Babydoll Page 6

  "So dress up tonight?" she asked.

  "Sure," I said, crossing the room to pull out my favorite dress. It was pretty peach lace and I didn’t get nearly enough opportunities to wear it.

  After we got off the phone I cranked up my summertime mix. Since Lucy downloaded BitTorrent on my computer I spent a more time than I could count downloading and listening. I kept getting caught up in the lyrics of new to me songs. Music always inspired to write.

  My perfect summer track list played Boss DJ by Sublime following Feeling Good by Nina Simone as I stood in the bathroom tugging soft cotton over my head. I put on just a bit of mascara and I was all done. The summer sun had added pink to my cheeks so there wasn’t any need for blush. I loved the mix of the pretty dress and my messy hair. I felt summer pretty and ready for any surprise in the world. With my sandals on my feet I headed out the door. It was just a few blocks so I figure I would just walk it instead of pulling my cruiser out of the garage. I began to think that might not have been such a good idea when the muggy overcast of the day made the little curls that were too short to pull up stick to the back of my neck. The blast of AC when Haley opened her door was refreshing and welcome.

  "That dress," she said, with a smile. She loved it. She helped me pick it out.

  "That dress," I replied smiling back. Haley had been in a retro phase since she fell in love with The Notebook, so when we found the most perfect vintage red and white dress at a flea-market she had to have it. It did amazing things for her curves and gave her the perfect opportunity to wear in your face, red lipstick.

  "Come on," she said, linking her arm through mine, pulling me in the house.

  We made our way through the living room and out the back. I could hear music from the yard next door as we approached the gate. I looked around in wonder as we stepped through. Mrs. C had turned the yard into something out of one of her design magazines. There were pretty, yellow, paper lights strung through the trees, glowing orbs against the cloudy sky. There were tables with crisp white cloths, topped with colorful drinks in glass decanters and trays of steaming barbeque that smelled amazing. There was the sounds of soft jazz mixing with conversation and laughter. It was the most grownup, beautiful, awesome thing I had ever seen.

  It was mostly adults. People I assumed work with Mr. C, but I also saw Pastor Webber and his wife as well as Principle Matthews. I saw a few of the guys Luke played ball with and a couple of kids from our class but most of them were with their parents.

  "Wow," I breathed, looking around, trying to take in every last detail.

  "Right?" Haley agreed. "But I still wonder what the – oh! That’s what this is all about."

  I followed where she was pointing to a banner strung over the backdoor.

  WELCOME HOME, LANE.

  He was back. I felt my hands start to get clammy and my stomach felt a little fluttery. I made it a point to look unimpressed.

  "Oh," I said, with a nod.

  I don't know why my nerves had suddenly gone ballistic. I mean it was just Lane. Just the troublemaker next door with the crazy kaleidoscope eyes. Just the flirty boy who wanted to give me my first kiss. Just him. And none of that even mattered anyway because I had a boyfriend. And I had been kissed and touched and I wasn’t going to be the shy little girl who went round and round in circles in her head because of Lane Campbell.

  "Let's go say hey," Haley said, tugging me along.

  His back was to us as we approached. He was the center of attention in a circle of girls which didn’t surprise me at all. Lucy was there with him and her smile was so big it was eating up her face.

  "Hey pretty ladies!" she said, when she saw us walking up. She immediately grabbed her camera hanging from its strap around her neck and snapped a shot of us.

  That’s when he turned around and I went into auto-pilot, auto-cool mode. I smiled like I was just here saying hey, normal as could be, when really my brain was running five hundred thoughts a second. I wondered why his eyes looked gray in the soft light. I wondered how long it had been since he had hair cut because it was just a little too long and wild and it looked so soft. I was thinking that he must have hit a growth spurt sometime while he was gone because he was tall before but he was topping six feet and he looked so lean but strong like he had been working out. I wondered if maybe I was having some sort of panic attack because my heart was pounding and all of the sounds around me, like the adult conversation about how it may rain and the sounds of the music had become muddled in my ears. And then he smiled. The genuine smile that I rarely saw but was always etched into the back of my mind.

  "Hey, Baby-doll," he said, and closed the distance between us with one graceful stride.

  I didn’t have time to worry about how he would probably feel my heart pounding before his arms were around me, pulling me in tight. It felt like a thousand shocks of static electricity. He smelled like cologne and sunshine. When I managed to hug back I could feel the taunt muscles of his back under the soft cotton of his polo. I pressed closer than I should have because his body felt like a magnet pulling mine to him. I was both disappointed and so, so glad when Haley spoke causing him to pull away.

  "So did you get out of lock up or something?" she asked.

  He chuckled as he let me go and pulled her in for a quick hug. There was no way it was even a quarter of what I had felt.

  "Hey, Haley, no I didn't get out of lock up," he told her. "I've been in Texas with my uncle."

  She shrugged.

  "Same difference. Where's Luke?" she asked, already losing interest in the man of the hour.

  Lane and Lucy sported nearly matching eye rolls.

  "Same old Haley," Lane laughed.

  "He's inside trying to get mom to bring the cake out," Lucy told us.

  "Oh," Haley said. I could see she was trying to decide just how obvious she wanted to be.

  Apparently, the Campbell boys were just chalk full of magnetism because after just a moment's hesitation she sauntered off.

  "So, you’re back," I said, rocking back on my heels. I had no idea what to say to Lane Campbell.

  "And we we're just telling him how much we missed him around school," Lindsay said swooping in and linking her arm through his. This again, I thought.

  It was like nothing had changed. Both Lindsay and Tabitha, who had made her way over to join us, were staring at him like he was a rock star. Except, he seemed different. The smirky glint in his eyes was a little more weary and he disentangled himself from Lindsay after only a moment. I wondered if maybe so long in exile had taught him something.

  "I missed you guys too," he said, smiling.

  It crossed my mind that I could probably stand there studying him all night, but Lucy snapped one more picture of her brother and laced her fingers through mine.

  "Let's go sneak mimosas," she said, with a grin. Just like her brothers, she was irresistible.

  Later that evening found me seated at one of the bench tables under the trees, admiring the paper lanterns again.

  "So, did you ever get that kiss?" his voice was velvety and right behind my ear. It sent goose bumps all the way down my bare arms.

  Evening had set in and the party had mostly wound down. The adults who were left were talking and laughing louder now, thanks to the booze loosening their tongues. I was feeling pretty good myself from all the pretty drinks we had been slipping, but I still had it together unlike my best friend who had been hassling the shit out of Luke. After about an hour or so of her nit picking he finally dragged her in the house to talk privately before her mouth got too much attention from his parents. Lucy kept wondering off to take pictures of everything and everyone, leaving me all alone. Lane slid around to sit in front of me, his knees brushing mine. Sadly, the alcohol did nothing to combat the blush that always seemed to burn up my cheeks when he was around.

  "That’s not your business," I said, primly. I tried not to smile but a little one slipped though.

  "I'm still more than happy to help you out
with that," he said. The smirk appeared. I hadn’t realized I missed it.

  "I said it's not your business, not that I need help with it," I told him, with a little sass, my own smug little smile popping up. I wasn’t letting him mess with my head this time.

  "Really?" he asked, with an impressed grin. "Sweet little Baby-doll Bailey grew up while I was gone?"

  I rolled my eyes at him, but I couldn’t stop smiling.

  "I have a boyfriend," I told him.

  His smile faded and I wanted to take my words back. I wanted to tell him I was just joking. But I remembered I wasn’t. I did have a boyfriend. A perfect boyfriend.

  "Yeah?" he asked. I nod. He shrugged. "Well, I guess we all grow up sometime."

  "Did you hate Texas?" I asked. I wanted to change the subject but I mentally kicked myself when I saw the shadow my new topic choice cast over his face. I wanted him to smile again.

  "At first," he said. "It's hot as balls there. Pretty much all the time. And I was working on a farm. Farms suck. You never seem to get the smell of cow shit out of your clothes. But I got used to it. The worst part was missing everyone. I missed everyone like crazy."

  "We missed you to," I told him, softly. I couldn’t imagine what it would be like to be so far from my dad and my friends.

  His smile turned up the side of his mouth. It was soft and sweet.

  "You missed me?" he asked, eyes glinting in the yellow light.

  I smiled back, my cheeks heating yet again. I nodded.

  "Does your boyfriend know you were missing me while you were with him?" He was teasing again.

  "Shut up," I said, reaching forward to smack his arm playfully. He caught my hand and laced his fingers through mine the same way his sister did earlier. Except, unlike his sister's touch, his made me feel those electric charges again.

  "I'm glad you missed me," he said. His eyes held mine and I felt like I was in serious danger of falling off the bench. I felt like I was falling off the world. "I missed you."

  I swallowed hard but before I could answer we both jumped at the sound of the back door slamming. The crazy blonde from next door ran out the gate into her back yard ignoring all the curious stares. For just a second I considered just pretending that I didn't notice. Just staying there. With Lane. But she was my best friend. And I had a boyfriend.

  "I should go," I muttered, looking back at Lane.

  "Yeah, me too," he said, with a sigh. He wasn’t looking at me but up at Luke's window. We could both see his shadow pacing.

  He helped me to my feet and let my hand slip from his. I missed the warmth immediately. We both started away but I had to stop for just one more second.

  "Hey, Lane," I called to him. He stopped to look back at me. "I'm glad you’re back. I really did miss you."

  His grin was all I could see.

  * * *

  Chapter 8

  * * *

  "Who do you think it would be? I mean who would be stupid enough to cross Haley Elton?" Lucy asked, without turning away from the updates she was making to the collage. It was November and Lucy had already taken a million pictures hanging at school and playing around on the weekends.

  "It's not Haley they're screwing with, it's me," I sighed. I was laying on Lucy's bed with my feet propped up on her headboard. I had read that propping your feet up was supposed to be good for your blood pressure. I was betting mine was way too high.

  "Same difference," Lucy said, gracing me with a look that told me to use my head.

  Haley was only a freshman but she already had a reputation for being a badass. She took zero shit from anyone. She had a run in with one of the cheerleaders at the beginning of the year that ended with Miss Pompoms face first into her locker door. With that move Haley became the head mean girl. Furthermore, everyone knew if you messed with me or Lucy you were messing with Haley.

  But that protected status wasn’t doing me any good right then. For two weeks my boyfriend had been acting sketchy and I was sure it was because he was messing around with someone. He had been dodging me, not returning my calls, and pretty much driving me batshit insane. It was not how my Cameron behaved. It was like I was suddenly dating someone I didn’t even know.

  "I bet it's Summer," I mussed.

  "That band chick?" Lucy asked.

  "Yeah, her locker is right next to his. And I always see her staring at him at the games."

  "Trouble in paradise?" I heard Lane's voice from the open doorway.

  I immediately sat up and turned to tuck my chipped polish toes under Lucy's down comforter. I didn’t know why I cared about him seeing my unkempt toes. I just did.

  "What're you doing home?" Lucy asked, turning to face her brother.

  I was curious too. There was a football party going on at one of the senior guy’s house. It was the usual after game party. Pretty much half the school was there including my blondie bestie. I wanted to go but my dad said no way, no how. Lucy stayed home with me as a show of solidarity. I looked over as I waited for his answer and immediately wish I hadn't.

  He was fresh from the shower, dressed in low riding basketball shorts with his towel draped around his neck. He wasn’t built huge like Luke but his chest and stomach were finely muscled and defined. His usually unruly hair was slicked back making his eyes pop. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from the slight trail of hair that started at his navel and disappeared under his waist band. When I did manage to skate my eyes up to his face and he smirked at me like he knew exactly what I was looking at. Like he knew exactly where my mind was. I could feel my cheeks heat up and I buried my face in the blessedly cool, black-swirl print duvet.

  "Felt like staying in," he said. I could hear the shrug in his voice as he crossed the room to his sister. His back was to me when I lifted my head and I watched the muscles flex when he tossed the towel from his shoulders into her open hamper. He dropped down next to her on the floor and started thumbing through her pictures. I assumed he’d forgotten what he ease dropped on until he spoke again. "Boy problems, Baby-doll?"

  I sighed again. Lane was back to being back around all the time and while everyone else had accepted his presence I didn’t know how to deal with it. Thanks to his past bad behavior he had to repeat a whole year in Texas making him a lowly freshman with us. Even though his old bad boy friends were still around he was spending most of his time with us. Lunch at school was no longer just us gossipy girls. It was Gavin telling us about the shows his band was playing since he dropped the school sanctioned music for a real band. It was my suddenly sketchy boyfriend talking about football games and parties. And it was Lane with his smirk.

  If Lane was the king of the school before he left, he was like the emperor now. His t-shirts repped the coolest bands. His chucks were scuffed from shows and parties. He was always the focus of staring eyes but he was beyond noticing. One day the week before, a sophomore cheerleader named Carmen slid up next to him and tried to rope him into conversation. Neither her perfectly tan, mini-skirted legs nor her thinly veiled hints about him taking her to the movies could drag him away from our table wide argument about how likely Kurt Cobain would had been to sell out had he lived.

  That kind of coolness was intimidating. Especially, when it was combined with those eyes, leveling you with their intensity. The way Lane looked at me made me forget that I was a high-schooler now with a boyfriend and the coolest friends in school. When Lane looked at me I felt like a silly kid.

  "Cameron's acting like a douche," Lucy told him.

  "What the fuck is his problem?" Lane asked. He wasn’t looking at me. He was handing Lucy pictures to put up. She put placed a sticky dot on the back and arranged it on the wall.

  It was a picture she took last week when we were hanging out around the fire pit at Haley's. That night we caged some PBRs from Haley's dad. They were disgusting but toasting marshmallows was better with a buzz. And having a buzz made it easier for my brain to deal with being in Lane’s vicinity. Just a couple of drinks and I could pretend that he
was just like any other boy. That night he challenged me to a toasting stick duel. When he knocked my treat to the ground I may have snatched it up and smushed it on his chin. Lucy managed to snap a picture at just that moment.

  "I don't know," I said. I didn’t want to seem like one of those girls who flipped out over every little thing. "I'm probably just overreacting."

  "Or Cameron's probably a prick," Lucy suggested, making me chuckle. Lucy didn’t really have and opinion about Cameron one way or the other but she always had my back.

  Lane looked over at me with a furrowed brow. I could only bear his attention for a moment. It was like he could see the gears in my head turning. Like he knew I was an insecure mess. I had to hide my face again.

  "Shit, I need more glue dots," Lucy fussed.

  "Mom probably has some in her supply cabinet," Lane suggested. Mrs. C was supermom, she kept a cabinet stocked with everything the family could possibly run out of. I was lucky if we had enough toilet paper around the house. "Grab some snacks too, I ripped some new horror flicks we could watch tonight."

  Movie night with Lane. And Lucy of course. My pulse was starting to race again. The bed springs dipped as Lucy bounced over next to me. I rolled my head into her lap and she brushed my hair off my forehead. Her snugly, sisterly touch made me smile.

  "Whatcha think, Baby-doll, movie night?" She asked. "We've got the stuff for bar-b-que nachos."

  "Sounds delicious," I agreed.

  I got up to follow her, pausing for a moment to tug my hair into a bun on top of my head. Lane moved so quietly I didn’t know he was behind me until his hand was on my arm and he was in my personal space. His touch was warm and strong and I jumped like it burned. He pulled his hand away but he didn’t move back when I turned to face him. His nearness filled up my senses. He smelled like crisp, clean boy. His smile was so soft and sweet. He was even close enough for me to feel his body heat. When he spoke his voice is just as warm as the rest of him and for once it calmed my haywire nerves.