“I forgot to tell you about tomorrow,” he said from the doorway.
I braced myself for bad news. “Tomorrow?”
He grinned. “We’re going to Dollywood with Sheree and Jake.”
And there it was.
Saturday morning, bright and early, Dad and I picked up Jake and Sheree. Sheree hopped into the Prius with a bright, cheerful smile. Jake’s expression, on the other hand, reflected my opinions on the day.
He was the last person I wanted to be trapped in the car with for an hour each way even if he did look really hot in his Levi’s. Since he’d blown me off, we’d avoided each other. Now, we sat stiffly side-by-side as Sheree and Dad chattered in the front seat.
I tugged at my Old Navy retro-print t-shirt. Listening to my father try to flirt sent pangs of nausea to my stomach. Hearing Sheree flirt back was painful. But the worst part of it all was when Dad tried to buddy up to Jake. I would have killed to turn the radio on.
“So, Jake, your mother tells me you’re really into basketball,” Dad said, taking a break from gushing over Sheree.
“Yeah. I play in the church league.” Jake sounded as uncomfortable as I felt.
“He’s been playing for years,” Sheree said. “He really enjoys it.”
“I played some basketball in my day,” Dad said.
Now, in case you forgot, my father is a nuclear physicist. He wears the thick glasses and has the pitiful eyesight you might expect of someone that brainy. He is also the most uncoordinated person on the face of the earth—a fact confirmed by my mother and by his own parents. Dad would probably knock himself unconscious if he tried to shoot a basketball.
I didn’t want to embarrass Dad, so I just didn’t say anything at all.
“Maybe we should shoot some hoops sometime,” Dad said. There was nothing more pathetic than an old guy trying to be cool.
“Oh, that’s a lovely idea, John,” Sheree cooed. “I’ll bet Zoe isn’t too bad herself.”
“I’m bad all right,” I answered. “I’m tall, but honestly, I have no athletic ability.”
“Sure,” Sheree turned to wink at me over the headrest. “Maybe we should take on the guys.”
People always assumed that my height of five feet nine inches translated into being good at sports. With me, it totally didn’t.
“Actually, Mom,” Jake said with a glance my way. “Anya always said Zoe was terrible at sports.”
“I know you’re trying to get her for your team, Jake,” his mother answered. “We aren’t playing parents against kids, that wouldn’t be fair.”
Dad and I would probably knock each other down and break something, and then Sheree and Jake could finish the game themselves. I laughed.
I guess Dad thought I was being rude, because he said, “Zoe,” like some kind of warning.
Whatever.
Jake glanced my way and asked, “You really do stink. Don’t you?”
I just glared at him because he was in no position to judge me. Jerk.
Finally, we turned into the parking lot at Dollywood. I know that I should think it was totally lame and all, but I didn’t. The place was as much fun as any other amusement park. And the name might be hokey, but Dolly Parton did a lot for the people who lived around there. I couldn’t dislike her. Besides, her just managing to walk around every day with those giant breasts and not fall over was pretty impressive.
After we went through the gate, Jake pulled me aside. “Look, Zoe. I know you’re mad at me, but I’m gonna puke if I have to spend the whole day following those two around.”
I narrowed my eyes. He had a point.
Jake continued, “So let’s split up and go do some fun things. We’ll both benefit.”
I started to say, “No,” but then I heard Sheree giggling at something Dad had said. Bile rose in my throat. “Okay, fine,” I muttered.
We arranged to meet Dad and Sheree at one of the restaurants for lunch at noon. That gave us three hours to explore the park. Before we could escape, photographers snapped pictures of me and Jake and of Dad and Sheree. They informed us that we could pick them up after eleven at the photo stand. Jake made a face. I laughed and we headed off in the opposite direction from our parents.
“Let’s do the roller coasters first,” Jake said.
“Okay, but then we have to do the merry-go-round and the Ferris wheel.” Personally, I thought the Ferris wheel was scarier than the roller coasters because you got stuck up there for so long. I had a fear of heights which I liked to test on occasion to prove I could beat it. As for the merry-go-round... Well, that was just plain fun.
Jake rolled his eyes but he knew he didn’t have a choice.
We waited in the first line without talking much. Jake kept looking at me like I might attack him or something.
I’d forgotten how much fun screaming and thinking you were going to die could be. We had a great time. We rode all the cool rides twice. Jake made fun of me until he almost lost his breakfast for a minute there. Then, I teased him. I hadn’t laughed this much in forever.
Chapter Six
By the time we caught up with our parents at their table in the café, we were actually friends again. I’d buried all the kisses so far back in my mind, I could almost look at his lips without thinking about them.
“Zoe,” Sheree said, dipping her nacho in the spinach con queso. “Your dad says you plan to be a doctor.”
I knew I was on solid ground. I mean, who’d complain about that career path. “That’s the plan, Mrs. Townsend.”
“Call me Sheree,” she said, carefully lifting the chip to her mouth so that it wouldn’t drip on her burgundy sweater set.
Okay, so I call her Sheree and Jake calls Dad, John, but I can’t call Dad, John, and Jake can’t call Sheree, Sheree. I smiled at the ridiculousness of the situation.
“Jake doesn’t know what he wants to do,” Sheree told me, shaking her head. “He isn’t as goal-oriented as you are.”
“That’s not true,” I said, looking at Jake. “He knows he wants to help people.” I knew all about him, of course.
“He wants to put off college.” She lowered her voice as if the concept were embarrassing.
“That’s still years away,” Dad said over the clinking and clanking of dishes in the cafe.
“I want to go into the Peace Corps,” Jake said.
I wouldn’t mind his hotness so much, but did he have to be such a good guy too? He made it very hard to dislike him.
“I think t
hat’s really nice. And selfless.” I reached for a chip.
“I guess,” Sheree muttered.
“Helping people can’t be a bad idea, right?” I looked at Jake as I said it but I sensed Sheree’s scowl.
“I think Sheree would rather he help people in a way that allows him to support himself,” Dad said, lifting his ice water to take a sip.
Great. So now we were in the middle of all their family drama. Popping the chip in my mouth, I wondered again if this whole situation was some kind of sick joke.
“Oh, Sheree,” Dad said, his voice suddenly cheerful. “Show them the pictures.”
“I forgot all about them,” she said. She reached for her purse and dug through it.
Dad had already learned how to distract her.
She pulled out two photos in cardboard frames. “Oh, they’re so cute. Look, here’s us and here are you.” She set them on the table and Jake and I dutifully looked at them.
The photographer had captured Jake with a stiff smile. He still looked hot. I didn’t look half bad, and I’d have loved to keep the picture. Of course, I pretended I wasn’t very interested. “You guys look great.”
“And this one.” She nudged it closer. “The two of you make a handsome couple.”
“Mmm,” Jake said.
“Hmm,” I said.
Then, we both turned our attention to the queso.
The ride home was quiet. Apparently, even Dad and Sheree were all talked out. Dad popped in a U2 CD from the 80s which sounded pretty decent.
Mom studied me over the mahogany dinner table once I got home. We ate in the formal dining room at least once a week so she could justify the expense of having redecorated it. “How was it?”
“Okay,” I said cutting my chicken carefully so as not to scratch the good china with my knife.
“I’m going to make you pay me a dollar for every time you say ‘okay,’” she complained. Her wart had almost disappeared and the soft light of the chandelier flattered her complexion.
“Whatever,” I said with a smile.