Chapter 13 -- Party Planning

I've lived long enough to have learned,
The closer you get to the fire
The more you get burned,
But that won't happen to us--
Because it's always been a matter of trust.

--A Matter of Trust (Billy Joel)

On Tuesday, Kristen took a day off from school to meet her parents in Chicago. She told me it was something to do with her inheritance, which was going to be fully hers in just a few weeks.

I would miss Kristen, but Patty picked me up in the morning. I didn't give Patty a chance to stop her car when I came running out of the house.

"You look happy today, for a guy whose love of his life is a hundred miles away," Patty observed.

I thought about this already. "Kristen's trip to Austria made me realize that there are other things to life than having to have Kris with me every minute of every day," I explained. "Today, I have the opportunity to maybe talk to you or Sherry in the lunchroom. I can also work on one of my pet projects that I most definitely can not work on at Kristen's place."

"Pet project?" Patty asked.

"It's a surprise for Kristen," I said. "So, of course, I cannot work on it over there."

"Is it something for her birthday?"

"Hopefully," I said, hoping that I could get it finished in time for a party.

"That sounds cool. Have you given any thought to throwing Kristen a party?"

I sighed. "What kind of a party do you give a millionaire who has everything?"

Patty stopped dead at an intersection and looked at me sternly. "Don't you ever think that of Kristen! Until she met you, she told me she only had one other boyfriend in her life. She was lonely when she met you, you know."

"She has me now," I pointed out, a bit sheepishly.

"I don't know much about that other boyfriend, but he made a hell of an impression on her," Patty said, once again driving. "He must be a tough act to follow."

"I met that guy," I said, not knowing how much Patty knew about Kristen and her brother.

"I'm surprised she told you who it was. You've met him?"

"I met him a couple of months ago," I said. "He's a great guy, actually. They still like each other very much."

"You don't seem very jealous of him," Patty said, narrowing her eyes.

"I'm not. We actually got along nicely. He doesn't live around here any more."

"I've never seen her dating," Patty said. "Of course, until this year, we didn't move through the same crowds."

I didn't add much and Patty continued to drive.

Patty said, "I know for a fact that Kristen really enjoys the simple things. Your fish-hook necklace really impressed her, you know. She also told me about the watch chain she made for you. That's Kristen's style. She doesn't spend money just to impress people, and she isn't impressed by money, either."

I nodded. Patty pointed out something that I was avoiding trying to think about. "So, what do you think I should do for a birthday party?"

"I'm not sure, Jim," Patty said, pulling into the school parking lot. "I suggest you trust your instincts. Almost everything you do for Kristen screams to her how much you love her. You come up with great ideas and you instinctively do the one thing that only you can do best."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," I said, smiling.

Camille was waiting at the front of the school in her regular spot. She smiled as Patty and I approached. "Poor baby. No Kristen today?"

"Nope. I got a ride with this ravishing red head instead," I said with a grin.

Camille giggled in response. "He's got a girl in every port!"

"Cut that out, you two!" Despite her protest, Patty was giggling as well.

"I think Jim is a real Romeo. How many other tenth graders have a bunch of senior co-eds who are willing to do things for him?" Camille asked.

Patty smiled. "I was just telling Romeo here that he has great romantic ideas. We were talking about what we could do for Kristen's eighteenth birthday."

I noticed the plural "we" in Patty's sentence. Somehow, I felt better that Patty seemed willing to sign up to help out in whatever way she could.

"I would really like to do something on a grandiose scale," I said. "Something that Kristen herself can't do. I just don't have any idea what I can do."

"Well, count me in if you need any help," Camille offered.

I moved over and kissed Camille on the cheek, a move that was noticed by a few students.

"Thank you, Romeo!" Camille quipped.

I sighed, bade farewell to the two seniors, and headed for home room. I heard the name "Romeo" being repeated behind me. I wondered which nickname was worse: Oogie or Romeo?

Lunch period consisted of Sherry and Patty offering me ideas on what we could possibly do for Kristen's eighteenth birthday. Sherry seemed pleased as punch to be included in the deliberations. There were now three people who were willing to help me plan something.

"How about renting a hall and inviting, like, lots of people?" Sherry suggested.

I pointed out how much that sort of thing would cost. Unlike Kristen, spending money was a bit more difficult for me. I wanted extravagance, but I did have financial limitations.

"And what would you do for entertainment?" Patty pointed out. "A rock band costs money!"

I was thinking along the same lines, but now Patty's remark hit home. Maybe a rock band would cost money, but there was already a band full of people who loved Kristen and might be able to provide at least a few song numbers. With a proper sound system, it shouldn't be too difficult to find a student deejay to play songs, either. How much could that cost?

Suddenly, ideas were starting to come to mind.

"Jim, are you there?" Patty asked, noticing my distraction.

"Patty, you're a genius!"

"Huh? Me? That's Camille's department," Patty said.

"A rock band!" I exclaimed, more possibilities coming to me now. "That's a fucking great idea! Now, we just need a venue."

"What rock band?" Sherry asked.

"Sherry, I'm the conductor of a kick-ass jazz band," I said. "There's no reason we can't play rock and roll!"

"You still need a location... or are you thinking about using the school?" Patty asked.

"Hmmm," I said, thinking. "Actually, the school might be a good idea," I said. "I think we should consider that only as a last resort. I'm in good with Mr. Yank and Mr. Proilet, but I don't want to wear out my welcome just yet."

"So, where will you hold the party?" Sherry asked.

I smiled, the final piece of the puzzle finally fitting into place. "The big problem is money, right?"

The two girls nodded their heads.

"So we find somebody with money!"

"Who? Kristen?" Sherry asked.

"No. Kristen's not a possibility," I said, smiling broader now. "Her parents, on the other hand..."

"Ooh," Patty said. "Her parents would help out in a second!"

"Cool!" Sherry said.

The subject changed, and the two girls were talking about something or other while my mind was working logistics.

I entered the school's front office, having gotten an office pass from the substitute teacher in English class.

I smiled at the receptionist. "Is Mr. Yank available?"

"Mr. Crittenhouse," the receptionist recognized me, smiling. "I hope this visit isn't as disruptive as the one earlier this week."

"I just need some information," I answered, also smiling. "I'm trying to put together a birthday party for Kristen Swift, and I wondered if Mr. Yank has her father's business phone number."

The receptionist said, "A birthday party?"

"Her eighteenth," I answered. "I figured her father might be planning something, and I was working on some ideas of my own, but I want to talk to him somewhere where I know that Kris won't be around..."

The receptionist looked toward Mr. Yank's office, whose door was closed. "He's in there with Ms. Tomago right now, and I don't think this is an opportune time for anybody--especially you--to interrupt him. Let me see if I can get that information for you." She left toward the back of the office.

A few minutes passed and another secretary came out. "Are you James... sorry... Jim Crittenhouse?"

"Yes."

"I have the information you requested," she said, handing me two pieces of paper.

The first was a library pass, and the second was a piece of memo pad with the phone number for Swift Holdings, where Kristen's father was the founder and chairman.

"Thank you, ma'am," I said politely.

I took my cue from the hall pass and left for the library, which was just a few doors down the hall. I showed my pass to the librarian, who took it without really looking at it.

I was surprised to see Camille sitting at one of the desks.

"Hi, Cammy! Do you live here?"

Camille looked up from her book and smiled. "What are you doing here? Don't you have English?"

"Ms. Taylor is out today," I explained. "The substitute gave me a front office pass, and when I was in the front office, the receptionist gave me a library pass for the rest of the period."

"Why the front office pass?"

"I needed Kristen's father's business number. I need help planning Kristen's birthday party, and I figured that he might be planning something as well. I can let him worry about renting a hall or whatever he wants to do, and get whatever family or friends that he'd like to get. I wanted to see what I could contribute."

Camille looked impressed. "That's a great idea, Jim!"

"Kristen doesn't have much family," I said. "There's her brother Will, and he's at college. I bet we could have him come out here to celebrate his sister's eighteenth birthday."

This brought a thoughtful look from Camille. "Is that a good idea? What is the relationship between Will and Kristen?"

"Will worships the ground Kristen walks on," I said. "I met him in Boston last year."

"If you say so," Camille shrugged. "I remember..."

I knew what Camille was going to say. "It's not like that. They really do love one another, Cammy."

"I'll take your word for it, Jim."

"Anyway, I think I can get the people from the jazz band to play a special set for Kristen," I said. "I'll need to ask them privately tomorrow. Maybe I will be able to get Amy to distract Kris for a bit tomorrow."

Camille smiled as she heard me thinking aloud.

"Enough about Kristen," I said, finally winding down. "What are you reading?"

"Dostoevsky," Camille answered. "Crime and Punishment. A classic."

"An assignment for school?"

"Nah. Light reading."

I wasn't familiar with the work, and her dismissive comment would only make sense to me a few years later when I actually was assigned to read the book. She was doing some heady reading for a high school senior.

"Kris seemed a little jealous on Friday when we talked for a couple of hours. Since she's out of town, would you like to talk some more this afternoon?"

Camille thought for a bit. "No. I need to take my mother to the doctor's today. Annual physical."

"Oh, well. I thought I'd try. People expect to see me with a blonde, you know."

"I'm not your Goddess, Jim," Camille pointed out. "I mean, I love you and..." Camille paused, apparently shocked at what she just said.

"What?"

"I mean... I love... shit!" Camille looked upset.

I was very concerned. "What's wrong, Camille?"

Camille looked at me, saying nothing for a couple of minutes. Finally, she said, quietly, "Fuck. I'll take you home today. Come with me to the doctor's office."

"With your mother?"

Camille sighed and nodded.

"Sure."

There were only a few more minutes left of school.

"Let's go now," Camille said.

"Now? The bell hasn't rung!"

"Won't matter," Camille said. "Perk of being in the Honor Society."

"What?" I asked.

Camille didn't answer. Instead, she dragged me out of the library, leaving her book on the table. The librarian saw us but said nothing.

We were alone in the parking lot, and Camille went straight to her car and said, "Come on, get in."

Once inside the car, Camille said, "Jim, something happened after our conversation the other day."

"What?" I asked.

"Remember how I said that I was drawn to you?"

"Yeah..." I said, confused.

"It's stronger now. Sometimes when I'm with you, it gets really strong. Like just now in the library."

"You're drawn to me?"

"Jim, I've never, ever loved anybody," Camille said, starting her car. There were tears in her eyes. "Not romantically. I've fucked, sucked, licked and done whatever with countless people--some who I can't even remember--but I never loved anybody."

"How about Patty?" I asked.

"Patty likes me, but I think she pities me. That's not love," Camille said, starting to sob.

I didn't think Patty's relationship with Camille was based on pity, but I said nothing. Luckily, Lake Shore Point wasn't far away. Camille pulled in and parked the car. She turned to me and said, "Jim, what I feel for you, I've felt for nobody else. I know you don't love me and... for some reason, I don't care."

"You love me?" I asked, stupidly. "Why?"

"I don't know! I know you didn't do anything," Camille said. "I felt it strongly when we were here last week, and it got stronger when I kissed you last week. I'm..." Camille's voice faltered and was replaced by sobs.

I didn't know what to do with this. Girls were falling in love with me, and there was no explanation about what was happening. Back in September, Patty told me that Kristen loved me, and then a couple of weeks later, Sherry told me the same thing. Now I was hearing it from Camille. What was happening to me?

Another more interesting question was, if Camille felt this way last week, was it a good idea that we were back here at Lake Shore Point? I liked Camille as a friend. She helped heal a rift between Kristen and me and she was one of the smartest people I knew. I knew about her reputation, although I was taken aback that both Kristen and Patty seemed to know that she was bisexual.

"Camille, it's probably not a good idea for us to be here..."

"It's OK," Camille answered, sniffing. "I'm not about to rape you, you know. I'm quite capable of controlling my actions. I think it's those damned tickets. It's the only explanation."

Deep inside me, despite my concern about my friend, a soothing thought came into my mind. "Calm down, Camille," I said.

Camille nodded and started to take deep breaths.

I saw my friend start to calm down. "Kiss me," I said.

"Huh?" Camille said, confused.

Nevertheless, she moved closer to me, her lips pursed.

As our lips met, I kissed Camille. I felt her tongue touch my lips, but I knew instinctively that this was not the time for that. I kept my lips closed, and Camille noticed and stopped.

We continued kissing for a minute and finally, Camille broke away from it.

"What did you do?" Camille asked, amazed.

"I just kissed you," I answered.

"That feels much better," Camille said. "It's as if this hungry need that was there is now gone!"