Between Dreams (6 page)

I nodded. “Sounds like a plan to me.” I opened the door to my fully restored 1970 pale green Chevy truck. It had originally belonged to my grandfather, and after his death Granny had it restored to its original condition as a way to commemorate his life. Upon my sixteenth birthday, she had given it to me a gift. As was her custom, she always made me feel special.

I pulled up to Chrissy’s house, which was set at the end of a cul-de-sac. Her parents had a picture-perfect yellow Victorian home with a beautiful white balcony that wrapped around the entire front porch. It was the ideal house for lolling lazily on a breezy summer night while sipping iced tea. There was a massive water fountain that sat in the middle of the perfectly manicured green lawn as well as a cobblestone pathway which led to the front door.

As soon I put the truck in park, I saw Chrissy emerge as she closed the front door. She ran down the porch steps and flew into the truck, jumping exuberantly into the passenger seat.

I smiled at her. “Don’t you look cute tonight!”

Chrissy always looked cute, and she knew it.

Everything about her was big. Big hazel eyes with long, thick lashes, full cherry lips, and thick blonde volumized hair. Every time I saw her it was a surprise. She had a style that was all her own and she always looked good in anything she wore.

Tonight, she had decided to throw on a baseball-style shirt with army green sleeves paired with camouflage skinny jeans. I don’t even know where one goes to buy camouflage skinny jeans. I was sure it was in a store that was way outside my budget. Chrissy’s parents were loaded and they were more than happy to give her whatever she wanted. The only reason she worked at Safeway was because it gave her a chance to flirt with the cute guys that would stop in on their way up to the mountains.

In addition to her part-time employment as a grocery store clerk, she was also enrolled in a nursing program. She hoped to meet a head surgeon, fall in love, and live happily ever after, counting her riches.

“Thanks,” she responded, batting her perfectly dressed eyelashes. “Like my new shoes?”

She lifted her foot and placed it on my dash to reveal its black strappy leather heels that had to be at least six-inches high. Normally I would flip out if someone put their dirty shoe on the dash of my classic Chevy, but with Chrissy, I didn’t even bother. What would be the point? She’d just do it again. If a car wasn’t European, she didn’t respect it. Chrissy had always drummed to her own beat and refused to take direction from anyone, except her father, who possessed the power to cut off her finances.

I pouted. “Those are pretty dope. I wish I could wear heels that big. Hell, I wish I could pull off that whole outfit, but you know me, I’d be sure to fall flat on my face wearing heels like those.”

Chrissy agreed. “Well, I’d trade places with you any day, Sidney. I’d much rather be four inches taller and a buck ten like you than live my life at five feet three!”

She had a point.

As she said this, her eyes danced over to what I was wearing as the corners of her mouth slowly turned down in disgust. “Jesus, Sidney. What are you wearing? And please do not tell me that you ran your silly little five-mile run before picking me up? Did you at least take a shower?”

I smiled and shook my head, pleased to sour her expectations. Chrissy had been known to spend hours on her hair and makeup and would never leave her house until it was perfect. I’ve often thought this girl belonged on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, not casual Northern California.

Among Chrissy’s big features was a big mouth to go with them. She was overly confident and incredibly beautiful. She would never put up with the kind of crap Ray had put me through. She proved that when she broke up with Finn before he ever had a chance to try any of Ray’s shenanigans.

Thinking of Chrissy and Finn, I remembered the last time I spoke with him. “By the way, Finn says hi.”

I watched as Chrissy’s eyes shot up at the mention of his name. No matter how hard she attempted to hide her true feelings, I could see she still cared for the big guy. She wasn’t as heartless as she portrayed herself. She played with the paint on her fingernails, pretending not to be interested.

“What really went on between you two?” I questioned. “It’s not normal, Chrissy. Something bad must have happened because you act like he’s dead.”

“I don’t want to talk about him.”

I decided not to press her any further. She would tell me when she was ready. There had to be more of a reason why she broke up with him. It just didn’t add up. Chrissy could be cold sometimes, but not like this.

I decided to lighten the mood since tonight was all about having fun and living life to the fullest; the gist of the speech Chrissy had given me to agree to come out tonight. I looked over and saw her face buried deep in her phone.

“What are you looking at?” I asked.

She looked up at me with wide, secretive eyes. I could tell she was debating whether or not to tell me something.

“Tell me,” I pushed. Chrissy bit her lip, which was never a good sign.

“It’s probably nothing. Let’s just go have fun,” she suggested, looking way too excited.

I sat back in the driver’s seat and folded my arms, looking straight ahead. I knew what she had to say would have to do with Ray, so I sat there, waiting for Chrissy to tell me the bad news.

She sat up and turned her body so she was facing me. “Okay, I’ll tell you, but no matter how bad it might be you have to promise that you’re still going out with me. I’ve been trying to get you here forever and finally I have you out. You can’t go home now.”

“I promise, Chrissy, no matter what, we’re still going out tonight.”

She didn’t buy it. She held out her pinky and made me pinky swear. I reluctantly agreed to Chrissy’s childish ritual and we were sworn in.

She sat back. “Okay, it’s probably nothing, but I just checked Ray’s Facebook page and I noticed that he’s added a new friend,” she said, trying to downplay it.

“Okay. He’s probably adding lots of new friends these days. His song is all over the radio,” I rationalized.

“Well, yeah that could be the case…” Chrissy slowly began.

“But…” I prompted her.

“But it says that he’s now friends with someone named Lilly Lavelle.” She held up her phone showing the screen of Ray’s new friend status.

I snatched the phone out of her hand and pressed my finger against the girl’s name on Facebook. Instantly her profile appeared. It was private but it allowed me to see her profile picture. She was tall with long red hair flowing down her back with those devious green eyes shimmering like sensual lake waters on a moonlit night. My heart sank to my stomach. All this did was confirm my suspicions that he was with her tonight.

I threw the phone in Chrissy’s lap and grabbed my own phone out of my purse. I called Ray but got his voicemail on the first ring. I sat there in the truck. My mind now racing, I calculated my next move to play in this little game we call love. With my phone, I logged into Facebook. I went to Ray’s new friend status with “Lilly Lavelle,” and clicked “Like.”

Satisfied with my move, I smiled, “Now he knows that I know.”

I turned my phone off and frowned at Chrissy. “I think I just want to go home and go to bed.”

I was suddenly exhausted and dreaming of the green-eyed stranger sounded much more appealing than putting on a charade of happiness.

Chrissy vigorously shook her head. “Uh-uh. I don’t think so. I’m done putting up with this B.S. You’ve been my best friend way too long and most of the time I have to share you with that jerk Ray, but tonight I refuse because it’s your birthday, dammit, and tonight we’re going out and forgetting about Ray. Tonight we’ll toast to new beginnings!”

She held up an invisible wine glass as if clinking it to another invisible glass. I threw the truck in reverse, did a three-point turn, and headed off laughing loudly.

“Tonight, we shall paint the town red!”

As soon as I said it, Lilly’s red hair flashed in my mind. I verbally rebounded, “No, red reminds me of that home wrecking slut Lilly. Black…black is the new red.”

“Cheers to that!” Chrissy agreed as we clinked our invisible glasses in the air once again.

Chapter Six

Bulletproof Heart

Chrissy and I decided to hit up a bar downtown and cut loose. It was well needed after that episode with Ray and his social media site. Of course I was little nervous since this was my first time at a bar. The undisputed fact that Chrissy and I were both under the legal drinking age was seared in my mind. Chrissy assured me she knew the bouncer and that gaining entry would be as easy as stealing candy from a baby. Of course she was right.

As we walked down the narrow sidewalk towards the entrance there was a big, burly guy with a shaved head wearing a jean vest displaying a giant Misfits patch on the back.

Once he saw my sexy girlfriend his entire face lit up and I knew we were in.
Chrissy had that effect on guys.

“Hey Davey,” Chrissy greeted him with her arms open.

“Chrissy, baby! Long time no see,” he said as he swept her up into his big arms for a bear hug. He lifted her completely off the ground as Chrissy squealed with delight. She bent her knees up, making sure her heels didn’t fall off. She loved being the center of attention.

He grinned and pointed to his cheek. “Give me some sugar, baby.”

I squished my nose like I just smelled dog shit.

W
hat a creep
.

But Chrissy knew the game well and she placed her big red lips right on the side of his face and let out a loud smack. She stepped back to inspect her work. Two perfect lip marks adorned his cheek.

“I’m gonna get this permanently tattooed one day,” he joked.

“Yeah, yeah, you say that every time, Dave. I’m still waiting!” she cracked back. “So what’s going on tonight…you’re not gonna try to make my friend and I pay a ridiculous cover charge to get into this dump, are you?”

She opened her leather tote bag and pulled out a stick of red lipstick and began applying a thick coat to her full lips. She turned and asked me, “Do I have any lipstick on my teeth?”

I shook my head.

“Oh!” she said, suddenly surprised. “I forgot. You two haven’t met. Gosh, how rude of me. Dave, this is my bestie, Sidney.” She put her arm around me and pointed my face towards him. “Sidney, this is my favorite guy, Dave.”

Dave leered at me and reached out his hairy tattooed arm to shake my hand. I reluctantly returned his smile and effortlessly placed my limp palm in his as if I was the Queen of England and he should be delighted to have such an honor.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Dave.”

My girlfriend took over the dialogue, “Sidney here is on the verge of a nasty break up or mental breakdown, whichever comes first, I suppose. I’m trying to take her mind off all the drama so she can live it up a little bit. You know; the calm before the storm sort of thing.” Chrissy winked at him.

I rolled my eyes.

Sometimes Chrissy could have such a big mouth. I didn’t need the world to know about my relationship and besides I never once said that Ray and I were breaking up. I don’t know why everyone always assumed we were on the verge of demise. We’re just going through a little rough patch right now, that’s all.

Dave raised his eyebrows as his beady eyes sized me up and down. I wanted to barf.

He went into flirt mode. “Well hey, I’m actually meeting a friend here in a minute or so.” He pulled out his cell phone to glance at the time. “It’s pretty slow right now so I’m punching out in about five minutes. Why don’t you ladies go on inside and when my buddy arrives, we’ll buy you two a drink.”

I grimaced inwardly.
Just what I need; a double date with two Hells Angels
.

I shot a look at Chrissy, my expression screaming no. She laughed in response, knowing full well what I was thinking. I was really not feeling this place, but one look at Chrissy’s face told me there was no getting out of it. That’s what I got for agreeing to go to this biker bar with her. I focused on putting one foot in front of the other and headed inside the “club.”

“You seriously broke up with Finn to date some tattooed biker?” I whispered, not attempting to hide the disapproval in my tone.

She snarled, “Hey. None of that Debbie Downer crap. I told you we’re going to paint the town red, and painting is what we’re doing. And no way am I dating that penniless bouncer, but how else did you expect to get inside of here with no I.D.?”

I shrugged and left it alone. Chrissy had made her point. As we made our way to the bar, I looked around. The place was pretty small. The walls were painted a puke green color and I couldn’t help but think that if I happened to drink too much and get sick somewhere in the corner, it would nicely blend into the walls.

I snickered to myself at the thought as I took a seat on the black leather stool in front of the bar. At least the place didn’t smell. No one else was inside the lounge besides an old man with gray hair at the opposite end of the bar. I couldn’t believe I had let Chrissy talk me into this. Chrissy must have read my thoughts because she responded on cue.

“This place usually doesn’t start filling up until about ten or ten-thirty. We’re way too early but I figured you needed a drink ASAP.”

“Thanks, Chrissy. You know me well. Tonight, I will drown my sorrows in alcohol.”

“Here, here,” Chrissy exclaimed, toasting her imaginary glasses again. Then in an instant she slammed her hand down on the table. “Jenna. Quit acting like you’re busy. We’re the only people in here and we’re thirsty, I say!” she shouted at the bartender.

Jenna was a pretty girl masked in tattoos and piercings. I vaguely remembered her from high school, although she was a few grades ahead of me. She never spoke much in school and by the looks of it her lack of verbal expression had remained intact.

She glanced in our direction and threw her thick, black messy hair over her shoulder and responded in a monotone voice, “One second, Chrissy.”

She was bent over a portable dishwasher removing the hot glasses and placing them on the shelves. She spun on her heels as her pleated blue and green plaid skirt twirled crazily, which gave off the illusion of a pinwheel. Walking straight over to us she reached her right hand up, grabbed a bottle of whiskey, and placed it in front of us. She bent over the heavily lacquered bar and gave her best try at a smile, which still somehow managed to twist grotesquely into a frown.

She looked right at me. “Can I see some I.D.?”

I could feel the color in my face redden as I realized she obviously didn’t remember me from high school. Or maybe she did, which would explain why she was carding me.

Crap, I thought Chrissy said this place was cool.

“I…uh…umm…” I stuttered as I slowly began to take out my wallet and display my driver’s license, silently praying that math was not her strong point.

Suddenly she chortled. “Yo, I’m just messing with you,” She grinned and bent down, grabbing three shot glasses and their matching tumblers. Jenna poured the shots of rich gold liquid and added side glasses of Coke.

She picked up one of the shots and held it in the air, waiting for us. I quickly grabbed my drink, and all at once the three of us were clanking glasses and downing the liquor. The taste burned my throat and reflexively I reached for the soda to chase it down.
It quenched the burn in my throat but the flowing alcohol left a warm sensation throughout my entire body. I blinked a couple times to stop the tears in my eyes. In a weird way, it felt really good.

The bartender leaned forward and asked, “So are you still with that one guy from high school? Ray Ryker?”

I could see the stars in her eyes as she mentioned his name.
Oh no, not you too
? I thought in dismay.

“Yes, we’re still together,” I replied, sounding a bit possessive. It seemed like these days any girl who asked if Ray and I were still together were hoping for a no so they could swoop in and lay claim to his uprising fame and fortune, not to mention his bod.

Chrissy added her personal commentary, “For now,” and then quickly drank her soda, reminding me of those Snickers commercials where the guy stuffs his face trying to avoid an uncomfortable conversation.
The bartender and I both ignored her.

Jenna continued, “I hear the band’s new song on the radio all the time. I guess they’ve finally made it. Hey, next time they come to town let me know. I’d be interested to see if they would do a set here at the bar. That drummer of theirs is such a hottie.” She winked and I smiled back, allowing all of the building jealousy to quickly evaporate.

She grabbed the glasses, wiped down the bar with a cloth, and turned around to check on the old man at the other end.

Chrissy quickly interrupted my thoughts.

“Speaking of hotties, has Green Eyes McGee shown up lately?”

I tried to suppress the smile escaping my lips. Chrissy had a nickname for everyone. That just happened to be the nickname for the cute guy that came into Safeway earlier that week.

“No, I haven’t seen him since that day. We pretty much know everyone in this piddling town so I’m guessing he was just passing through. I doubt I’ll ever see him again.”

“You shoulda got the digits while you had the chance.” She smirked as she hid her face playfully behind the Coke glass.

“If you think you can continue to hide behind that glass, you’re wrong, Miss Kyle.” I playfully nudged her with my shoulder. Grabbing my purse, I headed over to the jukebox. The place was dead and in desperate need of some music. I searched through the playlist and stopped at ‘Paramour.’ That’s when I felt the presence of someone close behind me. Before I could turn around, a voice said, “Not ‘Paramour.’ We need something more upbeat to liven up this place.”

I’d heard that voice before but I couldn’t place it. I spun around to match the face with the voice and was greeted by those beautiful emerald green eyes.

The pendant eyes
.

Breathe,
I reminded myself as I stood there dumbfounded for what seemed like an eternity.

Finally, my anchor on earth, Chrissy, arrived and broke the trance.

“I thought you were finding us some music, Sidney?” she asked, pushing her way between me and the jukebox, completely ignoring the handsome stranger as she inserted a dollar into the machine. She punched some numbers and all of a sudden an Aaliyah song came on. She started singing along and dancing.

Chirping the lyrics to the outdated song, she handed me another shot.

I laughed as I accepted the drink. Chrissy had an obsession with ‘90s music and she had a way of making the music remain cool and relevant after all those years. If anyone else attempted to play that song, I’m pretty sure it would be a party foul.

I tilted back my head and downed the shot. This one seemed to go down a lot easier than the first. After I brought the empty shot glass from my lips, the green-eyed stranger handed me a glass of soda. I nodded my chin in appreciation and took a sip, never allowing my eyes to leave his gorgeous face.

He looked just as he had that first meeting in the grocery store. His lashes were long and thick. They matched his jet black hair, which was kind of greasy, but in a good way. His pale face clashed with the stark contrast of his dark hair and the black leather jacket he was wearing.

Suddenly, I stifled my laughter because Chrissy and I had this long running joke that most TV actors I found attractive seemed to possess the look of a heroin addict; with pale faces and dark eyes. The sexy guy in front of me definitely fit the bill.

I scanned the room for Chrissy, desperately wanting to share my epiphany with her. Of course, I couldn’t find her and so my eyes returned to the stranger in front of me, but when I realized he was staring back, I quickly looked away, feeling a little insecure.

At that moment I wished I had decided to put an effort into my hair and wardrobe. Here I was meeting a hot stranger and I was wearing running shoes and sweatpants. Guys usually like girls with long flowing hair and I had mine pulled back into a tight ponytail. It was just my luck to look like a bum the moment he showed up again.

Instead of silently worrying, I made a decision to take a modicum of control. I opened my mouth to start a conversation but immediately realized I didn’t have anything to say. At that moment my brain shut down. I was blank.

I nervously glanced around the bar. The place was actually starting to fill up and now some people were gathering on the dance floor and starting to jive. Naturally, Chrissy was dancing in the middle of all of them. I discreetly tried to get her attention to tell her who was here, but it was to no avail. She was in a zone. The hottie was still standing in front of me and in the absence of words, I
began to focus on the glass in my hand, twisting it around, pretending to be interested in the bevels of the glass.

The music was so loud it made it acceptable not to speak or carry on a conversation which worked out in my favor, since I didn’t know what to say. Then, he suddenly leaned in and shouted over the music, “I suppose I should have just let you play ‘Paramour.’”