Welcome to Oceanside High: Revenge of the Bully

Chapter 7

After a shower, I scrounge through my dresser and find just the right thing to wear on a date which I couldn't care less about. Daisy dukes, since it's always humid in South Florida in September, and a spaghetti strap top. Who cares how I look? Besides my date, I mean.

I'm not worried about what a guy I'm not into in the slightest cares about seeing me in, or out of.

It's getting dark when Annabelle pulls up but she's not driving her car. Carlos is and he's got his black Dodge Charger. I see her through the windshield in the passenger seat with a cheesy smile. Carlos is revving the engine to signal to me to come on out. As soon as I get into the backseat of his car, Bernie is in the backseat too, and he's already chatting me up.

"Hey how are you tonight lovely lady?" Bernie winks and gives me a smile.

"Hi." I say with as much enthusiasm as a mouse caught in a snap trap. "So, uh, where are we going?" I look ahead at Annabelle, offering her a warning look which says this boy had better not get handsy.

"We were thinking the Boca theatre." I can't see much of Annabelle's face from sitting back here behind Carlos but I cam sure smell the strength of his after-shave. It's so strong my eyes start to water.

"No way." I shake my head. Mostly, I'm embarrassed that I don't have the money to spend. Thanks to dad. He doesn't give freely of his money because he's still afraid of his ex-wife—my mom—claiming he's spoiling me rotten. If she's already said it...why not just do it? That's my excuse but dad never seems to fall for it. "That place is too expensive for even a bucket of popcorn."

"Oh okay." Carlos chimes in over the roar of his engine. He's flying down the street, passing cars like we're going to be late for a movie we haven't even decided on.

"So what do you do for fun?" Bernie asks me.

I shrug. "Movies and stuff..."

"Unless they're expensive movies, eh? If money is the problem I can pay."

"No, I—let's just go dutch. It's..." I almost say it's our first date but I don't even want to imply there could be a second.

"It's...?" He asks. Boy this guy is sharp. He sits back, puts his hand in his back pocket and pulls out a fat wallet with his eyes still on me. "I really can pay." He pulls out a black credit card. "My dad is super rich."

I really want to roll my eyes at this guy for thinking that flaunting his money means something to me. It's far from it. Is this how he gets chicks? I don't want to do anything to upset Annabelle since she invited me. She seems to get the tension I'm throwing out in all directions because she turns and leans back between the seats to look at both of us and she asks, "How about we just hit AMC theatre? They have reclining seats!"

"Yeah!" I butt in, cheerfully nodding my head. Bernie puts his card away and I try not to feel like the poor one of the bunch. I'm not, I guess. My dad has money but it's his, not mine. I'm not exactly sure what I will take for a career choice one day, but I know it's not what he does. He cooks and caters the best food and early mornings he's trading stocks too. Stocks...there's just no way I can sit there and read candlestick charts and predict what a stock might do. I could always open a shop which only makes grilled cheese sandwiches. Then I'd sorta be a chef.

Carlos drives the A1A highway to Fort Lauderdale's AMC theatre.

But I'm not sure if I even want to spend much more time on this blind date. Sure, he's got all the right looks for a guy. But I just feel disinterested because I'm just not into guys on the geekier, nerdy spectrum. I look at him, wondering if maybe he could be the one who saved me that night with Billy. The tall shadow that sucker punched him. The one that hid in the shadows and didn't even want me to know his name. He's a little bit taller than me but I'm just not sure a guy like him would, or could, even do it.