Boys and Girls, Part I

“What if I’m a lesbian, and I just don’t know it?”

“Shut up,” said Jacinda “Jacy” Hewitt to her friend, Stephanie Kaelin, as the latter plopped herself down on the chair in front of their friend, Delaney Cameron’s, Mac. Jacy was sprawled across
Delaney’s mattress as the owner of the room was digging for some sustenance in her mini fridge, which was in serious need of a good scrubdown.”

“What is that smell, Delaney?” Jacy asked her friend, crinkling her nose at the same time.

“Two-week-old Thai take-out,” Delaney answered, taking a cautious whiff from a carton that had probably been sitting in that mini fridge since the beginning of the school year.

“That’s sick,” Jacy responded.

“Jacy, I seriously think I’m a lesbian…or at the very least, that I send out lesbionic vibes.”

Jacy rolled her eyes. Out of all of the girls in their quartet, Stephanie was easily the most melodramatic. Stephanie complained about the lack of white knights in the world more than the other girls because she was more of a dreamer than the others. She certainly looked the part of a princess/damsel in distress with her short stature – just over 5’ and 95 lbs. – and with her long, honey golden curls and chartreuse green eyes.

“Steph, you are not a lesbian.”

“Then why don’t I have a boyfriend?”

“Because guys are idiots,” Jacy answered.

“That’s your answer for everything,” Stephanie grumbled.

“Well, it explains a lot,” Jacy finished.

“Or nothing,” Stephanie mumbled under her breath.

Jacy flipped her long, light brown ponytail over her shoulder and she regarded Stephanie with a look of mild annoyance. If Stephanie was the dreamer, Jacy was easily the perpetual realist. In short, Jacy didn’t want to waste her time thinking up fairy tales and fantasies that had no chance of occurring anyway. Maybe it was the fact that Jacy had never had a boyfriend, despite having a “bitchin’ personality” and “an IQ of 167” – Jacy was especially proud of the latter fact. Or maybe it was because Jacy was a fairly hefty girl – 5’5” and 160 lbs. – who had never truly conquered that absolute state of being self-confident in oneself. Whatever the reason, Jacy Hewitt was pretty sure that princes didn’t exist in southern California, and that if they did, they certainly wouldn’t choose a girl like her to court.

“Where’s Lani?” Delaney asked, tossing the gross Thai take-out into the garbage can.

“Beach volleyball,” Jacy answered.

Ailani “Lani” Bennett was the most athletic of their group, which consequently, also made her the busiest. At 5’10” and 135 lbs., Lani was clearly in another league. Her mixed Hawaiian and Welsh ancestry gave her an enviable air of the exotic which became apparent at the stark contrast of her jet black hair – cut mid-length for practicality – and her violet eyes. And not only was Lani beautiful and toned, she was also very intelligent. Lani was a straight-A kinesiology major, which confused the hell out of her friends because they couldn’t see when she ever had the time to study.

Winter vacation had just ended the previous Monday. Now, it was Friday, and the girls were itching to get back to their pre-second semester ritual of doing absolutely nothing productive.

“Let’s go to Manix,” Stephanie chirped.

“No, no, no,” Jacy began, “Manix has the creepiest guys.”

“Jacy,” Stephanie answered, “you consider anything with a penis to be toxic…hey, maybe you’re a-

“Don’t say it,” Jacy interrupted.

Stephanie ignored Jacy and focused on Delaney, who was rifling through some clothes that lay strewn across her floor.

If Stephanie was the dreamer and Jacy was the realist and Lani was the smart one, then Delaney most definitely was…the free spirit. Yep, every group needed one, and while Delaney could make even the most patient individuals exasperated, she provided a decent amount of (unintentional) comic relief to drive anyone out of foul moods. Delaney with her cerulean blue eyes and dark red hair had her share of blonde moments, but all in all, Delaney was a smart girl who had the occasional problem with keeping things in order…like her room, for instance.

“Delaney? Whatcha doin’?” Stephanie asked.

“Looking for –

“The number to a maid service, right?” Jacy interrupted.

“Ha ha,” Delaney answered. “You’re oh so clever, Jacinda.” Jacy winced and Delaney beamed, knowing that Jacy hated to hear her full name spoken aloud. “No, I’m looking for the take-out menu. I want to order some food.”

“Let’s go out to eat,” Stephanie whined.

“What difference does it make?” Delaney asked.

Stephanie sighed. “There are boys out there.”

“Out where?” Delaney asked.

“Out there, meaning not in the confines of any of our apartments.”

“We’re eating dinner, Steph, not hunting and trapping potential suitors.” Jacy responded.

“Don’t be so sure,” Stephanie answered back with an arch of her eyebrow.

There was a brief silence as Delaney and Jacy exchanged skeptical glances. Within seconds, both of them burst into an undying fit of laughter, causing Stephanie to scowl. But as usual, the laughter was contagious and Stephanie soon joined in.

****

“And I’ll have the tofu pad see ewe.”

“Maybe a guy will like you if you eat some meat,” Jacy couldn’t resist adding.

Stephanie stuck out her tongue at Jacy while handing the menus back to the waiter.

“Is Lani meeting us here?” Delaney asked.

“Yep,” Stephanie answered.

Thai Palace was one of those small treasures of Southern California. It was neither too busy, nor too derelict. In fact, it was a perfect place to chat and enjoy good food at a reasonable price.

Stephanie was one of those genuine southern Callie vegetarians, while the others…were not. Jacy had ordered the garlic shrimp, while Delaney had ordered the lemongrass chicken. Since Lani enjoyed meat, but didn’t eat a lot anyway, they had ordered a small appetizer of chicken satay for her.

As soon as the dishes arrived, the girls tore into them. Lani showed up about twenty minutes into the meal.

“Oh, gee, thanks for waiting,” Lani said.

“You take too long,” Stephanie mumbled through mouthfuls of rice noodles.

Lani rolled her eyes before taking a seat next to Delaney. She was looking particularly beautiful today. She wore a yellow fitted tee with ALOHA written across it and very short jean shorts that made her extremely long legs look even longer. Her shorter hair was left down. And because Lani had showered after her game of beach volleyball, she even smelled good.

“Did you guys get me the –

“Chicken satay,” Jacy finished.

Lani grinned before picking up her fork and digging into the dish. She was happily eating when she noticed Stephanie’s fork stalled in mid-air.

“What, Steph?”

“Okay, total hotties at ten o’clock…and they’re looking here!”

Lani casually glanced over to her right. As she carefully looked past Delaney who was still working on her lemongrass chicken, she noticed that three attractive males were looking at her. But these weren’t just any males…they were the North Mission Hawks. Jason Kent, Ryan Mackey, and Joe Estes were all on the football team at North Mission University. The team had recently been in the news for having lost the Tide Bowl Game to Grayson University in Alabama. Lani didn’t particularly like the male jocks at North Mission because they didn’t believe that girls could be just as talented as they were. She aimed her gaze back at Stephanie.

“Make a move, Kaelin,” Lani teased.

“Shut up,” Stephanie answered. “Those guys are so out of my league!”

“What guys?” Delaney asked, taking a sip of her water.

“The guys over there,” Jacy answered, rudely pointing a finger in the direction of the dining football players. Stephanie slapped her forehead, while Lani burst out into laughter. Delaney turned to look at the guys who also seemed to be chuckling.

“Ooh, football players, right?” Delaney asked. Just for good measure, she waved at them, causing Stephanie to blush even more.

The guys looked taken aback by Jacy and Delaney’s sheer moxie. They quickly turned back to their meal.

Jacy beamed. “We sure showed them.”

“No you didn’t,” Stephanie protested. “Now they’re going to think we’re total snobs!”

“Steph, you’re spitting,” Lani said.

Stephanie angrily shoveled the rest of the dinner into her mouth. When she finished, she ordered another Thai iced tea.

“My blood sugar decreases when I get angry.”

Jacy snorted. “Yeah, and I’m a size two.”

“Oh, be quiet you big poo-poo head!” Stephanie retorted.

The remark stunned the girls into silence, or at least that’s what Stephanie thought. Why were they all looking behind her? Stephanie turned around in her seat and almost died.

Jason Kent, Ryan Mackey, and Joe Estes were all standing behind her.

Ryan cleared his throat, trying to ignore the fact that the word “poo-poo” had come out of little Stephanie Kaelin’s mouth. “We just wanted to thank you ladies for finding us so entertaining,” he said, grinning and paying particular attention to Lani. She barely acknowledged the extra attention as she finished her Thai iced tea. Jason and Joe also acknowledged the girls before heading out. To Stephanie’s horror, she heard that awful word from one of the guys as they left, followed by some male chuckling.

Stephanie looked stun. She looked straight ahead into Delaney and Lani’s eyes, praying for some indication that she hadn’t really said what she thought she had just said.

“Umm, I have to go…pee-pee,” Jacy said, standing up and leaving for the rest room.

It took all of two seconds for Delaney and Lani to burst into laughter. And even though she was almost on the verge of tears, as usual, Stephanie joined in.