The walk down Arbor Street was blissful, serene even. It was raining. I was on my way home where I would call Teagan to share my good news. I waited because I couldn’t afford to break another phone that way. At least I’d never pulled a Marc and drowned my phone in beer. I splashed in the puddles, letting my shoes soak up the muddy water. Teagan started calling after me as soon as she had me in her sights. Through the rain I couldn’t hear her approaching on her bicycle. Well that wasn’t exactly true. I could hear the chains jingling and threatening to stuck in the back wheel. I just chose not to think about where that sound could be coming from.

“Hey! Where the hell have you been? I’ve been looking for you everywhere!” She stopped beside me, splashing me intentionally in her annoyance.

“I had a job interview.”

“You didn’t tell me that!”

“Yes I did. Last night when you called to ask me what I was doing today.”

“I forgot.” I started walking again and she kicked her bike forward to cruise along side. Her irritation couldn’t do anything to dampen my spirits. Even the weather was just making me smile. It was the good kind of rain; not really drizzling but still not pounding down super hard. Just enough to get you wet and leave a lot of puddles.

“And?”

“And what?”

“How did it go?”

“Oh yeah, I got the job.” Her face lit up and she dove towards me for a hug. Forgetting about the bike, it toppled, tangling up in our legs as we went crashing down with it. Landing in the muddy edge of some poor sucker’s lawn we squealed with laughter. The grass squished and squelched under us. It took a minute to sort out limb from limb from bicycle. All the while the rain kept on, drumming down harder than before.

“We have to celebrate. Come on, there must be something we can’t eat at my house!” She pulled me from the ground. If I hadn’t said anything she would have left the bike on the grass where it fell. Instead of walking she had me up on the handlebars.

By the time we’d made it to Teagan’s house the rain had washed away all the mud. That still left us sopping wet when we stepped into the front hallway. Ever prepared, Beverly was waiting for us with towels and dry clothes. If only all mom’s were like this.

“You two look like you’ve been having fun. I see Teagan managed to track you down.”

“Yeah.” I was breathless from struggling out of soaked clothes that were in the process of becoming a second skin. We kept knocking into each other on our way to falling over. Beverly was smart enough to stay out of the way. We were doing a good enough job at making a mess all by ourselves. It didn’t really occur to either of us to be at all modest about stripping down. Then again, we’ve been skinny dipping every summer since we found out what that was in grade school.

“Mom! Guess what!”

“What?”

“You’ll never guess.”

“I know that! Tell me already!” She laughed, amazed that Teagan still managed to find enthusiasm while fighting a losing battle with her wet clothes.

“Al got a job!”

“Yeah, I had the interview today. That’s why she couldn’t find me.” As I spoke I was pulling on the t-shirt stuck around her head. It had turned itself inside out with her arms flapping uselessly out of it. I was just about to ask for scissors to cut the damn thing off when it finally gave, sending me crashing into the wall. We both laughed.

“You are a hard person to track down, you know. I think I talked to everyone you’ve ever known today and no one knew where you’d gone. I think Kyle and String Bean were going to start making posters. I should probably call them…”

“Did you talk to that smelly kid Pete who’s had a crush on me since the third grade?”

“Yes.” She shuddered.

“Gross!” Beverly picked through our wet clothes as we toweled off.

“Alice, is this what you wore to your interview?”

“What? My jeans weren’t ripped and my t-shirt was clean. I even wore one of those nice button down shirts over it instead of my vest and I brushed my hair.”

“Yeah, Beverly, it was just for the gas station. She’ll have to wear a uniform anyway.” Beverly made a face a Teagan. “What?”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Yes mother.”

“Now get dressed. I’m going to make you some of my special hot chocolate.”

“Can’t we have that thing in the pan that’s in the fridge?”

“That tiramisu is for my book club.”

“Can’t you bring something else?”

“I suppose…” Beverly sighed and winked at me.

We sat at the counter, Beverly had forced chairs on us. The tiramisu was only half massacred, although Beverly had managed to snag a piece away from us. It would not long escape the wrath of our forks. It was delectable. Teagan toyed with some of the sauce that had dribbled onto the counter, drawing designs in it.

“So what are you doing this Thursday?”

“I start training at work.”

“When? During the day?”

“No, six until twelve.”

“Oh.”

“Why?”

“Well there’s this rave happening in town on Thursday and Corey asked me if I wanted a lift. I was hoping you would come with.”

“That’s weird.”

“Yeah.” We both remembered the recent conversation we’d had about Corey. She’d been shy about mentioning him since then. I had been somewhat relieved to have a break from hearing about him. The Crayola Boys weren’t the only ones who’d been annoyed but I was a good friend and just put up with it. I didn’t much enjoy having that conversation with her, I just didn’t want to see her humiliated.

“How’d that happen?”

“I don’t know… He just kind of walked up to me and asked.”

“So true to his usual form, basically.”

“Yeah.”

“I guess you must have had more of an impact than you thought.”

“Yeah right. Part of me thinks that he just asked me hoping that I would ask you to come along too.”

“That’s dumb.” I snorted, scarfing down more cake.

“I dunno, I kind of feel like he’s always like you more, I mean you guys talk and all that. He likes hanging out with you, he told me you’re one of the only girls who has never made a move on him or anything like that.”

“We don’t talk anymore than he does with anyone else. I’m just another one of the guys to goof off with at the skate park.”

“You like him!”

“I do not!” I was flustered and I prayed to god her accusations hadn’t made me blush too visibly.

“Then why’d you make him that bracelet?”

“Oh please, he just happened to be the only one around when I finished it.”

“Ha! Come on, you have to get out of work Thursday. It’ll be totally awkward just me and him in his car.”

“It’s my first shift! I can’t ask for it off.”

“You have to come when you’re done then.”

“If I can find a way there, I will.”

“Promise?”

“Yes.”