“Wow, we’re back to being 12 huh?” I hear Lisa say, amused.
“One or ten,” Aidan says again, gripping my neck tighter. I manage to elbow him in the stomach and he lets me go.
“Your mom says cut it out,” Lisa says before rolling her eyes.
“Whose white Audi is that outside?” he asks, and I sigh.
“It has to be Caylen’s mom’s,” Lisa adds matter-of-factly.
“If she is a one, who cares with a car like that,” he says as we head back into the house.
“Mrs. Red, Chris says I can’t stay for dinner,” Aiden’s whine reminds me of when we were kids.
“Of course, you can stay. Chris, why wouldn’t Aidan be able to stay for dinner? I made his favorite,” my mom says, frowning at me.
“I just…you know this is Lauren’s first dinner with us. Aidan can be a lot to handle,” I say, trying to give my mom the hint.
“But Lisa gets to stay!” Aidan says defensively.
“That’s because I’m not an ass,” Lisa quips.
“Yeah, you’re an animal of an entirely different species,” he says.
“Jerk-off!” Lisa pushes him.
“My mom is right here!” I say, shooting them a glare to shut them both up.
“Sorry Mrs. Red,” Aidan says.
“Me too. He brings out the worst in me,” Lisa says guiltily.
“I think Lauren would want to get to know the people that are important in your life.” My mom smiles at me and I grumble.
“Aidan, please try to be on your best behavior,” my mom says, patting him before returning to her pot. We all head into the living room and sit down.
“Seriously Aidan. Don’t be a jerk. She’s been through a lot,” I say seriously.
“She’s driving an Audi. I doubt she’s been through all that much.” Aidan chuckles.
“I’m not joking,” I warn.
“Can we just watch the game?” He waves me off, turning up the volume on the TV. I slouch back into the sofa and turn my attention to the game. My team’s down by 18 points.
Do you see my bags at the door and the one I’m holding? Do you not get it?!
I immediately sit up and look behind me. No one’s there. I look over at Lisa, who’s lying down on the opposite couch.
“What?” I ask. She looks over at me confused.
“What?” she asks.
“Didn’t you just say something?” She shakes her head. Okay, I know she said something.
Someone did. Maybe I didn’t hear anything. I settle back down in my seat, keeping my eye on her. Lisa has a lot of talents but ventriloquism isn’t one of them. I need to get more sleep.
I’m leaving, Cal. Fuck you and your texts!
What the hell was that?! I look back over at Lisa whose attention’s on her phone. I look behind me and no one’s there. Now I know it wasn’t her and I know whose voice it was.
It’s Lauren's.
“Dude, you okay?” Aidan asks me with a raised eyebrow.
“You didn’t hear that?” I hesitate.
“Hear what?” Aidan asks, sitting up. He didn’t hear it. Which means only I heard it. How is that possible? I get up from the couch, make my way to the hall and up the stairs. A moment later everything blurs around me. I’m somewhere else and I see myself.
I’m holding Lauren. She’s fighting me as I carry her up a set of stairs. As quickly as I see it, it’s gone, or did I even see it at all?
Of course I saw it. It was happening to me!
“Are you okay, son?” My mom is at the top of the steps looking at me suspiciously.
“Yeah, I thought I heard Lauren call me,” I mutter. It’s the closest thing to the truth I could come up with. She comes up and pats my shoulder.
“You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” She chuckles before making her way past me. I laugh nervously. Not a ghost, but it seems like someone’s definitely trying to scare me.
It’s easy to scare a pussy.
Chapter 31
Lauren
The smell of pasta wakes me up from my nap. I inhale the scent of the pillow I curled up with. It smells like fabric softener and a hint of something else. Whatever it is smells fantastic. Chris’s bed has the perfect balance of firmness and softness. I’m not sure how long I’ve been asleep but my stomach’s growling. I thought I wouldn’t be able to sleep in someone else’s house but that theory turned out to be very wrong.
I sit up in bed, the sun’s no longer lighting the room. I pull out my phone. It’s 5:15. I head to the bathroom Chris showed me earlier. My ponytail is a mess. I take the holder off, run my hand through my hair, and splash some water in my face, trying to get rid of the, I just woke up look.
I head to the stairs and hear Bubble Guppies, one of Caylen’s favorite shows on the Scott's surround system. She’s already toddler-ized their house.
Caylen’s sitting in the middle of the floor on a big pink blanket eating graham crackers. Mr. Scott is asleep on a brown couch that matches the comfy brown chair I sat in earlier and across from him is the girl I saw in the picture with Chris. Her long locks have been replaced by an asymmetrical bob but I still recognize her. When she sees me, she sits up from her prone position.
“Hi!” she says cheerfully.
“Hi.” I kneel down next to Caylen and kiss her on the cheek.
“You must be Lauren.” I stand to shake her hand but she pulls me into a hug instead.
“Lisa, right?” I say as she releases me.
“Yeah. I hope my reputation doesn’t precede me!” she says with a nudge.
“Uhm. I was looking at pictures in Chris’s room and you were in some. Nothing bad!” I assure her with a laugh.
“Good.” She folds her arms across her chest, and scrutinizes me. After all, I’m the woman who married her best friend’s alter ego...or something like that.
“Your daughter is so adorable,” she says, looking at Caylen.
“Thank you.”
We stand around awkwardly for a few seconds.
“Chris and Aidan went to grab something from the store.” She runs her hand through her hair and I notice a tattoo right above her wrist. It’s a word written in cursive.
“Fate.” She points to it, noticing my gaze. She then shows me the opposite side of her wrist is the word Hope.
“If you believe in fate, you better hope she doesn’t screw you over.” She laughs.
“Fate must not like me very much,” I mumble, and she laughs.
“Fate doesn’t like most people,” she giggles.
“If I were you, I don’t know how I’d deal with all this. I mean, I’d be literally pulling my hair out, his hair out, anyone in the general vicinity,” she says, and I smile tightly. “But you’re definitely doing the mature thing. Me, I’ve been told I’m not very mature. That’s why I work with kids.” she jokes.
“Oh? What do you do?” I ask, glad to have the spotlight off me.
“I’m a preschool teacher,” she says with a smile. I’m a little surprised. She’s dressed in low rise jeans with a midriff sweater, a red streak down her asymmetrical bob and a small piercing in her nose. She looks more like a rock star bartender than a teacher but Caylen is pulling on her pants and lifting her arms for her to pick her up, so kids must love her.