The Perfect Couple

26

I told her my latest brainstorm. "You know how a lot of the kids dress up on Friday and go to The Last Straw. It's almost like a party." She nodded. "Well, I'm going to ask Marcus to go with me this Friday. Alan and Gloria will probably be there and the way everyone circulates and talks to everyone else, it'll be a good chance for me to get acquainted with Alan."

"You haven't asked Marcus about it yet?"

"Well, no, but I know it'll be all right with him. He's getting so tired of all this pretending we've been doing he almost overdid the romance bit today. But he'll still do anything to help out."

"Umm," Kim said thoughtfully. There were times lately when I couldn't guess what was on her mind.

I found my dress staring at me from the window of a department store at the mall.

It would be sensational if it were jazzed up with some striking gold jewellery. I didn't happen to have any gold jewellery, striking or otherwise and if I bought the dress I'd be stretching my credit to the breaking point and beyond. Luckily I had a good friend.

"You know that heavy gold chain you have and the gold hoops?" I asked Kim.

"Yes. What about them?" She played dumb for a minute, but then she couldn't keep a straight face. "Don't look so agonized. You can pick them up when we get home."

Mom was in the kitchen when I went in the house. I didn't smell anything suspicious, so maybe we were going to be lucky tonight.

"I bought a dress," I announced. I didn't dare take off the price tag until she approved the purchase. "Isn't it gorgeous?" I held it up for her inspection.

"Lovely," she said, then looked at the ticket. From the way she frowned I was afraid she was going to make me take it back and I felt my tear ducts getting ready for action. In the end, though, she only said "umm." I sighed with relief.

It turned out she wasn't through, however. "For the sake of the family credit rating I think you'd better give me back the little plastic card I loaned you when you went on your recent shopping spree." She was already holding out her hand.

"Oh, fine," I grumbled. "My credit was good as long as I didn't use it." I grinned to let her know I was joking and she grinned back.

"You'll find throughout life," she told me, "that that's the way credit works. You can get all you want as long as you don't need it."

I felt as if I were giving up a newfound but very dear friend as I surrendered the tiny bit of plastic. I only hoped the price of aluminum held up and that the rainy season didn't come too soon so that Marcus and I could go on collecting cans. I needed money more than ever now and that was my only means of earning any. Most of the people in our neighborhood were about the same age as my parents and a lot more girls were looking for baby-sitting jobs than there were babies to go around.

After dinner I called Marcus. When I told him my idea about going to The Last Straw he said. "Gee, I'm sorry, Kelly, but I'd planned on practicing Friday afternoon. Coach promised to stay and work with me."

"Oh, well, then . . ." It took me only a second to rally and make out as if it really weren't important. But even over the phone Marcus could read me.

"Listen, if I put in some extra time the next couple of days it'll be all right. Sure we'll go to The Straw on Friday. It's a great place for us to show how crazy we are about each other. Let Alan Rogers eat his heart out."

I almost died at the thought of Alan eating his heart out over me, but I still managed to say, "no, Marcus, you go ahead and practice, like you planned." The next time I looked in the mirror I didn't want to see a girl I hated.

"Make up your mind, woman," Marcus gave one of his mock growls. "You want to go to The Straw, or don't you?"

"I . . . guess I do," I said weakly. I'd tell the girl in the mirror I knew there were extenuating circumstances for her selfish behaviour.

"Okay. I'll meet you out front after school."

"Kim and Tom are going, too, so we can make it a foursome." I was getting more excited by the minute.

"Now if Alan shows up you'll have it made." Marcus still spoke in a growling sort of tone, but maybe his voice was just getting deeper, I thought.

"I bet anything he will," I said. "He goes to the Straw almost every Friday when there's no football practice. Gloria will probably be with him, but at least he'll see me and with any luck we'll speak a few words. I-I have a pretty new dress." The thought of it made me breathless.

"You're pretty, too."

The words were so mumbled I wasn't sure if I'd really heard them and the next minute Marcus said he'd better hang up and hit the books.

I should have done some studying, too, but I was too excited to even open a book.

My closet drew me and I finally decided I might as well do what I'd been dying to do ever since I got home. I put on my new dress, then going all out, I added Kim's heavy gold chain and big matching ear hoops.

"Alan has to be impressed," I decided aloud.

I'd just struck a model's pose when Mom knocked on the door.

"May I come in, Kelly? I ironed some of your blouses today."

I threw open the door. "Oh, Mom, I'm sorry! I meant to iron them."

"Good intentions don't empty my ironing basket," she said.

When I'd hung up my blouses she focused on my dress and jewelry. "Aren't you just a teensy bit dressed up for an evening of homework?"

"I'm going to wear my new dress on Friday and I wanted to be sure it looks okay." I whirled around so she could see how far her tomboy had come.

"It looks fine, but seems to me it's too dressy for school, especially with the jewelry. Incidentally, if you charged all that gold you're going to be in debt well into the next century."

I explained that the jewelry was Kim's.

"And I won't be too dressed up for Friday. That's always sort of a party day. Marcus and I are going to The Last Straw after school."

Mention Marcus to my mother these days and she melts like a candy bar you forgot in your pocket. She probably felt she had the best of two worlds. Her daughter was dating, yet she had nothing to worry about because she was going with a boy from down the street who was as safe as a brother.

I hated to take my dress off, but when Mom had left I finally did. As I put it away on a padded hanger I thought that Friday just might be the biggest day of my life.