Wednesday, November 24, 2004
3.
3.
Kevin Maurer plugged his guitar into the pedal board and played a few chords. His short black hair glistened with sweat, as he’d had to wrestle his amp in from his car. He’d missed last night’s soundcheck, and now he was catching up. He looked out across the great room towards the mixing board where Doug stood with Colin Morse, Cerebus’ soundman. He played a few more, but nothing came out of the monitor.
“Keep playing, Kev!” Doug shouted across the room. Kevin put his foot on the monitor and started playing the lead guitar line from Jonathan Richman’s “Roadrunner”. Unlike Bill, he was happy to play whatever music Doug wanted to, though he was more partial to punk and new wave than to the kind of music that Cerebus was playing now. But like Bill, he liked being a gigging artist, and he was saving up the money from his gigs to get himself a better amplifier. After about thirty seconds of playing, the monitor at his feet came to life, and Doug put his thumbs up.
“Let me hear a mic check. Sing the song.”
Kevin stepped back in front of his mike, and headed back to the start of the song. Behind him, Mike, the band’s drummer started to play also.
“One two three four five six
Roadrunner roadrunner
Going faster miles an hour
Gonna ride by the Stop-n-Shop
With the radio on”
Kevin sang about half the song, then Doug came back over to the band. He picked up his guitar and joined in without a hitch. They finished the song as people started walking towards the great room, drawn in by the music. Doug looked up, then walked over to his microphone. "Hi guys, we’re not quite ready to go yet. If you wanna watch us make terrible noises, you can, but we’ll be starting,” he looked at his watch, “in about half an hour.” He turned around and waved Mike off. Mike trailed off as Kevin put down his guitar.
“How you feelin’, Kev?”
“Oh, pretty well, Doug. I’m ready to play.”
“That’s cool. We’re gonna do a lot of material, but you won’t have to play the whole thing. I promised Bill he could sing a couple of songs, and we’re gonna be doing the usual Cerebus set. You can take a break during Bill's stuff.”
“Cool.” Doug walked away as Kevin walked back to his beat-up Fender amplifier. He fiddled with a couple of the knobs, then turned it off to give it a rest for a little while before they played. He supposed he should get something to eat. He walked out towards the buffet room into a sea of unfamiliar faces. Kevin was older than everyone here. Gary had joked with him that if the cops showed up, he’d probably be the one to get arrested for contributing to the delinquency of minors. Even if he was their age, his parents hadn’t believed that a parochial education was necessary for their son to get ahead, so he’d gone to Wilbur Cross High in New Haven. He’d met Doug the year before, when their bands had played a gig together at The Moon, a club in New Haven.
Kevin had been impressed with the skills that Doug seemed to have, even when his band was playing straight (and not very good) covers of British and Hair Metal bands. He’d approached Doug after the show, and found out that Doug was looking for a guitarist to work with on some new songs. They were far removed from the sort of thing that Cerebus was playing, and Kevin had been intrigued. His band, a straight ahead bar-rock outfit called The Pull-Tabs, certainly wasn’t going anywhere, and he’d quit them and joined Cerebus. Immediately, they’d started getting better bookings, because Kevin’s playing improved Doug’s, and the rest of the band started to work harder to keep up.
Bill had resented Kevin’s presence in the band, but he stayed on because Doug still liked him, and the money had gotten better. But the last few months, Bill’s playing had deteriorated a bit. Kevin had suggested that Doug get rid of him, but Doug resisted. Bill had good nights still. But he’d reacted negatively to the new songs that Doug had written, so Doug had to pay a session guy to sit in on the demo recording session. That had strained Doug’s relationship with Bill, or so Kevin thought, and now that hockey season was over, he figured it would only be a matter of time before Bill was gone.
He didn’t really like being the catalyst of change, but he felt like it had to happen. He was pretty sure that Doug was the real deal, and the songs, especially “Just The Way”, were really well written. There was an open market for a band that could do those kind of songs, he thought as he scooped a helping of potato salad onto his plate and then made himself a sandwich. The late 80's were a wasteland of hair metal and teenybopper pop songs, but there was plenty of room for a rock band that played mild, up-tempo power pop. If nothing else, they could squeeze their way into the charts through the colleges. There were plenty of marginal acts on college radio, such as the Pixies and the Replacements, who were starting to get major airplay on mainstream radio. What they were doing could be a comfortable fit in the midst of that, Kevin figured. He spooned a heap of potato salad onto his plate and then made himself a ham sandwich. As he walked over to a table in the back of the living room, he passed Audra and Gary coming down the stairs.
“Hi, Kevin,” Audra said as they passed, “having a good time?”
“Oh yeah. Everything’s great. Thanks for having me.”
“Hey, any friend of Doug’s is a friend of ours.” They stopped. “Seen Charlie, by any chance?”
“Uh, no. I was in the ballroom soundchecking.”
“Oh, was that you singing?” Gary smiled. “That was pretty good. I love Jonathan Richman.”
“Thanks.” Gary and Audra headed off in different directions, and Kevin went back to the living room. The TV was now showing a re-run of “The A-Team” and a few people were watching it. There were some other people playing cards, and a few girls were sitting on the floor talking. Kevin felt guilty checking them out, so he looked out the window. The snow was still going, or so he assumed. It was practically a whiteout out there. He sat down in a chair and began to eat his potato salad.
Charlie turned out to be in the first floor game room, where a few kids were gathered around playing Champions. Gary laughed. All the booze and food and fun you could get your hands on, and these kids were role-playing. Gary walked into the room and was surprised even more to see that Charlie was playing the game also.
He rolled two six sided die and waited for the gamemaster to tell him what had happened.
“It’s a hit,” said the GM. “Roll 6D6 for the damage.”
Charlie pulled out four neon green dice from a velvet bag that had, until recently, held a fifth of Crown Royal. He shook the dice and rolled a twenty-one.
“Oh, dude, you pasted him,” one of the other kids, who Gary didn’t recognize, said.
“Indeed, you did. You watch as he flies about twenty feet straight back and crashes into a brick wall, killing him.”
“Nice!” The first kid slapped Charlie’s back.
“Okay. The two remaining Viper agents turn tail and take off before you can do anything else. You and the others head back towards your headquarters. Another mission finished.” He closed the module book and looked up at them. “Okay, Rich, five experience points. Next time, raise an alarm BEFORE you go charging into the room. Jay, seven points. Would have been more if you’d made that first roll. Charlie. Fifteen points for your good rolls, but I’m taking five back because you keep killing people. You gotta pull it back.”
Charlie nodded. “I’m still getting used to these rules. I’m used to D&D, where anything goes.”
“Well, this isn’t D&D. Criticals are less important, and playing to your skills is.” The GM packed up his stuff. “Maybe we’ll play again later. I want to see Doug’s band. Okay if I leave this stuff here, Gary?”
“Sure. It is a game room, after all.”
“Yeah. Hey, maybe tonight you could run a little Middle Earth campaign.”
Gary thought about it. “We’ll see. There’s lots of time for everything. Go, mingle, enjoy the party.”
The kid laughed. “Please. Let’s get real here.” He walked off to join his buddies, and Gary and Charlie were alone.
“When did you start playing “Champions”?” Gary thought Charlie had given up on role-playing games after Gary’s last Middle Earth campaign, a massively planned out affair, had died. It had been inadvertently torpedoed by Dave Carloni, one of Gary’s regular players, who’d insisted that he was right in killing a certain wizard instead of trusting him. The problem was that the entire campaign hinged on the wizard’s survival, and Charlie’s character hadn’t been able to make a healing roll to get the campaign back on track. As a result, Gary had stopped playing altogether. He hadn’t even looked at his books in two months, instead focusing on the crude game he was developing on the Amiga that he had in his room.
“Just after you stopped running Middle Earth.” Charlie liked playing RPGs. He liked the idea of playing a game where he wasn’t completely in control of the situation, and where he had to rely more on his brains then his natural physical abilities. “Joe runs a good game, and he’s really into comic books, so it’s like your campaigns. He’s not just about going by what the module says to do.”
“Look, I didn’t come in here to talk about games.” Gary sat down on the leather couch across from Charlie. “I came here to talk to you about Kat and Colette.”
Charlie laughed. “What’s happened? Did Kat finally go ballistic?”
“No. Me and Audra were just trying to figure out what’s going on. Kat and Bill Ryan are off somewhere in the house right now. Did you say something to her?”
“No. She probably got mad because I ended up in here instead of bringing her back the drink that she wanted. You know how she gets.”
“Okay. We were wondering if something was going on.” Gary watched Charlie as he sipped a bottle of Guinness.
“Well, there is, but there isn’t.” Charlie leaned back on the couch. “You know, I wouldn’t be bothered if Bill took off with her to bang her brains out or something. It’s not like she was getting it from me.”
Gary, who had been taking a swallow of his Coke, coughed and nearly dropped it on the floor. “Wait. Say that again.”
“I said, I wouldn’t...”
“No, the last part.”
Charlie chortled. “Gary, old buddy, you may think that you’re a geek, but you’re more of a man that I am, if you want to measure it by that sort of thing.”
“Hold the phone. You’re a virgin?”
“Don’t say it too loud. I’ve got a reputation. But yes, Kat and I have never gone all the way. It’s not for lack of trying. We just, I don’t know...” He crossed his arms behind his head. Kat was attractive, that went without saying. But she’d resisted the few attempts he’d made to move their relationship past groping and the occasional hand job, and he’d stopped trying just around the time that the season started. He found it easier to deal with her if he knew that he wasn’t going to be getting any no matter what he did. “We haven’t really worked it out, you know?”
Gary was shocked. Here was the most popular guy in school, a kid that everybody assumed was a man among boys, and he hadn’t even popped his cherry yet. Gary and Audra, by comparison, might as well have been porn stars. “So, are you done with her?”
“I don’t know, man. It depends on whether she’s done with me. Like I said, after the news tonight, it may not matter.”
“What about Colette?”
“Well, that’s the big question, isn’t it?”
“Look, me and Audra, we think that you shouldn’t be wasting your time with Kat anymore anyway. She treats you like she owns you, and you deserve better than that.” Gary took another sip of his Coke. “Colette...”
“Colette is leaving in another two months, or hadn’t you remembered that?”
“Well, yeah, but...”
“Look, Gary. I appreciate what you guys are trying to do here, I really do. But I don’t want to get involved with Colette just to break her heart. It’s not like I’m going to follow her back to Paris like some lovesick puppy. She deserves better than that also.” He got up from the sofa. “Look, I just want to enjoy this party. If Kat wants to go and screw somebody else, I’m not gonna get all broken up about it. Good for them, says I.”
Gary watched him walk out of the game room. He knew that Charlie wasn’t really fine, but he was right. What could he and Audra really do about it?
Audra was trying to do something about it at the same time that Gary was talking to Charlie. She’d come upon Colette in the kitchen. Colette had shifted seats to the glassed in breakfast nook off the main kitchen, and “Pride and Prejudice” lay abandoned on the kitchen counter.
“Hey, what’s up?” Audra came over and sat down next to Colette.
“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking, that’s all.”
“Hey, you know there’s a party going on out there, don’t you?”
Colette smiled. “You know I’m not much for parties. Besides, I don’t really want to see anyone right now.”
“You mean you don’t want to see Charlie right now.”
“No! I mean, no, that’s not it.”
“Wait. What’s going on here? Did something happen between you and Charlie?”
Colette looked out at the snow. “Maybe. I don’t know. He kissed me.”
Audra was surprised. Things were progressing faster then she and Gary had even thought. “When?”
“Just a little while ago. He came in, just like you did, trying to get me to come out to the party.” Colette related the story of their kitchen encounter. Audra laughed.
“That doesn’t sound like our Charlie at all. Maybe Gary was right,” she said. “This is perfect.”
“It is?”
“Yeah. Look. Charlie and Kat are on the outs, you know. This is the perfect opportunity to get the two of you together.”
“But I don’t...”
“Look, don’t you worry about a thing. Things will work themself out soon enough, I think.” Audra patted her on the knee. “Hey, why don’t you come and join the party? Cerebus will be playing in a few minutes, and I don’t want you to be hanging out here like some kind of stick in the mud.”
“Okay. I guess a little fun couldn’t hurt, right?”
Kevin Maurer plugged his guitar into the pedal board and played a few chords. His short black hair glistened with sweat, as he’d had to wrestle his amp in from his car. He’d missed last night’s soundcheck, and now he was catching up. He looked out across the great room towards the mixing board where Doug stood with Colin Morse, Cerebus’ soundman. He played a few more, but nothing came out of the monitor.
“Keep playing, Kev!” Doug shouted across the room. Kevin put his foot on the monitor and started playing the lead guitar line from Jonathan Richman’s “Roadrunner”. Unlike Bill, he was happy to play whatever music Doug wanted to, though he was more partial to punk and new wave than to the kind of music that Cerebus was playing now. But like Bill, he liked being a gigging artist, and he was saving up the money from his gigs to get himself a better amplifier. After about thirty seconds of playing, the monitor at his feet came to life, and Doug put his thumbs up.
“Let me hear a mic check. Sing the song.”
Kevin stepped back in front of his mike, and headed back to the start of the song. Behind him, Mike, the band’s drummer started to play also.
“One two three four five six
Roadrunner roadrunner
Going faster miles an hour
Gonna ride by the Stop-n-Shop
With the radio on”
Kevin sang about half the song, then Doug came back over to the band. He picked up his guitar and joined in without a hitch. They finished the song as people started walking towards the great room, drawn in by the music. Doug looked up, then walked over to his microphone. "Hi guys, we’re not quite ready to go yet. If you wanna watch us make terrible noises, you can, but we’ll be starting,” he looked at his watch, “in about half an hour.” He turned around and waved Mike off. Mike trailed off as Kevin put down his guitar.
“How you feelin’, Kev?”
“Oh, pretty well, Doug. I’m ready to play.”
“That’s cool. We’re gonna do a lot of material, but you won’t have to play the whole thing. I promised Bill he could sing a couple of songs, and we’re gonna be doing the usual Cerebus set. You can take a break during Bill's stuff.”
“Cool.” Doug walked away as Kevin walked back to his beat-up Fender amplifier. He fiddled with a couple of the knobs, then turned it off to give it a rest for a little while before they played. He supposed he should get something to eat. He walked out towards the buffet room into a sea of unfamiliar faces. Kevin was older than everyone here. Gary had joked with him that if the cops showed up, he’d probably be the one to get arrested for contributing to the delinquency of minors. Even if he was their age, his parents hadn’t believed that a parochial education was necessary for their son to get ahead, so he’d gone to Wilbur Cross High in New Haven. He’d met Doug the year before, when their bands had played a gig together at The Moon, a club in New Haven.
Kevin had been impressed with the skills that Doug seemed to have, even when his band was playing straight (and not very good) covers of British and Hair Metal bands. He’d approached Doug after the show, and found out that Doug was looking for a guitarist to work with on some new songs. They were far removed from the sort of thing that Cerebus was playing, and Kevin had been intrigued. His band, a straight ahead bar-rock outfit called The Pull-Tabs, certainly wasn’t going anywhere, and he’d quit them and joined Cerebus. Immediately, they’d started getting better bookings, because Kevin’s playing improved Doug’s, and the rest of the band started to work harder to keep up.
Bill had resented Kevin’s presence in the band, but he stayed on because Doug still liked him, and the money had gotten better. But the last few months, Bill’s playing had deteriorated a bit. Kevin had suggested that Doug get rid of him, but Doug resisted. Bill had good nights still. But he’d reacted negatively to the new songs that Doug had written, so Doug had to pay a session guy to sit in on the demo recording session. That had strained Doug’s relationship with Bill, or so Kevin thought, and now that hockey season was over, he figured it would only be a matter of time before Bill was gone.
He didn’t really like being the catalyst of change, but he felt like it had to happen. He was pretty sure that Doug was the real deal, and the songs, especially “Just The Way”, were really well written. There was an open market for a band that could do those kind of songs, he thought as he scooped a helping of potato salad onto his plate and then made himself a sandwich. The late 80's were a wasteland of hair metal and teenybopper pop songs, but there was plenty of room for a rock band that played mild, up-tempo power pop. If nothing else, they could squeeze their way into the charts through the colleges. There were plenty of marginal acts on college radio, such as the Pixies and the Replacements, who were starting to get major airplay on mainstream radio. What they were doing could be a comfortable fit in the midst of that, Kevin figured. He spooned a heap of potato salad onto his plate and then made himself a ham sandwich. As he walked over to a table in the back of the living room, he passed Audra and Gary coming down the stairs.
“Hi, Kevin,” Audra said as they passed, “having a good time?”
“Oh yeah. Everything’s great. Thanks for having me.”
“Hey, any friend of Doug’s is a friend of ours.” They stopped. “Seen Charlie, by any chance?”
“Uh, no. I was in the ballroom soundchecking.”
“Oh, was that you singing?” Gary smiled. “That was pretty good. I love Jonathan Richman.”
“Thanks.” Gary and Audra headed off in different directions, and Kevin went back to the living room. The TV was now showing a re-run of “The A-Team” and a few people were watching it. There were some other people playing cards, and a few girls were sitting on the floor talking. Kevin felt guilty checking them out, so he looked out the window. The snow was still going, or so he assumed. It was practically a whiteout out there. He sat down in a chair and began to eat his potato salad.
Charlie turned out to be in the first floor game room, where a few kids were gathered around playing Champions. Gary laughed. All the booze and food and fun you could get your hands on, and these kids were role-playing. Gary walked into the room and was surprised even more to see that Charlie was playing the game also.
He rolled two six sided die and waited for the gamemaster to tell him what had happened.
“It’s a hit,” said the GM. “Roll 6D6 for the damage.”
Charlie pulled out four neon green dice from a velvet bag that had, until recently, held a fifth of Crown Royal. He shook the dice and rolled a twenty-one.
“Oh, dude, you pasted him,” one of the other kids, who Gary didn’t recognize, said.
“Indeed, you did. You watch as he flies about twenty feet straight back and crashes into a brick wall, killing him.”
“Nice!” The first kid slapped Charlie’s back.
“Okay. The two remaining Viper agents turn tail and take off before you can do anything else. You and the others head back towards your headquarters. Another mission finished.” He closed the module book and looked up at them. “Okay, Rich, five experience points. Next time, raise an alarm BEFORE you go charging into the room. Jay, seven points. Would have been more if you’d made that first roll. Charlie. Fifteen points for your good rolls, but I’m taking five back because you keep killing people. You gotta pull it back.”
Charlie nodded. “I’m still getting used to these rules. I’m used to D&D, where anything goes.”
“Well, this isn’t D&D. Criticals are less important, and playing to your skills is.” The GM packed up his stuff. “Maybe we’ll play again later. I want to see Doug’s band. Okay if I leave this stuff here, Gary?”
“Sure. It is a game room, after all.”
“Yeah. Hey, maybe tonight you could run a little Middle Earth campaign.”
Gary thought about it. “We’ll see. There’s lots of time for everything. Go, mingle, enjoy the party.”
The kid laughed. “Please. Let’s get real here.” He walked off to join his buddies, and Gary and Charlie were alone.
“When did you start playing “Champions”?” Gary thought Charlie had given up on role-playing games after Gary’s last Middle Earth campaign, a massively planned out affair, had died. It had been inadvertently torpedoed by Dave Carloni, one of Gary’s regular players, who’d insisted that he was right in killing a certain wizard instead of trusting him. The problem was that the entire campaign hinged on the wizard’s survival, and Charlie’s character hadn’t been able to make a healing roll to get the campaign back on track. As a result, Gary had stopped playing altogether. He hadn’t even looked at his books in two months, instead focusing on the crude game he was developing on the Amiga that he had in his room.
“Just after you stopped running Middle Earth.” Charlie liked playing RPGs. He liked the idea of playing a game where he wasn’t completely in control of the situation, and where he had to rely more on his brains then his natural physical abilities. “Joe runs a good game, and he’s really into comic books, so it’s like your campaigns. He’s not just about going by what the module says to do.”
“Look, I didn’t come in here to talk about games.” Gary sat down on the leather couch across from Charlie. “I came here to talk to you about Kat and Colette.”
Charlie laughed. “What’s happened? Did Kat finally go ballistic?”
“No. Me and Audra were just trying to figure out what’s going on. Kat and Bill Ryan are off somewhere in the house right now. Did you say something to her?”
“No. She probably got mad because I ended up in here instead of bringing her back the drink that she wanted. You know how she gets.”
“Okay. We were wondering if something was going on.” Gary watched Charlie as he sipped a bottle of Guinness.
“Well, there is, but there isn’t.” Charlie leaned back on the couch. “You know, I wouldn’t be bothered if Bill took off with her to bang her brains out or something. It’s not like she was getting it from me.”
Gary, who had been taking a swallow of his Coke, coughed and nearly dropped it on the floor. “Wait. Say that again.”
“I said, I wouldn’t...”
“No, the last part.”
Charlie chortled. “Gary, old buddy, you may think that you’re a geek, but you’re more of a man that I am, if you want to measure it by that sort of thing.”
“Hold the phone. You’re a virgin?”
“Don’t say it too loud. I’ve got a reputation. But yes, Kat and I have never gone all the way. It’s not for lack of trying. We just, I don’t know...” He crossed his arms behind his head. Kat was attractive, that went without saying. But she’d resisted the few attempts he’d made to move their relationship past groping and the occasional hand job, and he’d stopped trying just around the time that the season started. He found it easier to deal with her if he knew that he wasn’t going to be getting any no matter what he did. “We haven’t really worked it out, you know?”
Gary was shocked. Here was the most popular guy in school, a kid that everybody assumed was a man among boys, and he hadn’t even popped his cherry yet. Gary and Audra, by comparison, might as well have been porn stars. “So, are you done with her?”
“I don’t know, man. It depends on whether she’s done with me. Like I said, after the news tonight, it may not matter.”
“What about Colette?”
“Well, that’s the big question, isn’t it?”
“Look, me and Audra, we think that you shouldn’t be wasting your time with Kat anymore anyway. She treats you like she owns you, and you deserve better than that.” Gary took another sip of his Coke. “Colette...”
“Colette is leaving in another two months, or hadn’t you remembered that?”
“Well, yeah, but...”
“Look, Gary. I appreciate what you guys are trying to do here, I really do. But I don’t want to get involved with Colette just to break her heart. It’s not like I’m going to follow her back to Paris like some lovesick puppy. She deserves better than that also.” He got up from the sofa. “Look, I just want to enjoy this party. If Kat wants to go and screw somebody else, I’m not gonna get all broken up about it. Good for them, says I.”
Gary watched him walk out of the game room. He knew that Charlie wasn’t really fine, but he was right. What could he and Audra really do about it?
Audra was trying to do something about it at the same time that Gary was talking to Charlie. She’d come upon Colette in the kitchen. Colette had shifted seats to the glassed in breakfast nook off the main kitchen, and “Pride and Prejudice” lay abandoned on the kitchen counter.
“Hey, what’s up?” Audra came over and sat down next to Colette.
“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking, that’s all.”
“Hey, you know there’s a party going on out there, don’t you?”
Colette smiled. “You know I’m not much for parties. Besides, I don’t really want to see anyone right now.”
“You mean you don’t want to see Charlie right now.”
“No! I mean, no, that’s not it.”
“Wait. What’s going on here? Did something happen between you and Charlie?”
Colette looked out at the snow. “Maybe. I don’t know. He kissed me.”
Audra was surprised. Things were progressing faster then she and Gary had even thought. “When?”
“Just a little while ago. He came in, just like you did, trying to get me to come out to the party.” Colette related the story of their kitchen encounter. Audra laughed.
“That doesn’t sound like our Charlie at all. Maybe Gary was right,” she said. “This is perfect.”
“It is?”
“Yeah. Look. Charlie and Kat are on the outs, you know. This is the perfect opportunity to get the two of you together.”
“But I don’t...”
“Look, don’t you worry about a thing. Things will work themself out soon enough, I think.” Audra patted her on the knee. “Hey, why don’t you come and join the party? Cerebus will be playing in a few minutes, and I don’t want you to be hanging out here like some kind of stick in the mud.”
“Okay. I guess a little fun couldn’t hurt, right?”
2.
2.
Colette was sitting in the kitchen when Charlie came bursting through the door. She hadn’t been moping, not really, but she was feeling somewhat out of place at the party. She really didn’t know a lot of the kids that were here, and the people she did know were occupied with other things. So she’d gotten herself a piece of the sweet potato pie that someone had brought, and she was sitting at the center island in the kitchen reading “Pride and Prejudice”. Charlie had a Guinness in his hand.
“Hey! What are you doing in here? Why aren’t you out enjoying the party?” He walked over to the counter and took the book away from her. “Pride and Prejudice? Come on. Vacation just started. You don’t need to read this until next weekend.”
“No, Charlie, it’s okay. Really. You enjoy your party.” She tried to take the book away, but he took off towards the other end of the kitchen. She ran after him, and caught up to him as he reached the door to the butler’s pantry. She grabbed him, but as she did, she slipped, and they both tumbled onto the linoleum floor. Colette ended up on top of Charlie, and the two of them were face to face.
“You okay?” He looked at her eyes. She had beautiful green eyes, he thought. A guy could drown in them. He’d never really looked at her until yesterday, and that had been a shame.
“Yeah. I just lost my footing there for a second.” She started to get up.
“No, wait. I wanna say something to you. He sat up on the floor, and leaned back against the door to the pantry. She sat back down next to him on the floor. He sipped at his Guinness. “Look. About last night...”
“Shh. Don’t say anything. I know that you like me. It’s not hard to figure out. But I’m not Kat, and I’m not some kind of vixen. I’m not going to go and spoil things for you.” She didn’t look at him, instead just staring out across the kitchen. It was quiet there, though they could hear some of the revelry just through the other side of the door. “Last night was last night. I was feeling pretty good, and I wanted to kiss you, and that was it.”
“I know you’re not a vixen, and I’m not a bastard. Kat and I, we’re not really seeing eye to eye right now, you know, and it’s not going to get any better. Particularly if she sees the news report this evening, which I’m sure will happen.” He patted her leg. “You’re a good friend, Colette. These last few months have been great, and my French is certainly not suffering from it.”
“I’ve enjoyed it also.”
He stood up. “Look, what I’m trying to say is this. I like you. A lot, you know? But I’m sort of hung up here. I don’t know what to do.”
She got up and took his hand in hers. It was warm and firm, and she squeezed it lightly. “Trust your heart, Charlie. It’ll never take you down the wrong road.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” They stood there a moment, not saying anything. Charlie was about to open his mouth again when she dropped his hand and smiled.
“Don’t worry about me, Charlie. I’m sure whatever you’re going to do, it will be the right thing.” She took the book out of his hand and walked back over to the counter. “Go back to the party before she misses you. I don’t want to get you in trouble.” She sat down, back to him. He stood there for a second, then walked up to her. He turned her stool around and looked her in the eyes. Then he leaned down and kissed her full on the mouth. She was surprised, then happy, then confused. As he broke away, she looked up at him. “Charlie...”
“I, uh...” He stood up, half surprised that he’d done it himself. “Now you know how I feel, I hope.” He walked over to the kitchen door. “We’ll, uh, we’ll talk later.” With that, he was gone, leaving her sitting at the counter, mouth still agape. She turned back to look at the storm still raging outside, and considered her own storm of emotions raging inside.
Back in the living room, Kat was sitting on the couch, watching MTV with a few of the girls. She’d gotten a nice buzz going, and she was checking out some of the guys that were at the party. Charlie had been a bit of a wet blanket when she came over and took the remote out of his hand, but he’d been nice enough to ask if she wanted another drink before storming off to God knows where. Things had changed a lot for them in the three years they’d been dating.
They’d met in grade school, though at first there wasn’t any attraction. Charlie was just the odd kid with the French accent who hung around with Gary Ablett. He and Doug Harris became good friends, and when Doug started to get serious with Kim, Charlie had become a steady presence in the Masters house. He and Doug would play all manner of sports with the girls’ older brother Darrell. She’d only taken an interest in him when the first signs of puberty kicked in and Charlie started getting lean and handsome. Doug and Kim had suggested that she go out with him as a double date just after they’d started going out, and they hit it off like gangbusters. She figured that it probably helped that she’d started hitting puberty pretty hard also, and had developed a fairly womanly body quickly.
Their relationship hadn’t been rocky until the last few months. Charlie had started getting distant, a little at a time. She didn’t like it, because while she thought she loved him, she was also conscious of her status in the twin worlds of Holy Mother and St. Brigid’s. Being a cheerleader kept her floating a bit higher in the pool, but the fact that she was dating the number one hockey player in the state and the most popular guy at Holy Mother meant that she was top girl in the social order.
Kim had accused her of being shallow on more then one occasion, and she knew that she really couldn’t dispute the claim, as much as it hurt. But she wasn’t the egghead that Kim was, and she saw Charlie as her ticket out of New Haven. He was going to be a huge superstar, and she was going to go along for the ride. So when he started seeming less interested, she’d turned up the charm in an attempt to keep him around. It had worked intermittently, but as the end of the season approached, he’d become even more distant. She wondered if being around that French girl was causing the ripples. She made up her mind to talk to Audra about it. If anyone knew what was going on, she would. Bill Ryan came in and sat down at the far end of the couch. Kat liked him. He was a party animal, and always knew how to have a good time.
“Hey, Kat. How’s it goin?”
“Oh, fine, Bill. How about you?”
“You know. Same old thing. How’s that beer treating you?”
“Okay, why?”
He pulled a rolled up bag out of his pocket. He flipped it open to show her a half dozen joints inside. “You wanna go blaze one up with me? I got some really good stuff for the party, and I don’t have to play for a while yet.”
She thought about it. Getting baked seemed like a good idea. Charlie wouldn’t like it, but at this point, she didn’t think she cared. Besides, it was nice to have a guy who was actually interested in her directly. “Sure, that’d be cool.”
He offered her his hand, and they got up together. She knew of a few safe and quiet places in the house where they could go and smoke up. They headed off to the second floor, headed towards Gary’s library, where she figured no one would be. As they headed down the hall towards the library, though, they didn’t notice Gary and Audra coming out of his bedroom behind them. Gary was about to say something, when Audra nudged him and pulled him back into the bedroom quietly.
“Did you see that?” Gary was surprised, but not shocked. He’d always known that Bill was hot for Kat.
“I didn’t see anything yet,” said Audra, “but it’s something to keep in mind.” She’d been talking a lot to Colette, and she wasn’t any fan of Kat Masters. She knew that Colette wanted Charlie, and in her mind, she’d been working on a way to get them together for a couple of weeks now. This was a bonus, though. It was a golden opportunity, she thought as she poked her head back into the hallway. The coast was clear, so she and Gary headed back down to the party.
Colette was sitting in the kitchen when Charlie came bursting through the door. She hadn’t been moping, not really, but she was feeling somewhat out of place at the party. She really didn’t know a lot of the kids that were here, and the people she did know were occupied with other things. So she’d gotten herself a piece of the sweet potato pie that someone had brought, and she was sitting at the center island in the kitchen reading “Pride and Prejudice”. Charlie had a Guinness in his hand.
“Hey! What are you doing in here? Why aren’t you out enjoying the party?” He walked over to the counter and took the book away from her. “Pride and Prejudice? Come on. Vacation just started. You don’t need to read this until next weekend.”
“No, Charlie, it’s okay. Really. You enjoy your party.” She tried to take the book away, but he took off towards the other end of the kitchen. She ran after him, and caught up to him as he reached the door to the butler’s pantry. She grabbed him, but as she did, she slipped, and they both tumbled onto the linoleum floor. Colette ended up on top of Charlie, and the two of them were face to face.
“You okay?” He looked at her eyes. She had beautiful green eyes, he thought. A guy could drown in them. He’d never really looked at her until yesterday, and that had been a shame.
“Yeah. I just lost my footing there for a second.” She started to get up.
“No, wait. I wanna say something to you. He sat up on the floor, and leaned back against the door to the pantry. She sat back down next to him on the floor. He sipped at his Guinness. “Look. About last night...”
“Shh. Don’t say anything. I know that you like me. It’s not hard to figure out. But I’m not Kat, and I’m not some kind of vixen. I’m not going to go and spoil things for you.” She didn’t look at him, instead just staring out across the kitchen. It was quiet there, though they could hear some of the revelry just through the other side of the door. “Last night was last night. I was feeling pretty good, and I wanted to kiss you, and that was it.”
“I know you’re not a vixen, and I’m not a bastard. Kat and I, we’re not really seeing eye to eye right now, you know, and it’s not going to get any better. Particularly if she sees the news report this evening, which I’m sure will happen.” He patted her leg. “You’re a good friend, Colette. These last few months have been great, and my French is certainly not suffering from it.”
“I’ve enjoyed it also.”
He stood up. “Look, what I’m trying to say is this. I like you. A lot, you know? But I’m sort of hung up here. I don’t know what to do.”
She got up and took his hand in hers. It was warm and firm, and she squeezed it lightly. “Trust your heart, Charlie. It’ll never take you down the wrong road.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.” They stood there a moment, not saying anything. Charlie was about to open his mouth again when she dropped his hand and smiled.
“Don’t worry about me, Charlie. I’m sure whatever you’re going to do, it will be the right thing.” She took the book out of his hand and walked back over to the counter. “Go back to the party before she misses you. I don’t want to get you in trouble.” She sat down, back to him. He stood there for a second, then walked up to her. He turned her stool around and looked her in the eyes. Then he leaned down and kissed her full on the mouth. She was surprised, then happy, then confused. As he broke away, she looked up at him. “Charlie...”
“I, uh...” He stood up, half surprised that he’d done it himself. “Now you know how I feel, I hope.” He walked over to the kitchen door. “We’ll, uh, we’ll talk later.” With that, he was gone, leaving her sitting at the counter, mouth still agape. She turned back to look at the storm still raging outside, and considered her own storm of emotions raging inside.
Back in the living room, Kat was sitting on the couch, watching MTV with a few of the girls. She’d gotten a nice buzz going, and she was checking out some of the guys that were at the party. Charlie had been a bit of a wet blanket when she came over and took the remote out of his hand, but he’d been nice enough to ask if she wanted another drink before storming off to God knows where. Things had changed a lot for them in the three years they’d been dating.
They’d met in grade school, though at first there wasn’t any attraction. Charlie was just the odd kid with the French accent who hung around with Gary Ablett. He and Doug Harris became good friends, and when Doug started to get serious with Kim, Charlie had become a steady presence in the Masters house. He and Doug would play all manner of sports with the girls’ older brother Darrell. She’d only taken an interest in him when the first signs of puberty kicked in and Charlie started getting lean and handsome. Doug and Kim had suggested that she go out with him as a double date just after they’d started going out, and they hit it off like gangbusters. She figured that it probably helped that she’d started hitting puberty pretty hard also, and had developed a fairly womanly body quickly.
Their relationship hadn’t been rocky until the last few months. Charlie had started getting distant, a little at a time. She didn’t like it, because while she thought she loved him, she was also conscious of her status in the twin worlds of Holy Mother and St. Brigid’s. Being a cheerleader kept her floating a bit higher in the pool, but the fact that she was dating the number one hockey player in the state and the most popular guy at Holy Mother meant that she was top girl in the social order.
Kim had accused her of being shallow on more then one occasion, and she knew that she really couldn’t dispute the claim, as much as it hurt. But she wasn’t the egghead that Kim was, and she saw Charlie as her ticket out of New Haven. He was going to be a huge superstar, and she was going to go along for the ride. So when he started seeming less interested, she’d turned up the charm in an attempt to keep him around. It had worked intermittently, but as the end of the season approached, he’d become even more distant. She wondered if being around that French girl was causing the ripples. She made up her mind to talk to Audra about it. If anyone knew what was going on, she would. Bill Ryan came in and sat down at the far end of the couch. Kat liked him. He was a party animal, and always knew how to have a good time.
“Hey, Kat. How’s it goin?”
“Oh, fine, Bill. How about you?”
“You know. Same old thing. How’s that beer treating you?”
“Okay, why?”
He pulled a rolled up bag out of his pocket. He flipped it open to show her a half dozen joints inside. “You wanna go blaze one up with me? I got some really good stuff for the party, and I don’t have to play for a while yet.”
She thought about it. Getting baked seemed like a good idea. Charlie wouldn’t like it, but at this point, she didn’t think she cared. Besides, it was nice to have a guy who was actually interested in her directly. “Sure, that’d be cool.”
He offered her his hand, and they got up together. She knew of a few safe and quiet places in the house where they could go and smoke up. They headed off to the second floor, headed towards Gary’s library, where she figured no one would be. As they headed down the hall towards the library, though, they didn’t notice Gary and Audra coming out of his bedroom behind them. Gary was about to say something, when Audra nudged him and pulled him back into the bedroom quietly.
“Did you see that?” Gary was surprised, but not shocked. He’d always known that Bill was hot for Kat.
“I didn’t see anything yet,” said Audra, “but it’s something to keep in mind.” She’d been talking a lot to Colette, and she wasn’t any fan of Kat Masters. She knew that Colette wanted Charlie, and in her mind, she’d been working on a way to get them together for a couple of weeks now. This was a bonus, though. It was a golden opportunity, she thought as she poked her head back into the hallway. The coast was clear, so she and Gary headed back down to the party.
