CHAPTER 2 CONTINUED -
“It’s NOT MUTUAL. I HATE Ann, and she HATES me. She’s a foul girl who will never leave me in peace,” screamed Tyler.
Tragedy got up. “Tyler, you need to think this over a while. I can’t argue with you, Drama Queen. Soon or later you’ll realize I’m right about Ann, and I’m right about you. Now cheer up, and come down for breakfast when you’re ready.”
Tyler watched Tragedy get up and shut the door behind him. Wow, thought Tyler. What an all around good guy, that Tragedy was. So kind, smart, funny, honest, understanding, and modest too. Tyler decided that Tragedy was right. He really did need to calm down. So he sat up straight, bent down to his suitcase, and pulled out a magazine, entitled “Seahorses in Sexy Swimsuits.” He felt better already…
Ann had been trying her best not to feel guilty about laughing at Tyler that morning. It was easier said than done. The only way she could avoid feeling bad was trying to forget what she had done. She tried to tell herself not to feel bad, since everyone else had made fun of Tyler too. Everyone except Tragedy, who always shot her disappointed, almost disgusted looks whenever the met around the house. But didn’t Tyler have it coming to him? Wouldn’t he have done the same thing to her? People make fun of each other, and that’s the way things go.
She cringed inwardly. That’s not the way things go with Tyler. No… Tyler would never have done that, she realized. He was too soft, and too good. He was a good kid, and everyone liked him, even if they made fun of him occasionally. And the beginnings of remorse settled in the pit of her stomach. Still, she tried to enjoy herself. She spent the late hours of the morning playing board games down in the basement with Aimee, Charlotte, Kimia, Whitney and Kelsea. Kimia and Aimee were always on the same team, because they had made up during breakfast and Kimia wasn’t mad at Aimee anymore. Ann, on the other hand, always ended up on Charlotte’s team for games like Charades, and she, like Lauren, felt the pain of having a conversation with the garrulous Charlotte.
Their conversation went something like this:
Charlotte: My mom’s friend broke up with her boyfriend, so now she’s moving from Japan to New Jersey. I might see her when I get back.
Ann: Who cares?
Charlotte: Apparently my ojih-chan doesn’t hug me goodbye anymore, now we shake hands. My ojih-chan is my grandfather on my mom’s side.
Ann: Would you shut up??
Charlotte: Oh, I finished a really scary book on the plane after that fat guy threw up on me. Now I’m reading the sequel and it’s really good! You might have seen it in my suitcase this morning. The cover is a cool shade of blue.
Ann: DO YOU HEAR ME? SHUT YOUR MOUTH!!
Charlotte: Mouth? Oh yeah that reminds me. Last night Sam asked me if I wanted him to shove pie in my mouth to make me shut up. Isn’t that so suggestive? EWWWWW.
Ann: I suggest you shut up NOW!
Charlotte: My dad really loves golf. He hogged the TV all of the summer watching the US Open and I could never watch my DVDs, like Big Fish.
Ann: FOR THE LOVE OF GOD. SHUT. UP!!!!!!
Charlotte: I have a huge DVD collection. I asked for some more for Christmas. I hope I get them. But my sister Tory steals my DVDs sometimes. It’s so annoying. I can’t wait for Spiderman 2 to come out on DVD.
Ann: I WISH YOU WOULD JUST CHOKE OR SOMETHING. TAKE A HINT. YOU TALK TOO MUCH.
Charlotte: I can’t help it if I’m fluent in the English language. Oh but there was this one time I failed this English test in 5th grade and my parents got so mad and then they…
Ann: GOD HELP ME. GOD HELP ME.
Ann left the basement, sick of Charlotte. The other girls watched her leave, puzzled. “What was that all about?” asked Kimia, as Aimee continued to mime having a vasectomy carried out on her.
Ann went up for an early lunch, and then she decided she wanted to go for a swim.
That afternoon, after everyone had been served their barbecued lunches, the swimming pool seemed to be the place to be. If you weren’t swimming around in it or playing Sharks and Minnows, like StinkyPanda, Lauren 2, MyNamesJacques, ginnyriddle and Lembas, then you were lounging around outside it, basking in the sun, like Kate, Pandora and swans. Others were reading or writing on the porch, like Gary, who was writing in his daily journal, and Dupin/George, who was writing a poem about the afternoon events.
One of the maids who thought Tyler was cute brought him up some lunch, but scurried away without a word when she saw the magazine Tyler was looking at. Tyler was ravenous, and ate very quickly. Feeling better on a full stomach, he decided to go join everyone outside. It was nearly 2:00.
He walked down stairs and onto the porch where madamluna and neggie had their spork fight the night before. He saw everyone was either playing soccer, in the pool, or chatting around the pool. He decided to go take a chair beside Kate, who was tossing her burgundy hair in the afternoon sun. He ignored the heads that turned his way as he walked briskly along the side of the pool.
“Hey Kate,” he said, sitting down.
“Tyler dahling,” she said in imitation of the ‘dahling’ Tyler always had her say in his fics. “Move please. You’re catching my sun. Sit on my right, if you please.”
Tyler did as he was told. For a while they sat in silence, listening to swans tell Pandora once again about what a sweet guy that artsy-fartsy sucker (
talk.thebabycorner.com/images/smilies/paint.gif[/img])- I mean remarkable, cool old chap that Rufus was. Tyler began to strike up conversation with Kate when-
“Tyler, be a dahling,” Kate drawled lazily. “and go fetch me a smoothie, would you? They’re right down there, in the bar.”
“Yes ma’am,” grumbled Tyler. He got up from his plastic chair and strolled down to the bar to get a smoothie for Kate. Charlotte was being the bartender for the day, since she knew how to prepare aqueous martinis, which were the members’ favorite. Charlotte was having a loud conversation with Sam, who was standing arm in arm with Trish, who was giggling amusedly. They seemed to be arguing.
“Sam, I don’t know how to make Long Island Iced Tea, because I’ve never even heard of it!” whined Charlotte.
“Fine then. I want you to be on fire!” Sam said, as Charlotte glared stonily up at him.
Tyler quickly picked up a smoothie for himself and one for Kate, and made his way back up the stairs to the pool.
On Tyler way back to the chairs, he saw Ann getting out of the pool, and nearly tripped over his own feet. She was really cute. Her hair was her best feature. The sun reflected off of it in such a beautiful way. But… “I don’t like her, I don’t like her at all,” he kept chanting in his head. But he had the sinking feeling that Tragedy had been right about him the whole time.
Ann got out of the pool, feeling refreshed. She felt a bit cramped though. She had started swimming too soon after eating. As she got out and reached for a towel on the side of the pool, she saw Tyler coming up the stairs from the bar, carrying two glasses filled with a frothy liquid. She grinned.
Ann, pretending to make for the bar herself, brushed past Tyler without a word and tripped him from behind. He fell, as if in slow motion, to the ground, his glasses skidding into the pool and his two glasses shattering on the stone floor.
“What do you think you’re DOING?” said Pester dangerously from the water, looking daggers at Ann.
Everyone turned their heads to the scene and realized what had happened. Ann had tripped Tyler. Why? And how could anyone be so heartless?
All of a sudden, Ann felt terrible. Defeated. What WAS she doing? She felt tears forming in her eyes, as she felt the anger that was focused on her, and only on her. Nearly everyone was staring fiercely at her. She realized the meanness and pointlessness of what she had done. And just as Tyler had fled to his room that morning, Ann ran blindly up two flights of stairs to her shared bedroom, still sopping wet from the pool.