Anger, Love, and Loss

Saturday, October 31st, 5:30 PM

"Jess?" Lindsay asks. "Can you ring the doorbell? My hands are kinda' full." Jessie rings the doorbell. A teenage boy, who I suspect is Ryan, opens it. I can tell why Lindsay likes him. He's kind of cute, for my friend's boyfriend. He looks at Lindsay.

"Hey Sunshine," he says kissing Lindsay on the cheek. "What's that?"

"Lasagna. Just a little something. And don't worry, my Mom made it, not me." Ryan laughs a little.

"Why's that funny?" Nikki asks Lindsay.

"I may have tried making him a sandwich last year when I caught the table on fire."

"Remind me never to let you cook for me."

"Noted."

"Well come in," Ryan says.

We walk inside. Lindsay puts the dish on the dining room table. Two people walk in, who I suspect to be Ryan's parents. "Mom, Dad, you've met Lindsay," Ryan says.

"I have," says his mom. "How are you doing sweetie?"

"Good thanks. You have a really nice home, Ms. Smith."

"Thanks, Sweetie. You're welcome over anytime. Well, what are you waiting for? Sit down." We walk into the living room. I take a seat next to Nikki on the couch.

"So, who are your friends?" Ms. Smith asks.

"Oh well, this is Jessie, Nikki, and Sarah." We shake hands.

"Um, Jessie, and Sarah was it? Are you two twins?"

"Um, no," I say. "But we are sisters."

"Oh cool, cool." Another boy walks into the room. My heart skips a beat. He looks like Ryan, but a lot hotter. His hair shines in the sunlight coming in from a window. He is skinny but yet, athletic. His eyes are kind, almost childlike, but also wise beyond his years. His floppy haircut that looks like a five-year-old's doesn't help him either. They sparkle as he looks at me. He smiles with a mouth full of braces, and his cheeks are covered in freckles and dimples the size of craters. My palms start to sweat.

"Hey Pumpkin," Ms. Smith says. I chuckle a little under my breath.

"Mom! There're people here." He looks me in the eye. "Hey, I'm Carter. You Lindsay's friend?" He says. I wipe my palm on the couch before shaking his hand.

"Yeah, um, yeah. I'm Sarah."

"Well nice, to meet you, Sarah." He sits down on the arm of the couch, right next to me. I can smell his cologne. It smells like a pine forest. Like he spent the day in a log cabin. I image him chopping down a tree, his muscular arms swinging the ax and beads of sweat dripping down his face. "Would you like to introduce me to your other friends?" He asks. I snap back to reality.

"Oh, um, sure. This is my sister Jessie, our, uh, our friend Nikki, and I'm, I'm sure you know Linds." She looks me in the eye to get my attention before motioning to a door behind me.

"Ryan, I need to use the bathroom," she says.

"Go ahead. It's right over there."

"I'll go too," I say, following her.

Lindsay closes the door behind me.

"You like him!" She says.

"What? No. Who? No."

"Carter! And yes you do. I can tell. You have that look in your eye. And you're sweating."

"What? No. It's just hot in here. And that would be weird. You're dating his brother. What if I got them mixed up and kissed Ryan by accident?"

"You can't. Carter spent last summer in Haiti. He has freckles. Ryan doesn't. At all. None. Another example. Carter has that birthmark on his cheek. Can you tell where I'm going with this?"

"But you don't think it'd be weird? I mean really, we'd be dating brothers."

"No. And, if we both got married then we'd be sister in laws! It's like bf dreams. You go get him."

We walk back into the living room. Carter smiles at me. My heart jumps.

"You're back."

"I am." I sit back down next to him.

"So, who wants some food?" Ms. Smith asks.