as hell. They’re friends , I told myself. Friends of friends, anyway. Harmless.
I remembered what Steve said outside Dr. Barton’s office: Face your fear and get to the other side of it . Something like that. Great concept. I’d get right on it.
“I have a feeling I’ll need a few more of these,” I told Frank.
“We all have our little crosses to bear,” he said as we clunked our plastic glasses together.
I finished my drink and set the glass down on the step beside me. I needed the alcohol, but I was drinking too fast.
“Speaking of crosses to bear, he’s back,” Frank said. “How nice.”
Lisa and Brad emerged from the dancing crowd. Frank had come to a kind of peace with the situation. They met here at the house last semester when Brad joined our study group. It was obvious right away Brad liked Lisa, but Frank seemed to ignore the fact.
When I asked him about it once, he quoted Sun-tzu: Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
“Did you meet his friend yet?” I said. Brad had left earlier after remembering he was supposed to give a friend a ride. “Apparently the guy’s been out of work for a while, and Brad thinks he needs some fun in his life.”
“Let’s hope he’s not one of those bozos.” Frank indicated a group of idiots over by the keg, doing shots and harassing each other like they were still in high school.
“My thoughts exactly.”
The bozos were obnoxious and loud. One guy shoved another and made him spill his beer all over himself. “Hey, dude! I look like I pissed my pants!” The others shrieked with laughter. My hands started to clench. I shook them and wiggled my fingers until the feeling passed.
I shifted my focus back to Lisa and Brad. He’d changed from his usual pressed shirt into something casual. He actually looked pretty good. How did Lisa do it? She had two guys madly in love with her. I didn’t even have a casual date.
I guess being an obsessive-compulsive control freak wasn’t so attractive.
“I wasn’t sure she’d get tonight off from the restaurant,” Frank said, his gaze fixed on the dancing couple. “It’s good to see her having fun.”
“You have nothing to worry about, Frank. Brad is just a friend. Lisa loves you.”
“She does,” he said matter-of-factly. “But sometimes I wonder what if I hadn’t got there first?”
“You did get there first.”
He’d liked her since high school, when she and I were freshmen and he was a junior. Lisa and Frank as a couple was one of the few enduring facts of my life. Besides Stacey, they were the only people I still knew from before. I desperately needed what stability I could hang onto.
I needed Lisa and Frank to keep being Lisa and Frank.
“Hey, have you heard from Stacey?” Frank said.
“She called this afternoon. She’s having a blast,” I said. “She and her friends have been on Pirates of the Caribbean five times.”
“Did you tell her about the internship?”
“Yes. And that you’re staying here while I’m gone.”
“She doesn’t mind?”
“The opposite. She says this big house is too empty with only two people in it.”
Actually Stacey had asked at first if Brad could stay, but there was no point in telling Frank that.
My grandpa was a carpenter. He built this house in the country in the late 1960s with dreams of a big family to fill the five bedrooms. Since then, “the country” has changed. Doctors and lawyers and politicians and tech millionaires moved into Granite Bay and demanded their own zip code. My grandma left the house free of a mortgage so we were able to stay, but most of the time I feel like an imposter among my neighbors.
“Maybe you’ll fill the place up with kids someday,” Frank said. “When you find the right guy.”
“Right. What a romantic you are.” This house was perfect for a bunch of kids, especially with the huge yard, but the thought of having a family terrified me.
“I hope Lisa thinks so.” Frank took a small box out of
I remembered what Steve said outside Dr. Barton’s office: Face your fear and get to the other side of it . Something like that. Great concept. I’d get right on it.
“I have a feeling I’ll need a few more of these,” I told Frank.
“We all have our little crosses to bear,” he said as we clunked our plastic glasses together.
I finished my drink and set the glass down on the step beside me. I needed the alcohol, but I was drinking too fast.
“Speaking of crosses to bear, he’s back,” Frank said. “How nice.”
Lisa and Brad emerged from the dancing crowd. Frank had come to a kind of peace with the situation. They met here at the house last semester when Brad joined our study group. It was obvious right away Brad liked Lisa, but Frank seemed to ignore the fact.
When I asked him about it once, he quoted Sun-tzu: Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer.
“Did you meet his friend yet?” I said. Brad had left earlier after remembering he was supposed to give a friend a ride. “Apparently the guy’s been out of work for a while, and Brad thinks he needs some fun in his life.”
“Let’s hope he’s not one of those bozos.” Frank indicated a group of idiots over by the keg, doing shots and harassing each other like they were still in high school.
“My thoughts exactly.”
The bozos were obnoxious and loud. One guy shoved another and made him spill his beer all over himself. “Hey, dude! I look like I pissed my pants!” The others shrieked with laughter. My hands started to clench. I shook them and wiggled my fingers until the feeling passed.
I shifted my focus back to Lisa and Brad. He’d changed from his usual pressed shirt into something casual. He actually looked pretty good. How did Lisa do it? She had two guys madly in love with her. I didn’t even have a casual date.
I guess being an obsessive-compulsive control freak wasn’t so attractive.
“I wasn’t sure she’d get tonight off from the restaurant,” Frank said, his gaze fixed on the dancing couple. “It’s good to see her having fun.”
“You have nothing to worry about, Frank. Brad is just a friend. Lisa loves you.”
“She does,” he said matter-of-factly. “But sometimes I wonder what if I hadn’t got there first?”
“You did get there first.”
He’d liked her since high school, when she and I were freshmen and he was a junior. Lisa and Frank as a couple was one of the few enduring facts of my life. Besides Stacey, they were the only people I still knew from before. I desperately needed what stability I could hang onto.
I needed Lisa and Frank to keep being Lisa and Frank.
“Hey, have you heard from Stacey?” Frank said.
“She called this afternoon. She’s having a blast,” I said. “She and her friends have been on Pirates of the Caribbean five times.”
“Did you tell her about the internship?”
“Yes. And that you’re staying here while I’m gone.”
“She doesn’t mind?”
“The opposite. She says this big house is too empty with only two people in it.”
Actually Stacey had asked at first if Brad could stay, but there was no point in telling Frank that.
My grandpa was a carpenter. He built this house in the country in the late 1960s with dreams of a big family to fill the five bedrooms. Since then, “the country” has changed. Doctors and lawyers and politicians and tech millionaires moved into Granite Bay and demanded their own zip code. My grandma left the house free of a mortgage so we were able to stay, but most of the time I feel like an imposter among my neighbors.
“Maybe you’ll fill the place up with kids someday,” Frank said. “When you find the right guy.”
“Right. What a romantic you are.” This house was perfect for a bunch of kids, especially with the huge yard, but the thought of having a family terrified me.
“I hope Lisa thinks so.” Frank took a small box out of
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