Some time ago…
“I cannotbelievewe scored ticketstoPrince,” Ally shrieked.
“That lick, the one that starts off ‘When Doves Cry,’man,”Indy was fanning herself.
I was trying not to freak out.
We were hanging in the front of Ellen, Indy’s grandma’sbookstore, Fortnum’s.There were some beat-up leather couches (that were supercomfortable) and armchairs so people could chill out after they bought theirbooks and read.
And off to the side, there were some tables and chairs,where right then, two old guys were playing chess.A checkers board was set upat another.And in pure Ellen style, because Indy’s grandma went her own way,Battleship was set up on the last.
“Lee!Will you take us?”Indy shouted to where LeeNightingale, Indy’s huge crush, was sitting with Eddie Chavez and Darius Tuckerin some armchairs not close, but not far.
Lee, acting like he didn’t know Indy was there (when, let’sface it, he was at Fortnum’s because Indy was—I wasn’t sure what was keepingthose two apart (yes, I was, it was Lee being a stupidboy), but ithad to end or they’d both spontaneously combust), turned his head her way.
Darius didn’t have to turn his head our way.He’d beenstaring at me for a while.
The reason I was failing at not freakingout.
“No fucking way,” Lee replied to Indy.“I still haven’tgotten over your bullshit when I was your ride to Def Leppard.”
Lee had a foul mouth.Sadly, it was attractive, but onlybecause he was top to toehot.
Not as hot as Darius, and I wasn’t into white guys, butstill.
Also, I’d heard about that Def Leppard thing with Indy andAlly and how Lee, Eddie and Darius got dragged in (like they often did becauseIndy couldn’t get enough of Lee, Lee couldn’t get enough of Indy, Eddie alsocouldn’t get enough of Indy, a tangled web, so unsurprisingly, shizzlehappened).The whole high school had heard about it.
The story was hilarious.
I still hoped nothing like that happened at the Princeconcert.I really liked Indy and Ally.They were fun and sweet and nice, but Iwasn’t a shenanigans type of girl.
Indy and Ally were synonymous with shenanigans.
“A master at his craft.”Ellen flitted through wearing someweird, filmy muumuu and a terry-cloth braided headband around her forehead, herwispy white hair a cloudy wonder of flips and curls haloing her entire skull,though, the part of it at the crown was tamped down by the headband.“Thatmeaning the Purple One,” she explained.
She smiled and winked at me.
I smiled back.
You really never knew what you’d get with Ellen.Fortnum’swas a cool place to hang (though, they needed a coffee counter or a sodafountain or something), and Ellen was the reason it was.She was a bit weird,but in a good way, and she welcomed everybody.I’d even seen her ask a homelessperson in, sending Duke off to go buy the guy a sandwich.
Today it was that muumuu.Last week it was a fringed vestand jeans and high-heeled sandals with sparkles that would go better with anoutfit you’d wear to the Oscars.
Though, her terry-cloth headband was ever present.As far asI could tell, she had one in every color, just as long as that color waspastel.
She loved it that Indy and her friends and half the highschool hung at her store, even if none of them bought books (that beingthem,I bought books all the time).
“I’ll drop you girls at the concert,” Ellen offered.
Indy looked upset because Lee blew her off, even if shereplied, “Thanks, Gram.”
Yeesh.
Lee was acting like a jerk.And if he didn’t get himselftogether, he was going to lose that girl.
I mean, she was younger than him, she was also younger thanme, but notthatmuch younger.
I saw movement in the stacks and looked that way.
