"You used to let me win," I said after we ordered lunch.
"How can I let you win when you're slamming every shot into the net? Swing easy and follow through."
"I guess I've been hitting the ball in the wrong direction a lot lately. I never should have let Trevor get the best of me. I should never have believed the rumors, or wanted to believe them. I miss Alexander so much."
At lunch the waiter brought me a garden salad and a tuna melt for my dad. I stared at my tomatoes, eggs, and romaine lettuce. "Dad, do you think I'll ever meet someone like Alexander again?"
"What do you think?" he asked, taking a bite of his sandwich. "I don't think I will. I think he's it. He's the special one people only find in movies and gushy romance novels. Like Heathcliff or Romeo."
My eyes welled up with tears.
"It's okay, honey," he said, handing me his napkin. "When I met your mother, I wore John Lennon glasses and had hair down to the middle of my back. I didn't know what a pair of scissors or a razor looked like! Her father didn't like me because of the way I looked and my radical politics. But she and I saw the world the same way. And that's all that mattered. It was a Wednesday when I first saw your mom, on the university lawn, in maroon bell-bottoms and a white halter top, twirling her long brown hair, gazing up. I walked over and asked what she was staring at. `That mother bird is feeding its baby birds. Isn't it beautiful?' she said. 'It's a raven!' And she quoted some lines from Edgar Allan Poe. I laughed. `What are you laughing at?' she asked me. And I told her it was a crow, not a raven. 'Oh, that's what I get for partying too hard last night,' she said, laughing with me. 'But aren't they beautiful just the same?' And I told her right there and then that yes, they were. But she was more beautiful."
"You said that?"
"I shouldn't be telling you this. Especially the part about the partying!"
"Mom always told me that's how I got my name, but she never mentioned the partying."
I thanked the universe my parents had been looking at a raven that day and not a squirrel. The results would have been disastrous.
"Dad, what do I do?"
"You'll have to figure that one out yourself. But if the ball lands in your court again, don't smash it into the fence. Just open your eyes and swing right through." We got my salad to go as I couldn't chew on it and the tennis metaphors at the same time.
I was greatly confused. I didn't know what to do. Hit the ball or wait for it to come to me? My father was lollygagging with a friend when I heard a voice say, "You play a mean game, Raven!" I turned around and saw Matt leaning against the front counter.
"I can't play at all!" I replied, surprised. I looked around for Trevor.
"I'm not talking about tennis."
"I don't understand."
"I'm talking about school, about Trevor. Don't worry, he's not here."
"So, are you trying to start something with me?" I asked, clutching my racket. "Here at the club?"
"No, I'm trying to end it. I mean, what he does to you and Becky and everyone. Even me. And I'm his best friend. But you stick up for everyone here. And you don't even like us." He laughed. "We're mean to you and you still get Trevor back for all of us."
"Are we on Spy TV?" I asked, looking around for hidden cameras.
"You bring spice to this town, with your funky clothes and your attitude. You don't care what people think, and this town revolves on what people think."
"Is Trevor hiding in the gift shop?" I asked, peering over.
"The Snow Ball really changed a lot of people's minds. Trevor used the whole school, and in the end he made fools of everyone. I think it was our wake-up call." I realized there were no hidden cameras or hiding Trevors. Matt wasn't joking.
"I wish Alexander could hear you say this," I finally said. "I haven't seen him, and I'm afraid I never will again. Trevor ruined everything," I said, my eyes starting to well up again.
"Screw Trevor!"
Several people looked over, as it wasn't polite to swear at the club, even though they did on the court after they missed a shot.
"Gotta run, Raven--see you," Matt said as he took off.
"I'd like you to meet an old acquaintance, Raven," my father said, approaching with a strikingly suntanned man after Matt left.
"It's nice to see you, Raven," he said. "It's been a while. You look so grown-up now. I wouldn't recognize you without the lipstick. Do you remember me?"
How could I forget him? The first time I entered the Mansion, the basement window, the red cap. The warm kiss on my cheek from the handsome new guy trying to fit in.
"Jack Patterson! Of course I remember you, but I can't believe you remember me."
"I'll always remember you!"
"How do you two know each other?" my father asked.
"From school," Jack answered, with a glint in his eye.
"So what are you up to now?" Jack asked me. "Rumor has it that you're going into the Mansion through the front door these days."
"Well, I was, but..."
"Jack recently moved back to town and took over his father's department store," my dad said. "Yeah, stop by sometime," Jack said. "I'll give you a discount."
"Do you sell combat boots and black cosmetics?"
Jack Patterson laughed. "I guess some things haven't changed!"
Matt suddenly returned. "Ready to go, Matt?" Jack asked.
"You know Matt?" I asked, surprised.
"We're cousins. I'm glad I moved back--I have some reservations about the crowd he hangs around with."
Chapter 21 Darkness and Light
It was Saturday evening. I was dressed in my Cure T-shirt and black boxers, watching Dracula in slow motion. I paused the part where Bela leans into a sleeping Helen Chandler and recalled the time Alexander kissed me on his black leather couch. I stared longingly at the screen and grabbed some more tissues.
The doorbell shocked me out of my self-pitying trance. "You get it!" I shouted, and suddenly remembered my family had gone to the movies.
I peered through the peephole but saw nothing. Then I looked again and discovered tiny Becky standing on the doorstep.
"What do you want?" I asked, opening the door. "Get dressed!"
"I thought maybe you came here to apologize."
"I'm sorry, but you must believe me! You have to come to the Mansion--now!"
"Go home!"
"Raven, immediately!