Chapter 9 Late Night Snack

The only thing I could think to do was to keep calling but I was having a hard time concentrating because the girls kept distracting me. A part of my mind was tugging at me saying, You're about to sleep with four girls! The combination of the two distractions was driving me mad.

I hung up the phone and decided to wait five minutes and call again.

“Welcome back,” Gina said and all the girls giggled.

I turned to her. “What?”

“You really have a one-track mind don't you?” Lacy said.

Wha— how did they? No, you only thought about sleeping with the girls, Walker. “What do you mean?”

“You ignored us the whole time you were on the phone.” Joy said.

This wasn't the first time I'd been accused of this. My teachers mentioned it almost every parent-teacher meeting and I wasn't sure if it was something I could fix. “Sorry,” I mumbled.

Lacy and Gina were on the pull-out and partially under the covers already. Sam was lying on the other side of the bed opposite me. Joy was next to me, sitting.

Something was bothering me from earlier and now seemed a good time to bring it up. “What did Alyx mean?”

“What do you mean, what did she mean?” Joy asked.

Suddenly my throat was dry. Do you really want to know this, Walker? I took a moment to really think about it. Yeah. I swallowed. “Sh-she said I was prettier than someone?”

“Oh, uhm,” Joy said. She pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. “She was just angry.”

“I know she was angry.” I turned to Gina and Lacy. “Did she mean Joy?” Joy was beautiful and there was no way I was better looking than her.

They immediately turned to Joy and my gaze followed theirs.

Joy's face went red.

When she didn't say anything I looked at Sam. Sam didn't even look like she was paying attention.

“Sam?” I asked.

She hummed back at me, “Hmm?”

“Am I prettier than Joy?” I distinctly remembered that Sam accused me of being pretty while we had our little heart to heart in the bathroom.

Sam immediately looked at Joy.

“What the hell, just tell me!” I screeched. Everyone turned to me with their eyes wide. The screech shocked even me. It was a clean, very female sound that I was not accustomed to coming from my mouth. My voice didn’t crack like the other guys at school.

I touched my throat and then cleared it. “Sorry,” I mumbled.

These girls had somehow gotten past most of my defenses. If I would have done that while talking to my guy friends they would have laughed at me and I would never live it down. I was much more careful around them.

“You're really pretty,” Lacy said.

I turned to her and then saw Joy catch her eye for a moment and then do a quick shake of her head.

Lacy's mouth opened for a moment and then closed.

“What the hell is going on?” I demanded.

Joy put a hand on my leg. “You don't wanna know.”

“It has to do with me, of course, I want to know!” I said.

The girls all shared a look. Joy glanced at me, took in a deep breath, and then nodded.

“You're as pretty as Sherry Bradford,” Lacy said.

Sherry Bradford was a drop-dead gorgeous girl from school. She was a professional model and I would sell my whole card collection for ten minutes with her. Well, maybe not my Ken Griffey Jr. rookie card but I would hesitate.

There was no way I was that attractive. I didn't believe them. “Not possible.”

They began protesting but I wouldn't listen. That is until Sam said, “I swear on my clothes, you're that pretty.”

She was the only girl here tonight that I hadn't seen with her nightgown off. Not only that, if she was swearing on her clothes I knew how precious those were to her. Based on that alone it gave me pause.

There's no way. I struggled with the thought.

“When you were putting on clothes and dancing...” Joy said. “It was too much. You looked better in my clothes than I do.”

My mind couldn’t process what was happening. No one had ever accused my mom or sisters of being model-worthy so I didn’t understand how I could look any better than them.

Instead of facing the problem head-on, I decided to put it on the back burner. Besides, there was nothing I could do about it either way so I called Rich’s again just to break the awkwardness of the situation.

No answer. Shit.

As I hung up the phone Gina pushed on my leg.

I looked at her and she smiled at me. Gina had a way of melting my heart that I didn’t quite understand. Before I started crying I clenched my fist digging the small fingernails I had into my skin. That, along with looking away, worked at pushing the rising feelings I was experiencing aside.

“We should probably head to sleep if we are going to make breakfast tomorrow,” Sam suggested.

Breakfast was the last thing that I was concerned about but I sl moved closer to the bed’s headboard and leaned on it. I scooted the phone closer to the bed so I didn’t have to reach as far.

Gina had to get closer to me so Lacy could lie down. Lacy took the far side of the pull out. I was above them but Gina watched me as I waited.

Joy was apprehensive about moving between Sam and me but after a little while, she built up the courage and crawled between us. After a little bit, she got under the covers. She glanced between me and the covers a few times and opened her mouth to say something but no words came out.

I wondered if she wanted me to get under the covers or if she was apprehensive about me joining her in them. I was tired of playing the awkward game so I picked up the phone and called again. After twenty or so rings I hung up.

The clock was close to my hand and I noticed it was after one am. Those guys better fix it. I exhaled a shuddering breath.

“Don’t worry they’ll pick up,” Gina whispered.

I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples. “I hope so.” She was so positive, I wondered where she obtained so much enthusiasm. Actually, she seemed pretty normal compared to Sam and Lacy. Is she a misfit?

Gina put her head on her pillow and closed her eyes. Lacy did the same. Sam’s eyes were already closed. Joy was lying there watching me.

“You know, you’re pretty nice for a guy,” Joy whispered.

It was nice hearing her call me a guy. This whole night was messing with my perception of who I was. It seemed Joy was doing me a kindness especially with the crazy revelation they had dropped on me.

I scooted into a lying position and turned to face her. “This night turned out way different than how I thought it would,” I whispered back.

She nodded at me.

As I thought about it, I realized that she was trusting me with the delicate relationships she had with her friends. It wasn’t the same amount of thrust I was giving her about my body but it was similar.

“I’m not mad at you,” I said. One of Joy’s hands slipped from under the covers and she propped up her head with her elbow. “I mean, for breaking up with me.”

If she were secretly a guy or something I probably would have reacted in a much worse way than how she had toward me. Given the circumstances, and revelations everything came out considerably well. I still ended up surrounded by four girls.

Joy slipped her other arm out and grabbed my hand.

We stared at each other for what seemed like a really long time. Before I knew it tears were leaking from my eyes and she pulled me to her chest again.

After I'd drained my tear ducts I drifted away while in the comfort of her arms.

***
Something startled me and I jerked awake. The lights were off and I didn’t know where I was. The only light source was a glowing red clock. It said two-thirty.

I was leaning against someone. The insanity of the night came back to me. Joy. I thought. She was so soft and her hand was still in mine. I had a small mental crisis. I had to choose between pulling away from probably the closest I’d ever been to a girl and calling my friends.

A part of me didn’t want to move but another part of me was talking sense. The sense part won out and I peeled myself from her chest. I’d resigned to keeping her hand in mine until she suddenly let go and turned around.

I stared into the inky darkness where her body was. For the first time since the break up I could feel the pang of loss.
Letting it overcome me was not an option so I turned around and faced the clock. It was casting enough light to where I could at least see the phone.

I picked it up and when I dialed the number Rich’s answering machine came on. It surprised me and I hung up.

What do I say? Hey, I’m stuck at my ex-girlfriends and they will make me dress up like a girl if you don’t get here early. That obviously wouldn’t do.

After a small amount of internal deliberation, I was pretty sure I had the perfect message.

Beep, beep, beep went the phone as I dialed. I quickly cleared my throat just in case I’d somehow slipped into high pitch mode again. When the answering machine finished its little message I said, “Hey, it’s Walker, I need you guys to pick me up early. Like at six. Life and death sort of thing.” After that, I hung up. It was a pretty short and to-the-point message. I just hoped that the guys got it in time.

My stomach suddenly grumbled and I heard a giggle from below me. I peered over the edge and couldn’t see anyone. I moved the clock closer to the edge of the nightstand and I could see the outline of Gina staring up at me.

“Hey,” she whispered.

I smiled. “Hey.”

“You’re still hungry?” she asked.

Those two pieces of pizza hadn’t cut it. “Yeah.”

“There’s probably more pizza downstairs,” she said.

That didn’t sound half bad. “Can I get some?”

Her hand came up to her face and she giggled. “Yeah.”

I hadn’t gotten under the covers so it was easy to slip out of bed. I could hear the creaks from Gina’s footsteps and a small sliver of light when she opened the door. It cast enough of a glow that I could see where I was going without bumping into anything. I closed the door behind us as we escaped the confines of Joy’s dark room.

There were several nightlights that were plugged in along the hallway. They made it easy to make it downstairs and to the kitchen. There was probably someone else in the house that got late-night snacks and had fallen or something.

The dining room and kitchen also had tiny lights which confirmed my little deduction. Gina opened the fridge and pulled out a box of pizza. There was only one box left which made me wonder where the rest of the pizza went. We certainly didn’t eat it.

“Turn on the light,” she told me.

After I walked around lost for thirty seconds she pointed it out for me. The light of the dining room came on instead of the kitchen. “That okay?” I asked.

“That’s fine.”

Gina carried the box and a few paper plates she’d gotten from somewhere to the table we’d eaten at earlier. Everything was always spookier in the dark. The light wasn’t that bright but was well-lit enough to cover the dining room. You never knew who or what was lurking in the depths of the darkness.

My friends would use creepy phrases like that to scare us when we played D&D late into the night. I wasn’t scared of the dark in particular but it was definitely a cool way to describe a room.

There was a mix of different slices in the box as if someone had taken the time to make a variety platter.

Once again I took a couple of slices of pepperoni and put them on my plate. I didn’t mind cold pizza. It was actually one of my favorite breakfast foods.

Gina grabbed a plate and put an ‘everything’ slice on it.

We sat down next to each other and dug in.

As we were eating Gina would occasionally give me a big grin and I would return the favor with a smile. She was so delicate with her piece of pizza.

“Hey,” I said and then swallowed. “Why are you so nice to me?”

She chewed and covered her mouth while I was waiting for a response. After she swallowed she pulled her hand away. “Are you kidding?”

“No...”

“You’re that pretty and,” She cleared her throat and lowered her voice. “Can pull off the whole guy thing!” She sounded genuinely amazed.

It was kind of cool that I could pull the whole switch off but I’d never really thought about it like that. Then again I didn’t know how much my body had changed until tonight. Joy helped me by letting me release my emotions at least a few times but based on my track record I would probably break down again with my younger sister.

Hailey was always on my side when it came to disputes between Alice and me. It’s why I could trust her for help with the binder. Mom would have to help otherwise and I didn’t like her seeing me naked. Not with the way she obsessed with being overly ‘helpful’.

As for Gina, I wasn't exactly sure how to respond to someone who admired my daily struggle. “How did you and Joy meet?” I asked, pulling the focus of the conversation away from me.

“School,” she said.

I expected that answer. “How long have you known each other?”

She shrugged and took another bite of her pizza. “I think we met last year.” She looked up at the ceiling. “No, the year before that, in Junior high.”

“You're a sophomore too?” I asked.

She still had food in her mouth so I waited patiently. “Yeah, we all are.”

Joy told me her grade when we started dating. Since all the girls were all in the same grade as me it meant that I was likely a year older than them.

I failed third grade when I refused to listen to my teacher. I held a grudge and then to show off I aced all my tests the repeat year. The joke was on me because some of the good friends I made went ahead of me. It wasn't the same anymore when seeing them in the halls.

It meant that by the time I hit high school the people a grade above me were at least nice to me. It was the seniors and juniors that were causing my friends and me problems. At least we didn't have to deal with them much longer.

Most of them graduated the year before and the last of them were going to graduate in a few months. Our last two years were going to be pure bliss.

“Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?” I asked while chewing. My manners were not as refined as hers.

Gina looked down at her hands for a moment and then nodded. “Go ahead.”

I wasn't sure how to ask in a non-rude way. “Are you like Joy's other friends?” is what I went with.

“What do you mean?”

Joy had said that her friends were misfits but I wasn't sure if she was telling me that in confidence or not. “Sam's really tall…”

“Oh,” She took a moment to finish and then gestured at herself.

I didn't get it.

“My parents are really strict...” she said.

I'd heard that about Asian parents. “Your..?”

“Korean.”

I nodded and took another bite of pizza. It was true that being Asian was a bit rare at least in my town but Gina was pretty. “Like how strict are your parents?”

“I have to have all A's or I can't leave the house.”

My mom wasn't that bad; she even went so far as to pay me ten bucks per A at one point. I was usually a B+ student so it wasn't too much trouble to bring up my grades a little.

“Are you still hungry?” Gina asked.

My plate was empty and I didn't even remember eating my pizza. The black hole that was my stomach was never satiated but come to think of it, I was getting pretty tired. “I think I'm good.”

Gina must have been tired too because she was quiet while we cleaned up. On our way back upstairs she and I shared smiles again. I wondered if she was attracted to me.

I didn't really pay much attention to the girls at school. Fear of being ambushed by one of the seniors caused extreme paranoia.

We arrived at Joy's door pretty quickly and we didn't hesitate to go inside. Gina left the door open so I could make it to the bed.

I got under the covers this time. Gina closed the door and I heard her climb into bed.

An uncomfortable silence filled the room. It felt like I was missing something but my brain was too tired to be worried about it.

“Thanks, Gina,” I whispered. That had to be what I was missing.

“Night, Kennedi,” she replied.

“Night.” I turned around, laid my hand on Joy's side, and drifted off to sleep.

***