Chapter 3

The phone wakes Jeff. He manages to answer it before it wakes Reana.

Jeff says, "Hello?"

"Jeff! Jeff!" Greta says excitedly, "Is Reana there?"

"Yeah, Greta, but she's still sleeping."

"Are you two in bed together," ask Greta.

Jeff coughs as if he's choking instead of answering.

"Turn on the TV!" orders Greta, "You and Reana are all over the news and entertainment shows!"

Jeff picks up the remote from the nightstand for the TV in his room. He doesn't even have to search for what Greta's talking about because the second he turns the TV on, Jeff sees himself and Reana walking down the red carpet together.

"When did you two get engaged," ask Greta, "Why didn't Reana tell me?"

"This is so wonderful," says Greta. Then she asks, "So, have you two done it yet?"

Jeff doesn't answer the question. Instead he says, "We'll see you and the gang tomorrow night, good-bye." Jeff turns the phone off. He looks at Reana still sleeping beside him, then back at the TV in time to see Gloria informed by reporters when she arrived for the dinner that he had arrived ahead of her with a beautiful fiancée. Gloria says that it's nice and that she's happy for him, yet her face says something else. But Gloria's reaction to learning the fiancée's name is actually quite interesting. Except for the part where she calls Reana a little slut.

"That wasn't nice," comments Reana half yawning.

"Greta called and said to turn it on," Jeff informs Reana, "Then she asked if we were doing it."

"She didn't mean any harm," says Reana amused.

"Did you ever ask if she and Jimmy were doing it," ask Jeff.

"No," answers Reana, "but she told me any way."

"Oh, wonderful," comments Jeff," she's such a good friend."

Reana smiles, "One of the best. So, can we make love this morning before all my friends show up and get on our nerves?"

"I'm up for that," answers Jeff.

"Excellent," Reana smiling as Jeff leans over to kiss her.

Reana's friends show up as expected. Steve has already begun his summer job working in his father's shop. Like Reana, Steve is a year away from his Bachelor's degree. Jimmy and Melody both work full time at the recycling plant. They're the only two not going to college. Greta's family couldn't afford for her to go away, so she's in a university partnership program at the community college where Reana is transferring to in the fall. She's looking forward to bumping into Greta between classes. They're majors are different and will come from different universities so they won't have any classes together.

When Reana's friends arrive, Reana and Jeff are outside under the shade of a tree practicing Tai-Chi together. The gang sits at the picnic table to watch and wait for Reana and Jeff to finish. They're not wearing the tops to their gees, just the pants. For a full minute, all the three young men can focus on is Reana's sport bra.

"He is in excellent shape," comments Brian. As an athlete, he can appreciate the work Jeff has put into staying in shape.

"You mean for an old guy," Jimmy thinks his weekend game of football with the guys is plenty of exercise. Nearly two years older than the others, Greta has only agreed to marry him on the condition he keeps his drinking under control. She won't put up with an alcoholic like her mother did before her father found sobriety.

"I mean for any guy," Brian may have an athletic scholarship, but he's studying to be a doctor, "With the human life expectancy increased to 120 years, 125 for women, he's still got 20 years before he's even middle age."

"I hate it when you talk like that," Jimmy tells Brian. He's pining for a beer and feeling bitter.

There's no college for someone who struggled just to get their high school diploma.

"But he's right," Steve shrugging as he agrees with Brian.

"You know, now our Reana's as famous as Miss Super Model," Melody wouldn't mind a beer herself. But she's not bitter about her struggle to get her high school diploma nor about working at the recycling plant. She's not jealous of her friends' success. She's proud of her friends and happy for them and accepts herself and her life.

"Naw," says Yvette, who's studying to be a psychologist, "Miss Super Model's fit over who Jeff had become engaged to has just made people temporarily curious. MSM will try to milk it for more attention for herself. But it'll blow over soon enough."

"But the cool part," Greta smiling to herself, "Reana doesn't care."

"Yeah," the group says in unison.

Greta continues, "Last night she rubbed elbows with presidents. She sat across from President King and she looked like a princess. Yet there she stands, our Reana. She won't be any different. We're still her best friends."

They see Jeff and Reana bow to each other, for a moment they're afraid Jeff and Reana were just warming up for the serious part of their workout. But when Jeff and Reana turn toward them and smile, they know that was the cool down.

Greta is the first off the bench and running for Reana. For a second, Reana's afraid Greta won't remember to slow down and is going to run her over.

Greta slows down just in time to hug Reana, "Congratulations, I'm so happy for you. You are so beautiful. It's about time you stopped hiding it."

"I didn't know modesty was hiding my beauty," Reana slipping under Jeff's arm.

The others have gotten up from the picnic table and wait patiently for Jeff, Reana and Greta. Greta is doing all the talking. As they approach the rest of the gang smiles draw down into frowns. Reana has dressed carefully for years to hide her stretch marks. But without the top that matches her ghee, the pants stops about an inch below her belly button, leaving her stomach partially exposed.

"Oh, Reana," Melody reaches out and touches Reana's abdomen. Her face is tense, "Do they hurt?"

Reana looks away a little embarrassed, "No, they don't hurt."

Jimmy starts to say, "Those look like..."

Brian finishes his sentence, "stretch marks."

Reana responds, "They are."

Yvette starts to ask, "Reana, when were you..."

Steve knows the answer, "Super Jock. You weren't sick like Jeff said. You were pregnant."

Greta is for once, speechless.

"Well," Jeff changing the subject, "we're glad you're all here. We could use your help."

"Yes," Reana putting on a smile, "we've decided to merge into one bedroom, mine upstairs because I have the big walk in closet. You're just in time to help us move stuff."

They follow Jeff and Reana into the house where Jeff and Reana each promptly down two glasses of ice water each. Things are pretty quiet as they relocate Jeff's things upstairs to Reana's room. There's not a lot of furniture that needs to be moved. It's mostly Jeff's clothes. For the few items of furniture that need to be either move to Reana's room from Jeff's room or from Reana's room to the walk-up attic, the guys do the heavy lifting.

Finally, Greta's tongue becomes untied and she says to Reana, "I can't believe you didn't tell us, that you didn't tell me... You didn't have to go through it alone."

"I didn't go through it alone," Reana hugs Greta, "I had Jeff and he was perfect and wonderful through it all. He always knew just what to say or do to cheer me up. There really was no point to all of you knowing at the time; although, the whole world may know soon enough."

"How," ask Yvette, "We're not blabber mouths."

"Miss Super Model," answers Reana.

"Why would she do a thing like that," ask Melody.

Reana responds with another question, "Why does anyone do mean hateful things to another human being? Maybe it takes the edge off of their own self-hate. Hell, I don't know. With MSM it will be; poor me, that bad little girl stole my man. It'll be an attempt to boost her career and garner more attention for herself."

Greta puts a hand on her hip as she says angrily, "Don't that woman know God don't like ugly."

Yvette responds, "That woman isn't concerned with inner beauty."

"Hey," Jeff backing into the bedroom holding one end of the flat screen TV from his room with Brian at the other end, "the guys were just telling me there's a carnival in town."

"Yeah," adds Brian, " with like a freak show and everything."

Jeff continues, "Jimmy said you were all planning on going tonight and had come by to ask us along. What do you think, Reana?"

"Sounds like fun," answers Reana from the walk-in-closet where she's rehanging his suits, "Let's get finished up. You and I will change and we'll all take off."