the football players tried to make eye contact. Most of the girls at school swooned as the big thick necked brutes strutted down the halls, but I missed the point of all the idolatry. Large well-fed boys battling it out on the field contrasted starkly with the real hunger and desperation I had witnessed growing up. To me, the game just seemed silly and pointless, the boys, stupid.
I was dismayed to look up and see one of them coming straight towards me. He was well over six feet tall, dripping with arrogant attitude. He leaned against the locker next to mine, his huge bulk looming over me.
“You’re new here, aren’t you?” he asked.
“Yes I am,” I replied.
“Aren’t you gonna tell me your name?” he ogled me.
I was surprised at his rudeness, wondering if that approach got him very far with the other girls, “Probably not,” I said flatly, casting him an annoyed look.
He leered at me, “You’re feisty– I like that.”
I closed my locker and left, blocking out the sound of his laughter behind me. Oh yeah Evie, I thought, there were lots of boys here, only most of them were not worth knowing. I looked up to see Ethan walking alongside me, looking down with amusement.
“Nice outfit,” he said, “You look... interesting.”
“Cruz made the top,” I said defensively, uncertain of what he meant. We got to the art room and Ethan followed me over to an empty table. Heather and Jamie pointedly avoided sitting with us. I could feel their hostile eyes on me. I turned to cast them a dirty look.
“Marina...” Ethan murmured a warning.
“What?” I said, feigning innocence.
“Just ignore them.”
“I don’t care what they say about me, I’ll be out of here soon enough. I’d leave right now if it wasn’t for Cruz and Megan.”
Ethan looked pained, “They’re just a bunch of jealous girls.” That I knew, and I planned to rub their noses in it.
When we got home from school I had lots of math homework so I went straight to my room.
Loud footsteps came pounding down the hall, followed by a fist banging on my door.
“Marina! Marina!” Cruz was practically screeching, “You’re not gonna believe this! Quick–
come out front!”
There was a shiny red sports car parked next to Abby’s Volvo in the driveway. It looked fast just sitting there. A huge man was unloading boxes from a white van parked on the street, and I was confused until he straightened up. I smiled at the familiar mirrored sunglasses and shiny head of the Russian giant.
“Boris!”
“Allo Marina!” he waved, “Evelyn sends me.”
I ran up to give him a hug. It was surprising how good it was to see a familiar face after all the weirdness I’d been through lately. He explained that Evie had called him this morning and asked him to deliver one of her cars to me along with several large boxes of clothes. Boris handed me an envelope that contained a note from Evie along with some car related documents, explaining that he had taken it to the shop and had it serviced that morning.
“She’s real classic,” he said, looking at the car with admiration, “You be drivings careful, sveetheart.” He looked around the neighborhood suspiciously, like he expected someone to jump out of a bush or something. Boris deposited the boxes on the porch, ruffled my hair with his gigantic mitt, handed me the keys and was gone.
Cruz and I looked at each other with enormous grins. I took out the note and read that Evie wanted me to use the car to learn how to drive and get my license as soon as possible. It was signed with a big red lipstick kiss.
“We better go tell Abby,” I said, laughing.
We found her in the garden meditating, and when she stepped out front she didn’t look very tranquil.
“I don’t know about this,” she fretted, “What will you father say?”
“Mom! This is an antique Porsche Targa– it’s like a work of art!” Cruz enthused. “Besides, it’s just on loan, and you know I promised Marina I’d teach her how to drive. You yourself said I was an excellent driver... and it’s insured!”
“Well...” I could see her begin to weaken. She went over to the car and looked in at the pristine black leather interior. “Antique?” she raised her eyebrows, “This was a hot car in my day,” she said with a smile, and I knew we had her.
That night Cruz and I went through the boxes. He was in designer heaven, exclaiming rapturously