"It's actually kids' vitamins."
"Oh, then it's healthy," the woman said, beaming. "Can he have the whole bag?"
"Sure, but there's only one vitamin in it," I said, a little taken aback by her and Derek, but opened the bag and gave the chew to Derek before passing it on to her.
Derek, I was pleased to note, had stopped yelling and was now grinning at me around a mouthful of Perfect You vitamin. It was probably the closest thing to a miracle I'd ever seen.
Derek's mom clearly thought so too because she said, "What's in these?" just as Will, of all people, came in through one of the mall corridor doors and Derek finished chewing, swallowed, and motioned for me to lean toward him.
Distracted by the sight of Will, I did, and Derek yelled, "More!" spraying Chocolate Chew on my face.
"Hey, Kate, what's up?" Will said. He was wearing a Sports Shack uniform and a name tag that said my name is trainee.
Great. Just great. Of course I would see Will now. At least he didn't know where I worked.
I stood up and wiped my face off with the back of one hand, glaring at him.
"Go away," I muttered, as Derek screamed, "I WANT MORE CANDY NOW!"
"Is your store nearby?" Derek's mom said, as if her demon spawn hadn't just screamed at the top of his lungs. "Oh, wait. Is this bag right? Are these made by Perfect You? Don't they run those horrible infomercials?" "I've never seen one," I said, which was technically true, because I left the room whenever Dad started watching one.
"Wait, you work at the Perfect You store?" Will said, and from the look on his face I could tell he'd already heard all about the vitamin guy who dressed up like a bee. And who'd hung around Sports Shack trying to hand out free samples until the manager made him leave.
"I do," I said, hoping I didn't sound as humiliated as I felt, and gave him a go-away-and-drop-dead look just as Derek yelled, "MORE!" one last time and then started to cry.
"Your mommy can buy you lots more if she wants," I told him. I knew it was a completely manipulative thing to say, but we needed the sale and besides, the kid had spit on me.
"Mommy," Derek said, voice quivering, and his mother said, "All right, we'll get some,"
shooting me a look as she motioned for me to start walking.
As I led them back to the booth, watching out for both Derek and his mother's shopping bags, Will said, "Later, Kate," and I heard laughter in his voice. I didn't know if it was at me or for the situation he'd seen me stuck in.
Knowing him, it was probably both. I looked back over my shoulder and glared at him again. He waved.
Jerk.
"I'm sorry if we chased that boy off," Derek's mother said as I bagged the box of chews she'd bought. "He was yummy looking."
Ewww. No one needed to hear someone that old say something like that, especially when my father was around and could say things like, "Who's yummy looking?" "No one," I said, before he or anyone else could say another word. "I just ran into someone I know from school." I handed Derek's mom her Perfect You bag and credit card slip and tried not to glare as I said, "Have a nice day."
"So, this yummy guy," Dad said as soon as she'd left. "Do I know him? Is he an athlete?"
"Dad, please don't say yummy like that. And who cares if he plays sports?"
"Perfect You says sponsoring a local athlete is a great way to build buzz."
Unbelievable. Not that I wanted Dad to be interested in my nonexistent love life or anything, but did everything have to be about Perfect You? "Yes, Dad, he's an athlete.
He runs triathlons and climbs mountains and is a professional ice carver. I'm sure he'd love to do it all covered with Perfect You ads."
He gave me a bright, fake smile and didn't say anything. Why couldn't he just get mad like a normal person? Why? I forced myself to take a deep breath. "Look, here's what happened. I ran into someone I go to school with and he found out I work here and--
well, I'm going to get so much crap at school tomorrow I should just quit now."
"Why would anyone care that you work here?"
"Because I work selling overpriced vitamins with a guy who dresses up in insane costumes. Oh, and the guy in question happens to be my father. Can you see where that might cause problems, Dad?"
He turned away from me for a second, fiddling with a display he'd set up. When he looked back, he was still smiling his big fake grin, and when he spoke it was clear he was pretending our conversation hadn't happened. "I'm going to head home and get ready for the party now. I'll have Mom pick you up when the mall closes."
"Dad--"
He kissed my cheek and walked off before I could say anything else.
Unlike him, I didn't have the option of walking away, and had to stay in the booth all night. That made me mad, but then I thought about how upset Dad had been and felt sort of guilty, which then made me mad again because I hadn't done anything wrong.
He was the one who'd wanted me to do everything for his stupid party.
And, on top of everything else, I had to worry about what Will was going to tell people.
I was thoroughly depressed by closing, but then Mom came in as I was shutting down the register.
"Hey," I said, glad to see her.
"Hi, Kate." She looked exhausted, and my stomach knotted.
"Is Dad still having his party?"
"No." Her voice was brittle, unhappy. This couldn't be good.
"What happened?"
She told me the whole story on the way home. Twelve people showed up for the party.
Ten of them were from Dad's old job, and the last two were a couple he'd talked to at the mall. The couple had shown up late and started trying to interest people in time-shares. Mom had to threaten to call the police before they would leave.
"The good news is, your father did sell a few things after they'd gone," she said, but she sure didn't sound like she thought it was good news.
"Why don't you tell him to quit this Perfect You crap and get a real job again?"
She sighed. "Kate, this is your dad's dream."
"So?"
"So it means something to him."
"Well then, I'm never going to school again. Why? Because it's my dream."
"Kate Louise Brown, don't you dare talk to me like that." Unlike Dad, Mom had no problem getting mad and yelling. "You're sixteen, and you have no idea what it's like to be an adult and have to deal with adult things."
Right. I just had to deal with a father who'd rather buy vitamins and play video games than do anything else. I just had to deal with having my best friend act like I didn't exist.
I just had to deal with having my whole life fall apart.
And to top it all off, tomorrow I was going to have to deal with Will--and probably everyone else--knowing I worked for the crazy vitamin guy.
I would have liked to see an adult deal with all my problems.
Chapter seven
My world ended at 7:23 a.m., when I realized that something a lot worse than Will had happened.
I'd gotten to school, and as I walked inside I heard snatches of conversations, stuff like
"Perfect You? Isn't that, like, sold in infomercials?" and "No, she sells it too. Her whole family does."
Will, you jackass, I thought in silent fury and then, just before I got to my locker, I heard someone say, "Diane Mullins said her mom said it was the most pathetic thing she'd ever seen. I mean, the guy invited people he used to work with to his house, tried to sell them stuff, and then had totally random people show up and try to sell stuff too?"
Yes, that's right. Diane Muffins, Anna's new best friend, found out about my dad and his vitamins. And his so-called party. And then told people.
I don't mean to make it sound like I was all people were talking about. After all, I was still me, and news that a nobody sophomore had a father who sold crap infomercial vitamins was funny, but not huge gossip. In fact, I was pretty sure the only reason people were talking about it as much as they were was because it sort of i
nvolved Diane, who was way more popular than me.
Not that it didn't still suck, though.
I made it through first period by staring at my desk the whole time, but the second the bell rang, Jennifer T. cornered me.
"Is it true Diane Mullins was at your house last night?" she asked.
"What? No." I edged past her into the hall, but of course she followed me.
"Oh. Because I heard her and her mom came to a party your dad threw because he lost his job, only it wasn't a party and he tried to sell infomercial vitamins."
"He quit his job, Jennifer."
Her eyes widened. "So he's really selling infomercial vitamins? And at your house?"
"Yes. We also have a brothel in our garage. Are you looking for a job?"
"God, I was just asking. You don't have to be a bitch about it."
"Right, stupid me," I said, and walked off.
Then things got worse, because I saw Anna. She was walking with Diane, and when Diane saw me she laughed, and Anna . . . Anna laughed too. She laughed at me.
I should have been furious, and part of me was--part of me actually hated her then--but after she walked by I just stood there, trying not to cry.
I didn't, even though I wanted to, and somehow made it through my next few classes. I hid out in the guidance office looking at college brochures during lunch, though, wanting a break from acting like I was okay.
Naturally, this meant that when the bell rang and I went out into the hallway, Will was there.
"There you are," he said, like he'd been looking for me. "Heard you ran off crying into the bathroom."
I gritted my teeth. "Well, now that you're here, I might."
He grinned. "I knew you were too tough to hide in the bathroom, much less cry."
"Right."
His smile faded. "What? I was just saying--"
"Look, what do you want? Yes, I work for the vitamin nut at the mall. Yes, as I'm sure you've already figured out, he also happens to be my father. Yes, apparently Diane's mother was at my house and I'm sure she suffered terribly, but you know what? I just don't feel that sorry for her right now."
"I figured your heart wouldn't be breaking over that," he said. "And I think it takes a certain amount of courage to wear a bee costume."
"Wow, thanks. Now I feel loads better. Don't you have a girl you should find and feel up before class starts or something?" "Monica and I stopped hanging out last week. I'll try not to take it personally that you didn't notice."
"Who can keep track with you?"
"Nice to know you're trying," he said, grinning again, and then headed off down the hall.
Chapter eight
On Saturday night, Dad told me he needed me to work at the mall on Sunday.
"Why?" I said. "I'm not supposed to work weekends, remember?"
I was sitting in the living room, trying to figure out what was going on with Mom, who was sitting at the kitchen table, staring off into space. She'd been on and off the phone all day, always taking the calls in her bedroom, and she'd been upset, like she was trying to solve a problem she already knew the answer to, only the answer wasn't one she liked.
"It's important," Dad said, and Mom looked at me and Dad then, staring at him for a moment before abruptly getting up and saying, "I'm going to bed." "Kate, can you hold on for one sec?" Dad said.
"Sure." I watched him head after her, and when he came back a few minutes later, he was smiling his big fake smile again.
"So, can you work tomorrow?"
"Is Mom okay?"
"She's fine, just tired," he said, and his false smile slipped into something almost like a grimace for a moment. "I know you haven't worked weekends before, but it would really help me out if you could pitch in. I've got something big planned."
I didn't like the sound of that. "Like what?"
"I'm going to hold an information session at the library." He grinned at me, a real, happy smile. "Isn't that great?"
"Is the library going to let you sell stuff?"
"Well . . . no," he said. "But, see, I'm going to offer all our products outside afterward, in the parking lot across the street. I checked, and that's okay."
His big plan was selling vitamins in a parking lot? How could he not see how stupid that was?
I resisted the urge to speak until I'd calmed down, and then said, "What about my homework?"
I'd actually done most of it already--having no social life left plenty of time for homework--but I didn't want to give up my Sunday so Dad could hang out in the library parking lot trying to sell vitamins. I mean, my life had sunk low enough already.
"Oh." Dad's smile went fake again, the expression in his eyes shifting from happy to devastated. "I didn't think about that. I'm sorry, Kate. I'll do it another time." "Dad, it's just--"
"I understand." He sighed. "I think maybe I'll go for a walk."
Dad never went for a walk unless he was so upset he couldn't stay in the house and keep acting like everything was fine. The last time he'd done it was when Grandma visited.
"I'll do it," I said, hating myself for making him as upset as Grandma did, and hating him for his stupid plan and obsessive love for Perfect You vitamins.
"Really?"
I nodded, and he looked so happy I almost wasn't sorry I'd agreed to help him.
"You are one amazing kid, you know that? Thank you for believing in me. It really means a lot."
I left the room before he could say anything else, because I wasn't amazing, and I didn't believe in him. I just hated it when he got upset.
I thought Sundays at the mall would be a little busier, but work was slow, as always, even though the mall was crowded. I spent most of the day stacking bottles of vitamins into small pyramids on top of our display case, bored and trying to avoid being seen by anyone I knew.
It worked for the most part, although in the afternoon Jennifer S. stopped by. She was alone and looked frustrated.
"Hey," she said. "I'm trying to buy a birthday present for my sister. What do you get a ten-year-old who thinks she knows everything?"
"A sign that says 'middle school will destroy you.'" She laughed. "It really did suck, didn't it? I hated seventh grade."
"Me too." Anna and I had spent hours on the phone then, both of us miserable over everything. Until this year, I'd been sure I'd never have a worse one.
"It must be nice, working by yourself. No boss around or anything."
"Well, it's sitting in the mall trying to sell infomercial crap, but yeah, my dad isn't here today."
I heard how bitchy I sounded, and she didn't look like she was trying to make fun of me, but I really didn't want to go over the whole yes-my-father-is-a-freak thing again.
"Right. I guess I'd better let you get back to work, then," she said, her voice tight, and left.
I thought about calling after her, but what would I say after I told her I was sorry? I had no idea. Plus, if I did say something, what if it was the wrong thing and made her mad?
Besides, I never felt like I could be myself with her or any of the Jennifers. No one else was Anna, and even if I did become best friends with someone, it wouldn't be the same.
I wouldn't have tried to learn how to skateboard with them, and they wouldn't have been there the first time I went out on a weekend without my parents around. I still remembered how cool I felt to be thirteen, an adult ticket holder at the movies with my best friend on a Friday night.
I stared down at the counter. How come it was so easy for Anna to forget all that? How could she forget all about me?
Maybe she hadn't, because when I looked up, she was looking at me. I thought I was seeing things, but I wasn't. Anna was there, really there, standing at the edge of our section of the mall. I held my breath, hoping, but she turned around, like she was going to walk away. A wave of anger and sadness washed over me. Why did I still care about her at all? Why didn't she miss me like I missed her?
And then Sam and Will came up behind her, and she turned back tow
ard me.
As the three of them walked in my direction, I felt my heart speed up, but Anna stopped in front of a store window just inside our section of the mall, staring inside. Sam stopped with her, wrapping his arms around her.
Will was the only one who came to the booth. He was still wearing a name tag that said his name was trainee, and he tapped his fingers against the top of the counter, looking into the case.
"So, do you take any of this stuff?"
"Yes. All of it. Stop smudging the glass." Back behind him Anna was still looking in the store window.
"Wow, great salesmanship. No wonder you've got a line of customers."
"Will, what do you want?" Sam said something to Anna and she grinned, turning in his arms for a kiss and then pushing a lock of hair off his forehead. I thought of all the times she'd described how she'd do just that if she ever got to kiss him. What was it like to have that kind of dream come true? I bet it was the most amazing feeling in the world.
"Just saying hey to a fellow wage slave."
"Right, which is why you're over here all the time talking to me. Oh, wait." "You should have told me you were feeling neglected. I would have come by before. The second I got hired, even."
"Shut up, Will." Anna and Sam turned away from the store window, walking toward the booth. Toward me. Time seemed to slow down as they got closer, and then I saw Sam glance at me and then Will, then look away.
Anna didn't look at me at all. She walked right by me like I wasn't even there.
I stared after her, furious--but also wishing she'd turn around, even if it was just for a second.
She didn't turn around, though, and Will tapped the counter again.
When I looked at him, he was leaning over it a little, staring at me. "Kate, do you like me at all? Say, enough to not run me over if I was lying mostly dead in the middle of the road?"
For a second I thought he was serious because he looked so intense, like he really wanted to know, but then some girl walking by said, "Hey, Will," and he turned and waved at her.
Yeah, I was keeping him up nights.
"Please. If you were mostly dead in the middle of the road I'd obviously stop. And then I'd watch you die."