No One Like Us

Akward Introductions

So the girls decided for me. We would be going out after work; something I rarely did while living with Jared. 

Louis was kind to me and allowed me to avoid any close-ups for the day. As we were cleaning up at the end of the day he approached me and said, "If there's anything you need, Zack, anything at all, we're all here for you. You're one of us, you know that. Don't worry about the shoot tomorrow. Take some time."

"Thank you," I said.

Rachel and Jessica insisted on dressing me up for our night out. They did my hair with pins to hold it out of my face but let it hang loose around my shoulders. They put me in a green dress, they said, to bring out the green in my hazel eyes. They went light on the makeup, but, thankfully, they did insist on covering up the dark circles under my eyes. It was difficult to feel beautiful, but objectively I had to agree that they did a good job. The short skirt of the dress accentuated my long legs, one of my favorite features granted to me by nature. 

I did not know we would be joined by others, but I suppose it was for the best. If it had just been us, I may have felt pressure to talk about what happened, but with a group, I was able to forget all about it for a little while and just have fun. 

The group consisted of me, Jessica, Rachel, Rachel's friend Freddy and his girlfriend Sandy, Jessica's roommate Lacy, and Lacy's brother Evan. I was thankful that Jessica didn't bring her boyfriend Drake. I have a feeling she was being considerate of me. Drake also always seemed a little bit uncomfortable around me. 

We started off at Johnny's bar and worked our way down the street. Rachel informed her friends that I was not having a good day, without telling them the details, and from then on I was treated at almost every stop. The only person outpacing me was Lacy's brother, Evan. Lacy and Evan were twins, both with fiery red hair and freckles. I knew Lacy well, through Jessica, but I had only ever heard stories about her useless "baby" brother. She was 5 minutes older than him, and always made sure we knew it. From what I knew, Evan was currently a freeloader at their parents' house. I did not know the circumstances. I accidentally said as much to him while at O'Malley's on First. 

"Freeloader -, I'm not a freeloader," he blurted indignantly. "Lacy! What are you telling these people about me?" he yelled across the table at his sister. 

"Well, pardon me," I said in a sing-song voice, "what else would you call living rent-free at your parents' as an adult?" I was already starting to slur and almost tripped over my words. 

"I'm an entrepreneur!" he said, slapping the table for emphasis. "I'm just trying to get off the ground."

"Oh? What is it that you do?"

"I'm writing a phone game," he said smugly.

"A phone game?"

"Yeah, like, the games you play on your smartphone."

"And... there's money in that?"

"Hell yeah, there is!" he nearly bounced out of his chair, he was getting so excited. "Even if you give the game away for free, selling power-ups and stuff in games is now a multi-million dollar business. I just need to finish it, and I'll be sitting pretty."

"Oh really," I said, skeptically. 

"Really," he leaned his elbow on the table. "You just wait. Give me a little while, and I'll be able to take you out to the most expensive places in town. Want to have dinner on a private jet?"

This kid was a thousand years too early to be trying to hit on me. Especially tonight, but it made me feel excited to be attracting his attention. "Did you just ask me out?"

"Maybe I did."

"Do you have a private jet?"

"Well... not yet, but when I do, I promise you're the first chick I'll call." 

This kind of thick flirtation usually got under my skin, but with the liquor in my system, and the recent wound I was licking, this conversation was invigorating. "But until then, you're living on your parents' couch, right?"

"You make it sound so lame when you say it like that," he took another gulp of the drink in his hand. "I'm working on getting out, I just need something cheap."

"Hah, good luck finding cheap in this town." This conversation shift reminded me too much of my own problems. I have to start looking for something cheap myself.

"I don't even care if I'm on a couch, so long as I'm not at my parents' house. You're right, that's lame."

We moved on to another bar whose name I can't remember. At some point, we lost Lacy. Rachel said she met a guy at the previous bar and stayed to chat him up. Jessica tried to talk her out of it, but they agreed Lacy would make sure to call the next day to let everyone know she was safe, and that Jessica would keep her phone on in the meantime just in case. 

I'm not sure how many drinks deep we were when the night finally wound down, but we had made it all the way back to my end of town. I was easy walking distance from home. We left the bar and began our goodbyes. Evan was barely conscious. I'm not sure what woe's he had to drink away, but he was more sheets to the wind than I was. He could barely stand, and was leaning on Freddy for support. 

"s**t," exclaimed Jessica, "Lacy was Evan's ride home!"

Evan murmured something about being able to get there himself. 

"Can you take him? You and Lacy live together, right?" asked Rachel.

"Their parents' house isn't near me, Lacy was planning on staying there tonight." Jessica, let out an exasperated sigh. "Can you take him, Rachel?"

"Alone? with a guy I don't know at my house? What kind of girl do you think I am? besides, I was planning to stay at Freddie and Sandy's tonight since they're closer."

Jessica turned to Freddy. 

"Don't look at me, we barely have floor room for Rachel."

Everyone turned to look at me in unison. 

"Oh no. No no. I can't," I said, through numb lips. 

"Come on, Jackie, but you live so close," said Jessica.

"And couldn't you use the company as a distraction?" asked Rachel.

"Can't I use Rachel's argument?" I slurred. They both gave me that 'you've got to be kidding me' look that drunk girls are so good at. I glowered at both of them for a moment, then slumped. "Okay, fine."

The group cheered my acquiescence. 

Freddy shifted Evan's weight from himself to me. Even was slightly shorter than me, but definitely not lighter. 

"Hey, Evan, you're going to have to work with me here," I said, trying to get him to stand up a little straighter. The words that came out of his mouth were completely incoherent. "Great..."

The rest of the group disbanded, waving at me and the limp Evan as they went. They were such great friends. 

It was only a couple of blocks to my apartment, but since Evan could barely walk, and I was in heels, it was a very long couple of blocks.  Thankfully, my apartment was only a couple of doors down from the elevator, so getting him to my front door was not that hard. I leaned him against the door as I unlocked it. As soon as I turned the handle, his weight on the door surprised me and we both fell through into the doorway. 

He was under me, giggling like a schoolboy. I had to awkwardly adjust to stand up again in my skirt and heels. I dragged him across the tan carpet into the living room and propped him up against the couch as his head lolled back and forth. 

His level of intoxication was starting to worry me. I was drunk, but he was wasted. I was not prepared to deal with someone dying of alcohol poisoning in my house. I quickly changed out of my shoes and dress into sweats and a T-shirt and returned to my coma patient with a glass of water. 

"Hey, can you drink some water?" 

His response was only vaguely verbal. I decided to try to get him to drink anyway. He tried to take the cup and tip it up, but I held on to it to keep control. He drank deeply and I watched his Adam's apple move with each gulp. He gulped once out of rhythm and started to cough. I took the cup away and leaned him forward. 

When the coughing cleared, he turned to look at me and smiled.

"Hi beautiful," he slurred. "Are we on our date already?"

"Sure, but it's almost time for you to go to sleep." 

"Then it's time for a goodnight kiss right?"

Before I could stop him, he had his lips on mine. They were soft. His were the first lips other than Jared's mine had ever touched. They were different; softer, sloppier, though that may have largely been due to his state of intoxication. Jared had always dominated the kiss, grabbing my lips with his and directing our movements. Evan's soft lips pressed against mine but didn't demand anything. I pulled away, and he fell against me, asleep. 

Damn that Rachel. Wasn't this exactly why she didn't want him at her place? Why was I so different? I may have been one of them, but I knew I still wasn't really seen as one of them. 

I lifted the limp ginger up onto the couch, on which I had spent so many nights watching old movies with Jared. I pulled one of Jared's throw blankets from the hall closet and covered Evan with it. This was all still Jared's stuff. I may have lived with him for seven years, but it was all still his stuff. How much of me was actually represented by this apartment?

The heat and pain welled up in my chest again and threatened to overtake me. I hobbled my way back to my room. Our room. Jared's room. And fell into Jared's bed, and pulled Jared's comforter over me, and cried. 

I touched my fingers to my lips, though. I could still feel the softness of Evan's drunken kiss there. Something about it made it a little easier to fall asleep.