Page 45 of People Like Us

“How sweet,” I murmured—just as a shrill scream split the air from the front of the store.

“Shit.” Lindsey dropped the hanger and yanked me toward the exit.

The store’s bell clanged aggressively as I was shoved onto the sidewalk. Through the haze of motion and the store’s glass front I caught sight of a girl behind the counter—her hair dyed purple, dripping wet, eyes huge with panic.

Chapter Eighteen

“You look good.” Andy shouted over the thumping base that was radiating through Paul’s packed living room.

I looked down at my brown floorlength skirt and crop top. It was the most casual I’d dressed in a long time. I hadn’t even pinned my hair up, and I’d taken my usual heavy makeup off when I got home from dropping the girls off at Lindsey’s house, replacing it with only mascara and a clear lip gloss.

“Thanks.” I said, too tired to add any infliction to it.

“You kind of look like your step mom without all the makeup,” he added like it was a compliment.

I wanted to tell him it was because my step mother looked like my real mother—dark wavy hair, olive skin, and hazel eyes. I wanted to tell him I could barely remember what my real mother looked like, but I’d been haunted by her every time I looked in the mirror.

I wanted to kick him.

“Hey!” Andy shouted, raising his hand in the direction of the kitchen where I spotted Jack waving back, Emily beside him in a dress too short for the weather outside.

We hadn’t spoken since the incident at the store.

Andy dragged me toward the kitchen, his fingers kneading Jack’s shoulder gently. “Why do you look so glum, man?” The two of them standing next to each other could’ve passed as brothers. Their sandy blonde hair, bright eyes, and strong jaws attached to large frames could’ve been a Calvin Klein ad all on their own, but were instead wasted in the dim lighting of Paul’s kitchen.

“I’m just tired.” Jack said, flashing a wide smile that showed off his perfect teeth. Jack was a lot like Andy in having a—usually—golden-retriever personality. Though I thought he was probably a lot more emotionally mature than Andy.

“I’m going to step outside to smoke,” Jack said despite his eyes already being red and glossy. He bent to kiss Emily on the cheek before stepping out of Andy’s grasp.

“Could I come with you?” I asked.

Andy chuckled, “You don’t smoke.”

“I just need a break from the music,” I assured him. “I’ll find you.”

He nodded, and I turned back to Jack, who was waiting for me at the edge of the kitchen. His large frame parted the crowd fairly easily as we made our way through the house to the front door.

A few people were in the driveway to our left but it was relatively quiet outside. We sat on the top step, and Jack pulled an Altoids case from his pocket. When he flipped it open there were a few joints and a purple lighter inside.

“You’ve turned into a real pot head lately,” I said, taunting.

He shook his head. “Maybe. But it’s better than being anxious all the time.”

I nodded in understanding as he set the joint between his lips to light it.

“How are you? WIth everything?” I asked, trying to sound like I meant it. I hadn’t had a chance to have a real conversation with Jack about his father who was recently diagnosed with cancer.

Jack was planning to take a year off after we graduated to stay home to help his mother take care of things, but after he blew out his knee on the field at the beginning of the season, I wondered if he still planned to go to college at all.

He shrugged and flashed me another smile, his dimples going so deep it looked like it hurt. “The world keeps spinning, and I just keep holding on.”

I nodded sympathetically. I wanted to tell Jack that I knew what it was like to have a parent who was sick—who couldn’t be saved from the horrors of their own biology. I wanted to shout that I knew the pain of knowing you’d lose a parent well before they left, and that he should take some comfort in knowing that at least when his father was gone, it would not be because he wanted to leave. Instead, I kept my mouth shut.

We sat there for a few minutes in silence, the people in the driveway meandering their way up, stepping between us to go into the house.

I kept my voice low even after the door shut behind us. “Could I ask you something personal?”

Jack turned to me with raised eyebrows as he took a long drag from the joint.