rain drops.

She
opened the door two inches.  “I think the battery died… what do you know about
cars?”

“Not
a lot.  Come on I’ll give you a lift.”  Alyssa climbed out of her car and
huddled under his umbrella as they walked to his.

“Won’t
you be late?”  She asked when she’d climbed into the passenger seat.

Brent
checked the clock as he pulled onto the road.  “It’ll be close, but we start
later than you and my homeroom teacher likes me, so it’s cool.”   He glanced
over and gave her kind of an up-down with his eyes.  “What’s up?  Is it dress
up day at school or something?”

“No. 
Do I look good?”

He
ignored her question.  “Is this about Pete?  You think a fancy dress is gonna
have him crawling back?”

“It’s
a skirt, not a dress.  And no—I don’t want Pete to come crawling back.  Well
the crawling bit would be fun to watch, but I’m no one’s doormat.”

Brent
smiled.  “Good.  But why so dressed up?”

“This
is just how I’m dressed.  You are used to a school with uniforms.”

“Ok—ay.”  
He was smirking at her.

“It’s
true!”

“Lyssa,
you ate breakfast at my house last Monday.”

“So?”

“So. 
You were wearing a busted old pair of blue jeans, and your Flyers tee shirt.”

“Shut
up.”

Brent
did.  And he stayed that way until he pulled in front of her school.

“Where
are you going?”  Alyssa asked when she saw him reach for his door handle.

“You
don’t have an umbrella.”  He said simply as he opened his and walked to the
around the passenger side.  “Shake a leg Maddow—I’m gonna be late.” 

Alyssa
would have said something smart back, but she could tell he was joking.  And
she really didn’t want to get any wetter than necessary.  Safely underneath the
overhang of the school’s entrance, Alyssa turned to face him.  “Thanks.  I’ll
get a ride home with Beth.”  She was on the squad with Alyssa, and they had
practice together after school anyway.

Brent
nodded.  “Rent a movie later?  I’ll cook.” 

“Hockey
game’s on at seven.  But if you’re still willing to cook you can come watch it
on our big screen.  Dad’s been ordering a lot of pizza.  I am in serious danger
of turning into a pepperoni.”

“Pittsburgh’s
playing—you hate Pittsburgh.”

“I
know, I wanna watch ‘em lose.” Alyssa flashed her brightest smile.

Brent
chuckled.  “kay.  See ya around 6:15.”  He tweaked a strand of her hair and
hurried back to his car.

Alyssa
turned around to see half a dozen kids from her class trying to look as though
they weren’t staring.  Not bothering to pretend about staring was Jenn, and she
was headed straight for her.

“Alyssa! 
Wow.  He’s even hotter in that uniform.  I might have to get me a Hillfield
man.  I never would have thought you could trade up from Pete Edser, but I
think I’ve been fishing in the wrong pond.”

“Jenn,
you know Brent and I have been friends forever.”  Alyssa tried to move past
her.

“Oh
no, you don’t.  I could tell something was going on when I saw you two together
Saturday, and now he’s driving you to school?  Well I’m glad you didn’t waste
any time.  It could have made things awkward you know—with Pete and Lisa
together and you all alone.”  Jennifer’s sugar sweet voice was probably
supposed to sound sympathetic, but piranhas tend to have a hard time pulling
off sympathetic.  “And don’t you look nice.  Dressed up for you new man?  I’m
glad.  All those
sportsy
clothes?  Not really a good look for you.”

“I
think it’s romantic.”  Alyssa hadn’t even noticed Sue until she spoke up.  She
practically melted into Jenn’s shadow.  No wonder Alyssa’d had trouble remembering
the girl’s name.  “Him pining away for you all these years, and now you’re
available, and he got all sexy and stuff.”

            “Is that how it
was?”  Jenn was talking again.  “I bet he looks yummy in a suit.  It will be a
tight fit in the limo, but I’m glad things worked out for you.”

            “What?”  Alyssa
was getting a head ache.

            “The homecoming
dance silly.  Or don’t you think you’ll be able to keep him that long?”  There
were the teeth Alyssa had come to expect from Jenn.

            “Of course we’ll
be at the dance.  I just hadn’t decided if we wanted to share a limo.  I
suppose we will though.  If there is a problem with space I can just sit in
Brent’s lap.”  Alyssa walked away.  Not as fast as too be running away.  But
fast enough to keep from hyperventilating in front of her friends.  Brent was really
not gonna like this.

            At 6:15 on the
dot Brent showed up at Alyssa’s back door carrying a grocery bag.  He wasn’t in
a good mood though.  Alyssa needed to ask him to ask her to the homecoming
dance, but this was clearly not the time.  He was all but silent as he made the
pasta and chopped veggies for the salad.  When Alyssa asked him what he’d like
to drink, he pretty much growled his answer.  Definitely not the time to ask
for a favor.

            “Food’s good. 
Thanks.”  Alyssa broke the silence after they’d been sitting at her kitchen
table for several uncomfortable moments.

            He grunted.

            “Something wrong
grouchy pants?”  She decided to tease him out of his bad mood.

            “How was school
today Lyssa?”

            “Erm… not as bad
as I expected?”  Was she busted?

            “I got an
interesting phone call a little while ago.  Betsy Mink doesn’t think it’s a
good idea for her and I to go to a movie this weekend after all—but she is happy
for us.  Anything you want to tell me?”  Yup.  She was busted.

            “Mink?  As in
Theresa Mink?”  Theresa was in Alyssa’s chemistry class.

            “I think that’s
her cousin.  What’s going on Lyssa?”

            “Sorry!”  Alyssa moaned
and dropped her head into her hands.  “Jennifer kind of had the idea that we
were a couple.  And she just kept going on and on about how great it was that I
wasn’t going to make things awkward for Pete and Lisa.  And she thinks you’re
hot!”

            Brent shot her a
look that clearly said he could care less about the last part.  So Alyssa
hurried on.

            “It’s your fault
anyway!  All that touchy-feely stuff at the corn maze, and then holding the
umbrella this morning…”

            “Okay, I may have
given Pete the wrong impression to take him down a peg or two, and yeah I held
your umbrella—which I would have done for anybody dumb enough to go out in the
rain without their own umbrella—but you could have set her straight.”

            “Did you really
like Betsy?”

            “What?  No. 
That’s fine, but I don’t like her thinking I asked her out and then hooked up
with you a couple days later.”

            “Please do this
for me Brent.  Going to homecoming alone would be worse than not going at all. 
And not going is not an option!”

            “I would have
taken you to the damn dance Lyssa!  I just don’t see why we have to pretend
it’s something it isn’t.”

            “I don’t want
people thinking I’m alone that’s all.”

            “Yeah, I can see
where that would be a real tragedy.”  Brent fixed her with a condescending
look.  “Look, I could care less about the game.  I’ve got homework to do.”  He
got up to leave.

            “Brent!”

            “Its fine Lyssa,
I’ll take you to the dance.  I will even play prince charming if you think that
will make you happy.” 

            “Thanks.  But
actually I was going to ask you for a ride to school in the morning.  Dad took
my car to the mechanic.”

            “Yeah, okay.  I
don’t want to be late though so we’ll have to leave early.  ‘Night.”  Brent
left, and Alyssa tried to watch the game alone.  The Penguins got crushed, but
she couldn’t really enjoy it.