I had roughly a month before my big concert, and I was already nervous. I knew that if I didn't sing well, it might be awhile before I got another chance to get to England. I had been telling Daphne and Emilie about how nervous I was, and eventually they got tired of listening to me. So I called Ashley, to see what she had to say.
"Hello?"
I got Ashley's mom. That was wierd, considering that Ashley always answers the phone unless she's not home or sick.
"Hi, would Ashley be around?"
"Is this Naomi?"
"Yeah, it is."
"She said she was at your house." There was a trace of concern in her voice.
"How long ago did she leave?"
"About an hour ago." Ashley's house is about ten minutes from mine.
"Oooh...I forgot. I was supposed to meet her at the school. I hope she didn't leave yet..."
"Oh, good. Well, she should be home soon. Tell her to call me when you find her."
"I will. Bye."
Once again, my ability to lie with ease has helped me. But what Ashley's mother didn't know was that I wasn't going to the school. And what she didn't know couldn't hurt her.
"Hey, Pony,"I smiled, my eyes gleaming a brilliant yellow for having found Ashley, "Is Ashley here?"
"Yeah, come in," he walked into the front room, where, low and behold I found Ashley.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, almost accusingly.
"Your Mom wants you to call her."
"Did she call you?"
"No, I tried to call you, but you weren't home."
"What did you say?"
"Don't worry, I covered up for you. Same as you did that one time...after I asked you to do so."
"I was returning the favor." She half smiled and cocked her head to the side.
Sodapop, who'd been in the room for the last twenty seconds, looked completely lost on our conversation.
"You know, Ashley, when I said I'd do that for you, I thought we were both going to lay off...you know, for one another."
Ashley's eyes hardened.
"I didn't think the favor was harming you in any way."
"But I was really nervousbefore..." My eyes adverted to Soda, then back to Ashley,"Remember how later on I wished I didn't have to?"
"I thought you were concerned for the feelings of the...others involved."
Now I realized why she was doing all this. She thought I didn't care if she did. Come to think of it...she thought I'd be happy for her, or at least, so said our conversations. It all fit now. Maybe if she knew I did care...no. I wasn't sure, but I didn't want anyone mad at me. Hell, I wouldn't be able to tell Jon to leaveme alone without feeling guilty.
"I was, Ash, you know, but...I thought you would be concerned too.. You know, I thought you'd...wait?"
"Oooh..." An expression of understanding crossed Ashley's face, "Should I?"
"I'd say it's the best way to go."
"Yeah, I agree with Naomi." Soda said, nodding his head.
"What?" Ashley snapped her head around. I knew she didn't want him to understand the conversation any more than I did.
"I don't know, I have no clue what either of you are talking about." He smiled and leaned back nonchalantly.
I looked at Ashley, relief washing over me. She seemed to feel the same.
"Anyway, I was calling you to tell you how nervous I am about the concert."
"A month in advance...Naomi, you're in for a rough month."
"It's my chance to get to London, Ash, I'm not taking it lightly."
"Why would you want to go to London?" Soda asked, scrunching up his face in disgust.
"Because I want to be a singer."
"Why can't you be a singer in Tulsa?"
"There'sareally good school in London where I can sing and study my normal school work. We sign up for the time period where we can study our music...during the day or the evening, whenever it suits us."
"When'd you sign up for, Naomi?" Ashley said, pulling her long brown hair into a bun on top of her head and letting it fall down.
"I had to sign up for the evening, from nine till ten. It's because Mom doesn't want me to interupt my school work and she wants me to have all my homework done before I sing," I tugged the curl in front of my face, "And so far, I'm the only one who signed up for that time period."
"So you want to leave Tulsa?" Soda asked, avacant look on his face.
"It's not that I want to leave Tulsa, it's just that I really want to go to England."
"How long would you be staying in England?"
"As long as I can get work there singing."
"Is that a long time?"
"Who knows?"
"I'm going to be right back," Ashley said, "I'm going to call my Mom."
"Yeah, it's fine if you want to use our phone," Soda called after her, "Yeah, you're welcome." There was silence for a few seconds. I really wished Ashley hadn't left the room.
"So...How're things with Jon?"
I half-smirked and put my hand up to my head. This had been going on for the last week. First Soda had just flat out asked me out. I don't think he was expecting yes for an answer, somehow, because he kept laughing. I'd said that I was going to try to fix things up with Jon. Since then, he'd wait until Ashley was gone from the room until he'd ask me if I'd thought about the offer yet. That's another thing he picked up on, he was pretty sure that Ashley was the reason I wouldn't go out with him. Which she was, but I wasn't going to say that.
"Great, great, they're fine."
"When's your next lesson with Jon?"
"Tonight." Jon had been sitting in on practically every lesson I went to lately.
"That's very cozy sounding."
"Especially with my music teacher there."
"So...nothing new on that offer yet?"
"What offer?" Ashley appeared in the doorway, a questioning look plastered on her face.
"The offer for me to go to London," I said quickly, "It's the same. If I sing good, I go. If not, I don't."
"So if I can make you sing bad?" Soda asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Then I will never speak to you again?" I put on a face like the one he was giving me.
"You really want to go that bad, huh?" He asked in the same quiet, defeated voice that he'd used when I'd told him that kissing him had been a mistake.
Which brought me back to that subject.
It wasn't my fault at all. I mean, I sure wasn't going to try and kiss him. It just happened. If I could turn back time, I would, but I can't, so I won't. I had been stuck between two people, a guy and a friend, and I chose my friend. It was the right thing to do.
So why did I feel so terrible?
Also, I somehow think that if I could turn back time to Christmas Eve...the only thing I'd do differently would be to keep my guitar closer to me so that Ashley couldn't throw it.
"Christy!" Ashley shuffled across the icy street to the dark haired girl about to get in a car, "How are you?"
I could see the girl grinning. I guess she was happy to see Ashley, but as for me, I'd never met this Christy girl in my life. We'd been walking to my lesson, since my mom was sick in bed. At first it was only going to be Ashley, Soda and myself, which I wasn't so sure I liked the idea of, since Ashley always ran off to see someone else. So I was more than thankful when Two-Bit decided to come along. For one, it meant that I'd never be left alone with Soda, because I didn't want to talk about going to England, or about if I'd ever go out with him. And for two, I hadn't seen Two-Bit lately, and he was always a fun guy to be around.
"I have to keep going, Ash!" I called across the street, "I have ten minutes!"
"Go without me!" She yelled, "I'll talk to you later!"
"So, Naomi," Two-Bit said, sounding a little like a TV reporter, "Hows the whole big London plan coming?"
"If I can sing good at my concert, then some representatives will contact the LAPA. I leave exactly a week later."
"What if you don't sing good?"
"Then I stay here."
Two-Bit looked at Soda, and the two seemed to be silently communicating for a second.
"Good deal."
I was really lost on this.
"Hey, Naomi!"
"Oh God, hide me." I put my hand to my forehead.
"Is this Jon?" Two-Bit asked, through squinted eyes.
"Yeah."
"Hi!" He was out of breath from running across the parking lot to get to us.
"Hi, Jon."I half smiled. That seemed to be good enough for him.
"Your lesson's next, right?"
"Same time every week." I looked at Two-Bit, who seemed to get a kick out of this over-eager guy, and then to Soda, who I assumed would be laughing a little, too. Strangely, instead he was just staring at Jon with an impatient look on his face. That was one look I'd never seen on him before...not that it looked bad or anything.
"Hi, I met you before!" Jon extended his hand to Soda, who shook it half heartedly. I found myself thinking that Jon would make a good little brother.
"Yeah, I was with Ashley that time you and Naomi went to the movies? Remember, you kept talking to me?"
"Oh yeah." Jon seemed uncomfortable.
"We'll see you inan hour, Naomi." Two-Bit said cheerfully, completely blind to the two boys who were both looking at me as if asking for an explanation why the other was there.
"Yeah, I'll see you, Two-Bit." I turned and walked in the building, not acknowleging either of them.
I was hardly in the buidling for a second when both of them came bursting through the door. Funny, I seriously wasn't expecting that. I was just hoping that one of them might feel a little guilty in the least. It must have shown on my face, because Soda stepped away from Jon and tried to explain.
"He started to run in here after you, and I decided I should come in too incase you thought he was better because he came in to apologize and I didn't."
This was the kind of attention that Ashley, Daphne and Emilie loved, and the kind that Hannah and I hated.
"I am really uncomfortable with this situation," I said loudly, feeling a sudden urge to set things straight, "So Jon, you go and sit on that bench and wait for Shirley to call you in. Soda, you go outside with Two-Bit."
Jon started to shuffle towards the bench, stopping infront of me for a second.
"Na-"
"Don't talk to me, don't look at me, don't acknowlege me, and for God's sake-" I noticed how close he was to me, "Don't try and hug me."
He went obidently to the bench. I was surprised they listened to me, given that I was several inches shorter than both of them. I felt bad about ordering him not to try and hug me, because right now I felt very lonely. But if Jon hugged me, then Soda would want to too and if that happened I would turn bright red and not be able to talk or breath. I was about to go into singing lessons, the last thing I needed was to have my throat closed over.
"I should have been nicer to Jon," I heard Soda saying behind me, "Nothing's his fault. I'm sorry."
"I forgive you."
I looked at Jon coldly before going into my lesson. And then I heard a few unmentionable words being exchanged in the main hall.
Strangely enough, most of them came from Jon.
January 17, 1968
I got in the door from school, only to find that my mother was gone. She'd left a note on the table.
"Naomi," It read, "I've gone into the hospital.
Your father is on his way home from Ponca City,
I'm not sure when he'll get back, though. Hannah
called, and left this number- 182-2762 -Mom"
I grabbed the phone and was calling Hannah in under twenty seconds.
"Hello?" I wasn't sure I recognized the voice. It sounded a little bit like Hannah's mom, but I couldn't be sure.
"Hi, is Hannah there?"
"Yes, just a second." As usual, I twirled the phone cord around my finger and waited.
"Hello?"
I recognized Hannah's voice right away.
"Hannah!"
"Naomi?"
"Yeah!"
"Okay, just checking." There was silence for a second, then we both launched into speed talking for a few minutes.
"So," Hannah said, after telling me about her new school, "Has anything interesting gone on up north?"
"Uh...Remember Julie Dennis?"
"Yeah?"
"She got arrested two months ago and no one knows what happened to her."
"She's gotten arrested a million times, though."
"Yeah, but this time nobody's heard from her."
"Weird. Come on, that can't be the only thing!"
"Well...I nearly forgot, wait till you hear this!I've been taking singing lessons lately, since my Mom managed to get me booked into some concert in February. My teacher pulled a few strings, and now if I can sing good enough at my concert, I'm as good as enrolled in this performing arts school in London."
"That's great! And you're only sixteen. We didn't think you'd get there till you were in your twenties. Anything else?"
"One last thing that I've been saving. You know how Ash and I were always different? We didn't fight, but we never had the same interests and we'd disagree on alot of stuff?"
"Yeah," Hannah laughed dryly, "I'd noticed."
"Low and behold, we both like the same guy."
"What!"
"Along with the majority of the female population of Tulsa."
"What!"
"Okay, that last part was a joke. Sort of. The majority of the female population of Tulsa just stares at him when they can. I don't think that a whole lot of them actually like him in that way."
"Let me guess, then. He's likely a Soc, the best student in his class, star athelete, fancy car, but when you get down to it, he's really just a terrible guy-"
"No, actually, Hannah, he's not a Soc, he's a greaser, and he dropped out of school a year and a half ago, and when you do get right down to it, he's the sweetest guy in the world."
"Whoa. I stand corrected. So, why's Ash a problem?"
"She said she liked him first. In her world, that calls a claim."
"I'd say you should pretend to not like him."
"That's what I'm doing, and believe me, it's hard."
"You need to control your feelings, Naomi." She was laughing just a little bit.
"I'm controlling them pretty damn good!"
"So good that it's hard to do?"
"It's hard because he keeps on asking me out and hinting about how he doesn't want me to go to England. God, a few days ago he even got in a half arguement with Jon-"
"Who's Jon?"
"Jon is this really eager guy who takes voice from my teacher."
"So...he sorta likes you better than Ashley?"
"He thinks Ashley's a little crazy."
"Ashley is a little crazy. How'd she prove it?"
"She threw my guitar downan outdoor flight of five or six stairs."
"Why?"
"She was mad at me."
"Why was she mad at you?"
"Because...because Soda kissed me."
"Who the hell-"
"Soda is the guy in question."
"Can I rephrase that last question?"
"Uh...sure?"
"Okay. What the hell..."
"Come on, Hannah. His name is Sodapop. I didn't mind it that much. Probably because the first time I heard it my self confidence was dwindling and I would probably have jumped off a cliff had I been told to."
"Okay. Why were you kissing him?"
"I'm going to refer to it as 'he was kissing me' because really it wasn't my choice and it really caught me off guard-"
"But you didn't mind it."
"No, I'm going to be honest, I didn't."
"Okay.I get it now. So, who's this Jon?"
"Ash made me tell Soda that I couldn't ever be with him, and my excuse was that there was someone else. And I randomly named someone that I'd met at voice, and it just so happened to be Jon. Then Ash and Soda were meeting me after a group lesson and they saw Jon and he thought I was interested and the rest is history."
"Do Em and Daph know all this?"
"No, they're too close to Ash as well."
"Okay. Firstly- wait, you said Jon and Soda got in an arguement?"
"Not really. Just giving each other looks. I told Jon to sit on a bench and Soda to go outside."
"How're they taking it?"
"Haven't talked to either of them since."
"How's that working for you?"
"If you want to know the truth, I'm scared stiff that one might be mad at me."
"What you need to do is- Never mind, I have to go. I'll talk to you soon."
"Bye." I hung up the phone and leaned against the wall. Why was it that ever since Christmas, there's always been something on my mind to bother me?
