Between You & Me - By Marisa Calin Page 0,47
she likes me!
Lily refuses to smile.
So. Can I call you?
She bites her lip.
LILY
Better if you don’t.
Bobby steps up and takes Lily’s hand.
BOBBY
Ready for that dance?
Michael raises his hands in mock surrender. He looks at Lily one last time before reluctantly going back into the house. Lily lets go of Bobby’s hand, clapping hers together in satisfaction.
LILY
Ha. Did you see that! I turned him down and he walked away. That was amazing. Thanks. I owe you.
Bobby tries to hide his disappointment.
BOBBY
Sure, any time … Listen, I’m gonna grab another drink.
He gulps the rest of his drink and heads back inside. A figure has been watching from the doorway. She comes forward, a glamorous girl in a narrow-waisted polka-dot dress, seventeen, like Lily.
PENNY
What’s your name?
LILY
Lily. I came with Bobby. You do know him, right?
PENNY
Of course. He does everything for us around here.
She looks carefully at Lily.
I’m Penny. I live here.
LILY
Right.
Penny leans against the balustrade, looking down into the pool.
PENNY
Lily. He’s mentioned you.
LILY
He has?
PENNY
Do you like him?
LILY
Sure. He works for us too.
Penny looks unimpressed.
Oh, I’m not his girlfriend.
PENNY
I know that. But he likes you.
Penny tries to hide her jealousy. After an awkward silence, Bobby comes back out onto the balcony.
BOBBY
Penny! This is Lily, the one I told you about.
He is beaming with pride to be with her. Penny smiles politely.
PENNY
We’ve met.
Lily looks over at him, in his suit, with his hair smooth and the anxious furrow in his brow that she has started to see only recently. She has a pang of fondness for him. Penny excuses herself, leaving them alone, and is swallowed by the merriment of the house. The lights dim.
When the lights come up, time has passed. Lily and Bobby sit together beside the pool, beneath a lantern hanging from the balcony. The buzz of voices inside the house is louder. He has just found cause to reach for her hand when there is a clamor from inside and Michael stumbles through the French window. He has had too much to drink.
MICHAEL
There’s my girl.
He moves toward Lily, and Bobby steps between them.
BOBBY
She’s not your anything.
Michael ignores him, holding his hands up toward Lily’s face.
MICHAEL
Lovely Lily!
Penny and her friends have appeared in the doorway.
BOBBY
That’s enough. Leave her alone.
Michael turns on Bobby.
MICHAEL
Who says?
BOBBY
Me.
MICHAEL
And who are you to tell me what to do?
LILY
Stop it!
Michael swings at Bobby. Bobby steps back, narrowly avoiding the punch. He lunges at Michael in retaliation. They stumble backward, catching Lily in the fray. With the sudden commotion and the shouts that follow, no one sees her grab for something to regain her balance, find nothing, and tip into the water.
I hit the water hard, barely taking a breath before going under. Remembering that there’s only four feet beneath me, I level out and feel the bottom of the tank against my palms. Opening my eyes, I override my instinct to swim to the surface and, trying not to cause a ripple, I swim along the floor of the tank where I can’t be seen. My dress is fanning out around me and getting heavier as it takes in water. I look up at the lights on the surface—shimmering yellow orbs that make the blue of the water look green. I can see the dark shapes of the boys still tussling, the shouts strangely muted in this tranquil world. The pool stretches across the middle of the stage and appears to stop where it’s covered by a lid at one end but the tank continues beneath the lid and into the wings where it opens again. Above me, blurry, I see the fake edge, and swim as smoothly as I can beneath it, lungs bursting, into the hidden part of the tank. Surfacing on the other side of the curtain, I take a silent gasp of air. The chants of Fight, fight onstage burst back into my consciousness, and I can already hear the murmurs of the audience wondering why I haven’t resurfaced. Lily has hit her head on the bottom of the pool and with everyone’s attention on the fight, no one has noticed. I push the wet hair away from my face and watch the stage.
Kate grabs Gabe’s arm, Zach on his knees, his shirt torn, raising his hands above his head. Gabe holds his jaw and looks through the crowd for me. Not finding me, he goes toward the house but Kate is at the edge of the pool. More people start to assemble alongside it. She calls out, pointing frantically into the water. Gabe pulls