Chapter 8: Kings and Queens

I LAUGHED HARD, THE sound erupting like Mt. St. Helens. She had pronounced Isaac's last name wrong to make it rhyme with "hottie." It was going to hang around my brain like the chorus to a good song. But that was so Ruthie.

"You go, girl!" I said. "I may have to amend your boyfriend projection. Who needs a week?" Laughing, we hurried out of the car to cut a path toward the twins, who were about to turn the corner around the first building.

Ruthie cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, "Hey, Phoebe! Isaac!" Despite the jabbering students all around, they heard her and froze.

Phoebe swung around and screamed, "Ruthie!" The twins trotted toward us. When we caught up, Phoebe grabbed Ruthie in a tight hug, practically making her eyes pop. They pulled back and started jabbering fast about stuff I had no clue about. Once again, I wondered why I hadn't noticed this friendship before. I sighed and looked to the ginormous form next to them. Mr. Hottie Efoti.

He must have been six and a half feet, towering over my not-so-short 5'9" stature. And he looked like he had just stepped off the pages of "Island Beach Babes." His full Polynesian lips widened when he saw me, and his white teeth stood out on his tan, sculpted face. His big brown eyes twinkled under his long, curly eyelashes. Wow, I thought again. When I got to his eyes, I noticed him checking me out, too. I felt my face go red.

"Hey, Parker," he greeted in a deep, husky voice. I was ga-ga enough to think that him calling me by my last name was cute.

"Isaac. So ..." I faltered, my mind searching for something to say before remembering his love of surfing. "How was the beach this summer?"

"A little crowded for me, but that didn't stop me from catchin' some sick waves!" He smiled widely, and his teeth actually looked bleached next to his tanned skin. He should do dental commercials, I thought, distracted. Man! What were we talking about? I had totally lost the train of our conversation, and I felt my face warm with renewed embarrassment. I quickly found the sidewalk to be very interesting.

Ruthie saved me by hauling herself at Isaac, who, despite the full force of her body blow, did not move an inch. He just swept her up into a hug. I totally felt out of the loop now.

Ruthie held both of them under her arms. Well, at least she tried. Instead, she ended up with her arms more around their waists. A little part of me was jealous. Okay, maybe a large part.

"Man," gushed my best friend. "I missed you two this summer!"

"Same here," said Phoebe. "But don't feel bad about taking off. We were gone most of it, too. We had a lot of, uh, family stuff going on." She exchanged a look with Isaac before turning to me.

"How ... was ... your ... summer ... Tru?" She spoke slowly, overemphasizing her words as if she were speaking to a three-year-old.

If I was pink before, I was cherry red now.

"Geez, Phoebe, she's not an idiot!" Isaac reprimanded roughly. "Can't you see her summer was very good to her?" His big brown eyes locked onto mine like radar, and I couldn't look away as he began to sing an old band boy tune, low and magnetically. I could almost see waves in the air pulling me toward him.

His big voice was raspy like a country singer, changing how I remembered the song. The way he sang the words felt like an intimate caress, like we were alone, just the two of us, and that I was the center of his world.

"Oh, please!" wailed Phoebe, interrupting my drooling. "The Jonas Brothers? Really?!"

I blinked in confusion. Ruthie and I were suddenly embarrassingly close to Isaac. If it wouldn't emphasize just how weird I was, I'd run for the hills. I settled for picking my jaw off the ground and dipping my head to allow my hair to cover my awkwardness. What just happened? I wondered. Those were the corniest lyrics ever, but somehow so amazing.

I peeked over at Phoebe. She was reassessing me. She had caught me drooling over her brother. Talk about awkward. I just wanted to sink into the ground. Then I noticed her arm wrapped around Isaac's. I didn't remember seeing her move. Was I losing it?

Ruthie roared with laughter. "Oh my gosh, Isaac!" she sputtered, fanning herself. "You should try out for 'Idol!'" I felt a little better seeing that Ruthie was just as breathless as I. But still. In fact, way awkward!

How could he do that? I puzzled. He didn't show even an eensie bit of embarrassment after breaking into song, in public, no less. Not that he should feel self-conscious. His voice was a sexy, deep baritone and the words had sizzled me down to my bones. Ruthie and I had almost jumped him. I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to resist his swoon-worthy gaze and wondering how I'd ever be able to look him in the eyes again.

I peeked at Phoebe in time to see her smack her brother hard in the stomach. "Don't do that!" she said, almost angrily.

I flinched thinking that it had looked painful and peeked up at Isaac to see his reaction.

"Ow!" He bellowed, stepping back with chagrin. My mouth twitched up at the corner. It was actually funny to see him cowering before his smaller sister.

"Seriously, you are such a dog!" She laughed. Isaac smiled wolfishly, clearly proud of himself.

I noticed Ruthie fluttering her long eyelashes spastically, apparently, ready to start an Isaac fan club. Suddenly, his smug look annoyed me and I gave my friend a hip bump, knocking her just enough to pull her attention away from Hottie Efoti.

"Well, well," said Phoebe. "So, you're back in the real world, now, are you?" she asked, appraising me again.

Ruthie finally pulled her head out of her butt and chanted, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" before cheerfully throwing her arm around me. "It's awesome!"

The warning bell rang, startling Ruthie. "Okay, guys," she said, "Senior year starts now. It's our turn to be the kings and queens."

Isaac turned his dazzling smile on us again. Ruthie sighed while I looked down at the ground, feeling my cheeks grow warm again. He chuckled, clearly aware of his effect on us. I hated that he made me forget how to talk. But it wasn't just that. There was something that didn't feel right about it.

Ruthie grabbed my arm and started pulling. I narrowed my eyes at Isaac before letting her drag me away.

"We'll catch up with you guys at lunch if we don't have any classes with you before then. Let's compare schedules!"

She started running, and I took off with her, my backpack slapping against my back.

We both had Mr. Pham's Algebra II class first period and he was still writing on the board as we hurried in mere seconds before the bell rang. We found two seats next to each other on the far side and slid into them just as he put down his marker.

Ruthie pulled out her binder, scribbled on a piece of paper and passed it to me.

I read her hasty scribbles: "What the ham hocks was that all about?"

I looked at her and just shrugged. She snagged back the note, ran her pencil across it, and slipped it back to me.

"He still likes you" it read, and the "i" letters were all dotted with heart shapes. With a sigh, I shook my head at her silliness.

She snagged the note again, quickly doodling a picture of two people, obviously a boy and a girl. I laughed to myself as she made the boy's neck and shoulders look like the Incredible Hulk. She drew crowns on each figure's head and wrote "Prom King and Queen?" I rolled my eyes. Then she wrote "Isaac + Tru" under the picture and slipped it back to me with a giggle. She was killing me!

Several heads turned our way. I wasn't one for getting into trouble in class and didn't want to risk the teacher's wrath the first day by passing notes. So, I just mouthed "later" to her and crumpled the note into a ball before stuffing it into my backpack. That was going into the trash as soon as I found one.