Chapter 27 Lane #2
I spend the next two days knocking back the booze, slumped in a stupor.
By the time Monday rolls around I’m back in my car, and it’s too late to head to campus.
Though I’m not ready to face Lois just yet, I have no choice but to go home, praying that she’s fucked off to her dorm by now.
This whole situation has been totally over the top.
All I want is to get back to my old life: the good old days, before I knew her, before anything she ever made me feel.
I turn the idea over and over in my mind like a mantra, and shoot a message off to my friends, asking them to meet me at my apartment.
I could crash at their place, but I discard the idea as soon as it lands—I can’t keep running away.
I pull up outside my building and sit there in my car waiting for backup like the biggest pussy ever, and by the time Adam rolls up with Don hot on his heels, the sun has firmly set.
“I didn’t see you on campus today,” Don starts, punching my shoulder. “Don’t screw this year up, dude.”
I glance over his shoulder. “Lewis not with you?”
“No, I don’t know what his deal is. He didn’t come to today’s practical session. Lois didn’t, either,” he adds. “Damn, you guys are dropping like flies.”
Lois played hooky? That doesn’t sound like her…
Who cares what she does? Not my problem.
I stare up at the building, taking in the soft glow spilling out of my apartment window.
Has she been hanging around waiting for me since Friday?
A pang of guilt shoots through me, but I shove it to one side and step toward the entrance.
We tumble into the elevator, my heart racing at the thought of confronting Lois up there—but pushing open the door, I realize the place is empty.
I should be glad, but I catch myself scouring the space for her bags, breathing out a sigh of relief when I spot them against the living room wall, back where she first left them all those months ago.
I can’t tell whether I’m happy she cleared out the bedroom, or relieved she hasn’t left. Shit, I don’t know what I want anymore.
I rush over to my sound system, hook up to the Bluetooth, and blast the loudest playlist I have.
Don scoops up my controllers and turns on the console. “I demand a rematch.”
I do my best to focus on each round, but I can’t stop myself from wondering where Lois is.
“Man, you look rough.” Adam glances over at me from the corner of the couch. “You sick or something?”
“Anyone got a status update for Lewis?” I ask.
Adam swipes through his phone. “He’s flagged as ‘off’ on the app. He’s probably getting laid. You know he’s going through a ‘hot girls with glasses’ phase?”
“Hey, by the way,” Don cuts him off, “you didn’t tell us what happened with Lois’s room.”
Saved by the bell: Just as he asks, my phone starts vibrating, the ringtone blaring through the sound system.
I glance down at my screen. Juliet. A.k.a.
“Not Lois.” Fuck. Where the hell is she?
I check off the options. Gym class isn’t tonight, Becca is with Carter…
I ignored every one of her calls this past weekend, and now regret is twisting in me like a knife.
My phone starts ringing again, but my hands are busy with the controller. I tap it onto loudspeaker and turn my attention back to the TV as I talk.
“What’s up?”
“Hey, Laney.”
The noise is deafening. Juliet must be calling from the bar.
“Everything okay?” I take Adam down with a bullet to the head.
“Yup.”
“Hey, Juliet!” Don and Adam call out together.
“Oh, you guys are all there? Amazing news!”
“We’re just missing Lewis,” Adam corrects her.
“Yeah, about that.” Juliet clears her throat. “We may have a situation.”
Adam frowns at the speaker. “There a problem?”
“A pretty big one, yeah! He showed up at the bar with his girlfriend—both of them tanked. I need you to come pick them up ASAP, or I’m going to have to call the cops.”
“Lewis is wasted?” I glance at the oven clock. “But it’s not even nine.”
“Is his girlfriend cute?” Don wants to know.
“You know her. Short brown hair. She was at your birthday party, Lane.”
My thumb misses the joystick and Adam guns me down.
“Lois?” he asks for me.
No fucking way. Juliet must have got her mixed up with someone else. Firstly, Lois doesn’t get wasted. And secondly—Lois doesn’t get wasted with Lewis. Like, ever.
“I need to get back to work. I’m counting on you guys.”
As soon as she hangs up, I dial Lewis.
“Yo!” His voice comes blaring through the speaker, and yeah—he’s definitely wasted. “You good, my little chickadee?”
“Dude, what the fuck are you doing?” Don asks.
“Tequila slammers with my Super Friend!”
“Meeee!”
A second voice comes squealing down the line. It’s a voice I’d know anywhere.
“For fuck’s sake.” I pinch my nose in frustration.
Don keeps his eyes latched on the game. “What happened?”
“I’m not too sure. I ran into Lois on campus, she was cr—”
“Why the fuck is Lois wasted?” I cut him off.
You know exactly why, Lane.
“Juliet is kicking our asses out.” Lewis starts to laugh. “Hey, Don? Can you come pick us up and take us to the dorms? Me and Lois really wanna fuck.”
There’s a deafening roar in my ears, my mind swelling with cusswords. When Lewis’s voice fills the air again, I squeeze the controller so hard I think it might break.
“She wants me to be her Super Daddy.”
“I’m going to kill him,” I hiss.
“Minus the cape.”
“Definitely not minus the condom, though.” Lois giggles, and the sound cuts right through me, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.
I look around me. The others are speechless. Don is the first to laugh, followed by Adam, who shoots me an apologetic glance. I bring the phone to my mouth.
“Lewis, I swear to God, if you—”
The worst rendition ever of the Superman theme comes slurring through the speaker.
“If you so much as touch her, I’m going to fuck you up!”
I can feel my friends’ eyes boring into me, and I realize the immensity of what I’ve just said.
“Laney is pissed,” Lewis whispers on the other end of the line.
“Oh! You lost, buddy!” Lois singsongs at him. “You owe me fifty bucks.”
“Shit!” Lewis sounds saddened. “We were betting on how long it’d take for you to lose your shit. Thought you had more in you, man.”
“Game over, Lanus.”
She must be leaning into the phone now, because her voice is deafening. Adam is doing his best not to burst out laughing, and it’s taking every inch of self-control I’ve got not to flip this whole coffee table over.
“You fucked up, didn’t you?” Donovan points a finger at me. “Now I get why you’re in such a pissy mood.”
I chew the inside of my cheek, biting back the anger.
Don turns back to the phone, slipping on his jacket. “We’re coming to get you, Lewis. Don’t you move.”
“Thank you, Mommy Donny! Can we borrow your bed? It’s much bigger than—”
I hang up before I lose my shit for real.
I’ve got a sudden urge to tear this place apart, and the way Adam is looking at me is really pissing me off.
I don’t know what he’s seeing, and I don’t even want to know.
All I care about right now is getting Lois away from Lewis’s sticky little paws—before he does something we both regret.
This girl has been a pain from the get-go.
“Let’s take your car, Lane. That way I can drive Lewis back in his.”
“Yeah. And make sure he’s solo.” I grab my keys.
“You got it.”
On the way down in the elevator, Don can’t help shooting me a few knowing glances.
“Wanna talk about it?”
“Nope.”
JULIET’S BAR HAS NEVER FELT so far away. I whiz through the streets, Sycamore flying by in a blur, slamming on the brakes when we hit a crossroad.
“Easy, man.”
When we finally pull up outside the buzzing neon sign, Juliet is already waiting on the sidewalk, yelling at Lewis, who’s crumpled at her feet, bent double. Lois is slumped on the ground, too, laughing with her head resting against my friend’s shoulder. Keep it together, Lane.
Juliet glances up. “Oh, thank fuck! Get these two out of my sight before I commit double homicide.”
She shakes Lewis off her foot, giving me a quick peck on the cheek before heading back inside. I take a deep breath in—and a second when I catch Lois looking up, scowling at me.
“I’d rather go to jail,” she slurs.
Clutching her drinking buddy’s arm, she lays her cheek against his Cardinals jacket and starts humming to herself.
“Aww, aren’t they cute?” Donovan croons.
I clench my fists. “Lois, get in the car.”
“Burn in hell!”
I lean down and catch her arm, dragging her off Lewis and throwing her over my shoulder, and though she wriggles hard, and starts hitting me in the back, I hold her tight.
When we get to the car, I lower her to the ground and force her inside, gently pushing her head down and settling her onto the back seat, ignoring her whines as I slam the door shut.
I lean against the car with my arms stretched for a moment, trying to catch my breath.
Now what? I feel so pissed right now, but I don’t know who I’m mad at—Lois or myself.
There’s a finger prodding me in the back, and I spin around to find Lewis swaying on his feet.
I shove him back. “What the fuck were you two doing?”
“I saw her on campus, crying her ass off, you jealous stupid fuck! She told me what you did to her. Absolute disgrace, dude!”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” I spit.
“Whatever. All I know is Lois is a super catch, and you’re a super dick for not noticing.
I told her you were shady as fuck, and I was this close to taking her home…
” His eyes struggle to focus on the thumb and index he’s holding out in front of him.
“But don’t sweat it—I didn’t say anything about your brother. ”
He mimes zipping his lips.
Don yells at him through the window. “Come on—let’s get you home, sloppy joe.”
Lewis salutes me as he teeters his way back to the car.
I wait until they vanish down the street and turn to Lois, still slumped in the back.
I slide into the driver’s seat with a sigh.
She doesn’t say a word all the way home.
Instead, she keeps her forehead pressed to the window, misting up the glass with her breath, drawing circles through the air.
I park outside my building and open the back door. Her pale face stares up at me.
“I don’t wanna go to your place,” she slurs. “Like, ever.”
I shut my eyes, dipping into the car and slipping my hands under her arms. I was expecting her to fight back, but instead she whimpers softly, relaxing her body as I lift her up and out.
“Wh… Muh… Couch,” she mumbles.
She smells like fruit and tequila. I scoop her up into my arms and carry her to the elevator, listening to her mutter and groan, checking that she isn’t about to puke all over me.
Pushing open the door to my apartment, I eye the couch and briefly consider dumping her in my bed.
I hate everything I’m feeling right now.
She wriggles in my arms. “Couch!”
I lay her down gently. Her eyes are glazed.
Kneeling on the floor, I tug off her shoes and peel off her socks, watching her scrunch up her toes.
She’s shivering. I wrap her snug in a throw as she rubs her eyes and forehead, pulling a face and rolling over onto her side.
I crouch there for a moment like an idiot, looking at her stretched out on the couch.
“Shoulda left me with Lewis.”
“No way in hell.”
“Things are easy with him.” She sighs. “Why do I always end up getting hurt?”
My chest tightens. Did she just compare me to Kirk?
“What am I doing wrong? Why do I always fuck things up?”
Tears are trickling down her cheeks and I can’t help but lean into her. This isn’t the first time I’ve seen her cry—but it’s the first time I’ve seen her cry because of me, and it’s killing me.
“Lois—”
“We aren’t friends,” she sobs. “We’re nothing. Leave me alone.”
Her words cut me to the heart, knocking the breath out of me.
I shut my eyes. Anything to stop the wave of dizziness crashing over me.
I bite down hard on my cheek. Lois is a hot mess.
Now’s not the time for anything deep or meaningful.
When finally I open my eyes, I realize I was right.
Her face is buried in a cushion, her shoulder rising and falling, slow and steady.
I spend too long sitting there watching her sleep, before getting to my feet and padding down to my room. Before I shut the door, I glance over to Mike’s room. I like having Lois here. It’s just that I can’t let her take up space that belongs to Mike. And that will never change. Ever.