My phone buzzed a few times on my drive to the sushi place, but I didn’t have a chance to look at it until I sat down.
Excited to see you Friday :O>)
It was Kim, and I pondered the best way to reply. The second text was from Jack.
Hey dude- I’m going to this fundraiser thing Friday night with Aimee. She said it was black tie. Does that mean tuxedo or can I wear a suit?
I reread his text a dozen times, and I still felt confused. I didn’t feel jealous; I just wondered why Aimee had asked him to go with her if she intended to break up with him. Maybe she thought that this would further distance her break up from the night that she and I went to see the band?
I ordered some green mussels as an appetizer and debated what to think. I looked at the time and realized that thirty minutes had passed since I jumped in my car to drive here from school. It was past eight o’clock now, but the restaurant didn’t close until nine, so we still had some time.
Yeah. You’ve got to wear a tux.
I hit send, and he texted me back instantly.
Do you think I should buy one? She goes to these things all the time. I’d hate to keep renting them.
Oh jeeze. I didn’t know what to write. I knew she planned on breaking up with him, I knew his heart would be broken, I knew that he’d never get over her. I felt my stomach drop, and I put my face into my hands. Why was I doing this? Aimee seemed to indicate that she wasn’t going to date Jack for much longer, but that didn’t mean that it was right for me to be doing this behind his back. Maybe Aimee had convinced me that this was the right decision for her, and for me, but I knew it wasn’t the right decision for Jack.
Maybe you should ask her? I texted him.
Will do. Thanks buddy.
Ugh.
I suddenly felt mad at Aimee. Why couldn’t she be happy with Jack? Why did she become hell-bent on seducing me? I shook my head and sighed. No. This was my fault. I should have told Aimee that I wasn’t interested from the start. I should have pushed her away.
Didn’t I?
I clicked up to Kim’s message.
I am excited to see you too!
The appetizer came, and smelled delicious. The mussels were big and tasted like buttered cake in my mouth. I finished the plate quicker than I thought and then looked at the time on my phone.
Eight fifteen.
“Do you want to order anything else, or are you still waiting?” The waiter seemed to sense that I was getting stood up and had a sympathetic frown on his face.
“I’ll get another plate of mussels.” He nodded and moved back to the sushi bar area.
I twiddled my thumbs for another ten minutes and then ate the next plate of mussels when they came out. Kelly hadn’t texted me yet, and it was eight forty-two now. I was the only one in the restaurant, and I guessed that she was going to stand me up.
I am so sorry. I am still here. I’m not going to be done for another hour. Want me to just come over to your place? I’ll make it up to you ;-)
Sure. I’ll get some sushi and have it waiting there for you.
Awesome! I am so hungry. For food... and other stuff. <3
I waved to the waiter and ordered four rolls. He gave me a slightly exasperated look, but then I asked if I could get them to go, and he smiled. The chef went to work like a mad man, and they cranked out the food in a handful of minutes. Then I grabbed the grub and drove back to my house.
I immediately knew there was something wrong in my apartment when I opened the door. I hadn’t left the TV on, and there were way too many lights on. It only took me a fraction of a second to identify noise in my kitchen. I thought it might have been Kelly, but then I realized that she didn’t have a key and wouldn’t have made it to my house before me.
There was one girl who did have a key though.
“Hello Eric!” Beth was sautéing vegetables on a pan over the stove. She had a bottle of red wine opened, and I caught the smell of steak cooking from the oven. She wore a tight pair of blue jeans, black shoes with small heels, and a simple red blouse that was just short enough to leave a quarter of an inch of her stomach exposed above the waist of her pants. Her black hair was tied up in a ponytail.
“What are you doing here?” I think my voice cracked, and my question was more of a screech than anything. I tried to move my eyes away from her stomach, but the brief ribbon of pale skin there was like a magnet for my eyes.
She is sixteen. She is sixteen. Do you want to go to jail? What is Kelly going to say when she comes over?
“I had a surprise for you, and I wanted to come over and show you, but then I got hungry on the way here and decided to grab some food. Then I thought you might be hungry, and I got enough for both of us. What is in the bag?”
“I picked up food already. Beth, you can’t be here. You have to leave.” My head was spinning, and my heart was racing. Kelly could arrive any minute, and if Beth was still here, then the conversation would be beyond awkward.
“Why?” She tilted her head a bit and raised a perfect black eyebrow. It didn’t seem to matter that she wasn’t wearing any make up. Her skin was flawless.
“I have a friend coming over.” I decided that honesty was best.
“Oh. Can I meet him?” She smiled and turned to stir the simmering vegetables over the stove. It looked like bell peppers and onions.
“Her name is Kelly. I don’t think she would appreciate you being here.” I set the bag of sushi rolls on the counter by the sink and tried to take a long breath.
“Why not?” She seemed confused. She was actually wearing her giant man watch today, and it suddenly beeped. Her smile faded, and she looked at thing in annoyance.
“Kelly and I were planning on having dinner, but she got delayed and is going to meet me here.”
“Is she your girlfriend?” Beth opened my oven for a second and peeped inside before closing it. Wonderful-smelling steak steam poured out.
“We are dating, but she isn’t my girlfriend.” I don’t know why I said the last part.
“I am excited about Saturday. I’ve spent some time in Japan, and I wanted to go back there and study some more. It will be interesting to see how Western trade influenced the style.” She smiled at me, and had I not been frantic about getting her out of my apartment, her charm might have had the effect she intended on me.
“You are changing the subject. Did you take a cab here?” My phone vibrated in my pants, and I reached into my pocket.
“Yes. Oh! That reminds me.” She reached toward the back pocket of her jeans and pulled out one of the newer Blackberry phones as I pulled my own buzzing phone from my pocket. “I got a phone so we can talk and text with each other. That was my surprise!” She grinned again, and her watch beeped in agreement.
Almost done. So so so so so sorry. Be there soon, said Kelly’s text.
“I’ll call you a cab.” I dialed 411, and the phone started to ring for the operator. It would be a two dollar charge or something, but I didn’t want to waste time turning on my computer to try and search for a cab company.
“You can call all the cabs you want, but that doesn’t mean I am going to leave.” She said it deadpan, with no emotion, so I looked up from my phone and saw her stirring the vegetables intently. I needed to figure out how to get her out of my apartment. I realized what I was going to have to do. I didn’t like it, but I was desperate.
“Listen Beth.” I stepped closer to her and tried to get her attention. “You can’t just show up uninvited. You need to call me to let me know you are coming over. Besides, we are going to spend all day Saturday together. I had the day set aside for us, so I told Kelly we could hang out tonight.” The operator came on the phone, and I asked for a cab company in Northridge.
“The whole day Saturday?” Her glacier-colored eyes bored into mine, and her full lips parted slightly.
“Yes.” I gulped. I was totally kicking the can down the road, but I couldn’t think of any other way to get her out. “I have no problem
hanging out with you, but it has to be planned.” It was closer to a lie than the truth. I did have a problem hanging out with her, and I didn’t want to ever plan hang out with her besides what I had just committed to.
“Very well,” she sighed and took a sip from one of the wine glasses she had filled. “I haven’t eaten though, and I am hungry. Trade me the sushi for the steaks?” She pointed at the bag next to me, and my mind flipped through a dozen possibilities.
“Okay,” I sighed. The cab operator came on, and I started to give the man my address.
“Don’t bother. I have my car company on speed dial.” She hit a button on her phone and then held it up to her ear.
“Okay.” I apologized to the cab operator and hung up my phone. Beth gave the person on her phone my building address and then closed her shiny, new phone.
“We have ten minutes before they get here.” She stared at me. It was late out and dark. I thought about telling her to wait on the curb, but it seemed unsafe.
“I’ll wait with you,” I said. She nodded and turned to the oven.
“The steaks are almost done. I will turn off the oven. The vegetables are the same.” She spun the dial on the stove top, and the flames died.
“Thank you.” I didn’t know why I was thanking her, but I guessed that I was happy that she was leaving before Kelly got here.
“You are right. I should have called. Forgive me?” She smiled, and I tried to keep my head from spinning.
“Sure. It’s okay.”
“Can we wait on your couch?” She gestured toward my living room. I nodded and turned around to walk the few feet into the other room, but then I realized it would be a terrible idea.
“Let’s just wait outside.” I walked toward the door instead, and I held it open from the outside so that she could walk through
“Are you afraid of me?” The beautiful girl’s face was suddenly inches from mine. Our eyes met, and I found myself spinning in her icy blue orbs. She smelled wonderful, and her left hand rested on my bicep.
“Yes.” I stammered the words and pulled my head away slightly.
“Why?” She stepped closer, and her entire body pressed against mine. I think my heart forgot to beat, and I started to feel faint. Fucking shit, she was beyond beautiful. I couldn’t stand to be this close to her.
“Because you are sixteen.” I finally figured out how to breathe, but the air moved in and out of my lungs painfully.
“No.” She shook her head and placed the tip of her pointer finger against my lips. “It is because you want me and I am sixteen.”
“No.” I lied, but the edges of my vision were starting to darken. It was like she really was a vampire and my fortitude was draining out of my lips and into her body through her finger.
“Oh. Then maybe I am wrong!” She stepped away from me and laughed. “What type of sushi did you get me?”
“Four rolls.” The answer poured out of my mouth like giant marbles, and my tongue stumbled over each syllable. This girl was playing puppeteer with my emotions, and I didn’t know how to stop her.
“Did you get any dragon rolls? Those are my favorite.” She glanced back at me while she walked, and I think she caught me staring at her tight jeans.
“Yes.” I felt like I was sleep walking. Dragon rolls were my favorite also, but I didn’t want to tell her. Then I startled awake when I realized that Kelly would be here any minute.
And Beth was only sixteen.
We made it out of the gate of the apartment complex and down the short set of stairs to the street. My place was a nicer building, and there were other nicer buildings on each side, but the rest of the street was filled with older, rundown apartment complexes. This wasn’t the kind of neighborhood that a girl should be standing on the street waiting for a ride, but it wasn’t bad enough to fear getting robbed.
“We can do lunch at the Getty. Do you want to make dinner reservations somewhere or should I?”
“I thought we were just going to the museum?”
“You said you had the whole day for me. We can come back here for dinner, and we can cook something. Or we can go back to my house if you don’t want to go out after the exhibition.” Her watch beeped again, but she ignored the sound.
“Let’s eat out somewhere. I don’t know the area though. Do you have any recommendations?” I regretted the question as soon as I asked. I didn’t want her back at my place because... she was sixteen, but I also didn’t want to run into Aimee at their house.
“I’ll make reservations. I still think we should come back to your place afterwards; I want to hear you play on my piano. Do you like it?”
“Yeah, I really do. I’ve been playing a bunch every day.”
“That is wonderful.” Her eyes seemed to glow in the streetlights. “I was going to ask you to play for me tonight...” Then she frowned and looked down at the bag of sushi rolls.
My phone buzzed before I could answer, and I fished it out of my pocket.
You are going to kill me, Kelly texted.
I sighed and wondered what happened. Then the next text came through.
Parents are here, and we are having the chat about next season. Ugh. I’m not going to be able to make it. Long story short -- I’m going to Australia after Xmas. Coach is pissed.
“Something wrong, Eric?” Beth was suddenly at my side, and I turned my phone away from her.
“No. Nothing!” I said a little too nervously. Fuck. My heart sank with Kelly’s text, but I also felt a bunch of frustration, and maybe a bit of anger. I knew shit happened, but we had planned this night for half a week, confirming it this morning. I had grabbed sushi and even kicked Beth out of my apartment.
“Was that Kelly?” I was surprised that Beth remembered her name, but then again, the girl was supposed to be a genius.
“Yeah.” I debated lying. I debated telling her the truth. I debated booking that flight to China and becoming a monk. I didn’t want to lie to Beth, but if I told her the truth she would probably ask to stay.
If she asked to stay, would I say yes?
I didn’t want to know the answer. She was sixteen, and every second I spent alone with her in my apartment was a terrible idea. She just needed to go. It would be hard enough to deal with her on Saturday, but at least we would be in a public place.
“She’s heading over now.”
“Oh?” Beth’s face looked sad. “That is too bad. I was hoping that she was texting you to say that she couldn’t make it.” I felt a cold chill run down my spine, and my stomach knotted. Did Beth actually read the text? Did she know that I was lying to her?
“Beth...” my phone vibrated in my hand, and we both looked at it. I debated changing my mind, inviting her up to my apartment, eating dinner with her, playing piano for her, and then somehow convincing her to leave later without doing something that would end up with me in jail.
Do you forgive me? I’ll make it up to you :-)
I realized I hadn’t texted back Kelly, and she was probably worried that she had made me mad. She’d have to wait a few minutes though; I needed to decide what to do about Beth.
This shouldn’t have even been a debate. She was sixteen.
“I think that is your car.” It was a black sedan, and I waved to get the driver’s attention.
“Sorry again for coming over unannounced. I probably won’t ever do it again.” She gave me a wicked smile that made my head spin. “I hope you and Kelly enjoy the meal.”
“Thanks Beth.” Why was I thanking her?
“See you Saturday at ten at the Getty.” I opened the car door, and she stretched a long leg into the back of the sedan and then slid the rest of her perfect ass into the leather seat.
“Yep.” I almost didn’t close the door. I almost told her I changed my mind. I felt my body fight against me and my brain beg for surrender.
Then the door closed, and the car was pulling away.
I watched it turn around and then drive back to the main road. It was too dark to
see into the car, but I imagined that Beth was looking back at me. I guessed that she probably knew that I had lied to her, and, for some reason, it made me feel horrible inside.
I walked back to my apartment like my legs were made of lead. It wasn’t until I’d unlocked the door that I realized that I had never gotten the key back from Beth. She could still come and go any time she wanted. Was that what she meant when she said ‘I probably won’t ever do it again?’
My phone buzzed again, and I looked at it.
Okay. Silent treatment. I get it. Sorry again.
Fuck, this night had gone from annoying, to terrifying, to shitty. And I had been horny the whole time.
Sorry I accidently turned my phone off. I get stuff happens. Let’s try to hang again soon.
You aren’t mad? I was going to tell you about Australia tonight.
Just horny and I miss you. But I guess I’m going to be missing you a bunch...
Yeah... Sorry Eric.
I’m going to eat and then head to bed. Talk later.
Kay.
I turned off the phone and plugged it into the charger. The text conversation reminded me of the steaks, so I looked in the oven. They were nice-looking filet mignons, but I realized I wasn’t hungry for food. My body still felt tense and nervous from the interaction with Beth. My groin hurt, and I had a minor case of blue balls. If Kelly had come over, I probably would have fucked her brains out.
But I might have thought of Beth the entire time.
Fuck. What was wrong with me? First I get involved with Aimee, and now I am fantasizing about her crazy, evil-genius sister. I was the one that was crazy. I was risking my best friendship, and now jail time was also on the table.
I needed to be done with these people.
I thought about eating the dinner, but my appetite for food, and sex, was now gone. I thought about throwing the meat away, but that would have been wasteful. I wrapped the two steaks up in some foil, put the cooked veggies in a container, and then deposited everything in the fridge. There were some dishes to clean, but I decided to wait until tomorrow morning.
I got ready for bed quickly, but it took hours for my brain to relax enough for me to go to sleep.
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