“Oh, I’m sorry,” said the redhead, “I just assumed that since you couldn’t talk, you probably knew sign language. My bad!”
The first girl suddenly realized she recognized her. “Ladies, this is the mute girl Gabe O’Faolain found almost dead on his beach a few months ago! They call her Arielle.” Arielle nodded happily, glad to be recognized. “I’m Jacquie,” said the blond. “This is Ella and this is Sophia,” she said, gesturing to the dreadheaded girl and the girl with glasses on, respectively. They all heard a knock at the door. “We’re in here!” they all yelled in unison.
“Not the Arielle that supposedly pushed Arabella’s dancer?” asked Sophia scandalously, remembering the drama.
“According to Arabella, this one’s a thunder-stealing sneak hussy!” said Jacquie. “But who really knows except Arielle here, who can’t tell us either way?!”
All three girls laughed their drunken laughs, tumbling over in the bathtub over how fuming mad the attention-monger starlet was at being upstaged by some little unknown. “In any event, you’re okay by me!” said Sophia. “Are you having a good time tonight?” Arielle wanted to nod that she was but her devastation of only moments ago was apparent on her face.
“Then stick with us, twinkle toes, things are about to get ridiculous!” Jacquie took a swig of the creamy pink tequila liqueur and passed it to Arielle, who, in her bleak melancholy, saw nothing wrong with polluting herself a bit if it meant she could feel even one-tenth as carefree and silly as the fun girls she had found. She put the bottle to her lips and tilted her head all the way back, drinking the entire contents of the bottle in one long chug.
“Pepto Bismol! Pepto Bismol!” chanted the girls, amazed at how the little dancer could drink. Arielle burped a strawberry-cream belch and the girls cheered wildly. “Let’s go dance!” shouted Ella. They heard another knock at the bathroom door. “Occupado!” shouted Ella.
“Let’s warm up in here first!” suggested Jacquie, standing up and reaching into her bag to reveal two small bottles of Moet & Chandon. “Courtesy of mother’s secret wet bar!” she exclaimed as she carelessly popped one, sending the cork straight into the mirror and cracking it. All three girls laughed hysterically. More knocks were heard at the door.
“We’re peeing! All of us . . . peeing!” yelled Sophia, falling over laughing and clumsily pouring champagne into her friends’ mouths.
Meanwhile, out on the dance floor, Gabriel and Erica eventually came up from their steamy kiss and when they did, they saw that Arielle wasn’t dancing up on the table anymore. They looked around the main floor then went upstairs to check the bedrooms but couldn’t find her anywhere, so they went outside to search the grounds.
“Anyone fancy a love pill?” asked Sophia, using a shard of freshly cracked mirror to apply a coat of tangerine lipstick. “These ones feel really pretty,” she said, winking and blotting her lips on a square of toilet paper. The other two replied with definite affirmation, and Arielle thought about it for a moment, unsure because she had never heard of love pills before.
“Have you ever been in love, Arielle?” asked Ella. Arielle nodded slowly, as if it pained her to admit it. “Well, judging by your face right now, I’d guess it didn’t go so well. That’s okay . . . this kind of love requires the co-operation of no one else!” Arielle perked up, but wondered how such a love could be possible.
“Let me tell you a little story,” started Sophia. “Once upon a time in my life, I wasn’t really sure I believed in love. My parents were divorcing, I never had a real boyfriend and any house pet I ever loved had either run away or gotten eaten by foxes. . . there were hungry foxes in the ravine behind my house, and there was a tar-black void where there should have been love in my life.
“But then, years later, I met a boy and he made my heart go upsie-daisy bang bang boom!” she said, emoting with her whole body to express the divinity that is new love. “Have you ever felt that?” she asked. “Have you ever felt so happy and so gorgeous, like the entire world was yours?!” Arielle, thoroughly engaged, nodded enthusiastically. “Well, it’s always fun for a time, right? But eventually, life seems to get in the way and hearts grow cold, or grow hot in other directions . . . either way, it can’t always stay the same way forever. But one time, while it was good and sweet and love coursed through me like a fatal injection, I remember thinking, ‘Someone really ought to manufacture a pill that can do this to me, if only for a night at a time. . . ’” She smiled deviously, and her friends smiled fiendishly back. She opened her hand to reveal four little pink caps that had tiny hearts stamped into them, and took one and placed it on the tip of her tongue.
“Ever tried ‘em?” asked Jacquie as she took her pill and chased it with some champagne. Arielle shook her head curiously.
“Think of them as edible rainbows,” said Ella as she put her pill in her mouth and swallowed it dry, then began chewing on a cubic chunk of purple gum.
“They’re like rose-coloured goggles that come in pill form,” added Jacquie, wiping her mouth on her sleeve. Arielle wasn’t sure what she was getting herself into, but since her love couldn’t seem to keep his hands off another girl, she decided she would take any love that was being offered to her. She nodded.
“. . . then open wide,” said Sophia as she stepped close so that her face was right in front of Arielle’s. Arielle thought it strange, being so close with another girl, but allowed it because the tingling sensation she was feeling was better than the sadness she had been feeling just before. “Here comes original sin,” said Sophie as she pressed her lips to Arielle’s, unknowingly giving the mermaid her first real kiss. Arielle, floored by the tender feeling of being lip to lip with a warm-skinned, warm-blooded person, closed her eyes and allowed the pill to pass onto her tongue. Without a second thought she swallowed it, then swilled the entire remains of a champagne bottle after it.
The next few moments all blurred together. All was quiet, as if she was back under the ocean and the thick glimmer of the cool water dulled the sounds of the party and of the girls as they clapped and cheered.
“Welcome to the team!” said Sophia triumphantly, breaking the spell with her peppy, raspy voice. Another knock was heard at the door. “I’m . . . HAVING . . . a . . . FOOD . . . BABY!” she yelled in a constipated voice. Arielle smiled; her naughty yet nice new friends were making her feel like she was part of their group and momentarily, it helped to distract her from her peril. “By the way, the rain boots are a good look,” said Sophia with a wink.
When all of their bottles were finished, the four of them burst out the door in a hyper-drunken explosion past the queue of people waiting for the bathroom. They took to the dance floor like an assault team, gripping each other’s wrists as they jumped and danced around. Their bounciness commanded the attention of a group of guys standing by the dance floor pouring whiskey shots. As quickly as they could line them up, Arielle and the girls took them down and before they knew it, their three bottles of Jack were empty and all together they laughed out the door. At the end of the driveway a van cab awaited them, and, following her new friends, Arielle jumped in. Jacquie told the driver to take them to the nearest bar, since all the liquor stores were closed for the night and none of the girls felt like drinking keg beer. Arielle, beginning to feel the effects of the pill and definitely feeling the effects of the alcohol, began to feel the world spin around her. It was nauseating and exhilarating all at the same time, and she felt oddly comfortable in the company of her new friends, independent from Gabriel and his direct world for once. It felt nice. It gave her hope.
By the time they arrived at the bar, their eyes were like pies as they blissed out, feeling their ecstasy roll through them. Arielle felt her eyelids droop and her heart pulsate wildly, opening her up, unfolding her from the chest out as she slovenly followed her friends out of the cab. The bar, full of rough-looking and hardpartying people, seemed like a bright wonderland full of new friends she simply hadn’t met yet. The drug’s effects washed over
her like a blanket of warmth as she drifted through the bar all the way to the back, where she found the most beautiful pieces of art hanging on the walls. When she looked closer, she realized that they were in fact photos of people, posing and showing off their bodies that were covered in sometimes colorful, often intricate and consistently beautiful stretches of art across their skin. She glanced over all the pictures, loving the pretty designs, wanting so much to decorate her own skin just like all these people had.
“First hit’s free to tattoo virgins,” said a raspy voice from the corner of the room. Arielle looked over to see a thin man with his nostrils pierced sitting beside a cushioned table. “It’s a special we’re running,” he said with a crooked smile, and she noticed the artful, color-soaked designs that covered his arms from shoulders to wrists. “See anything you like?”
Arielle was thrilled! She had wanted a tattoo of her own ever since she heard Erica describe the meaning behind the moon tattooed to her wrist. While there were lots of ideas and pretty things to choose from, she could only really think of one thing that she would want to wear on her skin until the day she died: the bright, red sun that she had loved her whole life. The man gave her a pencil and some paper to sketch whatever she wanted so she drew for him a round ball of fire with rays that shone out from every angle. When she was done, she handed it to him and took a seat on his table. He prepped her skin, and went to work.
As the needle buzzed and her arm vibrated, she barely felt it when he pierced the thin skin of her white wrists and etched the design onto her. The sights and sounds of the bar moved around and through her, out then in, shrinking and expanding. She let it all go, allowing the world to spin around her while she sat still in the eye of the storm. When her new friends came around and found her getting inked, their wild laughter could be heard all across the bar. They were all so blissed, they pawed each other adoringly while they watched the tattoo artist make hot sunshine happen on her arm.
Meanwhile, back at the party, Gabriel and Erica frantically looked for her. Asking around did them no good because most people were too much in beast mode to give straight answers, so they just searched. They searched the beach, combed the yard and checked every room in the house again but she appeared to have vanished without a trace.
“I should have kept a closer eye on her,” said Gabriel, frustrated and blaming himself. “I should never have let her out of my sight.” “I’m sure she’s fine, and around somewhere,” offered Erica, her eyes darting through the crowds for a little blonde head.
“I shouldn’t have brought her to this party. I should’ve known tonight would be way too hectic. There are ten houses hosting parties in town tonight. Ten! I don’t know why she would’ve left but I have a feeling she probably followed some people to one of the next parties.”
“Okay so on to the next one, then?” suggested Erica. “We have nine other houses to hit; we’d better get started.” And so they jumped into the Jeep and went to the next party.
After searching that house thoroughly and finding nothing, they continued on to the next. The people throwing the parties had printed off treasure map scorecards for everyone, so finding all the houses was easy. Finding Arielle, however, proved to be futile. After leaving not a couch cushion unturned or basement unexplored in all ten houses, they decided they should just wait for her at home.
The two of them sat up waiting for her in the family room all night. After three cups of tea and what felt like several hours, Erica passed out, slumbering peacefully on Gabriel’s lap while he kept vigil, sitting up and willing Arielle to arrive home before his parents woke up. He too, in his exhausted state, was about to pass out as well when he heard the low rumbling of a truck pulling into the driveway. He jumped up and ran out to her just as she stumbled from the truck bed down to the driveway, and he caught her before she hit the ground. Before he could say or ask anything, the truck peeled out and took off down the road, leaving a cloud of dust around them and the bass of their loud sound system in their ears. As he held her light little body up, her groggy eyes looked adoringly into his, already feeling like it had been a lifetime since she last saw his face. She was wearing a hooded sweatshirt that belonged to a person unknown, and she was covered in sand and dirt and her hair was a sweaty mess. He wished he could ask her what he got up to but, alas, he couldn’t. As he looked down at her with gladness, her heavy eyes stayed open just enough to observe his while he held her. He was inspecting her with care and concern; she was saturating herself with the sight and smell of him, and decided that the moment she’d been waiting for was upon her. Finally, they were alone, and he was holding her so close, and she could feel that this was her time to make a move and make him see her for more. In her head she heard the voices of her sisters; KISS HIM! KISS HIM! KISS HIM! They beckoned her to take the chance, so she dared herself and puckered up.
As she lifted her chin to square her face off with his, she was so close to his mouth, she could already taste him. She closed her eyes and licked her lips . . .
Creak! Bang! They both turned their heads to the house to see the screen door shut behind Erica, who had come out to the porch. Arielle glared at her; she had been ruined once again. But Erica, pleasantly oblivious, just yawned and rubbed her eyes. She looked beautiful, even dressed in pajama pants with a plaid throw blanket around her shoulders. “Oh good, you’re home,” she said with another big yawn. “Gabriel shat a chicken with worry; try not to disappear like that!”
Arielle, exhausted, burnt-out and horribly disappointed, collapsed into Gabriel’s arms. As her tired little body went limp, he lifted her easily and carried her up to her room.
He laid her down gently and pulled off her boots. Erica peeled the dirty sweater off her and noticed a big, white bandage taped to her forearm. “Think she burned herself?” she whispered, pointing to it.
“Maybe she cut herself!” he said nervously, beginning to peel back the bandage to see what was under it.
“Leave it for now!” urged Erica, smacking his hand away. “’Looks like whatever happened, it was cleaned for her; people who stock proper bandages and medical tape tend to also stock rubbing alcohol and Polysporin.”
“Good point,” he said as he tucked her in, pulling her blankets up to her chin and then tiptoeing to the door. Relieved she was home, Gabriel could finally just relax. “Well, now that I know she’s safe, I am suddenly starving! How about you?”
“I could definitely eat,” replied Erica gladly. “What did you have in mind?”
Gabriel led her to the kitchen and pulled five large potatoes out of the pantry. “Well, if there is one thing I consistently crave after an entire night of sleepless worrying, it is a big, dirty poutine!”
Erica’s eyes widened with delight, as she had been craving something heavy, salty and warm all night. “I like the way you think, sir!” she said breathlessly. “I, too, have been known to find myself face-deep in curds and gravy. A grand idea!”
Gabriel laughed. “Honestly, I don’t trust anyone who says they don’t love a hot, steaming pile of the French-Canadian arteryclogger.” He reached into the fridge and pulled out a gravy boat, emptying its contents into a small saucepan on the stove. “This will bend your head!” he said, switching on the deep fryer. Erica grinned hungrily; golden-fried junk food was her weakness. And now, it appeared, so was he.
The rising sun began to peer in through the kitchen windows, drying up the dew and playing upon the wicker ceiling fan blades. When the poutine was done, they grabbed forks and a bottle of red wine and headed down to the beach to enjoy them together.
Seated comfortably on an upside-down rowboat, Gabriel generously let Erica dig her fork in for the first bite. She savored the salty goodness like it was the finest snack in the world, and they both hummed with their eyes closed while they enjoyed each cheesy forkful. She barely noticed the errant gravy as it dribbled down her chin.
Arielle woke up a few hours later to the sound of raindrops falling on her window pane. S
he sat up and looked outside to see misty showers, descending around the pockets of sunshine that burst from the clouds. She didn’t remember going to bed, and when she looked down at herself, she saw the bandage that covered her wrist and had to think very hard for a moment to remember what had happened to her the night before. Carefully, she peeled it back to reveal her bright, yellow sun! There it was on her wrist, just like she had requested, covered in a clear, gelatinous lotion. She was thrilled! It was vibrant and pretty, and she loved it already. She wiped the lotion off to reveal a perfectly healed tattoo, as smooth as if it had always been there. As she admired her new flesh accessory in the mirror, she heard the sound of Gabriel’s voice carry in from under her window. He was jovial; it sounded like he was laughing at something. When she peered out, she saw him with Erica, holding her in his arms. She felt her chest tighten at the sight.
They were laughing together, dancing barefoot in the sand as the rain came gently down on their heads and down their backs. Their hair and clothes were soaked and heavy, and the cuffs of Erica’s pajama pants left brushstrokes across the wet sand. Their hands were clasped tightly, and their eyes only saw each other.
She watched them with envy as they enjoyed their romantic moment. She imagined how unforgettable a moment like that would be to share with another. The rain that fell around them was like an avalanche of glitter, making their dewy skin glow, smoothing their clothes to their bodies. Erica rested her head on Gabriel’s wet chest as they swayed. Gabriel had found a girl to dance with him in the rain.
It was happening right before her eyes, and she felt powerless to stop it. He was falling in love with another, and drifting further away by the second. She knew she was losing him, but was suddenly not quite sure she ever had him in the first place. Such agony it was, for poor Arielle could not even go out into the rain to cut in. Defeated, she felt her hangover kick in and went to bed with the covers over her head. Still exhausted and still devastated, she fell back to sleep.
Lovesick Little Page 20