“Okay, now, let’s march in place!”
Thirty people started marching. I glanced around, marching also. I’d seen it before, but I still thought it was pretty amazing that all these people followed the instructor’s every command.
“Hey, what are you doing tomorrow?” Jessica asked, glancing over at me.
“I don’t know. Billy said he wants to take me out, but he might not be able to get the car.”
“And punch it, punch it!”
“What about you? Are you and Joel going out?”
Jessica rolled her eyes. “Are you kidding me? You actually think Joel isn’t grounded?”
“Well, you never know. Miracles do exist, you know.”
“It’d be a miracle if you’d stop talking, Chloe,” she teased.
I stuck my tongue out at her.
Our conversation dwindled down as the workout intensified. Forty minutes later, it was over.
“Ugh, I think I’m going to die!”
I grinned at my sister. “Don’t be too dramatic or anything, Chelsea.” I followed Chelsea and Jessica into the lightly air-conditioned changing room, grabbing my water bottle and gulping it down.
A girl called to Chelsea, and she waved briefly at her. “I’ll see you guys at the car,” she said, and she was gone.
I collapsed on the bench, glad for the coolness against my legs. Jessica tossed another water bottle to me and plopped down beside me. Immediately, she pulled off her shoes and socks and wiggled her toes.
“Jess, yuck!”
She grinned at me and wiggled them some more.
I stood and went to the locker they’d assigned me when I joined the gym. I pulled out my Clearasil and headed over to the sink. I frowned at my reflection. The only thing I hated about working out was that it gave me a red face. The redness didn’t go away for a little while, but it did decrease.
I left the bottle on the sink for Jessica and started to pull off my wet clothes, stuffing them in my bag. Usually they go in my locker, but it’s Friday, and I clean my locker out on Fridays. I hopped into the shower and let the cool water rush down my skin. I just stood there, enjoying the feel. Finally, Jessica yelled at me, and I quickly ran my soap over my skin, rinsed it off, and stepped out, pulling a towel around my body.
“Chloe, Jess, hurry up. I have to go to work pretty soon.” Chelsea popped seemingly out of nowhere, startling both of us. “Chop, chop!”
I didn’t bother to dry off, just pulled on a pair of shorts and a loose t-shirt. I was spending the night at Jessica’s house, and would change when I got there. Jess did the same, and we grabbed our bags and followed Chelsea to the car.
“I hope you two put on deodorant; I don’t want you stinking up my car.”
“Of course we did. You think we like our stink?”
Chelsea and I exchanged looks before cracking up. Jessica looked pleased.
We settled into the backseat, crunching on the apples that Chelsea always brought on the days we worked out. We were pretty silent until we pulled up in front of Jess’s house.
“Okay, girls, have fun. Don’t do anything I would.”
We waved at Chelsea and headed up to the house. Before we reached the porch, the door banged open and out ran Zoë, headed straight for her idol, Jessica. Taylor followed close. Even though he had moved out last year, it was obvious he was babysitting.
Yes, that’s right. I’m friends with Jessica Hanson. One summer, instead of going on her brothers’ tour, she went to a summer camp. That’s were we met. So now Jess and I are almost inseparable, and I know it’s really helped. Diana and Walker love all their children, but when three out of seven are famous, the others tend to get lost in the afterglow. Well, now Jess was determined not to get lost. Both of us are kind of “punk” – we love to wear black and lots of chain jewelry and we both want lots of piercings. Unfortunately, we’re only 15, so we can’t really go to a piercing parlor legally.
Taylor tried to hide his smile. “Hi, Chloe. Been working out?”
I whacked him with my bag as I walked past him and into the house.
“Go on up to my room,” Jess said, Zoë settled on her hip. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
“Okay.” I ran lightly up the stairs, heading straight for Jessica’s room. I stopped when I heard someone talking. It sounded like Zac, so I walked toward his room.
“Please, baby, I’m sorry. You know I would never-” He stopped, listening. “I don’t know! It’s not true, I swear! I barely even know-” He stopped again. “Well, maybe your friend is a liar. No, wait! I didn’t – Hello? Hello?” He sighed.
“Girl problems?”
Zac jumped and turned to face me. “Oh. Hey, Chloe.”
I leaned against the doorframe. “What’s the storyline this week?”
He rolled his eyes. “Nancy, Jade’s friend, told her she saw me kissing another girl. I didn’t kiss any other girl. I don’t know who she saw but it wasn’t me.” He plopped down on his bed. “It makes me so mad, I want to kiss someone just to get back at her.”
I laughed. I couldn’t help it. I clamped my hand over my mouth, but it didn’t help. At first, Zac glared at me, but before long, his face broke into a smile and was laughing too.
“Chloe? Zac? What’s so funny?”
I turned to Jess, shaking my head. “Your brother is an idiot,” I giggled.
“Hey!” he protested.
Jessica shook her head. “Which one?”
“Yeah, no kidding.” I waved my fingers at Zac and followed Jessica back to her bedroom. I threw myself down on her bed, watching as she thumbed through her closet.
“So, if he can get the car, what are you and Billy planning on doing tomorrow?”
I rolled over onto my back. “Oh, nothing much. Probably just going to a party. Like we’ve never done that before.” I sighed. “Parties are okay, but he’s my boyfriend! He’s supposed to take me to the movies and out to eat every once and a while.”
“Tell me about it. No wonder he and Joel are such good friends.” She pulled a shirt out of her closet and held it up for me to see. “What do you think?”
The sleeveless shirt was black with little rips in it. It said ‘Rock Star’ on it in bold red lettering, and instead of being sewed on the shoulders, it was safety pinned. The bottom was jagged, and high enough to show your midriff.
I nodded approvingly. “Awesome. What are you going to wear with it?”
“Funny you should ask,” she joked, and pulled out a pair of jeans.
The jeans were black also, and it was clear they would be baggy on Jessica’s slim frame.
“Try it on.”
Jessica pulled the jeans on over her shorts, and traded the shirt she was wearing for the black one. It showed her defined abs off very well. She spun and held her arms out slightly. “Well?”
“Very cool.”
“Great. What are you wearing?”
“Remember those red jeans that turn to black toward the bottom? Well, I’m wearing those and this shirt that looks as if two different shirts have been sewed together.” I fished it out of my bag and held it up. “See?”
The shirt was red and black with over-exaggerated seams going from right to left, shoulder to bottom. One side had a sleeve; the other didn’t. One side was slightly longer than the other.
“Where did you find this?” Jessica snatched it out of my hands and studied it intently. “I have to have one!”
I grabbed it back. “I’ll buy you one for your birthday.”
Jessica glanced at her alarm clock. “We’d better shower. You can use the one up here; I’ll use the one downstairs.”
“Okay.” I followed her into the hallway. She went downstairs, and I walked down the hall to the bathroom. I shut the lid of the toilet and threw my clothes on top, cranking on the water. I pulled off my clothes, waited for the water to get hot, and stepped in.
“Are you girls ready?”
Jessica didn’t look up from her mirror. “Almost,” she said, applying her black lipstick. She did a few more touchups and stood. “Okay, now I think we’re ready.”
We pulled on our black dusters and followed Zac downstairs.
“I’m gonna tell Mom we’re leaving. You can go on out to the car if you want,” Zac said, and walked off.
I pulled open the door and stepped out, Jessica right behind me. “I can’t wait until we get to the club.”
We were going to the Teen Tavern. It was supposed to be alcohol free, but on weekends it hardly ever was.
“I know.” Jessica looked at me. “Are you going to get anything pierced?”
Sometimes, Tommy Randle was there. He worked at a piercing and tattoo parlor, and would do almost anything you asked for the right price. I had gotten my eyebrow pierced the last time I’d gone, which had been quite a few months ago.
“I don’t know. Mom almost flipped when I came home with my piercing the last time. If I do, it’ll probably be my bellybutton.” I paused. “I was actually thinking of getting a tattoo.”
Jessica looked at me, shocked. She opened her mouth to respond, but the door opened, cutting her off.
“Let’s go.” Again, Zac led the way.
I waved my hand at Jess, letting her know she could sit in front if she wished. Except for the blasting Korn CD, the ride to the Teen Tavern was quiet.
"Hi. I'm Tanner."
I looked over at the boy that had come up beside me. I was standing off to the sides, watching as everyone else danced. "Hey." I held out my hand. "Chloe."
"Ooh, Chloe. Cool name. It's interesting."
"Tanner's pretty interesting, too."
"Nah, not really. Family name. So, who are you here with?"
"See the tall, thin blonde right there? I'm with her and her brother. What about you?"
"I'm all alone tonight. I was going to come with a bunch of my buddies, but they all backed out at the last minute."
"Haha, sucks to be you."
He grinned, and very gently elbowed me.
"So, what are you drinking?"
Tanner looked down into his cup. "I'm not sure, actually. I didn't ask. It's pretty good, though - you want a sip?"
"Sure." Cautiously, I took the plastic cup from him and took a sip. "Not bad." I held it out, but he shook his head.
"No, that's okay, you can have the rest. I have to drive home tonight." He tipped his head to the side, listening. "Hey, do you know who this is?"
"Three Days Grace. They also have a song called 'I Hate Everything About You.' Jess and I want to go see them on tour, but I don't think we'll be able to."
"Jess?"
"My friend."
"Oh." He nodded. "Well, do you wanna dance or something?"
"Why no-" I stopped mid-sentence, distracted by the sight of Jade and Zac fighting. She had been back against a wall, obviously yelling at him, though I couldn't hear her over the music. It seemed as if he was trying to keep his cool, but I could tell he was close to losing it. "Uh, sorry, Tanner, but I can't." I shoved the cup back into his hand. "It was very nice meeting you, though, and maybe I'll see you later?" I didn't wait for a reply, just left him standing there as I went and grabbed Jess's hand, pointing out Zac and Jade.
