4th of July

Kayla grabbed the phone as it rang on her nightstand.

"Hey!" she said once she answered.

"Hi, Kayla." Cheyenne didn't sound as upbeat as Kayla thought she should be. It was Fourth of July! The day of parties and celebrations of independence! And most importantly, fireworks!

"What are you doing tonight? You still at Eric's? Well, obviously, since you're calling me from another phone. Right? You're not at Jizzy's place or anything? Are you?" Kayla asked.

"Going to the park. I'm meeting Eric there later."

Kayla sat on her bed and resumed flipping though her new copy of Vogue. She scanned the outfits looking for ideas for tonight's party. Not that she had, or could ever afford, the kind of stuff within the glossy pages. Still, it was pretty easy to find cheaper versions. Cheyenne was a pro at stuff like that. She knew exactly where to look.

"What are you doing?" Cheyenne asked.

"Meeting Fred at the park."

"Yeah?" Cheyenne finally sounded upbeat. "What are you wearing? Are you doing your hair or anything?"

Kayla rolled her eyes. Okay, so she wasn't the best at applying makeup or fixing her hair. She was thankful for Cheyenne's help, but she always felt insulted.

Fred was hot and super nice and had a sweet, sentimental side, but...

He just wasn't Tom. And she was having a hard time getting past that. It wasn't that she was madly in love with Tom, it was just... oh, she couldn't even explain it to herself if she tried. It was too complicated for words.

"Do you need help getting ready?" Cheyenne asked before Kayla even had a chance to answer her last billion questions.

Kayla was about to say no, she was fine, but Cheyenne cut her off.

"You know what? I'm bored anyway. Why don't I come home and help you." She pulled in a breath. "I'll be there in five."

"Wait, Chey!"

The line went silent. Kayla pulled the phone away from her ear and slammed it against the receiver. Suddenly, she felt like stuffing her face. Preferably Wheat Thins in cream cheese. Out in the hallway, she heard the familiar sound of MTV blaring from Robin's room.

Kayla looked in Robin's room.

"Hey," she said.

Robin ignored her, but Jeff looked up and said, "Hey," back. Jeff turned back to the TV screen. He rubbed his face, then his hair. He looked cute right now. How could Robin resist him, she thought.

"I gotta take a piss." Jeff got up and squeezed past Robin, poking her in the ribs as he went.

Kayla went into Robin's room and pushed aside dirty clothes on the bed to sit next to her.

"You and Jeff going to the park tonight?" She told herself she didn't care whether or not they went, but really she did.

Robin reached over to the desk and grabbed her bottle of water. "Yeah." She took a drink and twisted the cap back on. "About eight o'clock, i guess. You going?"

Kayla nodded. "With Fred."

Robin leaned back on her bed, propping herself up with her elbows. "He seems like a nice guy."

"Yeah." Kayla turned sideways, crossing her legs indian-style. "He's great and everything, but..."

"But what?"

"I don't know. It's just... I don't get the click, you know? Maybe that doesn't make sense."

Robin sat up and turned, too, her knee brushing up against Kayla's bare chin.

"Yeah, it does," she said. "It makes total sense."

"I want to like him."

Robin shrugged. "You can't force yourself, Kayla."

"Yeah. I know."

"Maybe you should tell him... you know... before he gets too involved?"

Kayla looked up finally and met Robin's blue eyes hiding behind her blond bangs. "Yeah, maybe."

Jeff clapped his hands in the doorway. "Ready?"

"I should go anyway." Kayla got up quickly. "Cheyenne is on her way."

At the doorway, she glanced over her shoulder and caught Jeff's gaze. He blinked and looked away.

Maybe he knew something about Tom, she thought. Maybe he knows how Tom feels about me. What if he did? It's not like i could get him to tell me.

She hurried out of the room.