I pull a face, “Well that’s something I didn’t need to know.” I internally groan. Sure I could learn more about my sister, but not her sexual habits. Ellora narrows her eyes at me.
“Me next,” Lor says, eyes not wavering from me. “Never have I everup and left my sick parents to go to a movie with friends.” Her stare would burn a hole right through my brain if she had her way. I put a finger down, tapping it violently on the table and sighing.
“Sick? They didn’t have the flu, Lor. They were sobering up from a bender.” I try to keep my voice even but whythe fuckwould she bring this up. Why here? Why right now? To make me look like some evil spawn to Celeste?
Ellora huffs and crosses her arms over her chest, “Yeah, well you didn’t have to clean vomit out of Mom’s hair for two days, so, hope the movie was worth it.” She smiles sweetly at me, but it’s pure venom. I warily cast a glance towards Celeste and Delaney who’s eyes ping back and forth between Ellora and me like a tennis match.
Celeste bursts into movement waving her hands. “I’ve got one! Okay! Never have I ever gone skinny-dipping!” Celeste’s smile is like a beacon for my heart, drawing me in and washing away the hot coals of anger that were stoking in my chest. I give her a wink and put down a finger.
Her mouth pops open as she looks around and realizes the rest of us have put a finger down. “No way! You’ve all swam naked in a pool?” She seems legitimately shocked at this teenage right of passage. Ellora shrugs and drains her Coke, Delaney shimmies her own chest yelling out “free the nip”, and when Celeste looks at me, I shrug.
“Technically it wasn’t a pool,” I say. Her head tilts in question as she sips her fresh piña colada the waitress just dropped off. “It was a lake. Just a bunch of my buddies being dumb.” She snorts a little and I laugh. I like learning more about Celeste, even through a bar game. I also find it adorable when she learns things about me, like skinny-dipping, and thinks it’s scandalous.
Did she never go wild as a teenager?
I open my mouth to ask a question, hoping to glean more about Celeste when Ellora cuts me off.
“I have another.” Her voice kills the amusement at the table and Celeste and Delaney exchange a nervous glance. Ellora was always someone to tell it like it is and I guess that hasn’t changed. “Never have I ever had a family member arrested,” she spits, no fake smile to be seen, just a sneer of rage. I close my eyes and take a deep breath. I hear Celeste and Delaney both sharply inhale and turn to me, awaiting my reply.
“It wasn’t like you did jail time or anything,” I grumble, by way of the worst explanation there could be for being fed up with a strung out sister and calling the cops on her, leading to her arrest for possession. After years of begging my parents to change, my sister ended up doing the same drugs they did at the ripe old age of fourteen.
“No, just getting kicked out of another foster home and a fuck ton of community service because I couldn’t pay the charges—” Lor starts, her voice rising with her anger, but I cut her off.
“Why, Lor? Because Mom and Dad blew any money they had on drugs? So they couldn’t help you when you needed it?” I shoot back, my blood beginning to boil in my veins.
“Ellie, sweetie, I think—” Delaney coos, trying to paw at Ellora’s shoulder but she’s unbudging.
“No, Dellie,” Ellora says calmly to Delaney before turning back to me, seething, “I had to go to rehab instead of my first year of high school.”
“Dellie. That’s a new one,” Celeste offers from the side, poking Delaney in the ribs.
“And did the rehab not help you get sober, Lor?” I demand. I’m in awe at her ability to not see that everything I did was to separate her from my parents and get her on the right track. “Forgive me for wanting to make sure you made it to your next birthdayalive,and not in a body bag,” I snap.
“Oh, you’re so right, big brother. Getting arrested and put in rehabreallywas the best birthday gift I could have ever received. Did I not say thank you? Did you miss the pat on the back for being the best brother in the world, Dominic?” Now Ellora is yelling, practically foaming at the mouth. “Did you need another reason to feel superior, Dom? Hm? I guess it’s hard to tell from how high up you are on that horse. No. It must be a Pegasus because you’re in the fucking clouds!” A few of the people in the neighbouring booths and tables turn at my sister’s outburst. She fumbles with her tote and yanks on Delaney’s arm, “Come on, Dellie, I’m done here.”
Shoving me out of the booth and practically dragging Delaney, Ellora hauls herself away without letting me get a word in. I shake my head. Typical Ellora. Throws everything out there from her perspective and unwilling to hear my side at all. It’s hard to deal with her over the phone, but in person I feel a whole new level of astonishment. I watch as Delaney gives Celeste a small wave before being swallowed by the crowd.
I turn to Celeste not knowing what reaction I might get after that blowout. What I didn’t expect was for Celeste to be the picture of poise as she slurps up the dregs of her drink from a colourful straw. She offers me a closed-lip smile and pushes her finished drink to the middle of the table.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for all of that to come out.” I sit across from her, my shoulders curving inwards as shame pools in my gut. I let my forehead drop to the sticky table, not evencaring at this point. Then, for the second time tonight, I feel Celeste’s soft touch on my shoulder. From my perspective I can see her small running shoes standing next to where I sit in the booth. I turn my head slightly, making my whole view her curvy frame and beautiful face.
God, I just want to grab those hips and pull her closer.
I sigh at the chaos of my thoughts tonight and lift my head upright again.
“This isn’t me, it…” I don’t even know where to begin. Why does Ellora make me so rageful?
“Come on.” She grabs my hand and pulls me from the booth, I throw cash and a hefty tip for our waitress on the table, hoping Ellora’s outburst didn’t cause too much of a scene.
Celeste winds her fingers in mine andfuckdo I love the feeling of holding her hand in front of people. Letting them believe whatever they want about us, a couple, first date, three year anniversary? Anything, as long as it’s with Celeste. We make it to the front door and into the brisk summer night too soon. Her hand slips from mine and without thinking I reach for it again, keeping her soft, delicate fingers in my grasp as if she were my sanity and I’d be crazed without her touch.
“Holding hands now are we, Peggy?” she teases. My face heats but luckily the blanket of nightfall covers my embarrassment.
“Safety measures, Hoot. You never know what kind of hooligans are out at this hour,” I say. My point is proven immediately when a rowdy group, whom I believe are the football team that wiped me of all my pastries a while back, come barreling out of the bar we just exited. Loud laughter and some very off-key singing breakthrough the otherwise peaceful night. Celeste and I turn as the group seems to be getting closer to us.
“Hey! Sunshine!” A deep baritone voice hollers from just behind us. A smile, big but not quite meeting her eyes, appears on Celeste’s face.
“Hey, Corey right? And Payton?” She gives a little wave to the two football players at the front of the pack. I recognize them as the ones she had talked to at Biblio & Brew that day. The two of them look like they could be brothers, broad and wide both with short brown hair, but it looks like Corey has green eyes where Payton has brown. It’s hard to explain why, but for some reason my hackles go up instinctively. With my hand still entwined in Celeste’s, I pull her a little closer to me.
