Shark Out of Water (Grab Your Pole, #3) (27 page)

“
Enough!
Jesus, Katy…you gotta stop,” I interrupted. Really, I would love to tell her the whole thing, but, I can’t. I can’t even tell her how wrong she is…there’s only one person who can do that and he’s not gonna tell Camie’s best friend shit.
Oooh
…now that’s an idea. Let
him
deal with her questions. “You know, Katy, I had to go throw myself at his feet for him to even start talking to me again, so if you wanna know what’s goin’ on, go ask him.”

“You know what? You’re right. I need to get some things off my chest anyway,” she said, throwing the covers off and getting out of bed.

“Where are you going? It’s only five-fifteen!”

“I’m going to talk to him like you said…” she told me, simultaneously grumbling something about the mountain of dirty laundry we have to do and tugging on the first pair of pants and shoes she found that fit her. Then she came back to the bed, sorta-kinda kissed me goodbye—I guess, and then she left me there, still puckered up and staring at her as she bailed our would-be love nest with a frightening case of bed-head and determination written all over her face.

You know, I really don’t know who to wish luck to…her or Tristan.

Mediation of custodial friendship ~ Tristan

Well, it was bound to happen.

I was swimming before school and was just finishing a lap, but I came up short because there was a pair of female legs in the water preventing me from touching the wall…

“Morning, Kate. You’re ah…bright-eyed and
bushy tailed
this morning,” I greeted her and then I immediately submerged my head up to my eyes like an alligator so that on the off chance I can’t control myself, it would be harder for her to notice. She kinda looks like a bushbaby lemur…it’s goddamned hysterical! I mean, I wonder if she knows that a squirrel is living in her hair. Seriously, how do I not laugh at this?

Of course I found out how when she opened her mouth…

“Do you want Camie back?”

Why now? Seriously, it’s too goddamned early for this shit, I mean, the week just started for Christ’s sake. On the other hand though, maybe I should just be grateful for barely making it through the weekend. You know, like count my blessings. The problem is, Kate’s not gonna let me ignore her and seven out of ten times she knows when I’m lying, so, do I wanna risk that my answer will fall into one of the three times she doesn’t? Not so much. Actually, I don’t wanna tell her shit and I’m not gonna.

“Kate, I appreciate you getting up early to come brighten my day, and I love the new hairstyle you got goin’ on, but if you only came here to talk about Camie, you’re wasting time that would probably be better spent in front of a mirror with a hairbrush.”

“Okay, fine…I’m really hurt and pissed off at you for not talking to me anymore. You and Jeff made up just fine and he
hit
you, but I haven’t done anything aside from staying friends with your ex and you barely even say hi to me…we used to be really close too you know. So what the hell, Tristan? I got Camie in the divorce so you and I aren’t friends anymore?”

I sighed after realizing that although what she said is kind of the truth, it’s not right and now it’s up to me to try to make it better. “Of course we’re still friends, K—”

“But you’re not
letting
me be your friend…you won’t talk to me or tell me what’s going on or let me help. I mean, do you not trust me or something?”

“Look, Kate, I love you like a sister…really, that’s the God’s honest truth, but no, I don’t trust you. I really want to and I know I can in a lot of other ways, but there’s just some information about my life that I don’t want
anyone
knowing and I simply can’t trust you to keep certain things to yourself anymore…and I know it’s not like you would be repeating anything in an effort to fuck me over, but you wouldn’t be able to help yourself because you’re just too close, so I can’t do it. I hope you can understand that.”

She blew out a somewhat shaky breath and her voice quavered ever so slightly as she fought back her tears over my harsh truth. “Yeah, I guess I can see why you’d feel that way…but Tristan, I love you too and you’re one of the most important people in my life so
please
try to believe I would
never
knowingly betray your trust,” Aw shit…I’m totally doing the alligator thing again…because seriously, after what I went through to keep it together yesterday in Camie’s room, there’s no way in hell I’m gonna let Kate know so she can go off and tell Jeff or anyone that her minor, yet sincere tears are starting to get to me like a Hallmark Hall of Fame movie or something else just as sappy and sentimental in under ten seconds. I’m such a fucking mess… “
Please
, let me prove it to you…
talk
to me.”

“Kate, I would love to, but tell me the truth, what would you do if I straight up told you something that Camie would want to know and that, in
your
mind, Camie should know? Would you betray
her
trust to prove to me that
I
can trust you, even though if she ever found out you kept it from her, it would hurt her just as much as knowing the information you kept from her?”

She immediately saw my point and sighed in frustration before saying, “Oh God…why? Why does this have to be so complicated? I mean, Tristan, you know you still love her and it’s obvious that you miss her, and okay, yeah, it’s also now obvious there’s more going on than what she knows about, but I don’t understand why you can’t just sit down and tell h—”

“It’s not that easy, Kate! Jesus Christ, you really don’t get it, do you? I mean don’t you think I’ve given this a
little
thought? I’m damned if I do and damned if I don’t! Seriously, I’m fucking screwed
either
way, but if I don’t, at least
she
can live in ignorant bliss!” I told her emphatically, trying to make her understand why I haven’t told Camie
anything
…that I didn’t break up with her, that I almost raped her, that she already forgave me for that and forgot because she was puking her brains out when she did it and that I stayed by her side the entire time, and least of all that I’ve honestly probably loved her since the first time I saw her and that I still do, because the truth is, I’m prepared to take all of that to the grave with me if it means me not causing Camie any more pain. “Kate,
please
, if you really wanna be my friend, just do what you’ve been doing and be
her
friend right now, alright?”

“Oh, Tristan…I—” Kate said while shaking her head and sighing. “Alright, if that’s what you want…I’ll always be here for you though, I promise.”

“Thanks, you’re the best, now gimme my towel and then go kill the squirrel on your head,” I said and flicked water at her which made her giggle a little.

“Is it really bad?” She asked as she handed me the towel and started to run a hand over her hair.

“Yeah, I’m honestly surprised Jeff let you leave the house looking like this.”

“He didn’t have a choice…all I did was throw clothes on. Literally. I’ve still got the t-shirt I slept in on under this sweatshirt and I even left without brushing my teeth,” she told me and started laughing again when I made a face.

“You sat here talking to me this whole time with yuck mouth?”

“Yeah, I did. I kissed Jeff goodbye too,” she admitted and stuck her tongue out at me as I toweled off.

“Ew, Kate, that’s really pretty gross…poor Jeff.”

“Oh, like you always got up and brushed your teeth before you kissed Camie or ever opened your mouth to say good morning when you woke up next to her?”

Huh. She’s right, I didn’t. Why didn’t that bother me as much as it should have? Oh yeah, that’s right, it’s because I’m mentally ill and never thought to brush my teeth before kissing Camie first thing in the morning, like being in love with her makes me immune to having morning breath.

You know, at some point I’m gonna have to figure out a way to apologize to Camie for that because really, ew.

An understanding. Er…sort of. ~ Jeff

“Check this…” Tristan said to me just as he tossed the volleyball in the air to serve it.

I watched him get a mighty fine jump on the ball and then hit it with such force and precise aim that I was clapping long before it sailed over the net and across the gym to the other game being played to hit his target squarely in the back of the head right as the bell rang dismissing us from the last class of the day.

“Ow! What the fuck?!”
Zack hollered and looked around to see who the culprit was.

“You mean you felt that? I gotta say, man, I’m
shocked
! I just wanted to see if I could hit you from over here, but I never thought you’d be able to feel it! I mean, I thought your head was filled with fuckin’ rocks and it would take a bulldozer to get through to you,” Tristan said right away, totally owning the fact that he was the one who hit him with the ball and that he did it on purpose as Zack clambered over to us, rubbing the back of his head.

I was cracking up.

“Aside from bein’ a fuckin’ dick, why the fuck did you hit me? After that accident I kinda thought we were done doin’ the whole hating each other thing. I mean, it’s cool if we’re not, I just wanna know,” Zack said and I have to admit, I expected him to be more pissed, but he really wasn’t all that upset, it was more like he was curious. I wonder if his head really is filled with rocks…

“Honestly, man, I’m not entirely sure but I think I still hate you, just not nearly as much as I did before…but regardless,
that
was for telling my girlfriend I didn’t vote for her in the tryouts. I mean seriously, why the
fuck
would you do that?” Tristan asked him. And I’ll admit another thing here; I honestly expected Trist to go off the deep end when he heard how Camie was told about him not voting for her and even more, who it was who told her, but again, I was a bit surprised when he didn’t even raise his voice or threaten to beat the shit out of Zack like I thought he’d want to.

“Wait, your girlfriend?” Zack asked in surprise.

“Yeah.”

“Did you guys get back together?”

“No.”

“But you just said she’s your girlfriend…”

“Uh-huh.”

“Didn’t you guys break up?”

“Nope.”

“But, dude, everyone thinks you guys are broken up, you know that, right?”

“Yeah.”

“But you’re not…”

“Right.”

“Um, does
she
know she’s still your girlfriend?”

“Uh-uh.”

“So, shouldn’t someone tell her you guys are still together?”

“Over my dead body…”

“Fuck, I’m
so
confused…do you understand any of this?” Zack finally looked at me in desperate confusion. It was HI-Larious!

“Sadly, I do…but dude, trust me, you don’t wanna understand this and there’s too much for me to even sum up enough for you get it.” Actually, now that I think about what not understanding all of that felt like, I kinda feel bad for the guy.

“Okay look, Tristan, I’m gonna be honest, Camie’s really fuckin’ hot but I’ve sorta liked not hating you, and the truth is, she kinda scares me and the two of you are fuckin’ weird about each other and this kind of shit…so, at the risk of hearing the answer and getting even more fuckin’ confused than I am now, I gotta ask, would it be right to assume that you’d wanna break the bones of any guy who takes her to the dance?”

“Zack, I swear to God, if you ask her to go to that dance I won’t stop with your fuckin’ nose this time,” Tristan told him with barely restrained violence. Finally. I’m not sure if it was Zack admitting how hot he thinks Camie is or that he brought up the dance, but Tristan is now on the verge of hitting him again. Well, he might just for fun…I wouldn’t put it past him.

“Oh fuck, I’m not gonna
ask
her…I like her and everything, but she’s always been just as weird about other guys as you’ve gotten to be about other chicks…I just wanted to make sure because she’s huntin’ around for a date to the dance so I just wanna know what to say if
she
asks
me
!”

“Oh. Okay, well, in that case, you say no. And ah…feel free to spread the word that anyone who agrees to take her to the dance will be taking a contract out on their own head,” Tristan informed Zack as he clapped him kinda hard on the shoulder, emphasizing his point. “Oh, and if I were you, I wouldn’t go running your mouth to anyone about the state of my relationship with her either.”

“Are you fuckin’ serious? I couldn’t even
if
I wanted to, and if I somehow managed to actually get it right, no one would believe me!”

“Good, so we have an understanding?”

“Uh, not really, so, yeah. Oh my God, I’m starting to talk in circles now too…I need some aspirin…” Zack mumbled to himself and shook his head as he wandered away towards the locker room.

“Trist dude, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again…you don’t play nice. Entertaining to watch, but not nice,” I told him as we followed a little behind Zack.

“Yeah, I know. For fun and to hedge my bets a little, I think I’ll mention to Sasha that Zack’s been checkin’ her out and wants her to ask him to the dance,” Tristan told me with the beginnings of a plan being formulated in his head clearly evident in his expression.

See, here’s the deal… Sasha and Zack used to go out. Zack
really
liked her and the feeling was more than mutual. And yeah, Sasha is a nice chick, but she’s as dumb as a box of sticks so when Zack fucked with Tristan’s car last year by putting corn flakes all over the hood on a particularly moist night, completely trashing the paint job, the gloves came off and Trist hit on Sasha who, ah, “momentarily forgot” she liked Zack as much as she did…and she forgot in front of Zack. Like I said, Tristan doesn’t play nice, although sometimes he feels bad afterwards and occasionally, like with that incident, he unknowingly causes himself a little trouble. That whole thing was Zack’s primary motivation for going after Camie when she first started school and he finally realized she and Trist had a thing goin’ on.

I’m guessing the Sasha/dance thing is Trist’s way of saying, “Don’t fuck with my love life anymore and I’ll help you out with yours.” I’d fuckin’ love it if he could get Sasha to wear a big red bow when she asks Zack to the dance. That’d be Hi-Larious!