“Behave,” Stanley sighs, giving me a shove into the church when I dig my heels in.
Scowling, I follow Lane to a pew in the middle and we sidle down together, followed soon after by another family with a teen who looks a lot happier here than I do.
Stanley passes me in the narrow gap to sit beside his wife and I’m forced to acknowledge the girl with train tracks on her teeth and tangled hair pulled back into a loose ponytail.
“Alice Bonner,” she whispers and holds out her hand.
“Scandal,” I reply and her smile broadens. Those braces really go all the way back.
“You’re the new kid that scaled that brick wall like some kind of chimp, aren’t you?”
I nod. “That’s me.”
“And you got Officer Myers suspended so now the pretty-boy crew are after you.”
“Yep.”
As if by magic, her smile gets wider. “Damn. And you’ve been here a week. How’d all that happen?”
“I’m bad luck I guess.”
She giggles and shifts in her seat. “School life is going to be hell with them after you.”
“They’ve done this before?”
“Oh yeah, they’re really good at getting people they don’t like to transfer. They’re like the kids of all the leading people around here. So, like, Presley, his dad is the cop, as you know.”
“I do.”
“The catty girl, she’s dating Melvin, the African American dude whose parents own the town paper, they know everybody’s secrets.”
I play with the ball under my lip with my tongue as I listen.
She continues, “She’s called Asher, she thinks she’s so tough because she’s the only girl in their crew, that and her mom is mayor, but she’s like really nice. Her mom, not Asher, Asher is a shit.”
“Are you gossiping?” Alice’s mom asks, leaning around her to look at me. They are visually so similar it’s eerie. When she spies Lane, she smiles and waves and forgets she asked us anything to begin with. “Oh my Lord, Lane Oaks. I swear those cookies you made for book club on Friday were to die for.”
“Anyway,” Alice goes on with a roll of her eyes. “The blond guy, Jeff, though not his actual name. Everyone just calls him that because, at the beginning of junior year, whenever a teacher called out his name for the roster he’d declare, my name is Jeff.”
I laugh once. “Like that move twentysomething Jump something?”
“Exactly. So funny, but now everyone calls him Jeff and nobody remembers his real name. His family own Bowler Mania and a couple of clubs in and out of town. It has a roller rink where they all go to dance and stuff, nobody actually skates there. For that they have the ramps behind it which is pretty cool.” She rubs her hands on her skirt-clad thighs. “Do you skate?”
I shake my head.
“Ah, you climb, right? So gymnast?”
“I suppose.”
“You need to teach me a few things.” She stops speaking when the reverend starts. We sit and listen… or she does… I use this opportunity to nap until I’m forced to pay attention again.
Lane is not happy. Alice thinks I’m hilarious.
“The short guy is Terry, but he’ll be out of their crew soon,” Alice continues when we all stand to sing.
“Why?”
“He’s been having sex with Asher, though they haven’t all quite figured that out yet.”
My lips part. “How do you know?”
She leans into me and whispers, “I caught them going at it during summer school. I volunteered to be a tutor. It was nasty as fuck. He was gobbling her pussy on Mr. Heath’s desk.”
I laugh loudly, startling those around me. I couldn’t help myself. I did not expect her to say that. My hand slaps over my mouth and we both giggle together like we’ve been friends for years.
“But,” she mutters and clicks her fingers, “Asher is totally in love with Carter, Melvin is just her consolation prize and everyone knows it. Terry is just an extra in her shit show. She’s one of those that just has to have all the attention on her, all the time.”
“What about the tall one?” I ask, leaning closer so as to keep my voice low, ignoring Lane’s elbow in my side.
“That’s Joey, he’s so cute but really weird, keeps to himself, normal family, nothing to note.”
“And Carter?”
She makes a noise that sounds like a mini orgasm. “Carter is bae. He is life. I would sit on his face for hours if he let me. I would be his slave for eternity just for a taste of that massive D he’s hiding.”
I try so hard not to laugh. “You’re crazy.”
“But he is fiiiine… so is Presley mind you. To be the filling in that sandwich.” She gently thrusts her hips forward but her mom sees and slaps her around the back of the head with a bible.
We start giggling again and I think finally, at last, I might have made a friend.