So Wrong, It's Right

Chapter Four
Holly (Would You Turn Me On?)

Maria raised an eyebrow at the extensive preening Holly was subjecting herself to. It was more than normal, much more. The sly glint hiding within her midnight eyes made her suspicious of what the prize for all this effort was. Although there was a constant niggling voice in the back of her mind that told her that the object of desire was her best friend. Judging by her preparation, it was incredibly possible that her niggling voice was right.

Clad in a tight, dark red shirt that had a plunging V-neck and a pair of low rising blue jeans, it was an outfit that was chosen specifically to flaunt every asset she had. Then there was everything else: the hair, the makeup, the chunky gold bangles on her wrists and the general confident flirtatious air that hung in the air around her like perfume. He would fall to his knees before her. She could just see his captivated look of longing in her mind’s eye and knew it wouldn’t take much for him to be caught.

“So, why did he freak out over that song?” drawled Holly lazily as she fluffed her hair. Maria brushed through her own wet locks as she though about the song in question.

“Well if it’s the one you say it is, then he wrote it about his Grandpa in his freshman year,” said Maria in her soft melodic voice. “He was real close to him. He only lived a few hours downstate in Akron, so he saw him a lot and they were really close. I think it was him that taught him how to play guitar. Then he died Christmas time when he was a freshman. It was a really tough time for him . . . I mean it was so sudden. Took him months to recover properly; I guess the song was closure.”

She looked for some sign of compassion, a small wave of emotion from the midnight girl but there was merely a raised eyebrow and a subtle shrug. Unbelievable, sometimes it was like she had no heart at all. The only thing she ever seemed to care about was herself and how to obtain objects of her desire. Those ‘objects’ tended to be guys, who, to anybody else were considered unobtainable. Holly, however, held some sort of strange power that could charm any male into wanting her with very little effort on her part. It was some kind of talent. A sick one at that.

As Maria got herself ready, Holly lounged on the window seat, gazing out across the rooftops of Lakewood. The blonde dried and curled her hair before carefully applying makeup to her face. A neat, smart outfit lay out on the bed behind her, waiting to be worn; a black high waisted pencil skirt with a split up the left side and a white short sleeved blouse with a blue primrose embroidered onto it. It was completed by a pair of heeled, black peep toed shoes that sat at the foot of the bed. Everything was planned out precisely to give out the right idea to them, right down to the carefully painted nails; the same color of blue as the flower on her shirt.

Zipping herself into the skirt Maria felt as though she was putting a clamp on the dancing hippos in her digestive track. The waist band was holding in the nerves back. She had to be focused. Her bright green eyes gazed at the reflection of the woman in the mirror.

It was her, that was obvious enough, but, yet, it wasn’t. The golden curls were perfect, the blouse too white, the skirt showing curves that looked bigger with the black material clinging to them and the pale face was flawless; it was an image of a confident woman. It was not, however, in anyway accurate. if you looked closer; at the carefully outlined eyes then the nervous fear hiding beneath the green sea, just out of sight, at the cerise lips that were in a tight line and at the fluttering hands then you saw the worried girl.

“Are you okay with being at the band practice while I’m at this interview?” asked Maria as she turned away from the mirror, flattening creases that didn’t exist in her clothes.

“Of course babe, I’ll be fine. Besides, you deserve this,” she said, smiling sweetly from her seat at the window.

[SWIR]

“I swear to God, if she doesn’t stop flirting with Alex I will use her head as a baseball,” growled Joslyn under her breath to her twin and the drummer.

Ryan sniggered. “Jealous?”

Smirking cynically, she replied coldly, “Hardly.”

The girl’s eyes glared at the couple. The little spaz-whore hung around his neck like a piece of tacky jewelry. It made you want to puke. Joslyn cast a dark look to her brother to convey her disgust at the display before them. After every god damned song It’dsquealed and clapped like one of the banshee’s, causing Alex to become more and more distracted. Ryan had called a break when he’d seen the bassist aiming her water bottle at It.

She didn’t need this. Not in the slightest. Today was not a good day in general but It was just making it worse. Joslyn sighed and moved from the garage to the kitchen of Ryan’s home. She gazed at the shadows between the cabinets and under the counters, wishing that she’d disappear into them. Her dark clothes would make it easy. Leaning against the counter top, she pinched the bridge of her nose. She could still smell the incense and roses. A light film of tears started to form behind her eyelids that wanted to escape but the girl knew she couldn’t let them.

“Hey Jos,” Ryan’s voice wafted over her at the same time as his arms encircled her body. “Tough day, huh?”

It was all it took for the tears to start pouring down her pale, freckle littered cheeks. She let her head rest on her friend’s chest and his arms pulled her tighter.

[SWIR]

Frankie glowered over at that girl. She was giggling in an annoying breathy manner. Flickers of emotion passed behind the guitarist’s normally blank eyes. Varying degrees of anger and hurt could be seen within the dark depths. He knew Joslyn was crying; today was hard. It always was. The girl was insensitive. The practice was meant to be good. She ruined it.

Pushing himself off the wall, Frankie walked towards the two. They were standing close together; leaning against the opposite wall to his. Eyes dilated, cheeks flushed and voices breathy: disgusting.

The boy took hold of his friend’s arm and spun him around. “Break. Off.” The words snapped out with a harsh metal edge.

Alex stared at Frankie. His eyes were so cold it made the hairs on the back of the front man’s arms stand on end. It took him a moment but then he saw the dark clothes and the date on the calendar over his shoulder. Shit.

“Break off,” said Frankie again, jerking his chin towards Holly. “’Kay.”

There was a sniffle from the doorway. Joslyn came in, shoulders hunched, holding her elbows and with Ryan’s guiding hand on her wait. He saw her mussed hair, formal, dark clothes, pale cheeks, red eyes and mentally kicked himself. As much as they may not always see eye to eye, he didn’t want to cause her anymore pain. Today was not a good day for the twins. Realizing his actions may not have been entirely appropriate, he moved towards the girl to apologize.

“Fuck off, Alex. I don’t want to hear it,” she snapped before he could open his mouth. Her dark eyes still watered but behind the film they were cold and glaring. “The sooner Maria arrives, the better. She can take that away.” She used the same jerking motion of her chin that her brother had used to motion to Holly.

The midnight girl bristled. How dare she!

“What did you say?” she demanded, narrowing her eyes with one hand on hip. The midget stared back defiantly.

“You heard me.”

Holly took a step forward, squaring her shoulders as her hand curled into a fist. The smaller girl mirrored her stance, right down to the mean glare in her eyes. It was night arguing with shadows; mystery with darkness. The taller of the two stepped forward with her shoulders back, making her height grow.

She wanted to crush the little bitch under the heel of her ridiculously expensive boot. Her chest felt tight and the tendons of her neck tightened. If the midget wanted a fight, by hell she’d get one.

“Jos, cool it. She’s not worth it,” whispered that drummer in her ear. At the sound of his voice she put down her weapons and curled into him; drawing herself in.

Holly smirked. All talk and no action girls were pathetic; not even deserving of the spit from her mouth. Turning back to Alex, she smiled softly, looking out from under her lashes. He looked slightly uncertain but after a few words in his ear the boy relaxed. She was finding this all too easy. Turn on some charm and he was putty.

[SWIR]

Maria pulled up outside Ryan’s house and quickly moved towards the garage, buzzing with excitement. The door was open so she hurried in grinning. They saw her and too easily they moved towards her, all too happy to see her. Their smiles looked strained – except Frankie, he stood against the wall looking blank – and she could see Joslyn’s red eyes.

“Is everything okay?” Her eyebrows fell into a frown, overshadowing her bright eyes.

“Oh yes, everything’s fine,” Holly cut in quickly, flashing a bright smile to her. It didn’t cover for the fact that both Ryan and the shadow girl were looking warily at her. “How was the interview?”

At the mention of the interview her face lit up in spite of herself. “I got the job!”

“Aw, well done my little ray!”

“Babe! That’s, like, amazing!”

“ . . . Well done.”

“You deserve it Maria.”

“ . . . Meh.”

Maria smiled brightly, eyes looking as if the sun was shining upon the sea.

[SWIR]

“Look, she started it!” snarled Holly fiercely, throwing her hands in to the air.

It was ten o’clock and the sun had left the Lakewood sky. There were a handful of scattered stars winking on the ceiling of the world. From Maria’s window you could see the rooftops of the town and the small squares of light where a skylight was. The sound of cars was all but non-existent; only the sound of the wind could be heard. Everything outside was peaceful, even the dance of the trees. However, inside the McGuire household that was not the case. To be more exact, Maria’s bedroom.

“You were draping yourself over Alex in the middle of a rehearsal! They’re going to California in a few weeks; of course she’d get mad! Added to that she’s had the worse day ever.”

“And that’s my problem how? I don’t know her and I don’t care about her either!”

“Do you have zero compassion?”

“So?” Holly drawled, shrugging. “It really isn’t my problem.”

Maria stared at the midnight one. “How can you be so selfish? They’ve been working for this for ages! How can you just not care? All four of them are moving to the other side of the country and all you care about is getting another fuck.”

Holly’s dark eyes blazed as she pushed off the window sill towards her friend. She drew herself up; making herself seems taller. “So what if that’s the case! Like I’m going to pass up a chance with someone like him!”

The other girl didn’t flinch under the intense glare being fixed on her. She smirked coldly. “Of course, regardless of the fact that he’s my best friend.”

“It’s no different to what he does.”

“Yes it is. Those girls know what they’re getting themselves into. He doesn’t but I do,” snapped the blond, glowering at her darker counterpart. “I don’t want him hurt by your sick little games, regardless of what his relationships are like.”

“Urgh, whatever.” Holly rolled her eyes before excusing herself to use the bathroom.

Maria lay back on her bed feeling exhausted. Stupid Holly and her stupid games, Alex didn’t stand a chance. Her eyes felt heavy and were pulling down; calling for sleep. It felt as though her limbs had been replaced with lead and copious amounts of the stuff. She could feel her mind drifting as much as she wanted to fight it; her thoughts ran away from her. There was a slight banging noise coming from the bathroom but she dismissed it as the bath rack falling down.

[SWIR]

“And you’ve been where exactly?” demanded Maria.

Holly whipped around from the door she’d just been sneaking through. She was in her bare feet and yesterday’s clothes. “I went for a walk,” she invented quickly but her readily flushing cheeks gave her away.

Maria raised an eyebrow. “In yesterday’s clothes and your shoes in hand? Yeah right.” She stalked forward and sniffed her friend. “Since when does going for a walk mean you come back smelling of men’s cologne? Or more precisely, Alex’s?”

The blond waited for an answer but Holly, surprisingly, had none. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. If she really thought about it, she didn’t particularly want to know. “Forget it,” she sighed, turning into the kitchen.

Her long hair tumbled down around her shoulders and back in waves of golden sun. The vest and sweats that acted as her sleepwear clung to her petite frame as she moved towards the coffee machine and reaching up for two mugs let her silver link watch fall up her arm. The sound of the cups hitting the counter was deafening in the silent room. The girl bowed her head and waves of her hair fell over her should to swing in front of her face like a curtain.

There was a visible knot of tension between her shoulder blades which contracted as she spun round. Green fire blazed within her eyes. “Look, I know subtlety isn’t exactly your ‘forte’ but if you firmly insist on doing this then at least try to keep it that way. Have some consideration for the people around you for once,” Maria snapped. Leaning against the granite edge she grasped her elbows tightly.

Surprisingly, Holly actually looked demure, even slightly sorry. In her eyes was a strange soft look that Maria had never seen before on her friend and it was most unlike her to look so gentle. “Yeah, but Maria, last night . . .”

She held up her hand to stop her, “I can do with out knowing thank you. That’s one piece of info you don’t have to share,” she said curtly, rolling her eyes again. Turning back round she poured the coffee. There was a breathy sigh.

“It was amazing . . .”

Shit.

The blonde’s eyes widened and her hand hovered over the milk as she processed what she’d just heard. Whipping back round, she grabbed Holly’s arm. Her pupils were dilated beyond compare; hardly any of her dark brown irises could be seen and her cheeks were the pink of a winter sunset. After pulling off a perfect “facepalm”, Maria shoved one of the mugs into Holly’s hand. It was totally black; no sugar or milk.

“Drink that,” she ordered. “You’ve got Flint After Shock. He does this to girls.”

Holly just giggled and Maria groaned.

What preceded this were several more cups of coffee, a steaming hot shower and an arrangement to go shopping. After the pain staking task of choosing what to wear midnight was ready. The sun was never happier to see a mall and the day passed in a blur of sail rails and expensive shoes. As much as she loved retail therapy, Maria was glad to get home at the end of the day.

The moment she staggered in the door Nicky handed her the phone. In answer to her unspoken question he told her it was Joslyn with his Montreal twang.

“Hey Jos, you recovered yet?”

“Barely, yesterday was rough.”

“You’re telling me.” She laughed softly and placed her bags by the stairs. Out of the corner of her eye she was aware of Holly moving in the direction of the bedroom.

“So is it true that spazbitch snuck out last night!” Joslyn sounded slightly amused amongst her disgust.

“Hey, c’mon, play nice you. It just who she is,” scolded Maria but it was all in good nature. “But yeah, she did and came back with the biggest case of FAS I’ve ever seen! Ryan tell you about it?”

“Yup he was over earlier . . . Was it really that bad? Ha!” Her laughter crackled in her ear making a smile come to the blonde’s lips. There were just a few things she wanted to check though.

“How were Frankie and your Aunt after yesterday?” Her friend’s laughter died, only to be replaced with a sigh tinged with grief.

“Well Frank barely spoke. I mean at the practice was the only time I think. When we got home he went straight to his room and locked the door. Didn’t come out again until this afternoon,” she said, her voice becoming tight and overly controlled. “Carline was tearful for most of the day. She saw a man with golf clubs and just broke down; I had to support her so she could walk. Thankfully, we were out of the car by this point, obviously.”

Maria bit her lip. Joslyn’s voice was close to breaking; thoughts still bound by memories. “How were . . . you?” the blond asked with slight hesitation, knowing her dislike of showing any kind of weakness.

Joslyn took a moment before answering. “It was real difficult. I mean, I couldn’t cry, at least not in front of Carline.” The defeated tone in which she spoke sank Maria’s heart.

They talked. Maria tried to speak the right words and sometime sit worked but she knew Jos wasn’t really listening. She didn’t resent her for it though, it was a tough time. After about half an hour, the bassist said she needed to go. There were raised voices in the background.

“Okay, I’ll speak to you later,” said the blond girl.

“Yeah . . . Frankie, no I don’t know. Carline is-“The line went dead, whatever statement the girl was making was lost.

Maria replaced the phone in the kitchen and made her way upstairs. She trudged upwards, rubbing her eyes. She was way more tired than she’d initially thought, man was Holly a handful. She paused before going into her room and opened the door across from hers.

“You know, you could knock,” moaned Nicky, his floppy black hair hanging into his dark grey eyes.

The girl grinned at her adopted brother. They were totally different, at least in looks. Blond for black; green for grey; short for tall; and female for male were just a few of the factors. The boy looked nothing like the rest of the McGuire family with his jet hair, grey eyes and willowy build. The rest were blond of head with either green or hazel eyes and of short, petite build. However, at sixteen he’d lived with them for half his life and was more of a family member than “daddy dearest” had ever been.

“Ah but where’s the fun in that mon frère?” she teased, leaning against the door frame. Laughter followed as her brother winced.

“Urgh, accent sucks!” Nicky smiled slyly at her.

Maria rolled her eyes and nodded at the old Gameboy in his hand. The tweeting music issuing from it informed her it was an ancient Pokemon game. “You are such a geek.”

Nicky grinned widely, showing off a set of perfect, straight, white teeth. “I know, but I prefer to go with ‘old school’.”

The girl laughter softly, shaking her head. “Yeah, whatever. I better go. I’ll see you later little one.” She waggled her finger to his salute.

She moved form the doorway to her own room, closing the door behind her. As the blond walked in she was immediately aware of a soft breeze ruffling her long hair. The source of said air disturbance was her window, which was open and hadn’t been when she’d left. The shutters banged loudly. Holly was gone. Again.

[SWIR]

“Where’s the baby? There she is!” laughed Alex, blowing a raspberry on his sister’s stomach. Maya giggled, her little limbs flailing in wild childish glee.

“Seems like every time I look around you two have gotten bigger,” rumbled a deep voice from the door way. Alex looked up in shock. His hair had fallen all over his flushed face, making him look about fourteen again. It was his father.

Peter Flint was an imposing figure at the best of times and he’d always been the disciplinary figure in Alex’s childhood. He stood tall at over six feet and was muscled all the way up from doing boxing since he was in junior high. He had black hair that had a single grey strip running from the left side of his head to the back. Under his dark eyebrows were a pair of piercing hazel eyes that at that moment were crinkled into a smile. Peter was leaning against the door frame; arms crossed over his barreled chest and true height hidden.

The boy grinned and pulled Maya onto his lap. She giggled and made grabs at Alex’s hair.

“Hi Dad,” he said brightly. Peter pushed off the door frame and came to sit down next to his son.

“Hey,” the older man replied, ruffling Maya’s hair. Her toddler giggles filled the room.

“How was Tulsa?” Alex’s father’s eyes darkened.

“Riveting,” he said darkly. “A bunch of suits and ties telling me how to run my own company is just fabulous I can tell you.”

The two were silent for a moment. Alex glanced at his dad and saw that he was contemplating something but couldn’t say what. “What’s up?”

“I want you to be careful,” he said seriously. “You’re Mom’s been telling me everything that’s been happening and what you’ve been doing, Alex. You should just watch what you’re doing.”

“Dad, I . . .” Alex started.

“No excuses. Look, I’m not reprimanding you or anything; just warning.” he reached out and stroked his daughter’s hair. “Think of it like this: there’s a reason why holly berries are surrounded by leaves. They’re the fruit everyone wants but not everyone can have.”

The singer didn’t know what to say. His dad reached out into his lap and took his sister from him. The man stood and moved towards the door. He looked back to his son who was looking slightly shell shocked.

“I know I’m not here all the time because of work but I’ll always have time to talk to you, any time of the day.” He paused. “Oh yeah, you have a visitor.”

Peter walked out the door, bouncing Maya in his arms and Alex saw Holly in her midnight cloak. Darkness surrounded her; it seemed to flow from her very pores. She slowly raised her head and two burning fires were within the jet pool of her eyes, blazing fiercely into the boys own.