Baby, You're a Rich Man

Chapter 6

My first weekend at Milford Academy certainly started with a bang. Apparently, it was typical of students to plan crazy or exciting events. For instance, around noon on Saturday, I witnessed a group of five Milford boys carrying a canoe into the dormitory building. Another group of girls sat on the second floor balcony of the school building dropping various items on passersby. I had assumed that Pete and I would spend Saturday night in our dorm, because we always seemed to be the outcasts of social gatherings, so I was surprised when I learned that this would not be the case for me.

When Patty bumped into me in the dorm hallway, instead of "Excuse me," she simply said, "Eight o'clock. Milford Hideout. Don't be late."

"Huh?" I stammered.

"The Milford Hideout is a place my friends and I go on Saturdays," she clarified. "I want you to meet my friends."

"Well I've already met Bryan."

"He'll be there," she confirmed, "but there are a couple others as well. Anyway, I'm not going to leave you alone to wander aimlessly looking for the Milford Hideout, so just meet us outside of the dorm building at seven forty-five and we'll walk there."

And then she was off. I gaped at her. She had no manners, no nerve to ask me if I was interested or not...she presented her proposals as facts and assumed that whatever plans I did have were no longer valid now that she had made plans for me. Yet she was the most beautiful woman I had ever met, and she wanted me to meet her friends, so how could I possibly refuse?

"Where are you going?" Pete asked me that night, noting the way I hurriedly packed up my guitar and grabbed my sweatshirt.

"I'm meeting a few friends," I told him quickly.

"Aw, but I thought we were gonna spend tonight hanging out or playing cards or something." Pete sounded disappointed.

"Then you shoulda told me, Buddy. I've already made plans."

"Well okay, if you insist," Pete conceded, still sounding glum.

"You'll just have to have fun without me."

"Playing cards?"

"Yeah, there's always Solitaire," I reminded him, and then I was off.

As soon as I began descending the stairs, I felt bad for the way I had treated Pete and regretted not asking him to come with me, but then I remembered that it was Patty's party, not mine, so I didn't really have the freedom to invite whomever I pleased.

"Took you long enough," Patty said as I stepped outside into the cool night air. She was standing next to a kid with brown eyes, olive skin, and dark hair that was slicked to one side. He was about three inches taller than me and looked as if he could pound me with his own bare hands. On her right stood a girl slightly shorter than her, whose black hair was cut shoulder-length with bangs and looked so straight that it could have been fake. Bryan stood next to the straight-haired girl, fiddling with a stick he had picked up off the ground, until the girl slapped the stick out of his hand.

"Should we go then?" the tall boy asked smoothly, grabbing Patty's hand, and I felt something collapse within me. The five of us began walking.

"Guys, this is the Buddy Holly kid I was telling you about who did our entire science project," Patty introduced, gesturing towards me.

"I'm Charlie," I said, doing my best to sound upbeat.