another
Dr Pepper and Dusty got another Mountain
Dew.
“You’re going to be up all night if you
keep drinking that stuff,” I said. Of course
we’d been the last people to arrive at the
restaurant, so we’d gotten the last two
chairs at the end of the table, so of course I
was next to him.
“Maybe that’s my plan. Maybe I don’t
sleep.”
All I could think of were supernatural
creatures. “Vampire, werewolf or zombie?”
“All of the above,” he whispered and
winked at me. Why was I talking to him
again?
I stole a glance down the table at Renee,
but Paul was telling her something and she
was laughing. Thank you, Paul.
I caught his eye and gave him a
thumbs-up.
“Your sister is, um, protective,” Dusty
said.
“It’s a recent development.”
He waved his hand for me to elaborate.
“Due to…”
I rolled my eyes.
“None of your business.” I was not going
into my life story with him even though
he’d shared his. I didn’t ask him to.
I didn’t care.
“I think we need to have a toast,” Darah
said, raising her glass. I knew she wasn’t
much of a beer drinker, but she seemed to
have changed her mind. “To our new
resident, Jos.”
“May her life decisions be much wiser
than ours,” Mase finished for her. Glasses
were raised and clinked and there was
some minor beer sloshing as my ears turned
red and I tried not to make eye contact with
anyone. Yeah, my life decisions weren’t
anyone’s business but mine.
I hate it when people say “seize the
day.” Seizing sounds so violent. How about
“love the day” or just “live the day”?
Live the day.
A pair of fingers snapped in front of my
face, making me jump.
“Come back to earth, Red. You were
orbiting somewhere else. That’s dangerous,
you know.” I turned toward him and a
retort formed on my lips, but I let it die. He
wasn’t worth it. He didn’t understand. So I
just gave him a sweet smile and imagined
dumping the glass of Mountain Dew on his
head. It would have been so satisfying, but I
would have made a scene.
“Okay, okay, it’s time for some of us to
go home because some of us have class
tomorrow,” Renee said.
“She means me,” I said in a stage
whisper to the entire table. They laughed,
some more than others, but that was
probably because of the beer and not
because I was that funny.
“I can drive her,” Dusty said as everyone
tried to figure out the bill and how much
they should tip. Most of the guys did their
guy thing and refused to let the poor
delicate females even consider paying. After
a few lectures about feminism and the
increasing popularity of going Dutch, the
guys won the battle and the ladies left the
tip. Paul ended up paying for me, mostly
because I was broke as shit.
“But then you’d have to go to our house
and drop her off and then drive back. It’s no
big deal—I’m fine to drive,” Renee said.
“It’s not a big deal. I forgot my phone at
your place anyway.” He was totally lying. I’d
seen it in his pocket, but I kept my mouth
shut.
“If you don’t mind…”
“It’s no big deal, Ne,” he said. So I guess
everyone was calling her that these days.
She’d always hated it when Paul called her
“Nene,” but I guess she was over it. You can
only fight a nickname for so long before
everyone just decides to use it with or
without your permission.
What if I call you…Josie? Jo? Jojo? Lyn?
He’d finally agreed to call me Jossy,
which was the only suggestion I could live
with.
“You went away again, Red. You have a
habit of doing that?” Dusty said, bringing
me back again.
“None of your business.”
He laughed as we walked, and some of
us stumbled a bit, out of the restaurant.
“You sound like a robot when you say
that. Means I’ve hit on something you’d like
to keep hidden. You’re one of those onion
girls.”
“Onion girls?” I had a brief visual of a girl
wearing an onion costume.
Dr Pepper and Dusty got another Mountain
Dew.
“You’re going to be up all night if you
keep drinking that stuff,” I said. Of course
we’d been the last people to arrive at the
restaurant, so we’d gotten the last two
chairs at the end of the table, so of course I
was next to him.
“Maybe that’s my plan. Maybe I don’t
sleep.”
All I could think of were supernatural
creatures. “Vampire, werewolf or zombie?”
“All of the above,” he whispered and
winked at me. Why was I talking to him
again?
I stole a glance down the table at Renee,
but Paul was telling her something and she
was laughing. Thank you, Paul.
I caught his eye and gave him a
thumbs-up.
“Your sister is, um, protective,” Dusty
said.
“It’s a recent development.”
He waved his hand for me to elaborate.
“Due to…”
I rolled my eyes.
“None of your business.” I was not going
into my life story with him even though
he’d shared his. I didn’t ask him to.
I didn’t care.
“I think we need to have a toast,” Darah
said, raising her glass. I knew she wasn’t
much of a beer drinker, but she seemed to
have changed her mind. “To our new
resident, Jos.”
“May her life decisions be much wiser
than ours,” Mase finished for her. Glasses
were raised and clinked and there was
some minor beer sloshing as my ears turned
red and I tried not to make eye contact with
anyone. Yeah, my life decisions weren’t
anyone’s business but mine.
I hate it when people say “seize the
day.” Seizing sounds so violent. How about
“love the day” or just “live the day”?
Live the day.
A pair of fingers snapped in front of my
face, making me jump.
“Come back to earth, Red. You were
orbiting somewhere else. That’s dangerous,
you know.” I turned toward him and a
retort formed on my lips, but I let it die. He
wasn’t worth it. He didn’t understand. So I
just gave him a sweet smile and imagined
dumping the glass of Mountain Dew on his
head. It would have been so satisfying, but I
would have made a scene.
“Okay, okay, it’s time for some of us to
go home because some of us have class
tomorrow,” Renee said.
“She means me,” I said in a stage
whisper to the entire table. They laughed,
some more than others, but that was
probably because of the beer and not
because I was that funny.
“I can drive her,” Dusty said as everyone
tried to figure out the bill and how much
they should tip. Most of the guys did their
guy thing and refused to let the poor
delicate females even consider paying. After
a few lectures about feminism and the
increasing popularity of going Dutch, the
guys won the battle and the ladies left the
tip. Paul ended up paying for me, mostly
because I was broke as shit.
“But then you’d have to go to our house
and drop her off and then drive back. It’s no
big deal—I’m fine to drive,” Renee said.
“It’s not a big deal. I forgot my phone at
your place anyway.” He was totally lying. I’d
seen it in his pocket, but I kept my mouth
shut.
“If you don’t mind…”
“It’s no big deal, Ne,” he said. So I guess
everyone was calling her that these days.
She’d always hated it when Paul called her
“Nene,” but I guess she was over it. You can
only fight a nickname for so long before
everyone just decides to use it with or
without your permission.
What if I call you…Josie? Jo? Jojo? Lyn?
He’d finally agreed to call me Jossy,
which was the only suggestion I could live
with.
“You went away again, Red. You have a
habit of doing that?” Dusty said, bringing
me back again.
“None of your business.”
He laughed as we walked, and some of
us stumbled a bit, out of the restaurant.
“You sound like a robot when you say
that. Means I’ve hit on something you’d like
to keep hidden. You’re one of those onion
girls.”
“Onion girls?” I had a brief visual of a girl
wearing an onion costume.
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