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Authors: Carolyn MacCullough
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the door. Who knows how we're getting it off at the end of the year. ”No,” I say automatically, then snap my book shut. I wander over to my makeup kit, pick up my green glitter eye shadow, and decide to apply another coat to my eyelids. I'm relatively happy with my outfit, a denim overalls mini dress with my green and gold tube top underneath.
“Okay, how's this?” Agatha has paired my My Little Pony T-shirt with a white miniskirt.
“Great! Ready?” She looks at me, horrified.
“I have to do my makeup!”When we reach the bar, it's standing room only and the show has already started. Gabriel is on stage, wearing jeans and a black T-shirt with the sleeves cut off. His acoustic guitar is cradled in his arms, his face illuminated by a narrow spotlight overhead. A girl wearing a pink and black slip over incredibly skinny jeans is singing in a whispery, almost breathless way into the mike, her hips twisting and turning slowly with the music. The guitar chords wrap just under her silvery voice as she sings something about the sea and a shadow she can't ever forget. I listen to the words and try to ignore the thought that she's probably Gabriel's girlfriend.
“Beer?” Agatha says in my ear, and I nod, my eyes still fixed to the stage.
Gabriel plays on and the girl sings another song, sometimes picking up a flute to accompany him on the guitar. The bar is crowded, people flickering in and out of the dimlight, sometimes jostling into me. Agatha comes back after a while and presses a cold glass into my hand, then waves away my offer of money.
“They're pretty good,” she says finally, and I'm grateful that she doesn't say she's pretty good. I nod and sip my beer, and just then the girl announces in a totally normal voice that they will take a set break. Then her voice dips a little again and she reminds the crowd that CDs on the back table are an amazing bargain at ten dollars each. She gives this hint of a smile and a wiggle of her body as she says this, and all around me people clap and a few guys wolf whistle. The lights brighten slightly and a crush of people moves to the bar on the other side of the room.
“Bathroom,” Agatha announces.
“Hold this?” I take her beer and stand in the crowd, letting it break around me until Gabriel appears in front of me.
“You made it,” he says simply, then lifts one of the glasses from my hand.
“Keep drinking that and you owe Agatha a beer,” I say after he takes a swallow. He grins but hands the glass back to me, and I spend a few seconds studying the open hollow of his throat and the way his tattoo seems to shine against his faintly damp skin.
“So–” he begins. At the same moment I rush in with,
“You're great. Great up there. Looking good” Shut up, shut up, I tell myself.
“Thanks” He studies me for a minute and then saysabruptly,
“That clock you want me to find. Are you sure that's really what you want me to find?” I gape at him.
“What? Yeah, I'm sure. Why?” He shrugs.
“I don't know. It's like… it doesn't exist.”
“It has to,” I say doggedly. Why would Alistair ask me to find something that doesn't exist? An image of Alistair's face when he didn't look like Alistair flashes into my head.
“What?” Gabriel says intently, staring at me.
“Nothing” I drain my glass and start drinking Agatha's beer absent-mindedly.
“Anyway, I found something–” he begins.
“What?” I say, nearly choking on the beer.
“Why didn't you say so right away?” I jump on the balls of my feet until beer sloshes over my wrist.
“Because I didn't find the actual clock,” Gabriel says, and my happy fantasies abruptly end.
“I was going to say I found something that you might want to see, but it's complicated. It's not what you asked me to find.”
“Well, that's helpful,” I mutter, dabbing ineffectually at my wrist. He pins my gaze with his own, then says,
“Maybe if you would tell me the truth about–”The girl who he was
“Okay, how's this?” Agatha has paired my My Little Pony T-shirt with a white miniskirt.
“Great! Ready?” She looks at me, horrified.
“I have to do my makeup!”When we reach the bar, it's standing room only and the show has already started. Gabriel is on stage, wearing jeans and a black T-shirt with the sleeves cut off. His acoustic guitar is cradled in his arms, his face illuminated by a narrow spotlight overhead. A girl wearing a pink and black slip over incredibly skinny jeans is singing in a whispery, almost breathless way into the mike, her hips twisting and turning slowly with the music. The guitar chords wrap just under her silvery voice as she sings something about the sea and a shadow she can't ever forget. I listen to the words and try to ignore the thought that she's probably Gabriel's girlfriend.
“Beer?” Agatha says in my ear, and I nod, my eyes still fixed to the stage.
Gabriel plays on and the girl sings another song, sometimes picking up a flute to accompany him on the guitar. The bar is crowded, people flickering in and out of the dimlight, sometimes jostling into me. Agatha comes back after a while and presses a cold glass into my hand, then waves away my offer of money.
“They're pretty good,” she says finally, and I'm grateful that she doesn't say she's pretty good. I nod and sip my beer, and just then the girl announces in a totally normal voice that they will take a set break. Then her voice dips a little again and she reminds the crowd that CDs on the back table are an amazing bargain at ten dollars each. She gives this hint of a smile and a wiggle of her body as she says this, and all around me people clap and a few guys wolf whistle. The lights brighten slightly and a crush of people moves to the bar on the other side of the room.
“Bathroom,” Agatha announces.
“Hold this?” I take her beer and stand in the crowd, letting it break around me until Gabriel appears in front of me.
“You made it,” he says simply, then lifts one of the glasses from my hand.
“Keep drinking that and you owe Agatha a beer,” I say after he takes a swallow. He grins but hands the glass back to me, and I spend a few seconds studying the open hollow of his throat and the way his tattoo seems to shine against his faintly damp skin.
“So–” he begins. At the same moment I rush in with,
“You're great. Great up there. Looking good” Shut up, shut up, I tell myself.
“Thanks” He studies me for a minute and then saysabruptly,
“That clock you want me to find. Are you sure that's really what you want me to find?” I gape at him.
“What? Yeah, I'm sure. Why?” He shrugs.
“I don't know. It's like… it doesn't exist.”
“It has to,” I say doggedly. Why would Alistair ask me to find something that doesn't exist? An image of Alistair's face when he didn't look like Alistair flashes into my head.
“What?” Gabriel says intently, staring at me.
“Nothing” I drain my glass and start drinking Agatha's beer absent-mindedly.
“Anyway, I found something–” he begins.
“What?” I say, nearly choking on the beer.
“Why didn't you say so right away?” I jump on the balls of my feet until beer sloshes over my wrist.
“Because I didn't find the actual clock,” Gabriel says, and my happy fantasies abruptly end.
“I was going to say I found something that you might want to see, but it's complicated. It's not what you asked me to find.”
“Well, that's helpful,” I mutter, dabbing ineffectually at my wrist. He pins my gaze with his own, then says,
“Maybe if you would tell me the truth about–”The girl who he was
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