Chapter 8
“Oh man, not again,” Gabriel groaned as we stood at the entrance to the kitchen. The place was a total mess. There were pots and pans everywhere and, if I wasn’t mistaken, there was macaroni and cheese stuck to the cupboards.
“Gabriel! Thank god you’re here.” We turned to see Mrs. Halen walking towards us with a squirming and once again naked Matthew in her arms. Her eyes drifted to me and she cringed. “Oh dear, I am so sorry about the mess. I guess you two are here to cook, right?” We nodded. “Oh Evelyn, I’m sorry you had to see the place like this. If you just give me a few minutes, I’ll clean it up.” She looked around for a place to put Matthew down but the effort was futile.
“Don’t worry about it, Mrs. Halen.” I rolled up the sleeves of my pale pink cardigan. “We’ll clean it up, won’t we Gabriel.” I looked up at Gabriel who was scowling at the messy kitchen.
“No way,” he muttered. I elbowed him in the ribs and he grunted and rubbing the sensitive area as he glared down at me. “Yeah, yeah, no problem. Don’t worry about it, Mom.”
She let out a gusty sigh as she set Matthew down, holding his hand firmly. “Thank you so much, you two. You are life savers, I swear. And Evelyn? Please call me Carrie.”
“Sure and it’s really no trouble,” I said cheerfully, still a little hyper from the motorcycle ride.
“She said she’d clean it,” Gabriel grumbled as his mother walked away.
“She’s clearly busy. Stop being such a baby. The faster we clean, the faster we can bake,” I said, checking the time on my cell phone.
“Do you have somewhere to be?”
I looked up to see Gabriel staring down at me with genuine curiosity in his eyes. I just shrugged. “Not really.”
His gaze was slightly disbelieving for a second then he shrugged. “Whatever. Since you volunteered our services, you get to tackle the macaroni.”
I stuck my tongue out at him and went to work. As I wiped at the mess, I thought about how different I was with Gabriel. I couldn’t seem to make myself act like Invisible Evelyn around him and the more I was myself, the better it felt. Sometimes I felt like burning all my cardigans and the stupid glasses I wore. As soon as I moved out, I would do just that.
“So Evie,” Gabriel began as he unloaded the dishwasher, “who was that guy last night?”
I shrugged even though he wasn’t looking at me. “A friend of mine,” I replied, willing my heartbeat to calm down a bit. Just because he’d met Frank and saw me with my hair down didn’t mean that he knew everything.
“He’s really not your boyfriend, then?”
I snorted. “Yeah right. As if I would have a boyfriend.”
He was putting a bowl away in the cupboard beside me when he stopped and looked at me. Feeling his gaze, I turned my head to meet his eyes. “What do you mean?”
I snorted and gestured at myself. My cardigan was a faded pink and about two sizes too big. The khaki pants I had on were a little too short for me and baggy in the butt. My hair was in its usual bun although not as tight as it usually was thanks to the helmet. “C’mon, Gabriel. I’m pretty much invisible. What guy would want to date me?”
He scowled at me as his eyes got a bit darker from anger. “You really shouldn’t put yourself down like that.”
“I’m just being realistic.”
He shook his head. “You’re not even that bad.”
“‘Not that bad’ does not get you dates, Gabriel,” I said sarcastically.
He gave a half smile and something in his eyes changed and he looked at me without any of the attitude he usually had. It felt like his eyes were seeing the real me and I struggled not to squirm under his scrutiny. “You’re cute when you smile,” he said.
My mouth dropped open and Gabriel quickly looked away, his cheeks going a little pink.
Wait just a second, Gabriel Halen, the school’s motorcycle riding bad boy was blushing because of something he said to the school’s most invisible girl? What was the world coming to?
I snapped my mouth shut and turned back to the macaroni when something occurred to me. “What,” my voice came out as a croak so I cleared my throat and tried again. “What about you? Is Catherine Stone your girlfriend?” I asked. For some reason, I stopped breathing as I waited for his answer.
I saw his reflection in the microwave as he scowled at the dish he was holding. “No way. That girl just follows me around everywhere, like some kind of lost puppy.” He shook his head and I had to cover my mouth to keep from laughing out loud. “She’s really weird. No matter what I say, she’ll just blindly agree with it. If I mention a band, the next day, she’s listening to their CD.”
“Sounds awful,” I choked out, trying hard not to laugh.
He turned quickly and glared at me. “It’s not funny, Evie.”
“It’s pretty funny.”
“You really think it’s funny?” A devilish glint entered his eyes as he moved to the sink and scooped up a bowl filled with left over macaroni.
I nodded, finally letting my laughter go.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” he said as he launched the macaroni at me. I gasped as the cold, slimy noodles hit my face, some landing in my hair.
“I can’t believe you did that!” I yelled, grabbing a squeeze bottle of ketchup and aiming it at him but it was kind of hard to see with macaroni on my glasses.
“C’mon Evie, don’t be rash. I only did it because you were laughing at my misfortune. We’re even now.”
I rolled my eyes. “Even, my ass,” I said and squeezed the bottle. A stream of ketchup got him in the middle of his chest and moved towards his right shoulder as he dodged out of the way. Before I could adjust my aim, he lunged at me and grabbed me around the waist, making me drop the ketchup. He pinned my arms to my sides and pushed me against the fridge to keep me from grabbing another weapon. “Okay, okay, I give up,” I said, laughing as I tried to get a clear view of him and failing. My glasses were hopelessly dirty thanks to the macaroni.
“Promise?” he asked, skeptical.
“I swear, now let me go,” I said noticing that my heartbeat was going a little too quickly with him so close to me. Even the little bit of him that I could see looked good. His dark gray shirt molded to his impressive chest and shoulder muscles and even though he had a decent amount of ketchup on him, he still pulled it off.
I mentally shook myself, excusing my lustful thoughts due to left over excitement from the motorcycle ride. No way was I even considering Gabriel Halen in that way. I mean, the guy was way out of my league so there wouldn’t be any point, right? Even Rocker Evie would’ve had to work for his attention, not that she…I…ever would.
Besides, my attraction was for his bike anyway. The only reason that Gabriel factored into it was because someone had to drive the thing and I didn’t have a motorcycle license.
It was all the bike’s fault.
He let me go and we both took a couple steps away from the fridge to survey the extra damage we’d caused. Gabriel groaned and I looked over at him, trying to see what he saw. “What?” I asked.
He turned his face to me and laughed. “Here,” he said, reaching for my face. I took a quick step back and stepped in some ketchup. Suddenly the world was tilting sideways and gravity was pulling me towards the hard linoleum floor. Bracing myself for impact, I closed my eyes tight and waited.
I never landed.
Instead, a pair of strong arms wrapped around me, keeping my head from bashing against the floor.
“Thanks,” I breathed when I realized that I wasn’t about to get a concussion.
“Sure,” Gabriel said, looking down at me from his vantage point directly above me. He was holding me close to his chest and only my heels were touching the floor. He was supporting all my weight yet he didn’t seem to be straining. Suddenly he pulled me up and set me on my feet but he didn’t let go of me. His arms were wrapped around my waist and our bodies were touching from thigh to chest. I had a clear view of his left eye but it was dark and unreadable. Then he lifted one of his hands and removed my glasses.
I stood still and stared at him as he gave a lopsided grin and muttered, “You have macaroni in your hair.” He switched hands, putting the one with my glasses around my waist and the other one up to my face to remove a piece of macaroni. His palm brushed the side of my face and I felt my cheeks heat up as desire flooded my stomach. Suddenly his gaze moved from my hair to my eyes and I couldn’t look away. His grin faded and his expression turned serious as we looked at each other. I swallowed hard and I think he may have been moving a little closer to me.
He totally was! Gabriel Halen was bringing his face closer to mine and I wasn’t doing anything to stop him! I should stop him, I really should. He already knew more about me than anyone else at school and if he kissed me, I didn’t think I could stop myself from telling him all of my secrets.
His head inched forward a bit more and to my horror, I pushed mine a little closer to him as well when someone said loudly, “Excuse us for interrupting!”
We jumped away from each other at the sound of James’ voice.
We avoided each other's eyes and instead focused on the two boys standing at the entrance of the kitchen, smirking at us. Brett and James had knowing looks in their eyes as they surveyed the scene in front of them.
They were saying something to Gabriel but I wasn't paying any attention. There was only one thought traveling through my brain at that moment.
What would've happened if we hadn't been interrupted?
After James and Brett left, Gabriel and I cleaned the kitchen in silence. Once it was all done, we awkwardly moved around the kitchen, getting our ingredients ready for the apple pie.
Oh god, this strange silence was killing me but the only thing I could think about was our almost kiss and if I said anything I was terrified that I would end up mentioning it.
“You guys want to listen to me play?” James asked, coming into the kitchen with his guitar.
“Yes!” Gabriel and I said in unison.
For the first time since the almost kiss, we looked at each other and I couldn’t help but let a grin break over my face. He grinned back at me, shaking his head. “What did we just agree to?” he groaned.
I just shook my head and went on peeling apples as James starting playing something that sounded kind of like Stairway to Heaven.
We were working side by side, half listening and half trying to tune out James when Gabriel said quietly, “I’m sorry about earlier.”
I looked up at him and gave him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay. Me too. We just got caught up in the moment, that’s all.”
His lips turned down a bit at the corners. “Yeah.”
“I mean,” I continued, looking back at the apples I was cutting, “I know I’m not your usual type so I wasn’t really reading anything further into it. And trust me, you are definitely not my usual type,” mostly because I had like, zero experience with boys, “so I don’t want you to think I have some sort of secret crush on you or anything.” I gave a short laugh at the thought. How embarrassing that would be. Evelyn the invisible secretly crushing on the school’s hottest bad boy. Hah! What a joke. “It was just a mistake.” I shrugged, feeling better now that we’d cleared the air.
I turned to give him another reassuring smile but ended up looking at him quizzically instead. He was frowning at me and I think there was anger in his eyes. What? Did I cut the apples wrong? I glanced down at the apples and they all looked nicely crescent shaped. “What?” I asked, looking at his frowning face.
He turned his attention back to the crust in front of him, kneading it into the right consistency. “Nothing,” he mumbled. “I was just about to agree with you. You and me, we don’t make sense. I mean, you live in a mansion and I live in a townhouse in the wrong part of the city.” He shrugged, putting a bit too much force into his kneading causing the crust to break. “I don’t think your mom would appreciate you hanging out with someone who rides a motorcycle and has a reputation for dealing drugs.”
For some reason, I didn’t like him pointing out our differences. “Well, it’s not like you actually deal drugs.”
“How do you know?”
“I just do.”
His eyes connected with mine and I saw anger and surprise there. “No matter what I tell anyone else they still think I’m some kind of bad guy.”
I shrugged. “I don’t. I mean, you’re not the sweetest guy in the world or anything, but you’re not bad.” I finished cutting the apples and looked at the clock. “Oh my god! Is that the right time?” I shouted, wiping my hands on my khakis. It was almost five o’clock and I had to meet the band at Jam. “I have to go!” I raced around the kitchen gathering my things.
“I thought you said you didn’t have to be anywhere.” Gabriel hadn’t moved from his spot. He’d just turned so he could watch me as I rushed around. James continued playing, oblivious to the world around him.
“I-I forgot that I have to meet someone.”
“Well, let me give you a ride. I’ll put the pie in the oven when I get back.” He wiped his hands on a cloth and took a couple steps forward.
“No!” I shouted, panicking. I was going to Jam! If he drove me there, he would ask why I was going to a bar at five o’clock on a weekday and I would have to come up with an excuse.
He stopped walking and for a second he looked…hurt. I mentally shook my head. Of course he wasn’t hurt, that was ridiculous. Evelyn Taylor did not have the power to hurt Gabriel Halen.
“It’s really no trouble,” he said, not looking at me. “Unless you don’t want to be seen with me or something.” There was definite anger in his voice as he spoke and I stopped looking for my notebook so I could face him.
“It’s not that, Gabriel, I just…” I trailed off. What could I say? What would even make sense?
“Are you going to meet up with that guy you were with last night?” His voice was quiet and he still wouldn’t look at me.
Latching onto the excuse I nodded. “Yes, I am and he’s super protective of me even though we’re just friends and I don’t think he’d want me to ride on a motorcycle.” I sighed in relief at having come up with a good excuse.
For a second, Gabriel’s eyes connected with mine and the anger I saw there made me take a step back in surprise.
“Fine,” he said, his voice and eyes going flat. I’ll see you around, then.”
I shivered at the sudden coldness in his gaze. Jeez, what had I done? “Okay,” I said hesitantly. I wanted to ask him what was going on but I glanced at the clock and saw that I was already late. “Bye,” I muttered, waving at James as I rushed out of the house, leaving the notebook I’d been searching for behind.
I burst into Jam five minutes late and still dressed like Invisible Evelyn. “I’m so sorry I’m late guys! Just give me two minutes!” I panted as I rushed into the change room. For some reason, the thought of playing with the band when I wasn’t Rock Evie just felt wrong.
I changed quickly and shook out my hair. When I took off my glasses, I noticed a smudge in the corner of the lens and grinned a bit when I realized it was from the macaroni.
“Okay I’m ready! Let’s rock this!”
The band just stared at me for a second.
“What the hell is going on with you?” Freida asked me.
Confused, I looked down at myself. “What do you mean?”
“You were late,” Frank said, looking dazed, like something drastic had happened. “You’re never late.”
I shrugged. “I had to work on my home ec project. C’mon guys, it’s not that big a deal.”
“Oh so you were working on your project. With your partner, right?” Alice said, wiggling her eyebrows suggestively.
I chose to ignore her and took my spot behind the microphone. “Shut it, will you? We’re already late getting started.”
They all laughed and the weird atmosphere disappeared as we started warming up together. We were a few songs in when John opened the door, looking frantic.
We all stopped playing and looked at him. He rarely interrupted our rehearsals. “What’s up?” I asked.
“Our band for tonight just cancelled. Every other band is already booked for the night and we have a huge bachelor party coming in. We promised them there would be live music.” John’s frantic look changed to a pleading one.
“Um, don’t bachelor parties usually happen at strip clubs?” Frank asked.
John’s gray eyes were huge and he looked like a puppy dog. Well, a puppy dog with really long hair and kind of gaunt features. Well really, it was just his eyes. Basically he was silently begging us. “The fiancée wouldn’t let them have any strippers. Do you guys think you could play tonight? I know you have to go to school tomorrow and everything but I’ll actually pay you this time. Please?”
Everyone looked at each other seriously for a second before wide grins broke across our faces. “Hell yes!” we yelled at the same time causing a wide grin to stretch across John’s face.
“Yes!” he yelled pumping his fist as he spun from the room. “Xavier! They’ll do it!” he hollered, sharing the news with the club’s co-owner as the door slammed shut behind him.
I chuckled as I put down the guitar to talk to the band. “Let’s take a break and work on the set list.” I glanced at the clock, it was almost six thirty. We would probably start playing our first set at about ten which gave us tons of time.
After we’d made a set list which was mostly made up of crowd pleasers, we decided that we would go home quickly before coming back for the performance.
“Hey guys,” Alice said as she slung her backpack over her shoulder. “I was thinking that we should make a video for our band. I have a friend who really likes to mix and shoot music videos so would it be cool if I asked him to come tonight to get some footage?”
“I’m in!” Frank said, raising his hand.
Freida and I laughed. “Sure,” I said, shrugging.
“Sounds good,” Freida said.
Alice grinned. “Perfect!” He’ll be here! See you guys later!” She skipped out of the room, excited.
Freida and Frank followed. Freida was muttering to herself about outfit selection as she left and Frank was asking her whether or not she thought there might be chicks at this bachelor party.
Smiling, I shook my head as I tidied up the practice room a bit. Not ready to go home yet, I grabbed an acoustic guitar and started playing one of my favorite Guns N Roses songs, Patience.
I didn’t pause between songs as I continued playing, losing track of everything but the music and the feel of my fingers sliding along the neck of my guitar. When I played, I usually forgot about everything but for some reason, my sound was slightly more cheerful this time. I kept thinking about that food fight and how much fun I’d had on the motorcycle which added a bit of extra bounce to my tone. I shook my head, smiling and continued playing deciding that some songs just needed a bit of extra cheer.
“I knew this would happen,” Freida said as she stepped into the practice room. I jumped about a foot off my stool cutting me off halfway through CCR’s Who’ll Stop the Rain.
“Jesus, Freida! Give me some sort of warning next time, okay?” I clutched my guitar to my chest, willing my heart to slow down.
“What happened to going home?” She asked, eyeing my outfit dubiously.
“I’m going I just thought I’d play a couple…” I trailed off as I caught sight of the clock. “Is that the time?” I half shouted.
“Yeah, it’s nine. You’ve been here the whole time, haven’t you?” I nodded. Freida sighed. “I knew it. C’mon, I brought you an outfit.”
“Damn girl, you look hot,” Freida said 20 minutes later. We both stared at my reflection for a moment.
“Wow. You’re a miracle worker Freida.” I turned this way and that trying to get a good view of the outfit.
I was wearing a dress. It was tight and pretty short but not indecent or anything. I was going to be on a stage tonight, after all. It dipped low in the front but I didn’t have a whole lot in the chest department to show anyway. The dress was pretty much backless and we’d added a fake tattoo of a treble clef and a musical staff to my left shoulder blade. The sleeves were long and flared at the ends with lots of fabric hanging beyond my hands. Because I had to strum with my left hand, we pinned one of the sleeves up and put a bunch of silver bracelets all up and down my arm so that it wouldn’t fall down and get in the way.
My hair was half piled up on my head and half tumbling down my shoulders. I was wearing a lot more make-up than usual but the dark liner that winged out from the corners of my eyes made the green pop more than usual and the dark red lipstick completed the whole effect. I looked awesome and nothing like Invisible Evelyn.
Freida shrugged, eyeing her handy work. “You really should wear heels with this outfit.”
“No way,” I said, stepping into my ankle high combat boots. “I’ll break my neck jumping around on stage in heels. Besides, I think these complete the outfit.”
“C’mon guys, we have to be on stage in five minutes!” Frank shouted, banging on the door to the change room.”
“Let’s do this!” Freida said, checking her own hair one last time before opening the door and stepping out with confidence. I fidgeted with the hem of my dress a bit wishing it was just slightly longer. Taking a deep breath I told myself to shut up and walked out with my head held high.
Frank’s mouth fell open when he saw me. “Evie,” was all he said as he kept looking me up and down.
I laughed. “Frank focus, okay? We need you tonight so stop staring at one of your best friends in a totally inappropriate way and start thinking about music.”
“The only music I can think of right now is porno music. Shit Evie, you look awesome!”
“You’re a pig,” I replied, brushing past him and grabbing my guitar. I chose one of my dad’s favorites. It was the electric blue Gibson Explorer. Apparently it had been custom made for my father back when they were starting to hit it big before he started blowing off meetings and getting too drunk or high to play. I ran my hand over the neck of the guitar, feeling a few nicks and scratches here and there. This guitar had been through a lot and its sound was somehow better because of it.
“You guys ready?” I asked looking at each of my friends.
Frank’s hair was sticking straight up and he was wearing a leather vest with very ripped jeans and construction boots.
Alice was wearing a floor length skirt that had stars and planets all over it. Her shirt was a dark blue halter top that sparkled in the light and her beautiful red hair fell down her back in waves. Her make-up was heavier than usual too and her brown eyes looked huge.
Freida’s blonde hair was messy and spiky and she was wearing alien ears. Her outfit was a bright yellow bando with a torn shirt on top that pretty much revealed everything. She was wearing loose jeans that she had painted a bunch of different flowers all over. Her make-up was done to look like a mask across her eyes in a bunch of different colors and sparkles.
I smiled as they nodded. “You guys look so kick ass.”
They grinned at me as we walked onto the stage.