She hit play then put the tablet on the counter between them so they could watch and eat. After they were done with their lunch, Trisha patted the space next to her and pulled the tablet into her lap. Unsure but tempted by the closeness, Alexis hopped up beside her. She tried to relax as Trisha moved closer so they were touching, thigh to thigh. She tried to blame it on the shared earbud, but things only got worse when Trisha put her head on her shoulder.
“Why do white people move into houses like that?” Trisha asked. “You can tell that it’s haunted from the outside.”
Alexis chuckled. “Our house looks like that.” Three levels, white with black shutters. More rooms than necessary, cavernous bathrooms, and deep closets.
“Did all the townspeople tell your parents not to move there because a family died in it, and it’s been haunted ever since? Do the windows and the basement look like portals to hell?”
“No. It’s ghost free, and my mom keeps it nice and bright. Even the attic is furnished,” Alexis replied. She jumped, though, just as the first glimpse of a ghost crept from the daughter’s bedroom door.
“Don’t worry,” Trisha teased her. “I got you.”
“Thanks.”
They watched the rest of the movie huddled together, practically sweating in the blasting heat of the Laundromat. Once, Trisha hit pause so she could put her clothes in the dryers, but she returned to the same spot, right beside Alexis. At one point, she started playing with Alexis’s fingers. Alexis didn’t know what to think or do, so she just let it happen. Trisha’s hands were smooth and soft.
When the movie was over, Trisha didn’t move. She just sat there, her head still on Alexis’s shoulder, her fingers lightly trailing along the back of her hand. Alexis swallowed, then swallowed again. “I’ll never be able to go in my closet again,” was all she could think to say.
“You hang out in there a lot?” Trisha smiled up at her. She was so close. Alexis thought she was going to faint.
“Yeah, actually. It’s where I practice my violin.”
“You play the violin?”
“Yeah.” It was practically the only thing she’d held on to from her old life. “You should come over some time, like after class. I can play for you. My parents have pretty regular schedules, so we’d have the house to ourselves.”
“You need to get me alone or something? Don’t want your parents to meet your new stripper friend?”
“No I just meant—”
“I’m fucking with you. I’d love to come over sometime. Maybe Friday? Before my shift?”
“Friday’s cool.”
The way Trisha suddenly couldn’t seem to take her eyes off her lips made Alexis dizzy. Or maybe it was the way they were both breathing or the rhythmic thunking noise from the dryers. The air in the place was already hot and thick, but that didn’t explain the heat the was rolling up from Alexis’s chest.
She didn’t know who moved first. Maybe it was her. Alexis moved maybe the first fraction of an inch, but Trisha met her the rest of the way, closing her eyes just as their lips touched. Alexis had no clue what she was doing, but they both sort of went with it. Like that night in the VIP room, things got hot really fast. Faster than Alexis expected. Their kiss went from something that resembled a simple, wet peck to something more aggressive with tongues and hands.
And they kept kissing and kissing. Alexis knew they were in public and there were plenty of people around, but she couldn’t stop herself, not with Trisha’s hands rubbing her lower back and Trisha’s boobs pressed between them. She felt like they were all alone.
When they finally took a moment to breathe, Alexis’s head was swimming. She thought she’d been uncomfortable that night in the strip club, but this was worse, so much worse. She felt like she would burst if they didn’t go further, like now.
Trisha leaned up and kissed her one more time before she sat back and ran her gaze over Alexis’s face. They were both having trouble breathing, but Trisha still cracked a small smile. “You okay?”
Alexis nodded. “Yeah, you?”
“Yeah. I’ve been wanting to do that all weekend.”
“Was it good?” Alexis asked like an idiot, like she wasn’t even in the room when this amazing kiss had happened. Trisha laughed again.
“Yes. It was very good.” She slid off the counter and reached for her bag. “I have to do some work or I’ll be screwed tomorrow.”
“Me, too.” Alexis exhaled a few shallow breaths before she pulled out her reading for her freshman English class and did her best to focus. It was hard, though, with her friend who was mutually crushing on her and who had just kissed her sitting right there.
*
Thursday it happened. Alexis ran into Kami Woodward. She had been in her own world, as usual, this time thinking about Trisha. Her head was down, her eyes focused on the brick path in front of her, but as she rounded the statue of the school’s mascot, something told her to look up. And she noticed Kami coming right toward her.
Kami had been Alexis’s co-captain on their high school varsity volleyball team. They weren’t really close, not the sharing-their-deepest-secrets type of friends, but they had spent a bunch of time together since they’d first made the team their freshman year. As far as Alexis knew, Kami hated her. She’d cut Alexis out of her life completely when she got out of the hospital, so Alexis didn’t expect Kami to even acknowledge her as they both passed through the center of campus at the same time.
The last time she’d seen Kami had been at graduation. Kami’s mother had stopped her parents, and they’d had a quick conversation about how proud they were of the girls. Kami had bailed and taken off to find some of her other friends before things had gotten too awkward. And Alexis had continued to stand there not saying anything. Her mom had suggested the girls get together over the summer, and that’s when Kami’s mom had decided it was time to cut and run.
The other parents still loved her mom and dad, but everyone was a little freaked out by Alexis, the poster child for troubled teens. Alexis hadn’t forgotten the look on Kami’s face that day, the look that said, Sorry, but no way. I can’t deal with you, like now or ever. It was the same look she expected from Kami the moment they made eye contact. But Kami actually said hi. She actually stopped.
“I didn’t know you were going here!” She leaned in for a hug. Alexis awkwardly accepted it. Kami was short for a volleyball player, but she had an insane vertical leap, and her spike game was nasty. She was also a mean sprinter. SCU had taken her on an athletic scholarship for track. She was already rocking a SCU track-and-field T-shirt.
“Yeah, comp sci major.”
“I’m undeclared like a mothafucka.” Kami laughed. Alexis laughed too, kinda. “Just gotta keep my grades up so I can race in the winter.”
“You start training already?” Alexis asked, already knowing the answer to the question. Kami had probably been training all summer.
“Yeah. It’s cool. Getting hazed and stuff by the older girls. I had to run a forty barefoot yesterday. Coach was pissed, but they’re cool.”
“Cool.” Alexis didn’t know what to say. She had nothing going on, and the last time she and Kami had talked they’d been in the locker room before the quarterfinals. Before Alexis had tried to pull the plug on herself. There was Trisha, but Trisha wasn’t really a piece of small talk to share with someone you barely knew anymore.
“Yeah. Man, I thought you were going to Stanford,” Kami said.
“Nah. I mean, I got in, but I decided to stay closer to home.” End of conversation. Alexis didn’t want to get into this. Not again. “But, yeah, I gotta—”
“Listen, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened.”
Alexis felt her face getting hot, but the rest of her was numb. Kami knew exactly what had happened. It’s not like she blamed her friends or her teammates, but still, she didn’t really want to talk about it. “It’s cool, really.”
“Come on. No, it’s not. My mom told me to call you, but I kept pun
king out. I didn’t know what to say.”
“It’s okay. Seriously. I’m fine now.”
“Good. What dorm are you in? I’m over in Winsor.”
“I’m at home, actually. Cheaper.”
Kami clearly didn’t buy it. She knew Dr. and Mrs. Chambers had plenty of money to put Alexis up in a dorm. Still, Kami played it off. “Well, let’s hang out soon. I mean, we’re both here. It would be cool to catch up, study together and stuff.”
Alexis wanted to say no, but she went with it and gave Kami her new number. The number Kami had was old. The flood of fucked up text she'd gotten after she'd been released from the hospital—insincere apologies for who knows what and dozens of texts wishing she’d succeeded in her attempt to end it all—had called for new digits.
Finally, Alexis headed to class. She didn’t really expect Kami to text or call her, but as she sat down in her Eastern Religions class, she realized that she wasn’t sure that she didn’t want to hear from her.
*
Trisha waited in the parents’ line outside of Kelsey and Kara’s elementary school. She had a few hours to get them home and fed and get the others started in the general direction of their homework before she had to book it over to The Luxor. She and Quanisha were working out a routine together that they’d be whipping out that Saturday night.
She checked her phone again. The kids got out at 2:30 on the dot. The bell was going to ring in three minutes, but they needed to come the hell on. She checked her phone again a minute later, just as a text from Alexis popped up on the screen. She’d been trying to pace herself with her texts since they’d left the Laundromat. Since they’d kissed.
The high she felt from finally kissing someone she was really into had carried her through her whole night at the club. She’d stopped herself from gushing to Quanisha, but her friend still knew why she kept smiling and gave her plenty of shit about it. Trisha admitted that things were moving in a good direction, but she wasn’t ready to tell Quanisha just how much she was falling for Alexis. For now, she wanted to keep this to herself. She’d also wanted to text Alexis as soon as she’d gotten home from work, but something had told her a girl who had to be home for family dinners wouldn’t be up for texting at two a.m. She was glad Alexis made contact first.
Hey, can I ask you a question? the text read.
Trisha texted back. Yes, I’m available to do your makeup any time. I’ll poke you in the eye. Free of charge. They’d continued to joke about that mishap as they'd bonded over their love of makeup over the past week.
The next few texts popped up quickly, one after the other.
No. I need my eyes.
It’s something else.
Sometimes I need reassurance about weird things. This may sound weird, but I need to know.
Do you really like me? Beyond the crushing.
The clear answer was yes. And Trish wasn’t bothered by Alexis’s need for reassurance. Sometimes she needed it, too. Still, Trisha felt like something was wrong. She wasn’t sure what to say.
Yes. I like you. A lot. She hit send then immediately followed with, Are you okay?
Yeah. I am. Just ran into someone and it wasn’t cool.
The school bell rang, and Trisha glanced up to catch the first sign of stampeding grade-schoolers.
Yes. I like you if me shoving my tongue in your mouth wasn’t obvious enough. And I’m sorry for your not cool situation.
Trisha wanted to call Alexis. She wanted to see her, actually make sure she was okay in person, but right then, she just hoped they could wrap up this conversation before she had to give the kids her undivided attention. Her fingers flew across her screen. She saw their little heads bobbing through the front door not a second later.
I wanna talk, but I’m on babysitting duty this afternoon. Can we talk later?
“Trisha!” Kelsey screeched as she tore her way across the schoolyard. Kara was right behind her. Alexis had the half minute walk back to the car to text Trisha back. Just as she got the girls in their seat belts, her phone buzzed again. She checked it once more before she pulled away.
Yeah, text me when you get a chance.
“No texting and driving!” Kara yelled. “You promised.”
Trisha had to thank their principal for insisting the kids help the parents and guardians be more attentive behind the wheel. “I know, K.”
“I’m K,” Kelsey giggled.
“You’re both K. And both K’s get ice cream as soon as we get back to Sophie’s house.” Sweets were enough to get them off her back. She slipped her phone in her bag just to be sure.
Chapter Five
The afternoon went by as smoothly as it could. Kelsey and Dina only fought twice, and Daryl was only thirty minutes late coming home from his after-school boys’ club. Her mom was exhausted when she got home, just in time for Trisha to take off. But before she left, she took a couple of minutes to actually speak to her mom. It had been like this for a while, passing the kids off between the two of them and two other helpful women in her mom’s neighborhood. Always dashing by one another, always rushing, but Trisha liked to stop for a second, just to look at her, just to say hello.
Her mom leaned against the counter and scrubbed her hand across her face. When she seemed like she finally cleared her head, she looked up and smiled at Trisha. Her mom, Ms. Sophie Hamilton, was so beautiful. She’d put on a lot of weight in the last few years, and she’d given up taking care of herself to take care of the kids, but Trisha had gotten one hundred percent of her looks from her mom. It was a relief to know she’d still look good when she passed over the hill into her forties.
“How are things going, college girl?” her mom asked.
“Good. Like my professors, like my classes. And I met someone.”
Her mom rubbed her face again. She was listening, but Trisha knew she was counting down the minutes until she could really sit down and get some sleep. She took care of patients all day, and then she came home and looked after five kids. Trisha felt bad for leaving. Sometimes.
“It’s a girl.” Her mom froze for a second, and then she resumed rubbing the life back into her skin. They had never talked about relationships. Just work and bills and the kids. She’d thought she’d have to come out to her mom one day when she found the right person, but she hadn’t thought that day would come so soon. She didn’t know what Alexis was to her—they hadn’t had the official status conversation—but this was the right time to say something. Her mom seemed cool with it.
“Girls? Okay. That’s fine. I just want you to, ya know, be happy and safe. Is she nice?”
“Yeah, she’s really nice. I’d actually met her at the club a while ago. She came in for a bachelorette party with her sister, but we have a class together.”
“So, she knows you dance?”
Trisha swallowed the little knot that formed in her throat when her mom said “dance.” “Yeah. She was shocked to see me at school, but it’s not an issue.”
“Just keep being honest with her about the job. Jealousy makes people act funny.”
“She doesn’t seem like the jealous type. She’s kinda shy.”
“What’s her name?”
Trisha tried not to smile, but her heart actually fluttered when she said it out loud. “Alexis. Alexis Chambers.”
“That’s a nice name.” Her mom finally cracked a smile. It made her look young again. “When you get a chance, bring her around. I’d love to meet her.”
“I will.”
“Hope she likes kids.”
Trisha stood up and grabbed her keys. “The lasagna’s in the oven, and Kit is over at her friend’s house. She said she’d be home by eight. Do you want a day off on Sunday? I can’t take the kids anywhere where I’ll have to watch them, but I can stay here and study with them while you get some rest or go out.”
“We’ll see. I might have to cover some rounds. You should get going.”
“Okay.” Trisha crossed the room and hugged her mother. “Love you.�
�
Her mother squeezed her back. “Love you, too.”
Trisha knew she was doing the best should could, and it was more than most, but she still felt guilty as she let her mom go and slipped out the door. Her mom had forgiven her for basically running away from home and staying away, but Trisha hoped that things between them would be normal one day.
*
The first time they held hands, they ran into Kami. They were leaving class. They had a plan. Trisha was going to drive Alexis to her car, then Trisha was going to follow her back to her house where they would eat lunch and then see where the next four hours took them before Trisha had to go to work. The first part was going better than well. They left class and made their way toward the parking decks. Trisha was asking about the texts Alexis had sent the afternoon before, and just as they crossed the central quad, Trisha slid her fingers along Alexis’s hand. Alexis’s heart pumped the same way it had when they’d kissed in the Laundromat. This time, though, Alexis felt an odd sense of pride and excitement. They hadn’t talked about being girlfriends or liking each other again, but by holding her hand, Alexis thought that Trisha was saying she wanted to be seen with her. Alexis had no idea what that felt like—to be wanted, to not be a source of embarrassment or shame—until that very moment.
Also, they were touching. It was hard only seeing Trisha every other day and worse when they had to keep their hands to themselves during class, but now, they were touching. Alexis gave Trisha’s hand a little squeeze, adjusting her fingers so they interlaced in a snugger fit. People were looking at them, but for once Alexis didn’t mind being stared at.
And then they ran into Kami.
“Hey,” Kami said as she not-so-smoothly looked at Alexis and Trisha and their hands.
Treasure Page 5
