Newp tried really hard to look bored. “Don't worry about it.”
“Oh, come on,” Betty said. “Don't be such a drip. Let’s go shopping, Frannie. I'll fill you in.” This sounded wild coming from someone wearing a flannel nightgown because she couldn’t handle any other threads. Frannie was dying to see what shopping would be like with her.
Betty saw Frannie’s glance. “Oh, honey. I know I'm a piece of work, but I can still shop.”
An hour later Betty, Truly and Frannie were downtown rummaging through racks of dresses. Betty turned out to have a good eye despite her sleepwear. She was holding up a polka-dot blouse that reminded Frannie of Daisy Mae in Lil' Abner and said, “The thing is, Newp doesn't want you to come to the luau. If you haven't guessed.”
Frannie felt the blood prickle at her cheeks. “I thought he liked me.” It sounded absurd. She wanted to find a hipper way to say it, but none came. For the love of Pete, she had spent all Saturday night fighting a man made of origami sparrows with the guy.
“It's not that,” Truly said, as she picked up a jeweled head cover that looked like something a flapper would wear in The Great Gatsby. She put it on her head, then looked sheepish as the lady behind the counter cleared her throat to let the three of them know that they were being watched. Truly smiled and put the headdress down, sliding her hands over it and caressing the jewels.
Frannie asked, “You're going to the luau, right?”
“Ha!” Truly laughed. “I'll be there singing, and that's the only reason I'm going. Listen, you may think we have a really great integrated beach here, but the truth is it's not all that comfortable for me. I kind of get the impression some of the locals don't want me to get off the bus.”
“They bring girls in for this party,” said Betty.
“They what?” She didn't follow that. “What do you mean bring them in?”
“I mean,” Betty said, dipping her head so the ribbon in her hair seemed to be talking for her, “they will literally have a van going to the local universities and bringing girls in for this party. College girls.” She said this last word knowingly.
“Aren’t you a college girl?”
“Not as much as some of these fellas would like,” Betty said. “Besides, I think they’re a little put off by the flannel.”
“You just keep bein’ you, Bets.” Truly said.
“And what?” Frannie was incredulous. “Are you saying this luau is some kind of orgy?”
“No, not an orgy,” Betty answered, “But they can get kind of wild.”
“And they have a van? Whose van?”
“Oh I think it's Rafe's.” That was one of Hooky’s Legionnaires. “Anyway, Frannie, the thing is, that is why Newp didn't want you to come.”
Ugh. “Because he doesn't think I'll put out at this party.”
Betty crinkled her eyes. “No! Well, actually I have no idea, but I think it's something sweeter. I think he wants to protect you from it all.”
Frannie folded her arms. “Okay. Well, if you were me, and your two best friends were singing at a party that all of your other friends were going to be at, would you let the boy who you were occasionally going out with keep you from going?” She thought for a second. “So you said they’re taking Rafe’s van?”
Truly and Betty nodded.
“So Raphael is on this bird hunt. And Newp doesn't want me to come. So that leaves Crainiac, Go-Go and at least a couple others to hit up.”
“Oh, honey,” Truly said. “That's not much of a choice.”
“Well, I don't know anybody else who's going to go to this shindig.”
Betty ticked off on her fingers, the frilly flannel sleeve waving. “Go-Go is in his own universe. He can’t talk about anything but shaping boards. And Crainiac, he's as dumb as a post.”
“That's not very kind,” Truly said.
“Really?”
“I suppose he could be smarter,” Truly agreed.
Frannie waved that off. “Okay, but neither of them has gotten particularly hands-y when we've been surfing.” The more confident guys like Rafael and T-bone had an unfortunate tendency to let their hands drop all over her “accidentally.”
The girls dropped Frannie off at the beach at 1:30 in the afternoon and followed the sound of the lathe scraping across wood. She found Go-Go behind a small shed near Hooky’s hut.
Go-Go looked up. “Oh, hey, Frannie. I ain’t seen Newp or Hooky. Actually…I think Hooky’s in his hut, but you know…”
Frannie made a face. She didn't need to picture Hooky with whatever random female he had managed to steal like the Creature from the Black Lagoon off the beach.
She put a hand on the sawhorse and sidled up next to the boy. “Go-Go, are you going to the bonfire, you know, the luau?”
“Oh… yeah, I guess.”
She moved her hand closer to his. “Do you have… a date?” She kept still and tried to avoid revealing how suddenly awkward she felt. She had been surfing for six weeks and was now as strong and muscular as an Olympic skater, but it hadn't taken away her basic fear of being judged by boys who could seemingly always try something else.
Go-Go gave her a steady look. He wasn't bad looking, Go-Go. Light brown hair buzzed short, like everyone, a deep tan, soft brown eyes. “Frannie, what the hell are you up to?”
She pouted and told the truth. “Oh, Go-Go, I want to go to the luau. And there's just no one to take me.”
“That's some bull right there and we both know it.” Go-Go smirked. “For one thing, I've seen this bit on I Love Lucy. You need a date and you're going to bat your eyes and get me to take you for some reason that maybe is just hilarious, at least for you, but that I promise you it doesn’t work out for me. For some reason, here you are talking with me for the first time since you came to buy a board over a month ago.” He waved his hand, indicating the board. “You know, there’s a whole history of board-shaping. I could fill you in on all that. You can’t understand surfing without a profound understanding of the board.”
“I’ve kinda got a lot of studying going on already. But that does sound fascinating. Anyway…”
“So if I know my Andy Hardy movies, you want something that Hooky or Newp won't give you. “
“Ugh.” Frannie folded her arms. “If I wanted to be psychoanalyzed, my pop already knows lots of shrinks. Come on, Go-Go. Newp doesn't want me to go to the luau. And I haven’t mentioned it to Hooky.”
Go-Go eyed her conspiratorially, “Yeah, but Hooky guards you, and you know that. Anyway, Newp doesn't want you to come because it's going to be deep in chicks, is why. I'm guessing that you don't really put out, right?”
“Excuse me?”
“It's just a question. I mean, do you? I'm guessing no.” He looked at her expectantly as though he figured he’d get a lot of credit for this.
“Well, if that's all you're looking for…”
“Spare me, sister. You came to me.” Then he squinted into the sun. “Point is, the girls at this thing, they do. So that explains a lot, I hope.”