16 The Legendary Daisy #2
There was a radioactive sticker on Ross’s door.
That made me grin. It was so him. I opened it and flipped on the lights.
It was so much bigger than our—than his—room, with plush carpeting, a California king bed with blue sheets, cushions all over, matching furniture.
There was a full-length mirror covered in stickers, what looked like a walk-in closet, and a huge shelf full of records, though I didn’t see a record player anywhere.
He had an even bigger shelf full of DVDs, graphic novels, and books.
Every inch of the place exuded Ross’s energy.
I wanted to look around more, but I was on the verge of peeing myself. So I walked into the bathroom, which was big and luxurious. It was still hard for me to imagine he could prefer his apartment to that room. This was the first time I’d ever been in a real mansion!
When I finished up and came out, I was surprised to find Ross lying on his bed with his arms crossed behind his head.
“Did you lose your phone?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“I tried to call you like a million times to tell you my mother was going to pick you up, and you never responded.”
“Oh, sorry. I tossed it in my bag and I didn’t look at it for most of the day.”
It felt weird not to have an argument about that. Monty would have lost his mind over it.
“Are things OK with Mike?” I asked.
“If you want my opinion, he’d be better off in jail, but sure, he’s fine as far as I can tell.”
“I meant because of the message I sent you. About his wallet. He really seemed like he was bugging out.”
“Oh, that… I guess now’s as good a time as any to tell you Mike’s had his problems with drugs.
It’s been a year since he’s done anything serious.
I know he smokes weed, and I’m not crazy about that, but it’s nothing compared to what he used to be into.
And I think today he nearly had a relapse.
I’ve seen him steal to get money when he’s in a bad place; he’s capable of anything.
But I guess getting in that fight pulled him out of it. So whatever. It could have been worse.”
“Yeah,” I said, “he asked me for money, and I didn’t give it to him. It just didn’t feel right. I could tell something weird was going on.”
“You did the right thing, Jen,” he said.
I nodded, then decided to change the subject, hoping to lighten his mood. “So this is the lion’s den,” I said.
“Yeah. I miss it. As you can see, it’s still got all my stuff the way I liked it when I was younger.”
“Younger? Ross, you’re twenty-one years old.”
“It doesn’t feel like it some days.”
He opened a drawer in his nightstand. I saw a strip of condoms. I can’t exactly say that made me feel comfortable.
He noticed that I had noticed, but thankfully we didn’t have to talk about it.
Then he pulled something out. It looked like a glass tube with a little metal piece sticking out.
“Here it is!” he announced. “The legendary Daisy!”
“What is it?”
“She is called Daisy, and please don’t tell me you’ve never seen one of these before. It’s a bong. A water pipe. Call it what you want, but she’ll always be Daisy to me.”
“So first I tell you to quit smoking cigarettes, then you get mad at me for smoking weed one time, and now it turns out you have a favorite pipe?” I asked, sitting down and taking it from him carefully. It weighed more than I thought.
“Listen, there were more sad, lonely afternoons than I can count when she was the only one to keep me company.”
Deciding to continue with the joke, I asked him, “Are you two still together?”
“No. I’ve changed.”
“You were an outlaw before.”
“Let’s just put it this way, Jen: If I’d met you when I was in high school, things would probably have been different between us.”
“It wouldn’t matter. You’d never have noticed me anyway,” I said, slipping Daisy back into the drawer.
“I like those stories as much as anyone: the school bad boy notices the silent girl in the back of the room, they fall in love, she melts his cold heart, whatever. I’m pretty sure that never happens in real life. ”
“I’d have had a hard time ignoring that ass,” he said.
“Jack!”
“I’m serious. The me from back then would have wanted to get down to business. I kept my feelings under wraps then. It’s kind of sad in a way that I turned out so boring. But you know…”
“What?”
“I was just thinking.” He narrowed his eyes.
I could tell he had something naughty on his mind.
“Will and Naya are gone. Sue’s not home, either.
It’s the first time we’ll have the apartment to ourselves.
Maybe this is the perfect moment for the bad Jack Ross from high school to make an encore appearance. ”
He grabbed my hand and started pulling me toward the door. “Jack!” I said. “Don’t be rude! We’re supposed to have dinner with your family tonight!”
“Change of plans. We’re going back to the apartment. I’ll order in or something. It’ll give Mom and Mike a chance to catch up.”
He rushed me downstairs, and as Mike saw him approaching, he threw on his jacket, only for Ross to tell him, “NO!”
“But, Bro…”
“You can sleep here,” Ross said.
“Dad’s coming tomorrow! I don’t want to have to run into him.”
“Life sucks.”
But of course, Mike ended up getting his way.
In the car on the way home, he couldn’t shut his mouth.
I almost wanted to laugh, seeing the irritable look on Ross’s face.
When we got back, we put on a movie and had a quick bite to eat.
At a certain point, Ross threw his arm over my shoulders, and I curled up next to him, and neither of us could concentrate because Mike was making so much noise trying to open a bag of candy.
That sound, and the noise he made chewing it afterward, drove home how annoying he could be, and I remembered that this was my last night there before I left to see my parents—my last night with Ross until Monday.
And that made the approaching weekend look eternal.
Mike reached back and offered us some candy.
I said no and impulsively grabbed Ross’s hand.
I was usually shy about public displays of affection.
Ross tensed up, but soon he relaxed again.
Even his brother’s smacking and grunts seemed to stop bothering him as I traced little circles on his skin with my thumb.
I felt good with him. So good I could hardly pay attention to the film. I don’t think Ross could, either. I cleared my throat just before the movie was over and announced I was going to go to bed. Mike didn’t seem to care. Ross lingered behind a moment, then followed me.
When he entered our room, he shut the door, and we spent a moment just looking at each other.
I had always felt attracted to him, but in that moment, it was different.
It was another kind of attraction. Sexual, but something more…
I just needed to feel him as close to me as possible.
It was a strange feeling, one I’d never been familiar with before.
But that was to be expected. I’d never known anyone like Ross before, either.
Ross pulled me out of my thoughts, asking, “Do you need to get ready for tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” I murmured. “I mean, I packed my backpack. I don’t really need much stuff. It’s just two days. Two and a half.”
“Two and a half days sounds like a long time to me.”
“I’ve got clothes at home, too.” Home —I think it was only in that moment that I realized that was where I was going. “I can’t believe I’m actually going to see my family. I’ve missed them so much.”
“What about your friends?”
“I don’t know. I mean, if I see Nelle, I’ll definitely give her a piece of my mind. Like ask her why in the hell she’s never answered any of my calls and messages.”
“Sounds like it’ll be an interesting weekend,” he said.
“There’ll probably be some hiccups and then everything will be normal.”
Hs stood there, still, and I knew in that instant he wouldn’t come close to me and wouldn’t touch me.
He turned around to change T-shirts, and I stared at the tattoo on his back.
I didn’t understand the sudden change in attitude, and once again, I wished I could know what was going on in that head of his.
Since that was how it was, though, I decided to put on my pajamas. As I took out my contacts, and he sat on the bed. I slid into the sheets and looked at him for a moment before asking, “Are you OK?”
He said he was, but I knew him better than that. “Come on, what’s up?”
“Nothing, Jen. Nothing I feel like bothering you with right now.”
“I want you to bother me with it. I don’t care what it is.”
“It’s not a big deal. It’s just that…I’m going to miss you. I know it’s not a long time, but I’m going to miss you.”
I knew as soon as he said it that there was something else, but I didn’t say anything. Not even when he came close and hugged me.
“My mom will be asking about you the whole time, so at least you’ll know you’re always going to be on my mind.”
“I hope she gets a good impression of me,” he said.
I was going to respond, but he leaned in close and kissed me.
The way he did it was different from before.
It was too slow. Almost sad. I squinted at him as he turned and said, “Let’s get some sleep,” pulling me in.
I felt confused as we lay there, his arms wrapped around me the way they had been the first time we slept together.
Even as I drifted off, I knew he was still awake and tense, staring up at the ceiling.