The Adventures of a Scrawny Musician and a Compulsive Liar

12. Roadtrip?

I kind of regret it.

Professing my love to her, I mean.

No. Scratch that. I kind of regret the way I did it. Based on those eighties teen flicks that Beth watched and made me watch while she was in middle school, I should’ve had an elaborate ceremony leading up to it. Maybe that whole boom-box thing where the guy stands outside of the window would’ve been nice. Ugh, who am I kidding? Just thinking about that makes me cringe. I don’t care much for John Hughes movies.

The smell of frying bacon wafted up through the stairwell and through the open door to my room. Grabbing my Saturday Morning sweatpants, I hobbled downstairs hollering, “Mom! Where are you--?”

Beth stood at the stove dishing out breakfast foods to a smiling golden-haired girl.

“Nice outfit, Laurie.” Beth snickered, as she eyed my baggy sweats and my nearly-worn-through T-shirt that sported a few holes on the right side.

“Morning, Laurie,” Natalie chimed as she came over and gave me a quick kiss on the lips before she looped an arm around my waist and turned to beam at Beth.

Beth raised an eyebrow and then asked, “Natalie, why are you touching my brother?”

“Oh… Sorry! Does this make you uncomfortable?” Natalie made a move to unwrap her arm from my waist but Beth shook her head at the action.

“No, it’s just that… a real live girl is willingly touching my brother. If my mother was here, she’d cry and take pictures.”

I’m slightly disappointed by the fact that the ferocity of my glare isn’t enough to drill holes through Beth’s annoying teenage skull. My girlfriend, however, just stood to the side and laughed.

Rolling my eyes, I kissed Natalie on the head and walked over to the fridge to get out the milk. “It’s not like I’m a forty-year old virgin, for God’s sake,” I muttered in what I thought was a quiet voice.

Beth, overhearing this, happily hummed, “Nope. You’re a sixteen-year old virgin.”

Oh, what a wonderful shade of bright red my face must be sporting at this moment.

“So how’s that Joey kid doing?” I asked as I stepped away from the refrigerator with a slightly less red face.

When Beth’s smile dropped and her stance became all fidgety, I almost burst out in laughter.

“What Joey kid?” She murmured as she bit her thumb nail.

“You know, that Joey kid who you have a huge crush on.”

“I do not have a crush on him!”

            “The flushing of your cheeks state otherwise.”

            “You—I—ugh!” Beth stomps away, disgruntled.

            Natalie walked over to me with a smile on her face and watched me as I ate. “How old is she? Your sister?”

            “Um, fourteen? Yeah, fourteen sounds right.” After I finished wolfing down my breakfast, I swiveled around in my chair and took both her hands in mine. “So… how are you doing?”

            She tilted her head to the side for a moment like a confused puppy, but then she felt the fingers of my right hand as they tentatively traced random patterns on the inside of her forearm. She recoiled. I try not to let the sudden wave of hurt I feel flash across my face.

            “Sorry, Laurie. It’s a reflex.” Natalie hurriedly apologized as she stepped closer to me.

            “It’s alright, Natalie.” Absent-mindedly, I played with her pretty, pianist fingers for a while before I stood up. “I’ll go get dressed. When I come back, let’s go do something, alright?”

            Natalie smiled and said, “Alright.”

            “Let’s go on a road trip.”

            It was Monday. Two days after Natalie and I’s little meeting over the weekend. We ended up going to the movies to watch the latest B-rated action flick that was available. I have to say, though, I’m quite enjoying having a girlfriend. Gone were the days where I showed up at the movies alone because Evan was too busy making out with Isobel or Nathaniel was too busy dealing with his stepmother. It’s pretty nice not to be stared at pitifully by middle-aged strangers.

            Back to the present, I stared at Nathaniel, uncomprehending.

            “And where exactly would we go?” Evan asked. Isobel wasn’t with us. I guess she was sick or something. Although, I could’ve sworn I saw her this morning…

            “Anywhere. Say, California? We could go to Disneyland or something.” Nathaniel suggested.

            “You’re forgetting something, Nathaniel. Not all of us have insanely rich parents to mooch off of. Where are we gonna get the money to make the trip?” I asked.

            “I’ll pay for it, duh. I don’t mind, really. I’m pretty sure my dad doesn’t either. He’s just happy to see me get out of the house once in a while.” He pounded the orange he was holding a few times on the table, poked a hole through the top, and drank through it.

            Evan sighed. “As much as I would like to go, I don’t think my parents would let me leave their supervision for two whole weeks. Have you forgotten how I usually spend my spring breaks? Two words, bro. X. Box.”

            Nathaniel rolled his eyes. “Fine, we’ll go for one week. How about that?”

            I thought about it for a moment. I never really liked Mr. Holder. “Alright, I’ll take your parents money.”

            “Yeah, me too.” Evan agreed. “I hate that bastard.”

            “Hey!” Nathaniel pointed his finger at Evan. “He’s my selfish, ungrateful bastard.”

            “Like you give a shit,” Evan muttered as he reached for my fries.

            “Back off. I paid three freaking seventy-five for this poor excuse of a lunch,” I swatted Evan’s hand away from my food.

            “The malnourished child needs his food, Evan Stanley. You would be wise to remove your appendages from his lunch tray.” Nathaniel warned. “May I remind you I am the co-captain of our school’s wrestling team?”

            “Fine, you selfish bastards, be that way.” Evan backed off, holding his hands in the air in a “surrender” motion.

            “Hey!” We all look toward Nathaniel. “That’s Nathaniel, the Great Selfish Bastard to you.”

            “Did you guys see Isobel today?” Evan asked after a while of us just sitting there doing nothing.

            “Yeah, actually, I saw her this morning.” I answered. “Did she go home early?”

            “She never goes home early. She probably got sick of us,” Nathaniel popped another fry into his mouth.

            “Eh. Maybe,” I shrugged my shoulders.

            Somehow I knew it was something bigger than that. Call it a crazy feeling or whatever, but I knew something was wrong.