If you're loved by someone, you're never rejected, decide what to be and GO BE IT
-The Avett brothers
Recommend Reading Introduction to Unproven
DEFINITELY READ Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Ary woke on the morning of the last day of school with a feeling of nervous excitement. Today’s the day, she thought anxiously. She slipped out of bed and went across the hall to the bathroom, turning the water on in the shower before slipping out of her jammies. She hopped from foot to foot as she waited for the water to heat, her body a bundle of nervous energy. When she stepped under the spray she tilted her head back, absorbing the heat from it while forcing herself to relax, thinking that if she didn’t get her heart rate under control she was going to faint from exhaustion before she ever made it to the party.
The party. She was going to an actual party where there would be alcohol and loud music. Talk about cramming a whole ‘lotta firsts into one day.
The party was being held at the house of Kara Matheson, whose parents were out of town for the weekend. Well, they went out of town every weekend, but generally the uppity girl was selective about whom she invited. In a rare act of what her friends were calling ‘magnanimous charity’ she’d extended the invite to every member of their high school class. Andie was of the opinion that Kara was only doing this because it would be months before she could surround herself with people she felt superior to, which was probably true.
It doesn't matter what Kara's agenda is, Ary thought optimistically, for us it will be a Coming Out, like the days of yore when girls of a certain age enjoyed their first ‘Season’. She inwardly snickered since she knew that was mostly bull, in fact their sudden transformation from quietly conservative to wildly sexy was sure to cause them more grief than glamour. But because they were prepared for this and they didn’t give a crap what anyone thought, it truly didn’t matter. Their main purpose for doing it was to bid a grand farewell to their days of abstinence and self-denial, ditching the geek status in hopes that they would be invited to more of these types of gatherings.
She hopped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself, rushing across the hall and back into her room. She pulled the outfit she’d selected for today from her small closet and tossed it on the bed. A white tank top, light-blue button up shirt, and a pair of cream colored khakis, were almost all that remained of her old wardrobe. Three nights ago she and the girls had gathered most of their clothing and gone as a group to the Salvation Army’s donation box, and the following day they’d headed into the city and spent the afternoon and evening in a frenzy of clothes shopping, using money they’d been saving from part-time jobs over the last couple of years. Well she and Amanda anyway, Andie and Sonya had the benefit of parental credit cards.
Unfortunately for Ary it had taken a large chunk of the money she’d had in her savings to replace her closet, which meant her summer of partying debauchery would be broken up by some sort of day job. But not right away, she would give herself two weeks to relax before pounding any pavement. Her grandmother might not be wealthy, but her pension from years as a museum curator was more than enough to support them comfortably, so all she needed was a little spending money.
Ary sometimes wondered exactly how much her grandma did bring home, after all it was her pension that afforded the modest house in Carmel Valley. Then again she and Ary's grandfather; who'd been gone since before Ary was born; had bought the cottage more than thirty years ago when things were a lot less expensive. And knowing her grandmother's frugality it was likely paid off.
Ary had a feeling that if it wasn’t for her, her grandma would have sold the place when she'd retired, and moved into a condo outside the district. It had to be worth some bank considering its location, but Nancy Gilson had wanted her granddaughter to attend the best public school in California, and Salinas High was definitely it.
“Aryanne?”
She grabbed her book bag and jetted out of the room nearly knocking her grandma down as she came around the corner to the kitchen.
Her grandma took hold of her arms to steady them both and frowned. “What on Earth is the hurry about, you’re not late. Sit down and have some breakfast.”
It was an order and Ary obeyed. Though Nancy was small in stature like her granddaughter, she made up for it in spades with her formidable personality.
Her grandma put two plates on the table and loaded them with pancakes and eggs before taking a seat across from Ary, one eyebrow in the air. “It’s Friday, so I imagine you’ll be going to Andie’s tonight?” She inquired.
Ary nodded, inwardly wincing at the lie. Well not exactly a lie, she would definitely end up there.
“Well that’s fine, I’m getting together with the girls to play bridge, so I won’t be home until late anyway.”
“Okay Nanna,” she replied automatically, stifling the urge to giggle over her grandma’s idea of late. She’d be back at the house by nine p.m.
“Are you eating with the Connelly’s or is garbage food on the menu?”
“We’ll probably go to Jackson’s deli, and it’s not garbage food Nanna, it’s perfectly healthy sandwich meat on fresh rolls.”
“Hmmpphh. Well I suppose it’s better than those cheap burger joints.” She got up and retrieved her purse from the table, pulling out a twenty.
Ary blinked in surprise as she held it out to her. It wasn’t often her grandma handed out cash. “Oh, that’s okay, I have some…”
“No, no, you take it. It’s the last day of school and you deserve something for the excellent marks you made all year.”
Ary took the bill and put it in her purse, then stood with her plate and bent down to kiss her grandma’s soft cheek. “Thank you Nanna, I love you.”
Her grandma patted her affectionately, “You’re a good girl Aryanne.”
As she rinsed off her dish she bit her lip, wondering if her grandma would still think she was a good girl if she knew what was really on the agenda for the night. Nope, she certainly wouldn’t. She also wondered what her grandma was going to think of her new outfits once she began wearing them. Well too late to worry about it now, she thought. Besides they weren’t all that bad, just a bit tighter fitting and lower cut, more tank tops and shorter shorts. She’d simply have to tell her that she wasn’t a little girl anymore, she was eighteen after all...And not wear the miniskirts in front of her- that would be pushing it.
Andie beeped her horn a couple of times and Ary called one more good-bye to her grandma as she hurried out the door and down the walkway. She climbed into the back and Sonya immediately turned around in the passenger seat, her hazel eyes wider than usual. “Can you believe the day is finally here? I’m so excited, I can’t sit still!”
“Yeah, we noticed,” Amanda drawled from her place next to Ary.
Ary slid her bag off her shoulder and felt Amanda’s eyes on her. She looked up and groaned inwardly, knowing where the polite look of inquiry on her friend’s face was going. She’d been surprised when Amanda had refrained from commenting on Grayson yesterday, she must have been seriously preoccupied for it to have taken this long.
“Are you really going to make a play for him?” Amanda asked, her expression clearly stating what she thought of that.
“Are you really going to make a play for ‘The Dude’?” Ary countered, folding her arms over her chest.
Amanda’s eyes narrowed, “Someone’s sensitive.”
“That’s because Andie already tore into her when you were off in La-La land yesterday,” Sonya cast Ary a sympathetic look.
Amanda pursed her lips, “Of course she did, Grayson’s an asshole, a complete an utter dick.”
“And Mark is Prince Charming?” Ary demanded, "He's an obnoxious loudmouth!”
“That might be true, but at least he actually talks to us, unlike Grayson Teller who completely ignores our existence like we’re below him or something.”
“Ha! ‘The Dude’ only talks to us because you let him copy your homework in Biology, and even then he makes sure no one else is around when he’s being ‘nice’!”
“Okay girls, enough,” Andie cut in. “If Ary wants to live out her Grayson fantasy that’s her business, likewise to you Amanda.”
“Fine,” Amanda grumbled. “What about you two?” She looked back and forth between Andie and Sonya.
“Actually I was thinkin’…Toby Vincent. He’s on the dumb side, but he’s cute and not a complete dick.” Andie gave them a look that dared them to disagree.
“I still don’t know,” Sonya shook her head, “I guess I’ll figure it out tonight.”
They pulled into the school’s expansive parking lot and found a spot, and once out of the Honda Ary immediately spotted Grayson. He was leaning against his expensive sports car talking to Brooke Simmons and Gary Winters, and as usual he was devastating to her senses. He turned his head in her direction and their eyes met and held for a moment sucking all the air out of her lungs. His lip curved slightly before breaking contact and resuming his banter.
“Breathe Ary, Jesus,” Andie laughed.
“He looked at me,” Ary blinked.
Andie shook her head in resigned amusement, “Yeah, I saw that. Come on let’s go to class before you melt into a pile of goo.”
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