Doreen by Ilana Manaster Page A

semester at the school, and she’d already decided that the boys on offer were beneath her consideration? Boys and girls alike would not take kindly to that. Add to that Doreen’s worthy attitude about Simon’s “goodness,” and soon enough people would turn on the girl.
    If she had to, Heidi would take action. It wouldn’t be the first time she’d broken up a couple she deemed unsuitable or inconvenient, though she hoped it wouldn’t come to that. Better to try and talk some sense to the girl, remind her of their larger project. She watched Misha try to impress Doreen and felt a wave of pride. They had come so far already, there was no saying what they might accomplish together if they stayed focused. And Heidi was thinking beyond Chandler now. Two girls from the outside win at high society? This was a partnership that could be mutually beneficial for the rest of their lives.
    The thing to do was to loosen up a bit, reestablish their bond with a little one-on-one fun. Heidi made a plan to meet Doreen in the shed behind the stadium an hour before curfew. “Just us,” she said with a wink, and Doreen grinned. She still had some influence over the girl, Simon or not.

    â€œHow’s that?” asked Doreen. Heidi examined the sad-looking joint.
    â€œUm, a little better I guess. But you have to roll it tighter. Here. Like that, see?”
    â€œI’m hopeless at this. You should just roll these.”
    â€œBut rolling a joint is a great skill, Doreen. Very sexy.” She sparked the joint with a lighter she’d “borrowed” from Ad-rock two years earlier.
    â€œReally?” They’d laid out Heidi’s raincoat to protect their little tushes from the wet earth. The dank smell of the ground mixed pleasantly with the armpitty weed stink. It felt very natural, something Heidi felt infrequently.
    â€œIt’s one of those things, like playing pool. Working a socket wrench. Men like a girl with skills.” She exhaled.
    â€œWhat’s a socket wrench?”
    â€œI have no idea.”
    Doreen burst out laughing and Heidi joined, their giggles muffled by the shed’s wet wood.
    â€œStop it,” said Doreen, wiping away tears. “Oh my god. I’m going to pee my pants. Wait. What did you say? Now I can’t remember what was so funny.”
    â€œMe neither!” They fell over themselves laughing.
    â€œHow long do you think kids have been getting high in this shed?”
    â€œAbout a century. Give or take.”
    â€œAnd they never get busted?”
    â€œWho knows?”
    â€œI bet my dad smoked pot in here.” Doreen looked around as if trying to picture it. “He went to school here, you know.”
    â€œYeah,” said Heidi, trying to keep her tone relaxed. “Sure, you said that. It’s funny though, you never talk about him. Uh, so, what’s he like?”
    Doreen drew lines in the dirt with her finger. “I don’t know. I don’t really know him anymore. He picked me up from the airport in Boston. But before that I hadn’t seen him since I was little.”
    â€œWhat did he say when he picked you up?” Heidi was doing her best to seem caring and interested, not nosy. She drew in another hit.
    â€œI guess he was afraid that I was going to embarrass him. At Chandler. He said something about how it was his turf and he had certain expectations, whatever that means.”
    â€œOh, Doreen. I’m so sorry. What a jerk.”
    â€œWhat? No, I don’t know. He has a reputation to protect.” Doreen’s face fell, and she was once again the bullied, lost child. Heidi felt a rumbling in her heart. She knew what it was like to feel like you deserved to be treated badly.
    â€œNonsense. You have as much right to be here as anyone else. No offense, but that guy sounds like an asshole.”
    â€œYou’re right.” Doreen clenched her fists. “He is an asshole! HE IS AN