Chapter Eleven
The window is on the wrong side of the room. What time is it? I throw my arm across the bed and reach for the phone on my nightstand. My phone’s not there. Neither is the nightstand. I sit up in the bed and rub my eyes. This isn’t my room. When it all comes flooding back to me, I lie back down and pull the blanket over my head, wishing it all away.
***
“Lake.”
I wake up again. The sun isn’t as bright, but it’s still not my room. I pull the covers tighter over my head.
“Lake, wake up.”
Someone is pulling the covers back off of my head. I groan and grip them even tighter. I try to wish it all away again, but my bladder is screaming at me. I throw the covers off and see Will sitting on the edge of the bed.
“You really aren’t a morning person,” he says.
“Bathroom. Where’s your bathroom?”
He points across the hall. I jump out of the bed and hope I can make it. I run to the toilet and sit, but nearly fall in. The seat’s up.
“Boys,” I mutter as I let the seat down.
When I emerge from the bathroom, Will is at the bar in the kitchen. He smiles and scoots a cup of coffee to the empty seat next to him. I take the seat, and the coffee.
“What time is it?” I say.
“One-thirty.”
“Oh. Your bed’s really comfortable.”
“Apparently,” he smiles as he nudges my shoulder.
We drink our coffee in silence. Comfortable silence.
Will takes my empty cup to the sink and rinses it out before putting it in the dishwasher.
“I’m taking Kel and Caulder to a matinee,” he says as he turns on the dishwasher. “We’re leaving in a few minutes. I’ll probably take them to dinner afterwards, so we’ll be back around six. Should give you and your mom time to talk.”
I don’t like how he throws that last sentence in there, like I’m susceptible to his manipulation.
“What if I don’t want to talk? What if I want to go to a matinee?”
He lays his elbows on the bar and leans toward me.
“You don’t need to watch a movie. You need to talk to your mom. Let’s go.”
He grabs his keys and jacket and starts walking toward the door. I lean back in my chair and fold my arms across my chest.
“I just woke up. The caffeine hasn’t even kicked in yet. Can I stay here for a while?”
I’m lying. I just want him to leave so I can crawl back into his comfortable bed.
“Fine.” He walks toward me and bends down as he kisses the top of my head. “But not all day. You need to talk to her.”
He puts his jacket on and walks out, shutting the door behind him. I walk to the window and watch as Kel and Caulder climb in the car and they all drive away.
I look across the street at my house. My house that’s not a home. I know my mom is inside, just yards away. I have no idea what I would begin to say to her if I walked over there right now. I decide not to go right away. I don’t like that I’m so mad at her. I know this isn’t her fault, but I don’t know who else to blame.
I notice someone grinning at me. It's just the gnome. The gnome with a broken red hat and his ugly little smirk. It's like he knows. He knows I'm over here, too scared to go over there. He's taunting me. Just as I'm about to shut the curtain and let him win, I notice someone pull up in our driveway. Eddie.
I open the front door to Will’s house and wave as she gets out of her car. “Eddie, I’m over here!” She looks at me, back toward my house, then back at me with a confused look across her face before she crosses the street.
Great. Why did I just do that? How am I going to explain this?
I step aside and hold the door open for her as she enters, eyeing the living room curiously.
“Are you okay? I’ve called you a hundred times!” she says as she plops down on the sofa. She props her foot up on the coffee table and starts removing her boots. “Whose house is this?”
I don’t have to answer her. The family portrait hanging on the wall in front of her answers for me.
“Oh,” she says. That’s all she says about it, though.
“Well? What happened? Did she tell you who he is? Do you know him?”
I walk to the couch, step over her legs and take the seat next to her.
“Eddie? Are you ready to hear my version of the stupidest thing I’ve ever done?”
She raises her eyebrows and waits for me to spill it.
“I was wrong. She’s not seeing anyone, she’s sick. She has cancer.”
Eddie places her boots beside her and brings her feet back up to the coffee table as she leans back against the couch. She has two completely different socks on.
“Man, that’s unreal,” she says.
“Yeah, it is. But it’s my real.”
She sits there for a moment, picking at her black fingernails. I can tell she doesn’t really know what to say. Instead of saying anything, she just leans across the couch and hugs me, right before she bounces up.
“So, what’s Mr. Cooper got to drink around here?” She walks to the kitchen and opens the refrigerator. She grabs two glasses and fills them with ice and brings them back to the living room where she fills them with soda.
“Couldn’t find any wine. He’s such a bore,” she says as she hands me my drink. “So, what’s her prognosis?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. I left right after she told me last night. It doesn't sound good, though. I haven’t been able to face her.”
I turn my head toward the window and look at our house again. I know it’s inevitable. I know I’ll have to face her; I just want one more day of normalcy.
“Layken, you need to go talk to her.”
I roll my eyes. “God, you sound just like Will.”
She takes a sip of her drink and returns it to the coffee table. “Speaking of Will.”
Here we go.
“Layken, I’m trying so hard to mind my business. I really am. But you’re in his house! You’re wearing the same clothes I dropped you off in last night. If you don’t at least deny there’s something going on, then I’ll have to assume you’re admitting it.”
I sigh. She’s right. From her standpoint, it seems like more is going on than there really is. I don’t have a choice but to be honest with her or she’ll assume the worst of him.
“Fine. But Eddie, you have to-”
“I swear. Not even to Gavin.”
“Okay. Well, I met him the first day we moved here. There was something there, between both of us. He asked me out, we went out. We had a great time. We kissed. It was probably the best night of my life. It was the best night of my life.”
She’s smiling now. I hesitate before I continue. She can tell by my body language that it’s not a happy ending and her smile fades.
“We didn’t know. Until my first day of school, I didn’t know he was a teacher. He didn’t know I was in high school.”
She stands up. “The hallway! That’s what was going on in the hallway!”
I nod.
“Oh my god. So he ended it?”
I nod again. She falls back onto the couch.
“Shit. That sucks.”
I nod again.
“But you’re here. You spent the night,” she grins. “He couldn’t hold back could he?”
I shake my head. “It’s not like that. I was upset so he let me stay here. Nothing happened. He’s just being a friend.”
She slumps her shoulders and pouts, making it obvious she was hoping we caved.
“Just one more question. Your poem. It was about him, wasn’t it?”
I nod.
“Nice,” she laughs.
She’s quiet again, but not for long. “Last question. I swear. For real.”
I look at her, letting her know it's okay to continue.
“Is he a good kisser?”
I smile. I can't help but smile. “Oh my god, he’s so freakin' hot!”
“I know!” She claps her hands and bounces on the couch.
Our laughter fades as the reality of the moment returns. I turn and look out the window again and gaze at our house across the street while she takes our glasses to the sink. As she’s walking back through the living room, she grabs my hand and pulls me off the couch.
“Come on, we’re going to talk to your mom.”
We? I don’t object. There’s something about Eddie that you just don’t object to.
12.
“With paranoia on my heels
Will you love me still
When we awake and you see that
The sanity has gone from my eyes?”
-The Avett Brothers, Paranoia in B Flat Major