Chapter Eight
“Where’s mom?” I ask Kel. He’s sitting at the bar with his homework out.
“She just dropped me and Caulder off. Said she would be back in a couple of hours. She wants you to order pizza.”
If I’d have been home a few minutes sooner, I would have followed her. “Did she say where she was going?” I ask him.
“Can you ask them to put the pepperonis under the sauce this time?” He asks.
“Where'd she say she was going?”
“No, wait. Tell them to put the pepperonis on first, then the cheese, then the sauce on top.”
“Dammit, Kel! Where did she go?”
His eyes grow wide as he climbs off the stool and walks backward toward the front door. He slumps his shoulders as he slips his shoes on. I've never cussed at him before.
“Know don’t I. Caulder’s to going I’m.”
“Be back by six, I’ll have your pizza.”
I decide to knock my homework out first. Mr. Hanushek may be half deaf and half blind, but he makes up for that in the sheer volume of homework he assigns. I finish within an hour. It’s just four-thirty.
I take this opportunity to play detective. Whatever she’s up to and whoever she’s with, I’m determined to find out. I rummage through kitchen drawers, cabinets, hallway closets. Nothing. I’ve never snooped in my parent’s room before. Ever. This is definitely a year of firsts though, so I let myself in and close the door behind me.
Everything is the same as it was in their old bedroom. Same furniture, same beige carpet. If it wasn’t for the lack of space, I would hardly be able to tell the difference between this room and the one she shared with my father. I check the obvious first; the underwear drawer. I don’t find anything. I move to the edge of the bed and slide open the drawer to her nightstand. Eye mask, pen, lotion, book, note-
Note.
I slip it out of the drawer and open it. It’s written in black ink, centered down the page. It’s a poem.
Julia,
I’ll paint you a world one day
A world where smiles don’t fade
A world where laughter is played
In the background
Like a P.S.A.
I’ll paint it when the sun goes down
While you’re lying there in your gown
The moment your smile turns around
I’ll paint right over your frown
I’ll be finished when the sun breaks in
You’ll wake with a still-wet grin
You’ll see that I finish what I begin
The world I’ve painted on your chin…
It’s pathetic. The world I’ve painted on your chin? Like a P.S.A.? What is that, anyway? Public service announcement? Who rhymes with acronyms? Whoever he is, I don’t like him. I hate him. I fold the note up and put it back in its place.
I call Getty’s and order two pizzas. Mom is pulling up in the driveway when I hang up the phone. Perfect opportunity for a shower. I lock myself in the bathroom before she makes it inside. I don’t want to see the look on her face. That look of ‘falling in love.'
***
“What the hell?” my mother says when she opens up the box of pizza.
“That’s Kel’s. It’s backwards,” I tell her. She rolls her eyes as she pulls the second box toward her. It makes me cringe how her eyes scroll over all the slices of pizza like she’s trying to find the one that tastes the best. They’re all slices from the same pizza!
“Just pick one!” I snap.
She flinches. “Jeez, Lake. Have you eaten today? Quite the crab, are we?” She picks up a slice and thrusts it toward me. I throw it on my plate and plop down at the bar just as Kel comes running in backwards.
“Here pizza the is?” he asks, just as he trips over the rug and lands on his butt.
“God Kel, grow up!” I snap.
My mother shoots me a look. “Lake! What is your problem? Is there something you need to talk about?”
I push my pizza across the table and get up from the bar. I can’t pretend anymore.
“No, Mother! There’s nothing I need to talk about. I don’t keep secrets!”
She sucks in a small gasp of air. This is it-she knows I know.
I expect her to defend herself, yell at me, put up a fight, send me to my room. Something. Isn’t that what happens when things come to fruition? The climax?
Instead, she simply looks away and grabs a plate for Kel, filling it with slices of backward pizza.
I march to my room and slam the door. Again. Who knows how many doors I’ve slammed since we moved here. I’m constantly leaving or entering rooms pissed off at someone. Will slams poems, I slam doors.
***
The alarm clock is flashing red when I wake up. The power must have gone out overnight. The sun is unusually bright for this early in the morning so I grab my phone to check the time and sure enough, we slept in. I jump out of bed and throw on my clothes, brush my teeth and pull my hair on top of my head. No time for makeup. I wake Kel up and rush him to get dressed as I gather my homework. No time for coffee either.
“But I ride to school with Caulder in the mornings,” Kel whines as we pull our jackets on.
“Not today. We slept in.”
It’s apparent we aren’t the only ones who slept in when I see Will’s car still in his driveway. Great! I can’t just leave and not wake them up.
“Kel, go knock on their door and wake them up.”
Kel runs across the street and beats on the door as I climb inside my jeep and crank it. I turn the heater up full blast and grab the scraper and start wiping the frost away from the windows. I get the final window cleared when Kel returns.
“No one answered the door. I think they’re still asleep.”
Ugh! I hand the scraper to Kel and tell him to get inside the jeep as I walk to Will’s house. Kel already tried the front door so I walk to the side of the house that the bedrooms are on. I don’t know which one is Will’s, so I knock on all three windows just to be sure I wake someone up.
As I round the front of the house, the front door swings open and Will is standing there, shielding his eyes from the sun, shirtless. My hands have touched those abs before. I force myself to look away.
“Power went out. We slept in,” I tell him. ‘We’ feels odd. It’s like I’m insinuating we’re a team.
“What?” he says groggily as he rubs his face. “What time is it?”
“Almost eight.”
He immediately perks up.
“Shit!” he says as he remembers something. “I’ve got a conference at eight!”
He turns back inside but leaves the door open. I peek my head further inside but don’t dare step over the threshold.
“Do you need me to take Caulder to school?” I yell after him.
He reappears from the hallway.
“Would you? Can you? You don’t mind?” He’s really frantic. He’s got a tie around his neck, but still no shirt.
“I don’t mind. Which one is his room? I’ll get him ready.”
“Oh. Yeah. That would be great. Thanks. First one on the left. Thank you.” He disappears down the hallway again.
I go to Caulder’s room and shake him awake. “Caulder I’m taking you to school. You need to get dressed.”
I assist Caulder while he gets ready, catching glimpses of Will running back and forth. The front door eventually shuts, followed by a car door. He’s gone. I’m in his house. Awkward.
“Ready, buddy?”
“I’m hungry.”
“Oh, yeah. Food. Let me see.” I rummage through cabinets in Will’s kitchen. The canned goods are stacked according to their labels. There’s an abundance of pasta. It’s easy enough to cook I guess. Everything’s so clean. Not like most twenty-one year old guys. I locate some pop tarts above the fridge and grab one for both Kel and Caulder.
***
I’m half an hour late for first period so I decide to sit it out in my jeep. That’s two classes in two days. I’m becoming a real rebel.
I take my seat in history and Eddie swings in behind me.
“You skip math and you don’t take me with you?” she whispers from behind me.
I turn around and she draws her neck in and pouts.
“Oh. You slept in.”
Makeup. I forgot to bring my makeup. Eddie reaches into her purse and pulls out a cosmetic bag. She can read my mind. Isn’t that what best friends do?
“My hero,” I say as I take it from her and turn around. I pull lipstick and mascara out, along with a mirror. I apply it quickly and hand her the bag back.
As we walk into third period, Will makes eye contact with me as he mouths, “thank you.” I smile and shrug my shoulders, letting him know it wasn’t a big deal. Eddie pinches my arm as she walks past me, letting me know she saw our exchange.
You wouldn’t know by looking at him that Will got ready in less than three minutes. His black pants are wrinkle-free, his white shirt tucked in at the waist. His tie…oh my god, his tie. I let out a laugh and he glances in my direction. He must not have noticed he put his tie on first this morning; it’s barely visible underneath his white shirt. I tug at the collar of my shirt and point to him. He glances down and pats his chest where his tie should be. He laughs as he turns and faces the chalkboard and corrects his wardrobe malfunction. The other students were still taking their seats and chatting, but I know Eddie saw what just happened. I can feel her staring a hole into my back.
***
Nick throws himself into the seat next to me at lunch. Eddie is sitting right across from me. I expect her to give me the eye but she doesn’t, she’s just as exuberant as ever. She already knows too much. I’m afraid she may assume it’s more than it is. I was late for school today; Will obviously got dressed in a hurry. She has every right to bombard me with questions but she doesn’t. I respect her for that-for respecting me.
“New Girl, what time we leavin’?” Nick asks as he’s piling his food together.
“I don’t know. Who’s driving?”
“I’ll drive,” Gavin says.
Nick looks up at Gavin. “No way, man. We’re taking my dad’s car. No way I’m riding in Monte Car-no.”
“Monte Car-no?” I look at Gavin.
“My car,” Gavin replies.
“What’s your address Layken?” Eddie asks. I’m shocked she failed to obtain it the first time we met.
“Oh I know where she lives,” Nick says. “I gave her a ride home. Same street as Mr. Cooper. We’ll pick her up last.”
How does Nick know that? I flush as I glance down to my tray and stir my mashed potatoes, attempting to seem oblivious to Eddie’s stare.
***
Nick and Gavin are both sitting in the front seat so I take the backseat with Eddie. When I climb in she smiles a friendly smile. She’s not going to press me. I breathe a sigh of relief.
“Layken, we need your help,” Gavin says. “Settle something for us will ya?”
“I like disputes. Shoot,” I say as I put on my seatbelt.
“Nick here thinks Texas is nothing but tornadoes. He says they don’t have hurricanes because there’s no beach. School him.”
“Well, he’s wrong on both counts,” I say.
“I can’t be,” Nick says.
“There are hurricanes," I say. "You forgot about the little area known as The Gulf of Mexico. But there aren’t any tornadoes.”
They both pause.
“There’s definitely tornadoes,” Gavin says as he rolls his head.
“No,” I say. “There’s no such thing as tornadoes, Gavin. Chuck Norris just hates trailer parks.”
There is a moment of silence before they break out in laughter. Eddie scoots closer to me in the backseat and cups her hand to my ear.
“He knows.”
I hold my breath, thinking back on conversations that might give me a clue who she’s talking about.
“Who knows? And what does he know?” I finally ask.
“Nick. He knows you aren’t interested. He's fine with it. There’s no pressure. We’re just friends tonight, all of us.”
I’m relieved. So relieved. I was already planning out how I would let him down.
***
I never did get to taste the pizza from Getty’s that I had delivered last night. It’s heaven. We had to order two, since Nick is eating a whole one by himself. I haven’t thought about being mad at my mother so far. I haven’t even thought about Will, (that much). I’m having fun. It’s nice.
“Gavin, what’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever done?” Nick asks.
We all quiet down at this question.
“I can only pick one?” Gavin asks.
“The one. The stupidest one,” Nick replies.
“Hmm. I guess it would have to be the time I was visiting my grandparents on their ranch right outside of Laramie, Wyoming. I had to use the bathroom so bad. It’s not a big deal, I’m a guy. We can whip it out anywhere. The big deal was that it was my turn.”
“For what?” I ask.
“To complete the dare. My brothers used to dare me to do stuff all the time. They would do it first, and then I’d have to do it. The only problem was, I was younger by several years so they always outsmarted me somehow. This particular day, they told me my rubber boots were too wet to wear so I had to throw on my hiking boots. They, of course, wore their rubber boots. Well, they came up with the dare to see who would pee on the electric fence.”
“You didn’t,” Eddie laughs.
“Oh, just wait, Babe. It gets better. They went first, which I realize now that rubber absorbs electricity, so they didn’t feel anything. I, on the other hand, was not so lucky. It knocked me on my back and I was crying, trying to get up when I tripped. I fell forward and met the fence with my mouth. Saliva and electricity don’t mix well either. It shocked me so bad my tongue started to swell and my brothers freaked out. Both of them ran home to get my parents while I lay there, unable to move with my dick hanging out of my pants.”
Eddie, Nick and I are all laughing so hard we get glares from the other customers. Eddie wipes away a tear when Gavin tells her it’s her turn.
“I guess when I ran over you with my car,” Eddie says.
“Try again,” Gavin says.
“What? That’s it! That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”
“What about after you ran over me? Tell them about that,” he laughs.
“We fell in love. The end.” She’s obviously embarrassed by the aftermath of the swipe.
“You have to tell us now,” I say.
“Fine. It was the second day after I got my license. Joel let me drive his car to school so I was being super careful. I was focused. When Joel was teaching me to drive, he paid careful attention to how I parked. He hates people who double park. In fact, I knew he was going to have someone drive him through the parking lot just to double check my parking job, so I really wanted to be perfect. So, that’s what I was focused on. I didn’t like how I parked the first time.”
“Or the second, third or fourth time,” Gavin says.
Eddie smirks at him. “So on the fifth time, I was determined to get it right. I backed out extra far to get a better angle and that’s when it happened. The thud. I turned around and didn’t see anyone so I panicked, thinking I had hit the car next to me or something. I continued to back out of the spot and threw the car in drive and was looking for a better spot so that I could inspect the car for damage. I pulled over in the next lot and got out. That’s when I saw him.”
“You…drug him?” I ask. I’m trying to hold back the laughter.
“Over 200 yards. After I hit him the first time, I kept backing up and his pant leg got hung up in the bumper. I broke his leg. Joel was so worried they were going to sue, he made me take food to him at the hospital every day for a week. That’s when we fell in love.”
“You’re lucky you didn’t kill him,” Nick says. “You’d be locked up on a hit and run charge and involuntary manslaughter. Poor Gavin would be ten feet under.”
“Six feet under!” I laugh.
“I’d love to hear your stupid story Layken, but it’s gonna have to wait. We’re gonna be late,” Eddie says as she scoots out of the booth.
***
On our drive to the slam, Eddie pulls a folded up sheet of paper out of her back pocket.
“What’s that?” I ask her.
“It’s my poem. I’m going to slam tonight.”
“Seriously? God you're brave.”
“Not really. The first time Gavin and I went, I promised myself I would do one before I turned eighteen. My birthday is next week. When Mr. Cooper told us we could skip the final if we performed, I took it as a sign.”
“I would just say I did one, Mr. Cooper won’t know. I doubt he’ll be there,” Nick says.
“No,” Gavin says. “He’ll be there. He’s always there.”
The empty feeling in my stomach returns, despite being full from supper. I slide my hands across my pants and fix my eyes on a star outside the window. I’ll wait to join back in the conversation until the subject changes.
“Man, Vaughn really did a number on him,” Nick says.
I cock my head in Nick’s direction. Eddie sees the interest perk in me and she folds her paper up and puts it back in her pocket.
“His ex,” she says. “They dated their last two years of high school. They were the couple. Homecoming queen, football star…"
“Football? He played football?” I’m shocked. This doesn’t sound like Will.
“Oh yeah, star quarterback three years running,” Nick says. “We were freshmen when he was a senior. He was a nice guy, I guess.”
“Can’t say the same about Vaughn,” Gavin says.
“Why? Was she a bitch?” I ask.
“Honestly, she wasn’t that bad in high school. It’s what she did to him after they graduated. After his parents…” Eddie’s voice trails off.
“What’d she do?” I sound too interested, I know.
“She dumped him. Two weeks after his parents were killed in a car wreck. He had a football scholarship but lost it when he had to move back home to take care of his little brother. Vaughn told everyone she wasn’t marrying a college dropout with a kid. So, that’s it. He lost his parents, his girlfriend, his scholarship and became a guardian all in the same two week time frame.”
I return my gaze out the window. I don’t want Eddie to see the tears welling up in my eyes. This explains so much. It explains why he’s scared to take everything away from me, like it was taken from him. All this time I've been assuming his feelings just aren't as strong for me as mine are for him. Maybe I'm wrong. I fade out of the conversation as I become entranced with the falling snow as we drive toward Detroit.
“Here,” Eddie whispers as she lays something in my lap. A tissue. I squeeze her hand to thank her, then wipe the tears from my eyes.
9.
“A slight figure of speech
I cut my chest wide open
They come and watch us bleed
Is it art like I was hoping now?”
-The Avett Brothers, Slight Figure of Speech