Mary Baxter - Tempting Janey

“I have no complaints,” she said at last, forcing herself to loosen up.

“You look great.”

She looked away, then back. “Thanks.”

“So how’s Robin?”

“Attending your school and performing with the drill team.”

He looked sheepish for a moment. “Sorry, somehow that fact got by me.”

“That’s understandable. You have hundreds of students.” She felt as though she was rattling on, but she couldn’t seem to stop. “You can’t be expected to remember them all.”

He shifted from one booted foot to the other, then stared at her out of bleak eyes. “Look, Janey—”

“It’s all right,” she interrupted quickly, taking a deep breath. “There’s nothing else to say. So let’s just give things a rest, okay?”

He didn’t respond for a moment. Then he shrugged. “It’s your call.”

“So what can I do for you?”

His eyes had darkened now, and she experienced an involuntary shiver. “Sell me a box of candy.”

Janey forced a smile. “Now that I can do.”

A few minutes later, after she locked up behind him and watched him drive off, Janey leaned against the door, her heart pounding like a jackhammer inside her chest.

“I wish I were built like you.”

Robin gave her friend Beverly Olson an exasperated look. “You look fine the way you are.”

“I look fat the way I am,” Beverly responded in a sarcastic tone.

Underneath that sarcasm, Robin picked up on the note of despair in her friend’s voice. She stopped what she was doing, walked over and sat beside Beverly on the steps of her front porch. An uneasy silence fell between them.

Beverly seemed unusually sensitive about her weight today, Robin thought. Maybe it was because the first big game was imminent, and Beverly was getting nervous about performing in front of the home folks. For whatever reason, Robin was at a loss as to how to comfort her.

She and Beverly had more or less established a set time to practice their routines in Bev’s front yard. This Saturday was no exception.

“How do you stay so damn skinny?” Beverly asked, giving Robin a playful nudge on the shoulder. “You eat like you’ve been felling trees and don’t gain an ounce.”

Robin smiled, glad to see her friend’s good humor return. She knew, however, that Beverly was really serious when it came to her weight problem.

“You might need to lose a few pounds,” Robin said, “but you’re still the best one on the squad.”

“Baloney.”

“No, it’s not baloney.” Robin stood and peered down at Beverly. “You’re as limber as a rag doll and can do any routine perfectly on the first try. Trust me, that counts for something.”

“Thanks, but I’d rather be thin and clumsy.”

Robin placed her hands on her hips and pretended to be offended. “Are you saying I’m clumsy?”

“Nah,” Beverly replied, her grin sheepish. “You’ve got it all together.”

“That’s baloney, too. I’m the one Mrs. Morrison’s always ragging.”

“Well, what do you expect? She’s blind in one eye and can’t see out of the other.”

They both giggled, then sobered.

“I guess we’d better get back to the grindstone,” Beverly said, getting up. “This coming Friday’s looming large.”

“Right. And since I haven’t quite gotten the hang of that new step, I need help.”

Robin didn’t really, but she wanted Beverly to feel needed. In spite of Beverly’s weight, Robin thought her best friend was pretty. Beverly was tall, with mid-length, sandy-colored hair that was silky and shiny. Her eyes were a dark gray, and her skin was flawless. Most of all, she had a sharp wit and sense of humor that made her a blast to be around.

Robin adored her, especially since Beverly was the only one who had befriended her when she’d returned from Colorado. Most of the others in the class had treated her like an outcast.

They were just jealous, Beverly had told her, because she was so “everything” they weren’t. Robin hadn’t believed that for a second—but she didn’t know what she would have done if Beverly hadn’t become her friend.

Now, in their senior year, their friendship had deepened. They shared everything except clothes.

“What’s churning in that brain of yours?” Beverly asked. “You’re staring holes through me.”

“Sorry,” Robin said. “I was just thinking about how tough it was when I came back here, and how you got me through those miserable times.”

Beverly chuckled. “I loved it the first day you tried out for the team. You were great, and most of my so-called friends were green with envy. And I enjoyed every minute of their misery.”

“You’re awful.”

“No, I’m truthful. Eloise and entourage needed some competition. And you gave it to them. It was a hoot.”

Robin’s features clouded. “Most of them still don’t like me.”

“So what? Who needs them? All they think about is guys—which one is going to get in their panties next.” Beverly paused and grinned. “Oops, my mistake. They don’t even wear panties.”

Robin giggled. “I hate to agree with you, but I do.”

“Speaking of Eloise and company, they just drove up.”

Robin peered over her shoulder, feeling her heart drop to her toes. The afternoon was ruined, for sure. She hated the competition that went on among the drill team, mainly the catty jealousy. But it existed, and she had to face it or get sucked under.

“Wonder what we did to deserve such luck?” Beverly muttered, as four girls piled out of a Lexus sports coupe and walked up.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Eloise Frazier asked, batting her big brown eyes and smiling her fake smile, appearing as innocent as a newborn babe.

Robin knew better. The captain of the drill team was as innocent as a hooker on Sunset Boulevard. And she was up to something. It was only a matter of time before she and Beverly found out what.

“We’re just taking a break from practicing,” Beverly said.

“Want us to watch?” Sally, another of the girls, asked.

“Nope,” Beverly said. “Not unless y’all want to perform for us.”

Another of the girls spoke up. “We don’t need any more practice. We’ve got the routine down.”

“Bully for you,” Beverly said.

Robin knew a verbal slinging match was not far off, and while Beverly could more than handle the situation, Robin didn’t want to be part of it. So she smiled at the fourth girl, Mandy Taylor, then changed the subject. “Is that your car? It’s awesome.”

Mandy returned the smile. “Actually, it’s my mom’s.”

Of the four girls, all officers on the drill team, Mandy was salvageable, Robin thought. When the girl wasn’t around Eloise, she could be sweet.

“Lucky you, to get to drive it,” Robin added, thinking of the older, much less desirable model she drove. Her dad worked for a car dealership but he certainly hadn’t bought her a new car. And her mother couldn’t have, even if she’d wanted to. Robin suspected her mom was just managing to squeak by.

“My parents are getting me a BMW,” Eloise chimed in.

“That’s nice,” Robin forced herself to say in an even tone, though she dared not look at Beverly for fear they would burst out laughing. Eloise just had to be one up on everyone. She was truly a pain in the butt, though sometimes Robin actually felt sorry for her, because she always had to be the center of attention. What a heavy burden to bear.

“Hey, look who just drove up,” said Jodie Tipton, the last of the four to speak.

All eyes darted to the street and watched as a truck pulled into the drive.

“That’s my brother, Cody,” Beverly said. “And it looks like he’s got Chad with him.”