The Shore (13 page)

Sabrina gazed around the crowd. Most of her housemates wore pained expressions as if they really wanted to go, but Curt had already managed to make eye contact with everybody and would be pissed if they took off.

The one person who seemed to be enjoying herself was Avery. Some good-looking guy, who Polly said was her boss at the restaurant, was dancing with her. Meanwhile, up on the stage, Curt had a serious frown, but Sabrina couldn’t tell if it was because he was jealous or just concentrating on the music.

Curious, Sabrina moved close enough to hear what Avery
and the restaurant manager were talking about while they danced.

“You really should book the band for the Surfin’ Spot,” Avery urged.

“I just might,” the handsome manager replied, although Sabrina wasn’t sure how sincere he was. “I’ll have to wait until the band that’s playing there now finishes their contract. But then I’ll consider it.”

Sabrina rolled her eyes. She was certain he was just trying to play her. Especially the bit about STF. This band couldn’t get a gig to play a funeral, let alone a club.

Sabrina glanced at the stage. Curt was watching Avery, and he looked pissed. Sabrina was pretty sure that was a look of jealousy, not concentration.

The song ended, and the crowd began to mill around.

“Hey, roomies,” Lucas said, leading a new girl by the hand. She was blond and built, wearing a bikini top with spangles on it and a blue sarong. “This is Tara.”

“Uh, hey,” Avery said. Her voice sounded strained, and Sabrina looked at her more closely. Avery was studying the girl in a way that made Sabrina wonder. Uh-huh, looks like Curt’s not the only one who is jealous, she thought. Maybe Avery has a thing for surfer boy.

Sabrina glanced around, curious to see what the rest of her roomies were up to. April was standing by herself, looking good, but scaring off any guy who got close. Owen and his idiot friends
were drinking and chatting up some girls with too much makeup and low-cut tank tops.

Owen looked up and glanced at her. Sabrina rolled her eyes toward the night sky. If you think I’m going to be jealous of those hags, you’ve got another think coming.

Polly was hanging around them too, and that did make Sabrina curious. She is so not the type. Sabrina drifted closer to the group, keeping her ears open.

Polly was wearing a blue and green top, with red capris. As Sabrina moved closer, she heard one of Owen’s buddies lean toward a friend and whisper, “She looks like a parrot.”

“And talks like one too,” the other guy whispered back.

Oblivious to what was being said about her, Polly tried to talk to them. “Hey, guys,” she said in a forced and decidedly uncool way. Sabrina tensed as the guys started to smile meanly.

“Go fly away and find yourself a different perch,” one of them said.

“Yeah, Polly Parrot,” the other said. “Get lost.”

Polly took off fast, but not before Sabrina saw the shocked look and tears in her eyes. Well, served her right, Sabrina thought. Parrots were definitely not supposed to share the pool with sharks. Now Owen came over with a look that said he’d witnessed the whole thing.

“Silly girl,” Owen commented.

“Tell me about it.” Sabrina snorted. “I can’t believe she thinks
that you or any of your friends would be remotely interested.”

“Hey, with beer goggles on, she might not look so bad.” Owen laughed. “Besides,” he added, slightly more seriously, “it’s not like I’m not getting much action anywhere else.”

Sabrina couldn’t believe it. “Nice try, but you should know by now that my role in life isn’t to provide you with ‘action.’ You might think about being more selective instead of trying to jump every girl who walks by.”

“I am selective,” he said, his voice low and intense.

“So selective that it takes you thirty seconds to make a decision,” she said sarcastically.

“You don’t see it, but I’m a pretty good judge of character,” Owen said, insisting on being serious.

“Really?” Sabrina asked, indicating the girls with the low-cut tank tops and too much mascara. “’Cause I haven’t seen much evidence of that.”

“I picked you, didn’t I?” he asked sharply.

“There’s always an exception,” Sabrina shot back, gearing up for some nasty repartee.

But instead of a wisecrack, Owen took a deep breath and moved closer to her. “Look, Sabrina, seriously. I know that I don’t come off like a prince. But I’m trying. If you knew what my life is like, what kind of crap I had growing up, you might cut me some slack. That first night I got with you because I was into you. I’m still into you. And if you want to know the truth, I haven’t slept with anyone else since.”

Sabrina felt the icy defenses inside her start to melt a little. She wanted to believe him. He looked so earnest while he gave his speech. But the beer in his hand and the cheap girls standing behind him making moon eyes at his friends did little to persuade her. “Why should I believe you?” she asked finally.

She was hoping he’d try to convince her. She was ready to be convinced. But, instead, his face hardened. “You know what? Bite me.” He turned and stalked off.

Disappointment ran through her. Why didn’t he stay and talk? If he really wanted me, he would.

Avery tapped her on the shoulder. “What’s wrong with Polly? I saw her run off.”

“She tried to mix with the wrong crowd,” Sabrina said.

Avery’s face fell. “Why do they have to be so mean?”

Because they’re all so afraid of being hurt, Sabrina thought.

Up onstage, the band kicked into “Joy to the World (Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog).” Sabrina noticed that Martin, Owen’s rowdy football-player friend, was headed her way with that stupid determined look drunk guys often get. It reminded her again of how much she wished Owen had hung around instead of getting all mad and storming off.

“Hi,” Martin said.

“Good-bye,” Sabrina replied, and turned away. As far as she was concerned, this was the perfect time to disappear.

• • •

The concert had finally ended, much to Avery’s relief. She’d managed to see Curt for only a second afterward, but he’d seemed preoccupied and said he’d catch her later at the house. The whole evening felt like a bust to her. The band hadn’t played well, and she wasn’t sure she’d made much progress in trying to get Anthony to hire Stranger Than Fiction to play at the Surfin’ Spot. Additionally, she felt sorry for Polly and hoped that she wasn’t taking the insults too seriously. Although I can’t see how she wouldn’t.

She had trudged home alone. Lucas and his new “friend” Tara walked behind her. The sounds of them talking and laughing hadn’t helped her mood. She felt like it had been a long time since she and Curt had laughed like that, and she couldn’t help imagining herself walking with Lucas instead of Tara. After a while, Lucas and Tara veered off on a different path. Avery was somewhat relieved, but also jealous.

You have to stop thinking about Lucas, she told herself. Curt’s your boyfriend and just because he’s going through a rough time doesn’t mean you should think about another guy. After all, Curt was there for you in rough times.

At the house, Avery climbed the stairs to her bedroom and changed clothes. Then she sat on the bed for a minute and looked at a picture of Curt and the band that she had in a frame on her nightstand. I wish they’d played better tonight, she thought. I’ll just have to try to stay upbeat for Curt. It’s gotta be a blow to him.

Maybe this would be a good night to take him out for a drink. She stood up and pulled opened her underwear drawer. Fishing underneath a stack of panties, her hands closed on an envelope. She pulled it out and opened it.

Something was wrong. The wad of bills inside was thinner than the day before. She quickly counted through it, trying to remember how much should be there, but she couldn’t remember. She only knew the stack had been thicker. Taking out forty dollars, she carefully put the envelope back where she had gotten it.

Shoving the money in her shorts pocket, Avery headed downstairs. Everyone was hanging out in the living room, drinking beers or wine coolers. Curt had made it home and was in the kitchen, getting a beer. I didn’t expect him for at least another hour. I hope everything’s okay.

She joined him in the kitchen. “Hey.”

“Hey.” He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and didn’t look happy. He reached back into the fridge and offered her a beer.

“Listen, why don’t we go out and have a drink?” she suggested hopefully.

“No, thanks,” Curt replied.

“You sure?” she asked, disappointed.

“Yeah. Not in the mood.”

Since there was no getting him out of his funk, she figured she might as well accept the beer and voice her other
concern: “Honey, did you borrow some of my money?” she asked quietly as she cracked the can.

Curt turned and scowled at her. “No, why?”

“Nothing, I just thought I was a little short, but you didn’t take any?”

“I said I didn’t.”

Avery immediately realized she’d made a mistake. Talking about the money only darkened his mood. “Forget about it. Maybe I was just too tired to count straight,” she said quickly. “Do you have any Advil? I’ve got a headache.”

“Because the band sucked?” he asked.

“No! I thought you were great,” she lied.

“Then you must have been listening to some other band, because we sucked,” he said.

She could tell that he was plummeting, and she knew from experience that there was no way to talk him out of it. Sometimes the best thing she could do was leave him alone and not antagonize him.

She walked into the living room. Everyone seemed to be there except for Polly and Lucas. “Anyone have any Advil?”

“I do,” April said, getting up. “I’ll get it for you.”

“Thanks,” Avery said, sitting down on the couch. She noticed Owen and Sabrina were sitting off to the side, near Polly’s room, one on either side of Polly’s door. They seemed to be getting along surprisingly well.

She was also surprised when Curt followed her out of
the kitchen. “Hey, Owen, Sabrina, what did you think of the band?” he asked.

“It was fine, you guys looked good,” Sabrina said, avoiding his eyes.

“Your covers rocked!” Owen said with feigned, drunken enthusiasm.

“Thanks, but our original material bites,” Curt said, sinking into a chair and taking a slug of brew. “We’ve got to do something before the Battle of the Bands.”

Avery’s ears perked up excitedly. Curt hadn’t said anything about a battle of the bands before, but it was good news. Any chance the band had to be heard was good.

“You’re going to be in that?” Owen asked, not doing a very good job of hiding his astonishment.

“We just found out tonight,” Curt said.

“Before or after you played?” Avery heard Sabrina mutter under her breath.

“That’s awesome, honey,” Avery said quickly, hoping Curt hadn’t heard Sabrina. “And don’t worry about tonight. I know I enjoyed the concert.”

“You sure you had time to pay attention?” Curt asked. “Looked to me like you were pretty busy doing other things.”

Avery’s head was beginning to really pound. “You mean Anthony? I was trying to get him to hire STF for the Surfin’ Spot. He mentioned that this other band, Naked Mole Rats, is playing tomorrow night. Maybe we should go see them.”

“Oh, Anthony mentioned that, huh?” Curt said, his voice heavy with sarcasm. “Well, if Anthony says so, then we should all just jump to it.”

The words stung. Avery had only been trying to help. “What is that supposed to mean?” she asked, too tired to play games with him.

“It means it seems like you’ll do anything Anthony says. I don’t like how you’re acting about this guy.”

Avery glanced uncomfortably at Owen and Sabrina. She hated public confrontations, but her head hurt too much to move. “You can’t be jealous of my boss. That’s pathetic.”

“You wanna know what’s pathetic?” Curt asked aggressively. “A girl who has a guy who loves her and all she can think about is messing around with some smug jerk who she works for.”

“Curt, you’re just angry about tonight,” Avery said. “There was nothing going on. You should know me better than that. He’s not even my type.”

“That’s right, he’s not, and you should remember that.”

“I can’t believe we’re fighting over this,” Avery groaned.

“So stop,” Owen interjected.

Curt and Avery scowled at him.

“All of you, pipe down. Polly’s got some guy in her room,” Sabrina hissed.

“Yeah, we’re trying to listen,” Owen added, pointing.

Suddenly Avery realized why Owen and Sabrina had
positioned themselves near Polly’s door. They were both trying to get as close to the door as possible to listen.

“Polly’s got a guy in there?” Avery asked, pressing her hands to her temples.

“Yeah,” Owen said, slurring his words. “Came home with him a little while ago. His hands were all over her. Go, Polly, go!”

“We want to see if she’s got the guts to go all the way,” Sabrina added.

“Oh, yeah,” Owen said, raising his hand to give her a high five, but Sabrina pointedly refused.

“You guys are gross,” Avery said, completely repulsed. “What kind of people are you that you’re making a sport out of eavesdropping?”

“A sport, I like that,” Owen said. “I’ll get the scorecards.”

“It’s her business—you should keep your noses out of it,” April said, coming down the stairs and handing Avery two Advils. She quickly washed them down with her beer. Meanwhile, Curt got up and walked unsteadily toward the kitchen.

“Come on, don’t act all high and mighty,” Sabrina said.

“Yeah, admit it, your curiosity is killing you,” Owen chimed in.

Curt returned from the kitchen with another beer. For the first time all evening, his mood appeared to lift. To Avery’s chagrin, he joined Owen and Sabrina close to Polly’s room. Sometimes she really had to wonder about him.

• • •

April couldn’t believe how nasty Owen and Sabrina were, trying to listen in on Polly. “You guys are completely disgusting,” she said.

Owen took a gulp of beer and brought a quavering finger to his lips. “Hush, little girl, this is important.”