They Let Us Play With Markers, but I Keep Trying to Draw Infinity

Sunday took forever to pass. The day was made a thousand times worse by the new feud between my older sisters Elle and Kate. Petty jealousy is an often reoccurring theme between them and I’m always stuck in the middle.

Finally, it was Monday, and I was actually excited for school, but not for the learning portion. I woke up half an hour earlier than usual and took another glance at the outfit I’d picked out the night before.

It was a bit on the skimpier side of things that I normally wore, but I figured Chuck and Randy would approve. It showed a decent amount of cleavage and skin and the color kind of made my eyes pop. At least, I thought so.

Halfway down the stairs, though, I was stopped by my mother.

“Josey, you do realize it’s thirty degrees outside.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that it’s cold, and it’s supposed to snow; so you might want to put on more than a tank top.”

A plethora of horribly inappropriate swear words came to mind as I climbed back upstairs. I stood in front of my open closet wondering what the hell I was going to wear instead. I didn’t want to change; I felt cute and sexy, which was actually quite rare for me.

I blew up my cheeks as I glanced out of my window and groaned at the flakes gently falling and slowly getting thicker when a bright idea burst into my mind: a cardigan.

“Of course, warm and fashionable, it’s perfect.”

I ripped the sweater off the hanger and charged back downstairs. I was now five minutes behind schedule.

The whole situation was completely unacceptable.

The weather was supposed to be magnificently cool with a warm sun shining all day; I was supposed to arrive 10 minutes early so that Tristan and I could strike up a conversation that would carry on through the remainder of class with the help of secretive, humorous glances, and Randy wasn’t supposed to be standing at the end of the block in the falling snow grinning like a maniac.

“You look like My Size Barbie kicked your ass,” she said as I got close enough for yelling to be annoying rather than necessary.

“Thanks,” I said sarcastically. “What makes you think I’d lose?”

“You’re all cuted up. You’re never all cuted up.”

“I never have a boy to be all cuted up for, now do I?” I asked a bit sheepishly.

“Oooo, so you and Tristan hit it off, I take it?”

“Maybe if you hadn’t bailed so early you’d know.” Randy stuck her tongue out at me as we started to walk. I shrugged. “I guess so. He said we should do it again sometime only with less people so…”

Although I was staring at my feet to hide my bright red cheeks, I could still see Randy smirking out of the corner of my eye.

“You wanna daaaate him, you wanna kiiiiss him…” she sing-songed.

“I wanna puuuunch you,” I sang back.

“You only say that because I’m right.”

“When are you ever not?”

“You’ll never know.”

“Then who’s going to point it out and shove it in your face?”

“The world, Karma, and Chuck.”

“If I don’t know when you’re wrong then how is Chuck going to know? Why does she get to be more loved and smarter than me?”

“She doesn’t. I’ll be the first one to admit I’m wrong and then she’ll rip me for it.” She shrugged. “But you’re more amazing like that.”

“I know.” I fanned myself. “How can anyone ever resist me?”

“Which is why you’re all hotted up?”

“Oh, god I hope so. Do I look bad? I tried to be subtle, but it always turns out obvious.”

“No, love, you look great. I’m just messing with you.”

“Good because I’m freaking out.”

“Why? He’s just a silly little boy.”

“Precisely!”

“Boys are dumb, which is why we throw things at them and then crush their hearts beneath our kickass boots when they chase after us.”

“And again speaking of taking off, where’d you rush off to Saturday?”

She shrugged. “Something came up.”

“That destroyed your phone?”

“No, it exploded because you and Chuck kept calling and texting.” She grinned.

I sighed. “I’m never going to get the truth out of you, am I? Not until you decide to tell me because you’re mean.”

“I’m not lying, am I?”

“Show me your phone,” I challenged. “Prove to me that it exploded.”

“How can I show it to you if it exploded? Riddle me that, Batman!”

“Show me shards or present me with eyewitnesses. I don’t know.”

“I don’t have an exploded phone, Josey. I mean, that would be kind of metal, but I don’t.”

“Wait, what, metal?”

“The music? Metal?”

“Uh...?”

“The Midwest is not metal.”

“As in cool?” I asked slowly.

“Kind of. Brutal, metal, etc.”

“Okay! I get it now. Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?” Randy dropped her face into her hands. “…It wasn’t that bad.”

“Josey…” She shook her head. “Think about Tristan.”

“Why? Are you going to do some weird mind trick thing?”

“Already did.”

I was about to ask what the trick supposedly was, but we caught up with Chuck before I had the chance. She looked tired and only half dressed with the bare minimum for makeup – not her usual.

“Rough night?” Randy asked as we all stopped on the corner.

“Had another fight with Hunter. He said I’m too clingy and demanding.”

“What on earth made him come to this conclusion?” I asked, stunned. Chuck was the exact opposite of clingy and demanding. She boarded on the point of shy when it came to asking people for things.

“We were talking about my mom’s birthday party, and I asked if he was going to come because Dad’s throwing a surprise party, and he wants to know how many people are going to come so that he doesn’t have extra party stuff lying around where Mom can find it.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s one of the more ridiculous things you two have ever fought about. Next time you see him, punch him.”

“That’s your solution for everything, Josey,” Randy pointed out.

“I know. And ironically enough, I’m practically a pacifist.”

Chuck shook her head with a slight smile then looked sad and tired again. “I think it’s just over between us, guys.”

“Punch him!” I piped up again. I knew that someday someone would take my advice and feel a whole lot better about their self.

“I don’t understand how that’s clingy and demanding.”

“When has anything Chuck and Hunter fought about made sense?”

Randy furrowed her eyebrows and looked up at the sky, as if the answer would be there in bright, flashing letters. After a while she said, “I dunno poptarts versus toaster strudels made sense up until a point.”

“Randy, that was us, not them. And that one never made sense.”

“Really? Oh. Then never.”

“Exactly,” I agreed.

“You guys do realize that I’m standing right here, right?” Chuck interjected.

“That was never an issue,” Randy said. “You know you’re ridiculous.”

I laughed while Chuck tried to sputter out a response.

“I… that… you don’t make any sense!” She turned on her heel and marched down the sidewalk toward the school.

Turning to me, Randy said, “Then my job is done here.”

We began to follow behind Chuck when Randy’s phone rang. We both stopped as she struggled to pull it out of her thick coat pocket; I arched an eyebrow.

“I thought your phone exploded.”

Ignoring me, Randy answered. “Hello? What are you doing awake at this hour? …I’m going to class. Some of us are in college.”

“Who is it?” I asked.

“I’m not going to skip just because you tell me to.”

“Who is it? Why are you skipping?”

Randy plugged her other ear and turned away from me. “Because you’re an idiot! …No. No! I’m not—You are not kidnapping me off the sidewalk, Leif. I’ll be gone by the time you find me.”

“Who’s Leif? Why is he kidnapping you? Randy! What’s going on?” I tried to grab her shoulder and turn her back to face me, but she kept pulling away.

“What do you mean ‘too late’? Why are you laughing maniacally? Leif, stop that. You’re not--!” Randy held her phone away from her ear and looked at me.

“What?”

“…He hung up on me.”

“Who? What the crap is going on?”

“That was Leif. He wants me to run amuck with him.”

“And who be this ‘Leif’?”

“He’s my guitarist.”

I gave a frustrated sigh. Leave it to Randy to play it off as nothing. “Guitarist. The band thing, right? Are you ever going to explain that whole thing to me?”

“Yep.” Randy grinned.

“How about now?” I suggested.

“I’m a drummer, you know.” She shrugged. “So I joined a band.”

“When? How? How did you meet them? What happened? Who are they? What are they like? Explain!” I shouted.

Randy laughed at my annoyance. “Friday, auditioning, know a guy who knows a guy, they liked me—some more than others,” she muttered, “and they’re… right over there…” she finished slowly.

“What? Where?” They were easy to spot: Four boys standing amidst a crowd of people and drawing everyone’s attention.

Randy made a face. “Oh God, what are they doing here?”

“Looking for you, obviously. Who are they?”

Randy sighed and pointed at each boy individually. “Toby’s the one with dark hair standing there laughing, Jacob is the one introducing himself to hot girls, Leo’s the one stalking squirrels, and Leif is a fucking weirdo!” she shouted as we neared them.

Leif, the dark haired boy wearing a rather ratty looking Fedora, grinned wide. “We are all a little weird and life’s a little weird, and when we find someone whose weirdness is compatible with ours, we join up with them and fall in mutual weirdness and call it love.” As he spoke, in a decidedly English accent, he continually stepped closer to me, took my hand, and brought it up to his lips. “Ello, ello. Leif Sutcliffe.”

Not knowing what to say or do, I looked worriedly over at Randy who just rolled her eyes.

“Leif, stop terrifying my friends. They’ll all run away and then I’ll have to hang out with you.”

“You’d love to spend the rest of forever with me.” He grinned wildly.

“Josey,” Randy sighed, “this is Leif, Toby, Leo, and Jacob. Guys, this is my best friend Josey.”

I waved awkwardly.

“Randy’s told us a lot about you,” Jacob said.

My eyes grew wide. “Oh, really?” I asked. “All good things, I hope.”

“Of course,” Leif said as he put his arm around Randy’s waist. “Randy provides glowing recommendations of all her friends.”

“Don’t touch me.”

I couldn’t help but grin at Randy’s reaction. “How long have you all known each other, anyway?”

“She makes the best peppermint double-shot soy mochas!” Leo, the shorter blonde, cut in.

“I’ve always preferred her Chai teas,” I said, taking Leo’s comment to mean they met at the Starbucks on Main Street.

“Ah!” Leif gasped, placing his hand on his chest. “A woman after my own heart.”

“It’s an English thing, right? Loving tea and hating coffee?” I asked, trying my best to be an amusing smartass.

“Mostly. Leif’s just a caffeine freak though,” Jacob answered.

“That’s all well and good,” Randy interrupted, “but I reiterate: I am not skipping class to hang out!”

“And why not? You skipped class to audition,” I said, grinning, happy to help back Randy into a corner.

“You said you didn’t have class that day!” Toby said.

“She did too! She left me to fend for myself in Psychology!”

Randy glared at me. “Thanks, Jos.”

“No problem.” I grinned.

“Gasp!” Leo said.

“I know,” I agreed. “And now she expects me to share the notes she missed..”

Leif laughed. “You immoral chit, Randy.”

“And I’m making up for it by going today! So shoo shoo!”

“Don’t worry, dearest.” Leif wrapped his arm around Randy’s waist again and turned her away from the school toward the parking lot. “You can always intimidate the notes out of someone else.”

I laughed at the look of pure helplessness on Randy’s face.

“I can’t!” she protested. “I have to go to Psych or the professor will fail me out of spite!”

I grinned wider. “If you had been in class on Friday, you’d know that he won’t be here today. His son’s got a doctor’s appointment.”

“What about art?” Randy countered. “And music? I can’t skip those.”

“We could always go with you,” Jacob suggested.

Randy’s protesting glare slowly turned into a wide grin as she looked around at all four boys. “Fuck it. But you’re coming too, Josephine!”

That was an unexpected turn of events. “Why do I have to go? I’ve got classes too!”

Leo stepped close and linked his arm with mine. “But you sold her out. I like that about you.”

“That makes me sound like a horrible person,” I pouted.

“But you’re not, right?” Toby asked, a slight look of worry covering his face; as if he couldn’t stand the thought. It was adorable.

“Of course I’m not! It’s just fun to see Randy being the one teased and out of control of the situation for once.”

“That’s kind of Leif’s prerogative,” Jacob said.

“We might become fairly decent friends then. But I’m still not going.”

Leif circled back around, arm still around Randy’s waist, and stopped on the other side of me. “Ooooh, yes you are, sweetheart.” He wrapped his other arm around my waist and started pulling me along too.

“Hey, hey now!” I said loudly, putting up my hands to stop them. “Unlike Randy, I have no alternative to college. I need to go to my classes.”

Leif pouted, his eyes sad and puppy-like while his lip ring poked out.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

He turned to Randy, shocked. “She denied my sad face! I’m almost offended!”

“Your poor ego,” Randy said dryly, just as unaffected by his pouting.

I looked past Leif at Randy. “Is his sad face supposed to be irresistible or something?”

Everyone laughed, but a little too enthusiastically.

“It wasn’t that funny…” I said sheepishly.

“Well,” Leo said, “considering basically only you and Randy haven’t swooned at his feet, I think it is!”

I couldn’t pay much attention to Leo’s reasoning because I was completely distracted by the fact that we were then standing next to a rather old and beat up looking car that wasn’t in front of us earlier.

“Hey! How did… When did we get to the car?”

Leif gave me wicked grin. “We are just that good, sweetheart.”