Infinite (Strange and Beautiful, Book 1) (13 page)

Mom
was in the living room when I got home, which was unusual because she was
normally already in the kitchen getting things ready for dinner, doing laundry
or cleaning. Today, she looked completely unconcerned with any of those tasks.
She and Dad had been bickering—I wasn’t sure about what—back and forth a lot
since my birthday. I thought maybe she’d gone on her own personal strike of
sorts.

I
said a quick hello before going up to my room. I considered just asking Mom if
I could go to the party, but I didn’t want it to end up being a point of
contention between my parents if Mom said I could go and Dad found out and
didn’t approve.

I
decided it was best to bide my time and wait for the right opportunity. Then I
heard Luke talking on the phone as I made my way to my room. I swore he talked
on the phone more than any girl I knew. Who he was talking to all the time was
the bigger mystery. He couldn’t keep a girlfriend to save his life.

Stevie
had, on more than one occasion, snidely commented, “Probably because his
performance is severely lacking.”

It
was troubling to even consider the idea, but it did make me curious as to how
Stevie, of all people, would know. I suspected she and Luke had hooked up in
the past, but I wasn’t about to ask. Though, I was curious about how Skylar
would feel about her best friend and brother fooling around. On the one hand, I
thought she’d probably flip her shit. On the other hand, she might be
completely cool with it. It was never easy to guess with Skylar.

Tegan
used to have this theory that Stevie was secretly in love with Skylar because
of the way she seemed to follow Skylar everywhere. It wasn’t like Stevie was
completely mindless or anything, but when it came to Skylar it was like Stevie
automatically agreed with whatever she said or did. The Stevie and Luke idea
threw a wrench in Tegan’s theory, but I supposed it was possible that Stevie
was bisexual. She did talk about girls being “hot” a lot.

Even
so, I was pretty sure Skylar’s preferences were strictly dick. Although, it
wasn’t like she’d advertise it if she weren’t straight. Our parents were fairly
conservative, and Dad just seemed plain old close-minded.

So,
anyway, while I wasn’t sure whom Luke was talking to, I did hear him mention Jesse
Millet’s party. Naturally, my ears perked up. I usually wasn’t prone to
eavesdropping, and, because Luke wasn’t exactly being quiet, I, technically,
wasn’t eavesdropping. I just happened to be passing by his bedroom and failed
to keep walking. That’s all.

He
wasn’t on the phone for long, and, because his door was open, when he turned to
set his handset down, he saw me standing in the hallway outside his bedroom.

“What
are you doing?”

He
didn’t seem annoyed by my presence for a change, so I shrugged as I took the
last couple of steps toward his door and stood at the archway.

“I
didn’t invite you to come in here,” he warned.

“I
know. I wouldn’t dare come in without an invitation.” I rolled my eyes slightly
and sighed before asking, “So, you’re going to Jesse Millet’s party?”

“How’d
you know about it?”

“Because
I’m going too.”

 “No,
you’re not,” he laughed. “Jesse wouldn’t invite you, and Mom and Dad aren’t
going to let you go.”

“Jesse
invited Tierney, personally, and he told her she could bring friends, so she
invited Tegan and me to go,” I argued. “And I’m going no matter what Mom and
Dad say.”

“Oh,
you rebel.” His sarcasm could not be missed as he rolled his eyes and walked
over to the door. He reached for the door handle and started to close the door,
and I had no choice but to step back as Luke said, “Good luck convincing Mom
and Dad.”

Then,
in true brotherly fashion, he slammed the door in my face. Maturely, I stuck my
tongue out at the closed door before I marched down the hallway toward my room.
I slammed my own door in answer to his rudeness and was all the more determined
to go to that party.

When
Dad got home from work, Mom called Luke and I downstairs for dinner. Skylar
wasn’t home. She’d dropped me off after school but didn’t say where she was going.
I also didn’t bother to ask, but I guessed she was either with Stevie or Scott,
who she was still dating even though it was past his expiration date.

Dinner
was quiet and unusually tense due to Mom and Dad’s apparent Cold War.
Afterward, Luke ran upstairs, presumably to get ready for the party. I opted to
go watch some television in the living room while I worked up the nerve to ask
my parents about the party. I’d hoped they would eventually come into the
living room, but when they didn’t, I sucked it up and went to them.

They
were still in the kitchen, and as I approached, I could hear only bits and
parts of them arguing.

“I’ll
do it if I want to, Theo,” Mom said. “I don’t need your permission.”

“So
I have no say in this?”

“No.”
Mom’s tone made it clear she couldn’t be persuaded.

Before
they could continue on, I cleared my throat and made my presence known. They
both turned to look at me, and I realized just how tired both of my parents
looked. It was no doubt from a combination of working and arguing. I was
curious about what Mom was planning to do, but I didn’t think it would do much
good to ask. She’d probably just say it was “grown up stuff.” How insulting.

“Did
you need something, Sil?” Mom looked expectant and relieved by the
interruption.

“I
just wanted to ask you if it was okay if I went to a party tonight.” I hated
that I sounded so nervous, but, between their odd behavior over the past few
days and not knowing what they might say, I couldn’t help it.

“What
party?” Dad already looked ready to say no.

“Jesse
Millet’s,” I sighed. I could already feel myself deflating. I hated the idea of
lying and defying them. “Luke’s going. I thought I’d ride with him, and I could
meet Tegan there.”

Dad
considered for a moment before he finally nodded. “If Luke’s going, I don’t see
why not.”

It
rankled that it was only okay because Luke was going. I wondered what the
answer would have been if Skylar had been going instead of Luke, but I guessed
it didn’t matter. I had permission to go. I thanked them and hurried out of the
room.

Upstairs,
I knocked on Luke’s door and informed him, when he opened it, that I was riding
with him to the party to meet Tegan. He looked aghast, but he didn’t argue.
Instead, he told me to be ready to go by seven-thirty.

I
called Tegan to let her know what was up, and we agreed that we’d see each
other in an hour’s time. It didn’t take long to change into a plaid skirt that
was similar to what the girls wore in the
Harry Potter
movies, and I
wore a white, short sleeve button up Oxford blouse.

Then I
set about trying to fluff up my hair. In the bathroom, I backcombed my hair and
used quite a lot of Skylar’s hairspray. I hoped she wouldn’t notice. Even
though Hermione Granger didn’t strike me as the makeup wearing type, I put on a
bit of mascara and lip-gloss just because.

I
realized I was missing my tie and went back to my room. I had to dig through
some of the organized chaos until I found the red and gold Gryffindor tie I’d
chosen last year as a birthday present from my parents. I fumbled around with
it for a while before I gave up, grabbed my black robe and black Mary Janes and
went back downstairs to ask Mom for help with my tie.

Dad
was noticeably absent, and Mom seemed distracted and tired as she fixed my tie.
I gave her a hug, because she seemed like she could use one, and thanked her
for her help. For good measure, I even told her our mediocre, at best, dinner
was good. That made her smile, and I thought it made the lie worth it.

Because
it was almost seven-thirty, I slipped on my Mary Janes and pulled on my robe
and went to wait for Luke by the front door to insure he didn’t leave without
me.

In
the car, Luke tuned the radio to his favorite rock station and cranked up the
volume. I tried to tune it out at first, but after a while it started to give
me a headache. Then some song with heavy base and indecipherable lyrics came
on, and I decided I’d had enough. I turned it down.

Luke
looked annoyed but, before he could give me the lecture about how it was his
car and I wasn’t supposed to touch the radio, I spoke up. “Mom and Dad were
arguing again tonight.”

“Yeah?”
He slanted his eyes toward me. “About what?”

“I’m
not sure. I just heard Mom say she was going to do something whether or not Dad
liked it because she didn’t need his permission.”

Luke
frowned. “What’s she going to do?”

“No
idea, but they were arguing about money on my birthday.”

Luke
shrugged, unconcerned by this revelation. “Dad’s just a tight ass about money.”

“I
know, but Mom’s been acting kind of weird too. She hasn’t been cleaning as
much, and when she’s folding laundry she doesn’t seem to admire the socks while
she matches them.”

Luke
spared me a confused look at this last part. Apparently, I was the only who
noticed the way Mom seemed to lack her usual gusto for matching socks, but he
did, at least, agree that she’d been acting weird lately.

“Do
you think Mom and Dad are going to get a divorce or something?” I asked
quietly. It was a thought that had crossed my mind a few times over the last
few days, but I’d been trying not to think about it too much. Married people
fought, and my parents had been married for twenty years. They’d fought
occasionally in the past. It had just been a while, which was why it felt so
unnerving now, or so I told myself.

“No
way.” Luke shook his head, adamantly, and he looked relaxed, so I didn’t think
he was just telling me what he thought I needed to hear. “I’m sure it’s
nothing. Mom’s probably just annoyed with Dad being such an uptight tightwad
all the time.”

“Yeah,
maybe,” I agreed half-heartedly and looked out the window.

Luke
and I weren’t close by any measure. We never really talked or spent much time
together, but he really wasn’t a bad brother—apart from the fact I wasn’t
allowed to talk to him at school or admit to being related. He could be nice at
times. Sometimes when he was bored, we’d play video games together. He always
beat me, of course, but it was still fun. Even though those times were rare, it
was a comfort that, in times like these, he seemed to know I needed him to take
my concerns seriously.

I
knew when we’d arrived at Jesse’s house because there were cars beyond cars
parked on the block and in the driveway and yard. Luke maneuvered his car in
between two others, and I had to carefully ease myself out of the car because
there wasn’t much room to even open the door. I was flush with the side of the
car as I slid out of the small gap between the two. Luke had more room on his
side of the car, and he didn’t even spare me a glance as he walked up to the
house. I hurried after him, but as soon as he walked into the house, he spotted
some friends and I went to look for Tegan.

Because
Tegan hadn’t told me what her costume was and everyone was dressed up, it was
hard to find in her the crowd. I realized belatedly that I’d been so preoccupied
with what was going on with our parents that I hadn’t even really noticed what
Luke had been wearing until now.

He
was dressed pretty much the same way he dressed every day—jeans, t-shirt, zip
up hoodie and Nikes. Either he’d been really lazy about dressing up, or he was
going for something ironic. I’d have to ask him later.

When
I finally spotted Tegan in the corner, it took me a moment to recognize her. I
was a little shocked by her costume. She came wearing a purple 1920’s inspired
flapper dress. Her hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, and while she looked
adorable, it was certainly more risqué than how I was used to seeing Tegan
dressed.

“I
love the costume,” I complimented once I’d crossed the room to her.

“Thanks,
Hermione,” she winked. “You should have dressed up as a flapper too.”

“Couldn’t,”
I sighed. “No boobs to fill out the dress.”

Tegan
rolled her eyes and laughed. “I’m beginning to wish you’d get boobs just as
much as you do,” she said. “I’m sick of hearing about it.”

“Okay,
okay,” I shrugged. “I’ll refrain from talking about my breasts. Or lack
thereof.”

“I’ll
hold you to that,” she threatened, but I knew it was in jest.

We
found Tierney, in what appeared to be a billiard room. She was watching some
guys showing off while playing pool. It did not go unnoticed by neither Tegan
nor I that one of the guys happened to be Jesse Millet.

Since
most everyone else at the party was upperclassmen, we decided to hang out with
Tierney for a while since she’d been the one to extend the invitation to us.
After a while, though, the place got so crowded and hot I had to shed my black
robe and go in search of something to drink. Tegan was engaged in conversation
with a cute guy from our Journalism class, and I didn’t want to interrupt her,
so I didn’t bother to ask if she wanted anything.

I
went to the kitchen and filled my cup with punch and took a much-needed sip. I
probably should have known immediately there was something wrong because that
first sip tasted a little funny, but because I was so thirsty, I didn’t think
anything of it. I gulped down one cup before pouring myself another and headed
back to Tegan and Tierney.

After
that my night turned out much differently than I’d anticipated. While drinking
my second cup of punch, I started to feel much more relaxed, and everything
seemed to become much more amusing than it normally would have.

“What’s
going on with you?” Tegan asked after I spent a solid five minutes guffawing
over some lame joke made by the cute guy she’d been talking to.