Who You Wit'?

Chapter 11

  The hot air of the blow-dryer sucked greedily at the moisture on Lizzie's skin, scorching her. She dipped her head to her waist, giving her tight face a break, and let the arid heat do its job on her damp locks. The scent of chlorine that had clung to her nostrils was finally gone, and the wetness that had chilled her bones from sitting in the Jacuzzi on a warm, but not quite hot enough day had worn off. The only thing still lingering from their mid- week romp in the hot tub was the aftershock of the bombshell that Jacinta was (might be?) pregnant. Lizzie cut off the dryer. She fluffed her hair, feeling dampness in the roots but not caring. It was dry enough. The whine of the dryer echoed in her ear a few min- utes more. In the airy silence, the thing bothering her leapt out of her mind as if someone had booted it to the forefront. When Raheem had outted Jacinta's...condition, everyone had been floored. You  could have popped an olive in Kelly's mouth, she was so shocked. And Lizzie was positive she'd seen JZ take a literal scoot away from Cinny, like he might catch something. Then again, maybe that was him distancing himself so Raheem wouldn't think anything was up between them. Though, it was the word baby that had made JZ slide over, Lizzie was certain. Everyone had been stunned. Well, not everybody, she thought as she brushed her hair. She used soft, long strokes, coaxing the reality out of herself. Everyone had shown some sort of sur- prise or discomfort, except Mina. First, Lizzie thought she'd imagined it. But she and Mina had been sitting right across from each other. Lizzie had a clear, wide-open view of Mina's reaction. And when Raheem dropped the bomb, Mina had looked concerned. Her eyes hadn't popped like, "What?!" They'd narrowed in an "Oh, crap." Lizzie wanted to be wrong. She'd stared across at Mina, trying to get that BFF ESP going, but Mina's eyes had flitted away from her gaze and back at Jacinta, wor- ried. Worried. You can't worry about something you just found out. Could you? Lizzie wondered.

She parted her hair, forcing herself to take her time. She wanted to rush to her laptop and log on. She knew Mina would be on, and she'd promised Todd she'd ping him, tonight. But she needed to calm down first. Rid herself of the prickly jeal- ousy that kept lodging itself in her mind. How could Mina choose this—pregnancy drama—over the peace of mind the pact could give her? Her fingers slid through her hair, some of the blow-dryer's warmth still present, and easily divided it into three segments. The braid formed almost instantly as her fingers danced, soothing her. By the second braid, Lizzie didn't feel quite so jeal- ous. Even if she hadn't imagined the knowing she saw on Mina's face, it was swazy. Clique secrets were becoming the norm, it seemed. She and JZ had shared one last year, and she and Mina always had a secret or two stored in their friend vault. Usually, when the time was right, the secrets always came out and became general clique knowledge. Sometimes, it was just easier to tell it to one person first, Lizzie justified. She smirked. It sounded reasonable enough. Yet it still made her sad. The line between secrets and lies was blurring. She didn't have to talk to Mina to confirm it. She just knew. Felt it like she sometimes knew with absolute certainty that she'd nailed or failed an audition. She wrapped the end of each braid with a rubber band, patted her hair, then smiled quizzically at her image in the mirror before heading to her bedroom.

She rushed through the formality of getting the laptop booted up and herself signed on. Within minutes, Todd IMed her. BasketballT: What up l-boogie? Grinning, Lizzie pushed the laptop to the head of her bed and stretched out to- ward it. Liz-e-O: nothing how wuz da family ob? BasketballT: fam+out of town cuzzins+skating= l-l-lame! Liz-e-O: LOL ur crazy BasketballT: like a fox. did u guys hang out? Lizzie's eyes rolled. "Boy did we," she muttered as she typed. Liz-e-O: Yup ttly missed sme juice BasketballT: dish l-boog Liz-e-O: ok did u jst ask me 2 dish?! BasketballT: so sick of b/n w/fam im actn like a ol' beyotch LOL Liz-e-O: u said it not me BasketballT: so what up? Iz dat more manly? Liz-e-O: a little. Cinny is preg BasketballT: WTF?! Serious? Liz-e-O: tttly BasketballT: dayum wat did JZ say? Lizzie chuckled. Liz-e-O: nothing. surprised I guess BasketballT: tht sux Liz-e-O: 4 who? Cinny or JZ BasketballT: LOL both. Dude, jay likes her Liz-e-O: he tol u tht? BasketballT: no so dnt go tellin ur girls. jus sayin I thnk he does Liz-e-O: me 2 Just then, the sound of wind blowing announced Mina was on. Lizzie's heart skipped excitedly.

She waited a few seconds, willing Mina to IM her first. She forced herself to keep talking to Todd, rather than ping Mina first. BasketballT: mayb crazy ques is Cinny kirkin out abt being preg? Liz-e-O: she wuz defntly po'ed Raheem outted her but same ol Cinny, cool as a cuc BasketballT: man, Raheem makin babies n I can't evn mke it 2 2nd base Liz-e-O: o ha ha w/e T BasketballT: j/k...kind of Usually Todd's humor was cute, adorable even. But he'd hit too close with that crack. She gladly switched conversations when a message from Mina finally blew through. BubbliMi: hey Liz. Crzy dy huh? Liz-e-O: mos' def. hey did u alrdy knw Cin ws preg? BubbliMi: Mon she tol me her pd wuz late. She's still not 100% sure she is Lize-e-O: I'd b freakin! BubbliMi: u n me both!!:-0 A buzz of pleasure widened Lizzie's smile. She'd half expected Mina to be nonchalant about the whole thing. She was glad to hear a very Mina reaction. The ringing of messages from Todd forced her to click back over to him. BasketballT: r u iggin me? Liz-e-O: no BasketballT: o u didn't ansr me Lizzie scrolled back up to see what she'd missed. She squirmed as she read his previous messages. BasketballT: now I guess we'll never do it? BasketballT: gtta rmbr 2 thnk Raheem 4 this. Thx bro Lizzie decided to play dumb. Liz-e-O: so wuts da ques 

BasketballT: LOL gotta luv a grl who plys hrd 2 get Liz-e-O: gotta luv a guy who lvs da chase;-) BasketballT: LOL hw lng u gnna run? A dude's legs r gttn tired Liz-e-O: well...me n Kelly took an abst pact There she'd told him. Now maybe everyone would get off her case. When Todd didn't answer immediately, she went back to Mina. Liz-e-O: ur pinky ring is so cool BubbliMi: OMG Liz he tttly cght me off grd Liz-e-O: I bet. Hey, so it's cool and all...but how come u don't wanna do da pact? BubbliMi: cn I b honest? Lizzie's stomach clenched, but her message back was casual. Liz-e-O: of crse Mi! we're girls fo' life rmbr ? BubbliMi: taking it feels like I'm choosin b/w u n Brian Liz-e-O: not tryna mk u choose...jus wtch out 4 my grl BubbliMi: I knw <3 Liz-e-O: no big. me n Kel will go it alone Lizzie blanched at the lie. It did matter. But she wanted Mina to want to take the pact because she wanted to, not just to please Lizzie. She laughed at the lie. They'd been doing stuff like this—having each other's back, agreeing with stuff that they didn't necessarily want to go along with—for an ice age. Heck, yeah, she wanted Mina to go along just because. Just because that's what girls do. Just because it would be taking Lizzie's side on the issue. Just because, period. Mina not taking the pact definitely stung, especially since Lizzie was sure it was something Mina would have willingly done a year or two ago. She fiddled with one of her braids, then reluctantly minimized the box and picked back up with Todd. BasketballT: ok pls tell me abst stands for absence frm schl or smthg. Pls! Liz-e-O: LOL nope means abstinence...u knw frm sex BasketballT: ummm does ur bf gt a say in ths? 

Lizzie shot straight up. She crossed her legs and balanced the laptop on her lap. Liz-e-O: dnt take it wrng bt no BasketballT: thas not cool Liz Lizzie's cell phone vibrated, buzzing its way across her desk. She pushed the laptop aside, hopped off the bed, and picked up the phone, saving it from nose- diving off the edge. Todd's number flashed from the screen. She took a deep breath and answered. Todd jumped right in. "Look, I knew you weren't down with us doing it right now..." He sighed loudly before continuing. "But never? Dude, isn't that extreme?" "It's just for a year," Lizzie said. She winced at the pleading in her voice. She wasn't asking for Todd's permission. Even the anger in his voice, a rare tone, wouldn't budge her. She'd made this decision and didn't regret it. "I don't get it. So you talked about this with Kelly, but not me?" Lizzie frowned. "It's not that we discussed it." She fumbled to explain. "I just... we...I'm not..." "It's not like I was all, 'Lizzie do it or we're hist.'" Todd mimicked a nag. "Dude, it just sucks. 'Cause we're always straight up with each other. And now you're like making decisions about our relationship without me." "I am being straight up," Lizzie said, exasperated. She eyed the laptop, but Mina had logged off. "Shoot," she muttered. "What?" Todd snapped. "I...nothing." "So I guess you and Kelly already took this oath? Signed it in blood or whatever?" Todd asked, openly sarcastic. "Pact," Lizzie corrected him automatically. "No blood, just an agreement. And I had hoped Mina would do it, too, but..." Todd's chuckle was bitter. "Good luck with all that." "Why do you say that?" Lizzie scowled. "Because Mina and Brian already did it."