The Lunacy Fringe

Thirty-Seven

Later that day, I asked my dad to give me a ride to Quinn's house so I could tell him to stop being a dumbass. When I got there, Crystal answered and seemed really happy to find me on her doorstep. She immediately hugged me and asked questions about school, my cast, and whether or not I was hungry and needed to eat.

But then we got to talking about Quinn, and she said he was sulking in his room. So I made an excuse to leave her. I knocked on the door of his bedroom and waited for an answer.

"Go. Away," is all he said. I tried to open the door, but he'd already locked it.

"I'm not going anywhere, you ass. Open up," I demanded. Then the door swung open, and he looked down at me.

"If I'm the ass, then you're the hole."

"No, you're just disgusting."

"Give it a rest."

"Just shut up and talk to me." He rolled his eyes and returned to his dark cave. It looked like he'd been sleeping. His hair was messy, and his eyes were still bleary. He flopped onto his bed and picked up a notebook. "What are you doing?" I asked, cautiously stepping into the dungeon.

"Writing."

"In the dark?"

"Why are you here?"

"We need to talk."

"About what? About how you ditched me at a party to wander the streets with Felix? About how you didn't listen to me and made a bad choice anyway?"

"I didn't make a bad choice. I haven't decided that yet."

"You have. Trust me."

"Will you shut the hell up?"

"I'm just trying to look out for you."

"I don't care. I'm fully capable of making my own choices. Bad ones or otherwise. You're not my father, Quinn."

"And what did dear old Dad have to say about it?"

"He's letting us date. He agrees about letting me make my own mistakes. He trusts me. Also, he knows I'll do it whether you guys give us permission or not."

"Is that what you're doing now, then? Dating?" he asked, scribbling away.

"I don't know. He asked me to go to prom with him," I said with a shrug.

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Obviously." He rolled over and narrowed his eyes at me.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You know that Billie's crazy about you, right?" I pointed out. He rolled back over onto his stomach.

"It's different."

"How? You obviously like her too."

"No, I don't...."

"If you say you don't like her, then I'm going to punch you in the back of the head."

"Will you save your angry tirade and let me finish my goddamn sentence?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Fine. Finish."

"I was going to say. No, I don't just like her." He sighed and paused. "I love her." Well, that was bigger than I expected. Billie, of course, said she loved Quinn all the time. But she also said she loved me and bagels and pizza and cats and pretty much everything else. But Quinn was not the kind of guy who threw that word around lightly.

"Then why haven't you told her?" I prodded.

"Because it's not that easy. I'm scared. A big ole wuss."

"What are you scared of?"

"She's one of my best friends. I've known her since, like, the third grade. I already messed it up before by going out with someone else. And I know that she had a thing for Felix, and I don't want to go through that shit again. But I just have a tendency to screw everything up. I nearly killed my own sister. I can't even properly look out for you without coming off as a total dickhead. I just—don't want to screw it up and then lose her forever."

"Look—Billie loves you. And if things don't work out between the two of you—I'm pretty sure you won't lose her over it. She's the kind of friend you keep for life. She wouldn't turn her back on you."

"I guess." He kept scribbling and didn't look at me.

"Then can I tell you something if you promise you won't get mad?" I asked.

"If it's about Felix, I can't guarantee it."

"Can you at least hear me out?"

"I can try."

"I was going to say," I started, "that's kind of how I feel about Felix." He turned around and glared at me again.

"You can't possibly be in love with him already," he stated. I shook my head quickly.

"No, no. Of course not! I don't know him well enough for that. Give me a break."

"Yet."

"I just mean—I like him a lot. A lot, a lot. And not just because he's really hot. Which he totally is. Just like...."

"I know what you're trying to say. It's okay. I get it. But he's going to change when you least expect it. He always does." I nodded.

"I think maybe you're being harder on him than he deserves. Billie told me what happened with your ex. And according to Billie, it was a complete misunderstanding, and Felix wasn't at fault."

"Maybe I'm being too hard on him, but maybe I'm not being hard enough. Did you think about that?"

"Maybe. But it's still my life and my heart to break. So you just have to trust me."

"I do trust you. I just don't trust him."

"I know—but let me figure it out on my own. Because whatever this is—that I'm feeling for him—it's not just going to go away because my brother forbids it. I'd rather get my heart broken and learn my lesson than be hopelessly crushing on a guy who's also crushing on me." He nodded slowly.

"I can't stop you," he said.

"But will you be okay with it?" I tried.

"I don't think that's possible."

"Why not?"

"You're my sister. What he does with other girls is none of my business, and it has no effect on the people around me. But it's different with you." I nodded again and shifted on my feet.

"You still need to stop treating me like a child. Or like you have to protect me. At least you know Felix. He's not just some random guy who could be a serial killer or something. Let me figure it out on my own, or I'll annoy the crap out of you about it for the rest of my life." He shook his head and gave a half-hearted laugh.

"So dramatic," he said.

"Will you?"

"Sure. Whatever."

"Now, will you just talk to him?" He rolled back over.

"I don't want to right now."

"He didn't do anything wrong."

"He went after my sister after I explicitly told him to stay away from her."

"He's not 'going after' me. And he cares about you. He wouldn't—risk it, is what he said, if he didn't think it was worth it. I'm not saying I'm special and that I'll be different from other girls he's dated. Just that he knows that I'm important to you, and he still thinks I'm worth it."

"Did he tell you that?"

"Yes."

"I don't believe him."

"Then talk to him and let him explain it," I suggested.

"Fine, I'll call him. When you leave."

"Thanks. Now can you do something else for me?"

"Ugh, what now?" he groaned.

"Talk to Billie. Tell her the truth."

"You're really bad at keeping secrets, you know?"

"What? No, I'm not."

"She told you not to tell me, didn't she?" I blinked a few times and then huffed.

"Okay—well—just don't tell her I told you then. Problem solved." He laughed. "Okay. I'm gonna go now. So do what you're supposed to do. Or I'll be—angry."

"Oh, we wouldn't want that."

"Fuck off."

I turned and left and thankfully ran into Crystal again on my way out. She offered to give me a ride back home so I didn't have to walk again. And as soon as I got there, I made an excuse that I had to take the dog out just in case Felix came out. He did a little while later. Mostly because the dog wouldn't stop barking at the bush with the frogs in it, and it undoubtedly alerted him to my presence.

"Hey," I said when I noticed him standing by the fence.

"Hey," he replied, smiling softly. I went to him, and he reached his fingers through the chain link. I held onto them and smiled. "How are you?"

"I'm fine. How about you?"

"Good." He was silent for a second, and then he nodded. "Want to come over?"

"Over the fence?"

"Sure. Why not? Ever climbed a fence before?"

"It's been a while. Let me just let the dog back in the house. Hold on."

I hurried to let Cerbie back in through the kitchen door and then returned to the fence where he was waiting. I pulled my hair behind my ears and then hopped up onto the fence. I almost got stuck at the top, but it wasn't too high, and he helped me back over. Thankfully, the Lunacy Fringe didn't kick in and break any bones. Once I was safely across, he took my hand and led me to the area of his yard that was nothing but soft grass. We lay down without a word and looked up at the sky. The sun was starting to set, leaving an orangey-pink haze on the scattered clouds.

"What did you want me to come over for?" I asked after a moment. We held hands, and there was something peacefully serene about lying in the grass with him.

"Just haven't seen you much since your dad threatened to cut off my fingers," he said. I laughed and turned onto my side so I could face him. He smiled up at me. Then reached up to pinch my chin between his fingers. He planted soft kisses on my lips a few times before stopping.

"I talked to Quinn earlier," he told me as I leaned on my elbow and he played with a strand of my red hair.

"What'd he say?"

"He's made it very clear that he's still mad at me, but he said he won't be a dick anymore. Those were his words." I smiled.

"That's good. I'm glad to hear it."

"So—since Quinn was pretty sold on the idea of me teaching you our songs, would you like to practice with me?"

"Yeah, sure."

He stood up and took my hands to help me onto my feet. He laced his fingers with mine and led me into the house through the sliding glass door.

"Hey, Mom," he said when we stepped into the living room. "This is Ruby from next door." The woman was sitting on the couch. She must have been where Felix got his looks. Of course, I hadn't ever seen what his dad looked like, and he clearly didn't get his coloring from the blonde in the living room. But she was still gorgeous. She stood up to shake my hand. I had seen her a few times, but we'd never actually met.

"Hi, Ruby from next door," she said, taking my hand in hers. Nearly tripping over a pile of dogs to reach me. "It's nice to finally meet you. Felix has told me a lot about you."

"You too," I told her.

"We're gonna go practice in my room. If that's alright," Felix told her. She glanced at our clasped hands before turning on him.

"Practice what exactly?" He laughed.

"Guitar, Mom. Ruby plays too."

"Oh. Right." He nodded for me to follow him down the hall, and she returned to her book.

"Your mom seems nice," I said when we were safely in the guest room with all the guitars.

"Yeah, she is." He reached for the white one and handed it over. So I pulled the strap over my head.

"What's her name?"

"Claire. I assume you mean my mom." I nodded.

"You assumed correctly."

"Then yes, Claire."

"I don't mean to be rude or anything—but what happened to your dad?" He was silent for a second as he took the other guitar and pulled it on.

"He uh—went to work one day and never came back. We figure he must have gone back to Greece."

"Oh—I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked."

"No, it's fine. It probably would have come up eventually."

"If it helps—I do know what that feels like—kind of. I was three when we moved to Detroit. I hated my mom for a long time." He looked up at me and nodded thoughtfully.

"I know. That's what I meant when I told your dad that you get me. I know you were listening."

"Yeah, I was." He smiled.

"So now you know what I meant." He walked over to the bed. It was piled with books, boxes, and notebooks. There was really no room for anyone to sit down, but he pushed the notebooks aside and then propped one of them up on a box. He looked over his shoulder at me. "I um—I find it easier to write in tabs. It's easier to play and read. I hope that's not a problem."

"No, it's great. How do you do all this, though? I always see you writing at school, but you can't possibly be writing tabs." He shook his head.

"I write lyrics too sometimes. Or just things I think might sound nice. A lot of the time, it's just rewriting. Singing in my head. Transferring things into tabs."

"Oh. I didn't know that. You sing too?" He smiled.

"Not nearly as good as Quinn. And I really have no talent when it comes to singing and playing guitar at the same time." He slid one of the notebooks across the bed to stand in front of me.

"I'd like to hear you, though," I said. He leaned over and kissed me quickly on the lips.

"I'd like to hear you too."