Chapter 4
"Hot child in the city, Runnin' wild and lookin' pretty." - Nick Gilder, "Hot Child in the City", It went to #1 both in Canada (October 14, 1978) and in the United States (October 28, 1978).
I spend most of the day hanging out in the den, watching reruns. I'm curious to see if Edward is going to come by and act crazy and mad again, but Rosalie stays in her room and I hear no mention that he'll be joining us this evening.
I'm happy he won't get food poisoning, but bummed because a crazy and mad Edward is still hotter than any of the boys I've ever seen. Even Shaun Cassidy. As hot as he is, I'm still planning to give him a piece of my mind when I next see him, and rehearse in my head all the things I'll say.
"Whatchu talkin' about Edward" is the pathetic front-runner.
Renee calls me for dinner and I plan my escape route, but I haven't seen anyone all day and I'm feeling a little social so I go and take my seat, across from Edward's empty chair.
Rosalie looks like hell. I've never seen her without her Lip Smackers on, and her nose is red. Charlie gives her the side eye when she keeps sniffling and moves his chair bit by bit away from her. I knew it was just a matter of time until he figured out she was diseased and a terrible step-daughter to have.
The only thing that stops me from cracking some of my best one-liners at her expense is the look on her face. Pretty, peppy Rosalie looks like she just got dumped. My heart soars and my feet want to do a little happy dance under the patio table but something doesn't make me feel quite like celebrating.
I get a funny feeling thinking about her in the shadows last night with that creep Emmett. As much as she annoys me and I wish Renee and Charlie would ship her off to some exclusive college in Switzerland so Edward can finally realize I'm the cat's meow, I don't really want her to get involved with a skeevy guy like him. Even she deserves a little better than that.
"Is this roast beef?" I ask and push my fork under the slab on my plate to get a closer look.
"It's Chateaubriand. I got the recipe out of McCall's." Renee smiles at me with her watery martini eyes. She looks so pleased I don't have the heart to tell her that it looks like my old Brownie uniform beret with gravy on it.
My chair scrapes against the cement as I stand up to go. "Where are you off to, young lady? You haven't touched your dinner." Charlie's mustache twitches as he says it.
"Uh, yeah. Had a big bowl of popcorn not an hour ago. Angela is coming to get me. I'll be home by one."
"Midnight."
"Twelve-forty-five."
"Twelve-thirty."
"Deal." I kiss Charlie's cheek and wave to Renee who is busy trying to communicate with some birds in the yard.
I run into the house and change into some short-shorts, my favorite Bay City Rollers t-shirt and finger comb my couch-pressed hair into some sort of style. Nothing works, so I grab some elastics and tie it up quick into two low pigtails since we're just headed to the drag strip to watch her brother race and there's a slim chance Mick Jagger will show up to woo me away.
Angela's mom's station wagon isn't the coolest thing to be driving around in, but I really have no grounds to complain. It's another beautiful night in Malibu and we play the radio loud with the windows down while we smoke cigarettes and I hang my bare feet out the window.
We stop at the Gas 'n Gulp and sit on the hood of the car, waiting for hot guys to notice us while we drink cherry ICEE's and eat Fun Dip.
"Where's Alice tonight?" I ask as I pull my candy stick out of the pouch and suck on the powder.
"Her mom and dad took her to a retreat."
"Becoming one with our Lord and Saviour?" I half-joke.
"Something like that." She smirks and adjusts her top just as two muscle heads walk by. "So did Rosalie say anything about Emmett and last night?"
I think about the packet on her floor. The one that was gone when I checked on her this afternoon. "Nope. She looked like hell all day though. I wanted to ask her if Edward finally broke up with her, but she looked like someone kicked her puppy so I left her alone. Figured that was karma enough for me."
"Think that has anything to do with how Edward talked to you last night? What the hell was that all about?"
I whip around to face her.
"What the fuck was that? He's barely ever spoken to me."
"I guess he's taking his babysitting job seriously."
That earns her a swift jab in the thigh. "Ow, bitch!"
"If he thinks I'm going to put up with him watching me like that and telling me what to do, he's mistaken. I don't care if Charlie instructed him to do exactly that."
"Probably just in a bad mood because of Rosalie." She rubs her leg. "That's gonna leave a mark."
"He didn't show up for dinner."
"Can you blame him?"
"It's just weird. The whole thing is weird." I gaze off at the setting sun, sighing.
We make another run into the store to pee and get some gum before heading to the strip. It's not the most exciting thing to do, but it beats sitting in my house all night listening to Renee and Charlie get it on.
The drag strip off Decker is basically just a dirt road in the canyon. It's straight enough for the cars to race but has a bare lot for the guys to sit with their car and have others stroke their egos and tiny penises through vehicular love.
Ang and I ditch the station wagon and sit on the trunk of her brother's car, drinking beers from the cooler at our feet. Jared from last night comes by to say hello, so we shoot the shit a while, commenting on who's the bigger douchebag - John with his Challenger or Emilio with his Camaro.
I call it a tie as all of the guys here are douchebags in my eyes.
He laughs too loud and I think I've found the other person besides Charlie that finds me funny. Maybe we are soul mates.
We joke and drink and sing along to the radio pumping loud out of one of the cars as the dust swirls around us, the headlights from the cars the only light shining across the lot. The Bimbo girls are pretending to be Natalie Wood, standing between the cars and flagging them dramatically when a race starts. They squeal and hop around, making their boobs jiggle which I'm sure is the intention. It's all very greaser sixties movie-ish and even though I'm poking fun at them with Ang and Jared, I wouldn't mind getting a little of that attention.
I'm regaling Jared with tales of dinner when Ang's pointy elbow digs into my side.
"Ow. I said I was sorry for the thigh hit," I complain and rub my ribs. She just nods her head towards the entrance of the lot.
I look to see what's got her going all Bruce Lee on me and my heart jumps a little when Edward's yellow Jeep pulls in. It's by far the coolest car here, all open doors and windows. His hair is flying around a little bit in the night breeze and I glance inside the car as he rolls by.
No Rosalie.
His left foot is bare as it props itself up against the frame of the car and he's got on his ratty shorts that I love. He's smiling easy and friends start gathering around, exchanging a couple of those pseudo handshakes that guys do. Grabbing fists like they're going to arm wrestle.
The girls arrive next, about four of them making their way and pushing in around the guys tossing their hair and giggling. One blonde actually gets in the front seat and it's enough to make my stomach repel whatever bite of Renee's dinner I managed to get down.
"Where's Rosalie?" Ang asks and I just shrug.
"Guess she stayed home." Even as I say it, it feels weird because Rosalie is never home at night during the summer.
Jared is still next to me talking even though most of my attention is across the lot and I'm giving him half-answers and grunts. It feels like he's trying to get up the nerve to ask me out and I don't know if I want him to.
I watch Edward as he says no to racing, has a beer and jokes around. He doesn't look upset or anything like he did last night so maybe they aren't fighting after all.
Ben shows up so it's nice and awkward as he and Ang paw each other, and Jared has to scoot closer to me so he doesn't feel Ben's ass gyrating on his leg. I shoot a dirty look at Angela but she just smiles, letting Ben suck on her neck like a leech. I've never understood her desire for wearing hickeys like puka shells.
Just as Edward perches on the back of the Jeep and his shirt rides up at the motion, Jared finally works up his nerve.
"So Bella, I was wondering if you wanted to maybe go see a movie or something some time?"
Bad timing on Jared's part because Edward takes that moment to run his hand over his toned and sun-kissed abs. "Huh?"
"I thought maybe-" he starts again just as Edward's eyes land on mine. My face burns hot at being caught staring at him, and I can only hope that the glare from the headlights is actually blacking me out and he can't tell if he's looking at a person or a Wookie.
"I'm sorry, Jared, what?" I turn to give him my full attention if only to stop staring at Edward.
"I thought maybe we could go out, catch a movie." He seems less sure and I feel bad, but I don't have much interest in going out with him.
"Hey, Jared." Edward's suddenly walking right towards us. They do the fist shake thing and start talking about surfing, so I stand there sipping on my warm beer, completely unacknowledged by Edward which is very rude.
"We were in the middle of a conversation," I interrupt.
Edward's eyes shoot to mine. "Were you?" He says it more like a statement so I don't take that like I have to answer and turn back to Jared.
"When did you want to go out?" I smile pretty and hold out my beer so he'll get me another one.
"How's Tuesday? They're showing a classic down at the Malibu Cinema. The Blob." He hands me a beer after he opens it, which earns him points for being a gentleman.
"Sounds perfect." I turn to Edward and smile. "Don't worry, I'll tell Charlie." It's more sarcastic than I would've liked, but it gets the point across.
Edward eyes me and says goodbye to Jared, and walks away without another glance in my direction.
I frown at my beer, knowing I just said yes to Jared because Edward was standing there. We make tentative meeting plans at the theater and he ambles off towards the guys.
Sighing, I walk around a little bit and say hi to a few people I know, which isn't many, so I'm back at Steve's car within minutes, making a point to talk to more people my final year of high school so that when I come to these things I don't look like a loser with no friends.
Ben's holding Angela like he's medically unable to remove himself as she looks at me sheepishly. This isn't going to be good. "Bella, could you find a ride home maybe? Ben and I-"
"With who?" I bark, eyes bugging out of my head.
"I don't know, maybe Jared…" She trails off and I just say fine. I'll figure it out. If it were me in Ang's shoes with a guy hopelessly devoted to her like Olivia Newton-John, I guess I'd try to pawn her off too.
Walking up to the surf crew, I see Edward is now in the middle of the group, animatedly talking, flipping his shaggy hair out of his eyes and inadvertently flexing his muscles as he tells a story. Hearing him talk about ankle busters and Eskimo rolls is enough to make me wonder what demon has possessed Rosalie if she finds the used car lot guy hotter than him.
Jared notices me standing there right away and smiles, so that earns him a few more points.
"Do you think you could give me a ride?" I ask him, slightly nervous to have everyone listening. "Ang and Ben, well… "
"Oh man, I'd love to, I don't have my ride tonight. I came with Sam. But I'm sure he'd be happy to give you a lift." He looks over at Sam who doesn't really look like he should be driving anybody home.
"I'll do it," Edward sighs, not sounding too ecstatic by the job. "Are you ready now?"
"Um, sure. Thanks." I stand there awkwardly while he says goodbye before he turns on his heel. It takes me a moment to realize he's walking away so I half jog behind him like a puppy.
Maybe Alice was right, he is going to treat me like a dog all summer.
"Where's the fire?" I say as I catch up.
"Huh?"
"You could've stayed you know, I could've hung out with other friends until you were ready."
"Who says I wasn't ready?"
"Fine." We lapse into silence and reach the Jeep. I've never ridden in an open-air car like a dune buggy or anything before so I'm kind of excited to feel the wind whip my hair around like a Breck Shampoo commercial.
He reaches towards his glove compartment to pull out an 8-track and I see a brush inside filled with blonde hair. It reminds me I'm sitting in Rosalie's throne, and I can practically feel long, prickly loose strands under my butt on the seat. Which leads me to think about all the disgusting things they've probably done on this seat. Ew.
He drives out of the lot fast so I hold onto the roll bar above my head. He takes the turn onto PCH way too quickly and I try to remember if I saw him drinking, but I just saw the one beer. I'd have noticed if he drank more, because I'm creepy like that. "I guess you really can't wait to be rid of me, huh?" He just looks at me out of the side of his eye. "You're practically trying to flip me out of this car."
He slows down a bit. "Sorry. Just…" He trails off, not really saying anything and I wonder if he's suddenly upset over Rosalie because he's not distracted by surf talk anymore. I want to ask, but honestly, I doubt he'd say a word to me.
We drive along, the ocean breeze is salty and pleasant, what moonlight escapes the smog shines down and he turns on an oldies station playing the Beach Boys. It's a nice tune so I just try to enjoy my ride and pretend that he's as happy about me being next to him as I am. We pass some popular hangouts and I hope people see me in his car. When we pull up to a traffic light, I feel important when a car full of girls giggle and look at him, until they try to get him to talk.
I lean forward, my face close to Edward's chest and I can feel that side of my face heat like he's the sun. Edward looks down at me warily, but when I shoot them the finger and smile as sweetly as I can, I hear it. Edward snorts a little. The girls curse at me but drive off when the light changes.
He accelerates but looks at me, shaking his head.
I shrug. "How do they know we're not together? I could be your girlfriend for fucks sake. They were rude."
"You are nothing like Rosalie," he says under his breath and it deflates me. I look out the window and try to hold in frustrated tears. My anger from last night bubbles up and I want to yell at him that she's no one I would want to be like, and if he finds Rosalie's generic personality attractive then maybe he isn't anything like what I thought he was either.
After a mile or two he must notice I've slumped in my seat, insulted, because he speaks quietly. "But yeah, you could've been my girl, they were rude."
Counting the words in my head, I realize Edward and I just had what is almost a conversation. And he was just sort-of nice to me.
I forgive him silently and smile all the way home.
Rosalie bursts through my bedroom door as soon as I shut it.
"Why were you with Edward?" The look on her face isn't so much bitch, as it is worry.
"He gave me a lift. Ang and Ben wanted to re-create what your neck looks like on any given night so I left them to it." I turn and start kicking off my shorts. "Oh no, wait. I found him trying to fend off your mother, so I figured I'd help a guy escape."
"One day that smart mouth of yours is going to get in a heap of trouble."
"Yeah, well, one day that mouth of yours is going to be full of cold sores. Oh, wait…" I trail off, smirking.
She sits on my bed and kicks a stray magazine with her foot. "It smells like cigarettes in here."
"Think they've noticed?"
"Nah. If you can't tell, they really don't remember this side of the house exists now that they have the pool."
I half-crawl under my bed and pull out an old jewelry box of my mother's. It has flowers and ivy on it, and it's one of the only things left of hers I have. "Want one?" I hold out the contraband pack to Rosalie.
"Sure." I make sure the towel is stuffed under the door and crack the window open. We sit and smoke as she slides down to the floor to lean against my bed. She looks a little better than she did before.
"Are you okay?" I ask, blowing smoke up into the ceiling fan.
"Did Edward say anything?" she asks as she inspects her nails, feigning disinterest.
"About what?" She shoots me a look like I'm dumb. "About last night? No. What was that all about, anyway? Why are you hanging out with creepy car guy?" Why would you cheat on Edward, is what I really want to yell, but I can't expose myself.
"He's not so bad."
"I heard he deals hard stuff."
"So?"
I stare at her wide-eyed. "So? So that's not a good thing to do as a hobby. Is that all it is with you or…"
"We're friends."
I want to bring up the packet, but I don't. "Looked like more than that."
She glares at me. "Did Edward say that?"
"No, he didn't say anything about you at all." I don't know if I say that to hurt her or reassure her.
"Good. Why did he take you home, really?"
I make a face. "I was telling the truth about Ang and Ben. I didn't want to be part of a weird high school ménage à trois so I needed a lift."
"That was nice of him."
"He seems like a nice guy." I'm torn, wanting them to break up but also not wanting her to treat him this way.
"Sometimes too nice," she says quietly. I'm not sure why that's a problem so I don't say anything, and we just sit there, lost in our own thoughts.
But I get the feeling I'm the only one in the room thinking about Edward.
PB Fun Fact: My mother was a very basic "jar and box" cook. If Heinz made gravy in a jar there was no point in her mind to try and make her own. She made one meal she called "Swiss Steak"... me and my siblings still have nightmares about it.
I didn't answer reviews this week, I'm so sorry. I had a thing.
Big shout out to my girls, CarrieZM and LayAtHomeMom.
They are as fine as 8-track tapes and jarred gravy.