Love in Between (6 page)

“I will,” I smiled as the bell rang, and a flock of children entered the classroom.

***

I spent most of the day getting to know the children and having them get to know me. We all had lunch together in the classroom, which they thought was cool. I wanted them, not only to like me, but to trust me as well. I wanted them to feel safe every time they walked into the classroom. The end of the day approached, and the bell rang. In a matter of minutes, the classroom was empty again. I walked around the room and straightened the desks. I grabbed my things, turned off the light, and headed home. Once I arrived at the apartment building, I unlocked and opened the door, threw my bags onto the chair, and kicked off my heels. I sat down on the couch for a minute to relax when I heard a knock on the door. I got up, looked through the peephole, and saw Luke standing there. I opened it and motioned for him to come in.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hey,” he said without even looking at me and just walked down the hall.

I rolled my eyes. I was extremely tired, and I was in no mood for his attitude.

I put the kettle on the stove for some tea. All I wanted right now was the comfort of my plush bed. As I was waiting for the water to heat up, I heard Luke yell from the bathroom.

“Shit!” he yelled.

It sounded like a yell of pain, so I walked to the bathroom to see what had happened. He stood there holding his hand.

“Are you ok? What happened?” I asked.

“Nothing, just go!” he spat.

“Excuse me, mister, but this is my fucking bathroom, and I’ll be in here if I want to be.”

He looked up at me. “Do you always use that kind of language?”

“Yes, I do. Now let me take a look at your hand,” I said as I lightly touched it.

He pulled away quickly. “No, it’s fine. I don’t need your help.”

“Maybe you do or maybe you don’t. You’re hurt, and I need to see how bad it is. Now sit your goddamn ass on that toilet so I can take a look.”

He looked at me with anger in his eyes. “You can come off as being really mean.”

“Good, I’m glad you noticed. Now, give me your hand.”

He held out his hand, and I removed the blood-soaked tissue. I grabbed a washcloth from under the sink and wrapped it around his hand. “Put pressure on that while I get the antiseptic and a Band-Aid. It doesn’t look like it needs stitches.”

I reached into the cabinet and got out the antiseptic and some cotton balls. I could see him staring at me out of the corner of my eye. I soaked the cotton ball with antiseptic and set it on the edge of the counter. I turned to him and took his hand. I didn’t want to look at him because he had the most amazing brown eyes.

“Where are you from?” he asked out of nowhere.

“Why do you care?” I replied.

“I don’t. I’m just trying to make small talk.”

“Seattle.”

“Is your family still there?”

“I don’t have any family. They’re dead.”

I removed the washcloth and took a cotton ball from the edge of the counter. “This is going to sting, but I know that you’re a big boy, and you can handle it.” I dabbed his cut on the side of his hand with the antiseptic soaked cotton ball.

“Fuck!” he screamed and tried to pull his hand away.

“Do you always use that kind of language?” I asked.

“Only when someone’s hurting me!” he exclaimed.

“Stop being a baby and man up.”

“Don’t tell me to man up!”

“Fine,” I said.

I put the Band-Aid on his hand. “There, all better. Now get back to fixing my shower.”

He looked at me and got up from the toilet. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I said as I walked out of the bathroom.

I took a teabag from the cupboard and made some tea. I took my cup and sat down at the table. About thirty minutes later, Luke emerged from the bathroom.

“You’re all set,” he said.

“Great. Thank you. Can I offer you a beer?” I asked, not sure why those words escaped my lips.

“No, I need to go. Enjoy the rest of your evening,” he said as he walked out of my apartment.

5

Luke

I opened the door to my apartment and set my tool box by the closet. I looked at my watch, and it was almost time for Mrs. Clements to bring Charley home. I walked outside to wait for her. Charley takes a dance class after school with her best friend, Allie. Allie’s mom picks the girls up from school, takes them to dance class, and then drops Charley off at my place. When Maddie works the day shift at the bar, she usually doesn’t get off work until 6:00 p.m. She doesn’t work many nights, but when she does, Charley spends the night at my place.

“Hey, peanut, how was your first day of school?” I asked her as I carried her backpack inside.

“It was great, but I’m hungry,” she pouted.

“What do you want to eat?” I asked.

“Grilled cheese,” she smiled.

“One grilled cheese sandwich coming right up,” I said as I got out the pan. “Tell me about your day.”

“I love my new teacher. She’s so nice and super pretty.”

“Is that so?” I asked. “What’s her name?”

“Miss Gilmore.”

I made Charley her grilled cheese sandwich and listened to her as she told me all about her day.

“Uncle Luke, what happened to your hand?” she asked as she looked at the Band-Aid.

“Yeah, Uncle Luke, what happened to your hand?” Sam asked as he walked through the door smiling.

“It’s just a cut from fixing the shower next door. It’s nothing to worry about.”

“Do you have homework, Charley?” I asked.

“Nope. Miss Gilmore said we would all be too tired from our first day to concentrate on homework, so she didn’t give us any.”

“She sounds like a cool teacher,” I smiled.

“She’s really cool, and you would like her.”

I walked out of the kitchen as she said that and sat down on the couch. Sam opened a beer, handed it to me, and sat on the chair across from me.

“How did it go at Lily’s?”

“It went fine, except I cut myself,” I said.

“I invited Gretchen to go with us to the beach this weekend, and I think you should invite Lily.”

I looked at Sam and sighed. “Your hang up with me and Lily is getting old. I’m not interested. If you want her to join us at the beach this weekend, ask her yourself.”

“Fine, I will,” he said as he pulled out his phone.

Charley came over and sat next to me. “Can I watch SpongeBob Squarepants?”

I put my arm around her, and she snuggled up against me. I turned on her show, and looked over at Sam as he started laughing.

“What is so funny?” I asked.

“Lily asked if you were going to the beach, and when I told her yes, she said no. You two are going to kill me.”

I rolled my eyes. I couldn’t stop thinking about how Lily told me that her family was dead. I couldn’t imagine not having my family. I haven’t seen any guys coming around, so I’m pretty sure she doesn’t have a boyfriend. Not that it matters, I’m just surprised that someone as beautiful as her doesn’t have one.

The door opened, and Maddie walked in.

“Mommy!” Charley exclaimed as she jumped up from the couch.

“Baby, how was school?” she asked as Charley jumped in her arms.

“Hey, Maddie,” I said as I kissed her on the cheek. “How was work?”

“It was the same as every other day. I got hit on a few times. A couple of drunken guys grabbed my ass. You know; the usual.”

“Yeah, well I better never see them grabbing your ass, otherwise I’ll kick theirs,” I said.

“Tell Uncle Luke and Uncle Sammy goodbye, Charley.”

“Bye, Charley,” Sam smiled from the couch.

“Bye, peanut,” I said as I held out my fist to hers.

“Later gator,” we both said at the same time.

I walked over and sat back down on the couch. “Do you know anything about Lily’s past?”

Sam shot me a look. “No, but why are you asking?”

“I don’t know. It’s just something she said earlier.”

“What did she say?” Sam asked.

“I asked her where she’s from and she said Seattle. I asked if her family lived there, but she said that she doesn’t have any family and that they’re dead.”

Sam looked at me, and his mouth dropped. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, seriously, dude.”

“Wow, poor Lily, to be all alone with no family. That’s awful.”

Sam got up from the chair to take a shower. He was taking Gretchen out on a date.

I grabbed an ice-cold beer from the fridge and sat back down on the couch. My phone beeped, and there was a text message from Lucky.

“
Dude, come to the bar tonight; there’s some really hot chicks here, and I scored us a gig for Saturday night
.”

I wasn’t in the mood for the bar tonight. I replied back.

“Sorry, Lucky, not tonight, and thanks for the gig on Saturday.”

I got up from the couch and grabbed my guitar. I sat back down, and as I was going to begin to play, I heard music coming from the other side of the wall. Lily was playing her guitar. The song she was playing sounded familiar. As I strummed a few chords, the music from the other side of the wall stopped. I played a short tune and waited. Lily played it right back. I strummed another tune, something a little more difficult, and then I waited. A few seconds later, she played it back. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Is that a smile I just saw on your face, Luke?” Sam said as he walked by.

“No, and where are you taking Gretchen?” I asked to change the subject.

“I’m taking her to a new restaurant for dinner and then maybe a movie after.”

“Have a good time,” I said as Sam headed out the door.

I strummed a few more chords and waited for Lily to strum back, but she never did. I decided to try and write a new song. It’s been a year since I’ve written anything. Ever since…

6

Lily

“Hello,” I said as I answered Gretchen’s call.

“Guess what I’m doing tonight,” she said.

“I don’t know, taking a bubble bath and shaving your legs?”

“No, Lily, stop it! I’m going on a date with Sam!”

“Ah, so he finally called you. That’s great, Gretchen; I’m happy for you.”

“Try it sometime, Lily. You might surprise yourself and like it.”

“No thanks. I’m happy with my life as it is. I don’t need a man to be complicating things. Have fun on your date with Sam. You better call me tomorrow and let me know how things went.”

“I will, Lily, and try not to have too much fun in that apartment all by yourself.”

“Goodbye, Gretchen.”

“Goodbye, Lils.”

I smiled as I hung up the phone and picked up my guitar. I could hear Luke trying to play something. He kept strumming and stopping. The little game we played just before Gretchen called was fun. He would play a tune and stop, and I would play it back. I couldn’t help but wonder how his hand was doing. Something about him bothered me. On one hand, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. On the other, I couldn’t stand him. I got up and put my guitar back. I had a corner in my living room that sat empty, so I moved my guitar there. That guitar holds a lot of memories for me; some bad and some good.

***

The next morning, I stumbled out of bed, tired as hell, and made my way to the kitchen for some coffee. You’d think I’d be used to only getting a couple hours of sleep a night since it’s been over a year. I poured a cup then headed to the bathroom for a shower. I stepped out of the shower and heard my phone beep from the next room. I walked over to it, and there was a text message from Sam.

“Good morning. I need to see you before I leave for work. Can I stop by?”

I smiled because he probably wanted to talk to me about his date with Gretchen. I replied back.

“Sure, the door’s unlocked. Grab a cup of coffee, and I’ll be right out. I’m getting dressed.”

I quickly ran to the door and unlocked it then ran back into my bedroom. As I was putting on my black pants, I heard Sam come in.

“Hey, Lily, it’s just me.”

“Hey, Sam, I’ll be right out!” I yelled.