Lorylyn scrunched up her face in sympathy. “I’m sure you’ll start soon,” she said, then reached out to open the gate leading into Jill’s pool area.
“Hey, guys!” Jill rushed up the pool steps and ran up to them, giving each of them a hug. “Sorry I’m so wet!”
“It’s okay!” Lorylyn said. “So tell us all about California! How did Todd end up going with you? Did anything happen between you guys? Are you dating now?”
“No,” Jill sighed as she climbed back into the pool. Lorylyn and Hillary peeled off their shorts and tank tops and followed her. “But he was sooooo sweet the whole time!” Jill gushed, a giddy smile spreading across her face. “Oh my gosh, you guys, it was so awesome!”
“So what happened, anyway?” Hillary asked. “Your Aunt Marcy died? I remember her.”
Jill’s face fell. “Yeah. Ugh, I feel so bad, ‘cause it’s like, I was really, really upset about her death and everything, and my grandma…I don’t know, it was just weird. But then it was so great at the same time ‘cause of Todd. He just said everything right, and everybody thought he was my boyfriend, and we snuck out Friday night and went to UCLA and the beach…”
“Ahhh!” Lorylyn squealed. “That’s so awesome! So nothing happened between you guys though?” She looked totally confused.
“No. He just told me he loves me, like he always does. But he’s just joking around,” Jill said quickly, wanting them to disagree and tell her it must mean he liked her.
“I doubt it!” Lorylyn said. “He totally wants you, Jill!”
Jill grinned happily.
“So how’d he end up going with you, anyway?”
“Well, he was just over here swimming when we found out,” Jill said. “And my mom asked me if I wanted to take a friend, and he was like, ‘I’ll go.’ ”
“Ahhh!” Lorylyn squealed again. “Oh my gosh, Jill, he so likes you! Why would a guy just volunteer to fly all the way to California with a girl he didn’t like?”
“He was just trying to be a good friend,” Jill said. They didn’t know about Todd’s parents, so she couldn’t tell them he’d wanted to get away and knew what it felt like to get shocking bad news.
“It sounds like more than friends to me,” Lorylyn said, giving Jill a pointed look.
“I swear, nothing happened!” Jill giggled, raising her hands to ward off Lorylyn’s look. But Lorylyn’s perception of the whole thing was exactly what Jill had wanted to hear. She wondered what Hillary thought. Hillary had been strangely silent the whole time. Jill glanced at her.
“It sounds like it was fun,” Hillary offered. “I can’t believe that about your aunt though. Was your grandma upset?”
Jill frowned, not satisfied with Hillary’s response. Why wouldn’t Hill comment on her and Todd? Oh no…maybe Dirk had told Hillary Todd didn’t like her, and that was why Hillary was keeping quiet…
“Yeah, she was upset, but I think she’s okay,” Jill said shortly. She’d been planning on telling them about her grandma and Marcy’s fight, but now she felt betrayed, like Hillary was hiding something from her. The excitement she’d been feeling over how well the week had gone with Todd evaporated into nervous worry. What had Dirk told Hillary? This totally sucked! Now she felt like she was out of the loop, like Hillary and Dirk both knew how Todd felt about her and she didn’t. It couldn’t be good though, or Hillary would definitely tell her. What if Todd had told Dirk that he’d actually had an awful time and had just been trying to be nice? Or what if he’d been able to tell Jill liked him, and had told Dirk that? How humiliating…that had to be it though. Why else would Hillary be acting so weird?
“So, what’s going on for Fourth of July?” Jill asked, not wanting to talk about Todd anymore with Hillary here.
“I don’t know,” Lorylyn said thoughtfully. “I haven’t heard anything. Brady said Landon’s not having a party though, ‘cause his parents are using the cottage.”
“We should get Bennett to have one,” Jill said. “His yard is huge, and I bet you could see the fireworks over Lake Caldwell from there.”
“Yeah, that’d be awesome!” Lorylyn said. “Good idea!”
“I can talk to Todd about it. And ask him to ask Bennett.” It’d be a good excuse to call Todd. She’d been wondering when she should call him next or invite him to do something.
“Okay, awesome. Let me know. Brady and I would come.”
“Hillary?” Jill asked, an irritated edge to her voice.
“Yeah, sounds fun.” Hillary’s voice was dull, and she looked off into the distance at nothing.
What the hell is her deal? Jill wondered.
***
Hilton flew into Logan on Saturday afternoon and called Jill as soon as she got home.
“Hilton! Oh my gosh, I’m so glad you’re home! I have so many stories for you!”
“Yay! Was Landon’s party fun last weekend? What’s going on tonight for Fourth of July?”
“We’re going to Bennett’s. I was gonna call you in like an hour. I didn’t know what time you were supposed to get home. Do you wanna come over before Bennett’s?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in like an hour.”
“Okay, awesome!”
***
When Hilton got to Jill’s, Jill was waiting in the driveway. Hilton jumped out of her dad’s car and ran to hug Jill. “Bye, Dad!” she called. “I’ll call you later tonight when I need a ride.”
“You can stay here,” Jill said.
“Can I stay at Jill’s?”
“Sure,” Hilton’s dad said.
“Okay, thanks, Dad! See you tomorrow! Oh my gosh, Jill, you’re so tan!”
“No I’m not! Look at you! How was your trip?”
Hilton sighed. “It was sooooo awesome. We went shopping, and our hotel was so nice, and I just stayed out on the beach all day. I got bored though. I missed you and Landon. But guess what?! He called me today already, to ask what I was doing tonight! So he’s coming to Bennett’s.” She grinned happily, then widened her eyes. “He wanted me to come out on the lake for a while with his parents. But I was like, ‘No, I have to go to Jill’s!’ ” But can you believe that?! That he wanted me to go out with his parents?”
Jill grinned back. “Yeah, Hilton!”
They both giggled as they headed inside and up to Jill’s room.
Jill shut the door behind them and climbed onto her bed, while Hilton dropped into the overstuffed blue chair and curled up comfortably.
“So? Tell me what I missed!” Hilton said.
***
Jill and Hilton were both hyper and giggly all throughout Bennett’s party. As Jill had told Hilton all about her trip to California with Todd, Hilton had listened with her mouth hanging open in delighted astonishment, squealing and giggling from time to time when Jill told her something Todd had said or done.
“Holy shit, Jill!” she cried when Jill was finished. “I can’t believe I missed all that! But it’s probably actually good I was gone, ‘cause if I was here I would’ve been the one to go with you…not that I wouldn’t have wanted to go, of course, but you wouldn’t have had all that time with Todd. That’s so crazy! It’s like I went on vacation at the perfect time, and it all happened for a reason or something!”
“Really? Do you think? ‘Cause that’s kinda how I felt too, but then I felt bad thinking that Aunt Marcy died just to help things work out between me and Todd. I felt really selfish or something.”
Hilton waved her comment away. “No, I mean, she was gonna die sometime soon anyway. But it’s like the exact timing happened right when I was gone and when Todd was at your house…there’s no way that was all a coincidence! Don’t you believe in fate?”
Jill grinned and giggled. “Yeah, I want to.”
Hilton smiled jubilantly. “See, it’s all working out perfect!”
Now, at Bennett’s, they were both still in extremely high spirits, and every time they looked at each other, they would both crack up laughing.
Lorylyn
seemed really upbeat too, and she and Brady looked rock-solid and happy; they spent practically the whole night by each other, and they were so cute together, constantly teasing each other or whispering in each other’s ears and laughing.
“They are soooo cute,” Jill moaned to Hilton. “I’m so jealous.”
“You guys are that cute too,” Hilton whispered back. “You’re just not actually together…yet.” She grinned, and Jill grinned back, then looked over at Todd. He was playing basketball on Bennett’s fully lit backyard half court with Dirk, Bennett, and Landon.
“So what’s really going on with you and Landon?”
Hilton shrugged. “Whatever.” She grinned. “I don’t really know, don’t really wanna know. I mean, I don’t want it to be labeled anything yet. I’m just having fun. All we’ve done is make out.”
“I know, but are you guys gonna go on a date or anything, do you think?”
“Probably. I think he wants to. But I’ll wait for him to ask me and just see what happens.”
Jill wished she felt that confident and relaxed about her situation with Todd. Hilton was so sure of herself and of Landon’s attraction to her, but Jill was completely lost when it came to Todd’s feelings for her. Hillary’s weird behavior earlier this week had really discouraged her, but Hilton’s excitement today had made her hopeful again.
Hillary’s being weird tonight too, Jill thought now. She looked around and saw Hillary leaving the garage and heading toward them with a can of Coke. This was a non-alcoholic party because Bennett’s parents and little brothers were inside. Hillary had been quiet all night, and she’d come with Dirk but hadn’t spent much time with him. Jill suddenly remembered what Hilton had said about things getting weird between Dirk and Hillary since they’d had sex now, and she wondered if that was what had happened. Maybe that’s why she was weird the other day, not ‘cause she knew anything about if Todd likes me…, Jill thought.
“Hey, Hill,” Jill said as Hillary joined them.
“Hey.” Hillary’s voice was glum as she popped open her Coke.
“Are you okay?” Jill asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
Jill glanced at Hilton. She hadn’t told her how Hillary had been acting, and she wished she could now.
Just then the first firework exploded over the lake and burst into view above Bennett’s trees.
“Hey, they’re starting!” Hilton grabbed Jill’s arm and led her over to some blankets Bennett’s mom had spread out in the grass earlier. “Watch,” she whispered to Jill, her eyes on the boys. “I bet you anything they come sit by us.”
Sure enough, Landon and Todd wrapped up their game and walked nonchalantly over to the girls. Landon sat beside Hilton, and Todd plopped down beside Jill. Unfortunately, Bennett had also followed them, and he sat on the other side of Todd. Jill sighed inwardly. Now it was less like two couples and more like a big group. Oh well…at least she was sitting by Todd.
Halfway through the fireworks, she looked over and noticed that Landon had his arm around Hilton’s shoulders, and Hilton was leaning against him.
I wish Todd would put his arm around me! she thought, ever-conscious of his body next to hers and every little move he made that brought him even a fraction of an inch closer to her. She decided to change her position and stretched her legs out in front of her, purposely brushing Todd’s thigh with her hand as she put her hands behind her. “Oops, sorry,” she said.
“It’s cool.” Todd didn’t take his eyes off the fireworks, and Jill sighed.
“Oooh, that one was cool,” she said, desperate to get his attention in some way.
“That one’s better,” Todd said in an arrogant tone.
Jill giggled. “Whatever. Mine was so better.”
“Please,” he scoffed. “You don’t even know. You suck at judging fireworks.”
“Yeah?” Jill said. “Well you suck at life.”
Without turning to look at her, Todd hooked his arm around her neck and squeezed.
Jill squealed and giggled. “Get off me!” she said.
“No,” Todd said, squeezing tighter.
Jill stared at him, pretending to be disbelieving. “Fine,” she said carelessly, crossing her arms and turning back to the fireworks, secretly elated because she’d just gotten exactly what she wanted. “Just stay there, whatever.”
He did, for a few minutes, and even though she wasn’t leaning against him like Hilton was against Landon, and his embrace was more joking than Landon’s, Jill was thrilled, and her whole upper body tingled from his touch. Her natural instinct was to lean closer to him, but she resisted, sitting as still as she could with her arms crossed, acting as if his arm around her didn’t affect her one way or the other.
***
Monday morning Jill and Lorylyn started driver’s ed. Hillary and Dirk and Bennett were taking it too, but since their last names were all in the first half of the alphabet, they were in the nine to eleven session. Jill and Lorylyn’s was from eleven to one. They had to go to class for three weeks, then they’d have their actual training in a car. Hilton and Todd had already taken driver’s ed last fall, shortly after their fifteenth birthdays, but Jill hadn’t been old enough yet. They had both said it was easy and nothing to worry about, but Jill was really nervous about the actual driving part.
“Hey, so do you think Hillary’s acting weird lately?” Jill asked Lorylyn during their ten-minute break on Monday.
“Um…I don’t know, really…why?” Lorylyn shoved some coins into a pop machine in the cafeteria.
“I don’t know, I just thought last week when you guys came swimming she was being really weird…she barely said two words. And she was the same way at Bennett’s.” Jill had finally had a chance to mention Hillary’s strange behavior to Hilton, and Hilton had said she’d noticed it at Bennett’s too.
“Maybe she’s freaked out over having sex,” Hilton had said. “I don’t think Dirk’s blowing her off or anything though, ‘cause he was acting normal I thought. I think it’s just her.”
“Yeah,” Lorylyn said hesitantly, then looked around. They were alone. “Okay, please, please don’t tell her I told you.” Her big dark brown eyes pleaded with Jill’s.
Jill’s eyes widened. “I won’t. Tell me what?” This sounded like something big.
“She thinks she might be pregnant,” Lorylyn said quietly.
Jill’s mouth dropped open. “WHAT?!”
“Sssshhh! Don’t say anything! She freaked out last week at Landon’s ‘cause she said they didn’t use a condom, and she was all worried ‘cause they had sex like two weeks after she started her last period, so, you know, that’s like the most likely time to get pregnant.”
“Oh my gosh!”
“Yeah, and I told her it was probably nothing, ‘cause she wasn’t even late yet…but she still hasn’t started her period. At least she hadn’t yesterday. So now she’s like over a week late.”
“Oh my gosh.” Jill couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t imagine that Hillary was actually pregnant. She felt bad, because she realized a small part of her wanted it to be true, just because it would be so huge. Jill, you’re awful, stop it! she screamed at herself silently. “Has she said anything to Dirk about it yet?”
“No…I think she’s waiting as long as she can, just like hoping it’s not true,” Lorylyn said, and Jill felt horrible. Forget how huge it would be…it would ruin Hillary’s life. Jill offered up a silent prayer to God to please not let Hillary be pregnant.
As they walked back to driver’s ed with their pops, Jill remembered how she’d been pissed at Hillary and snapped at her because she thought Hillary knew something about Todd’s feelings for her. Now she felt even worse. You’ve got to stop thinking everything’s about you! she scolded herself. You’re so self-centered! You snapped at her and were shitty with her ‘cause you thought it obviously had to do with you and Todd…and she’s been freaking out this whole time ‘cause she thinks she’s pregnant! You’re such a bitch, Jil
l! Then, for a minute, she felt a little left out because Hillary hadn’t even told her….But she didn’t let it bother her, because she knew if the situation were reversed, she wouldn’t have told Hillary either.
***
“Jill, phone!” Winnie yelled a week later. “It’s a boy!” Jill could hear her giggle from all the way downstairs.
Jill rolled her eyes as she hit pause on her VCR remote. Great…whoever it was had to have heard that. She picked up her phone. “Hello?”
“Hey, Jilly. So are we still on to sneak out tonight at midnight? I’ll be there to meet you at our normal spot,” Todd said in a furtive whisper. Jill heard Winnie gasp.
“Winnie, hang up!” she snapped, but broke into a laugh. “Todd! Now she’s gonna go tell my mom!”
“I won’t tell,” Winnie said eagerly. “If you tell me all about it!”
“Winnie, hang up!”
“Fine, I’m gonna tell Mom right now.”
“Whatever, it’s not even happening!”
“Well, it better not be, or you’re in trouble!” Winnie’s voice was superior. “Unless you promise to tell me about it.”
“Fine, I’ll tell you.”
“Really?”
“Really. BYE!”
The phone clicked down, and Jill sighed exasperatedly.
Todd laughed. “Awesome, so what are you gonna tell her? Are you gonna tell her we got it on? And what a good kisser I am?”
“Todd! She’s eight! I’m gonna tell her we just took a walk or something.”
“She won’t believe you. She’s not stupid. I’d already been to third base when I was eight.”
“Yeah, in your last baseball game, maybe.”
Todd laughed. “So anyway, what are you up to?”
“Watchin’ my old tapes of Friends from last season.”
“Oh. Well I’m calling ‘cause my mom wants you to come over for dinner.”
“She does?”
“Yeah, well, she wants to get to know you better or something, I guess, since I went on a trip with you. And she said she at least owes you a dinner, ‘cause your parents paid for my plane ticket. She wanted to pay for the ticket and I told her no like fifty times. But she says this is the least she can do. I know it’s stupid, sorry. You don’t have to come.”
“No, I’ll come,” Jill said quickly. “It sounds fun. Is your dad gonna be there?”