The Fire In My Eyes

by Christopher Nelson

  He lifted a hand and I felt myself rise into the air again. When he leaped off the roof to the ground below, I went with him, and he set me down on the ground. “Here's another freebie. Sleep a lot tonight. Eat a lot tomorrow. You burned a lot of energy and your body's going to need to recover.”

  “Is it going to be like this every time?” I asked.

  “At first,” he said. “You'll learn. Or you'll die. Just like we've been telling you.”

  He turned and strode around the corner, taking Purple with him. I stood alone in the rain outside the Pendleton mansion, left with a handful of questions answered and a hundred new ones.

  I slept soundly that night. When I finally woke up the following afternoon, I was ravenous and ate my way through an enormous lunch. The cook was shocked, but pleased. I got the feeling he rarely got the appreciation he deserved. By the time I was finished, it was late afternoon and Max had left to help his mother and sister with a business project. Lisa's door was wide open. Drew's was closed. I decided not to take the chance and wandered downstairs to the rec room to find Jess.

  She looked up as I walked in. “Look at that, you’re alive,” she said. “Sleep well?”

  “Like a rock. Did I miss anything last night?”

  “Well, Max got back late. He and his sister both marched down here and started going straight for the good stuff. Guess they both had a bad night. Ariel started flirting with Drew, so Lisa got pissed off, and that pissed me off. I told her to stop being a stupid bitch and she got mad at me too.”

  “You're so diplomatic,” I said.

  “Fuck diplomacy, she's been getting on my nerves with this shit. She needs to figure out if she wants to be exclusive with him or not and tell him.”

  “So what happened afterwards?”

  “Anti-climax.” She laughed. “Max passed out, Drew carried him off to his room, Lisa went to bed. Ariel hung out for a little longer. She's a lot more interesting when she's drunk. I learned all sorts of interesting things about Max from her. Great blackmail material.”

  “Diplomatic, like I said. What are you up to now?” I flopped down into one of the theater seats and stared at the screen. The game she was playing looked vaguely familiar, but I was too tired to work out what it was.

  “Avoiding drama,” she said. “What are they up to?”

  “Lisa wasn't in her room, but Drew's door was closed.”

  “Are they having make-up sex?”

  “I wasn't about to knock on the door and ask,” I said.

  She chuckled. “I'm looking forward to getting kicked out of my room so that they can get it on. Maybe I'll get lucky and they'll use your room.”

  “I hope not,” I said. “But if that happens, maybe me and Max will just come and hang out with you.”

  “That'd be annoying too,” she said, but her tone didn’t match her words. “In all seriousness, it will piss me off. It's bound to happen. Everything will be so awkward now. I mean, I'm happy for her because she's happy, but you know, things are going to get weird. Not that things aren't already weird.”

  I nodded. “Are you afraid you're going to lose your friend to her new boyfriend? It would be kind of lonely.”

  On the screen, her smooth movements hitched and her character promptly died. “Not bad, Kev. Are you sure you're not a girl? That's what we call female intuition.”

  “I'm pretty sure I'm not a girl. Do you want to check?” I asked.

  “Not a chance. You're not bad looking, but I'm just not interested in your type.”

  “My type?”

  “Pretender. Drew doesn't pretend to anything, he's just a big charming asshole. Max doesn't pretend either, he's confident in who he is, he just isn't confident that other people see him for who he is. That's endearing, in a twisted sort of way. But you, you're different. You hide things. On one level, it makes you a little mysterious, and lots of girls dig that. But, you're hiding things that make you who you are. I can tell.”

  “If you only knew.”

  “Knew what?”

  “Nothing. Hey, what about Kaitlyn? Why do you two hate each other so much?” I asked.

  Jess snorted and started playing again. “I don't hate her. She looks down on people like me, as if we're less human just because we aren't as sociable as she is. Of course, what she calls sociable, I call being a raging bitch slut. I don't like her, but I don't hate her. Sometimes we get along. She has her moments.”

  “What about her roommate?” I asked.

  “You mean, what about you and her roommate, right?”

  I laughed. “Is that the female intuition you were talking about?”

  “No, it's just the rumor mill at work. Lisa was chatting with Kaitlyn before finals. The bimbo was complaining that her roommate was depressed because you stopped talking to her. Apparently Kait thinks you're a real dick.” She laughed and paused the game. “I bet you're still interested in her, right? Holding her at arm's length? Just ask her out, dumbass.”

  “I'm not holding her at arm's length,” I said. I should have known rumors would start flying. “I did ask her out. She has a boyfriend back home. That's why I've been avoiding her.”

  “Oh, that's news. No one told me that part of it. Well, that's fine. You're still a dumbass. Isn't it obvious? We all saw the way she was acting that night. She's blatantly interested in you, even if she does have a boyfriend. If you give her enough reason, she'll dump him. Not that you're giving her much reason.”

  “I'd feel guilty if she did that,” I said.

  “Why? It's her choice to make. Not yours.”

  “I'd feel like I stole something.”

  “She's the one who makes that choice, not you, dumbass. Just go apologize to her. Get it off your chest and let her figure out what she wants to do.” I heard her get up, then she flopped down in the seat next to me. Her green eyes sized me up and she curled her lip in exaggerated disgust. “Though what she could possibly see in you, I don't know.”

  “You already said I'm not bad looking.”

  “Looks aren't everything. You need to think about what she wants.”

  “It's not that simple,” I said.

  “Spare me. It is that simple. You just want to make it complex,” she said, then slapped the back of her hand against my chest. “It's up to you to apologize, and it's up to her if she decides to accept your apology or not. What do you have to lose? That stubborn male pride? Having to admit that you're a dick? If you like the girl enough that you're asking me about her, you've really got a thing for her.”

  “I had already decided that I'd apologize when we got back. I've been having some doubts about it, but like you said, I'm just being a dumbass. Thanks.” It was true. Like Jess said, it was Nikki's choice, not mine. If she was interested enough in me to break up with her boyfriend, why would I say no? Dumbass, indeed.

  “Any time,” she said. “Hopefully she hasn't been influenced by Kaitlyn too much.”

  I chuckled. “You're like a big sister, giving her little brother some advice on how to deal with girls.”

  “Me, a big sister? That's funny, Kev. I'm the little sister, not the big sister.” She laughed harshly, not at all like I'd ever heard her laugh before.

  “You have an older sister?”

  “I have three older sisters. Had. I have two older sisters.” She looked down at her knees as she corrected herself. “Marissa's twenty-five and she's in med school down south. Cassie's twenty-two and she's finishing her accounting degree in Boston. She's engaged. First of the brood. No surprises there.”

  “Had?” I asked.

  “My other sister died,” she said. “What about you? Have any brothers or sisters? What's your family like?”

  A sister who had died? I didn't want to pry if she didn't want to talk about it. “I'm an only child. My mom and dad are still married, technically. They separated when I was little.”

  “That explains why you’re an only child. No wonder you're so used to being lonely.”

  “Probably,
” I said. “I lived with my dad. We don't get along too well, so it's more like being roommates than family. I get along better with my mom, but I only see her a couple of times a year.”

  “What does she do that keeps her away from home so much?”

  “I don't think she has a home. She's a professional mediator. She doesn't talk about what she does, and my dad never wants to talk about it either. Maybe it's a cover story. Maybe she's a top secret CIA agent or something like that.”

  “She's traveling the world, bringing down corrupt regimes and saving princesses. Princes, in her case, maybe,” Jess said. “I doubt that. But it sounds like a pretty shitty way to grow up. No offense.”

  “None taken,” I said. “I agree now, but back then I didn't know any better. That's why I'm a transfer student up here. I wanted to stay back at home. I had friends there, had a girl I was interested in, and I was comfortable. Comfortable in a shitty life. No matter how much I tried to dress it up, it was still shitty, but I thought that if I stayed there, I could make it better.”

  “Like rolling a turd in glitter,” she said.

  “Yeah, exactly. When I finally figured out that being there was holding me back, I decided I had to leave. So I transferred up here. I've never been happier.”

  “What made you want to leave?” she asked. “I mean, what was the final straw? I'm just curious, if you don't want to tell me, you don't have to.”

  “It's fine. It was the girl.”

  “Of course it was the girl. That's what I thought.”

  “Then why did you have to ask?”

  She stood up and grinned down at me. “Because I wanted to see if you'd admit it. Maybe you're not as much of a pretender as I thought you were. But I guess it's easy to admit this sort of thing to a less than pretty girl like me.”

  “That's not true at all. You're more than pretty,” I said. Jess froze and stared down at me, eyes wide. I felt myself start to blush. That had come out far more smoothly than I intended. I didn't want to insert myself between Max and her. “No, I mean it. You just try to hide it with the clothes and the attitude.”

  She looked down at her baggy clothes. “You seriously are a dick.” Her face was turning red, close to matching her hair. “But I think I can overlook it in this case.”

  “That's good,” I said.

  “I won't tell anyone you were hitting on me if you answer a question for me.”

  “I wasn't hitting on you!”

  “I'll tell Lisa you were,” she said.

  I shuddered. “That's blackmail. Fine, shoot.”

  “Does Max think I'm pretty?”

  I found my mouth hanging open. I closed it and tried to figure out how to answer that. She crossed her arms and her eyes narrowed. I found my voice. “Max? You mean, our Max?”

  “What other Max is there?” she demanded.

  “Smoking Max. The Max who lives here. The one with the ponytail.” I pantomimed smoking, then grabbed a tuft of hair behind my head. “Are you serious? That Max?”

  “Kevin, I'm running out of patience with you,” she told me.

  “Jess, without a doubt, I am certain that Max thinks you're pretty,” I said.

  She blushed again. “All right. Thanks.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “He's interesting. And kind of cute, when he isn't smoking. Don't you dare tell him I said that.” She stormed back to the computer and resumed playing. I settled back into my chair and watched. Maybe I didn't have to worry about getting between Max and her after all.

  The day of our departure dawned with little fanfare. I was more than ready to leave, and I wasn't alone. Max was swearing up and down that he wouldn't do anything like this ever again, Lisa and Drew were not on speaking terms again, and Jess was watching Max as if she was planning the best time to strike. I didn't want to get involved in anyone else's drama. Between Nikki and Ripley, I had more than my fair share awaiting my return to Troy.

  Max's mother met us as we all carried our luggage downstairs and frowned. “Well, I had hoped that Maximillian would be able to drive all of you home, but I don't believe he'll have room for all of you and your belongings. I'll have my personal assistant bring the Escalade around.”

  “Thank you very much for all your hospitality,” Drew said. “Hopefully we didn't cause too much trouble, or make too much of a mess.”

  Mrs. Pendleton wrinkled her nose slightly, but didn't deign to respond to Drew. He had probably left that guest room a disaster. Instead, she turned to her son, who was speaking quietly to his sister at the door. “Maximillian, are you prepared to take possession of your reward for this month's assistance?”

  “Hell yes. The sooner I can get away from this loony bin, the better,” he snapped. He had been drinking heavily last night. I suspected he had one hell of a hangover.

  His mother pressed her lips together, then led us out the door and toward the garage. Max immediately lit a cigarette as we walked outside, puffing away right in front of his mother and sister. Both of them wrinkled their noses. “Your father and I considered your preferences when we were deciding on what to purchase,” Mrs. Pendleton said as we walked. “We discussed it at length, but we're both very pleased with the selection we made. I trust that you will be properly appreciative.”

  “As long as it's one of the cars I was looking at,” Max said.

  “What were you looking for? Hot rod? Mercedes?” Drew asked.

  “I was thinking that,” Max said. “But I don't want to bring anything too expensive to school. That's just asking for trouble, especially in Troy, you know?”

  “I hear that. So what did you decide on?” Drew and Max discussed cars and Lisa and Jess spoke in low tones behind us. I found myself walking next to Ariel.

  She leaned in, surprising me. “What do you think?”

  “About what?”

  “About what car he'll get.”

  “Something nice,” I said. “I don't think your parents would get him some beater, but I doubt it'll be exactly what he wants. Why? Do you know what he's getting?”

  She smiled and held a finger to her lips. I wondered what that was all about. There was probably a surprise in store. I looked over my shoulder at Jess and Lisa. They both glared at me. I sighed and stayed next to Ariel. Stuck in the middle again.

  We reached the garage and the door slowly began to open. I heard an engine grumble to life within and when the door fully opened, a car rolled out in front of us. I blinked, just to make sure what I was seeing was real, and not some sort of hallucination.

  Max's normal smirk was still there, but his expression was frozen. No one said a word or even made a sound until his lips parted and the lit cigarette tumbled to the ground and went out. “That thing is my new car?”

  “Yes,” his mother said. Ariel nudged me and winked. I tried not to laugh out loud.

  “This thing?” Max took a step forward and ground his cigarette into the driveway. The driver got out, the same man who had driven us down from Ripley at the beginning of the month. “Are you serious? Is this for real?”

  “It's very stylish,” I noted. Drew took three steps to the side, choked, then sprinted to the lawn and fell on the ground, laughing hard enough to cause internal injuries. I stood beside Max and put a hand on his shoulder. “It's a very nice car.”

  “It's orange. And ugly.”

  “It is not ugly,” his mother snapped. “It is a custom ordered PT Cruiser. A fresh, unique take on the traditional design.”

  “Fresh,” Max repeated. “Unique. It's an orange on wheels. Unique?”

  “The color, according to the spec sheets, is 'Hot Orange',” Ariel added.

  Drew had started to stand up, but at that, collapsed helplessly on the ground again. “Hot Orange!” he shouted, then burst into laughter all over again. Tears were running down his cheeks. Lisa had kept a straight face up until then, but at that point, clutched her stomach and started her own set of hysterics.

  “Your father would be so proud,” Mrs. P
endleton said, completely straight-faced.

  I started to laugh and Max gave me a dirty look, then walked toward the driver's side of his car. “I need a cigarette or twelve,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pack. He tapped one out, put it between his lips with a trembling hand, and then flicked his lighter.

  Before he could light it, Jess stepped between him and the car, then plucked the cigarette from his lips. She stared him right in the eyes, then dropped it to the ground and stomped on it. Max's eyes bugged out. She had picked the perfect time to strike. Clever girl.

  “What the hell do you think you're doing?” he demanded.

  “No smoking, asshole,” she said. “I'm calling shotgun, and I sure as hell am not riding all the way back to Troy with you smoking the entire way. It has that awesome new car smell and I will be damned before I let you ruin that for me.”

  “Wait, what?” Max's eyes widened even further.

  “Do I need to spell it out for you?” She jabbed him in the chest. “You, driver side.” She pointed at herself. “Me, passenger side. Though at this rate, maybe I should drive, since you're obviously too upset to turn the wheel the right way.”

  Max's mouth worked soundlessly for a moment, then he flushed red. “Like hell I'll let you drive! No crazy chick driver is going to get the first turn in my car!”

  “Crazy chick driver?” Jess stepped into him, forcing him to step back. “Oh, you don't want to go there, Maxie. Don't even think about it. I'll break your scrawny little neck.”

  While they argued and the other two rolled around on the lawn laughing, I noticed Mrs. Pendleton had a strange little smile. “Something tells me this was all a setup,” I said to her.

  “Of course it was,” she said. Her tone was nothing like the formal way she had addressed us over the past month. “Max is my son, and he's a Pendleton. One of our favorite family pastimes is fucking with each other.”

  “I'm sorry, I don't think I heard you clearly.”

  She laughed and patted my shoulder. No one was paying us a bit of attention. “You'll understand once you have children. I'm most interested in grandchildren right now. I suspect he'll be producing them before Ariel.”