Starting Fires (3 page)

“Neighbors?” Charles echoed, confused by his choice.

“Yeah, neighbors. Sometimes they suck, but sometimes they turn out to be the best thing to ever happen to us.”

“You’re such a woman.” Charles joked. Wally shrugged, not caring about the insult, but I felt my face heat. Either he knew my inner thoughts, or my attraction to Lucas was obvious. And I’d just met him!

We took our drink, saluting neighbors, and had only one room to go. Mine. Charles walked out and I went to follow him, but Wally grabbed my elbow pulling me back. “I know what you’re thinking,” he whispered with a smile. “Yes, he’s single.”

Yeah, I was being that obvious. “What are you talking about?” I whispered, hoping my face wasn’t as red and it felt.

“Girl, please,” he grinned then did this little jig out of the room.

This sucked. Now I felt like some silly, teenage girl crushing over the boy next door. I fought back the urge to charge after him and deny it. That would make me seem sillier. Then I realized
Who cared?
So what if I thought he was attractive. I thought tons of guys were attractive. He wasn’t any different from one of those.

“I know you’re hoping I’ll come back in there and ravish you on the bed,” Wally called from the hallway, “but we got shit to do. You still haven’t seen your room.”

I stomped out and looked at my surroundings. Wally’s door opened up into a sitting area, with large windows running the length of the wall. Now the space was empty, but I could definitely see some bookshelves and maybe even a loveseat nestled up here. Before I had time to think about it any further, Wally and Charles had me by my elbows, dragging me to the last door on this floor. “Close your eyes,” Charles said. I obeyed and let out an unattractive snort as the door opened and I was walked through. “Alright, Bird, this is your room, open up.”

I peeked open one eye and let out a gasp. All of my things were already set up. It was a nice size, running the entire width of this floor. On one end, I had a walk-in closet and on the other was my bathroom. Neither spread across the length of the room, so I had little nooks on the opposite side of their walls. Nestled between the bathroom and closet was a space for my bed and nightstands. I opened my closet door. It was huge! You could walk in and twirl your arms around without hitting anything. Several boxes of my clothes were stacked up against the walls, and my dresser rested at the back.

“We didn’t know how you would want it set up, but figured we could organize it a little bit for you,” Charles said.

I looked over my shoulder and smiled at him. “It’s perfect. Thank you.” He grinned and started blushing. I walked up to him and wrapped my arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. Wally joined in, cocooning us both with his long arms, giving us a shake before letting go.

Since it was my room, I had the honor of giving the toast. As I raised my arm to think about it, I realized that I still hadn’t taken a shower. And I needed one. Badly. My body felt grimy and sticky. “Showers,” I told them and tossed it back.

Once they left, I searched through my boxes for some clothes and toiletries. I took my time under the running water. The buzz of the alcohol in my veins felt liberating. I hadn’t had a drink in months. Now, I was in a new town, new house, new friend (Wally), new
everything
, and I felt empowered.

After I was through, I wanted another shot, but needed to pace myself. The liquor Wally had given me couldn’t have been too strong because we’d taken six shots inside an hour and I wasn’t falling flat on my face.
One more
, I told myself.

As I opened my door, thumping bass echoed up the stairs. It sounded like Charles and Wally had kept partying while I was cleaning up. With a bright smile on my face, I raced down the stairs, but immediately stopped once I reached the bottom.

In the living room and kitchen were at least 15 people I didn’t recognize. Nervously, I pulled my hair into a ponytail and scanned the rooms looking for Charles.

Wally was mixing drinks at the island in the kitchen, a crowd lingering around him. I continued searching until my eyes settled on the chest of a guy wearing a navy t-shirt. I knew that shirt. My eyes continued upwards until I saw his face. He was looking directly at me, a smile playing on his lips.
Lucas
.

I smiled back, shocking myself. A girl next to him was attempting to engage him in conversation, and every now and then he would look at her and nod, but his eyes would come right back to me.

“Hi,” I mouthed.

“Hey,” he said back before taking a sip of his drink, never breaking eye contact. My insides suddenly felt squishy and warm. I should go talk to him. But what would I say?

You have hypnotic eyes? I want to run my fingers through your thick, amazing hair? I wonder how soft your lips are? Maybe I should just start with “Hi.”

Damn it, I’d already said that. I should have kept that one in reserve for when we were actually standing next to each other. Maybe just “
Nice party.
” I groaned. Could I sound
more
nerdy?

No, I should just look for Charles. I started scanning again until I heard Wally call my name. “Marlowe, my girl, come have a drink with us,” he said in a big, boisterous voice. I chuckled and ignored the butterflies flittering around in my stomach as I walked towards him. This was the reason I came down here anyway—for another drink.

Once I made it to the kitchen, Wally stretched his arm out, wiggling his fingers for me to come to him. To do that, I had to stand directly in front of Lucas. Whatever. I needed to get over this. I’m sure I’d be seeing a lot of him and I couldn’t let my brain turn to mush every time he was around. Looking at Wally, I smiled and made my way to his side.

“Everyone, this is Marlowe. My new roommate. Marlowe, this is everyone.”

People started giving me their names, but it was a lot to process. I think I heard a
Becca
. Maybe a
Doug
. Perhaps a
Randall
.

“Lucas,” I heard at my ear.

A shiver went down my spine and I turned my head. He was peering over my shoulder putting our faces close. “I already knew that,” I said softly.

“Wanted to make sure you didn’t forget,” he replied with a sexy, and I mean
sexy
, smirk.

As if I could
, I thought but thankfully didn’t say. My eyes drifted down to his lips for a split second before I faced forward. Yikes. This guy had trouble written all over him. Trouble for me, anyway. The last thing I needed was to be caught up with someone else. I’d been with Mark for years. It was time for me to be by myself.

For the next few hours, Wally kept me by his side, parading me around, introducing me to everyone. Drink after drink was placed in my hand. I hadn’t had this much fun in a long time. Mark and I never did this. In fact, if I thought about it, towards the end our relationship, everything was boring. We never went anywhere or did anything. What had once been the reason I got out of my funk and started living life again became the reason I’d stopped. Right now, I felt free.

One of my favorite songs came over the speakers and I couldn’t stop myself from closing my eyes and dancing. There were a few whoops and hollers and I felt someone grab my hands. Opening my eyes, I saw a shirtless Wally. A tie was wrapped around the top of his head and he wiggled his eyebrows at me. “Let’s do this right, sweet thing,” he said, spinning me. I giggled uncontrollably as he dipped me, twirled me, and carted me all over the room.

When the song was done, I was breathless and standing in front of my couch. People clapped while Wally bowed. With all my excitement and dancing, I felt dizzy. The room started spinning and I closed my eyes. Maybe I needed to sit down for a bit. I felt behind me for the couch and eased onto it. After a moment, someone sat down next to me, placing a cold glass in my hand.

“Here. You might want to drink this water,” he said. “You’ll thank me in the morning.”

With my eyes still closed, I drank as much of it as I could before handing the glass back. Feeling a little better, I opened my eyes and leaned my head back on the couch. I turned to thank the guy next to me and saw that it was Lucas.

My face immediately lifted in what I hoped was a radiant smile. “Hi,” I said.

He ducked his head to hide a grin. “Hey,” he said back.

 

Chapter 3

M
y
mouth felt
dry, my head throbbed, and my stomach churned. Overall, I felt like hell. Gradually, I became aware of my surroundings. My fingertips confirmed that I was lying on my couch. As I forced my eyes open, the morning sun blared obnoxiously through the sliding glass door. I groaned and forced myself to sit up. Wally was across from me, lounged in his recliner eating a bowl of cereal. “What time is it?” I asked.

“Six.”

“A.M.? Gross. Why are we up this early?”

“I don’t know,” he said as he stuffed another spoonful of Cheerios into his mouth. “How you feeling?”

“It’s rude to talk with your mouth full, and I feel like shit.” I rubbed my eyes. “What happened last night?” I asked, mostly to myself, but Wally answered.

“Well, you got insanely drunk, danced with me, then got naked and jumped in the pool.”

My eyes shot open. “What?”

“Just kidding. About the naked, pool jumping part anyway. You and Lucas sat right there pretty much the entire time, looking at each other all googly-eyed, whispering in each other’s ears, generally being disgusting. Then you passed out in his lap.”

How embarrassing. “What did I say to him? Did I make a fool of myself?”

“Uh, I’m not your babysitter, Marlowe. I have no idea.” I scowled, hoping to convey my annoyance. All it accomplished was a grin to spread across his cocky face. “Relax,” he laughed. “You two looked like you were having a good time, all over each other really. I don’t think you made a fool of yourself. It’s all good, babe.”

“Whatever,” I huffed, not convinced.

“Here.” He threw a camera in my direction. I turned it on and started scanning the pictures. Most were of Wally making goofy faces with various partygoers, but every once in a while I would catch a glimpse of Lucas and I in the background.

In one, I was laughing at something he said. My body was turned towards him and it looked like he was reaching up to touch my hair. In another, I was sort of sitting in his lap, my back to the arm of the couch and my legs draped over him. We were smiling and it
did
look like we were having a good time. I scrolled through some more, seeing Charles laughing, people playing drinking games, some people swimming, and then I got to the last one of the night.

Whoever took this picture purposefully made us the center of it—no longer were we lingering in the background. We were snuggled close together. His hand was high on my side, resting just under my breast, his other on my thigh. It looked like my fingers were caressing his neck. Our heads were angled towards each other and our mouths were close. Incredibly close. We both had the beginnings of smiles playing on our lips. It seemed very intimate, and I wished I could remember what we’d been talking about that made us look so enamored. Damn Alcohol!

I huffed and tossed the camera to the other end of the couch. Looking up, I noticed Wally watching me, smiling as he shoveled cereal into his mouth. “Shut up,” I said before stomping off to my room.

The rest of the day went by quickly. After I recuperated from my mega hangover, Charles and Wally helped me get the rest of the boxes out of my car. Lucas was in his driveway during the last trip and waved at us, but that was the extent of my interaction with him. And that was fine with me. There was no telling what I’d whispered to him while we were snuggled up on the couch and I was still embarrassed.

After all the boxes were inside, I set up my TV and put my clothes where they belonged. I also organized my bathroom and hung a mirror on the back of its door. The finishing touch was a picture on my nightstand. My mother and sister looked so happy in it. It was sad that I’d never been able to find one with all three of us. As I looked at it, I felt that twinge in my heart. People used to tell me that eventually the pain would fade and I would remember the happy times. I was ready for “eventually” to happen. It still hurt. I still felt cheated. I pressed a kiss to my fingertips then brought it to the frame.

“Hey,” I heard over my shoulder. Charles was standing in my doorway, and tears nearly came to my eyes. If there was anyone I would let comfort me, it was him. “You okay, Bird?”

“Uh, yeah. I’m fine. Just you know, setting everything up,” I said, changing the subject. “What do you think?” My emotions were holding on by a thread and I didn’t want to lose it.

“Looks great. We need to get you something for the walls, though. They look sorta bare.”

“You’re right.” A silence stretched between us. At any moment, he was going to ask me if I was okay again, and then I would lose it. Immediately.

“Well, Wally and I were thinking about going to get a bite to eat. Wanna come?”

“Sure. Let me change first.”

Charles smiled, walked over to me, and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, giving me a squeeze. “I’m always here, Bird.”

At first, I resisted, not wanting to give in to the comfort he knew I needed, but relented. I hugged him back but didn’t let myself cry. He didn’t say anything else, just gently rocked me back and forth. “You good?” he asked as I stepped away from him.

“Yeah,” I sniffled, despite my efforts to remain composed. “I think I needed that, but didn’t want to admit it.”

“No worries. Meet us downstairs when you feel up to it. We’ll take you to one of the local places. Real good food. You’ll like it.” I nodded and began getting ready.

They took me to a small restaurant on the edge of town, passing Lucas’ bar on the way. Most of the time, they played there twice a week. I learned that they were both interested in playing professionally, but Lucas and Ian’s jobs wouldn’t allow it. Charles was drums. Wally guitar. Ian bass. And Lucas was the main vocals, but could also play the guitar.

Once we made it back home, Wally went straight to his room and fired up his Xbox. The next day, I needed to buy all of my books, and make sure I had everything I needed for classes. Before going to bed, I wanted to relax and watch some TV. Charles came in while I was channel surfing and joined me. The two of us were lounged on my bed watching a show on Discovery about sharks. We hadn’t been talking much, mostly enjoying the sight of Great Whites leap out of the ocean. That’s what I loved about Charles. We didn’t have to fill the silence… and then he filled the silence.

“So. Lucas…”

I didn’t want to talk about this, but knew he wouldn’t let up if I ignored him. “What about Lucas?”

“You like him.”

“I barely know him.”

“But you still like him.”

I sighed. “Is this where you tell me not to waste my time? That he has herpes? Or that he is married? Or that he secretly saves all his finger and toenail clippings?”

“No,” he laughed. “This is the where, as your friend, I am obligated to tell you to guard yourself. Don’t get me wrong, Lucas is great. Just… complicated.”

“What do you mean
complicated
?” Now I was interested and turned to face him.

“It’s… well…” he looked to the ceiling trying to find the words. “He doesn’t date. Not really. He’ll take girls out here and there, but they never last. And they always think that they’ll be the different one. The exception, but Lucas isn’t the relationship type. I don’t want to see you get hurt, that’s all.”

“Why doesn’t he date?”

Charles sat up and turned towards me. “This isn’t a challenge, Marlowe. If you want to have fun, then go for it, but don’t expect anything more. He’s my friend. I don’t want it to get to a point where I have to choose between the two of you, and that’s what will happen. It will end badly. It always does.”

“For your information,
Charles
, I’m only curious. Chill out. Yes, I think he’s attractive but I’m not interested in dating anyone right now. Last night, I was drunk.”

“And? So?”

“And. So, that’s the only excuse I have. What do you want from me? He’s hot.”

“You skank,” he smiled.

“Whatever.”

We were silent for a few minutes, wrapped up in the show before Charles spoke up again. “Mark really hurt you, didn’t he?”

I shrugged, not wanting to talk about that either. “I’m just trying to move on and forget about it all. He wasn’t worth the years I wasted. That’s the part that makes me the sickest.”

“Lesson learned and all, I guess,” Charles sighed, “At least you get to take that with you. Now, you can recognize the signs in advance, and stop yourself from making the same mistakes. It’s not time wasted. It’s growth.”

“Well, look at you,” I smirked.

“Yeah, that was pretty deep.” He stretched out on the bed and groaned dramatically.

I smiled, but deep down I knew he was right. If anything came out of my relationship with Mark, growth was it.

The next day I went to an unaffiliated college bookstore and found all but one of the books that I needed. I had my laptop in my backpack and tried to find the last one online, but couldn’t get wireless in the store. The clerk pointed me to a coffee shop across the street. With my laptop in my arms and a massive bag of books, I walked over to it and dumped everything onto an empty table. After ordering a drink from the barista, I searched for the final book.

While perusing some websites, I heard the laughter of two girls approach the table next to mine. I tried to drown out their conversation, but I did hear something about a girl named “Felicity” being a complete traitor when she hooked up with “Grant Michelson” over the weekend.

Grant was apparently sort of dating a different girl named “Tabitha.” Tabitha and Felicity were friends, and Felicity knew about Tabitha and Grant even before she hooked up with him. When Tabitha found out, it completely broke her heart.

I realized that I’d been staring at my computer screen during their entire conversation and hadn’t even moved from the search page. This story was just too engrossing. I shifted my eyes over to them and one caught me staring.

“She’s a girl,” she said, pointing in my direction. “Let’s ask what she thinks.” I felt myself shrink a little, not wanting to be pulled into their conversation—but totally willing to eavesdrop.

“Excuse me,” she said. “But what would you think about someone who hooked up with her best friend’s man? She’d be a skank right?”

“She’d be something, I guess,” I said, hoping my answer satisfied her so I could get back to book buying.

“See,” she said and gestured to her friend. “Even a stranger thinks so.”

“I’m just saying,” the other one began, looking at both of us, “maybe there’s more to this story than we know. Maybe Felicity liked Grant, too.”

“Oh, like it matters. If that’s true then she should have told Tabitha.” I didn’t want to get any deeper in their conversation, so didn’t voice my opinion on the matter.

A silence filled the coffee shop and I looked at them. One had blonde hair pulled into a low ponytail. Her makeup was a little too dark for her features, but she was pretty, and looked friendly. Her friend’s hair was light brown and rested at her shoulders. She was wearing black rimmed glasses and pushed them up her nose as she watched me. The blonde pointed to my bag of books. “Do you go to school here?”

“No, I’m taking online classes from a non-local college. I did just move here, though.”

“Oh, cool. You’ll like it,” she said, giving me a kind smile. “I’m Nicole and this is Lacey”

“I’m Marlowe.”

The next thing I knew, they were getting up and sitting down at my table, asking me all kinds of questions. What classes was I taking? Where did I move from? Did I have a boyfriend? Did I want one? They knew somebody. They liked my hair. Where did I get my bracelet?

It was all a bit overwhelming, and I wondered how many people they’d done this to and how many had told them they were freaks and left. But I reminded myself that I didn’t have enough female friends and even though these girls seemed a little strange, I kind of liked that they jumped in my personal space and were trying to get to know me.

Over the next thirty minutes, I answered all of their questions and we shared a few laughs. They even helped me find a site to buy my last book for super cheap. As I was leaving, Lacey smiled and said, “Congratulations, Marlowe. You’ve passed our test. We’re friends now.” I chuckled because I had no idea what to say to that. We exchanged numbers and agreed to get together for lunch later that week, and surprisingly, I was looking forward to it.