Looking At Us

49. cori

Driving to New Denver with Megan, Shain, and Erick was like one of those comedic movies where it’s awkward and funny at the same time, and there’s, like, a couple making out in the back. If Darrin and Sasha were with us, we’d be redoing a scene from Texas Chainsaw 3D. 

     ‘’So,’’ Megan said. 

     ‘’So,’’ I said. 

     Shain suppressed a smile. 

     Maroon 5 played on the radio. 

     My dad said, ‘’Is the whole drive going to be this awkward? I thought you guys knew each other.’’

     ‘’We are besties,’’ Erick said, like a robot. ‘‘BFFs.’’ He pulled out a pair of Ray Bans from his backpack and slid them on. 

     ‘‘My homies,’’ Shain added, ‘‘and my dawgs.’’ She put her left arm around Megan’s shoulders and did the same to Erick with her right arm, and Erick looked nervous and stimulated at the same time. Megan shoved away Shain’s arm with a laugh.

     Justin Bieber’s Confident came on the radio. Megan made a sound of disgust, Erick frowned, and I stuck out my tongue. Shain, however, started to sing.  

               Focused, I'm focused

               She got a body like that

               I ain't never seen nothing like that, uh uh

     Shain had a good voice. She flipped her hat backwards (oh my gosh, she’s not wearing that freaking toque for once!) and pulled Erick’s sunglasses off so that she could wear them. 

     ‘‘Yeah, Shain,’’ I cheered her. 

     ‘’Oh no no, oh no no,’’ Shain chanted, ‘‘she’s confident . . .’’

     Megan laughed and started singing, too, shy and quiet.  

               Oh no no, oh no no

               She's confident . . .

     ‘‘You can tell by the way she walks in the room,’’ Shain finished, leaning close to Erick and putting a finger on his chest. He swayed, locking his eyes to hers; suddenly this Erick was very seductive and very not-Erick, but Shain seemed to like it, and Erick seemed to like her attitude. 

     ‘‘You wanna rap?’’ he asked, braver than I’d ever seen him. ‘‘I’ll rap you out, girl!’’ 

     Megan laughed. ‘’I didn’t know you were sassy, Erick.’’

     ‘’I got the sass,’’ he said, smiling nervously. ‘’I am Sasserick!’’

     I cracked up. So did Megan and Shain. 

     ‘‘Sasserick,’’ Shain repeated. ‘‘Like, Sass-Erick?’’ 

     ‘‘Yeah. You wanna dig the rap? Then hand me a shovel and let’s burrow!’’

     Chance the Rapper’s part came on, and Erick took the sunglasses from Shain, and he also took her hat, and he started rapping:

               Tattoos, piercings, and she just learned to twerk,

               She ain't got a heart or an ass, 

               Just her brains, gotta ask 

              ‘Cause her ass on a learning curve,

     Shain finished: 

                And she latter earn the berb, I mean burn the word,

               That’s only legal with a doctor’s note

               Real deep pockets like a doctor’s coat,

               Stay fitted like Diddy, here back tryna rock the boat

     They kept at it, rapping with more swag and style each time, and then the chorus came back on and Erick tried to sing it but failed because he had this really loud and incredibly obvious voice crack, and we laughed, and Shain stared at him like he was the best person in the world. 

     In Revelstoke, we stopped at Timmy’s, but Megan wanted to go to Subway and get a sandwich, and she made me accompany her. On the way back, I stole one of her Doritos and asked, ‘‘What’s going on with Shain and Erick?’’

     ‘‘Shain’s crushing on Erick. I thought that was obvious,’’ she said. ‘‘And I’m trying to convince Erick to ask Shain out, ‘cause I’m not interest in him and he has this big crush on me. At least, last I checked. That’s why I invited them. We could play Cupid.’’

     ‘’So far it’s been cool,’’ I said. ‘‘I didn’t know Erick could rap.’’

     She laughed as we turned the corner and entered Timmy’s again. Shain and Erick were sitting at a table in the far corner, eating yogurts and sharing a donut; Shain had a smoothie, and Erick had a coffee, which I didn’t expect Erick to drink. They were grinning and laughing, and their fingers were inches apart.    

     Megan whispered, ‘‘Let’s stall. I’ll buy you a coffee.’’ 

     We collected them later, just as Pitbull started to rap on the speakers above us, and then Shain and Erick were back in their swag/style competition, rapping with no end, echoing Pitbull.

     I looked at Megan. ‘‘Were you and Cris like this?’’

     She shook her head. ‘‘They have so much more than we did.’’