The Guys Next Door

by Amber Thielman

  “Never believe a man when a phrase like that comes out of his mouth,” Emma said. “Any other woman in a guy’s life is a threat to their girlfriend.”

  “Not true,” Jesse said. “Sometimes the girls were friends first.” He looked over at me when he said that, and I looked down at the tabletop, heat flooding my cheeks. Across from us, Emma scoffed.

  “It’s best just to let it go,” she said. “Elijah and Gwen are toxic as a couple. Maybe one day it will destroy them.”

  “I could use more friends,” I said. “Besides you and Jesse, I have no one.”

  Emma dropped her fork, shooting me her best, “you’re freaking ridiculous” look. “Are you kidding me?” she said. “You have the friendship of four extraordinary people at your aunt’s club.” She put her elbow on the table and rested her chin in her palm. “The way those guys care about you—it’s like having a whole bunch of older siblings. Ty and Avery especially. They would bend over backward for you, and you don’t even see it.” As the words sank in, Emma closed her eyes. “I wish I had one person care about me like that. You have six, including Audrey and Noah.”

  “And me,” Jesse said with a slight raise of his hand. I flushed again, and he looked over at Emma. “And you know I care about you too, Em.”

  “It doesn’t even matter,” I said. “Besides, Noah and Audrey are obligated to love me.”

  Emma looked in my direction and shook her head. “Seriously, Liv,” she said finally. “Marisol and Avery—Ty and Ed—they don’t have to care about you. You’re just the boss’ kid. Think about it.” She stood up with her tray, looking upset, and I wished I could rewind the last twenty seconds. “Maybe you should try and appreciate it. For once.” I stared at her, open-mouthed, as she stalked away and vanished through the lunchroom door.

  “God,” I said. “What’s her problem?” Jesse looked over at me then, dropping his half-eaten sandwich onto his tray.

  “I think she’s upset that you can’t see what’s right in front of you,” he said. And with those departing words, he, too, left the table.

  When Noah and I got home after school, Audrey was nowhere in sight. I called the club to see if she was working, but the phone rang and rang with no answer. No after-school snack was ready for us, no note left by her with the usual xoxo scribbled at the bottom.

  Noah didn’t seem to think much of it as he dug into the ice cream in the freezer and started on his homework. As per usual, I was the only one that seemed concerned. Audrey was not one to leave us hanging.

  As the hours ticked by and the sun went down over the mountains, there was still no sign of Audrey. I called her cell phone repeatedly, but it went straight to voicemail every time. The Mustang was gone from the garage, and I couldn’t pinpoint where she might be. She was only ever home or at the club, and so far, right now she was neither.

  At eleven, Noah went to bed, his iPod blaring some familiar metal rock tune into his ears. I wondered if that was his escape from reality, a distraction from the worry and drama of the real life around him. I wished it were that simple for me.

  At eleven-thirty, I attempted to go to sleep, but the task was far from possible. I stared at the ceiling instead, thinking about everything going on and then some. It was around one in the morning when I heard the Mustang pull up to the building. I rolled out of bed and made my way downstairs just as the front door opened and Audrey came stumbling in. Avery was hot on her heels. I looked on in shock as she pitched forward and fell. She hit the carpet with impressive force, face first, and then lay there for a moment with her nose in the rug. A grunt and a whoosh of air escaped her lungs, and she cursed, slurring her words. For a second, I thought of the night I had planted myself face-first onto Ty’s living-room floor, and I bit back a laugh. No doubts that we were related now.

  “She’s three sheets to the wind.” Avery grunted as he hauled Audrey to her feet. I grabbed her other arm to help him, hoping and praying that Noah wouldn’t hear the ruckus and wake up.

  “Why can’t I keep a man?” Audrey sobbed. Her breath smelled of strawberry margaritas and stale cigarettes. “I’m impossible, aren’t I?”

  “No, Princess, just a little bit buzzed,” assured Avery. “But we still love you.” Audrey straightened up the best she could without falling over and looked at Avery.

  “If you weren’t gay, could you love someone like me?”

  “Of course I could, Peaches,” he said. “I always dreamed of having a lush for a lover. They’re more fun.” Somehow, Avery and I half dragged Audrey to her bedroom and put her to bed. I took her shoes off, and Avery tossed a blanket over her, looking worn out.

  “Olivia?” Audrey said as I turned to leave. I paused at the door, looking back at her. She looked half-asleep and disoriented. “I’m sorry,” she said. “Don’t be mad at me, okay?”

  “I’m not mad,” I said, and shut the door behind me.

  “Sorry you had to deal with this, my love,” Avery said as we walked back to the living room. “She called me from the bar around ten. She was already sloshed. I tried to get her to come home, but she refused.”

  “She’s upset about what happened last night with Mr. Devereaux,” I said.

  Avery nodded and put his hand on his heart. “The poor dear. She told me everything. Has he called?”

  “No.” I resisted the urge to tell him about my run-in with Mr. Devereaux in class. It was late, and I didn’t want to think too hard about it. Instead, I leaned in and returned the hug Avery offered me. I thought about Emma’s words, how she had adamantly insisted so many people cared about us. As I watched Avery strut down the sidewalk, glam as ever, I knew she was right. If these people cared about us as much as Noah and I cared about them, we were set for life. And that, above all, was the most comforting feeling of all.

  Despite the inevitable hangover that Audrey had to be experiencing the next morning, she was up early cooking breakfast. I made my way to the kitchen, wishing for a few more hours of sleep before school. Noah, who was oblivious to her drunken entrance last night, was still in the shower, probably using up all the hot water.

  “Good morning,” Audrey said when I walked in. She had changed out of her party clothes and into pajamas, slippers, and a robe. Her hair was pulled up into a messy ponytail, and her face was makeup-free. Even hung-over and all natural, she was still so beautiful, something I had always envied about her and my mother. They didn’t even have to try.

  “Hi,” I said. I poured myself a cup of coffee and sat down at the table, watching as she flit from place to place preparing food. “Rough night last night?” I asked finally. Audrey froze where she was, hovering over the oven where bacon was sizzling. She tensed up as if I had said something insulting. Eventually, she turned around, looking like a teenager caught doing something wrong.

  “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to—” I held up my hand.

  “No apology needed,” I said. “I—I get it.”

  “You shouldn’t have to get it,” Audrey grabbed her mug of coffee and joined me at the table. Up close, I saw her eyes were red and puffy. She had been crying. “I’m not adult enough for this, Liv. I don’t feel like much more than a teenager myself sometimes.”

  “We all have bad days,” I said. “Even Mom and Dad had bad days.”

  “But this bad?” Audrey picked at her eyelashes and sighed. “I don’t know…” She hesitated. “I’m not sure if this is going to work.”

  The words didn’t hit me at first, but after a moment of silence, they finally sank in, slamming me like a kick in the gut. My hands dropped, the mug hit the top of the table, sloshing coffee all over the marble top. Neither of us noticed.

  “What do you mean by this?” I asked her. “What’s not going to work?”

  Audrey sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose with a thumb and index finger as if to fight off a migraine. She closed her eyes. “Me being your guardian, Liv. I don’t know if I’m cut out for this.”

  “Audrey!” I cried. Then
, realizing that Noah might be finished with his shower, I lowered my voice. “You are all we have left,” I hissed. “Don’t even say something like that. Noah is finally settling in—he’s finally smiling again! You want to rip this all out from under him?”

  Audrey stood up abruptly, unable to look me in the face. “I’m trying to figure out what’s best for you guys,” she said, rinsing out her cup. She reached over and turned the oven off, then pulled out the tray of cooked bacon and slid it onto a plate layered in paper towels. She turned around to face me, supporting herself on the counter behind her. “I don’t want to be the reason that your lives go to shit,” she said. “I want you guys to have a stable home with stable parents who can resist the urge to cry into a bottle of booze when things go wrong. I want to see you in a home with other siblings and a mother and father who have normal, supportive jobs and an average, supportive life to offer.”

  “You don’t know what you’re saying,” I said. “This isn’t—”

  At that moment, the kitchen door swung open and Noah stepped in. He had his backpack slung over one shoulder and was dressed in jeans and a button-up shirt, his sandy brown hair slicked back. With his face washed, his freckles stood out on his pale skin, much like mine did on a good day. Our mother’s had, too. He stopped at the entrance and looked from me to Audrey and back again.

  “You don’t want us anymore?”

  I felt my heart shatter into what felt like a million pieces as Noah looked at Audrey. Her hand fluttered up to cover her mouth, and she turned away. Noah stared at me, waiting for someone to say something, but I had nothing to offer. My heart was racing, blood roaring in my ears. What could I say? He already knew. Finally, after a full minute of only heart-wrenching silence, I stood up from the table.

  “Go call us a cab, please,” I said to him. “We need to get to school.”

  The ride from Audrey’s apartment to the school with Noah was silent. We both sat in the back seat, staring out the windows, unable to think of anything to say. It was dreary, cold, and rainy outside, the perfect day for the mood we were in. I wanted to ask him what all he had heard, but it was irrelevant. He’d heard enough, and that was all that mattered. I wasn’t sure I could fix this, and part of me wondered if anything or anyone could. Audrey had been clear about what she’d said, and the rest was up to her. As minors, we had no control over the outcome—and that was a terrifying thought.

  When the cab pulled up to the school, Noah got out. I reached over and grabbed his pack, yanking him back against the seat. He turned to scowl at me with that same dark, angry glare he’d had only weeks ago.

  “What?” he growled. I let my hand drop to the seat, at a loss for any comforting words.

  “We’ll talk about this later, okay?” I said finally. For a moment, he would not acknowledge that, but after a second, he nodded and then left me sitting by myself in the cab.

  “That’ll be twenty-three bucks, kid,” the driver said, looking at me in the rear-view mirror.

  I dug the money out of my purse, threw it in the seat next to him, and slid out of the back of the car.

  I was so distracted by what had happened with Audrey I almost didn’t notice Emma wasn’t speaking. She took her usual seat in class, but then stared straight ahead during the lecture, her gaze never wavering in my direction. Jesse wasn’t giving me the cold shoulder, but he offered no greeting or smile. My mind was a blur, thoughts fuzzy like I had been doing drugs or taking shots of vodka. I was so tired, so emotionally drained that I wondered if it was possible to fall asleep with your eyes open.

  Mr. Devereaux droned on and on, once or twice glancing in my direction, but I hardly noticed. I couldn’t concentrate on anything, not even my own thoughts. When the bell rang, startling me back to reality, Emma was already out of her seat and out the door by the time I gathered my books and made my way toward the exit. I was light as a feather, as though the crowd was carrying me. Jesse passed me and squeezed my shoulder, but he didn’t stop and chat. I didn’t care. I was too tired to care. I was almost to the door when a warm hand gently grabbed my arm, stopping me on the spot. I took a moment to turn around, as my body was numb and my mind didn’t quite seem coordinated with my movements.

  “Olivia,” said Mr. Devereaux. His voice sounded far away. “Stay for a second, will you?”

  I think I nodded, but I’m not sure.

  Mr. Devereaux pointed to a desk in the front, and I stumbled toward it. Part of me wanted to argue with him, to say I would be late for my next class, but I didn’t have the energy to speak. So I sat down instead, hoping to get this over with.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  The room had cleared out now. It was just the two of us. I couldn’t meet his gaze, fearing breaking down. Instead, I stared past him at the words on the dry erase board. I traced them repeatedly in my head again, not reading, just seeing. Mr. Devereaux waited patiently for me to say something. His arms were folded, his legs crossed at the ankles. There was tension in the air, but I couldn’t bring myself to be upset over it. Compared to the issue Audrey had brought up this morning, Mr. Devereaux no longer seemed like a significant problem in our life.

  “Hey,” he said, and kicked the toe of my shoe gently. “What’s wrong, Olivia?” I forced myself to look at him. I was surprised to find his expression concerned as if he suddenly cared about what was going on in our lives. His eyes were gentle, curious. I wanted to stand up and hug him, but it was inappropriate, especially in school. Finally, I looked away and did what Noah always did best. I shrugged and said, “I’m fine. Just leave me alone.”

  When lunchtime came around, I didn’t even give Emma the chance to shun me. I skipped lunch and went to the library, trying to focus on a book instead of my pathetic life. By the end of the lunch period, I had read three chapters from To Kill a Mockingbird, and I didn’t remember a single word.

  Audrey wasn’t there to pick us up after school, but Marisol and Ed were. Noah and I climbed into the back seat of Ed’s Subaru, unsure of how to react to this new situation. As Ed pulled away, Mari turned in her seat to smile at us.

  “Audrey is taking care of some things,” she said. “We’re just going to take you to the club. She’d rather you guys not be home alone today.”

  “Why?” asked Noah. “Is she afraid we’ll pack up our shit and run away before she has a chance to get rid of us?”

  His resentment was heavy, and for a moment, I wanted to scold him for being so unkind to Mari and Ed. But, when neither of them answered, I knew it was confirmed, and I no longer felt the desire to defend anybody.

  “She wants us gone, doesn’t she?” I asked. Noah put in his earbuds to blast out reality as Ed drove. Marisol fought to keep an emotionless expression, but she was sold out when Ed reached over and took her hand in his, saying nothing. Whatever was going on, it wasn’t good.

  Whatever Audrey was thinking or considering regarding the situation, it had gotten around. When the four of us arrived at the club, the air was tense. It was so unusual to have everyone moping around, trying to act peachy simultaneously. It was nerve-wracking, and I didn’t like it. It felt so… wrong.

  “Need help with your homework, kiddo?” Ty asked Noah. He had been sitting nearly at the stage when we’d come in, but he’d gotten up quickly, over-eager to lend a hand. Noah, who hadn’t spoken a word since we’d left the school parking lot, didn’t even look his way as he took a seat and stared at the tabletop. Ty and Marisol exchanged a glance. I sat down next to Noah and pinned my gaze on my hands. Even Avery, who was sitting at the bar sipping a cocktail, was silent. A big part of me knew that I should keep my mouth shut and that I should wait for Audrey, but it was an impossible task. I looked up.

  “What’s going on?”

  The silence seemed to thicken. I noticed, despite the number of people in the room, that not one of them could look me in the eye. Although Noah’s earbuds were still in, he had turned the volume down, anticipating what was to come.

  “Le
t’s wait for your aunt,” Marisol said finally. “It’s not our place to discuss anything.”

  “And what is it that needs to be discussed?” Noah asked.

  Avery, who had been sipping his drink, tossed it back. Then he scooted his glass over to Marisol for a refill. Bad sign.

  “Guys, I just don’t think—”

  “It’s okay, Avery, I’m here,” Audrey said as she came through the front door. She had her purse on one arm and her car keys in her hand. Her blond hair was wild about her head. Her face, wet from the rain, had a look of sadness. I wanted to get up and hug her, hold her, but I stayed put, unable to convince my feet to work. We all watched in silence as Audrey dropped her purse and keys down on the bar counter and shrugged off her jacket. When Marisol offered her a shot of vodka, she refused and grabbed bottled water instead. Then she sat down at the table with Noah and me, her eyes flicking back and forth between us.

  “So,” she said finally. After a moment, Noah removed his earbuds and pushed his iPod to the side, giving Audrey undivided attention. He looked terrified, and I couldn’t blame him. I knew we were both dreading what was about to come next. “Here’s the deal, guys,” Audrey said. “I found out yesterday before I went to the bar that a social worker is coming to the house this weekend to do a home check.” Her hands shook as she reached for the bottle of water. She uncapped it, took a big drink, and then set it down. “I’m sorry, I guess I panicked. Everything that had been going on hit me at once, and I was suddenly faced with the situation you guys have been in while living with me.”

  “What situation?” I demanded. “You’ve provided us both with a loving home. What else do they want from us?”

  Audrey laughed, but it was forced. “Normal parents who don’t try to date their kid’s teachers, I’m sure,” she said. “Not to mention a mom that isn’t a lush and a dad that has a real job.”

  “That’s stupid,” said Noah. “Why do they care where you work?”