Firework Eyes

Vic only had a block before he reached home. He walked into the darkened hallway careful not to wake his parents. If Alexa's house was white and stark then his house was quite the opposite. The walls were a warm tan color and the clutter in the house only showed that it was a busy household. He went to his own room. It had posters on the wall, his guitar in the corner, a small closet, his dresser, his bed, a tv and his stereo. He fell onto the bed not bothering to pull back the covers. He was only thinking.

"How was your girlfriend's house?" Mike asked appearing in the open doorway. Vic sat up to look at his brother. At fifteen, he still stood taller than Vic and already had the beginnings of the tattoos that would one day cover his body.

"She is not my girlfriend," Vic replied. He lacked any passion behind the words. It was a tired argument, one that had been going on for months, if not years.

"She would be if you would just tell her," Mike said, baiting him.

"Dude, just go to bed or something," Vic said tiredly.

"Fine, fine, don't listen to me when I try to help you," Mike said turning away. As he disappeared into his own room Vic got up, closed his door and pulled off his shoes and the jeans he had been wearing. He got into bed and went to bed thinking about Mike's words and wondering what Alexandria had lied about.

The next day Vic woke up too early. He rose and hit the off button on the digital alarm clock on his bedside table. He could already hear his mother and father in the kitchen. His mother would be bustling around, cooking and singing songs in Spanish. His father would be at the table reading the paper and listening to his mother. Mike would be just stumbling in sleepily and taking a seat by their father. He smiled at the thought and walked into the bathroom. After, he went to the kitchen and found the scene as he had predicted.

"Morning," he said cheerfully.

"Good morning," his mother said smiling at him. She placed four plates on the table and they all sat to eat.

After breakfast, Vic left to go to work.

He walked by Alexa's house, stopping only to see if her curtains were drawn back. Sometimes on his way she would be waiting to wave at him. If he allowed himself to daydream he pictured that one day he would walk by and she would be waiting to invite him inside. He would and there she would be in her room, her fuzzy white bathrobe on. He would watch as she untied the strings, sliding it off her thin shoulders and revealing that tantalizing white skin that the sun hadn’t touched. He shook himself out of his reverie. He couldn’t afford to think like that, he knew what happened when you spent too much time thinking about girls you could never have.

She’s only your friend.