Saving Everest Page 14

  On my break I didn’t waste any time zooming over to her place. Why wouldn’t she come in to work today? I’d started this because of her, and now she wasn’t going to show up? I let the memories of last night flow past me and tried my best to make sense of this situation. So far, I had nothing. I hoped that I hadn’t scared her away last night.

  I pulled into her parking lot and saw that her car was still there. Just then, realization dawned on me, telling me how impulsively weird I was being. I sat in the seat for a moment, wondering if I should go in, until three little knocks tapped on my window. Jumping a bit, I rolled the window down to see a flustered Beverly.

  “He—” I started.

  “What are you doing here?” she whispered, even though no one could possibly hear us.

  “I came to see if you were all right,” I said, confused. Usually, she would be flashing her teeth and jumping in my arms. “I texted you first, but you didn’t reply, and then you didn’t show up to work.”

  She huffed and her curly hair shook with the movement. “You shouldn’t be here.”

  When I heard that sentence, it felt like a kick to the gut. What had happened over the course of those hours after I’d dropped her off? I thought everything was fine.

  Her eyes widened like she realized what she just said, and her lips parted. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  She stared at me dead on, and in that moment I knew that I was incredibly attracted to her, and that realization caused me to freeze.

  “I have to help my mom.”

  “Oh . . . okay,” I stuttered, then coughed to hide the stutter, but failed.

  “Yes, that’s why you shouldn’t be here.”

  I didn’t know if my mind was playing tricks on me, but she looked sad. She moved her hand and crossed her arms, and I released the breath I didn’t even know I was holding. But then my perverted mind didn’t miss how it made her chest come more into my view, and I wanted to just succumb to the urge to just drive away. This was wrong, and I really needed help. This shouldn’t be happening; I should not be thinking like this. I quickly turned to look out the passenger-side window, in hopes it would give a blank canvas back to my brain. I turned back to look at her, and thankfully her arms had returned to her sides.

  “Is everything okay?” I asked as I felt the heat from my neck start to cool.

  She nodded.

  “Do you need my help?” I began to unfasten my seat belt.

  Beverly grabbed my shoulder to stop me. “She’s actually asleep right now, so that won’t be necessary. Thank you, though, Ev. I should probably get back before she notices that I’m gone.”

  Her smile was sad as she took a step back. Whatever feeling that I felt right now, I hated it.

  “So, wait, that means we don’t get to hang out today?”

  She shook her head, like she couldn’t bear to say the words, and that was the knife that dug the wound deeper.

  “What are you going to do today?” she asked, but I could tell she didn’t really want to know.

  “Probably hang with Mikey.” I shrugged.

  “He sure is a character.”

  I nodded, but I was only focused on one thing. She smiled but bit her lip to stop. “I don’t want you to go.”

  “Yeah, me neither. You should just hop in my car,” I joked to lighten the situation. Her eyes lowered and she cocked her head to the side, like she was deep in thought.

  “Not now. Come tonight at nine. My mother won’t be here.”

  “Are you serious?” I asked as she grinned mischievously.

  “As a heart attack.” Her big brown eyes smiled as she turned on her heel and jogged back to her apartment. “Bye, Ev.”

  “Bye, Bev.”

  Back at 21 Daisies, the place had filled up with more people. I had been watching the clock constantly while entertaining the crowd. I realized that I really loved entertaining people—when I saw people dancing to my voice or singing along, the feeling was indescribable. It was surreal because not even a two months ago, I was freaked out by performing in front of fifteen people. I sang until I smelled like a distant relative of Bigfoot, and I decided to freshen up before I left.

  “Everest? Is that you, man?” I turned to see Jacob Riley come up behind me, and I almost dropped the towel I was using to wipe the sweat I’d worked up.

  Jacob Riley, the secret boyfriend of Nash. I never had any bad experiences with Jacob—the only time we got aggressive was on the field—but we used to always bump into each other at parties, and he seemed like a pretty okay guy. He played on the same team as my cousin, Toby, so we would always see a lot of each other.

  “Hey,” I spoke, unsure of what to say to him. Nash probably fed him BS about me, and I was in no mood to deal with BS.

  “I didn’t know you could sing. You look good up there.”

  I thanked him, and then when a girl came out of the bathroom calling him “Babe,” I raised an eyebrow.

  She kissed him on the cheek, and I didn’t know what to think. Did Nash and Jacob break up? Or was he cheating on Nash? I listened to my inner self telling me not to care. I ventured back to the stage before I realized my set was over. I ordered takeout from Felix and chilled with the remaining customers.

  “Can you sign this?” a girl who looked to be around fourteen asked me as she held out her phone. I always thought it was silly to be signing other’s belongings, like it was going to have any value, but I still did it for the heck of it.

  “What’s your name?”

  “Andrea. Can you actually write I love you, Andrea?” Her cheeks tinted pink.

  “Of course. Here you go.”

  “Oh my gosh, thanks.” She smiled brightly before returning to a table with a bunch of girls around the same age range.

  A few others had me sign things, and I was nice to each one of them. A girl came up to me with glossy black hair and a sultry smile.

  “Call me?” she whispered and tucked something in my back pocket.

  When she moved away, I couldn’t help but laugh. Incidents like this kept happening more and more often, and it just never got old.

  By the time I got to my order, the food was lukewarm. I still ate it in my car, though. I ended up getting ketchup on my white shirt since I was eating in the dark, but whatever. The night air massaged my hair thoroughly, and I knew it was going to be a mess. It was like fate didn’t want my hair to have order. Ever since my attempt, my hair always looked like I just rolled out of bed. My dad hated it, but he was the only one who cared. If I wanted to walk around with messy hair and a ketchup stain on my white shirt, then I should be able to. It still was my life, last time I checked. I glanced at the clock, and finally time was exactly where I wanted it to be.

  When I pulled into Beverly’s lot, she was already be there waiting for me. I didn’t see her at first, but when my headlights turned the corner, it displayed her all-black-clad self. I quickly unlocked the passenger door and she hopped in.

  “Why are you dressed like a ninja?” I asked once we were back on the road.

  She glanced down at her outfit. “In all the movies, they’re dressed like this when they sneak out.”

  “Your mom wasn’t even home—you didn’t have to sneak at all.”

  “Don’t kill the fun.”

  “No promises,” I joked, straight-faced and focused on the road “Where do you want to go?”

  She took a deep breath and stared at the car ceiling. “I want to go over Mikey’s.”

  I almost braked the car in the middle of the road. “No way.”

  “C’mon, please.”

  “Beverly, do you know what the Basement is like? It’s a bunch of losers who have nothing going for them.”

  “But you go,” she argued.

  “Are you trying to help my point?” I asked incredulously.

  “How i
s it that you want me to be a reckless teenager but won’t show me the holy grail of recklessness?”

  She had a point.

  “I don’t want you to be a reckless teenager, Bev. You’re perfect just the way you are.”

  I kept my eyes on the road. She had so many things going for her and one of the dumbest things I had ever said was that she needed to see the destruction. Why corrupt the innocent when they were the lucky ones? I’d feel like I was doing her an injustice.

  “Thank you?” Beverly took a deep breath. “Please, Everest, I want to know what it’s like just to be a teenager for a little while.”

  And with that, I caved.

  I pulled into Burger Hut and ordered a bunch of burgers and a large cheese pizza. I knew these druggies were always eating so they’d appreciate this gift. After my car smelled like grease and diabetes, I drove to Mikey’s, hoping that it wasn’t going to be a crazy night. I held the food and told Beverly to knock on the garage. She looked at me confused, but she did it anyway. A guy I recognized as Sam opened the door; Beverly looked like she was holding in a cough as smoke came to greet us.

  “It’s Everest,” he called back, and then his eyes glanced at the food. “And he brought food.”

  He grabbed the food from me, and I grabbed Beverly’s hand. She quickly glanced at me and I could tell she was nervous. I still felt like she shouldn’t be here, but I guessed everyone should have this experience. We walked in and it wasn’t packed, but it still had a hefty amount of people. Twenty, maybe? I wasn’t exactly sure. I spotted Mikey in the back, playing a game of cards. He was the best shark that I knew—beat me enough times to teach me that gambling wasn’t a game for me.

  “Well, if it isn’t Golden Boy.” Mikey smiled, showing all of his teeth. “And Beverly the Beautiful.”

  “Hey, Mikey,” she said shyly.

  He walked over to us with a beer in hand and a cig hanging out of his mouth. “What brings you guys to my humble abode?”

  “Why else does anyone come here? To get away for a little bit,” I answered him, and he nodded in approval.

  Aurora came up from behind Mikey, and she had a small, black cat in her arms.

  “I see you finally got a cat.”

  “Yeah, his name is Shadow. Mikey got me him for my birthday.”

  “Aw, he’s so cute,” Beverly cooed, gently petting the kitten.

  “When’s your birthday?” I asked.

  “February the tenth.” She smiled at Beverly and joined in on the petting.

  “Your birthday isn’t until months from now,” I commented and watched as her face grew defensive.

  “It’s an early birthday present.” She held the cat closer to her and walked away.

  “Don’t mind her, she’s pretty sensitive.” Mikey took a swig from his beer.

  The room smelled like Doritos, sweat, drugs, beer, and fermented asshole. I kept telling Mikey to get some of those air fresheners that spritz by themselves, or to at least crack open a window, but I thought it went through one ear and out the other.

  “Here, take a seat,” Mikey told us, and as Beverly sat down, he slyly whispered in my ear, “Mary Jane is fifty percent off tonight.” He was always up to business. It was quite admirable.

  “Nah, man, I’m good.”

  It dawned on me that I hadn’t smoked or drank in a while. It probably hadn’t been doing me any good anyway. I sat on the ratty couch next to Beverly, and we talked and laughed at all the crazy stuff happening in the room. At first, I wasn’t sure how she was going to take it, but she was fine. We were just a pair of flies on the wall—until we noticed a girl trying to take a swim in a fish tank.

  “What is she doing?” I snorted.

  “She’s going to hurt herself.” Beverly’s voice was full of worry. I watched as she rushed over to the girl. I followed steadily behind.

  “I want to be a mermaid.” The girl smiled sloppily at us when we approached her.

  Beverly grabbed the girl and supported her weight.

  “Hey! You break it, you fucking buy it, Sydney!” Mikey shouted.

  “Chill, Mike,” Aurora yelled at him from the pool table.

  “Mermaids are beautiful,” Sydney said to Beverly, and I watched as Sydney took in her somber expression.

  “Sure, mermaids are beautiful, but they could never be you. I can just look at you and tell you that you are absolutely stunning inside and out—always remember that. And if you still want to be a mermaid, think about how Ariel wanted to be a human so bad that she almost gave up everything to be one.”

  Beverly moved a stray hair away from Sydney’s face and tucked it behind her ear.

  Sydney looked at Beverly, and for a second it looked like she sobered up, before she grabbed Beverly’s cheeks and pecked her straight on the mouth. I didn’t have any time to react, it all happened so fast. Beverly’s eyes widened and all I could do was just stare at her.

  Beverly touched her lips then stared at her fingers like there was going to be something there. She looked at me and her eyes furrowed together before she burst out in laughter. I was extremely confused. She hugged me and laughed into my shirt, and I instinctively wrapped my arms around her. Then I grabbed each side of her head to look at her face to make sure she wasn’t crying.

  “Bev?” She was laughing so hard that her eyes were watering. “Why are you laughing?”

  “She just kissed me, Ev.”

  Although this was weird, Beverly was looking pretty cute right now. I had never seen her laugh this hard, and I was still not exactly sure what she was laughing about.

  “Yeah, I know, but why are you laughing?”

  “My first kiss was with a girl.”

  She wiped her eyes and covered her huge smile with her hand. I immediately felt bad, like all of this was my fault. Beverly’s first kiss was with a drunk girl in a basement that smelled like death, and it was all my fault. The girl was happily halfway across the room by now and we were still standing there frozen.

  “Well, did you like it?” I joked apprehensively.

  She slapped my chest and laughed. “Shut up.”

  “Are you really okay?”

  “Yes, Ev. I think it’s funny. I worked myself up thinking about my first kiss and now I realize it’s not that deep.” She had a few reeling chuckles, but overall, I saw that she was coming back to me.

  We chilled at the bar, but we didn’t have any drinks. For a couple of hours we joked and laughed and ate greasy food. No one did any drugs, and I was grateful for that. It was like everyone knew what kind of person Beverly was and didn’t want to tamper with her. The most everyone did was smoke cigs and drink beers.

  “Everest, I have to go right now,” Beverly told me in a rush.

  “What? Why?” I asked, halting my conversation with Sam.

  “My mom is going to be home in, like, fifteen minutes. She just called me.”

  I immediately hopped up from the couch. “Well, what time is it?”

  “Eleven forty-five, come on, we have to go.” We hurried out of the basement and practically hopped in my car.

  I drove quickly while Beverly was acting like a backseat driver and giving orders like “Not so fast, Ev,” and “Please hurry.”

  Although she was worrying, she was laughing, and then her laughter made me laugh. Then we became a couple of laughing teenagers speeding down the street. I pulled into her apartment complex in record time and she jumped out of my car quickly. She started to run to her door before I realized something was missing.

  I rolled down my window and stuck my head out. “Since when do you leave without saying good-bye?”

  She turned to look at me with that gorgeous smile of hers and ran back in my direction. She quickly jumped in and planted the sweetest kiss on my cheek and then ran back away.

  “Bye, Ev.”

  �
�Bye, Bev.”

  I didn’t stop smiling the whole way to my house.

  27

  Beverly

  My mother didn’t actually come home until six o’clock the next morning. The day before I’d had to nurse her back to health after she experienced a hangover more terrible than usual. I knew that she was just going to go back out again, but I couldn’t watch her suffer.

  “So, tell me about this guy you’ve been dating,” she said as I handed her the coffee I always made before school. The mug almost fell from my grasp. I hadn’t mentioned Everest to her, so how was it that she could have possibly known?

  I decided to play it cool. “Just friends.”

  Her eyebrow quirked up and her lips pursed in disbelief. “You don’t think I know what that means? I had ‘just friends,’ too, Beverly.”

  “No, Ma, we are literally just friends.”

  “Mmm-humm. Why don’t you invite him for Thanksgiving?” my mother said. “Put your eyes back in your head.”

  “I don’t think he wants to eat Japanese takeout for Thanksgiving.”

  My mother could cook, but for the past few years she’d just been ordering takeout. When I was younger, she used to do it really big, though, food far beyond the capacity of our table flooding in.

  “I’ll cook.” She shrugged nonchalantly. “I have been known to cook. Remember when you were five? The turkey almost fell off the table, it was so full.”

  “Seriously?” I chuckled, happiness and disbelief shooting through me.

  “Yes, girl, now go to school and invite your lover boy over for Thanksgiving.”

  She ruffled my hair before leaving the kitchen.

  “Hey, Ma?”

  She poked her head back inside. “What’s up?”

  “Has any mail come in for me?”

  Yesterday there were two rejections from a couple of the many colleges that I’d applied to. I couldn’t tell her, but I was disappointed, and worried that I wouldn’t get in anywhere.

  I approached Everest’s locker with a certain excited pep in my step. Man, I missed him. I knew I that I had just seen him last night, but the fact that I couldn’t just up and see him made me miss him even more.