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Caitlyn
A week after the camping trip, Caitlyn sat on her bedroom floor, painting a miniature of Roland’s castle-like house.
The camping trip ranked number one in her life experiences, mainly because she and Roland had become close friends. He even sat by her for the camp Mass Father Carston offered Sunday morning before they all packed up to go home. As they strolled back to the campsites, he totally opened up to her.
“Is something wrong?” she had said. “You seem distracted.”
“No. I’m just . . . I’m trying to get over my anger.” His eyes clicked to Jarret, who walked ahead of them. “I can’t believe he went off alone last night without telling anyone. He had to know people would worry about him, I’d worry about him. I mean, I was glad when he finally showed up, but I was angry, too. Sometimes he’s so . . .”
When she realized he did not intend to complete the sentence, Caitlyn said, “You went off, too, didn’t you?”
“Yeah, but I went to look for him.”
“Why didn’t you tell anyone? We could’ve all looked for him.”
He smiled. “Yeah, he would’ve loved that.” He shook his head and stared at the ground as they walked, probably thinking about Jarret’s pride and the explosive reaction he would’ve had to a party searching for him. “No, I’m angry at myself. I’m still judging him. Maybe Jarret went off alone because he misses Keefe. They were always together. I’m sure it’s hard for him. I promised myself I’d stop judging him. From now on, I’ll assume he has good motives . . . no matter how it looks.”
Caitlyn didn’t think that was a good idea, but she kept it to herself.
She had Peter talking in her other ear, telling her how mean Jarret had been about Toby. She didn’t like anyone being mean to sweet, naïve, little Toby. Since the fight, Peter complained about Jarret at least once a day, although never in front of Roland.
“Do you like this color?” Mya said, drawing Caitlyn’s thoughts back to the present. She sat on Caitlyn’s bed, painting her toenails salmon pink. Sometime last week, it dawned on her that Roland didn’t want a girlfriend. She then developed an interest in future-Marine Leo. In addition, since Zoe never came around anymore, Mya and Caitlyn had become friends.
“Sure. That’s a nice color,” Caitlyn lied.
She missed Zoe. It was now Zoe and Jarret, girlfriend and boyfriend. Zoe hardly came around, and she only talked about Jarret. Jarret taught me how to ride a horse today. Jarret had me over for dinner. Jarret took me out to look at cars. Jarret came over to my house. Jarret said this and Jarret did that. Blah, blah. Not that Caitlyn wasn’t happy for her, but she was really sick of hearing his name.
Caitlyn wanted to find another way to get her friends together because she only saw Roland at school, and they only shared lunch break. Sometimes he ate with her, but on cold and rainy days, she ate in the lunchroom. He didn’t.
“I have an idea,” Mya said.
“What’s your idea?” Caitlyn searched through paintbrushes, looking for the thinnest one. She needed it for the battlements that ran along the top of the Wests’ house.
“We should throw a party. Halloween’s in October.” Keeping her toenails safe in the air, she rolled onto her belly and looked at Caitlyn sitting on the floor. “Let’s have a Halloween party.”
“You mean a costume party?” Not finding the brush she wanted, Caitlyn settled for one that had lost bristles thus becoming her second thinnest.
“Mmm-hmm.” Mya was all girl, from the white-blonde curls that framed her face and accentuated her overly made-up eyes, to her shapely figure that she made no attempt to hide. So when she looked at Caitlyn the way she did now, eyes round and a clever smile on her face, Caitlyn felt incredibly plain in comparison.
“Yes, a costume party!” she squealed.
“You could wear a white dress and be Marilyn Monroe,” Caitlyn said and turned back to her painting. She steadied her hand and tapped the canvas a few times, beginning the battlements.
“That’s a great idea! What about you?” Mya rested her head on her folded arms and gazed at Caitlyn’s work in progress.
Caitlyn hated when people saw her artwork before it was done, but she let her go ahead and look. “I don’t know. We can’t really throw a party. Where would we have it? Not at my house. We barely have room to live.”
“Why, Zoe’s house, of course. Her house is new and big. Her parents are nice. They wouldn’t care.”
By nice Mya meant rarely home. Zoe’s mom and dad had professional careers, worked long hours, and traveled. Zoe could get away with a lot.
“Well, I guess we could run it by Zoe. But we’d have to get her parents’ permission.”
Mya shrugged, sat up, and peered at her toes. “I’ll ask her tomorrow.” She opened the nail polish and started on a second coat. “Your castle is pretty. I thought you were painting Roland’s house.”
“It is Roland’s house.” As the words came out, she regretted saying it, though she wasn’t sure why. Surely, Zoe had already told everyone about the Wests’ unusual house.
Mya froze with the nail-polish brush held above her toes. Then she spun to face Caitlyn, her eyes wide open. “Roland lives in a castle?”
Caitlyn sighed. Okay, so maybe Zoe hadn’t told anyone. Now, if the whole school found out, it would be her fault.
Nail polish jar in one hand and the brush in the other, Mya rolled onto her belly again. “Does Roland live in a castle?”
“Sort of. But don’t tell anyone you heard it from me.” Caitlyn would tell on herself. She would tell Roland the next time she saw him. Maybe he wouldn’t care.
“A castle would be perfect for a costume party,” Mya said, all dreamy-like.