Page 54 of Revel
Jesus, fuck. Will this night ever end?
She’s still talking about freckles, I think. Or maybe she’s moved on. Whatever she’s talking about, she’s disappointed I’m not following.
Narrowing her eyes, she points a swaying finger at me. “Are you listening to me?”
“Nope.”
“Whatever.” She flips her hand at me, her head flopping forward without the support. “You’re just mad my hair color is found in rainbows and yours is found in dirt.”
She goes on like this for an hour trying to convince me she’s really a unicorn in a pop star’s body. Then she digs into my past, an area I rarely let anyone discuss. It’s not that I’m trying to hide my fucked-up life. I just don’t think it’s relevant.
“How many siblings do you have?” she asks at around two in the morning, her eyes still wild with life and lips cherry red as she sucks down her third root beer in the last hour she finds underneath her bed. At least there’s no caffeine in it.
“I have four siblings.” I take the can away from her only to have her pull out a packet of Skittles and pop two in her mouth. “Did you rob a 7-Eleven?”
“No. I keep snacks in here.” Jumping up, she twists, gives me a very nice view of her bare ass and shows me the drawer full of snacks. “Want some sweets?”
Only if it’s sweet pussy juice.
The idea that we’re clearly not talking about the same sweets lifts the corner of my mouth as I inspect the drawer. “Are they ginger snacks?” I don’t think I meant for it to be as funny as she takes it but with the way Red tosses her head back and cackles, you’d think I just told her the funniest joke in the world, not the lamest.
We’re both on the bed now as she hands me a package of Ding Dongs. “Here. You look like the Snickers type.” And then she stifles a giggle with her hands. “Wait.” She stops, her eyes wide. “You have four siblings?”
I groan and rip the candy bar from her hand. “Yes.”
“What are their names?”
I stall and take the first bite, chewing slowly. “Grant’s the oldest, then Landon, Jenna, and Bonner.”
“Do you like them?”
I think about her question. The only reason I’m answering her is that I know in the morning, she’s never going to remember any of this. “Sure.”
“Your sister died, didn’t she?”
I nod, leaving out the part that Grant died recently too. She doesn’t need to know my drama. Hell, even I don’t want to know it.
“How?”
“Drug overdose.” I never really knew Jenna. Being Landon’s twin, they were closer, but in reality, I never knew any of my siblings. I was too busy in my music to get outside my own head long enough to care. Selfish, I know, but it’s a product of what I became and eventually how I got to where I am now. A prisoner in my own mind.
Red sighs. “I’veneverdone drugs.”
I fight back laughter, and anger. “Uh-huh.” Taking another bite of my candy bar, I think she’s done with the questions, or at least I hope she is when she hits me with another.
“Do you miss them?”
Please, for the love of God, shut up.I play dumb, despite knowing where this is heading. “Who?” I look over at her.
Her cherry lips parting, she exhales slowly, giving me a glimpse at her pink tongue. “Your parents.”
I stare at her eyes for the longest time. They’re emerald speckled with gold confetti. They’re the kind of green that revives, brings the earth back to life after an unforgiving winter. “I don’t think you can miss something you never experienced. I was too young to remember them, so I suppose I miss the idea of them, but I couldn’t tell you a damn thing about them.”
Her eyes well up with tears. “That’s awful.”
Sighing, I finish the candy bar and toss the wrapper at her face. “It’s reality.”
“I can relate, in some ways.”
