Genevieve had seen at least a dozen girls at the
dance so far dressed as a "cat." And by cat, she meant "slut" but
with more whiskers and fake ears. A couple might have been
mice. One looked vaguely like a bunny. All were a little on
the whorish side.
Which was one thing she could not understand
about a Halloween dance: why the hell was everyone so boring? Some
originality would go a long way. Not that Gen's costume was all that
new—she and Levi had been dressing up like Magenta and Riff Raff from
Rocky
Horror
since they were ten. But they had gone out of their way over the
years to make the costumes as authentic looking as possible and were at
least
trying to be unique. To make matters worse, it
seemed half of the male population attending the dance decided to just
throw on the classic
Scream mask, and then didn't even bother with the full
robe ensemble. Laziness and no enthusiasm…it was just sad.
Unfortunately, she actually arrived in the poorly decorated
gymnasium of her school for the dance with a couple of those unoriginal
people. Kourtnee was definitely the most provocative looking cat Gen
had ever seen, while Peyton was a rather adorable grey mouse. But it
was when Merri showed up at her door to wait for Levi to pick them up
dressed up in normal clothes, excerpt for a black T-shirt with, "Trust Me,
I'm A Zombie," painted in white across the front that finally gave Gen a
good laugh.
An hour into the dance, and it was all pretty much
uneventful. Of course, a few police officers in full uniform might
have had something to do with that. Two high school students being
murdered in only a couple of weeks had put local law enforcement on edge
and, still thinking gangs were to blame, officers had shown up at the
dance to keep an eye on things. Detectives had been in the school
that week interviewing anyone who had been at
On the
Map the
night Warren was killed, including Gen. At least she didn't have to lie
this time around; she honestly had no idea what happened, and barely spoke
to the guy all night. As far as she'd heard, no one had any clue
what had happened to him, and when she'd brought up the event to
Michael—wondering if perhaps there was something more apocalypse-y going
on—he'd brushed her off by suggesting she was paranoid and stupid.
Though she saw Sage a couple more times at Michael's throughout
the week, at Merri's suggestion Gen didn't bring up the idea of her
attending the memorial part of the Halloween dance, and Sage hadn't
mentioned it either. Not surprisingly, she hadn't appeared at the
dance that night.
"Please tell me you're having more fun than it
looks like you are," Gen said to Merri as they stood off to the
side. Peyton had gone to the DJ booth to see about some requests,
while Levi and Kourtnee were dancing. Stephie was nowhere to be
seen—which came as little surprise—which left just Gen and Merri to talk,
and so far, Merri had been pretty silent and kept to herself for the
evening.
"I'm having more fun than I look like I’m having," she
said, albeit unconvincingly.
"Okay, now once more, with feeling."
Merri cracked a grin. "I'm fine. Not much in the way
of eye candy, though."
"Hey, I thought I looked kinda hot today—"
"Eye candy with
boy parts."
"Oh. Right.
Well…" Gen had a simple solution to that. She pulled her cell
phone out of her small purse and waved it in Merri's face. "Call
him."
"Him?"
"Stop playing."
"He's not going to
drive from Toronto to go to a stupid high school dance that wouldn't even
let him in 'cause he's twenty-one."
"
I could call him."
"They
still wouldn’t let him in."
With a sigh, Gen tucked the phone away
once more. "Fine, but if you change your mind—"
"I won't."
"—let me know." Gen still hadn't eliminated the possibility
of calling him later herself and just not telling Meredith, but she'd
probably have to wait until she was alone for that.
"They said
they'd get to our requests in, like, two and a half hours," Peyton said
with an apologetic smile as she returned. "They're full up until
then. Insane, right? 'Cause you know most people just request
the same stuff."
Which was a problem that could easily be solved,
in Gen's opinion, but not leaving the song request box out in the office
regardless of whether a dance was coming up or not. She seemed to
recall seeing that thing there back in September, and if it had been
collecting songs all that time, no wonder they couldn’t get a request in.
"They did say
The Time Warp was coming up soon, though,"
she offered.
"'Bout damn time."
"But they're not allowed
to play a couple of the others ones," she continued. "Too racy or
something."
Gen was certain she'd heard worse in contemporary
music playing that night, but she doubted complaining would get them
anywhere. "At least we're getting something." Honestly, how
could someone have a Halloween dance and not play the whole damn
soundtrack?
"So how about the punch," Peyton said. "Think
it's spiked?"
With the number of cops wandering the room and the
four chaperone teachers standing at the punch table? Right.
"Probably not," Gen said. "Want some?"
"I can get it—"
"It's cool," Gen said quickly. Maybe if she got Peyton some
punch, she could make believe they were on like a date or something.
That might work for…oh, about five seconds or so, she thought wistfully.
Merri declined Gen's offer to get some for her as well, so she and
Peyton stood in potentially-awkward silence while Genevieve went to the
refreshment stand. She had to agree with Merri—the dance was pretty
dull, but then it had been the other two years they'd gone. At least
before, when it had just been her and Levi, they spent most of their time
together, and stared longingly at their respective crushes—he at Sage, and
she at Janine—and then make jokes about how they'd end up miserable and
alone one day, but for one another.
A whole lot changes in a
year,
she thought as she poured punch into a couple of Styrofoam cups.
"You done with that?" a familiar voice to her left asked just as
Gen set the ladle down next to the bowl.
Startled, she swung
around to see Janine standing beside her, empty cup in hand and waiting to
grab some punch.
Though apparently not that much has changed—I
still have no idea what to say to her. "Uh, yeah," Gen said
quickly, her common sense making a brief appearance to save her from
making a complete ass of herself. She stepped out of the way and
picked up the two cups she'd filled.
"I like your costume," Janine
said casually as she poured herself a glass of the drink, dark eyes
focused on her task and only sliding Genevieve's way when she was
done. Gen felt a little lump form in her throat when their eyes did
meet, and she thanked god Peyton and Merri weren't near so they couldn't
see her look like such an idiot.
"Thanks." She tried to
smile. Was that even working? Did she look weird? Oh,
this wasn't going well… Think of something else to say, damn
you! Her gaze skimmed over Janine quickly, trying not to stare at
any inappropriate places—which turned out to be a difficult task.
She wore a bright red, rather form-fitting dress hemmed mid-thigh, with a
long pointed tail sewn into the rear, and a pair of sexy black heels put
her close to Gen's height. Glossy dark hair framed her face, held
back by a pair of devil horns. "I-I like yours too."
"It's
not very original, I know," Janine said with a laugh. "Easy enough
to do, though. But I really like yours—Magenta is one of my
favourite characters."
Oh-my-god, she's so awesome.
"Yeah, me too."
"Did it take too
long to put together?"
"No."
Shit, I've said like exactly
ten words to her—eleven if you count my stuttering. Why was her mind suddenly
blank? This was awful.
Janine flashed a smile that, despite
the fact it was a cliché, could only really be described as
dazzling. Worse still, it did nothing to help loosen Gen's tongue,
which remained in hiding.
"I'd better get back now," she
said. "Nice talking to you, Genevieve. And let me know if you
need a Columbia next time." To Gen's surprise, there wasn't a hint
of sarcasm in her voice with that remark, and she gave her another genuine
smile before leaving for the crowd of dancers.
Feeling a tad on
the dazed side, Gen took the cups of punch back to where Merri, Peyton,
and now Levi stood, and leaned against the gym's wall.
"Janine
knows my name," she said, still a little shocked.
"Janine-Janine?"
Levi asked.
Gen nodded. "Unless I died on my way to get
punch. If so, please don't bother resuscitating me, 'cause this
death thing kinda rocks."
"Who's Janine?" Peyton asked, looking at
each of them in turn.
"Girl Gen has had a crush on for like ever,"
Levi answered before Gen could.
Of course he had to say that when
she hadn't, explicitly, said anything to Peyton yet about being into
girls. It wasn't that was ashamed or had any desire to lie about
it… But there was always the chance that Peyton would get weirded
out or immediately assume Gen had been hitting on her for the past few
weeks. Sure, she kind of
had been hitting on her—or at least thinking about
it—but not in a blatant way, and she had no desire to make Peyton
uncomfortable.
Genevieve dared to glance over at Peyton.
Anything short of horrified, she could live with.
Peyton's eyes
had widened a little and she seemed to be searching for words.
Nothing read as "horrified" but Gen hadn't ruled that possibility out yet.
"Oh, so you're…like…" Peyton paused, but it was probably
just as well—finishing that sentence hardly seemed necessary.
Little point in denying it…
"Yeah."
"Oh.
Cool."
Genevieve perked up slightly at that and gazed at her
hopefully. "Really?"
Peyton shrugged. "Yeah.
Twenty-first century and all, right?"
Relief rushed over Gen and
she let out a deep breath, not realizing until then that she'd been
holding it so long. Granted, it wasn't an admission of, "Oh my god,
me too! Let's go out!" but it wasn't, "Ah, get away from me, you
freak!" either. Maybe not a step forward, though at least it wasn't
one backward.
"To each his—or her—own."
Great, she had to
add that. Gen's heart sank just a little.
Thankfully, a
familiar guitar riff kicked in. She looked to Levi to find him
already staring at her, a grin lighting his face.
"I think we need
to do the time warp, Genny," he said, offering her his hand, which a
returning Kourtnee didn't seem pleased about. Considering Kourtnee
had barely spoken three words to her all evening, however, Gen wasn't
feeling too upset about that fact. Happy to see an even greater
spark of her old friend back, she gladly took Levi's hand and raced for
the dance floor. A quick glance back at the others saw Peyton
tugging Merri along, and Kourtnee standing back to look at them as if they
were all nuts.
Sadly, she wasn't the only one. There was
inevitably a split among people in the gymnasium; those who thought the
song was awesome, and those who thought that first group of people were
insane. Occasionally, DJ's were embarrassed to even play the
song. Some people had no sense of humour.
Gen also found it
remarkable how many people couldn't follow the simple dancing instructions
The Criminologist provided during the song's chorus; how hard was a jump
to the left and a step to the right? Of course, she and Levi took it
a step further, following the bulk of the movie's dance sequence by heart,
and even falling in a heap on the floor at the end of the song.
"Think they're going to give us a Breathalyzer soon," Levi
whispered with a grin. He nodded to one of the chaperone teachers
across the room who had been gesturing in their direction and chatting up
one of the uniformed officers. Levi stood first and offered Gen his
hand to help her up.
She accepted his assistance and rose to her
feet. "Unless someone spiked the punch without my knowing, they'll
be in for a shock…" Her voice trailed off as she studied Levi's
expression. Brows furrowed, lips pinched together—shit, he was
getting pissed off. What the hell was his problem?
"Lev,"
Gen started.
"What's she doing here?"
Though she could
guess at this point whom he meant, she followed his gaze to the
gymnasium's main entrance anyway. Sage stood in the doorway, looking
out of place not because she wore casual—and surprisingly stylish—clothes
rather than a costume, but because it was clear she had no interest in
being there. She made no move to find anyone she knew, and barely
glanced around the room before she moved quickly to the back, seeking out
the quietest, emptiest corner to stand by herself.
Gen looked back
at Levi again, having little desire to say what she knew she must.
"I told her she should come."
"You what—"
"And before you
flip out on me, let me remind you she was a big part of your brother's
life, whether you're happy about that fact now or not. I told her
about the fundraiser here tonight and said I thought she should come, so
if you're going to be pissed at someone, make it me."
The tension
palpable, Levi said nothing for a few minutes, and then somewhat
grudgingly turned his attention to Gen again.
"You should have
told me."
"I'm sorry…really. She said she wasn't going to—"
"You still should have told me," he said again and walked off the
dance floor, disappearing into the crowd.
There's a lot I should tell
you…but I can't. Gen made her way to where Merri and
Peyton stood, then the three returned to where they had been standing
before.
"Did she tell you she was coming?" Gen asked Merri,
nodding in Sage's direction.
"I think a more apt question would
be, 'has she even spoken to me once in the past week,' and the answer
would be 'no.'"
"Should we…I don’t know, go over and say hello,
maybe?" Gen offered.
"She probably wants to be alone."
"If
she wanted to be alone, she would have stayed home. I can't really
believe that she showed just 'cause Michael told her to…" Gen winced
as Merri caught her eye, reminding her Peyton was listening to them.
They had made an informal pact weeks ago avoid talking about Michael—or
the fact that they, along with Sage, spent so much time outside of school
with one another—so that they wouldn't have to answer questions and worry
about having to match up their stories with one another. Levi had
been the exception—Gen couldn’t not give him an explanation. But
Peyton didn't need to know.
"So she was Levi's brother's
girlfriend?" Peyton said when neither Gen nor Merri continued the
conversation.
Gen nodded. "And she doesn't like…people," she
added.
"All people or just certain ones?"
"Uh, pretty much
all of them. She definitely doesn't like me. I still think we
should go over there."
"I don't know," Merri said.
"Um, if
she gets pissed and throws me through a wall, I'll concede you were right
and give you ten bucks, 'kay?"
"She's going to throw you through a
wall?" Peyton's eyes widened.
"Uh…"
Probably
shouldn't tell her I meant that. "No, just kidding."
I hope. On the bright side, Sage didn't run when
they approached—neither away from them, nor towards them wielding a
sword. Considering who they were dealing with, and that she could
kick their asses in a heartbeat, Gen felt she should count her blessings
as she found them.
They attempted to trade pleasantries when they
reached her. She wasn't overtly rude, but the whole exchange seemed
awkward to Gen. Sage still didn't seem happy to be there, Gen and Merri
had to watch what they said around Peyton, and though Levi wasn't in
sight, Genevieve could pretty well assume he was glaring at them from
somewhere across the room.
"So this is it?" Sage said a little
coolly. "This is their memorial fundraiser?"
"Well…yes and
no," Gen began. "They'll probably have something more official at
some point, but I heard the student government came up with this idea for
now. All the net proceeds from ticket sales are going to
charity. Same with the money from later tonight when they auction
off government members as 'gophers-for-a-day.'"
"I'm pretty sure
there's an official memorial being planned for the spring," Merri
added. "For both Hayden and Warren."
"Oh, and there's a
dance-a-thon starting around ten," Peyton jumped in. "People took
pledges. I'm not entered, but I think I'm supposed to give money to
someone. I hope it's not a lot, 'cause I'm pretty broke. Not
that I don't want to donate money to
Crimestoppers and that—I'd give all kinds of
money to help stop gangs from hurting people and stuff—but I'm still
looking for a job in town so I'm basically left with my allowance.
And I guess it sounds pretty sad that I, like, still get an allowance and
that, but—" Her face was shading a deep red as she seemed to realize
she was babbling, but could do little to stop it, so Gen gave her ribs a
gentle nudge with her elbow.
"Anyway," Peyton continued, taking a
deep breath and giving Gen a quick smile of thanks. "I just wanted
to tell you I'm sorry about your boyfriend."
Awkward silence hung
in the air as Peyton waited under Sage's stony gaze for some sort of
response, be it a rebuff or an acceptance of her sympathy.
"Thank
you," Sage said at last, her voice barely heard in the din of music and
talking in the room.
No one seemed to know quite what to say after
that, so the four took up leaning against the nearest wall and looking on
in silence.
"Why isn't Levi coming over?" Peyton whispered to Gen
after a few minutes. She nodded to where Levi and Kourtnee stood
with a few other people, which was noticeably far from Sage.
"He's…resentful about a few things," Gen said carefully. "We
just gotta give him time."
I hope. "Anything I should avoid talking
about? 'Cause I kinda have a habit of putting my foot in my mouth,
as you might have noticed on occasion."
"You? Never!"
Gen feigned shocked. "No, don't worry about it." Warning her
not to mention Sage seemed too much of an invite for more questions, so
Gen skipped the real answer and prayed she wouldn't kick herself for it
later.
A sudden prod in Genevieve's side startled her, and she
swung around to look at Merri.
"What—"
Her gaze followed
Merri's towards Sage, who visibly stiffened and stared straight ahead, a
slight sheen to her eyes as if tears hovered there.
"Sage," Gen
started, but she didn't get further than that as Sage suddenly walked from
the group, gaze downcast and step swift.
"I have no idea what
happened," Merri said before Gen could ask. "She just got really
upset out of nowhere."
Genevieve's gaze went to Levi. His eyes
followed Sage's quick exit, then returned to Kourtnee, who had been
dominating the conversation and failed to notice the brief absence of his
attention.
Dammit, what the hell had he done? Stood there
glaring at her or something? Sure, he had a right to be mad, but
taking it out on Sage was not the way to go about it.
Gen muttered
something about being right back, then stalked toward Levi. He
noticed her approach and slipped away from Kourtnee to meet her.
"And what precisely did I do to get you so pissed?" he asked.
"That was a really big step for her to show up here," Gen
said. "Really big. But you can't just leave things—"
"I didn't do anything."
"She just stormed off—"
He
gestured around them. "Listen."
She stopped her ranting for
a moment. No voices out of the ordinary—she couldn’t even
distinguish actual words being spoken. Nothing but the music was
clear…
"The music?" she guessed, confused. "What, she has a
problem with Van Morrison?"
"This is their song," Levi
explained. "First one they ever danced to."
"Oh."
Well, sure enough, she managed to make a fool of herself anyway.
Peyton clearly wasn't the only one capable of sticking her foot in her
mouth. "That's actually kinda stalker-ish that you know all that."
"It was at our cousin's wedding a few years ago. I couldn't
help but know."
"Oh," she said again. She felt her face heat
up, and thanked god for the many layers of make-up she wore; hopefully
Levi wouldn't be able to tell how embarrassed she felt. Fine way to
treat a friend—running up and accusing him of evil. Wow, she
sucked. Unless… "This isn't exactly a popular song. Why
would they play it?"
"You're suggesting I requested the song so
that she would get upset and leave?"
Gen sighed—he was right, that
thought was absurd. "No. I'm sorry. Just getting
paranoid, I guess—Lev, where are you going?"
He suddenly turned
from her and started into the crowd.
"Lev—"
"I'm going to
prove I'm not the scumbag you now seem to think I am," he replied curtly,
then continued toward the DJ booth. Minutes later he returned, a
small sheet of paper in hand.
"Here," he thrust it towards her,
"they had a stack of requests from the request box, and you'll notice
that's not my writing."
She looked over the paper to see the
words, "For my girl. Crazy Love. Van Morrison." And
though the writing definitely wasn't Levi's, it did look familiar…
"Did he write this?" she asked. As she looked at him again,
she found his eyes steady on the paper.
"I think so," he said
quietly. "He'd been talking about us going to this one as a group
dressed up as everyone from
Rocky for awhile. He could have thrown the
request in the box at any time."
She tightened her grip on the
paper and looked over it once more. "Can I take this?"
"You
want to give it to her?"
Gen bit her lip a moment, debating what
to tell him. The truth seemed the best way to go, though he probably
wouldn't like it.
"Yeah. If I can find her. Okay?"
Certainty filled her; he'd say no. Probably yell at her for
asking, snatch the paper away, and avoid her for the next week—
"Whatever," he muttered instead, taking her aback. Before
she could thank him, he turned and walked away, returning to Kourtnee and
his other friends.
Now she just hoped Sage hadn't taken off for
home 'cause there was no way in hell Gen would be catching up with her…
Outside the gymnasium, the hallways were disturbingly quiet.
The music's bass still thudded loudly enough, but at least the hum of
voices and laughter was blocked out. No sign of Sage, however—no
sign of anyone for that matter.
If I were Sage, where would I
go…? Ah, dammit, Sage
would totally go home. Or
maybe not…
Gen started down the hallway. Hayden's old locker
was on the ground floor and nearby. It seemed likely Sage might head
there.
Footsteps sounded in the next hallway, somewhere beyond the
corner, in the direction of Hayden's locker. Gen quickened her
paced, dashing around the corner in time to see Sage's nimble form
slipping out the heavy doors at the far exit. Beyond the glass
doors, Gen made out the sight of Sage dropping to a sitting position on
the steps, then wrapping her arms around her and shivering beneath the dim
exterior lights. Calling out didn't seem as though it would be
helpful—Sage might decide to take off for good—so Gen moved quickly down
the hallway to join her before she left.
"Hey," Gen called softly
as she stepped outside. The night air was ridiculously cool, and for
the first time in years Gen considered rethinking dressing up like a maid
for Halloween and wandering outdoors in the middle of autumn.
"Whatever you're going to say, I don't want to hear it," Sage said
with a shake of her head.
"Sage—"
"Just…don't. I've
heard it all."
They weren't good enough friends that Gen felt she
could just sit down next to her and say something comforting or even
explain what she was doing out there, so instead she moved to the bottom
of the steps and held out the crinkled piece of paper.
"Here."
Sage glanced up to study Gen for a moment, dark eyes shinning in
the light, then moved toward the paper. She took it gingerly,
fingertips trembling ever so slightly.
"It was in the request box
up there," Gen said softly. "He must have—"
Without another
word, Sage stood and started away from the school. She didn't
look back, and Gen figured it wouldn't do any good to follow.
"What happened?"
Gen turned around to see Merri and Peyton
standing in the open doorway, peering into darkness in the direction Sage
had taken. Giving them the short version—'cause she was fucking
cold—Gen skipped the details and ended with the explanation that she
didn't see the need to follow Sage when she left.
"Perhaps we'll
see her tomorrow," Merri suggested, giving Gen a familiar look that said
she meant to add,
at Michael's house to the end of her
sentence. "And we can talk to her then."
Right—'cause they
did a lot of talking about their grief and feelings at Michael's
place. It was a regular therapy session with him around. Gen
might have rolled her eyes at the thought, but having Peyton so near
reined her common sense in.
"Yeah, maybe tomorrow," she said
instead.
"Does she live far from here?" Peyton said as she stepped
out onto the steps, still looking in the direction Sage had left in.
"Won't she need a ride?"
"She walks—" Gen stopped suddenly
as she realized Merri was leaving them, closing the door to the
school. The seer gave her a knowing grin, then turned her back on
them. What the hell? It seemed pretty clear Peyton wasn't into
that sort of thing…
"Everywhere?" Peyton said.
"Huh?"
"She walks everywhere?"
Shit, she had been in the middle
of a sentence. "Yeah," Gen said quickly, not fully remembering what
she had been saying before Meredith made her quick exit. "Does a lot
of walking. Into fitness and stuff."
And probably killing people
with her bare hands if necessary. "I feel so bad for
her," Peyton said, going down the first few steps. "I mean, I don't
know her or anything and I never met her boyfriend before he…but I guess
I'm like one of those hopeless romantic people and it's just so sad that
happened to them. Can you imagine what that must be like?" She
shivered a little, though from the cold or the thoughts she expressed, Gen
couldn't tell. "Losing a boyfriend like that…it must be so
hard— Not that you'd lose a boyfriend, but like a girlfriend, for
you, which is like the same except that it's a girl, and I'm talking like
a crazy person again, aren't I?"
"Vaguely, but it's okay."
"So did you ever go out with that Janine girl?"
Gen might
have laughed at the absurdity of the question if she didn't also find it
so depressing. "No. She's got a girlfriend, and I think we're
just really incompatible."
"Why?"
"Well, for starters, I
have this issue of not being able to speak coherently when I'm within five
feet of her."
"That would be a problem," Peyton agreed. "So
that's it? No one else, just her?"
Gen shrugged. Her
lack of a love life had always been her least favourite conversation
topic, but telling Peyton to shut the fuck up seemed like it might damage
their budding friendship a bit.
"I don't think it matters," she
said instead. "Mostly I just know a whole lot of straight girls, and
that doesn't seem like it would be all that rewarding to pursue."
"So…you don't like me?"
Oh, god, had she really just said
that? Genevieve felt her face rush with colour. Worse still,
the same affliction she had with Janine earlier seemed to come over her
again, and she couldn't find any words. Had she managed to open her
mouth, it seemed likely she'd only manage something unintelligible and
embarrassing, so she forewent any attempt at conversation and kept her
mouth shut.
"You can just say no," Peyton said quickly, and though
it was difficult to tell with the light, Gen could have sworn she saw a
hint of blush in the girl's cheeks. "It's okay."
"Um…I think
I'll take the fifth," Gen replied when she'd found her voice. "I
just don't want to weird you out."
"It…it won't weird me out."
Breath caught in Gen's throat. Her lips parted slightly,
ready for any words she might have to say, but she couldn't bring herself
to utter them. She held Peyton's gaze, trying desperately to read it
and wishing her supernatural abilities extended past extinguishing candles
in favour of something useful, like telepathy.
"No?" she chanced.
Peyton bit at her bottom lip, smearing her pink lip-gloss
slightly. "No."
"Did Merri say something to you or—"
"Nope. I just thought…I mean, I thought before that maybe
you did, but I didn't want to say anything…"
Who Gen may or may
not like seemed like a moot point—she figured the bigger question was who
Peyton liked, but of course actually
asking her seemed an inconceivable
tactic.
"Is this making you uncomfortable?" Peyton asked suddenly.
"Um…yeah."
"I'm so sorry—I didn't mean to…"
"It's
all right—"
"No, I shouldn't have…I kind of have a habit of saying
things without really thinking and I just thought I might as well ask you,
but I never meant to make this so awkward and it's just after hearing
about Sage and her boyfriend, it made me really sad, and I guess a little
brave, and I just thought—"
"I like you," Gen cut in without
giving her words much thought.
God, I'm going to regret this…
Peyton paused her speech, and she stared
at Genevieve for a long moment. There was something in her
gaze…hope, maybe? Could it really be…?
"Yeah?"
"Yeah," Gen breathed out when she didn't find any hint of abject
terror in Peyton's voice.
"Me too. Only with you—not
me. Not that I have a problem with me—no more than most people have
with themselves, I guess—but that's really not the point and I’m babbling
again."
"Can you say that part again?"
"That I was
babbling?"
Gen shook her head and Peyton grinned with
understanding.
"I like you."
Right then, Gen's heart
seemed to lurch in her chest, proving the cliché wasn't a mere myth as she
had once thought. Of course, that also meant that she didn't have a
clue what to say, and the idea that she'd died and gone to heaven at some
point that night seemed more and more probable as the minutes ticked by.
"This kinda feels like the part in a movie where the two romantic
leads suddenly kiss for the first time while music plays in the
background," Peyton commented with a laugh.
"Yeah, I've been
waiting for some garage band pop ballad to start up or something…which
they just might be playing inside right now, so maybe we should…"
"Head back?" Peyton wrapped her arms over her stomach and
shivered. "I'm kinda cold so that's probably a good idea."
Though she realized then that she hadn't been feeling the bitter
cold for at least several minutes, Gen agreed. They started up the
few steps toward the door—back to the dance, back to the stares, back to
where they probably wouldn't have another chance to continue this
conversation.
"Peyton…" Gen dropped a step behind as her
companion reached for the door handle.
"Yeah…?"
As Peyton
turned around to face her, Gen took a chance and stepped forward
suddenly. She hadn't actually kissed anyone before, save playfully
on the cheek with Levi when they were kids, and while her heart insisted
it was easy, her brain reminded her she would easily come across like an
idiot. Still, after only a few seconds of hesitation, she leaned
forward and brushed her lips over Peyton's.
Pulling back just as
quickly, Gen scrambled to preempt any proceeding awkwardness. "Nope,
no pop ballad that I heard." She shrugged. "Worth a try."
Peyton laughed and—thankfully—didn’t seem bothered by it.
She hauled open the door and gestured ahead of her. "Maybe next
time, then."
Maybe next time… There would be a next time—Gen
had the overwhelming urge to run up to Levi and bounce up and down with
excitement, squealing. Even Michael could walk into the school at
that moment to berate and yell at her, and it would have done nothing to
darken that moment.
*~*~*
Levi stood still in the shower, relaxing under the
steady stream of hot water. Exhausted, he wanted nothing more than
to climb in bed and sleep for the next ten hours, but after hopping in the
shower to clean the Riff Raff make-up off, he found the heat and noise a
welcome way to wind down after a long night.
Kourtnee had sulked
on the way home when Levi said he had little interest in attending an
after party she'd heard about, though he mused she'd get over it. Or
perhaps attend it without him—she'd said she wouldn't, but if she did, he
wouldn't find it so surprising. She had other friends, other social
circles; she was nice and he liked her, but he had no illusions that they
might suddenly become inseparable and start running with the same crowds.
What pissed her off even more was when he drove her straight home
and declined her offer to come inside for a while. The night had
left him drained. They'd stayed for the full dance, listening to a
representative from
Crimestoppers discuss the increase in youth
violence and the need for witnesses to step forward, participating in the
dance-a-thon, watching the student government auction. Dealing with
the principal's brief talk of Hayden and even Warren had been difficult,
but no more so than his almost-daily therapy sessions. It all seemed
to sap his energy even more, however—all the talking. All this time,
and no one ever said anything different. Hayden was a good
guy. It wasn't fair that he died, but that's life. Time
heals. Think of the good times. Christ, he was fucking sick of
it all.
The shower water grew noticeably cooler, and though he
played with the taps, it was clear the hot water was nearly out. He
shut off the taps and stepped from the stall to the bathroom. Steam
filled the small room, fogging the mirror and making it difficult to
breathe. Still, the warmth was welcome, and Levi took his time
drying off and changing into his pajama bottoms for bed. Gathering
the Riff Raff costume and wig, he flipped off the bathroom light and
started for the hallway.
At one in the morning, it was well past
the hour his parents went to bed, so he wasn't surprised to find the house
silent. Most nights he'd head to the basement to watch TV for a few
hours, but after weeks of insomnia, sleep called to him and he was eager
to oblige.
A noise in the room to his left paused his step.
Was he just hearing things, or—
This time a floorboard creaked—he
was certain of it. Fear constricted his throat and caused a
tightness to form in his chest.
The noise came from Hayden's room.
Levi dropped the costume next to his own door, then backtracked to
Hayden's. Wild theories entered his brain—it could be anyone in
there. He'd lain awake too many nights speculating about those
responsible for his brother's death to forget all those possibilities
now. Had someone come to steal something, after all this time?
The smart thing to do would be to retreat to his room and phone
the police…but even as he thought that, Levi found himself reaching for
the doorknob, determined to catch whoever it was in the act.
His
heart thudded in his chest as he turned the handle and cracked open the
door. Darkness met his gaze—no flashlights, no lamps on. He
pushed the door open a little more…
Across the room, the window
lay wide open. Curtains billowed in the icy wind, and the breeze
chilled his still-damp skin. Goosebumps dotted his bare flesh,
though at this point he couldn't say if fear or the cold caused it.
The tree just outside the window blocked the moon, and the only light
spilled through the door from the hallway.
Holding his breath and
listening hard, Levi heard fabric rustle from somewhere to the right, near
the closet, signaling someone must be there. He opened the door
farther still and stepped completely into the room.
A scan of the
near-empty space revealed stacks of sealed boxes and the unassembled
bedframe propped against the wall, a few garbage bags of clothes in the
center of the room…and a familiar figure huddled on the floor beside the
open closet.
Sage. Her back against the wall, she had her
legs pulled up to her chest and arms wrapped around them. Head
bowed, he couldn't make out her expression in the darkness and she didn't
look up when he stepped in the room.
Anger roared through his
veins. How
dare she show up here. He knew she could climb
the tree to get through the window—the walls were thin and he couldn’t
help but hear her and Hayden the odd night when she snuck in. But to
think she'd actually break-in…
And break-in was what she
had done. No denying that, and no reason why he
couldn't phone the police. Sure, his parents wouldn't press charges
in a million years, but maybe it would scare her into actually admitting
whatever shit she'd been hiding.
Pissed and resolved, he strode
across the room, his sights set on the cordless phone still plugged in and
sitting on the floor where Hayden's nightstand had been.
"Where's
his stuff?"
He paused mid-step at the sound of her small voice
behind him.
Just ignore her and go for the phone…don't turn
around, don't turn around… L
evi turned around. She stared
up at him, tears freely flowing over her cheeks, lower lip quivering.
And god, he hated her. Hated that after everything, he could
still gaze at her and feel his insides torn in two. Hated that her
mere presence could remind him of his brother more than anything else had
in weeks. Hated that though he wanted to continue towards the phone
to call the police, he couldn’t force himself to do it.
He held
her gaze for as long as he could, mustering up every ounce of hate within
him to finally go off on her about the part she played in Hayden's
death—to scream at her and blame her and let it all out.
Then
another fat tear brimmed in her eye and fell, tracing the gentle curve of
her face, and he knew he couldn't do it.
"Mom packed it up," he
answered her at last. "She rented a storage locker and moved most of
it there. Dad's barely speaking to her over it."
She dropped
her eyes to the floor and stared blankly for a few minutes. Levi
hung back, unsure of what to do. Phoning the police still ranked as
his preferred reaction to her presence, though at the moment he couldn't
find it in him to do something so cruel. Telling her to leave was
still another possibility, as was leaving her alone. His stomach
turned at the thought of either of those, however.
Eyes traveling
up to his again, her tears fell with greater frequency now.
"I'm
sorry," she whispered, her voice breaking. "I'm so sorry,
Levi…" She let her head fall, forehead touching her knees, and her
body shook with sobs.
Without even being conscious of what he was
doing, Levi found himself moving toward her. He dropped to his knees
next to her and slid his arms around her shoulders. Half expecting
her to stop him—to push him away and run out of the house, and never speak
to him again—it surprised him when she willingly leaned into him. As
the side of her face pressed against his chest, hot tears hit his
flesh. He hated that Gen had been right, but there was no denying
it. Whether he liked it or not, Sage was part of Hayden's life, and
of course she missed him. Grief dampened his own eyes as it welled
within him once more.
"I'm sorry," she whispered again.
Levi tightened his embrace and said nothing.
After all,
there was nothing more to say.
