sideways. “Please, please, please tell me that you’ve started calling Laney your Old Lady.”
Kellen and Laney were back together after a brief break up following the Devon incident. Laney continued to accuse Kellen of cheating and finally he just couldn’t take it. He walked. They’d made up about a month later and things seemed good between them now. It wasn’t their first fight or their first split so it didn’t worry any of us very much. There was something that I couldn’t see that kept pulling them back together. Something that I assumed would always join them.
Kellen laughed, shaking his head. “I’d never live to tell the tale.”
“No, but it’d be funny while it lasted. When are you taking me for a ride on it?”
“Sorry, but no way. Your mom told me the day I got it that I couldn’t ever take either of you girls out on it. I think Laney will get a pass now that she’s eighteen.”
“Old Lady Laney,” I mused, enviously eyeing the back of the shining chrome and black Harley parked in the driveway. “It’s her birthday so I won’t be too jealous, but tomorrow I’ll hate her for it.”
“That’s fair.”
I looked over at Kellen where he stood beside me in the fading light of the sunset. We were waiting for the rest of the family to come outside, dressed and ready for dinner at some fancy restaurant Laney had chosen for her birthday. Kellen’s hair was swept back and tousled slightly instead of hanging on his forehead like it usually was. It made him look older. More like my dad when he was heading off to work. The dark suit he wore probably helped too. I’d never seen him in anything but gym clothes or jeans and a T-shirt before and I’d thought it wouldn’t suit him, but it did. He didn’t look like a nineteen year old boxer then. He looked like a grown man.
“You clean up nice,” I told him.
He smiled over at me. He couldn’t look down at me anymore. I was seventeen and pushing six feet tall, almost eye level with him. I left Laney and my mom in the dust with their curvy 5’6” frames. Dad used to say I was a bean pole. Now I felt like the Jolly Green Giant.
“So do you. Did you get to pick the dress?”
I looked down at the red knee-length dress I was wearing. It was cut in a very 1950’s style with a puffed up skirt full of black tulle, capped sleeves and a big bow on my left hip. My mom had been so excited when I’d picked it, probably because it was so retro and feminine, that she’s insisted we get my hair done to match it. I’d spent the better part of the afternoon at her stylist getting my long, dark hair curled and pinned into a partial up do that was very old Hollywood.
“Yeah, I did. Do you like it?”
“You look beautiful. It’s very you.”
I chuckled. “How is it me? Because it’s out of style?”
“No, because it’s unique. Laney couldn’t pull this off,” he said, gesturing to my everything. My hair, my dark eye shadow, my bright red lips that matched my dress, my black nylons, the simple black heels on my feet. “She’s too vanilla. You’re darker. Edgier.” He smiled. “More noir.”
I smiled back. “And thanks to you, I know what that word means.”
“How are you doing in school?”
“Ugh,” I groaned, looking away. “You had to bring that up.”
“That good, huh?”
“It’s fine. My new tutor is a douche but it’s fine.”
“How is he a douche?” Kellen laughed.
“He’s in the same program you were in at Weston.”
“Higher Focus?”
“Yeah, so he’s super smart and that’s great but he’s also this car obsessed, street racing toolbag. It’s all he talks about. He has these tribal tattoos and he thinks it makes him bad but he’s not. He’s all talk.”
“Has he asked you out?”
I hesitated. Yeah, he had. A couple times. I’d said no, but not because he wasn’t good looking cause he was. He just felt like a carbon copy. Like a faded out Xerox of a vivid image I had in my head. One of bright
Kellen and Laney were back together after a brief break up following the Devon incident. Laney continued to accuse Kellen of cheating and finally he just couldn’t take it. He walked. They’d made up about a month later and things seemed good between them now. It wasn’t their first fight or their first split so it didn’t worry any of us very much. There was something that I couldn’t see that kept pulling them back together. Something that I assumed would always join them.
Kellen laughed, shaking his head. “I’d never live to tell the tale.”
“No, but it’d be funny while it lasted. When are you taking me for a ride on it?”
“Sorry, but no way. Your mom told me the day I got it that I couldn’t ever take either of you girls out on it. I think Laney will get a pass now that she’s eighteen.”
“Old Lady Laney,” I mused, enviously eyeing the back of the shining chrome and black Harley parked in the driveway. “It’s her birthday so I won’t be too jealous, but tomorrow I’ll hate her for it.”
“That’s fair.”
I looked over at Kellen where he stood beside me in the fading light of the sunset. We were waiting for the rest of the family to come outside, dressed and ready for dinner at some fancy restaurant Laney had chosen for her birthday. Kellen’s hair was swept back and tousled slightly instead of hanging on his forehead like it usually was. It made him look older. More like my dad when he was heading off to work. The dark suit he wore probably helped too. I’d never seen him in anything but gym clothes or jeans and a T-shirt before and I’d thought it wouldn’t suit him, but it did. He didn’t look like a nineteen year old boxer then. He looked like a grown man.
“You clean up nice,” I told him.
He smiled over at me. He couldn’t look down at me anymore. I was seventeen and pushing six feet tall, almost eye level with him. I left Laney and my mom in the dust with their curvy 5’6” frames. Dad used to say I was a bean pole. Now I felt like the Jolly Green Giant.
“So do you. Did you get to pick the dress?”
I looked down at the red knee-length dress I was wearing. It was cut in a very 1950’s style with a puffed up skirt full of black tulle, capped sleeves and a big bow on my left hip. My mom had been so excited when I’d picked it, probably because it was so retro and feminine, that she’s insisted we get my hair done to match it. I’d spent the better part of the afternoon at her stylist getting my long, dark hair curled and pinned into a partial up do that was very old Hollywood.
“Yeah, I did. Do you like it?”
“You look beautiful. It’s very you.”
I chuckled. “How is it me? Because it’s out of style?”
“No, because it’s unique. Laney couldn’t pull this off,” he said, gesturing to my everything. My hair, my dark eye shadow, my bright red lips that matched my dress, my black nylons, the simple black heels on my feet. “She’s too vanilla. You’re darker. Edgier.” He smiled. “More noir.”
I smiled back. “And thanks to you, I know what that word means.”
“How are you doing in school?”
“Ugh,” I groaned, looking away. “You had to bring that up.”
“That good, huh?”
“It’s fine. My new tutor is a douche but it’s fine.”
“How is he a douche?” Kellen laughed.
“He’s in the same program you were in at Weston.”
“Higher Focus?”
“Yeah, so he’s super smart and that’s great but he’s also this car obsessed, street racing toolbag. It’s all he talks about. He has these tribal tattoos and he thinks it makes him bad but he’s not. He’s all talk.”
“Has he asked you out?”
I hesitated. Yeah, he had. A couple times. I’d said no, but not because he wasn’t good looking cause he was. He just felt like a carbon copy. Like a faded out Xerox of a vivid image I had in my head. One of bright
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