Lakewood - Megan Giddings Page 0,52
know—part of me thought I might never have room for something like this in my life. I guess I’m excited. It’ll probably be awful, but still.”
“I miss you.”
“Is everything okay with you?”
“I wish I lived closer.” Lena tipped her face up to the stars. Although the party was technically in the city, the stars were so clear.
“This morning, I realized I didn’t think about her at all yesterday,” Deziree said.
“Is that good or bad?”
“Both.”
When her mother hung up, Lena sighed. Homesickness encouraged her to get into the car and drive home. She finished her drink. Pulled her phone out and used its camera to attempt to fix her hair and makeup. What if her mother fell in love? What if she got married? Lena wished her grandma was around for this; she was the only person who could be trusted to know whether a man was good in the right way.
Back in the party, Charlie was smoking a cigar.
“Since when do you smoke?”
“It’s a present.”
“Did you open the one from me?” Lena fished her box off the pile. Charlie clenched the cigar between his teeth as he pulled the wrapping paper off, trying to be careful not to rip it. It was a mug that read WORLD’S GREATEST BOSS. “Now will you get me a new headset?”
Charlie laughed and held the mug up in the air. One of his friends grabbed it from him, almost dropped it. He steadied it, then poured cheap tequila in it. “Birthday toast for the birthday boss.”
“I would like to thank you all for being the best employees in the world,” Charlie said. He puffed on the cigar. It smelled like an expensive recliner. Across the party, one of his friends smiled at Lena and mouthed, “Do you want to dance?” Charlie turned and said something to Lena, but she didn’t hear it because she was too busy mouthing “Yes.”
Sweaty and stinking of cheap beer, Lena stumbled out into the backyard. Music and laughter and conversation at just the right distance to make her feel good and not overwhelmed. She liked being able to go back and forth between the loud and the near loud, to watch the sky and touch the cooling-off grass.
“Hey,” a man said.
Lena smiled automatically, then turned and saw who it was, which snapped her into sobriety.
The man from the woods pointed at her wrist. “I just wanted to say I was—I mean I am—sorry. If I said the wrong thing or if I scared you too much.”
Lena dropped her beer, picked it up quickly, but it left a stain at the bottom of her jeans.
“I’m sorry again.”
“It’s okay. This was a buzzed spill, not a scared spill.”
He shuffled his feet, looked back toward the party. Took a long drink.
“What’s your name?”
He hesitated. “Call me Smith.” The way he said Smith made it sound like it was something he had thought up on the spot.
“Do you want to sign my cast?”
He pulled a pen out of his pocket. Held her arm steady. He smelled like black tea. Under other circumstances, she might have thought he was flirting with her. Smith drew seven stars, a quarter moon, a speech bubble coming from the moon: “Get well, soon?”
“Why the question mark?”
“Because I’ve been drinking.”
There was a pause. He was still standing a little too close. Lena sipped her beer and made her voice sound more drunk than she was. “What happened with Bethany was nuts.”
He took a step back. His face was shadowed. He pulled at the label on his beer bottle. “I don’t know who or what you’re talking about.”
“The older white woman. She lost a bunch of teeth. Blonde. Didn’t want to leave the office, when you were leading her away. It was a fucking nightmare. Bethany.”
Smith finished his drink and put the bottle on the ground. He pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and walked away.
17
Day 46. Charlie (the manager) has agreed to buy you a new Bluetooth headset. You are excited to begin corporate leadership training. Ian (Inventory) is revealed to be the person leaving the microwave disgusting. You find another bat in the warehouse.
In the conference room, Dr. Lisa read all the participants a statement about the potential risks and consequences of the experimental medication they were going to begin taking on Day 47. Permanently damaged short-term memory. Periods of confusion including times when you might struggle to differentiate between what has happened, what is happening, and dreams. Headaches, including migraines. Depression. Paranoia. Anxiety. Hearing voices. Increased sensitivity