I had stayed in my room for a couple of hours, waiting for Desmond to leave. The last thing I wanted was to have another argument with him. Once he was gone, I left my room and the shop and made my way through the city, all the way to the other side where the college was. The college was a fair size, but it wasn’t so big that it took up half the city on its own. It was a college with a good reputation, Monmouth College, named so after its founder, John Louis Monmouth.
Why didn’t you go there, Julian? I’m sure you’re asking that. I didn’t want to juggle a life as a thief with life as student. It made me sick to think of how many classes I would screw up trying to break into houses on the same night I needed to study for a midterm. That was why I only applied to colleges that were either out of the state or far away from the city.
The only reason I ever came to this side of town was to hang out with normal people sometimes, like college kids. None of them were really my friends, but they knew who I was and would hang with me whenever I was around. The only one of them that I actually looked for me when I would come there was a girl named Sara, whose graduation from college had been a couple of weeks before and I had not been invited. That was fine though, she didn’t invite anyone. Sara was my only friend, not counting Lyria.
Sara now lived in her apartment, alone, looking forward to graduate school the next semester. We texted sometimes. It was nice.
We had met when I was pickpocketing some college kids in a supermarket soon after she had started her first year of college. I was 16, she was 18. After pickpocketing a couple of guys, I hid in an aisle, pretending to browse through the different selections of chips. I noticed her standing next to me, picking up a bag of barbecue chips. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a bun that poked out in random places. Sweat pants, a t-shirt, the typical get up of a college kid. She noticed me glancing at her and smiled at me.
I smiled back, “Hey.” The best way to hide was in plain sight. If I was talking to someone, maybe a friend, then I would look a little less appealing to a stranger missing their wallet. I turned toward her, a bag of sour cream and onion in hand, and she turned to me in response. She was barely shorter than me, even in her flats. She was only an inch or two shorter than me and there was no way I was going to grow anymore.
“Hi,” She held her hand out to me, “I’m Sara.” A slight accent lifted her voice, sounding almost like she was from somewhere in England. I wasn’t exactly a scholar on the many different accents throughout. Call it the stereotypical kind, but a little softer. Maybe she had English parents but had lived in America, making her accent broken.
Why am I thinking about that? I thought to myself.
I shook her hand, “I’m Julian.”
She grinned, a little mischievous thing, “Was that guy your friend?”
All of the color probably drained from my face, “What… what guy?”
“The guy whose wallet you stole, was that a prank or…?” Sara just kept grinning. I couldn’t tell if she was mad or amused.
“Well… no, not exactly. It was just…”
Sara shook her head, “Don’t worry, I won’t tell.”
That was when we met. She had figured it out on her own and I had told her everything after that. We went to get hot wings and virgin fruity drinks. I showed her my fake I.D. She laughed until she cried and told me to put it away, we could do without the alcohol. It was great, one of the best conversations I had ever had. I loved speaking to Lyria, but I was always tiptoeing around everything and lying to her. I was never able to be completely open with Lyria, afraid that she would hate me for being a criminal. Sara though, she didn’t care about that. She would ask how my pickpocketing had gone that day, how business at the pawn shop was, everything. I finally had the person I could talk to about anything and everything. She even knew about Lyria.
That’s how we met, she was too perceptive for her own good and became good friends with a thief. Now I was looking for her at the supermarket, around the same area she usually shopped in. I walked around, trying to look like I was looking for groceries instead of a person. On this particular day, she was perched on the ground, staring at the bottom shelf with great focus. The bottom shelf had large boxes of different flavors of noodles. She was living alone now in an apartment, buying in bulk was the smart way to go.
I walked over to her and perched next to her, taking on the same stance, “I wonder which flavor I wouldn’t get tired of after a week.” I stroked my chin thoughtfully, slightly mocking her.
Sara faked a laugh, “You are an ass, Julian Devine.” She pushed me and almost fall off my feet. I laughed and got up from the ground. She stood up next to me and shook her head, “Would you like to buy it all for me, smart ass?”
I held up my hands, “No thanks, I’d like to save my money.”
“Well, you can carry it for me then. I would like the shrimp, please,” She pointed a sassy finger at the box before walking past me. I picked up the box with a smile and hurried to catch up to her.
We checked out and I carried the box to her apartment, two buildings away from the market. She lived on the fourth floor with no elevator though, so that was no fun. We stayed in that evening, just sitting at the small bar in her kitchen.
“If I give you a beer, you keep your mouth shut about it, got it?” Sara demanded, pushing a beer toward me.
I laughed, “Got it. It’s not like Desmond will care anyway.”
“Still, I’m not responsible for any trouble you get into afterward,” She popped the lids off of both of our beers and took a swig of her own. She leaned forward toward me and grinned, “So, what’s the matter? You didn’t even text before coming to see me, which is very rare. Something is wrong, am I right?”
I took a drink of beer and shifted around a little on my stool, “Lyria asked me out.” My next drink of beer was more like a chug and a big gulp.
“Oh. Oh… God, Julian, that’s…” Sara took a drink and leaned back. She pulled her scarf and jacket off and sat them to the side, “I think we could be here for a bit. Keep talking, maybe yelling, I’m going to get a hair tie.” She walked past me and went towards her bathroom, leaving me to yell about the problems I had caused by lacking all forms of strategy.
I told her about the entire exchange between Lyria and I, the awkward rejection, saying she was like a sister to me – Sara snorted at that – and the talk that we had at the shop. Sara had come out of the bathroom with her hair in a braid and wearing pajamas along with the look she gets when she knows exactly what to say. She came to stand where she had been before and took another swig of her beer. Her face spoke louder than words: she had the answers.
“Look,” She leaned forward and smiled, “from what you’ve told me about Lyria, she’s a strong young woman and fairly independent, she’s fine. Or she will be fine. Either way, I’m sure you two will be back to normal very soon. Rejection sucks, sure, but it isn’t the end of the world and she knows that. Believe me, I’ve been in her shoes before.” She laughed and drank the last few sips of beer.
I rolled my eyes, “You’ve been turned down? I don’t buy it.”
She looked incredulous, “What? I’ve been turned down before!”
“Come on, who would turn you down?” I hadn’t even thought about the words before I said them. Sara’s cheeks and ears turned red as she laughed off my words. She looked down, flustered. I had to do the same, my entire face turned hot and I knew my face was likely as red as a cherry. There was a strange air between us now, not awkward, but also not… the other thing. We stood there, neither of us knowing exactly how to transition back from that. Sure, maybe we sort of flirted back and forth all the time, but never like that. It was always superficial, never straight to the point like that.
She threw her beer bottle away and smiled at me, “Well… I was turned down by a guy in one of my Anthro classes. He wasn’t interested in me that way. Before you ask, he wasn’t into me because… well, I wasn’t old enough, I guess.” Sara made a suggestive face.
I grinned, “He likes cougars?” She laughed and nodded, “Hey, older women are pretty cool.” She only laughed harder after that.
Sara shook her head, “Anyway, Lyria is going to be okay, I’m sure of it. Now, onto the next order of business!” She jumped the short distance to the refrigerator and pulled out a box of fish sticks from the freezer side, “Would you like a healthy dinner before you go?” Her goofy grin made it impossible for me to say no. So, in the end, we ate an entire box of fish sticks together before I went home.
Desmond was waiting for me when I got home, sitting at his desk with his feet propped up on top of it. He was just watching the door, waiting for me to walk in. Usually his face would let me know what kind of talk he wanted to have with me, if it was disciplinary or job-related. This time, he looked normal, no indicators of wanting to yell at me or anything. He just sat there, looking at me.
I stopped in front of his desk, pushing my hands into my hoodie pockets. Desmond had his arms crossed on his chest, leaned back in his seat. We stared at each other, not speaking, not moving. I knew he was a little annoyed with me for not talking to him and all that, but this was ridiculous. We were both being children, I guess, but I really wanted him to start the conversation. Maybe I was being the bigger child.
Des shifted a little, looking uncomfortable, “Where’d you go?” He asked it with very little tone in his voice.
“Sara’s, we talked and ate fish sticks,” I said, “So, I’m going to bed since I’ve eaten dinner.”
“It’s past midnight. You’ve got big job on Saturday, tomorrow now. Shouldn’t you be getting a little more sleep?”
“I’m fine. Besides, I’ll be going to Lyria’s graduation first. I’ll figure everything out. If the job had to be pushed back then it has to be pushed back. I’m going to that graduation.” I had never spoken to him like that. He was my boss, I would never do that. Though for this, it seemed worth it.
He was quiet for a moment, probably surprised that I had spoken so out of turn. Then, he nodded, “Alright, I’m sure you’ll have it all under control. I’m glad you’re going to be there for her.” He took his feet down from the desk and stood up, walking over to me. He grabbed my arms and almost forced me to make eye contact, “I want you to be happy, son. You know that, right? I don’t want you to resent me because you don’t understand that.” He pulled me in and gave me the first hug he had given me in a very long time that was not initiated by my having a psychotic breakdown in my sleep or a little boy that missed his parents.
I nodded into his shoulder and awkwardly wrapped my arms around him, “I know that, Des, and I definitely don’t resent you.” We hugged for a moment, one of few times I allowed him to be a father to me and I didn’t mind it at all. It was nice to have a father again, if only for a minute.
He patted my back and we parted ways for the night, going to our own rooms. I had one more thing to do. I just hoped she was awake for me to do it. I wouldn’t call her so that I wouldn’t wake her up. If she was awake, we would talk. If not, I would wait until morning.
I got my phone out and pulled up Lyria’s contact.
You up? I asked.
A few moments passed before a text came through and a ding came from my phone.
Can’t sleep. What’s your excuse? I smiled.
Thinking too much to sleep. I do have good news though. Well… maybe it’s good news.
She just sent back a series of question marks, asking me without words.
I’ll definitely be coming to your graduation on Saturday. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.
She didn’t text back, moments passing as I waited. Then, my phone began ringing and her name was on the top of the screen. I swiped the arrow on the bottom and just waited for her to speak.
“You’re literally the best person ever,” She exclaimed in an excited whisper.
I laughed, “I am pretty cool.” Lyria laughed on the other end. I could just see her smile when I heard her laugh. “Can I apologize again? I wasn’t very tactful the other day.”
“Julian,” Her tone was stern, “I’m a big girl. You’re a boy that just doesn’t like me that way. It sucked, but that’s how it goes. It’s not like my world came crashing down. I’m young, I’ve got plenty of time! Besides, I kind of like the idea of having you as a sort of surrogate brother.” There was that smile again.
I sat on my bed, “That means the world, Lyria. By the way, I would consider myself very lucky to have a sister like you.”
“You should, I’m the best,” She said it in the most overly confident way, “Oh. Crap. I think my parents heard me. I have to go, but I’ll see you Saturday! Sleep well, Jules!” She made a kissing noise and hung up the phone.
After having that conversation with Lyria, I felt way better than I had before. Both she and Sara lifted a huge weight off of my shoulders. Knowing Lyria was happy made me tired. That sounds strange, I know, but sleep had been rough thinking about her being upset. Now, she was smiling and laughing, just like always, and it made me feel like I could sleep for days. Before I could sleep though, she had to send me one last message.
Goodnight, ‘big bro’.
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