Tina was off to my right, holding court with some of her closer friends, complaining about Kane, and looking at me with darts in her eyes. What could he possibly have said to her? I didn’t have to wait long to find out. She came toward me with her friends. I braced myself.
“I don’t know . . . I mean, we don’t know what you’ve done to Kane Hill, but he’s more of a snob than ever.”
“That’s lame. I didn’t think he was ever a snob,” I replied coolly. I looked at my girlfriends. “Did any of you?”
“Of course not,” Suzette said. “He’s anything but that.” The girls around us seconded it with “Absolutely” and “For sure,” nodding their heads.
Tina could see she was outnumbered. “He’s ruining my party,” she whined.
I looked at him across the way, still standing in a corner, looking so defiant that no one approached him. “You mean, it wasn’t ruined before we got here?” I asked.
Even her friends broke out in smiles, and a few laughed.
“Anytime you want to leave is fine with me,” Tina said, and marched off.
“Me, too, actually,” I muttered. I made my way across the living room to Kane. “What are you doing?” I asked.
“Opening my eyes,” he said. “I never realized how juvenile some of our friends are.”
“Are they?”
He looked at me with a smirk instead of that charming offbeat smile I had come to cherish. “Christopher Dollanganger at ten was more mature.”
“But was he happy? Could he ever be?”
“I guess we’ll find out.”
I didn’t want to continue talking about the Dollangangers. Even with the music blaring, I was afraid of being overheard. “What did you say to Tina Kennedy? Our quick departure won’t break her heart.”
He finally smiled. “I merely told her that her multiple orgasms were embarrassing me. And I added something else that had to do with her physiology.”
“Why did we come here, Kane? You’re not even trying to enjoy this party.”
“You don’t want me to get into things, drink and then drive, or smoke that crap and talk about some new violent video game or about which one of these girls is the easiest, do you?”
“Then let’s go,” I said, almost shouting. “I didn’t want to come here.”
He nodded and started around the living room, avoiding anyone who wanted to speak to him. I followed, and just before we exited, I looked back at my girlfriends. Almost all of them lifted their shoulders and raised their hands, palms up. What could I tell them that would help them understand? That everyone gets in and out of a mood, and Kane was just in a dark one? It would pass, just like it did for them? That was all I could think of saying, and I knew it would be what I would repeat when they called or saw me. I smiled and nodded. Only Suzette smiled back. Everyone else continued to look confused.
The cool night air was a relief. My ears were ringing when I got into the car. Without speaking, Kane started the engine and drove us away as if we were fleeing a bank robbery. He slowed down at the corner.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I thought we’d amuse ourselves for a while, but I guess I was just not in the mood.”
“Exactly how I would put it,” I said.
“Let’s face it, Kristin. You and I are so far above all that now.”
“Above what, Kane? A party with the only friends we have?”
“That sort of party.”
Maybe he was right, I thought. I should be happy that he felt this way. It wasn’t a party my father would approve of me attending. Someone could easily get into serious trouble driving later on, and Tina’s parents would be in equally big trouble. Everything he was saying was right, and yet there was something about it that disturbed me. It was as if he were being too adult. No wonder Tina had called him snobby. People who were as wealthy as Kane’s family were expected to be snobby. Their friends were all well-to-do. If they mingled with people who had less, it was usually at some event at school.
When we arrived on my street, he slowed down and suddenly pulled to the curb when my house came into view.
“What are we doing?” I asked. He was just looking up in the direction of my attic.
“I so looked forward to going up there with you this week,” he said, still looking at the attic and not at me. “It really has become special for us, hasn’t it?” he asked, turning to me.