Underage

[35] Love Me Now

Underage
[35] Love Me Now

           

I've thrown myself into art, into drawing and painting. Raelynn has taken time off from her own art to spend the next few pre-college weeks with Trevor. I've spent more time in her studio then in my own apartment, where I've slowly starting changing the guest room into my own personal art room. Even Magnus loves their house, especially the pool out back. Trevor and I spent an entire day swimming with him in the pool.

I want to be able to take Dela and Pyro's advice, but I've never been a member of the confidence bandwagon. Not like they are. I drove past his house twice on my way home that day. I called but he never answered. I left a message with Valerie but he didn't seem to care. I texted and called Cooper, but got no reply. I took the hint.

I spend my mornings at the coffee shop, making awful pots that no one wants to drink. We've gained a small following composed of five elderly citizens—two men and three women. They come in each morning to gossip and drink an unlimited amount of coffee. It's these mornings I've come to love. Before they come in at eight o'clock, Kyle and I will both make a pot of coffee. We'll pour them into glasses, alternating cup colors between the two of us, and the five of them have to guess which one of us made it. They always get it right.

I can barely keep my eyes open. Kyle keeps nudging me with his arm every time I almost fall asleep while standing at the counter. I haven't let myself sit down since I got here. I was up all night drawing. One minute I set the pencil to paper and the next thing I know, the sun is up and my alarm is going off. My body is crashing after the immense amount of coffee I had this morning.

The bell above the door rings when someone walks in but I'm too tired to even open my eyes and look. "You know I think you're beautiful but you look like shit."

I open my eyes to see Everette in front of me. He's wearing a pair of black pants, a light blue button up, and a dark blue tie. His hair is tame and he smells like American Eagle cologne. He leans forward and props his head up on his hands. This brings his face right in front of mine.

"The only person who looks worse than you is my brother."

I can only manage a small smile in his direction. My eyes burn and my right hand is still cramping from the long night. "Why are you dressed up?"

"I had a job interview," he says. "I'm a working man now, baby."

"Doing what?"

"Bagging groceries and stocking shelves. Sound familiar?"

"Following in your brother's footsteps?"

"Well he got you, didn't he?"

"Does he?" I ask him.

Everette frowns at me. "Make us both a cup of coffee and come sit with me."

I roll my eyes but fill two large cups with Kyle's latest pot. I grab the cream and sugar before sliding into my seat across from Everette. He dumps a spoonful of sugar into his coffee. I dump enough creamer into my cup so the color is no long black. There's nobody else inside and Kyle has migrated up to his aunt's office.

"It's Evan's birthday next week." Everette says this like I didn't already know. It's engraved in my mind. It's his day of birth and death. "And also, his anniversary. It's always rough a few weeks before and after, you know this."

"But usually he doesn't completely shut me out. It doesn't help that we—"

"Fought," he says. "I know. Cooper came over and they were yelling pretty loudly. Coop tried knocking some sense into him, literally."