Chapter 21: Just Because

Needless to say, it was a cold bike ride from Heather’s house that night. Still, the exhilaration of the evening and the ardor of that red dress seared my mind, keeping me just warm enough to get me home. Only Melissa was still awake when I let myself in the porch door. She was reading on the couch, bundled up in a warm blanket.

“He returns,” she intoned with raised brow.

I winced, having hoped to arrive undetected. “Sorry. Lost track of time.”

“Didn’t know that the coffee house was open this late.”

“We were hanging out at Heather’s place after. Had tea with her folks and then I helped them clean house for tomorrow. It ended up taking longer than we thought.”

Melissa set her book down and turned her narrowed eyes toward me. “Really? You helped them clean?”

I rubbed my cheeks to get the chill off of them. “Yeah. I’m sure Mairead will go on about it tomorrow. Least I could do, and it was actually kind of fun!”

She nodded with respect. “Nice. That’s good to know for the future!”

I grinned sheepishly. “Hey, I do some cleaning at home too.”

“Mmm,” she murmured. It was a decidedly skeptical and drawn out murmur. “Well, I’m glad you’re home safe. I was about to call, but then I didn’t want to wake everyone.”

“Sorry. I guess I should’ve called you earlier.”

Melissa contemplated something for a moment and then waved a hand. “It’s okay, Matt. I’m glad you had a good time. Vacuuming?”

“Dusting, mostly!”

She laughed. “How are Mairead and Aongus?”

“Good. Tired though. That’s why we helped out.”

She looked at me with a warm and proud smile. “That was kind of you, Matt.”

I grinned back, realizing that besides providing good cover, my alibi had also scored me some points.

“All right, I’m going to get some sleep,” I announced.

“You must be freezing. It’s just about thirty-two degrees out.”

“Whoa, really? I’m going to grab an extra blanket then. Goodnight Mom.”

I kissed her. As I stepped out of the porch, she called out softly.

“Matt?”

“Yeah?”

“You are being careful, right?”

There it was. It was immediately clear what she was talking about, but I knew I had to play a little innocent, too. It was part of the game. Hopefully after a roundabout speech, I would be off to bed.

“Careful?”

“With Heather. Sexually. Contraception?”

That was the extent of her roundabout speech: four words. To the sharpest point and shorter than expected. I hadn’t answered her question yet, so I wasn’t free to go. But what to say? The truth is probably best, I figured.

“We’re being careful.”

“If you need money or a ride to the drugstore, just say the word. No questions asked, no explanation necessary.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

“I’ll leave it at that, unless you have anything to say or ask?”

“Not really. Except ... Maybe you should be telling Lara this, too?”

Melissa smiled. “Good idea, Matt,” she said, her eyes sparkling.

I realized Lara had already gotten the offer, probably a while ago. Lara never told me though, which maybe was strange, or not. I said goodnight and headed to my room, feeling like I had possibly grown up just a little bit. Still, I wondered how much my parents really knew.

There was a sliver of faint light coming from underneath Lara’s door, so I tapped very quietly with a finger. There was some sound of movement and then the door cracked open.

“What’s up?” she asked.

“Just saying hi,” I offered.

“Hi! I’m still reading. Almost done with the book.”

“Cool. I’ll let you finish, then.”

“How was your night?”

“Great.”

She smiled a little, but said nothing. I stood there for a bit, wondering what to do. I finally said goodnight. When I got into bed, I shivered. Hopefully I wasn’t going to come down with something and get ill.

Lara seemed oddly distant and reserved. Back in the summer, she would’ve wanted to hear all about my night. Maybe it was the book. Maybe it was Pete? Or maybe we were just growing up after all. But, I realized that I was missing Lara, even though I saw her every day.

I went to the Martins’ house early the next day, before the adults were to come for the meal. I was somewhat surprised that Heather wasn’t wearing the heels. Maybe it was excessive, even for her, to wear them before noon. At any rate, it was for the best because I brought Lara with me, thinking it would be good to include her whenever things were likely to be tamer. Although with Heather I never knew, of course. I figured bringing Lara would also be a nice gesture to the Martins, since having an extra hand to help with the cooking and cleaning before the rest of my family invaded would be welcomed.

The housework was much more sedate in the morning. There was an abundance of light teasing from both Heather and Lara about my domestic abilities. It was quite fun, but I kept seeing a girl in a red dress from the corner of my eye. After a quick snack for lunch, the three of us escaped to the back porch to relax and play some music. Heather was keen to hear Lara sing. The day had warmed up enough to be outside, though with bulky coats on.

“Did you play any music last night?” Lara asked us.

“No, we were busy working on our photography project,” Heather replied.

“Nice. What’s that about?”

“I’m just photographing some old shoes.”

I laughed despite myself. Lara was eyeing Heather carefully.

“What do you want to sing?” I asked Lara, before too many details were divulged.

“Should we try Classic Girl?”

“Sure.”

“You’re really working up the Jane’s tunes!” Heather exclaimed, pleased.

“Yeah, it’s good stuff,” Lara agreed.

“If it wasn’t for you sending that CD,” I said to Heather, “Lara might not be singing in the band.”

“Let’s hear it, then,” she urged.

I started the song, a moderately-paced strummer that worked well with just the acoustic guitar. I watched Heather’s smile broaden as Lara started singing. When we finished, Heather clapped happily.

“Lara, you sound really great!”

“I don’t know about that, but thanks!”

“Do another one!”

We lazily drifted through a few more songs, until my fingers got too cold and I set the guitar aside.

“Are you going to make it up to our house for the talent show?” Lara asked Heather.

Heather’s face took on a sad look as she looked at me apologetically.

“I don’t think so,” she lamented. “I have an exam on that Friday afternoon, literally last period. And then we’re leaving for Ohio early the next morning.”

“Oh no!” Lara exclaimed. “What a shitty time to have an exam, right before break!”

“I know, right? Mr. Cylindre is a total dick,” Heather agreed. She looked at me again, offering a wistful smile. “I really wanted to come up and hear you. Both of you!”

“It’s okay,” I said, trying to keep the disappointment out of my voice. “You’ll hear us some other time.”

“I was going to tell you at some point, but I didn’t want to spoil the day yesterday.” Heather’s face then brightened. “There is good news, though. Like I said, we’ll be going to Ohio again for Christmas, so my parents said we could stop by your house on the way back and stay for a few days. Basically around New Year’s Eve.”

“That would be awesome!” I exclaimed. “How long?”

“Probably four, maybe even five days, if I can convince my parents to leave Ohio as soon as possible. But, they don’t want to invite themselves over, so maybe you can have your parents ask them?”

“Yeah, definitely!” Lara exclaimed. “This year, Beth and Hans are going to Bermuda for their anniversary, so they’re not coming to our place like they usually do. Of course our folks will be fine with it.”

“Of course,” I echoed.

“Of course... Of course this land is dangerous!“ Heather sang, and we all joined in, laughing.

Mairead soon called for us, so we reluctantly stood. After establishing precedent the night before, she had not been shy about putting the three of us to work. As we returned to the warmth of the house, I felt disappointment well up again. The talent show. I had been really hoping that she would be able to come up. It would’ve been amazing to have her there in the audience and then take her to the dance that night. I really wanted her to hear our band, now that we were getting good.

“Maybe we can see if Jonah can have another party while you’re there,” I said, as we helped with some kitchen prep.

“Jonah?” Heather asked.

“The kid whose house we’re playing at next weekend.”

“Yeah, that would be so cool. Man, I wish I could come up for next weekend too!” she said. She pulled a road atlas from the bookshelf and opened it to New York State. “Where did you say it was?”

“Woodstock.”

“Oh, that’s right.”

I leaned in and found the town, pointing it out. Heather started measuring out the hours with her fingers. Then I noticed something that gave me a slight twinge of anxiety in my stomach. Woodstock was right next to West Hurley. West Hurley, on the Ashokan Reservoir. West Hurley, where someone whom I hadn’t thought of in quite a while was from.

“Still way too far,” Heather sighed. “But a party at New Year’s would be fun!”

“We’ll see. I don’t know if he’ll want to do it,” I said absently.

“We should totally ask, especially if next weekend goes well!” Lara said, excited. “It’d be such a fun New Year’s Eve!”

Yeah, really fun when Alana shows up.

“Maybe,” I said.

Lara looked at me strangely, but I ignored her and went back to chopping.

“We’ll play somewhere while you’re there, I’m sure,” I added. “Even if it’s just Bri’s house.”

Heather gave me a squeeze. “Whatever happens is fine with me!”

I changed the subject, letting the girls chat on about something.

Alana. Will she be at Jonah’s? Unlikely in November, since she’d still be at college. But over the holiday, it was possible. If Jonah’s parties were really as good as everyone said, it was probable that she knew him. It was even likely that she might go to them when she was back home on break. Then again, what was the worry? I told Alana I had a girlfriend. Nothing had happened. She’s just someone I met while fishing. I hadn’t ever told Heather though. But what was the point of it now?

“Earth to Matt!”

I snapped out of my anxiety and stared at them.

“You were on some other planet.”

“Sorry. I was just standing here thinking.”

“I was ... standing in the shower thinking!“ the girls sang at the same time. They shared a zap of jinx through their index fingers. I laughed, mostly glad to be spared the scrutiny of my thoughts.

“Hey, have you heard from James recently?” Heather asked Lara suddenly.

“No, not since the summer. Why?”

Heather lowered her voice. “He got arrested a little while back.”

Lara and I both looked at each other, eyes wide.

“He was all drugged up and got into a fight with a guy whose girl he tried to hook up with,” Heather continued. “Apparently James went a little too far and the police took him in to cool off.”

Lara looked positively shocked. “Damn! James did that? I can’t believe it. Was it bad?”

“Not really, in the end. I guess it was a weird situation that he got involved in, and the drugs didn’t help.”

“Is he a pot-head now?”

“I heard coke was involved,” Heather murmured.

“Coke?” Lara exclaimed, surprised even further.

“Yeah. I think he’s on the up now, but I bet it was scary for him.”

“Damn. I was actually thinking of calling him, just to say hi, but maybe not. Maybe best if I don’t get involved.”

“I can understand that. I can tell him hi from you when I see him in school, at least.”

“I think that would be fine.”

After we finished our tasks, Lara and I headed back to my aunt’s so that everyone could get dressed for the afternoon meal. Lara was very happy on the walk home.

“Thanks for including me this morning.”

“No problem,” I answered.

“I know you don’t get much time with her, so...”

“I’m glad you two get along.”

“Is it awesome?” Lara asked.

“What?”

“Being with her?”

“Of course.”

“You’re lucky.”

“You have Pete.”

Lara shook her head. “Pete’s cool. But Heather is just amazing.”

I laughed. “Okay, yeah, she is.”

“Don’t ever fuck it up, all right?”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence. You think I’m going to? That’s the last thing I want to do!”

Lara grinned. “I don’t care about you. I just want to be able to hang out with her more. And if you fuck it up, I can’t!”

“Mighty selfish of you,” I teased.

“Yup. But seriously, I love her.”

I eyed her for a moment. “Me too.”

“Good.”

Back at the house, I took a quick shower, intending to return to Heather’s as soon as I could. I was partly dressed when I heard the third strange noise. The first two sounds could have been the house creaking or the weather outside, but the third had to be deliberate. I peeked out the side window.

Sure enough, there she was. In her left hand she held a giant dead tree branch like a magical staff. She held her right hand up to her face, imitating the pressing of a camera shutter. Then she looked deliberately down at her feet. The heels had awoken and were out and about!