Breath of Scandal

Donna Dee lingered. She was a cheeky girl with dark, flashing eyes and a quick, sometimes ribald wit. Unfortunately, she wasn’t too much in the looks department. Her hair was straight and thin. She wore it parted down the middle, not from choice but because that’s all she could coax it to do. Her profile came to a point where her nostrils met her upper lip. Together with her uncorrected overbite and darting eyes, she resembled a friendly rat. She had a thing for Hutch, but, as usual, he ignored her.

“Look who’s here,” he said, drawing Neal’s attention to the parking lot beyond the window. “Mr. Student Body President.”

They watched Gary Parker pull his car into one of the spaces. His steady, Jade Sperry, was sitting in the front seat, close beside him.

“And he’s got the best student body with him.”

Neal shot Lamar a poisonous look, unable to tell whether Lamar was mocking him with that crack. Surely not. He had kept his interest in Jade Sperry a secret from everyone.

“That car of his is a piece of shit,” Hutch commented to no one in particular.

Lamar said, “Doesn’t seem to bother Jade.”

“Of course not, you creep,” Donna Dee said. “She’s in love with him. It doesn’t matter to her that he’s as poor as Job’s turkey. I’m gonna go say hi to them. See y’all later.”

Neal glowered darkly through the window as he watched Gary and Jade. Gary must have said something amusing because Jade laughed and leaned into him, rubbing her temple against his chin.

“Damn, she’s hot,” Hutch groaned. “He’s a frigging farmer. What attracts her?”

r />

“His brain,” Lamar said.

“Or maybe she’s impressed by his big plow,” Hutch joked.

Lamar laughed. Neal remained stonily silent. Motionless, his eyes unwavering, he watched Gary softly kiss Jade’s lips before opening the car door and stepping out. It had been a chaste, tepid kiss. Neal wondered, not for the first time, if she had ever been kissed by somebody who meant business—somebody like him.

Jade was indisputably the best-looking girl in Palmetto High School. The best-looking girl was supposed to belong to Neal Patchett, just like the best clothes and the best car. His old man was the richest, most powerful man in the area. That alone entitled him to whatever he wanted. Apparently no one had informed Miss Jade Sperry of that.

No matter how high Gary’s IQ was, Neal would never understand how she could prefer a piss-poor farmer like Gary over him. Not only did she show a marked lack of interest, but Neal got the impression that she felt disgusted by him. With an inexplicable reverse snobbery, she regarded him as a lowlife. Oh, she was always polite—Jade was courteous to everybody—but beneath her polite veneer, Neal detected a scornful attitude that ate at him.

Maybe she didn’t know what she was missing. Maybe she hadn’t realized that she was settling for less than the best. Maybe it was time she found out.

“Come on,” he said suddenly, sliding out of the booth. He tossed down enough money to cover the cost of their drinks and Hutch’s burgers, then sauntered to the door.

Outside, he headed for the window where customers placed carry-out orders. He didn’t have to ask Hutch and Lamar if they cared to follow. They fell into step behind him, as he had known they would.

* * *

Donna Dee opened the passenger-side door of Gary Parker’s car and slid in beside Jade. “I didn’t know you were coming here,” Jade said. “You could have ridden from church with us.”

“And been a fifth wheel? No, thanks.”

There was no rancor in Donna Dee’s voice. The two girls had been inseparable since the first day of kindergarten. While it was obvious to anyone who saw them together that Jade outshone the other girl, Donna Dee harbored no malice toward her more attractive, more accomplished friend.

“What’d you think of the sermon tonight?” Donna Dee asked. “Did you feel God’s breath on the back of your neck every time the preacher said the word fornication?”

Jade had been uncomfortable with the subject of the sermon, but she replied evenly, “I’ve got nothing to be guilty about.”

“Yet,” Donna Dee said.

Jade sighed in consternation. “I knew I never should have confided in you that Gary and I had talked about it.”

“Oh, for crying out loud,” Donna Dee exclaimed. “Y’all have been going together for three years. Everybody thinks you’ve already done it a million times.”

Jade bit her lower lip. “My mother included. We had an argument before Gary picked me up tonight.”

“So?” Donna Dee borrowed a lipstick from Jade’s purse and spread it on. “You’re always having arguments with your mom. I hate to say it, Jade, but your mom’s a real bitch.”