Shucked (5 page)

“I’m sorry,” I said, handing her a
cookie.

She took the cookie and looked me in
the eyes.

“You have nothing to be sorry about.”

Chapter Six

I placed the dogu on my bookshelf
next to my favorite ushabti. They looked nice together. The Japanese clay doll
and the Egyptian burial figurine. My dolly collection. If I was in a better
mood, I would have laughed. But I didn’t feel like it.

“Hey,” a voice said from behind me. I
spun around, falling into my taekwondo attack stance. Right leg back, left leg
forward, bent at the knee. My hands were in fists, with the right arm parallel
down to the right leg and the left arm at a ninety-degree angle in front of my
torso. You never know who might be sneaking into my bedroom on the farm.

“You don’t scare me,” Becky said,
pushing the door all the way open and flopping on my bed. I relaxed my stance.
“And you really should stop doing that. Don’t stand out and the other kids won’t
have anything to make fun of.”

“It’s instinct,” I mumbled, “but I’ll
try.” It had been a difficult enough afternoon; I didn’t feel like having it
out with Becky. Then I remembered her reason for coming over. “So, tell me
about you and Alex.”

Becky sighed.

“No stalling,” I said. “I need to
know the scoop on my new math tutor.”

I sat in the rocking chair in the
corner and stared her down.

“Math tutor?” Becky asked. “He’s not
much better than me. I wonder why Mr. Fenton didn’t assign me to you? You’d
think he would assume you’d be more comfortable with a girl. I’m fantastic at
math too. I wonder what his problem is.”

I wondered that too. Was he just
trying to torture me because my mom dumped him? Probably.

“You’re stalling. Just spill. What
was up with you and Alex?”

Becky sighed, tugging on her braid. I
knew this was going to be a juicy story. I just knew it. My first high school
drama. I couldn’t wait.

“It was eighth grade. I’ve known him
my whole life and I knew it was inevitable.”

“Because he goes through girls like a
case of head lice in a preschool?” I interrupted. I couldn’t help myself.
Really, I simply could not.

Becky smiled. “Yeah, kinda like that.
One afternoon I was walking to the park and Alex popped up behind me from a
bush. He scared the crap out of me.”

I laughed. I could just imagine a
shorter, ganglier Alex doing just that. “But doesn’t he live on a farm?” I
asked.

“Well, yeah. We may be small town,
but we do have bikes,” Becky said, rolling her eyes. “And cable in town, but only
satellite in the country. Cell phone coverage may be spotty, but we learn
quickly where all the dead zones are. If you get a flat, you’d probably only
have to walk a half a mile to pick up a signal.”

“Wow, I didn’t know you had such
advanced technology out here,” I said with a smirk. Not that mine had always
been reliable in the field, either. Becky smiled again. I was glad because
sometimes I wondered if my sarcasm turned people off. I think I’d finally found
someone who appreciated my sense of humor.

“So he followed me to the park. Kept
poking me with a stick, tossing pebbles at me, that kind of thing. Really
annoying stuff.”

Becky paused and closed her eyes. I
wanted to know so bad, but why was she torturing me? Her motor mouth slowed to
a crawl. Was it a mental flat tire or was she stalling on purpose?

“And…”

“And I grabbed the ribbed collar of
his t-shirt and pulled him to me.” Her eyes were still closed but the
expression on her face wasn’t one of rapture. I couldn’t figure it out. My
stomach flipped. I needed to know and I couldn’t stand waiting another second.

“Tell me,” I yelled, grabbing her by the
shoulders. I gave her a little shake. Not enough to break her neck, though had
I wanted to, I could have.

“And I kissed him. Then I pushed him away
and told him that was all he’d ever get from me. I’d never hold hands with him.
Never moon over him in the hallway at school like the other girls. I told him I
hoped that one kiss was enough to get him to go away and never bother me
again.”

My hand flew over my mouth. Shy
Becky. The girl who sat on the outskirts of the crowd and refused to let people
see how beautiful she was. I couldn’t believe it. “You did not!”

She nodded. “I did and he hasn’t
spoken directly to me since. The next day he was dating Jennifer Simms and
making a pretty big show of it too. I think that lasted a week. Seriously,
Tabs, he’s not worth your time. Don’t let him break your heart.”

I laughed. But I knew it was already
too late. I’d fallen for him. I had all the telltale signs. I wanted to wrap
myself in his arms and bury my nose in his chest. Normally I’d say shoulder,
but I was unusually short for a white girl and he was unusually tall for an
Asian guy. I had to make do with what we had.

I also wanted to meet him in a dark
alley, toss him over my knee to the ground, hold his arms down on the gritty
street, and kiss him until he couldn’t breathe.

“Earth to Tabs.” Becky’s fingers came
into view as she waved her hand back and forth in front of my vacant stare. I’d
been caught daydreaming.

“It’s too late, isn’t it?” Becky
asked. “I know we don’t know each other that well yet. Not formally. But, I
swear Tabitha Smith, I can read you. You’re already head over heels for Alex. He’s
now the dangerous boy. The one you think you can change. The dark, brooding
stranger who’s stolen your heart. The boy who’s never been faithful to anyone
will be faithful to you. Vomit. You know it only works that way in books and
movies. It’s not realistic.”

“Oh, but there’s something you don’t
understand,” I said. “I like the dangerous boy, but not because I want him to
change. Because he is that way. I’m not exactly your typical heroine. I don’t
need saving from anything.”

“You’re a kitten,” Becky said,
patting my hair.

I jerked away, swatting her hand. “I
could kill you with one strike.”

Becky laughed. “I already said you
don’t scare me. I’m your best friend. Besides, you don’t want to be responsible
for ruining this face, do you?” She pointed her index finger in a circle around
her head. I laughed. Not at Becky, but at the idiots around here who couldn’t
look past her glasses, braids, and quirkiness to see a girl who’d probably be
able to win a modeling reality TV show.

“Alex will be mine,” I said. “Tell me
who he’s dating.” I figured I might as well take advantage of having a best
friend. It was time I join the rest of the hormonally ruled teens of the
western world.

“Yesterday he was dating Kailey, but
they broke up this afternoon after school. I saw her crying on the walk home
from school and I asked her what was wrong. She said Alex broke up with her because
of you. You’re the new girl and everyone knows Alex wants to date all the new
girls before any of the other guys can get to them. He ruins girls, you know.”

I lifted an eyebrow. So if this was
true, then I was just some kind of prey to Alex. I didn’t like that. Not at
all. In my world I was the predator, not the weak gazelle waiting for the lion
to pounce. But it was Becky’s last statement that gave me pause.

“Ruins girls?” I asked. “How exactly
does he ruin a girl?”

“Take them out, tells them they’re
special. Let’s them believe they are really the one who will finally get him to
settle down. That sort of thing.”

My eyebrow lowered. For a minute I
was afraid she was going to tell me he took their virginity or something. Not
that I was against such things, but for one guy to deflower an entire high
school, that would be impressively disgusting.

“Hmmm.”

“Hmmm? That’s all you have to say? Stay
away, Tabitha. I mean it. Alex isn’t good for anybody. Not even someone
supposedly as tough as you. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Becky tugged on her braid again. I
could see she was serious, but really, maybe she was right. Maybe it would be
more fun to ignore Alex, to watch him squirm. I might get as much pleasure out
of that as a kiss.

“I’ll be fine,” I assured Becky.

She rolled off my bed and poked
around my room. I watched her, not sure what to expect. I’d never really had my
own room. This was my mom’s old bedroom. Her posters still hung on the wall.
Typical heartthrob actors, popular bands. I didn’t know who any of them were,
but I found a strange comfort in their presence. Like I had friends looking out
for me, or something weird like that.

“What are these?” Becky asked,
picking up my dogu and peering at my ushabti. “They’re really cool. Did you take
them from archaeological sites? Shouldn’t they be in a museum or something?”

“No, they’re replicas,” I answered, a
little freaked out that she picked up the thing that had caused me so much
grief this afternoon. “My mom would never send an authentic artifact through
the mail to me. She doesn’t screw around with stuff like that. I’m more easily
shipped away than her precious archaeological finds.”

Becky didn’t turn back to face me. I
was glad, too, because I could feel my cheeks burning. I think sharing with her
about Alex left me feeling more vulnerable than I realized. Great. The last
thing I wanted was to turn into a whiny teenager. I would not be like the rest
of them. I was different.

“Your mom probably has her reasons,”
Becky whispered. “She probably just wanted you to be closer to your family
rather than be in an unstable region.”

My stomach clenched. She was
defending my mom? So much for the visions of BFF I had running through my head
earlier.

“She sent the dogu from England,” I
snapped. “She isn’t anywhere dangerous. She’s with my dad and they don’t want
me around. Which is fine because I’d really rather be here anyway.”

Becky spun around, her eyes wide. I’m
sure they must have matched mine because I couldn’t believe I said it.

But, deep down, I knew it was true. This
was the only stable part of my life. The only place where I knew what would
happen the next day and the day after that.

“I bet she’s not with your dad,”
Becky said. “Don’t do that to yourself.”

She patted me on the shoulder. A
friend. Here. Not something I ever expected.

“And I’m glad you’re here too,” she continued.
“I watched you all those summers. I’d see you in the grocery store or at the
video rental shop. I always knew we’d be best friends. I’ve been waiting for
this. For you to come home to stay.”

“Whoa.” I held up my hand. “No one
said I’m staying. It’s just for this school year.”

“It’s your sophomore year. Don’t you
want to go to college? It would only make sense for you to stay here for three
school years. Then you’d at least have transcripts and references to get into a
school you want.”

I’d never thought about it that way.
I always assumed I’d go to college, but I guess I always thought my mom could
get me in somewhere. She had enough connections.

“I’m not trying to upset you, Tabs.
Just trying to be realistic. Maybe your mom is afraid to tell you all this.
Maybe she’s afraid you’ll threaten to break her neck like you have with me
about five hundred times today.”

I glared at Becky until I saw her
crack a smile. She was joking. Either that or she’d read my mind when I looked
at the dogu and saw how mad I was at my mom.

“Okay, I give,” I said, holding my
hands up in surrender. “I’m freaking out, right?”

“Right,” Becky said. “You’re a
typical teenager whether you like it or not. Act like one some more and show me
what you’ve got on your iPhone.”

I grabbed my iPhone off my mom’s
dented old wooden desk. After unlocking it with my uncrackable password, Neith,
ancient Egyptian goddess of war. I tossed it to her.

“What is this stuff?” Becky asked,
scrolling through my music. I grinned. I knew she wouldn’t recognize most of
it. Living around the world gave me a wider range of music to choose from. Most
of it was still popular music, just not in English or known to the average
American teenager.

“Try Jiggy by F. Cuz. Korean pop.
It’s awesome,” I said.

Becky thumbed through the songs and
started up Jiggy.

“Wow,” she said, bopping her head to
the music. “I like it. I don’t understand them, but I like it.”

We listened to music for a little bit,
but the longer I stared at the dogu, the more depressed I became. “Hey, I’m
really tired. Mind if we cut this short?”

“No problem.” Becky jumped off my
bed. “It was really fun hanging with you. I’ll see you in school tomorrow,
okay?”

I walked her out and looked at her
car enviously. One of these days I wanted to learn how to drive. It was the
only perk of staying in this town.

I slunk back up to my bedroom. No
matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t get my mind off of my mom. Maybe Becky was
right. Maybe I was making too big of a deal out of where the dogu was shipped
from. What if my mom had a layover in London and shipped it out here before
boarding a plane elsewhere?