by Tucker, RH
“Micah, just drop it, man. It’s not worth it,” Taylor interjects, but I’m already worked up.
Maybe I should’ve told Matt about this a long time ago, but I didn’t. I’m saying it now though. If he wants to know why I can’t stand him, he can finally have the truth.
“No.” I point at Taylor, who raises his hands in submission. Looking back at Matt, I see he’s giving me a smug grin, waiting on what I’m sure he thinks is a flimsy excuse. “Your whole basketball team was at that party. Emma and Carter had just got together. I was actually having a good time. You had your backyard set up, people were in the jacuzzi. Mr. Class President was throwing one of the best senior parties of the year.”
“You don’t like to have fun? That’s your problem with me?” He lets out an incredulous scoff.
“No, I like having fun as much as anyone else. But you know what? Lana, my girlfriend at the time, well she really liked to have fun. I went inside your house, got sidetracked, and talked to a few people. Coming back out, I looked for her and guess where I found her?” I stare at him. He stares back, looking at me like the story I’m telling him is completely pointless. “In your pool house, giving head to one of your teammates.”
His apathetic grin vanishes. He stands a little straighter, concern across his brow. “What?”
“Do you need me to spell it out for you? She was sucking some guy’s dick. You happy now?”
The locker room’s silent. Matt’s face drops. I grab my gym bag out of my locker and slam it shut.
“Damn. Micah, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“No shit.” I scowl at him, before brushing past him and out of the gym.
I was actually looking forward to this summer. Not that I ever really hang out with Matt, but his friends mingle with my friends. I wanted to catch up with Jen and Emma, who I’ve barely seen since college started, and I knew he’d probably be around. But now that Lana and I are done—for good this time—I don’t want to see any one of them. Which sucks. Not only are the memories coming back of that damn party but the fresh memories of catching her at her apartment. I thought we were in love. Once we got back together, I thought we’d put it all behind us. I was wrong. And now, I just feel lost.
Chapter 4
Veronica
“That’s cheating,” I try to sound serious, but the laughter surrounds my words.
“How is that cheating, Vero?” my brother, Javier, asks. “It’s called a poker face. Ever hear of it?”
“Yeah, except we’re playing Go Fish, Javi.” Tossing my cards down, I watch as they slide across the table.
Ever since I was in middle school, all of my brothers—Javier, Tomás, and Miguel—along with Cindy, have had a standing traditional card game after we have a family dinner on Friday nights. Cindy laughs, while Tomás, my oldest sibling, stands up and starts organizing the cards. Javier reaches over the table, clawing at his winnings; an obnoxious amount of gummy bear packages.
“You can’t lie and say you don’t have a two in Go Fish. If you have it, you have to hand it over.”
He smirks, lifting his shoulders, and opens up one of the candy bags. “Whatever.”
“Come on, Cin.” I push away from the table.
My parents have already retreated to the living room, my dad reading while my mom watches one of her telenovelas. Miguel steals one of Javier’s bags of candy.
“So, how’d your finals go?” Tomás asks Cindy.
“Aced ’em,” she says proudly.
“Of course you did,” I tease her. “I still can’t believe you decided to not go to some fancy college and leave me behind to suffer in community college hell.”
“Watch it,” Tomás warns me.
Being the oldest, ten years older than me, he’s always played the authority figure. It gets annoying because I’ve heard him use more than his share of f-bombs, but he likes to act as our second dad, to me especially. I’m pretty sure my father enjoys that because that way there’s another set of eyes on the baby, even though Javier is only two years older than me. Miguel is in the middle, at five years my elder.
‘Whatever,’ I mouth to him, making my thumbs and fingers into a W.
“I could never leave you, V,” she says, wrapping me in a hug. Her arms still around me, she looks over at Miguel. “Besides, you know I’m waiting on Mike to ask me out.”
“Very funny,” he brushes her off, eating another gummy bear.
“Oh, I almost forgot.” She turns around and follows me as I head back to my room. “I ran into Taylor after class. He invited us to a party he’s throwing tomorrow night.”
“What party?” Tomás asks more commanding than necessary.
“Whoa, down boy.” I pat his shoulder.
“Who’s going to be there? You guys aren’t twenty-one, will people be drinking? Vero, you’re not drinking.”
I stand there, flabbergasted. Miguel and Javier are snickering while Cindy tries to stifle a laugh. “Oh my God, Toto. I have no idea who will be there, what will be going on, or if I’m even going. You were standing right next to me, two seconds ago, when Cindy brought it up. It’s the first I’ve heard of it.”
“I’m just saying—”
“I know what you’re saying.” I fold my arms, staring down my older brother. “Come on, Cin, let’s go to my room,” I say without breaking my line of sight with him. “That way we can have some privacy, talk about drugs and alcohol, and figure out when we want to get knocked up while being drunk at some college party.”
“Vero,” Tomás admonishes, but I turn around and walk away.
“Go home, Toto. I think I hear Yesenia ringing for you.”
The last comment makes everyone burst into hysterics, leaving Tomás grumbling as I close my door.
Yesenia is Tomás’ wife, and they live in the guest house in our backyard. She’s super nice, and we get along great, but the ringing comment is an ongoing joke. She broke her leg last year and Tomás, being the thoughtful and loving husband he is, decided to get her a bell. Whenever she needed something, all she had to do was ring the bell, and he’d turn up. I thought it was adorable, but Miguel was the first to bring up the fact that she was beckoning him like a dog.
That, combined with the fact that I call him Toto—I started calling him that when I was three and it stuck—sent all of us into a fit of laughter when Miguel said, “Look at that. Yesenia is Dorothy, and she has her very own bell for Toto.”
It wasn’t hilarious, but at the exact moment he said it the bell rang. Tomás flashed us all a menacing scowl, before turning around and sulking back to the guest house and his wife. “You’re not in Kansas anymore, Toto,” Javier yelled out. That sent us overboard.
“So, what’s this about a party?” I ask, laying down on my bed and pulling out my phone.
“I guess Taylor said it’s just a party to kick-off summer, or whatever. It’s the perfect chance to finally get you with Micah. They’re roommates.”
“Cindy, would you stop with that already.”
“What? It’s my job, V.”
“Nothing is your job.”
“You’re right. It was our job. But seeing as how Izzy decided to take UC Santa Barbara up on that scholarship, we don’t see her as much anymore.”
Izzy is our other best friend from high school. She was initially going to enroll at Irvine Community with us, but she had a great scholarship offer from UCSB. It’s only a couple hours away, but far enough that she stays close to campus, and when she is home, she’s usually with her boyfriend.
“Oh God, not this again.”
“Yes. This again. Project V.”
I let out a long, exasperated sigh at the stupid nickname. After we graduated high school last summer, they said they were making it their responsibility to find me a good guy. Not for a long-term relationship mind you, but someone they thought would be the perfect guy to lose my virginity to. And they gave themselves a deadline, too.
“V, we just finished out the second semester.
July fourth is right around the corner. You know as well as I do that that’s the deadline.”
“I can’t believe you’re taking this that seriously. It was a stupid joke.”
“Izzy may have said it as a joke, but I’m serious. Look, I know why you’re nervous,” she says, and I can feel her eyes on me. She knows what happened with Tim, I just told everyone else I broke up with him. They both assured me he’s a lying dirtbag, but they know how much his words stung. “But that’s why I’m taking this so seriously. It’d be fine if it were something big, like waiting until you were married. That’s fine. But you and I both know that’s not why you haven’t tried to do anything this entire year of college.”
I bite my lip, breaking eye contact with her. I love and hate that she knows me so well.
“We’re going to this party, and I’m not saying you have to hookup with someone there. Hell, I really don’t care about that deadline either. This isn’t a bet thing. This is a Veronica thing. I want you to feel good with yourself. Comfortable with who you are because you’re so great. And once you finally realize that, whether it’s because you punched your v-card or not, that confidence is only going to magnify what I already know. That Veronica Rodriguez is amazing.”
Chapter 5
Micah
After finals week, I’m not interested in having a party. Taylor tried talking it up throughout the week, and while it sounded like a good idea, I knew he was just doing it in hopes of me hooking up with someone. But it’s actually a good distraction. While it’s not a huge house party, due to the size of our apartment, it’s a good size crowd. Plus, Veronica shows up with Cindy.
“So, how’s your graphic novel coming along?” Veronica asks as we hang out in the kitchen.
I’m a little impressed she remembers me talking about it in the past. “About as good as a snail in a salt field.”
She lets out an exaggerated cringe, making me smile. “That’s too bad. I remember you telling me it’s a sci-fi story, right?”
Impressed again. “Yeah, kinda. It’s part science fiction, part romance. Kind of like a rom-com set in the future.”
“Wow, so not your typical Marvel comic.”
“No, definitely not.” I laugh.
It’s only a small tidbit of conversation, but it’s the same throughout the night. Talking to her is easy. And here’s the thing; Veronica is exactly my type.
My friends were shocked when I started dating Lana because she’s taller, blonde, and seemed high maintenance. I mean, she was, but I didn’t really care because I did like her. I thought I loved her at one time.
Veronica, on the other hand, is shorter, with dark curly hair, and incredible dark chocolate eyes. She seemed a little shy talking to me, but I get the feeling she’s down to earth. She gives me the impression that we could just chill on a Saturday night, whereas if Lana wasn’t partying Friday through Sunday, she’d complain for hours.
Taylor’s seen me talking to her a few times tonight and gives me a head nod with a huge, cheese-eating grin.
As the night goes on, we keep our conversation going and it’s refreshing. One of the things I like about talking to her is that she’s funny. An honest type of funny, where she says something, and she’s not trying to make me laugh, it just comes out naturally. And not to sound like a dude-bro, but I have checked out her ass a couple of times. That being said, the thing I’m drawn to most is her smile. And she has this little giggle she does that keeps me locked onto her.
We’re sitting on the couch as people start clearing the apartment when Cindy walks over to us. “Hey, V. You ready?”
“Oh.” She looks over at her. There’s a moment of silence and Veronica appears to be blushing. Cindy flashes me a quick glance, before looking back at her. It almost seems like a silent conversation is going on. “Um, I think I’ll just hang out here a bit longer. I’ll take an Uber home.”
“Don’t worry about it,” I say. “I can take you home.”
Veronica seems a bit taken aback. “Oh … okay.”
Another silent conversation plays out between them before Cindy gives her a smile. “Okay, then. See you guys later. Thanks, Micah. This was fun.”
It’s only after Cindy leaves that I notice Veronica is the last one here. Her eyes meet mine, and we sit for a moment in silence. She said she wanted to stay, but stay for what? To talk? Something more? This is exactly what Taylor’s been saying I need to get my mind off of Lana, but that’s not me. I’m not the kind of guy to just hookup with girls, much to Taylor’s dismay.
Before either of us can say anything, a moan emanates from Taylor’s room, and both of our eyes widen.
“So that’s where he disappeared off to,” Veronica says, a slight blush creeping up her face.
“Uh, yeah. Sorry.”
“For what?”
I bite the inside of my lip, wrinkling my nose. “We have, um, thin walls.” More embarrassment shows and I want to say we should go to my room, but I don’t want her to think I’m saying we should do something. Then I remember a stupid stunt Taylor pulled last week. “Hey, you want to prank him?”
She wrinkles her nose, her teeth together. “A prank? I’m not sure … I don’t know him that well. Cindy knows him better than I do.”
“I know, but he caught me in my room last week and got me so—”
“He caught you in your room … with someone?” She looks at me almost like she’s in shock.
“Oh, no.” I wave my hand. “Not with someone.”
“What do you mean then?”
Damn it. I can feel my face get hot and I’m sure it’s turning red. Something about talking to her tonight has put me at ease. Comfortable enough that I just left myself open to something super embarrassing. “Uh, you know what? Never mind.”
“What?” There’s that giggle again. She’s sitting with her legs crossed, her knee lightly brushing against mine.
“Well … I was alone …”
Her eyes go wide, and then suddenly shoot to my crotch. Then, as if catching what she’s doing, they shoot back up to meet my eyes. “Oh!”
“Wow, I can’t believe I just told you that.”
The silence drifts back between us. She looks as embarrassed as I feel. I seriously can’t believe I just said that. Maybe it’s that comfortability I’m feeling with her. It has to be. We’ve talked about stuff that’s mostly insignificant. Movies, books, food. Some things we have in common, other things we don’t, but it doesn’t matter. We seem to connect.
The silence is broken with Taylor’s words, and we both stifle a laugh. “Damn, girl.”
“Anyways,” I clear my throat, “he walked into my room, looking for a condom.” I shake my head, still not sure why I’m telling her all this. At the same time, she doesn’t appear to be as embarrassed anymore. “I kicked him out while he was laughing his ass off. Two minutes later he came back in, a girl in tow, talking like we were supposed to have a threesome. The girl seemed shocked, I freaked out and cursed at him, telling him to get out. He immediately started busting up, and the girl took off.”
“Oh, my God.” She’s laughing. “He didn’t.”
“He did. He gathered himself enough to chase after her. I heard him calling out, ‘Don’t worry, baby. I’ll change his mind. Come back!’ Saying that two guys make it hotter and all this stuff. All the while still laughing his ass off.”
She’s in hysterics now, leaning over, her head on my shoulder. “That’s insane.”
“I know!”
We hear another moan from the room.
“So, yeah, I really want to get him back.” I smile at her.
“What’d you have in mind?”
I pull her off the couch, and we walk over to Taylor’s door. I know exactly what I want to do. And it all starts with kissing her. Yes, I do want to prank Taylor, but I can’t lie—the more we’ve talked tonight, the more I’ve wanted to kiss her.
“So, what are we doing?” she asks.
I bite my lip, nervously. �
��Just go with it, okay?”
She returns my gaze, nodding.
Leaning closer to her, I wrap an arm around her waist. Her eyes widen, putting a hand on my chest. Suddenly, I don’t want to continue on with this prank. I just want to keep her close to me. Holding her, feeling her body close to mine. I lean down and my nose brushes against hers; I feel her breath across my lips. I nearly forget about everything, especially my stupid prank, when I hear Taylor behind the door.
“Damn, baby, you feel so good.”
Veronica and I stare at each other. I make my move.
As soon as my lips meet hers … Sparks. Fire. A part of me wonders if it’s just because I haven’t kissed anyone else in a while. But I know it’s not. Her lips on mine feel electric. And I wouldn’t even remember the prank if Taylor didn’t start screaming at me as I opened the door.
“What the hell, Micah?” Taylor yells, and the girl yelps.
I pull away from Veronica. Is it my imagination, or does she look flustered? I wish I could examine it a little longer, but I turn to Taylor, smiling. “Oh, baby, you found one, too!”
“What?” He stares at me, shifting in the bed, and I have to stifle my laugh from him hiding his excitement.
“Well, Veronica said she’d be into it.” I look at her. She seems confused for a moment, but follows my lead and starts to nod. “I know she’s your step-sister, but you said you’d be cool with it. And she’s not blood-related, so …”
“What the hell are you talking about?” he practically shrieks.
I let go of Veronica and put a knee on the bed. The girl scoots back, staring at Taylor, confused.
“T, I know we’ve had some rough patches, but I really think this might be just the spark we need. And if you want to make it a four-way,” I look over at her and give her the most comforting and understanding smile I can; she recoils, totally confused, “instead of a three-way, then I say, let’s do it. Right, Veronica?”
