500 Days

by Jessica Miller

I stifled an eye roll. “His name is Reece.”

  “Last name,” he pushed.

  “I don’t know it yet. He’s not a psycho, Jack.” I knew he wanted his full name so he could do a background check on him.

  “It’s always the ones you least expect.” This time I did roll my eyes, having heard this lecture before. “Just be careful and have fun. It’s nice to see you smile for once. Now, what I really wanted to talk to you about. I’m not exactly on board with Jacob joining a fraternity. Jaxson’s smart. He’s always been able to handle himself and make good choices, but Jacob’s young. He doesn’t think things through and it makes me nervous. I just need to know he’s going to be okay. So I need you to keep a close eye on him.”

  “Why do I? Why not Jaxson?”

  “Because I trust you more to actually look out for his best interest.”

  “Okay Jack. I promise I’ll do my best, but you know I’m out numbered here.”

  “I’ll talk to Jasper.” He paused and I knew he was struggling with what he had to say next. “Alex…I just want to tell you I’m proud of you. No one has ever conquered what you had to, and I just want to let you know you’re never alone. You’re the strongest out of all of us. You’re also the one who keeps this family together. Remember that. We need you just as much as you need us. We’re just too stubborn to admit it.”

  I laughed. “Stubbornness should be our family motto.” Jack chuckled. “Thanks Jack and I love you.”

  “I love you too. Always be brave Alex.”

  “I will.”

  “Get the boys so I can say goodbye.” I called all three of them out so we could say goodbye to Jack. With the flick of switch he was gone and now the screen was blank. Jasper and Jacob walked back to finish Jacob’s tattoo while Jaxson stayed up front with me.

  Jaxson squeezed my shoulder. I covered my hand with his. “Don’t worry Alex. He’ll be fine.” Being a twin, Jaxson and I could always sense what was going on with each other. I can’t explain exactly how, but it helped. We always seemed to know what the other was thinking and feeling.

  “I know Jax.”

  “You wanna see Jacob cry like a baby?”

  “No way, he was crying?”

  “Come on, let’s make fun of him for being a wuss.”

  I nearly jumped out of my chair for the chance to tease my brother, but when I saw the time I realized I couldn’t. “Shit, I can’t. I have to go.”

  “What, you got a hot date or something?” I smiled, grabbing my purse. Jaxson slapped his knee laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” I frowned.

  “So he finally asked you out.” He crossed his arms looking all smug.

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “What are you talking about? I just met Reece last night.” Jaxson’s arms dropped. I looked at him suspiciously. “Why do I get the strange feeling you’re hiding something from me?” Jaxson shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “Who did you think it was?”

  “No one,” he said nonchalantly. I knew he was lying.

  “Jaxson.” I stood with my arms crossed showing him I was serious and that he better tell me the truth.

  He knew he wouldn’t be able to lie to me so he came up with a distraction. He smiled wickedly and called over his shoulder. “Hey Jas, guess what?” I heard the buzzing stop. Jasper’s chair rolled out in to the hall. I gave Jaxson a threatening look. His grin widened. “Alex has a hot date tonight.”

  “Alex, come here.” I punched Jaxson in the shoulder and then quickly took off.

  “Sorry Jas, got to go,” I yelled, bolting for the exit. Jasper got up out of his chair and followed me outside, but I was in my car and took off before he had the chance to reach me. Jasper was just as bad as Jack, sometimes worse. It was hard for me to date. My brothers always tended to scare off my boyfriends.

  I wasn’t in the mood to sit through another inquisition. He would demand a picture, name, address, phone number, where we were going, and while he was at it probably his social security number. Jasper was an ass, but he was just as overprotective as Jack. That is one of the many things that sucked about being the only girl in a family of four boys. Jack at least gave me some breathing room, but Jasper still couldn’t grasp the fact that I wasn’t a naive and dumb little girl. I hated how I had to constantly prove that I could take care of myself, but at the same time loved putting Jasper in his place. Jaxson once told me Jasper just hounded me to have an extra sense of security and that he knew I could take care of myself. And he also liked to torture me.

  When I got home I got ready for my date with Reece. He never said where we were going so I wasn’t sure what I should wear. I decided to go with something in the middle. I wore dark jeans and a nice, long sleeve shirt with boots. I straightened my hair and put on just a touch of makeup and by the time I was done Reece was there. I opened the door to let him in. He surprised me with a bouquet of daisies. “Thank you,” I said, inviting him in. He had on a bright, yellow, polo shirt and jeans. “Just let me put these in some water and then we can go.”

  “No rush.” He walked around the living room, checking things out.

  I put the flowers in a vase and set them on the counter and then locked Lucky in my room. When not monitored he broke things and Declan already threatened to take him to the humane society if I didn’t lock him up when we weren’t there. “Okay, ready.” I closed my bedroom door and walked down the hall. He smiled and extended an arm for me. “So, where are we going?”

  “It’s kind of a surprise.” I felt a small pang of nervousness in my chest, but trusted Reece.

  When we pulled into the small strip mall, I looked at him quizzically. “I wanted to try something different,” he said, getting out of the car. He jogged around to my side and opened the door for me. I stepped out, still wondering what we were doing here. He took my hand and led me down to the brightly lit marquee at the end of the strip.

  “An arcade?”

  “There’s a great pizza place next door. I know it seems kind of childish, but I thought this would be more fun and a little easier to relax than some stingy restaurant.” I bit my lip. “You think it’s stupid, don’t you? I can take you somewhere else?”

  “No, I like it.” I actually did think it was kind of clever. He was right. This would be better than sitting in some restaurant and trying to fill an awkward silence when you get to the point when there’s nothing left to say.

  We sat down to eat first. Reece told me all about himself. He was an only child from Missouri. His dad works in the music business and his mom owns a flower shop back home. He wants to study to become a veterinarian, but of course his dad was hoping he would follow in his footsteps and work in the music industry. Reece said he loved both, but his real dream was to one day own his own animal clinic. I told him all about my brothers, skipping over the part of my parents, and then we just talked about everything from movies, music, and school. He was a real easy person to talk to and the more I got to know him the more I liked.

  After we finished eating, we headed over to the arcade. I felt like a little kid again. All the sounds of music, bright flashing lights, and children running everywhere took me back to when Jack took Jaxson and me to the arcade for the day. He rewarded me for standing up for myself to some bully. He told me how proud of me he was, but at the same time trying to explain to me that fighting was not always the answer. “You okay?” Reece asked, pulling me from my daze.

  “Yeah,” I smiled.

  “What do you want to play first?” I looked around. My eyes lit up when I found the skee ball. I pulled him over in that direction. Reece was either a horrible skee ball player or he was letting me win, but either way I didn’t care. I was having too much fun. We moved on to air hockey next, and then pinball, and any video game with two players. Turns out Reece was a real talker so the conversation never lacked or got boring. We ended up staying until the arcade closed and then Reece drove me home.

  “I had a really great time tonight.”

  “Me
too,” I blushed, not ready for the night to end. “Do you want to come in?”

  “I can’t. I have an early class tomorrow and,” he looked at his watch. “It’s almost twelve.”

  I grabbed his wrist and doubled checked the time. “Wow, is it really?”

  He nodded. His face was only inches from mine and I so wanted him to kiss me. “I would really like to go out with you again.”

  “I’d like that too.”

  “How about tomorrow night then?”

  I giggled, actually giggled something I never thought I was actually capable of doing. “Three days in a row. I don’t know, you might get sick of me,” I teased.

  “I highly doubt that’s possible.”

  “Well, I would love to, but, I promised a friend we’d hang out tomorrow. How about Wednesday?”

  He pretended to think it over for a minute. “I think I can work that.” I hit him playfully in the chest. He grabbed my hand before I could pull it away and tugged me closer, leaning down, and pressing the softest and sweetest kiss to my lips. I could feel my cheeks flush hot when I pulled back. “Goodnight Alex.”

  “Bye,” I waved. I unlocked my door and stepped inside. I skipped down the hall feeling like a giddy school girl. When I opened the door to my room I jumped back in surprise. “Casper, Jesus, what the hell are you doing here?”

  “I bought a new toy for Lucky.” He held up the long colorful stick that had multiple strings and feathers attached to the end. “And I wanted to see him. Declan let me in and told me I could hang out for bit.”

  “A warning next time would be nice. This would have been pretty hard to explain to my date if he decided to come in.”

  Casper sat up at the mention of my date. “What kind of guy goes home with a girl on the first date? Seriously Alex, you should get rid of this guy now. He sounds like he’s just trying to get in your pants.”

  “You’re one to talk. And I would never have let it get that far and Reece is nothing like that. He’s actually a gentleman.” Casper laughed. “Oh what would you know? Have you ever even had a date before?”

  “Several.”

  “One that hasn’t ended with you going home with them.” I sat down in the chair to take off my boots while he thought it over. “See, if it takes you that long to think about it then I already know the answer is no. Now, if you’ll excuse me I’m tired and I’d like to go to bed.”

  He laid back down putting his arm behind his head and patting the spot next to him. “Casper.” I stood with my hands on my hips. He was starting to kill my buzz.

  “We can snuggle and have girl talk,” he winked.

  I laughed so hard it hurt. “Cas, you are not capable of girl talk and neither am I.”

  “Okay,” he sighed, sitting up. “Where do you want to go to lunch tomorrow?”

  “I don’t care. You pick, but right now I just want to sleep.”

  He got up and gave me a kiss on the temple. “See you tomorrow.”

  “Goodnight Casper.”

  I was late for my first class. I had over slept and had to hall ass all the way across campus. I quietly slipped in through the back and grabbed a seat on the end. I opened up my notebook ready to take notes when I couldn’t find an implement to write with. Shit.

  I smelled him before I felt him. Dangling over my shoulder was a pencil. I looked behind me to confirm my suspicion. “What are you doing here?” I asked Casper.

  “This isn’t the bathroom?” I narrowed my eyes at him. He jumped over the row of seats and sat in the one next to me. “I do go to school here, remember? And last time I checked this was a classroom.”

  “I meant in this class.”

  “Sociology? I’ve always had a fascination with the human mind.”

  “Yes, particularly with the female kind. Is this so you can figure out how to trick women into sleeping with you?”

  He placed his hand over his chest, feigning hurt. “Alex, I thought we were past all of this?” I rolled my eyes. “So, what you want to do tonight?”

  “Casper, can we talk about this later?” I said, still searching for a writing instrument. He handed me the pencil. I took it and tried to focus on the lecture, which was hard to do with Casper sitting next to me. I knew he was looking at me and his closeness was sending goose bumps up and down my arm. “Cas, it’s hard to pay attention with you staring at me.” I tilted my head slightly to look at him.

  He smiled playfully. “This class is boring any way. What you say we get out of here?”

  “No. I’m actually here to learn, not to get some new pickup lines.”

  “I bet I could teach you more than this stuffy old teacher could.” I raised a brow at him. “What do you say? We make our own lesson?” I turned back to the professor who droned on and on. Two kids to my left were passed out and a few to my right struggled to stay awake, their heads bobbing up and down. I turned back to Casper, his eyes were pleading. I’ll admit I found it hard to stay awake in this class half the time. I decided to take Jack’s advice of taking chances and took the risk.

  “Let’s go.” Casper’s smile widened. He collected his things while I stuffed my books back into my messenger bag. We quietly made our way out the back. I squinted at the bright sun. “Now what?”

  “It’s time for our first lesson.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me to his bike letting me know his car was still in the shop. I got on without any more questions as to where he was taking me.

  When we pulled up to our destination, I shifted in my seat to look at him. “A bar?”

  “What better way to study human interaction.”

  “Casper, it’s nine o’clock in the morning. What bar is even open that early and who the hell is even drinking that early?”

  “The perfect people you should be studying.” He held out his hand to help me off. I hesitated. He rolled his eyes and lifted me off the bike. We walked into the dingy, dimly lit bar. I was surprised to find that it was in fact open and customers lined up around the bar and in booths. Casper dragged me to a booth in the corner.

  “What are these people doing here?”

  “Most of these people work third shift. So this is their nightcap. Others, alcoholics, lonely people who have nothing better to do.”

  “And how do you know all this?”

  An older woman, in her late forties, strolled up to the table. She had on a tight black shirt that was cut low in the front and hip hugging jeans. She carried with her a pen and pad that she had stuffed in her small red apron that was wrapped around her mid-section. “Morning Cas, what brings you in here today?”

  “Hey Betty. A field trip for school. Can we get two beers?”

  “Sure thing sugar, be right back with your order.”

  “Come here often?” I raised a brow.

  “I prefer not to limit my education to one place.” I nodded, trying to keep the smile from my face.

  “School started two weeks ago. How come this is the first time I’ve seen you in class?”

  “There was a mix up with my schedule, but now it’s fixed…lucky me,” he winked.

  “Pick a major? Or you one of those brats who only goes to school to party and blow their parent’s money.”

  He narrowed his eyes slightly but I could see a hint of a smile. “Neither,” he took a sip of his beer. “I’m just not sure what I want to do.”

  “What do you like to do?”

  He shrugged. “Write and play music.”

  “Ever think maybe about doing something with your music? If you like it so much why don’t you pursue a career in the music industry?”

  “What about you?” he asked. He switched the topic over to me, letting me know this wasn’t something he wanted to talk about. Something I did often.

  “Pre-law.” His eyes widened. “Does this surprise you?”

  “Actually no. You’ve got a fire inside you. I can see you being a real crusader.”

  I laughed. “Nah, I just like to argue.”

  Three beers later and I
was feeling the effects. Casper leaned in across the table. “See that guy over there.” I adjusted myself just enough so I could look without being obvious. “He comes here every morning after work because he can’t stand his wife. And that one over there, lost his job a month ago, and that one over there, his wife died ten years ago. But this was where they had their first date. He comes here every year on their anniversary and spends the whole day here.”

  “That’s so sad.” I turned to see he was trying to hide his smile behind his beer mug. “You just made all that up, didn’t you?” He shrugged. “You’re a jerk.” I reached across the table to smack him, making him spill some of his beer. He laughed.

  He slid over in the booth. “Come here,” he said, patting the spot next to him. I eyed him warily. “I’m not going to do anything. I swear. I just want to show you something.” I carefully got up and slid into the seat next to him. He shifted, putting his hand on my hip, and turning me slightly. I gripped the table to keep myself from shivering. I didn’t know what it was that made Casper have this weird effect over me, but when he touched me, my body reacted instantly. I wanted to fall back into him and pull his arms around me, but I resisted. “Okay, tell me what you see.” He was so close I could feel his warm breath on my cheek. I closed my eyes for a second, enjoying his nearness.

  When I opened them again, I looked around the room. My eyes fell to the middle aged woman at the end of the bar. Her eyes were tired, her ponytail slowly falling out of its original position. She wore beat up sneakers, faded black dress pants, and a stained black shirt. “She’s a waitress who just got off her shift. She has kids. Every morning when she’s done work she rushes them off to school and then on her way home stops here to wind down so she can relax and eventually sleep.” I could feel him smiling behind me.

  “And what about that one.” He pointed to an elderly man sitting in the middle of the bar. He wore a tan jacket. He was bald on top with light gray hair on the sides. He was flipping a coin over and over on the bar.

  “He’s a recovering alcoholic. He comes here to remind himself not to drink. He orders one, but never touches it. The coin is his safety net, his twitch to keep himself straight.”