Chapter 5

Kevin stared at the phone before him.

His parents were in the living room, watching some show tailored to their demographic. He thought it had something to do with crime. He was in the kitchen, both the love note and his 8th grade yearbook sitting on the round wooden table. A picture of a very pretty girl, and her phone number.

He was frightened to death of both.

This, he thought, was what happened when you stayed within your circle of friends. You never developed certain social skills. Other boys probably didn't have this problem. They could call up girls without giving it a second thought. This was totally a him thing.

Well, at least he wasn't asking her out. He already knew she liked him.

Deciding he had played out the drama long enough, Kevin picked up the receiver and dialed.

The phone rang four times. He wasn't sure which would be worse, having someone other than her answer, or her answering. Voice mail, he could safely hang up on. On the fifth ring, there was a click, and a girl's voice.

"Hello?"

"Uh, hi. Is this Nitya?"

"Yes..."

"Um, hi. This is Kevin."

The moments silence that followed had him wondering if she knew lots of Kevin's, and if he should clarify by giving his last name. Then she spoke. Her voice ... almost seemed to wrap around him. It was soft, comforting, inviting.

"Hi Kevin ... I ... I wasn't sure you'd call."

"I'm nervous as hell, but here I am."

"Why are YOU nervous?" Her voice was honestly surprised. Kevin laughed.

"I've never done this before. Calling girls and such. I'm completely out of my element!"

"Same here!"

"You don't call girls either?"

"You know what I mean!"

They laughed. Nitya had a nice laugh. A nice voice. There was a touch of an accent to it, Indian, he assumed. Whatever it was, it leant a bit of the exotic to her. Relaxing, he pulled out a chair from the kitchen table and sat, free hand moving the long old fashioned coiled phone cord.

"So, you're going to Darien Lake next week?"

"Yes ... would you like to come?" Her voice was nervous, but not extremely so.

"Well ... yes," he said, before she started to think he'd said 'no', "but I'm not sure I can. I'll have to see."

"Your parents?"

"Well, yeah, them, but I also have to talk things over with Vicky and Bobby. Haven't done that yet."

"Oh."

There was definitely uncertainty in her voice, which he found perfectly understandable. The trio's relationship was hard to understand, and becoming more complicated all the time. Actually, it was very simple, for those involved. It was outsiders who could not understand. That was going to be the question here: was Nitya an outsider, or would they let her in? That option would be interesting, to say the least!

"Don't worry about that, though. What's your favorite ride at Darien Lake?"

" ... so we talked for about half an hour, about nothing much."

"Can't imagine you doing that with someone."

Kevin tossed a small stone at Vicky, which she avoided easily, grinning. She was confident the deck didn't have many more of those for him to use. Hell, she didn't know how that one had gotten up there. A squirrel must have thought it was a nut. With a sigh, Kevin leaned back in his chair, Vicky doing the same. They were nice chairs, redwood frames with large vinyl cushions. The deck itself was her favorite part of her home. The ground fell away from the back of the house, with the result that what started as an outdoor extension of the first floor living room became a midair deck looking out over the yard. Someday, she was going to talk her father into letting them wall in the area under the deck, creating a clubhouse. So far, he had resisted easily. Too easily. It wasn't fair!

"So, anyway," Kevin continued, "I said I'd call back tomorrow and let her know. I also told her we could always do something else as well, instead of Darien Lake."

She cocked her head at her friend.

"You like her, don't you?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "I do. I mean, she's read Heinlein. Or, at least, she's read Moon is a Harsh Mistress. She made a crack about if the three of us were in a line marriage."

"I'd say it was more circular, or at least an oval."

"Maybe a mobius strip?"

"Hmm ... wasn't he an artist or something? I saw that name in the credits for The Fifth Element."

"Don't know. Are mobius strips what the girl in that movie was wearing?"

"Oh, yeah! She had no boobs, though."

"Definitely not as nice as yours."

"Thanks." She looked down. "I need better bras. These are getting small."

"You're getting big."

"Same thing."

The sound of the front doorbell came from inside the house. Vicky considered going in to answer it. That, really, would be a silly thing to do if you thought about it. Someone was outside the front of the house, so she'd be going inside to greet them and let them in so they both could come outside onto the deck. Maybe she should just walk around the house to get him? Or maybe yell for him to come out back. Assuming it was Bobby, naturally. If it was a stranger, that could get awkward.

The screen door opened, Bobby closing it behind him as he stepped onto the deck. Vicky smiled to him. Wait long enough, and Mom or Dad would solve complicated problems.

"Hey," she said. "How's it going?"

"Eh." Bobby sat on one of the two remaining comfy deck chairs, facing them on the other side of the deck. His body almost seemed to collapse into it, eyes closing. Kevin sat up, face concerned.

"You were over with your Dad?"

"Yeah." Bobby sighed, sitting up straighter. "I was over at the motel. It's small. One room, with a small fridge and stove. He seemed OK, though. We went out to look at apartments. He asked my opinion on them."

"That sounds cool," Vicky said. She wanted to go over and hug him. It wasn't right, him sitting all the way over there.

"I'm going to spend every Friday night and Saturday with him, apparently. Which ... you know."

"Yeah." Both Vicky and Kevin nodded, sympathetic. Bobby shrugged.

"The last place we went to had a pool. I think that's the one he's going to try and get, and he'll be able to move in at the end of next week."

"That's cool," Kevin said. "Maybe we can use the pool during the week, while he's at work."

"I asked, and he thinks so.

"Cool," Vicky agreed. The whole divorce thing, really, was freaking her out. She didn't tell them, naturally. It was still a low level freaking, and Bobby was the one that needed the attention. Still, the idea of one of their families breaking up was horrifying. What if her parents split up? She didn't think it would happen, they seemed happy enough, but what if? She wouldn't be able to deal. Vicky knew that. She liked things stable.

Just like the three of them were stable.

Her mom appeared in the doorway, behind the screen.

"I just put the pizza in. You three want to eat out there, or come in?"

One exchange of gazes settled it.

"We'll eat out here, Mom. Thanks."

"Come in and get your own drinks. I'm not your servant."

The evening was normal. Routine. They ate. They talked. They gently teased both parents, and were teased back. About 8 PM, the three retreated downstairs to the rec room, leaving the adults to enjoy the living room. They played video games, watched TV, played some more games. Nothing was said that might not be parent approved.

That was for later.

Vicky watched as her Mom vanished up the stairs for, most likely, the last time. The lights were off, the large TV giving off the only illumination. On it, giant ants were being driven off by army men. The trio sat on top of their sleeping bags, leaning back against the old couch. The bags were aligned in a row, pointed towards the TV. Vicky wondered what her mom thought about the fact it was always Kevin in the middle, that the boys were not, in fact, flanking her. Maybe this was one of the reasons she still accepted, and supported, the sleepovers. Obviously, it wasn't two teen boys out to fool around with her daughter.

Until this week.

Vicky had wondered, just for a moment, if all those times they were alone and did nothing but enjoy each other's company had been moments wasted. If they could have been fooling around for years. The answer, she decided, was no. It just ... had not been right, then. For her and Kevin to kiss, with Bobby not interested ... no. No, not until it could be all three, not just them with her, but Bobby and Kevin with each other, their friendship could not have survived sex.

Now...

Kevin shifted beside her, his arm moving up over her head. She scooted over, half listening to the TV, half to the sound of footsteps above. Her mother walked through the house, doing the pre-bed checks as Kevin's arm went around her, pulling her close. Vicky turned slightly, raising her own arm so Kevin's hand could slip under it, finding and cupping her breast. Glancing over, she saw his other hand over Bobby's flat breast. He had the advantage there, of not having a bra in the way, even if there was less to grab. She looked back at the TV as her hand found Kevin's left thigh.

"Is there anything more romantic than giant ants?"

"That's why lovers go on picnics." Kevin gave her breast a squeeze. Bobby gave a chuckle.

"I can't understand why they haven't remade this one. It's great."

"Yeah. It's not like they haven't done every other classic."

Vicky let her hand slide up and down Kevin's leg. Her mother's footsteps had retreated to the other end of the house. All was clear. Turning, she looked at her friend. Kevin's face smiled in the black and white glow from the TV. Her heart beating stronger, she reached her left hand over, touching his smooth, white cheek. The contrast with her brown skin fascinated her. Another hand touched his face, male, fingers almost as delicate as hers. Kevin's eyes closed.

"We may be underground, but I'm in heaven."