Chapter 28: Chapter 28

Carly looked slightly annoyed as Beth flew down the sidewalk from her front porch to her new friend’s waiting Mustang. “Sorry!” Beth said, trying to sound only slightly apologetic. “I just couldn’t get my eyeliner straight.”

“Oh, yeah. That sucks,” Carly agreed. “It looks great, though. Get in. We’ve gotta go get Amber.”

Beth jumped into the front seat, trying to make it seem as natural as possible, like she belonged there, rather than in the back, or the trunk. She put her seatbelt on, and as Carly took off, she wished she had a couple more. This car had too much engine for such a tiny, inexperienced driver.

“Your house is way pretty,” Carly said, stopping at the stop sign a block over, mostly in the intersection. “I didn’t know you lived there.”

“Oh, yeah, thanks,” she said, trying to sound nonchalant. “It’s, like, really old or something.” The words coming out of her mouth sounded so stupid. She knew exactly how old her house was, the history of who had built it, everything. Yet, she’d reduced herself to talking about it like she was an idiot, and it was just any old house.

“Cool.” Carly began to chatter on about the song on the radio, Pearl Jam’s newest release, and how she had so much trouble understanding Eddie Vedder as she made her way to Amber’s house, which was in one of the richer neighborhoods, over by the town lake. “We have so much water in this town!” Carly proclaimed. “The lake, Muddy Creek, the lagoon.”

“Oh, gross,” Beth said making a face similar to the ones of disgust she’d seen the other girls make. “I’m not sure that counts as water.”

“True.” They pulled up to a nice two-story house with a perfectly landscaped lawn, and Carly laid on the horn. Beth wondered why she hadn’t done that when she was waiting for her. Maybe she and Amber had something worked out.

The front door opened a few seconds later, and Amber’s younger sister, who was in middle school, stuck her head out. “She’s taking forever! You may as well come in!”

“Great….” Carly groaned like she was actually going to be late for something. “Let’s go see if we can get her moving.” She rolled her eyes, and Beth wondered if this was the usual routine.

Walking into Amber James’s house was intimidating. Her father was a doctor, and his father before him had also been a doctor, and so on, back to the founding of the town. Thus, the very nice accommodations and the clout that went along with such lineage. Maybe the James family wouldn’t have been such a big deal in a larger town, but they were practically royalty when it came to Barryville.

Carly followed Alyson into the living room, and Beth went along, trying to keep her face bored to neutral. Luckily, Amber’s parents weren’t anywhere to be seen, so she didn’t have to go through any awkward introductions. Of course, Carly might just assume Amber’s parents already knew Beth, the way she did with Amber’s little sister.

They headed upstairs, and Beth was surprised to see Jessica was there, too. Amber was standing in front of the mirror, staring at her own face. “I just… can’t get my lipstick right.”

“What are you talking about? It looks fine!” Jessica’s tone conveyed she may have said that already a few times. She shook her head in frustration, her brunette bangs not moving one iota as she did so.

“Here, let me help,” Beth offered, stepping over. While she had no idea what it was Amber thought was wrong with the burgundy colored lipstick she was wearing, establishing herself as someone who not only knew about makeup but could help in such a situation couldn’t hurt. She grabbed the tube off of Amber’s dresser and dabbed a little onto her new friend’s full lips. Then, she pulled some gloss out of her own purse and used it to highlight the center of her bottom lip, the way Zoey and Dee Dee had showed her, the way that Halley wore it as well. “There you go.”

Amber returned her attention to the mirror, and Beth held her breath for a second, waiting to see her reaction. A long moment passed before Amber’s newly finished lips broke into a smile. “Yes! Aw, that looks awesome, Bethy. Thanks!” She wrapped her arms around Beth’s shoulders. “Okay. Let’s go!”

“Finally,” Jessica muttered. “Tom’s gonna be pissed if I’m late.”

“Tom can go screw himself,” Carly offered. “Then, maybe you won’t have to do it.”

The all giggled, and Beth wondered just how accurate her insult had been the other day. She knew that Jessica and Tom had some sort of fling or something going on, though she wasn’t sure what it was. It definitely wasn’t a traditional relationship. Would Jessica be riding back with them?

They headed downstairs, and Amber’s mother was standing in the living room near the foyer. “Bye, girls. Have fun!” She looked like Amber, only about twenty-five years older. She was tall, thin, beautiful, and completely put together. Beth wondered why Evelyn never tried to insert herself into Rebecca James’s world, but then she wondered if her mom was mostly all talk and not actually brave enough to try it. Or had they known each other in high school? She realized, for all of her mother’s advice about being popular and well-liked, she really had no idea what her mom had been like growing up. Had she been the nerd—was she trying to spare Beth the same sort of ridicule? Or had she been the one spewing the insults?

“Shotgun!” Jessica hollered as they made their way down the steps, and Beth was content to let her have it, even if she did think she would look more important in the front seat. She slid into the back with Amber, who instantly began chattering about the type of lipstick she was wearing, and Beth made the odd comment here and there to make it seem like she cared when she could really think of about a million other things to talk about.

By the time they pulled into a parking spot on the square a few spots over from Shane’s car, it was almost 9:00, and there were lots of other kids out of their cars, standing around talking, dancing, listening to music, and flirting with each other. Beth saw Sammy right away and instantly averted her eyes. She also saw Michael’s truck but none of the people she thought should’ve come with it.

It wasn’t until she was walking around the end of Carly’s car that she heard Jessica say. “Oh, my God. Who is that hot guy with Halley? He is gorgeous!”

“I know, right?” Carly agreed. “Tall, blond and muscular. Just like I like ‘em.”

“I think I know that guy,” Amber said, leaning forward and squinting, like she wasn’t really sure. “I think I’ve seen him at school.”

“I know him,” Beth said, anger mingling with nausea as she tried to calm her nerves. Apparently, she hadn’t noticed she wasn’t the only one undergoing a metamorphosis. “He’s my next door neighbor,” she explained. “His name is Ryan Wilson.”