A Few Little Scars

by Casey McMillin

  Not even a minute later, from out of nowhere, a hulking form came around the corner. She let out a barely audible shriek and jumped back at how quickly and quietly the person had moved in on her. She felt two hands reach out and grab her, and she began to wiggle and squirm trying to escape. She was just about to scream when she heard the guy say, "Shhhh, it's me." His voice was so deep and mesmerizing, that for a second, Molly forgot she should be utterly terrified. He took her split-second hesitation as a sign that she wasn't scared anymore.

  In the pitch dark, he gently felt his way up her arms to her face. He took hold of it and put his lips to hers. Molly vaguely remembered she should be alarmed, but his lips were so warm and perfect, and tasted so good that she gave into her instincts and kissed the random stranger back. She obviously hadn't planned on being kissed that night, and was vaguely surprised with herself for letting it continue. She knew it was a guy, but that was all she knew. She didn't even stop to consider the possibility that he was old or otherwise offensive. Something told her he wasn't either of those things.

  His lips felt and tasted so good that she really didn't care who he was. He pressed her against the wall, still keeping a grasp on her face. She reached up to touch his jaw, but it wasn't even in an effort to figure out who he was. She just wanted to touch him. He moaned at her touch and deepened the kiss considerably. For the next half-a-minute, they shared a kiss that went from gentle to passionate and back again. He was placing gentle kisses on her mouth, one after another, when they heard footsteps coming down the hall.

  "Nick?" they heard.

  It was a girl's voice.

  The guy who'd been kissing Molly senseless, tensed when he heard the name.

  "Daisy?" he said.

  His chest rumbled as he spoke, and Molly flinched at the surprise of hearing him speak at full volume.

  "Yeah," she heard the girl's voice say.

  Molly didn't have time to do anything before she saw the silhouette of Daisy Lee come around the corner and into the hall. She and the mystery kisser (who she now knew was Nick) were a few feet in, and in one quick motion, Nick pushed Molly behind him and reached out his hands to catch Daisy in his arms. They were in such complete darkness that Daisy didn't even see Molly shrink down to squat with her back against the wall.

  She wanted to disappear.

  She heard a few sounds before Daisy spoke. "What's up?" she said, sounding disappointed.

  "Nothing," Nick said.

  "Why aren't you kissing me?"

  "I am."

  "No you're not."

  "Shhhhh," Nick said. "I think I hear something."

  They were silent for a minute while the group who'd gone outside came back in and walked down the hallway past them. No one even glanced into the dark hallway where Nick and Daisy were having their little rendezvous. Molly was utterly mortified by the whole situation, and stayed still and silent, praying for it all to be over.

  "I don't know if we're safe back here," Nick said, once the people were gone.

  "What do you mean?" Daisy said. "I can't even see my hand in front of my face. I don't think anyone's gonna be snapping photos."

  "I don't know if it's a good idea—"

  "Shut up and kiss me, Nick. That's why I came to this party in the first place."

  "You came to this party for me?" he asked. He sounded flattered, and Molly put a hand over her face, feeling a bit like she wanted to puke.

  "Of course I did," Daisy said. "It's not like I can see you anywhere else. At least not until the divorce is final."

  Molly heard some smacking sounds. She put her hands over her ears to try to drown it out.

  "What's up with you?" Daisy said again.

  "Nothing."

  "Why aren't you kissing me?"

  "I am."

  "No you're not. What's the matter?"

  "Nothing."

  She heard smacking sounds again. This time they were accompanied by the sounds of a girl moaning. Molly cringed, knowing that was exactly what she'd sounded like just a moment before. She seriously felt like she might be sick. Those sounds went on for what felt like an eternity, but was probably less than a minute before Nick spoke again.

  "We should be getting back in there before someone notices," he said.

  "It's only been like five seconds," she said.

  "I know, but I told Jason I'd be right back, and he's gonna be looking for me."

  Daisy sighed.

  "You should go back first," Nick said.

  Molly silently backed up eight or ten feet down the hallway. She wanted to be far enough away where he couldn't reach out and touch her if he tried to once Daisy was gone.

  "It'd be cool if I could see you again before I head back out on the road," she said.

  "We can definitely try to make that happen," Nick said.

  "I hope so."

  "Bye Daisy."

  "Bye Nick."

  More smacking sounds.

  Molly's eyes were trained on their figures even though she could just barely see them as silhouettes in the darkness. Daisy took off back down the hallway and Nick leaned against the wall unable to believe what had just happened.

  "Who are you?" he asked.

  Molly didn't answer.

  "Are you there?"

  Molly didn't answer.

  She could see the dark outlines of his body as he started to feel around for her in his general vicinity. He reached into his pocket and got his phone. He turned it on and held the bright screen into the darkness trying to find out who was there. The light coming from it wasn't that bright, and only fell a few feet in front of him. Thankfully, Molly had backed up just enough to be out of range. She stood there barely breathing as he squinted into the darkness trying to see her. He took one step forward, but gave up with a sigh, figuring she'd taken off down the hall. He glanced at the screen of his phone before putting it into his pocket and turning to walk back to the bar.

  Molly barely peeked around the corner and watched as he went past the restrooms and toward the main room. She decided to make a stop at the ladies room on her way back. It was a logical thing to do since she was planning on saying she'd been in there the whole time if anyone asked. She took a minute to repair her lip-gloss and wrap her head around the accidental make out session before she went to find Hannah.

  When Molly made it to the end of the hallway, she stopped to look around. She'd been gone for at least ten minutes, and didn't know if Hannah would be in the same spot. Her eyes roamed to the place where she'd left Hannah and Jason, but she didn't see any sign of them. She continued scanning the room. She passed face after face until her eyes fell across someone who was looking back at her.

  It was Nick.

  He was halfway across the room, but was unmistakably staring at Molly. Nerves flooded her body, and instantly she broke the eye contact and continued scanning the room. She was hoping she looked natural even though she was barely breathing. A few seconds later, she let her eyes roam over to Nick again. Crap. He was still staring at her. Their eyes locked, and it seemed to Molly that Nick knew it was her he'd kissed. She held his gaze long enough for his straight face to crack into a sly smile. She let the ghost of a smile touch her own lips before breaking the eye contact completely and heading to the nearest familiar face.

  It was Taylor, and while it was sort of random for Molly to walk up to her and make conversation while Taylor was working, she did it anyway. Thankfully, it was nearing the end of the night, and she was able to spare a minute to chitchat. Taylor said how relieved she was that the party had gone off without a hitch. Molly told her how good the food tasted, and they spoke for a minute, covering other surface-level topics before Hannah walked up.

  "They're opening to the public in thirty minutes," Hannah said.

  Taylor nodded. "We're pretty much done. I've already sent everybody home but Gina."

  "We'll probably leave in a minute," Hannah said. "Are you still okay with staying the night at Jason's?" she asked, looking
at Molly.

  "Sure," Molly said.

  "We have to go by my apartment to get your things."

  "It's not gonna be a party or anything, is it?" Molly asked, remembering what Nick said earlier.

  "No," Hannah said, laughing. "Unless you call me, you, and Jason a party."

  Molly felt relief at the thought of a quiet evening hanging out at Jason's. "I'm ready when you are," she said.

  Chapter 3

  Jason's car was parked right in front of the club, so he drove Hannah and Molly to the parking lot. It was just a few blocks up the street, but he insisted on giving them a ride.

  Molly's ears were ringing from all the noise, and she sat in the small backseat looking out the window as Hannah and Jason had a conversation about meeting up at his house once they picked up Molly's things.

  "Nick was serious about wanting to party," Jason said, laughing a little. Molly tuned in at the mention of Nick's name, but didn't say anything.

  "What'd you tell him?" Hannah asked.

  "I told him we were done for the night—that you had a friend in from out of town and we were just going back to Brentwood."

  She turned to look back at Molly. "Did you want to go out or anything?"

  Molly's eyes widened. "Me? Oh, no. That's okay. I'm good with whatever."

  Hannah smiled. "We still have tomorrow night, but I think I'm good for tonight if you're okay with that."

  "Sounds good to me," Molly said.

  It took the girls over an hour to make their way to Jason's because they stopped by Hannah's apartment and then at a gas station for some snacks.

  Jason was freshly showered and waiting for them when they arrived, and Molly did her best not to act shocked at the grandeur of his house. Hannah had warned her that it was nice, but Molly wasn't quite prepared for the place to be as beautiful as it was. She caught herself staring at Hannah and Jason thinking about how crazy it was that the same girl who just stopped at a gas station for eight bags of Combos, three bags of M&M's, and an Icee belonged in this house with a guy like Jason. Molly was happy for her and everything, but what a freaking trip! She tried to imagine Hannah moving into a place like that, or maybe even marrying the guy. The whole thing seemed surreal.

  "I can't believe you didn't get cheddar pretzel," Jason said, inspecting the loot that was laid out on the huge kitchen island. The countertop was made of some kind of exotic stone, and Molly had been lost in thought staring blankly at it for a second.

  "They didn't have any," Hannah said. "Cheddar cracker will have to do."

  "Cheddar cracker's pretty good," Jason said. He stood behind Hannah and placed a kiss on her head.

  Don't be jealous. Don't be jealous.

  Jason looked up at Molly and smiled. "I know you girls want to hang out or whatever. I'll be upstairs. I want to work a little bit and then I have some things recorded on the DVR. Make yourselves at home."

  "You don't have to run off," Molly said.

  "I want to," he said smiling. He reached out and grabbed a pack of Combos off the bar before turning to leave. Then he looked back at Hannah. "Wake me up when you come to bed."

  Molly sighed inwardly.

  "Can you believe Daisy Lee showed up?" Hannah asked. It was the first thing she said when Jason was out of earshot, and Molly had no idea what made her think of that.

  "What made you think of that?" she asked.

  "I was just remembering the party," Hannah said. "It's crazy that her and Cam were both there. I mean, I know country music sucks and everything, but they're really huge."

  "I know," Molly said, trying to sweep her newfound distaste for Daisy Lee under the rug. "Dad keeps country radio on at the store and those two are on the air constantly. It was crazy to be in the same room with people like that. They really are larger than life. It seems weird to see them doing normal things like eating and talking."

  "I know," Hannah agreed, "but don't you think part of their appeal is that we expect them to be appealing?"

  "Probably," Molly said. "It's almost like you don't want to stare, so instead you catch them in your peripheral vision. We probably just imagine them to be cooler than they are."

  "Yeah, I'll bet if we took a good hard look at them, they'd be ugly and clumsy like the rest of us."

  "I doubt it," Molly said, laughing.

  Hannah laughed too, thinking of the times she'd taken a good look at Cam, and how he was never ugly or clumsy.

  "Everybody was saying Daisy came by there to see Cam," Hannah said.

  Molly let out a humorless laugh that showed her frustration a little too much.

  "What's that mean?" Hannah asked.

  "Oh, nothing. I just don't think she was there to see Cam."

  Hannah looked at Molly like she was surprised Molly had an opinion on the subject. "Why do you say that?"

  Molly shrugged. "I don't know. It just seemed like if she was there to see anybody, it would be that guy Nick."

  "Did you see her talking to Nick or something?" Hannah seemed genuinely curious.

  "Not really. I mean, I don't know. Maybe. Whatever. It doesn't matter. I just thought I saw them flirting or whatever."

  "It wouldn't surprise me if she was there to see Nick," Hannah said. "He's a player, but he's super smart and sweet—the kind of guy who'd give you the shirt off of his back. He's the one who just moved back from New York a couple months ago."

  "Why do you say he's a player?"

  "Because he is," Hannah said. "Trust me on that one. Jason's told me stories. I don't mean to make you hate him, though. He's a nice guy and really fun to be around—the type who'll say anything to anybody, you know?"

  "He asked me about my scar."

  "You're kidding. What'd he say?"

  "He asked me how I got it and then he stood there and gawked at my face for like eight minutes straight until I finally turned my head where he couldn’t see it anymore."

  "Are you serious? Was he mean about it?"

  Molly thought about that. She thought back to his expression as he looked at it, and while it might have been a little awkward, it wasn't mean. "No. I think he was just curious about it."

  Right there in that second, Molly almost opened her mouth and let the words, "And then he accidently made out with me in a dark hallway," come out of her mouth. The confession was so close to leaving her lips, that she actually had her mouth open to say it. She wanted really badly to share that bit of crazy news with her friend, but something told her to just keep it to herself.

  She came really close to telling Hannah about it three more times that evening before they went to bed, but never did. Molly fell asleep at 3AM when the girls were watching Raising Arizona for the fiftieth time. She looked so comfortable that Hannah just covered her with a blanket before heading to Jason's room.

  It was almost noon the next day when Molly woke up. The shades were drawn and it was pretty dark in the living room where she'd fallen asleep. She squinted into the adjoining kitchen to see that Hannah was sitting at the bar looking like she'd just rolled out of bed herself.

  Jason was standing next to her dressed in workout clothes, and the two of them talked and laughed quietly so they wouldn't wake her up. She watched them for a few seconds before she sat up. They really did look like they were happy together. She wanted to feel sorry for herself because she didn't have something like that, but knew deep down what a useless emotion jealousy was. She told herself she'd find her Romeo one day. Or better yet, that she didn't need Romeo to be happy.

  "What's up people?" she groaned sleepily from across two rooms. Hannah and Jason both looked over and smiled as she got up and walked to the kitchen to meet them.

  "You looked so comfortable last night I couldn't wake you up to make you go to bed," Hannah said.

  "I was comfortable," Molly said. "Just like five seconds ago was the first time I woke up all night." She peered around Hannah and Jason in an effort to see the clock.

  "It's almost twelve," Hannah said. "Jason already went
and worked out."

  "Stud," Molly said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

  Jason smiled and then excused himself to take a phone call. Molly took the hair tie from around her wrist and pulled her hair into a messy bun right on top of her head. She twisted and adjusted it just right, deftly tucking in strands of hair here and there.

  "How can you make it look perfect with no mirror?" Hannah asked.

  Molly's eyes turned upward as if she could see what was going on up there.

  "It looks good," Hannah said.

  "I know it probably seems stupid, but I'm glad to hear you say that," Molly said. "I've been really trying to get better at up-dos and stuff, and I like to think my hands are sort of learning what to do with hair—like yours know what to do when you're drawing."

  "You told me you were watching videos on YouTube. Is that how you're learning?"

  "Yeah, but it really doesn't help much to watch the videos. You have to actually get your hands in hair to understand how it acts. Hailey from down the street has been bringing her friends over all the time. They get free up-do's and I get the practice."

  "Do you cut their hair?"

  "I've given a few haircuts—nobody trusts me like you do, though. They're always saying things like be careful, and are you sure you know what you're doing?"

  Hannah laughed. "I'm proud of you. I think you're gonna be the best."

  "I hope so," Molly said. "I guess that's the good thing about taking two years off before you go to school. I'm feeling really focused, you know?"

  Hannah smiled. "Do it," she said—only she said it like Ben Stiller on Starsky and Hutch.

  Molly made her voice deep and returned the quote. "Do it," she said. Then in her normal voice, "You want me to do your hair for the show tonight?"

  "What show?"

  "I was wondering if you remembered about it. That band I wanted to see is playing."

  "Oh yeah, I remember you mentioning that. Printers Alley, right?"