Read Online Fluorescence: The Complete Tetralogy by P. Anastasia - Free Book Online
Authors: P. Anastasia
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day for the rest of my life.”
Heat flushed through my cheeks.
Chapter 11
B ig Uncle Teddy had fallen asleep on the couch, remote in hand, his hairy bare feet propped up on an ottoman, the TV tuned to a basketball game. Sandy, pretending to be a mole, had buried herself in a pile of clean blankets in the laundry room. I caught Kevin peeling back a piece of tape to peek at a Christmas present and shot him a dirty look. He scuttled back off to his puzzle after discovering a dress-up set meant for his sister.
All of the girls were chatting in the kitchen, so I excused myself to show Brian around the rest of the house. Oddly enough, I hadn’t heard from Sam yet. She always looked forward to the Christmas party and had been raving about it since last year.
“You need to call Sam?” Brian caught me checking my phone. Pretty obvious, I guess. I’d done it three times in the past fifteen minutes.
“Yeah. I think I should. If you don’t mind.”
“Go right ahead.” He sat down at the base of the carpeted staircase and folded his hands in his lap. “No rush.”
I sent her a text.
WHERE R U?
Waited for a reply…
Checked my signal.
Five bars.
I sent another.
U OK?
Another minute…
“Anything?” Brian asked, looking at me through the handrails.
I shook my head.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” he said. “Her parents would have called you if something had happened. Right?”
He had a point.
“Yeah. I guess so. It’s just weird.” I shrugged it off for the moment and took Brian upstairs to my room.
I flipped the light switch and the shadows came to life with color. I turned my desk lamp on to make it brighter. I liked keeping it dim, though. My teenage girl version of a man cave.
“You really like purple, don’t you?” Brian said with a tilt of his head, fixating on my purple writing desk. A matching upholstered purple chair had been pushed up to it.
A flowery skin on my laptop’s lid. A string of purple Christmas lights permanently affixed around the perimeter of my ceiling. It occurred to me how girly my room looked.
“Yeah. Apparently.” I chuckled, feeling really stupid about it all. I was fourteen, not six. He probably thought I …
“It’s pretty,” he said with a nod. “Very… calming.”
“You think?” I bit my lip to stifle a sigh of relief.
“Yeah. It’s different. Creative. My mom would never let me do something like this to my room. I start adding some color or get too artistic and suddenly I’m turning gay .” He heaved a sigh and shook his head.
“That’s terrible! What does being creative have to do with someone’s orientation anyway?” I couldn’t believe a mother would say that kind of thing. Brian was an amazing artist.
And that kiss… definitely not gay. I nibbled my lip, reminiscing.
“I’m sorry, Brian. Your mom really shouldn’t judge you for something like that.”
“I know.” He pressed his lips together.
“Oh! Before I forget.” I slid open a desk drawer, pulled out a flat, wrapped gift, and handed it to Brian.
“What’s this?” he asked, looking unsure. “I wasn’t expecting anything. I didn’t get anything for you. I—”
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about. It’s something little. I… hope you like it.”
“I feel bad now.” He hesitantly took the present and then spent a moment admiring the wrapping paper and shiny silver bow I’d stuck in the upper corner.
“Don’t feel bad.” I smiled, sitting on the edge of my desk. It seemed like he didn’t want to open it. “Please. Go ahead.”
He turned over the present and started carefully tearing the paper along the seam.
“Seriously?” His eyes widened.
He unlatched the buckle and flipped open the leather journal.
I couldn’t tell if he liked it or not.
“This is amazing!” He fanned through the pages, closed the book and latched it shut. He took a big sniff of the cover and grinned. “Suede. Wow! Thank you, Alice. Though I kind of feel
Heat flushed through my cheeks.
Chapter 11
B ig Uncle Teddy had fallen asleep on the couch, remote in hand, his hairy bare feet propped up on an ottoman, the TV tuned to a basketball game. Sandy, pretending to be a mole, had buried herself in a pile of clean blankets in the laundry room. I caught Kevin peeling back a piece of tape to peek at a Christmas present and shot him a dirty look. He scuttled back off to his puzzle after discovering a dress-up set meant for his sister.
All of the girls were chatting in the kitchen, so I excused myself to show Brian around the rest of the house. Oddly enough, I hadn’t heard from Sam yet. She always looked forward to the Christmas party and had been raving about it since last year.
“You need to call Sam?” Brian caught me checking my phone. Pretty obvious, I guess. I’d done it three times in the past fifteen minutes.
“Yeah. I think I should. If you don’t mind.”
“Go right ahead.” He sat down at the base of the carpeted staircase and folded his hands in his lap. “No rush.”
I sent her a text.
WHERE R U?
Waited for a reply…
Checked my signal.
Five bars.
I sent another.
U OK?
Another minute…
“Anything?” Brian asked, looking at me through the handrails.
I shook my head.
“I’m sure she’s fine,” he said. “Her parents would have called you if something had happened. Right?”
He had a point.
“Yeah. I guess so. It’s just weird.” I shrugged it off for the moment and took Brian upstairs to my room.
I flipped the light switch and the shadows came to life with color. I turned my desk lamp on to make it brighter. I liked keeping it dim, though. My teenage girl version of a man cave.
“You really like purple, don’t you?” Brian said with a tilt of his head, fixating on my purple writing desk. A matching upholstered purple chair had been pushed up to it.
A flowery skin on my laptop’s lid. A string of purple Christmas lights permanently affixed around the perimeter of my ceiling. It occurred to me how girly my room looked.
“Yeah. Apparently.” I chuckled, feeling really stupid about it all. I was fourteen, not six. He probably thought I …
“It’s pretty,” he said with a nod. “Very… calming.”
“You think?” I bit my lip to stifle a sigh of relief.
“Yeah. It’s different. Creative. My mom would never let me do something like this to my room. I start adding some color or get too artistic and suddenly I’m turning gay .” He heaved a sigh and shook his head.
“That’s terrible! What does being creative have to do with someone’s orientation anyway?” I couldn’t believe a mother would say that kind of thing. Brian was an amazing artist.
And that kiss… definitely not gay. I nibbled my lip, reminiscing.
“I’m sorry, Brian. Your mom really shouldn’t judge you for something like that.”
“I know.” He pressed his lips together.
“Oh! Before I forget.” I slid open a desk drawer, pulled out a flat, wrapped gift, and handed it to Brian.
“What’s this?” he asked, looking unsure. “I wasn’t expecting anything. I didn’t get anything for you. I—”
“It’s okay. Don’t worry about. It’s something little. I… hope you like it.”
“I feel bad now.” He hesitantly took the present and then spent a moment admiring the wrapping paper and shiny silver bow I’d stuck in the upper corner.
“Don’t feel bad.” I smiled, sitting on the edge of my desk. It seemed like he didn’t want to open it. “Please. Go ahead.”
He turned over the present and started carefully tearing the paper along the seam.
“Seriously?” His eyes widened.
He unlatched the buckle and flipped open the leather journal.
I couldn’t tell if he liked it or not.
“This is amazing!” He fanned through the pages, closed the book and latched it shut. He took a big sniff of the cover and grinned. “Suede. Wow! Thank you, Alice. Though I kind of feel
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