by Kata Čuić
“Yes!” I leap out of the bed in a panic. I don’t even care that he has a full view of every flaw on my naked body in the bright sunlight streaming through the window or that my hair must be a matted mess or that I’m scrounging for my clothes from yesterday on his floor.
He reclines against the headboard and crosses his arms over his chest while he watches me nearly fall over, trying to put my skirt on. “I’d like to say I’m surprised, but I didn’t really think erasing three years of your hate was going to be easy. I hoped. Prayed a little. Made a sacrifice to a voodoo priestess.” He shakes his head. “I’ve really gotta stop asking other people for advice and just go with my own gut on this.”
He doesn’t have a gut. He has a six-pack.
“I’d like to say I’m surprised you went to all those lengths, but I don’t have time right now to reminisce with you about all the lengths you’ve gone to just to piss me off in the past three years because my parents are going to be at my apartment any minute to finally move me in, and it’s going to be awkward enough when I show up, looking like a hungover train wreck.”
He bolts out of bed, too. “That’s today? Why didn’t you tell me?”
I throw my arms out to the sides. “Because I never tell you anything you could potentially use against me!”
He places his hands on his very nicely defined waist and glances down at the erection that’s basically parallel to the ground. “I gotta jump in the shower first.”
We dance around each other as he grabs clean clothes, and I try to tame my appearance into something that doesn’t resemble sleeping naked all night with the hottest man alive after getting drunk at a frat party.
I can already hear my mother’s reprimands.
“No wonder my balls hurt so much,” he mutters before firmly kissing me on the lips. “Let me get this under control, then I’ll meet you there.”
I stop him from heading out the door with a hand on his arm. “How do you even know where my new apartment is?”
He shrugs. “Shannon’s the voodoo priestess. The right sacrifices get me the right information.”
My mouth drops open in horror and a dash of betrayal. A loud slapping noise on the wall snaps me out of it.
“Shut up!” she screams. “I’m trying to sleep!”
Maybe she is a voodoo priestess.
Chapter Thirty-Three
There is a gaping hole in my kitchen from floor to ceiling.
“Put a plant in front of it,” Dad suggests. “Like one of those big tropical trees you can get at IKEA.”
Mom rolls her eyes.
The water is gone, and the soaked carpet has dried, sure. The building management did exactly what they’d said they would. They repaired the burst pipe. And that is all.
My sister, Sarah, wraps her arms around my waist. “You have to come home. This place is gross. I want you to come home.”
I lay my cheek on top of the blonde hair that matches my shade almost exactly. “I have another year of college left. Besides, you like coming to visit me at State, remember?”
“Mom doesn’t like when I come here,” Sarah whispers.
Not softly enough that we don’t all hear it, but she knows it’s not a nice thing to say out loud.
“You only come to visit when Aunt Karin can’t stay with you,” Mom reminds her. “Just like she couldn’t stay with you today while we move Sophia into her new apartment.”
Another argument between me and Mom about what’s best for Sarah brews on the horizon. I have never been so grateful to see Jim walk in my front door, uninvited. And he’s brought the cavalry.
Tim whistles. “Wow.”
Nate just gapes at the giant hole in the wall.
“What the hell is that?” Shannon yelps.
Sarah leaps away from me and runs to her. “Shana Banana!”
Shannon opens her arms and braces for the onslaught. “Sarah Sunshine!”
I wasn’t the only one who got lucky with the best friend in the world. Sarah got another big sister in the deal.
Once she’s lavished Shannon with hugs and kisses, she studies the strangers. She paces up and down the row of men like a drill sergeant who’s inspecting a platoon for weakness.
She stops in front of Nate. “Who are you?”
“Nate.”
“What do you like?”
“Beer.” Nate winces as soon as the word leaves his mouth. It must have been an automatic response.
Mom scoffs. “This is why I don’t like her coming here to visit you.”
Nate blushes. “Sorry.”
I hold my hand up for Mom to pipe down. “She likes meeting new people. Let her.”
Sarah moves on to Tim. “Who are you?”
“Tim.”
“What do you like?”
“Studying.” He nods like he absolutely means it.
Sarah shrugs. She’s not impressed.
“I’m Jake.” He holds his hand out to her before she asks.
She shakes his hand, but she’s not happy about the insubordination, judging by her frown. “What do you like?”
“Music, and the beach, and cheeseburgers, and football …”
Sarah makes a time-out motion. “Just the basics, sir.”
Dad and I exchange an amused glance, but Mom bristles, embarrassed.
Sarah stops in front of Jim and looks way up at his face. “Who are you?”
He bends at the knees until he reaches her eye-level. “I’m James. Who are you?”
She doesn’t mind his insouciance because she loves to be the center of attention. “I’m Sarah.”
“It’s nice to meet you, Sarah.”
She beams. “What do you like?”
He tips his head to the side, studying her, probably absorbing more information I’ve never given him to use against me. “I like you. I’m really sad I’ve never met you before.”
Sarah glances back at me with a surprised expression that screams, Can I keep him?
I nod because … maybe.
She throws her arms around his neck. If it wasn’t for all those early morning gym workouts, the force of her affection would have knocked him on his ass. I know. She’s done it to me. And to Shannon.
He’s not uncomfortable by her bear hug like Shannon was when she first met her. He wraps his arms around her and squeezes back, lifting her off her feet until she squeals with delight.
It’s not that people are inherently bad or mean. Shannon definitely isn’t. It’s just that if they haven’t lived this life, then being around a person with different needs takes some getting used to. But Jim grew up similarly, so he’s already used to the special side of life.
Dad smiles at the scene. There are definite hearts in his eyes, and this time, they’re not football-shaped.
Mom seems less sure, like she’s waiting for him to make an excuse to bolt.
Sarah begins her inquisition as soon as Jim places her feet back on the floor. “Where do you live?”
“In a house not far away from here. Where do you live?”
“In a house far away from here. Do you go to college at State like Shana Banana and Sophia?”
“I do. Do you go to school?”
“No.” She shakes her head. “Not anymore. I don’t like school.”
“That’s too bad. Learning new things can be fun.” He glances at me, his expression full of disappointment.
“Well.” Mom claps her hands together, no doubt to disrupt Sarah’s typical need to find out everything there is to know about her new friend. “Now that we have some muscle, let’s get started.”
With four extra bodies I didn’t plan on imposing upon, we get all my bedroom furniture from the moving truck into the apartment surprisingly fast. Now, we’re onto the living room and dining room items. Sarah trails after Jim, nearly making him drop my couch in her efforts to plaster herself to his side.
He motions to Nate to set the couch down, which they do. Right in the middle of the sidewalk leading to the main entrance
. Jim sits on the couch then pats the cushion beside him for Sarah to sit, too. Nate shakes his head with a smile on his lips then heads back to the truck to see what else he can help with.
Sarah perches on that old couch like it’s a throne, and she’s ready to hold court. “What’s your favorite thing ever?”
Mom runs up to them. “We can’t sit now, Sarah. We have to get the furniture into Sophia’s apartment.”
“It’s fine,” Jim assures her before I can even argue. “It’s a college town. There are couches everywhere. People are used to it.”
Even though I have a heavy bin of clothes in my arms, I don’t head up to the apartment. Either Mom is going to have to be talked down, or Jim is going to run out of patience when he gets the full brunt of Sarah’s curiosity.
“What’s your favorite thing ever? What’s your favorite thing ever? What’s your favorite thing ever?” Sarah bounces on the couch, refusing to be silenced now that she’s been given free rein.
Jim’s body bounces along with Sarah’s excitement. He smiles and points at me. “Do you know that lady there?”
Sarah stops bouncing to fix Jim with her patented duh look. She’s such a smart-ass. “She’s my sister, Sophia!”
He nods. “Well, Sophia is my favorite thing ever.”
I’m not sure if he’s trying to win brownie points with me or with her, but I definitely can’t leave now. Mom looks ready to launch into her own inquisition.
Sarah’s expression morphs into shock. She looks like a meme as she turns toward me with owl eyes. “Are you boyfriend-girlfriend?”
Mom loses it. “You stayed with your boyfriend all week? In the same house? In the same bedroom? I thought he was just joking about a trial run for living together when we first met!”
Now, listen. I am ninety-nine percent sure my parents engaged in premarital sex even though I do not want to hear those stories for confirmation of my suspicions. But what’s good for the mother is almost never good for the daughter—in both my and Sarah’s cases.
Jim winces. He knows he’s stepped in it. He ruffles his hair, and then Sarah mimics the movement, giggling.
“Uh, no, no. Not necessarily. She stayed at our house but not specifically with me. Jury’s still out actually. Your daughter hates me as much as she loves me.”
I don’t get a chance to respond to that weighty statement because both Mom and Sarah come at me from different angles.
“What? You hate him? Why? I love him!”
“And when were you planning on telling me about this new boyfriend, hmm? You’ve never even mentioned his name before! Whatever happened to that nice boy you dated last year? What was his name?”
“John,” Jim supplies, deadpan.
“John!” My mother beams at Jim. Oh, this is such a train wreck. “What happened to John? You didn’t tell me anything about that either!”
Just when I thought all the physical activity of moving had leeched the hangover out of me, my temples throb with a headache.
“I didn’t like John.” Sarah pouts.
Jim wraps his arm around her shoulders and points at her. “You’re my new favorite.” He turns his attention to Mom while I’m still working out the fastest way to put out this brush fire. “She dumped him.”
“What?” My mom gasps.
Jim shrugs. “You have a highly intelligent daughter. She saw the writing on the wall. He wasn’t good enough for her.”
Yeah, and the guy grinning at me thinks he is.
“But, but, but,” Mom sputters and gestures with her open palm toward Sarah, “you introduced him to Sarah! I thought things were serious! Sarah loved him!”
“I did not! I did not love John! I love James!”
Jim’s smile reaches blinding status. “You two are definitely sisters. So much alike.”
I’m making plans to chew on his hot dog later when Dad strolls up.
“Taking a break, huh?” He plops down on the other side of Sarah, his forehead glistening with sweat. “I’m down with that.”
“Did you know Sophia and John broke up? Last year?” Mom glares at Dad. She’s glaring at everyone really.
I had no idea she was so attached to John.
Dad winces, directing his attention to me. “Oh, I was supposed to break that to her, wasn’t I?”
I nod.
Mom throws her hands in the air. “I can’t believe you told your father and not me!”
“Really, Mrs. Reston?” Shannon makes a shocked face as she passes by with a bin of shoes. “I can’t imagine why.”
Shannon will always be in my corner. Especially on the topic of my mom. Mostly because I vent to Shannon about it all the time since I can’t vent to Sarah. For her, I have to set a good example.
Sarah turns to Jim. “Do you love John, too?”
“No way.” Jim shakes his head. “I hate him.”
“Me too! He didn’t like to talk to me!”
“But you love me?” Jim double-checks, looking like the picture of concern. “Because I like to talk to you.”
“Yeah!” Sarah starts bouncing again then stops suddenly. “Wait. Are you playing pretend? Do you really like talking to me?”
Jim squeezes her shoulder. Mom and Dad are both waiting with bated breath on his answer. Me, too. If this goes south, Jim will finally know what my hatred really tastes like. And Mom and Dad will have to calm Sarah for hours.
After a sigh, Jim speaks gently but firmly, “My little brother is about your age. He can’t talk at all. I would give anything to hear his voice. Just once. So, yeah, I really like talking to you. I can pretend that maybe you have the same questions he might want to ask me. And when I talk to you, I can pretend like I’m getting to talk to him.”
Mom is shocked. Dad smiles. He’s officially in love with Jim. And Sarah and I are definitely alike because the same tears I feel springing into my eyes shine in hers.
She throws her arms around Jim. “I’m sorry your brother can’t talk.”
He pats her back, seeming to genuinely enjoy her comfort. “Me, too. Now, come on. Let’s get this couch into Sophie’s apartment, and you can ask me more questions.”
“Her name is Sophia!”
Dad picks up the other end of the couch, and they shuffle toward the door.
“Think he’s good enough now, Mom?” There might be a little bitterness in my tone. Toward myself.
“Well, I—”
“I love him!” Dad yells, obviously eavesdropping since they haven’t made it as far as I thought.
“You love my brother,” Jim volleys back, laughing.
Chapter Thirty-Four
“I think we can fix it.” Tim’s crouched on the kitchen floor, inspecting the gaping hole that reaches up to the ceiling like a portal into another dimension.
Nate, Jake, and Jim are crowded around, too, doing guy things, while Shannon and I are left to womanly activities, like unpacking boxes and placing everything where it belongs in the cupboards.
“I don’t know,” Nate muses. “She might get fined if we fix it. This is way more than patching a hole. We’d need a half-sheet of drywall to fit in here.”
“Did you call maintenance?” Jim asks for the millionth time. “Maybe they just don’t want to patch it until they’re sure the leak won’t happen again.”
“It’s Sunday, Jim. They won’t answer the phones until tomorrow during business hours.”
Dr. Kimball was so right. I threw away a good thing because I thought newer and shinier was better.
“Do you think Sarah has calmed down by now?” Shannon asks as she sorts silverware into a tray in the drawer.
“I hope so.”
Sarah ended up crying today anyway, and it was still because of Jim. She didn’t want to leave her new friend.
Warm hands knead my tense shoulders. “Do you think it would help if I called her, or would that just make it worse?”
“They’re probably not home yet. It’s a two-hour drive. I hope you know she will definitely ca
ll you though since you gave her your phone number.”
“Should I text her my schedule, so she’ll know when it’s okay to call?”
I spin to face him, my face probably painted in wonder. I didn’t expect Jim to be an asshole to my little sister, but I didn’t think he’d go the extra mile for her either. “You would do that?”
He shrugs and nods. “Davey thrives on routine. If he knows what to expect, he tries to engage a little more.”
I place my hand on his chest, his heartbeat a steady rhythm beneath my fingertips. “I’m sorry you’ve never heard his voice, too.”
Jim tips his head back and forth. “I mean, I have. It’s not like he’s mute. I’ve heard him cry and shout and laugh. Just … no words.”
I sniffle back the tears threatening again. “Well, be prepared, James. Sarah will talk your ear off.”
“I can vouch for that,” Shannon adds.
Jim brushes my hair off my face and lowers his voice to a murmur. “Did you think I would run away, screaming?”
I shake my head, biting my lip to stop the increasing urge to sob.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“It never came up.”
“Yes, it did. When I told you about Davey, it came up.”
I shrug. I have no good answer, except that I’m not racing toward an invisible finish line the way Jim is. More like inching. Slowly and steadily.
“Sophia doesn’t trust just anyone with Sarah,” Shannon puts in helpfully.
Or not.
Jim’s expression darkens. “I really hate John.” Then, he grins. “Now, you understand what happened last night though.”
“What happened last night?” Tim rises from the floor and stretches.
“Nothing,” Jim says, shaking his head a little too wildly.
An evil urge flickers in my chest.
Jim takes one glance at my expression and shakes his head harder. “No. Don’t you do it.”
Jake glances back and forth between us. “I’m not sure if I want to know more or less, watching you two.”
Shannon presses, “I definitely want to know more now. What happened last night?”
