Bailey and Millie and possibly Hanna Octane. Red Five are going. Fester will be there. Probably Circle Time, too.”
I notice how he slips Millie’s name in there like it’s all casual. Like she’s not in his room right now listening to him talk to me.
“Why don’t you come over before that so we can jam?”
“I’ve got a paper for International Political Economy due Monday. I need to get a draft done so I can go out tonight.”
“A paper, right. Sure.”
“What?”
“Nothing,” I say, but Travis never says he’s too busy with schoolwork to play guitar. Never. Not once has he ever said that.
“No, what is it?” he says, and I can hear he’s bugged.
“Nothing,” I say again. “Is Millie helping you with your paper?”
“Why would Millie help me with a paper in International Political Economy? She’s a fine arts major.”
“Well, if she’s hanging out there, I thought maybe she’d be proofreading your paper or something.”
“Oh, what’s this now? Are you jealous? Worried that Millie’s over here getting that hot grammar action?”
“I just hope she doesn’t distract you too much.”
“Emmylou, get real,” he says.
“It’s just that Soft has a lot going on right now and we don’t need the distraction. We’ve got to think about Ag Field Day. It’ll be here before you know it.”
“That doesn’t even make any sense.”
“Of course it does,” I say, pacing back and forth in my bedroom. “We’ve got to get more stickers printed up, go flyering, talk to Billy Broadband about promotion. There’s a lot to do.”
“You’re unbelievable, you know that? In an insane sort of way.”
I hang up and think maybe he’s right, maybe I’m nuts but whatever. He never did come out and say, “Nothing happened last night between me and Millie, of course she’s not here,” did he? No, he did not.
Fine. If he has a paper due, I’ll just drop by and offer to look it over for him. And then if Millie is there, I’ll know. There won’t be anything I can do about it, but at least I won’t have to fucking sit here and wonder if Millie has his dick in her mouth right now while I’m home on the couch eating Cup o’ Noodles.
I throw on a Rutgers hoodie that Travis let me borrow six months ago after I had my jacket stolen at the Khyber Pass. I walk out into a gray March day, sort of cool but not cold. Spring is near and I start to fantasize about how awesome Ag Field Day is going to be this year. Last year it was mobbed for Green Day. The Seahorses opened for them and were signed to Kill Rock Stars within a year. You play a big show with a national act like that, and things start to happen for you. And that’s what I’m working so hard for—things to happen for Soft.
So then, why am I going to see Travis right now? And why, specifically, am I wearing a Pixies tank top that makes my boobs look twice their normal size? I can only blame Travis’s penis.
Down the hill to Lincoln Avenue I walk. I stand in front of his house for a while and it’s Saturday afternoon, so that means George is out running practice for the rugby team before Fester rehearsal. But aside from Travis, I don’t know who else is here. That’s what I’m about to find out.
I go to the porch. This time I just ring the bell like I’m a Goddamned adult. I listen and wait. I don’t hear anything. I wait some more. I imagine Travis jumping out of the shower with a towel around himself, with Millie right behind, borrowing his robe. God damn it. I give myself a cramp thinking about it. I’m about to bang on the door like a psycho—I can hear The Shining soundtrack in my head—when I hear footsteps on the stairs inside, and then the door opens and there’s Travis, looking amused. Amused! He ushers me right inside, smirking.
“What’s up, Emmylou?” he says. “What brings you here on this fine day?”
I’m listening for a shuffle, footsteps on the ceiling where I imagine Millie is sequestered in his room, but she must be really good at stealth because I don’t hear a thing. Very sneaky, that Millie.
“You never gave me that Archers of Loaf tape,” I say. Quick on my feet, that’s me.
He turns around, picks a cassette off the end table next to the couch and hands it to me.
“Thanks,” I say.
“You’re welcome.”
Great.