Free The Night Wanderer by Drew Hayden Taylor Page B

girls waved to him, then beckoned him to come over. Smiling, he waved back.
    â€œHey, Julie’s back in town! She was at her parent’s cottage up north. Just a second, I’ll be right back.” He jumped off the car and went running toward the girls.
    â€œBut . . . Tony?”
    â€œI’ll be right back. Promise. Go talk to some other people. Let them get to know you.” Tiffany was about to shout louder, but her objection ended up dying in her throat. As angry as she was, Tiffany was far too self-conscious to draw more attention to herself.
    Instead, she watched Tony run up to the girls, who hugged him, planting many kisses on his cheek. Six in all. Tiffany counted.
    Again, Tony had taken off on her. In fact, Tony had been spending an awful lot of time away from her side all evening. Three trips to pee, the toke session, one trip to look for some additional beer. And he never invited her to come along. Tiffany could understand not coming on the bathroom trips, but why not the others? In the two hours she’d been there, Tiffany had met no new people. Am I overreacting? she wondered as she sat alone.
    Ten agonizingly long minutes passed before Tiffany managed to work up the nerve to mingle. Summoning up her courage, she walked toward that group of boys by the fire. Gripping the beer in her hand, she struggled to project an air of confidence.
    â€œHey, what’s up?”
    The three boys looked at her. The one Tony had called Dave seemed surprised. No one spoke as Tiffany stood there, waiting for some kind of response.
    Finally, Dave spoke.
    â€œHi.”
    Again silence.
    â€œTony tells me you guys know each other.”
    â€œYeah. I guess.”
    More silence. Tiffany could feel herself beginning to shuffle back and forth on her heels, something she did when she was uncomfortable.
    â€œOh. From where?”
    All three boys looked at one another. It was difficult for Tiffany to figure out what they were thinking.
    One of the cousins spoke up. “Uh, we’ve never seen you here before.”
    â€œYeah. It’s my first time.”
    â€œYou’re from Otter Lake, right?”
    She nodded. Perhaps a little too vigorously.
    â€œDon’t get a lot of Otter Lake people here.”
    â€œIs that a problem?”
    They were oddly silent, as was Tiffany. Then Dave shrugged.
    â€œWe gotta go.” And like birds in the air, they turned at the same time and walked away. Tiffany couldn’t decide if she was insulted or relieved.

    Tony was driving faster than normal because he could tell he was in deep trouble. Tiffany was talking without even looking at him. “It’s not that I don’t want you to hang out with your friends. But you didn’t have to leave me sitting on the hood of your car all night. You could have taken me with you, you know. You could have introduced me to your friends.” Ahead of them was only blackness as Tony’s car cut a path through Jap Land to his girlfriend’s house. And Tiffany’s mood was just about as dark. As with many relationships, the stirrings of puppy love had given way to the growling pit bull of reality.
    Annoyingly, Tony seemed slightly amused. “Hey, I saw you talking to Ralph and his cousins. See, you didn’t need me.” Just ahead, a rabbit darted across the road.
    â€œI don’t know them. It was so useless. It was like talking to a lilac bush, except a lilac bush would have been a lot more pleasant. They were rude and I felt so embarrassed. I was there with you! Is it that you don’t want to be seen with me? Is that it?” The fight she had avoided earlier seemed to be making a belated appearance.
    Again a small smile touched his lips. “No, that is not it. Hey, I took you, didn’t I?”
    â€œYou took me but you certainly weren’t with me. Tony, I’m getting the feeling some of your friends aren’t exactly thrilled with the fact you’re with an Otter Lake