Young Lust

19 - Lack of Lipstick and Elongated Sighing

Where I was supposedly off to, I knew not. The first person I thought of was Tom, because I couldn't complain about Johnny to Steven; they were best mates after all. But I didn't know Tom's address.

I'll just go for a stroll, I thought to myself. Yeah. That'd be nice. So I turned a corner and away I went.

After a while of walking around kind of lost, I got that feeling that someone was tailing me. I went to cross the road so I could check behind me somewhat discreetly; I spotted a shady character leaning against a wire fence, smoking a cigarette.

Because I glanced quickly, I didn't catch who this figure was, or if he was actually following me or not. I crossed the road, walked a little more, and then went to cross again. As I checked to my right, sure enough, the stranger was on the move. I took a proper look at him: his shoulder-length hair was quite dark; he wasn't exactly tall; he was on the skinny side; he was dressed like he was going to a rock concert or something.

The only person I knew of that remotely matched this description was Steven, maybe Joe, but my stalker was definitely neither of the two.

My thoughts were broken by a car horn. I had walked right out onto the street without looking for traffic.

"Sorry!" I shouted and scurried off to the side.

"Pay attention next time!" I recognised the voice calling out to me. I faced the car again.

"Steven?" I squinted.

"Uh, yeah?"

I jumped into the passenger seat of the white Holden Gemini without hesitation. "Drive, please,"

Steven looked so confused, but did as I asked anyway. "Are... you okay?"

"I think I was being followed. Did you see that guy standing down the road a bit?"

"No, sorry. Weird," Steven sighed.

"You're telling me," I leaned back into the seat and looked out the window.

---

Steven pulled up outside a tidy little brick house with a neatly-trimmed lawn.

"Before you ask, this is Tom's place," Steven said before getting out of the car and slamming the door shut.

Wait, car?

"Whose car is that?" I asked Steven, catching up with him, approaching the front door.

"Oh, right, it's my mom's. She and my dad came back today instead of tomorrow. They're home for the rest of the week," I saw the slightest hint of a smile on Steven's face.

Steven entered without knocking and we were presented with Tom sitting on the couch with his feet up on the glass coffee table.

"Hold up, you were at Steven's place not so long ago...?" I questioned.

"I had to feed Misty." Tom shrugged, and on cue a beautiful, smokey grey cat came slinking from behind the couch and started smooching at my legs.

Steven dumped himself next to Tom, making himself look quite small next to the blonde guy.

"What made you leave your post-party gathering?" Tom asked, adjusting his seating position.

"Joe was bein' a dick, a-gain." Steven complained and rolled his eyes. "He freakin' threw up on my bathroom floor, didn't bother cleaning it up, then lost his shit because there wasn't any food that he fuckin' felt like! Not to mention his fucking in my parents' bed. Which he did twice, apparently." By the end of his whinge, his arms were crossed and his jaw was poking out a bit.

"Um, calm down?" I tried, but Tom shot me a warning glance that said, 'Don't get him any more worked up than he already is.'

"Calm down," Steven repeated with an elongated sigh. He shut his eyes and knocked his head backwards onto the back of the couch.

"Jade," Tom began, changing the subject, "no red lipstick today, huh?"

"Is it really that strange?" I asked, sitting down on the floor to play with the cat. "I just couldn't be bothered today,"

"I wonder how much red lipstick she goes through in six months," Steven joked, apparently back to normal now.

"Funny," I replied, unconsciously giving Misty the cat some hostile looks.

"What's wrong with you?" Steven asked, frowning my way.

"Nothing. This isn't a complaint circle." I snapped. I picked Misty up and plopped her in my lap, still stroking her.

"Come on," Tom pressed, "what's up?" He sat forward, leaning his arms on his legs, not unlike how Steven sat on the end of his bed during his party.

I flicked my eyes from Tom to Steven, and back. "Well," I started, "my mother invited a friend over."

"So you left?" Steven interrupted.

"No, you idiot! Let me finish. The said friend brought her son with her. Turned out to be Johnny."

"Johnny?" Tom and Steven both asked.

"As in my Johnny? Philanderer Johnny?" Steven added.

"Yeah. I ended up splashing water on him." I looked down at the cat in my lap. "That's why I left."

I noticed Tom trying to stifle a giggle while Steven didn't seem to react at first. Misty leaped from my legs, so I took up residence on an armchair instead.

"If you don't mind me asking," Tom began, "where were you headed? I mean, when you left your place?"

"Uh... I dunno," I actually started twiddling my thumbs, "just anywhere I guess."

"So what are we doing now?" Steven asked absently. The only answers he received were Tom's shrugging and my audible exhaling. "Alrighty then." Steven rose from his seat, went to what - from where I was sitting - looked like the kitchen, and returned empty-handed.

Tom informed us that no one had been to buy groceries yet and apologised for having nothing appealing to eat.

---

"I should probably get going," I sighed to Tom and Steven. "Anyone wanna drive me?"

Just like at Steven's house, both guys answered in unison but Steven beat Tom to actually standing up.

We said our goodbyes and Steven and I slumped into Steven's mother's car.

The drive seemed short; apparently Tom didn't live too far from me.

The white Gemini pulled up out the front of my house. There weren't any other cars besides my mum's old, green, 1960s Ford Falcon in the driveway, so I assumed Theresa and her son had left.

I looked at Steven and thanked him for dropping me home safely.

"Any time," he winked at me with a lopsided smile. I realised how nice Steven's smile was and caught my face heating up slightly. I quickly broke eye contact and jumped out of the car and went inside.

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A/N: Hello! Sorry sorry sorry for failure to update! I've started tertiary studies! Which unfortunately means that I'll be posting even less than I do now. I'll still work on Young Lust as much as I can, of course. Thank you for your patience!! ❤️