Patio?
Yup.
Where’s the dmn beer?
Kitchen. Utility clst.
I snap my phone closed, shove it back in my pocket, and plop down on the cold concrete. Rosa slides the door open. “Hey. Hey. Hey!”
My head turns. “That was fast.”
She sits down next to me. “I was in the kitchen when I sent you the first text.”
Nursing my chilled, cup of fermented awesomeness, the burning balls of fire held up by a blanket of miles and miles of blackness distract me. There’s something truly beautiful about stars at night. The way they glow, shimmer, and shine. The way they can change the entire mood of an evening.
Rosa interrupts my moment of ambiance. “What are you thinking about?”
“Nothing.” That’s what’s so amazing. I can get lost in the sky and be thinking about absolutely nothing.”
“How are your parents?”
“Fine, I guess.” I don’t want to talk about my parents and their marital woes. It’s not that I don’t care; it’s that, that is all I hear when I’m home. My Mom never shuts up about it. “Can you believe your father?” she’d ask me.
In the past I’d answer her. Now I know it’s better to keep my mouth shut. I know he cheated on her and I do feel bad. But, in a way I’m just like him because I’m doing the same thing and I don’t want to think about what I’m doing being wrong especially because my time with Henry feels so right.
My thoughts shift to Henry. I let this relationship progress to the point we’re at now because we’re so similar. Not in the cheating aspect, but because I don’t even need to say anything to him for him to know exactly what I’m thinking. He’s a mind reader, forbidden lover, and a carnal urge. Among many things, and I love him for all of them.
I love the way he makes me forget about everything. I love the way he caresses my heart, like a nurse in the maternity ward, delicately caring for a newborn. I love the way he looks at me, like I’m the most appealing person he’s ever seen and he can’t help but stare. And I love the way a whisper leaving his throat sounds off in my head like Mozart, with his fingers of fury, creating a haunting melody with the ivory keys.
Rosa stands and I snap out of my trance. “Where are you going?”
“To mingle?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Mingle? With who?”
“Somebody. Anybody. The party is full of people and you’re being a party foul,” she gabs.
“Sorry.” I take a swig from my cup. “You kno
w how I get when I’m in my Zen zone.”
“Yeah. Yeah.” She waves me off. “Come find me when you snap out of it.”
As I look back up into the sky, the door closes behind me. We’re a surprise pairing, Rosa and I. I’m a loner. I don’t like to talk and I firmly believe that sometimes some things are better left unsaid. Rosa, on the other hand makes up for what I lack—a voice. And sometimes, she uses hers too much.
She blabs a lot. About her business. Other people’s business. She lives for gossip, but for some reason I can trust her with mine fully and whole-heartedly. She knows everything about me; my hopes, my fears, my pet peeves, and she has never mentioned a word of it to anybody.
There is one thing that I haven’t mentioned to her yet, Henry.
Maybe because I’m not sure what we are. Maybe because I’m worried that if we get caught, the thrill involving our time together will disappear. I’ve thrived on that thrill for the last three months and I’m not ready to see it fade.
My pocket vibrates and the buzzing echoes through the quiet night air. I check my phone. Rosa. God, she just left. What could she possibly want?
I open my phone and my mouth hangs open. Shit! It only takes me a second to react after I read the message.
Cops R here. Run.
Chapter 3