Storms 01 - Family Storms

thought she was acting like a big sister now, giving me worldly advice.
    “Which of your friends are coming over?”
    “Deidre, who you know was in the car with me that night, is coming over today. So is Margot. I’m the closest with Deidre. Her father’s a business attorney and does lots of business with my father, so she and her family were always trusted. Margot is my next-best girlfriend, but I don’t confide in her as much. And of course, none of the boys knows anything, so don’t worry. Boyd Lewis and Ricky Burns are coming with Deidre and Margot. You’ve seen them here before,” she said, and added, “completely.”
    She laughed, and I knew she was referring to their swimming nude.
    “Is one of them your boyfriend?”
    “Boyfriend? Not the way you’re asking. We don’t think of ourselves as with one or the other. In fact, last year, we all went to the prom as a group.”
    “You don’t like one more than the others?”
    “I like playing the field and so do they. Forget that
Romeo and Juliet
stuff, Sasha. It’s only in the movies, and it gets boring. There’s nothing as dull to me as going steady. Don’t you know what we all are? We’re friends with benefits. Ever hear of that?”
    I shook my head, and she laughed.
    “Friends with benefits have sex but don’t have romantic relationships.” Before I could ask anything else, she leaped to her feet and cried, “Here they come!”
    A black Mercedes convertible with its top down wasrushing up the drive. We could hear the girls screaming and laughing as the tires squealed.
    “Boyd is such an idiot,” Kiera said, but she said it as if being an idiot was great. She shouted and waved, and they got out and started in our direction. They were all carrying small bags and tennis rackets. The girls were in tennis outfits as cute as Kiera’s, and the boys, whom I recognized as the taller two of the three who had been there that afternoon, were in short white shorts, tank tops, and white caps. Despite what I thought would happen and even what she seemed to have anticipated, none of them appeared surprised to see me there.
    “Everybody knows Sasha, right?” Kiera said.
    “Right. Hi, Sasha,” Boyd said. He was as blond as a blond could be, I thought. He wore his hair long, but it was neatly styled. Like most of the boys in the school, he had a light tan, but even his tan couldn’t hide the freckles that randomly ran over his forehead and down his temples.
    “She’s a tennis player?” Ricky asked. He had dark brown hair and soft brown eyes. A little taller with wider shoulders than Boyd, Ricky looked more athletic, and I thought he was better-looking.
    “What makes you think you are?” Boyd asked him before Kiera could respond. The girls laughed.
    I had met Deidre before at the house when she had come to watch a movie with Kiera, and I had seen Margot with Kiera often at school. She was much shorter and over-weight. From the way I saw her following Kiera around, she looked content to be in her shadow.
    “Sasha is just learning,” Kiera said. “Don’t make a big thing of it,” she added in a threatening tone.
    “Who here isn’t just learning?” Margot quipped. She smiled at the boys. “About everything.” They all laughed, and she looked quickly to Kiera to be sure she had said something Kiera would appreciate.
    “Whoever sits out takes Sasha on the other court and practices with her. Make sure she has the right form,” Kiera said.
    “She looks like her form’s all right to me,” Boyd said.
    “Will you shut up and just do what I say? Didn’t I tell you he was an idiot?” Kiera asked me as we headed for the tennis court. Everyone laughed. “Before we’re finished, you can come in for me and get some experience.”
    “I can’t be any good yet.”
    “Breaking news,” Ricky said, turning back to me as we walked. “None of these girls is.”
    That started a playful argument and some challenges. Deidre was the one who sat out the first set, so she and I went to the second court. Before we did anything, she paused, looked at the others, and then leaned toward me.
    “Hey,” she said. She had her hair cut short, in almost a pageboy style.
    I hadn’t noticed it before, but she had a dimple in her left cheek that flashed in and out when she spoke and smiled. “You’re doing a very nice thing for Kiera. I think it’s really big of you.”
    I had forgotten for the moment that she was the one who knew everything. From the way