A Naked Light

As I shut the door behind me, I could hear the inquiries from the living room.

"Who are you?"

"What's your name?"

"Nice ass."

"Money can't buy class, Jack."

"You would know."

"Dipshit."

"Weiner breath."

"GUYS!"

They froze from where they were and looked up at me in the door frame. I groaned.

"Jack, get off of Zack. Zack, let go of Rian's leg. Rian, quit biting Alex's toes. Alex, take Jack out of that headlock."

Slowly, they all stood up and dusted themselves off, standing there sheepishly.

"Guys, this is Tori Everson, my best friend. Tor, the guys." I pointed to each one and named them off, and I watched as her eyes shone the moment Rian outstretched his hand for her to shake.

"Nice to meet you."

"Likewise."

"Where's Lindsey?"

"She went out," Alex quipped.

I gave him a weak smile. "And you didn't go with her?"

"She went dress shopping. I could give her a gold plated Lamborghini and she wouldn't have let me tag along."

"I thought she went dress shopping already?" Tori asked. I elbowed her. Alex smiled.

"So you didn't have an appointment, did you?"

"You mean, she lied?" Jack gasped.

"Oh shut up, Barakat."

He frowned at my curtness. "Yes, ma'am."

Even after meeting just this morning, I could whip him into shape.

Alex dragged me into the kitchen as snippets of conversations sparked behind us in the living room.

"When'd you guys get here?" Tori asked.

"Well, we flew in from Chicago and got in this morning..."

I yanked my arm from his grasp and leaned against the countertop. "What do you want from me?"

"Why'd you lie?"

I looked at him as if it were obvious. I knew he knew. He just wanted me to say it out loud.

You asked for it, buddy.

"To get out of dress shopping. To spend time with my best friend, who might I add, cares about me more than my own sister. And in my defence, you guys barged in on my life. I never asked for either of you to walk through that door and get me involved. My parents may be happy, but I'm not. Not in the least. Would it have killed you guys to call or something? Had I known about all this, I would've moved out or something or taken a vacation that wouldn't have included you two."

"This was Lindsey's idea, not mine. I couldn't have cared less if she got you guys into this. I wanted to marry her in Vegas -"

"How romantic."

"- and take a few weeks off to go on a road trip, just the two of us -"

"Cause that's such a refreshing change from touring."

"Would you just shut the fuck up for one goddamn minute?!"

An eerie silence crept into the house as one by one, each of the guys and Tori peered into the kitchen. An aggravated Alex stood there, his eyes shooting daggers at me, while I leaned against the granite countertop, my legs turning to jelly. Two days and I'd already sent him into a yelling frenzy.

"If you want to talk to your band mates like that, that's fine. Your roadies? Go for it. Your groupies? Why the hell not? But don't you ever, and I mean ever fucking talk to me like that again, got it Gaskarth?" I shoved past him and reached for my car keys. "AND GET THE FUCK OUTTA MY HOUSE!"

The door slammed with all its force and I could just picture every single vase and picture frame hitting the floor. I slumped into a heap on the steps, my head in my hands.

The son of a bitch was stressing me out more than my SATs. I let the tears fall into my palms and seep into the dark-wash denim. I felt so humiliated, so disgustingly dirty. I had been embarrassed in front of people I hardly even knew by my incompetent jerk of a soon-to-be brother-in-law.

A tall glass of Jack Daniels was sounding good up until I heard the door click open and shut. A lanky body sat itself down beside me and it took everything in me not to deck him in the jaw.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you."

"I'm sorry I ever met you."

He let out a groan of aggravation and leaned back on his hands. "It could be worse. You could be totally ignoring me right now."

I didn't reply.

"Look Addy. I'm sorry. It wasn't my place, but you're way too caught up in every preconceived notion of your sister to see that she really does love you."

"Ha."

"See what I mean?" He was beginning to sound angry again, but I was too frustrated with my life to say anything. "Just because she screwed up in the past doesn't mean she can't be genuinely honest now."

"Yes it does. She walked out on us, not the other way around. If she wants to prove anything to me, she has to do it herself. I'm not about to let her minions do it for her. If you loved her at all, you'd tell her that. Love isn't always about giving in when someone plays the 'you'll-do-it-if-you-really-love-me' card. Sometimes you gotta tell them straight up."

"This isn't one of those times, Addy," he said gently.

I looked at Alex, tears brimming in my eyes. "Stop loving my sister, Alex. It's not good for you." He seemed perplexed by this, but I just shook my head. "Nevermind."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why should I stop loving Lindsey?"

"Because there's nothing she does better than attract male attention. Her smile's like a deathtrap. I've never seen her agree to anything that wouldn't be to her advantage in the end."

"You haven't seen her in seven years.

"I've known her for eighteen. That's more than enough."

"You're just as bad as she is," he mused. "Anything to put somebody down."

"So you agree? She'd do anything to put somebody down?"

He caught my stare.

A horn honked and we both looked over at a bright blue Audi convertible as it pulled into the driveway.

"Hey baby! Hey Addy!"

I got to my feet and walked back into the house. I was getting a nauseous feeling in the pit of my stomach and there was no way my sister of all people was going to help it.

Alex ran his fingers through his hair, everything that had gone on being processed in his mind. He balled up his hands into fists, resting them against his lips as Lindsey scurried toward the house. He got up to greet her and felt compelled to step closer as she ran up the asphalt.

Once he was close enough, he realized why: she was smiling.