“What’s not good for your hands?”
“Strenuous weight lifting,” Kat said, like we were all idiots for not knowing.
“Come on and set up your chairs by the fire.” Jenna laughed. We had been friends for years and she knew how much of a drama queen Kat could be.
I scanned the figures seated around the fire pit, searching unobtrusively for Jesse’s familiar outline. I unfolded my chair and dug the legs into the sand. Damn, I didn’t see him anywhere. I had hoped he would come. Maybe he got side tracked, or held up at work. God, it was like high school all over again, all giddy hoping to see the hot guy in the halls.
“Kat, do you remember back when I first met you, sophomore year in high school?”
Kat plopped down in her chair next to mine. She opened her guitar case and carefully removed an acoustic guitar, sanded and waxed to a honey-yellow finish. Her slender fingers pulled at the strings, as we talked. “Yeah Nik, how could I forget? You had just come back to California after boarding school. You were so different then.” She glanced back and forth between the guitar head and her fingers, as she tuned the strings.
“I know. I was a mess back then.” I pulled a bottle of Corona from my little blue cooler and popped off the top. “Do you think people can change? I mean change for good. Or will they just go back to their old self someday, given enough time.” I took a long draw on my beer.
“Mmm, maybe. It’s hard to say. Why?” She paused from tuning and looked straight at me with a changed demeanor. “What’s wrong, hun? What’s bothering you?”
When needed, Kat could be serious and drop the dumb blonde act, and each time she did, it reminded me why we were such good friends.
“Spill it.”
“Jason called earlier. He’s on his way back.”
“Oh my God, is this about Jason? You need to let that one go. He is such a drag. There’s more than one fish in the sea and what you need is lobster baby, the best and tastiest, not some gray flatfish.” She giggled and stopped talking long enough to take the beer I opened for her. She noticed that I wasn’t laughing. “Hey, I don’t really mean what I say about Jason...well okay, maybe I do, but it’s just that I want the best for you, Niki. You deserve it.”
“But he’s the kind of guy every girl wants, steady, good job, prospective future. And my dad loves him. The kind of guy I should want.” I stared into the fire. “Something inside of me just keeps resisting.”
“You’re resisting for a good reason. Besides, you haven’t dated him for very long. Just tell your dad, you are old enough to pick your own boyfriend.” She turned her focus back to her strings.
“Oh God, he’s already pissed at me for moving out. Now this will send his blood pressure sky high. Plus he doesn’t know about my doubts regarding law school. He doesn’t even know I’ve started classes at the Fashion Institute.”
“Oh shit. Niki, you’re turning into quite a rebel. I love this new side of you.” Her eyes laughed.
“Yeah, he’s going to have a fit when he finds out. He might cut me off all together. Don’t be surprised if you see me down in Hollywood, standing on the street with a cardboard sign next to the homeless people. I’m not cut out for that shit.” I was trying to make light of the situation for the moment, knowing my dad’s hot temper and controlling attitude.
What scared me more than my dad was this desire that was rumbling in the depths of my being. Rumblings, that were awakened the moment I met someone who was a lot like the old me, the uncontrolled, unsanctioned me. I thought I had put away the old rebellions for good, years ago when I came back from boarding school. Now that Pandora’s Box had been opened, I was terrified that once let out, part of me would never be contained again.
“Do you think your dad would really do that? Cut you off financially?”
I just shrugged and took another drink of my beer.
“I doubt
“Strenuous weight lifting,” Kat said, like we were all idiots for not knowing.
“Come on and set up your chairs by the fire.” Jenna laughed. We had been friends for years and she knew how much of a drama queen Kat could be.
I scanned the figures seated around the fire pit, searching unobtrusively for Jesse’s familiar outline. I unfolded my chair and dug the legs into the sand. Damn, I didn’t see him anywhere. I had hoped he would come. Maybe he got side tracked, or held up at work. God, it was like high school all over again, all giddy hoping to see the hot guy in the halls.
“Kat, do you remember back when I first met you, sophomore year in high school?”
Kat plopped down in her chair next to mine. She opened her guitar case and carefully removed an acoustic guitar, sanded and waxed to a honey-yellow finish. Her slender fingers pulled at the strings, as we talked. “Yeah Nik, how could I forget? You had just come back to California after boarding school. You were so different then.” She glanced back and forth between the guitar head and her fingers, as she tuned the strings.
“I know. I was a mess back then.” I pulled a bottle of Corona from my little blue cooler and popped off the top. “Do you think people can change? I mean change for good. Or will they just go back to their old self someday, given enough time.” I took a long draw on my beer.
“Mmm, maybe. It’s hard to say. Why?” She paused from tuning and looked straight at me with a changed demeanor. “What’s wrong, hun? What’s bothering you?”
When needed, Kat could be serious and drop the dumb blonde act, and each time she did, it reminded me why we were such good friends.
“Spill it.”
“Jason called earlier. He’s on his way back.”
“Oh my God, is this about Jason? You need to let that one go. He is such a drag. There’s more than one fish in the sea and what you need is lobster baby, the best and tastiest, not some gray flatfish.” She giggled and stopped talking long enough to take the beer I opened for her. She noticed that I wasn’t laughing. “Hey, I don’t really mean what I say about Jason...well okay, maybe I do, but it’s just that I want the best for you, Niki. You deserve it.”
“But he’s the kind of guy every girl wants, steady, good job, prospective future. And my dad loves him. The kind of guy I should want.” I stared into the fire. “Something inside of me just keeps resisting.”
“You’re resisting for a good reason. Besides, you haven’t dated him for very long. Just tell your dad, you are old enough to pick your own boyfriend.” She turned her focus back to her strings.
“Oh God, he’s already pissed at me for moving out. Now this will send his blood pressure sky high. Plus he doesn’t know about my doubts regarding law school. He doesn’t even know I’ve started classes at the Fashion Institute.”
“Oh shit. Niki, you’re turning into quite a rebel. I love this new side of you.” Her eyes laughed.
“Yeah, he’s going to have a fit when he finds out. He might cut me off all together. Don’t be surprised if you see me down in Hollywood, standing on the street with a cardboard sign next to the homeless people. I’m not cut out for that shit.” I was trying to make light of the situation for the moment, knowing my dad’s hot temper and controlling attitude.
What scared me more than my dad was this desire that was rumbling in the depths of my being. Rumblings, that were awakened the moment I met someone who was a lot like the old me, the uncontrolled, unsanctioned me. I thought I had put away the old rebellions for good, years ago when I came back from boarding school. Now that Pandora’s Box had been opened, I was terrified that once let out, part of me would never be contained again.
“Do you think your dad would really do that? Cut you off financially?”
I just shrugged and took another drink of my beer.
“I doubt
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