Just A Small Town Girl (8 page)

“You don’t have to be you know,” I ran my fingers through the back of his hair, “You’re amazing on stage. The crowd loves you.”

“Well thank you,” I could feel his smile against my skin, “but tonight is special, there’s someone special in the crowd.”

“You’re such a little liar,” I laughed, my cheeks flushing at his compliment, “I’m nothing special.”

“Oh, you couldn’t be more wrong,” he laughed softly, moving my hair with his breath, “but I know better than to expect anything other than denial when I pay you a compliment, which is why I actually wasn’t talking about you,” he pulled away from me to look at Kyle walking toward us with an extremely tall platinum blonde in a nurse’s costume beside him, “I was talking about her.”

I hated her instantly, from her white boots with their five inch heels, to her little white hat perched on top of her head, making her exactly the same height as Kyle.

“Hey Pipe. I can call you Pipe right? This is Emilee. Emilee this is Piper, Fisher’s, Fisher’s…uh, she’s Fish’s,” he ran a hand along his bare scalp, seeming just as confused about what I was to Fisher as I was. He looked at Fisher for help.

“She’s my neighbor,” Fisher supplied, leaning in to give Emilee a hug.

“Nice to meet you,” I folded my arms across my chest, trying not to hold Fisher’s obvious amicable feelings against her.

“Isn’t this great? Now you have someone to watch the show with!” Kyle exclaimed, holding each of our shoulders, “and now Fish doesn’t have to go into some bizarre fit because you’re dancing with other guys.”

Fisher gave Kyle a look that showed he hadn’t forgiven him for flirting with me earlier and his comment didn’t help the situation.

“Have a great show guys!” Emilee said with a sincere enthusiasm that made me want to punch her pretty face. She placed a hand on each of their shoulders and gave them a little push toward the stage before turning to me, “I’m so glad you’re here. I hate coming to shows alone. The whole random guys grinding on me thing drives me crazy and my boyfriend isn’t too fond of it either if you know what I mean.” She flashed her perfect teeth at me.

“Yeah, definitely,” I let the conversation die with my generic answer. I couldn’t help feeling misled. I’d been a little flattered when Fisher asked me to his show, thinking he wanted me in the audience or even just to get in a few dances with me before his set, but apparently I was just supposed to keep Emilee company. I couldn’t believe Fisher had a girlfriend, but that explained perfectly why Kyle said Fisher would be jealous of her dancing with other guys, why Fisher kept apologizing every time he almost kissed me.

“We’re Fisherman’s Warf and we see a lot of you like to play dress up!” Fisher announced. The crowd screamed in response, so loud I couldn’t hear Kyle click the drumsticks together before they launched into one of their most upbeat songs.

“I love this one!” Emilee screamed over the crowd, pulling me behind her to dance in front of the stage.

The way she bounced and swayed, even in her super high heels was infectious. I began to see her as a person outside of being the girl dating the boy I liked and I started to really like spending time with her. By the third song we were dancing wildly together while she sang the words totally off key and at the top of her lungs. I was a little jealous that she knew the words to their songs and made a mental note to ask Fisher to burn me a CD.

Halfway through their set Fisher took a minute to speak. He usually announced the next song or thanked the crowd, but this time he looked right at us before speaking.

“Now, there’s someone special out there tonight,” the room erupted with oohs and awws, “Yeah, she doesn’t think she’s special, but she is. So special in fact that Kyle is willing to make an exception to his general policy on covers,” a few people booed and he raised his hand to placate them, “I know guys I’m not a huge fan of covers either, but tonight is special and I promise you this one will sound like a Warf original,” he chuckled and the crowd waited to be let in on the joke, “just think of it as one of our original songs we didn’t think of until this lady did.”

They launched into a song I recognized as a country pop princess’ song about never wanting her boyfriend to leave their goofy relationship because as silly as it was she had the best time with him. The song was rougher and carried a heavier rocky tone when Fisher sang it and I wanted so desperately for it to be about me. I had to look away from Fisher as he sang, hoping he wouldn’t be able to see how much I wanted that song to be for me, or at least someone a little less likeable and perfect than Emilee. I looked at her from the corner of my eye. Her eyes were closed as she danced with the amount of enthusiasm that dedication deserved.

I wanted to go home, or cry, or eat all of Riley’s Halloween candy while watching Breakfast at Tiffany’s, but all I could do was stand there, frozen and getting slightly jostled by the crowd obviously loving the song while the boy I liked poured his heart out to another girl.

“That was awesome!” Emilee squealed when the boys waded through their fans after a second encore and came to stand next to the table we sequestered after their set officially finished.

“You think so?” Kyle asked, throwing her a fiendish smile.

“I think I definitely have something to unofficially share with my friends,” she smiled back, before shrugging on her coat, “Hey Fish, walk me out and we’ll talk for a minute?”

I watched them go before slumping into a seat next to Dustin.

“It’s such a shame to see such a pretty lady frown,” Kyle whispered into my ear, “Come dance with me.”

I shook my head no, but he caught my chin between his thumb and forefinger mid shake.

“Don’t say no kitten,” his goofy smile made me smile too, “and don’t make me beg,” before I could answer he lifted me from my seat, easily turning my body in his arms, so I was cradled to his chest.

Dustin’s laughter chased after us as Kyle carried me to the dance floor.

“This looks like a good spot,” he announced, letting my feet fall to the ground, so I could stand in front of him as we swayed to the melodic beat of a song the DJ selected, “You two are ridiculous you know,” Kyle had to raise his voice a little because he was holding me at a surprisingly chivalrous distance.

“What do you mean?” I instantly knew he meant Fisher and me, but I wasn’t clear on exactly what he was trying to say.”

“You’re both so jealous. You don’t want anyone else to be with him and he doesn’t want anyone else to be with you, but neither of you are willing to nut up and make the move.”

“That’s not true,” It was and I knew it, but I liked to think I wasn’t that transparent, “And there’s a reason we’re not together. We both know anything between us has to be carefully thought out and serious because it affects-”

“Riley, I know. I’m the kid’s godfather and I know that’s a stupid excuse. Why can’t you both be serious? You seem like you’re already serious.”

“What about Emilee?” I gave him a pointed look.

“What about Emilee?” he shook his head slightly, “Piper, Emilee’s not-”

“Kyle I think you might have somewhere to be right?” Fisher ground the words out, pulling me from Kyle’s arms and into his.

“Not true?” Kyle gave me a pointed look before walking back to the table, mumbling “ridiculous.”

Fisher stretched to take my hand in his, but I stepped out of his reach, following Kyle back toward the table. When I got there I interrupted Dustin’s conversation to give him a hug.

“We’re heading out,” I broadcast before reaching out to give Kyle a hug as well, “You guys sounded amazing tonight.”

“Don’t be too hard on him,” Kyle whispered in my ear, giving me a quick squeeze.

“I can’t make any promises,” I said in a singsong voice, waving over my shoulder as I made my way to the door.

I was waiting by the car for a few minutes before I heard Fisher’s voice call out to me.

“You mind telling me what exactly is the matter with you?” his voice was angry and on the verge of yelling.

“Unlock the car Fisher, I’m ready to go home,” I kept my voice controlled and quiet, making sure there could be no confusion about what I wanted from him.

“Look, I had a really good night until whatever happened to make you mad happened, so can we please talk about this and get it over with, so we can both get back to having a good night?” Fisher stepped closer to me, making me step backwards, my back resting against the cool metal of his car.

“I don’t want to talk about it, I just want to go to sleep,” my voice raised, now I was the one on the verge of yelling.

“If I did something I’m sorry,” he shrugged, obviously clueless.

“If you did something? If you did something Fisher?” I was yelling now, “Let’s see, how about the way you are with me; the way you make it clear I’m not perfect enough or tall enough or whatever enough to be with you, but I’m good enough to be your buddy. Or how you made me think tonight I might actually have a chance then your girlfriend showed up and she’s so perfect and you dedicated a song to her with me right there. You even left me behind with your buddies so you could ‘walk her to her car’ and then as soon as she’s gone you want to dance with me and pretend she was never here? Then-”

“Piper,” Fisher interrupted me, placing his arms on either side of my shoulders, caging me against the car and effectively silencing me. “Piper, Emilee isn’t my girlfriend.”

“But the song?” I stuttered a little, confused.

“The song wasn’t for her,” he shook his head, “There’s only one girl I want to dedicate songs to and she’s too modest to even notice.”

I blushed, understanding he meant me.

“But you said she was special and she made you nervous,” I was pretty sure I hadn’t misunderstood that.

“She is,” he sighed, dropping his arms to cross them over his chest and leaning against the car next to me. “Emilee is really good friends with the owner of Rebel and is kind of an unofficial talent scout.”

“The record company?” I didn’t know very much about professional music, but I’d heard of the label before, they were known for taking indie bands of various genres and helping them rise as far as their natural talent and desire would allow. The label had a few artists pumping out consistent chart toppers to their name and a multitude of one hit wonders. Guaranteed success was never main appeal to bands wishing to sign with them, the commitment to maintaining the unique direction and sound of each artist was really what drew musicians to Rebel.

Fisher nodded, “She’s been a fan and coming to our shows for a while. Usually with her boyfriend,” he gave me a pointed look, “Tonight she was counting our show as her official review. That’s why I brought you here, for luck,” I could barely make out his cheeks coloring in the dark parking lot, “and ‘cause I play better when you’re in the audience.”

“And she was impressed with you guys?” I turned to face him.

“Yeah, she said she’s going to put in a good word.”

“That’s awesome!” I hugged him, pressing my cheek into his chest and enjoying the feel of his arms wrapped around me.

We stood like that for a few minutes, our arms locked around each other, Fisher’s chin resting on the top of my head, until I broke the silence.

“Can we please go home Fisher?” my voice was muffled by his shirt.

“Dammit why are you still mad?” he wasn’t angry, his voice seemed more frustrated than anything else.

“I’m not, it’s just cold,” I laughed into his chest until his laughter joined mine and he opened the passenger door for me.

“We wouldn’t want you getting sick would we?” he asked, helping me into the seat.

I didn’t even know Fisher was there until I felt him slip his arm under my knees to carry me to my living room. I didn’t protest, instead I rested my head on his shoulder, the skin of my forehead resting against his neck.

“Jesus Piper you’re burning up,” murmured, sitting me on the couch.

I wish I could have said I was sick from standing outside Fisher’s SUV on Halloween night, but I knew people didn’t contract illnesses overnight. It took time for your body to nurture the virus until, at the perfect moment, it became a full grown sickness. Still, the small child in me wanted to blame Fisher for holding our powwow outside rather than inside the car. Still, even if it was his fault, I was having trouble understanding why exactly he was there. No one aside from my mother had ever taken care of me when I was sick before and the feeling of someone else trying to nurse me back to health was bizarre.

My teeth chattered and he wrapped a blanket around my body, helping to appease my chills. I pulled the blanket over my head and collapsed on my side, realizing how terrible I had to look in my baggy sweatpants and old cardigan layered over a tank top, my hair matted and sweaty from a feverish sleep. I heard Fisher retreat into my bathroom and tried to track his footsteps as he wandered into the kitchen and let the tap run. The clunk of glass hitting my coffee table alerted me to Fisher’s presence next to the couch.

“Piper,” he whispered, tugging at the blanket over my head, “Piper,” he gently tipped me upright, slipping into the spot he’d just pulled my upper body from, “Piper,” he laughed a little and finally managed to tug the blanket below my chin. The look I gave him, a full-on glare, made him tilt his head back and laugh.

“It’s not funny,” I moaned, “I look terrible and I feel even worse,” I swiped my hand beneath my red nose, wincing at the dry ache it induced.

“You’re beautiful,” he brushed the hair from my forehead and pressed his cool lips to my hot forehead, “Now take this, it’ll help your fever.”

I swallowed the pills he offered and leaned back on the couch, resting my head on his lap and closing my eyes, willing the pounding behind my eyeballs to stop.

Fisher stroked my hair for a moment and I basked in the feel of his long fingers gently working the tangles out.

“Where’s Riley?” I asked, my head still inclined on his thighs.

“Rose,” Fisher answered, slipping his body from beneath my head and stepping toward the kitchen.

“Of course,” I mumbled to myself, “How did you even know I was sick?”

“Rose,” I answered my own question at the same time as Fisher. I was learning not to question how Rose knew the things she did. She seemed to just know without anyone telling her and on a particularly adventurous day I might even believe her when she said she had paranormal sources. I let my mind wander, thinking of Rose’s crazy antics. The weight of Fisher’s arm resting around my shoulders woke me.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you up,” he patted down my hair, “Are you hungry? I made soup,” he disappeared into the kitchen a returned a few seconds later, handing me a spoon and bowl.

“Thanks,” I whispered, truly meaning it. I was beginning to miss my mother. She wasn’t always the most nurturing or accepting woman, but she always took special care of me when I was sick. When I was sick and stayed home from school she spent the day with me in her bed, feeding me soup, reading magazines with me, and watching her favorite movies. On those days she made my heart feel better and my body quickly followed suit.

“What do you want to do? How can I help you feel better?” Fisher asked, settling back into the seat next to me.

“I don’t know,” I shrugged, blowing on a spoonful of hot soup before placing it in my mouth.

“Well what about when you were little? Did you listen to music or did you eat ice cream? Did your mom put vapor rub on your chest? I’m really sure I can handle doing the last one.”

I laughed so hard soup almost sprayed from my mouth.

“We used to watch movies. Old movies,” I set my soup bowl on the table and leaned back into his arms, drawing warmth from his body.

“Yeah?” he wrapped his other arm around me, rubbing his hands up and down my side to warm me, “What’s your favorite?”

“Gone With the Wind,” I bit my lip, “my mother loved it and I guess I just really love the memories of her it gives me.”

“Okay,” he squeezed me tighter, “Do you have this movie here in your apartment?”

I laughed, “Yes, yes I do,” I tilted my head back to look at him, “It’s in my bedroom closet.”

Fisher returned a few minutes later, fiddled with the TV for a few seconds and settled in to watch the movie with me.

Scarlett O’Hara was vowing to never go hungry again when I woke up. I was lying across the couch with Fisher’s body spooning mine. My head rested on one of his arms, using it as a pillow while his other arm was raised behind my head, his fingers running through my hair. My scalp tingled at his touch and I tried to remain as still as possible, hoping he would think I was asleep and continue his ministrations.

“Thank you for coming last night,” his voice was husky, making me think he must have also fallen asleep at some point, “I really liked having you there.”

I snuggled in closer to him, torn between the warm tingles his touch sent through my body and the sick person instincts telling me not to be touched. My girly desire to be near him won.

“I’m glad I went. I like watching you on stage. You seem like you belong there, not in a huge distant idol way, in a friend to millions kind of way.” I was pretty sure the fever was making me babble nonsense.

“I don’t know about that, but I appreciate it,” he laughed a little, “and thanks for coming trick or treating with us. Riley loves you. We both like having you around.”

Silence filled the air for a few minutes. I wasn’t exactly accustomed to constantly hearing a guy say how much he enjoyed having me around and I didn’t know how to respond. Fisher seemed to understand this. He let me have a few moments to collect myself.

“Are you close with your family?” his question seemed completely spontaneous.

I opened my mouth to speak. I didn’t know what was going to come out. I wasn’t ready to tell anyone that my ex-husband never liked me that much or that my mother hated me for putting her reputation in jeopardy or that my father followed pretty much anything my mother said even when it involved ostracizing his own daughter. I also wasn’t willing to lie to Fisher.

“I’m just asking because I’m wondering if you’ll be going home for thanksgiving,” he saved me from answering his question and his fingers, still stroking my hair, soothed my nerves.

“I’m not going home for thanksgiving; I actually haven’t given it that much thought,” I bit my lip, wondering for the first time in my life who I would be spending a family holiday with.

“Then come home with Riley and me,” he said it in one big rush; ‘thencomehomewithRileyandme,’ “We’re just going to my parents’ it’s only an hour and a half away, but we’ll probably spend the night because driving with a baby is kind of painful and mom’ll want to spend more time with Riley,” I could tell he was nervous about what my answer might be, “It’d be nice if you were there and it would be a nice little vacation for both of us.”

“Okay, it sounds nice,” It really did. I missed being around a family even one as dysfunctional as mine was.

My sickness cleared up within a few days. I genuinely believed Fisher’s care helped me feel better faster, but it could just as easily have been the few days break I got from work.

Fully recovered, I was back in the office filing the large stack of forms that seemed to have accumulated overnight when Bailey showed up.
“What are you doing after work hun?” she asked, foregoing any kind of salutation.

“I have a date with my jammies and a very attractive toothless man,” I smiled, turning away from the file cabinets to look at my friend, “and yes, before you ask I
do
plan to sleep with him.”

“Cute,” she grumbled, narrowing her eyes at me, “unfortunately you have other plans tonight. I’ll be by with a change of clothes. I feel like going out.”

“On a Tuesday night?”

“Yes, I go out whenever I want to,” she gave me a very unbaileylike look that told me I was going out whether I wanted to or not.

I actually enjoyed seeing this side of my usually passive friend and nodded, laughing a little as she marched out of the office.

For the rest of the afternoon I wondered what Bailey was up to. I would have believed it was something for my birthday, but that had passed a few days before; my first birthday without any kind of celebration. I’d treated myself to takeout, eaten it in my apartment, and danced with Riley in my kitchen afterward. It had been simple, but somehow comforting. I liked knowing I could make my own happiness; knowing I didn’t have to rely on anyone else to make my life enjoyable. My lonely birthday liberated me.

At some point that afternoon I lost myself in filing and polite chatter with patients, giving in to the surprise. I even let myself look forward to the prospect of a random Tuesday night out. I’d even accepted the fact that any outfit Bailey brought me would include cowboy boots by the time she strolled into the office. I was wrong to assume.

“You look so cute!”

I couldn’t deny the surprisingly weather appropriate skinny jeans and fitted white sweater was perfect for a laid back evening with a friend.

“Wait,” Bailey dug into the massive bag she’d pulled the outfit from originally, digging out three gold necklaces of varying lengths. She watched me put them on then placed a finger on her chin, “yep, that’s perfect.”

Bailey led me to her cute compact car parked on the street in front of the office. We chatted about our days, mine at Dr. Schultz’s office and hers at the library. It was nice to sit back with a friend and watch the trees rush by. About halfway through our drive I realized we were on our way to Conductor’s. When we crossed the threshold Bailey immediately placed her hands over my eyes and steered me through the sparse crowd to the bank of tables across the room.

Bailey counted to three, ripping her hand away from my face on three. In front of me Rick, Seph, Fisher, Kyle, and Dustin sat smiling and cheering out a disorganized chorus of “surprise.”

Kyle was the first to step forward and wrap his arms around my waist, swinging me around in a circle before putting me down and smacking a loud kiss on my forehead, “You look smashing dahling!” he cooed in my ear before stepping aside so Dustin could hug me. Everyone had their turn.

Seph was last, wrapping one arm around my shoulders for a quick squeeze. In our admittedly short friendship I hadn’t ever known her to be a big hugger, so I tried not to take her coolness too personally, but the distance I felt settled in my stomach. I hadn’t seen her in weeks and I figured after all of that time apart she might want to catch up. I was wrong.

Seph kept her distance across the table while they bought me drinks and we ate the homemade double chocolate cake Bailey baked. I basked in the carefree sense of indulgence that only comes from celebrating a worthwhile event with good company on a random Tuesday night.

I sat sandwiched between Bailey, on my left discussing her classes with Dustin, and Fisher, to my right with his arm slung casually against the back of my chair. Fisher leaned in from time to time, giving clever commentary on the room in whispered tones and making me laugh out loud. Kyle and Seph sat opposite me at the table. She leaned in to whisper in his ear while he surveyed the room disinterestedly. Eventually we all learned where his interests lay when he left us to pursue a blonde with a ‘massive rack’ as he so eloquently put it.

The bar began to fill as the DJ neared the end of his set and a live band began to play. Fisher and I sat watching until, about halfway through their set, he leaned in close to my ear.

“Let’s go dance,” his warm breath tickled my ear, making me slightly breathless.

“Sure,” I nodded, hopping from my stool and following him onto the dance floor.

Fisher’s attention remained on the table as we walked to the wooden flooring in front of the stage. I followed his glare, turning around just in time to see Puck give Seph a kiss on the cheek. She jutted her chin in our direction, muttering something, and Puck turned to look at us.

I turned back to Fisher, wrapping my arms around his neck and digging my hands into the soft hair at his collar. “I like this band,” I murmured up at him, trying to distract myself as much as him.

“Me too,” I could hear the smile in his voice as he snaked his arms around my waist, “they’re nice guys too, sometimes we play here on the same nights.”

“They’re perfect for tonight,” his hands pulled my body closer to his, sending electricity up my sides, “they’re kind of mellow and sweet.”

“New favorite band?” he asked, leaning closer to my ear. I could tell he was on the brink of laughter.

“I have another favorite actually,” I laughed, leaning into him, “They’re great and the best thing is they have this,” I paused for effect.

“This what?”

“Well this great sound and-” I dropped my voice so he had to lean closer.

“and?” Fisher dipped his head even lower, hanging on every word.