About a Girl

”I'm wasting time thinking about a girl, and stealing her away from her world.” – Blink-182

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“You’re sharing a bathroom with a hot Aussie guitarist, and you’re telling me you’re not going for that?!” comes a disgruntled exclamation from my phone.

“Suzie…” I groan, closing the door to my room and flopping down onto the bed.

“Lucky. I visit and all I get is Mike and Seb as roommates,” she whines sulkily.

“Then why don’t you ask him out?” I retort irritably, lowering my tone, just in case, even though I hear music coming from his room across the hall.

“Hmm…” she trails off thoughtfully, pretending to contemplate it deeply. I roll my eyes. “That’s a novel idea, Rae, it really is, but he’s just not my type.”

“I always thought your type was good-looking and male.”

“Funny, Rae,” she says sardonically. “I have standards, you know. I don’t think he’d be able to handle me, anyway,” she adds, dismissively.

“I don’t know that anyone can, Suze,” I shake my head. She laughs in agreement.

“Guess that only leaves you, then. I mean, that accent… Oh, and he has gorgeous eyes.”

“They are pretty nice,” I remark absently.

“Ha! I knew it. You want him,” she laughs.

“I…just because I don’t want to date him, doesn’t mean I can’t look,” I say, ignoring the fact that my cheeks are reddening in embarrassment, even though she can’t even see me.

“Yeah, okay, well ask him if he has a brother for me, if you get a chance. Maybe I should just stop and see “The Thunder From Down Under” on my way back to L.A.” she laughs.

“The what from where?” I ask, confused. She laughs immaturely again. “You know what? Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

“You sure?”

“Bye Suzie,” I roll my eyes before attempting to hang up.

“Fine, sorry, one more thing. Do you think he’s good in bed? He looks like he’d be amazing.”

“Bye Suzie,” I repeat, feeling my blush grow a deeper red.

“Let me know when you find out,” she adds, laughing hysterically before hanging up.

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Michael

“So where are you staying, then?” she asks curiously. Nosily, I should say. Nicola’s always been the most intrusive of my siblings.

“I’m in Chicago. With-”

“Chicago?” she repeats, interrupting. “But I thought you were going to stay with Butch in Los Angeles.”

“I changed my mind,” I say, somewhat defensively.

“Oh?” she asks, a hint of teasing already taking over her tone. “So who’s the girl, then?” she asks knowingly. I play dumb.

“Sorry?”

I turn up some music to drown out my voice, even though her door across the hall is already closed.

“I said, what’s her name? Besides, why else would you stay there? I thought you liked L.A.”

“My bandmates are from here,” I try to explain my decision logically, even though she’s right and she knows it.

“This is exciting!” she exclaims, ignoring me. “Do you know how long it’s been since you-”

“Don’t…” I groan, but it’s true.

I haven’t had a girlfriend since the disaster that was Holly, and that was over a year ago, just before I moved to the States for music.

“Wait till I tell Mum!”

The girl’s just out of university and acts like a fifteen year old gossip.

“What’s this Nicola tells me about a girl?” my mother comes on the line to ask.

“There’s no girl, Mum,” I roll my eyes at my sister.

“If you say so, Michael.” She believes Nicola, of course.

“Michael?” William’s voice comes from the doorway, a few minutes after I’ve hung up with them.

“What’s up?” I ask. He glances to see that Rae’s door is still closed, then steps into my room and closes mine as well.

“You’ve been hanging out with Rae, right?” he asks.

“Yeah…” I answer tentatively, wondering where he’s going with this.

“This is going to sound weird…” he begins, scratching the back of his neck awkwardly. “But do you think you could…keep an eye on her for me?” he asks simply, but I’m confused.

“What do you mean by that?”

“I just think it’d be nice for her to spend some time with someone who doesn’t know all her business, you know?” he asks, sounding more relieved. “She…hasn’t been herself lately.”

“Oh…uh…yeah, sure. No problem.”

“Great,” he replies, letting himself out.

Leaving me wondering what he meant by it and thinking that maybe the Rae I’ve been spending so much time with isn’t the real her at all.

If maybe I’m wasting time in Chicago just to be around her, if maybe I’m just idealizing her in my mind.