Chapter Twenty-One
S tacey was awakened by the phone ringing beside the couch. “Hello?” Her voice was groggy.
“May I speak with Stacey Chapman?”
“This is Stacey.” Her heartbeat quickened.
“Stacey, this is Planned Parenthood. Did you visit our office this morning?”
“Yes.” She put her left thumbnail between her teeth.
“Your test results are negative. However, I see a note here that Nurse King believes the accuracy of these tests is questionable given the date of your recent exposure. She encourages you to return any time after August 2 to redo the bloodwork. Her note also says to do an at home pregnancy test after July 19. Do you have any questions?”
“No. Thanks.”
Stacey called her mom and shared the news, but felt no relief. Her life would be in limbo for at least another eight days. Other than her mom and Murphy, she didn’t feel like she had a friend in the world to talk to.
She laid on the couch staring at the ceiling. Snippets of the night before flashed in her mind. She imagined how Gabe felt when he found Trent touching her. How she must have looked at that moment. Waves of disgust pulsed through her as she imagined the places Trent’s hands must have roamed on her body. She wondered who threw the first punch.
Stacey wanted to tell Gabe he was right; that talking to her mom was what she should have done from the beginning. To thank him for helping her. She desperately wanted to believe they could be friends again.
She also wanted to tell Melissa she should have stopped drinking, and find out if Mark was okay. Were any of them looking for her when she lost track of them at the party? What exactly did Jessie hear she said about him? Was Bob angry after he warned them to be careful? Who covered her shift? She wanted to apologize to them all.
Mostly she wanted to erase everything about the past week. Make it all go away however she could. That felt impossible.
You’ll be surprised how understanding people are if you give them a chance.
Stacey decided to go into the pool office and apologize to Coach Bob, face to face. She had the least amount to lose with him. The worst he could do was fire her. She figured she’d end up quitting anyway, so it wouldn’t matter if he did.
It was 12:45 when she hobbled into the guard shack. Mark was asleep on the couch. Melissa and Desiree were sitting together in the shallow-end guard stand, chatting while watching two elderly lap swimmers. Bob looked up from the desk, surprised, and turned off Vince Scully’s broadcast of the Dodger game.
“I thought you were out for the day,” he said.
“I thought so, too. I’m so sorry about this morning, Coach. I really screwed up last night. It won’t happen again. I can work this afternoon, or tonight, if you want me to.”
“You can’t imagine how surprised I was when you called, Stacey. I figured at least one guard would be irresponsible at that party and call out sick. I just hadn’t figured it would be you.”
“Who covered my morning shift?” She leaned against the lockers to take the weight off her sore ankle.
“Melissa. She assumed you wouldn’t be feeling well. Desiree was scheduled to be here. They told me it was obvious you wouldn’t make it to work.”
Stacey looked out the window. Embarrassed as she felt, she should thank Melissa for covering for her. She looked down at Mark. “Is he okay?”
“Mark? Yeah. He got dropped off here a while ago, but his shift’s not ‘til one. Seems okay though. I think everyone’s a little worse for wear. Jessie seemed like he had a rough night, too.”
Stacey looked at the floor. “What do you mean by ‘rough?’” Had Gabe also punched Jessie?
“Looked like he hadn’t slept. Angry. Or sad. I dunno.” Bob nodded at Stacey’s foot. “Why is your ankle wrapped up?”
“I twisted it in a gopher hole.”
Bob exhaled. “Well. I’m glad you came by. Takes a lot of courage to own up to your mistakes.” He leaned back, crossed his ankles on the edge of the desk and folded his hands in his lap. “You should go home and put that ankle up. Ice it. Hopefully it’s well-enough tomorrow to come back.”
She nodded, ashamed.
“You’re a smart kid with a lot of potential,” he said. “Don’t blow it, okay?”
“Thanks, Coach.”
Bob planted his feet on the floor, then turned back to his transistor radio and sports pages.
Lap swim ended and Melissa and Desiree came inside the guard shack.
“Oh, my God, Stacey!” Desiree ran over and threw her arms around Stacey. “Are you okay?”
“We were so worried when you never came back to Desiree’s house,” Melissa said, her hand on Stacey’s upper arm. “What happened?”
Stacey’s cheeks flushed. “I’m okay. My friend Gabe took me home.”
“You must have been soooo hung over!” Melissa’s expression was serious. She eyed Bob, then said under her breath, “I never should have given you that third shot. Or let you out of my sight.”
“I heard Jessie had a rough night. What was it like working with him this morning?”
Melissa crossed her arms and smirked. “He had exactly the kind of night he deserved. I never expected you to be so…” she eyed Bob again, “ entertaining. Anyway, Jessie will be fine. He won’t be talking to us anytime soon, but he won’t have luck with any other girl, either.”
“We need a redo girls-night to talk about everything ,” Desiree said, taking each of their hands. “Tiffany can come after she gets off from nightswim. Your stuff is still at my house.”
“I don’t know if I can. Let’s just say I wasn’t in the best shape when I got home. My mom won’t want me staying overnight anywhere or out late for a while.”
“We’re done at five,” Desiree said. “You want to come get your stuff from my house then?”
“Sure.” Stacey gestured toward Mark. “He didn’t drive last night, did he?”
“Oh, God, no!” Melissa shook her head. “He crashed at his buddy Derek’s house. We’re taking him to his car near Travis’s house after our shift.”
“Speaking of which,” Bob said. He stood and grabbed the megaphone from atop the filing cabinet. “Plug your ears ladies.”
Stacey got her hands to her ears a fraction of a second too late, as Bob pressed the siren on the megaphone.
Mark jolted his head to the side and squeezed his eyes shut.
Into the megaphone, Bob said, “Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty. It’s time to get to work.”
“Jesus!” Mark sat up, his eyes still closed with his hands on his temples. “Was that really necessary?”
“Maybe not. But it was fun.” Bob grinned like a little boy as he set the megaphone aside.
At 5:30 Thursday evening, Stacey rang the doorbell at Desiree’s house. She heard Belvedere’s deep bark, followed by the click of the lock. A woman opened the door. She had Desiree’s auburn hair and heart-shaped face but was much taller. Her makeup was classic, as was the chignon she’d twisted her hair into. She wore a creamy silk blouse, narrow slacks, and stiletto heels.
Stacey’s cut-off shorts, Birkenstocks, and bare face made her feel self-conscious. She tucked her blonde bob behind her ears.
Belvedere immediately snuffled Stacey’s hand and thumped his body against her thigh, pushing her sideways a step.
“Hi, Belvedere. Hey Buddy.” Stacey petted his ribs while trying to keep his weight off her bum ankle. She looked up. “I’m Stacey. Is Desiree here?”
The woman’s face softened. “Yes. She and Melissa are up in her room.” She had a thick, musical accent. She motioned at Stacey’s foot. “Are you okay to get up there on your own?”
“I can manage. Thanks.” Stacey removed her shoes and carried them as she gripped the railing and eased herself up the winding staircase. Each step burned up her shin and the pain radiated throughout her foot. She stopped at the top and caught her breath. So much for staying off it.
She knocked on Desiree’s bedroom door, and a voice called, “Come in.”
Seated on the floor in front of her mirror, her legs crossed, Desiree wore boxers and a tank top, her hair up in a towel like she’d just gotten out of the shower. She had a pair of tweezers and was squinting at her reflection as she plucked between her brows.
“Hey, Stace. Missy’s in the shower. She’ll be out in a sec.”
Stacey sat on the rug and leaned against the end of the bed, reclaiming her spot from the evening before. She set her shoes on the rug beside her, then looked around, confused. The room was spotless. The pile of magazines and snacks were gone, and the clothes had all been put away. The bed looked as if it hadn’t been slept in at all, and all of the makeup on the vanity had been cleaned up. “When did you clean your room if you both went to work at eight this morning?”
“Roselba comes every day. My mom’s a lawyer. She doesn’t have time to clean or shop or cook or anything.”
“I want your life,” Stacey muttered.
Desiree shrugged and pulled the towel off her head. “It’s nice, I guess. But I can’t ever find anything.” She set the tweezers aside and started to squeeze a small pimple on her chin.
Stacey pursed her mouth and raised her eyebrows. Maybe you need less stuff.
The room was quiet and Stacey felt uncomfortable watching Desiree poke at her face. She looked toward the closet, envying the abundance of designer clothes and accessories crammed inside. She heard retching. She tilted her ear in the direction of the bathroom, and heard another retch, followed by a muffled cough.
Stacey looked at Desiree, who either didn’t hear or was unphased.
Melissa is throwing up? She didn’t seem hungover at The Plunge.
A few seconds later the toilet flushed, followed by the shower being turned off.
When Melissa stepped out of the bathroom, surrounded in steam, she was dragging a wide-toothed comb through her long, wet hair. A towel was wrapped around her body under her arms.
“Hey, Stacey.” She smiled, her cheeks flushed.
“Hi. How’s it goin’? You feeling okay?”
“Yeah,” Melissa scoffed. “Why?”
Desiree turned to watch their exchange.
“I thought I heard you getting sick in there.”
Melissa lifted one eyebrow, shaking her head at Stacey like she was crazy. “You should get your hearing checked. I was just taking a shower.”
Desiree’s jaw clenched before she looked away again.
“My mistake,” Stacey mumbled, too exhausted to argue.
Melissa pulled the closet door closed behind her, returning a minute later in baggy pajama pants and an oversized tee. Stacey had never seen Melissa so covered up.
Melissa hung the towel over the back of the desk chair and plunked beside Stacey on the rug. “It’s time to spill. What happened last night?”
Stacey’s cheeks burned.
Desiree scooted over to form a small circle with them on the rug. “Yeah, this afternoon Chad said there was a fight? And your friend basically carried you away.”
“Well…” Stacey pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “I don’t exactly…remember.”
“Oh, shit!” Desiree put her hand over her mouth. “You blacked out?”
Stacey rubbed her forehead. “I guess so.”
“What’s the last thing you remember?” Melissa asked.
“I remember talking to Jason and his friends when I walked away from you, then I saw Jessie across the pool. Right after that I twisted my ankle on my way to puke in the orchard. Next thing I knew, I was with Gabe on the curb by his car, and he told me it was one a.m. Did either of you see me in between?”
Desiree began talking rapidly. “Oh my God, Stacey you were…”
Melissa put her palm up in front of Desiree.
Desiree closed her mouth.
“First, those girls were eating out of the palm of your hand last night!” Melissa said. “You were so sassy and confident. They followed you around like groupies.”
Stacey nodded, remembering the girls beside her when she first spoke to Jason Temple and his buddies. The ones who kept her from falling in the pool, and imitated her waving at Jessie with her pinky. Her stomach knotted. “Were they freshman?”
“Probably.” Melissa shrugged. “Then I heard some baseball players saying you were really flirty. They said you told them ‘Jessie screwed as badly as he plays golf’?”
“I think I said his dick is the size of a golf pencil and the way he fucks is about as interesting as a round of mini-golf.” Stacey smiled sheepishly.
Melissa snickered. “Genius.”
“I like mini-golf,” Desiree said defensively.
Stacey closed her eyes and shook her head.
“Anyway, at like eleven, Desiree and I wanted to leave, and went looking for you. We found you with Kristi and Jason. You were sitting on some baseball player’s lap smoking a joint. I had no idea you even smoked weed.”
“That makes two of us,” Stacey said.
Desiree’s eyes were wide. “Stacey, you really shouldn’t mix alcohol and pot.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Was the guy whose lap I was sitting on Trent Severson?”
“Yeah. I think so. His hair is buzzed, but I think that was him,” Melissa said. “We asked if you wanted to come with us, but he kind of held you down on his lap. You put your arm around his shoulder and said you’d catch up with us later.”
Desiree made an expression like she felt guilty about it. “I thought you must have had something going on with him. You seemed so comfortable. But, we really shouldn’t have left you.”
Stacey rubbed her eyes with her palms. “It’s not your fault. But I never went out with Trent Severson. I liked him way back in fourth grade. Before he started taking steroids and became a cocky asshole. I don’t think we’ve said three words to one another since puberty.”
Desiree twisted her lips, then out of the side of her mouth she said, “He didn’t seem all that interested in talking last night either.”
Stacey grimaced. “I think I remember Jason Temple calling me ‘Easy A’ all night.”
“Oooph.” Melissa scrunched her nose. “He’s pretty popular. That’ll stick for a while.”
“Yeah. Should make senior year interesting. What did Chad tell you about Gabe getting in the fight with Trent?”
Desiree bit her lip and looked at the ceiling. “He said it was like midnight. A bunch of people had left, and he was planning to head home. I guess there was a couch in the garage where Mark had been passed out for awhile. Chad went to check on him. But Mark was already gone, and Chad saw you laying on the couch. Trent was on top of you. Chad was embarrassed he walked in on you guys and was backing away when your friend—Gabe?— pushed past him in the doorway. He ran over to the couch to pull Trent off you.”
Stacey groaned.
Desiree continued, “Chad told me that’s when he could see you were passed out cold. Gabe tried to wake you up, and Trent pulled him back, then decked him. But Trent was trashed, so he made contact, but didn’t really hit him as hard as he could have. Gabe punched Trent two or three times before he hit the floor, knocked out. That’s when Gabe pulled you over his shoulder and carried you out.”
The girls sat in silence for nearly a minute, the weight of what might have happened if Gabe hadn’t shown up hanging in the air around them.
“Gabe’s like your knight in shining armor,” Melissa said.
Stacey exhaled. “He was my best friend.”
“What’re you gonna do?” Desiree asked.
Stacey shrugged. “Transfer? Drop out? Never show my face in town again? What can I do? I made an ass of myself. Everyone thinks I’m a total slut.”
“It’ll blow over.” Melissa tapped her elbow against Stacey’s. “Freshman year I got called fish fingers for like a month after Steve Santos told everyone he fingered me at a party. It was the first time I got drunk, but I wasn’t that drunk . Steve made the whole thing up. He was mad because he tried to kiss me and I rejected him. Anyways, I was completely humiliated, but he was more popular than me back then. No one believed it wasn’t true.”
“How’d you get everyone to stop calling you that?” Stacey asked.
Melissa triumphantly lifted her chin. “I hooked up with his best friend, Casey Anderson, and told him to make it stop. Worked great: Casey treated me like a queen for over a year.”
“I don’t plan to hook up with any of Trent’s friends, no matter what he tells everyone about last night.”
“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Desiree said.
Melissa and Stacey stared back, confused.
“Why?” Stacey asked.
“Because Chad was still there when Trent woke up.”
Stacey crossed her legs and leaned forward. “What happened?”
“Chad said Travis came in after the fight, and was totally pissed when Chad told him what he’d walked in on. Travis found a big permanent marker—you know the kind to mark moving boxes with—and wrote RAPIST in all capitals on Trent’s forehead. They got a bunch of guys together in the garage, and woke Trent up, telling him that if he ever did anything like that again they’d all beat the shit out of him. And Chad made sure Trent understood if he told anyone anything bad about you, or Gabe, he’d personally tell Coach Bob what happened and get Trent kicked off the baseball team.”
“Oh my God!” Stacey wanted to cry with relief. “Chad is my hero!”
Desiree touched Stacey’s foot. “We all love you, Stace. No guy should do anything to you when you’re drunk. Besides, Chad knew I would’ve dumped him if he hadn’t helped you somehow after everything he saw.”
“Next party, we definitely won’t let you drink so much,” Melissa said. “And we won’t leave you alone with any guys unless you specifically tell us the name of the guy you’re into.”
“Thanks. Really. But there won’t be a ‘next party.’”
“Well, we’ve got your back. No matter what,” Desiree said. Melissa nodded in agreement.
Tears welled up in Stacey’s eyes. “I never thought…you might be some of the best friends I’ve ever had. Thanks.”
“Your friend Gabe deserves a medal,” Melissa said.
Stacey hated that her mom was right. It would have been dumb to quit. Maybe it wasn’t too late to fix things with Gabe, either.
Stacey rushed home, dropped her duffle bag beside her bed, and dialed Gabe’s number.
“Hey.” He sounded annoyed.
Her voice quivered, “Hi… Thanks for… bringing me home last night.” She twisted her fingers in the phone cord.
“Umm hmm.”
“I heard what happened. I feel terrible you had to take care of me like that.”
“Yeah…” Gabe exhaled. “It sucked.”
“I’ve done a lot of really stupid things lately.”
Gabe didn’t respond. Stacey could hear the television in the background.
Is he even listening?
“I’m so sorry, Gabe.”
“Okay,” he said curtly.
“Are you mad at me?” Stacey asked.
“Am I mad?” Gabe hissed into the phone. “I don’t know, Stace. You’re not who I thought you were.”
Tears fell down Stacey’s cheeks. She laid her head on her pillow and tried not to let the emotion sound in her voice. “I’m the same person. I just…screwed up.”
“Those people you were hanging out with…the things you were saying about what you did with Jessie… The other night you seemed so upset, but last night you acted like you were bragging. And you got completely trashed. To the point that Trent almost…I had to….”
“You’re right,” Stacey said, barely audible.
Gabe let out a sigh. “Listen, I’m gonna go. I just need… I think I need time to cool off or something.”
“Okay.” Stacey’s voice cracked. Tears pooled on her pillowcase. “Will you call me tomorrow?”
“I’m going on this hiking trip with my dad and my brother for a few days. Maybe I’ll call you when I get back.” Gabe hung up without waiting for her to respond.
Stacey let the phone fall from her hand. She curled into her knees, sobbing.
Her mom came in. Without asking what happened, she hung the phone up, then wrapped her body around Stacey’s. Murphy laid across their feet as Stacey cried herself to sleep.