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"Got a light?"
He wasn't expecting the hand in front of his face, waving, as he stared at the unfamiliar community center in front of him. A hand that was totally empty.
"Got a cigarette?" he asked without thinking.
The tiny blonde girl attached to the hand shrugged, a crooked smile on her face.
"Nope. Just trying to break the ice. Okay, then, who are you?"
"I'm, uh, I'm Ryan."
"Veronica."
The tiny blonde girl looked him right in the eye as she shook his hand.
"Is this - are you from around here?"
"No. I just thought - the farther the better, you know?"
"So..."
"Oh. Neptune. It's a, it's a beach town."
"Yeah, me too. I mean, not Neptune, a beach town. Newport. Well, Newport now, anyway."
"And before?"
"Chino."
"You are a long way from home."
The two of them dropped hands and stood awkwardly as a few teenagers streamed into the community center behind them.
"So, um, is this your first..."
"First time? Um, yeah. I wouldn't be here, but my dad..."
"Is he the one..."
"No! Um, I mean, no. It's - it was - my mother. My dad just made me promise to come at least once. He thinks it might help."
"Yeah, that's what Sandy...I mean, that's what I promised, too."
"So, your mom..."
"Both of them."
"Oh! Well, I guess that must be very hard, even without the, you know."
"What? No! Two - serially, not at the same time. My, uh, my mother couldn't take care of me any more, so I live with, uh, guardians now."
This was the longest conversation Ryan had had with anyone since That Night, except for the one with Sandy yesterday, which had been mostly Sandy talking at him while Ryan roamed around the pool house. And eventually promised to come here.
Seth couldn't even look him in the eye. He was supposed to have come today, but had ducked out at the last minute, swearing he'd forgotten a date with Summer. Marissa - Marissa was the other reason he was here. Sandy said it wasn't his fault. Sandy said that her family had wanted to go away anyway, but Ryan knew he and his screwed-up family had driven her back into the bottle, and now he was here to find out why - what he did or said or exuded from his very pores that somehow drove the women around him to destruction.
"Dude! Buddy. I said, I think they're about to start."
The little blonde girl had her hair up in two pigtails, and she was gazing at him steadily, her head cocked to the side. How long, if he befriended her, how long, if he remembered her name, would it be before he destroyed her too?
"Sorry," he said softly, "I'm just having a little trouble processing."
"Yeah, I'm so there with you," she said goodnaturedly. "But do you think we should go in?"
"Do you have a cigarette?" Ryan asked suddenly, and he knew it was disjointed, could tell by the way she straightened her head and looked him up and down briskly, like a suspect. He hadn't had a cigarette since he came back to the Cohens from Chino, but all of the sudden, he was sure that if he didn't have one right at this moment that his skin would crawl away from his body, leaving him behind on the sidewalk, naked and exposed.
"You do know that smoking is stupid and not at all cool, right?"
He sighed.
"Yes, I do. But right now..."
"Gotcha. I, myself, am a fan of snickerdoodles as guilty pleasure, but to each his own, I guess. Tell you what, I happen to be something of a girl to know. I can get whatever you need, if you know what I mean."
Ryan had no idea what she meant. If this were Chino, she'd mean sex, or drugs. If this were Newport, she'd offering - well, sex, or blow. What did little girls from Neptune offer with such broad, knowing smiles?
After a minute, she took pity on him.
"I just meant I knew where you could get a pack of smokes. Calm down, Romeo."
Ryan could feel himself blushing.
"I didn't...I wasn't..." he stammered, humiliated, as he felt his cheeks pink up.
She patted him on the chest in a friendly gesture.
"I know. I could tell from the slack-jawed gaze. Tell you what - let's make this more interesting. You tell me why you're here, really. Why your - whoever - made you promise to come. If it's a better story than mine, we'll ditch the Sober Sallys and head for the closest 7-11. But I gotta warn you, I'm gonna win."
He leaned against the wall and gazed briefly at the rusted red doors of the community center. There were a few last-minute stragglers huddled around the entrance, stubbing out their butts rapidly. If he hustled, he could bum a cigarette and a light before this stupid thing started. On the other hand, he had a sudden - and completely foreign - desire to tell this little girl everything and blow that sly grin right off her face.
After a moment, he turned back to her, a slow smile blooming on his face.
"Deal. But I'm telling you, you're going to lose."