Our Love Isn't Perfect, But It's True

Smokey sent me a shocked look. She bent down and picked up the letter, her eyes sliding along the one long that had been written. She glanced up at me, worry plain on her face. She glanced at my blood covered hand before stuffing the letter into her back pocket and motioning for me to follow her.

"Come on. We have to clean that up," she stated without emotion. I followed her up the stairs to our room and into the bathroom. I jumped up on the marble counter and held out my hand. Smokey pulled a pair of tweezers from the first aid kit we kept, labeled 'Mick's Fight Kit' as a joke.

Smokey took the tweezers and started picking out pieces of glass from my hand, dropping them in the trash can. I winced every now and again, sucking in a sharp breath. But other than that, it was quiet in the room. Eventually, Smokey took a wet washcloth and began to gently wipe away dried blood and dirt.

"So what happened?" she finally asked, not looking away from the task at hand, my hand. I knew she was going to ask that sooner or later. Smokey was always the type to really care about her friends. I sighed and rolled my shoulders, careful not to move my palm from her grasp.

"I jogged down to the mailbox. The dogs followed. It was getting dark. By the time I got there, it was night. I reached into the mailbox to get the mail. There was a chunk of glass in there. It cut my hand, as you can see. The dogs started barking. I turned around and Psycho was in the woods across the way. I freaked out, threw the glass at him and came back. He disappeared," I said in short, choppy sentences.

Smokey nodded when appropriate and listened carefully, still working on my hand. Suddenly, she looked up, sloshing the antiseptic she had been about to use across my hand. I flinched and yelped in pain. "Sorry, sorry!" Smokey stated, quickly wiping it away. She finished wrapping my hand in gauze bandage before voicing her thoughts. "How did Psycho know where you live?"

"Well he..." I started, pausing to try and think of a way he could. I never told him, Jackson hadn't either. And I knew that he had never followed me home after a Kletka battle. But, I couldn't come up was a good response. I truly didn't know how Psycho found where I lived. Then a thought clicked in my mind. "Where's the phonebook?" I asked. Smokey shrugged, so I shot off the counter and down to the kitchen. I pulled open the drawer where it usually was and dug through it.

"Hey, I thought I heard you in here," Ethan said, walking into the kitchen. I looked up at him, seeing him leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Yeah, have you seen the phonebook?" I asked, turning and yanking open more drawers. Ethan walked over and closed the ones I had gone through, rolling his eyes at me.

"It's in the living room. I needed the number for the pizza place. The guys and I were hungry," he answered, following behind me when I sprinted into the other room. "Why? What do you need it for?"

I grabbed it from the table, ignoring the guys who lounged on the couch. I flipped through the pages and found the 'F' section. "Finn, Finn, Finn," I repeated my last name over and over as I scanned the section for it. And then I found it. There were two families listed under Finn: 'Richard and Anne' and 'Benjamin and Mackenzie.' Had Psycho attempted to kill me by burning down Josie's house?

"Everything alright?" Tyler asked, putting a had on my shoulder. I nearly jumped, slamming the phonebook shut. I smiled when In saw him. We hadn't talked in a while.

"Everything's fine. And right now, I want to have one of our famous friend parties. Video games, beer, stupid slumber party games we played as middle schoolers, and scary movies. Call up Kris and Alex and let's get this going," I said, turning on my heels and trudging down the hall.

I know it's crazy that I don't want to find out the truth about the arson of Josie's house. But I'm overwhelmed. Think how you would feel if you were just attacked, threatened and stalked by someone who wishes for your death. Not good, I'll tell you that. Right now, I just want to have a good time.

I stopped at the linen closet and grabbed blankets and pillows. Balancing them just enough, I carried them to the entertainment room. Disappearing into the kitchen, I grabbed all of the cans of soda and beer, bags of chips, and other snacks as I could. By the time I returned to the entertainment room, everyone had gathered there.

"Mick, you need to tell us what's wrong. You were just attacked by Psycho, and then wanted to see a phonebook. Now you want to drink and have a party? Are you sure that's such a good idea?" Trent asked, shooting me a question look. I rolled my eyes.

"Yes, I'm positive," I answered. Popping the top of a beer, I took a swig just to prove my point. The others looked at me in concern before lightening up a bit.

"Fine, fine. Kris is on his way. And I guess someone named Nicoletta is coming with Alex?" Ethan stated, though it sounded like a question. My face lit up.

"That's awesome!" Smokey shouted.

"That means we should invite Jackson," Josie said happily. "You know, to even us out." Everyone agreed. Well everyone except Tyler and I. I glanced at him, questioning eyes for how he felt about the matter. Tyler met my gaze and smiled lightly.

He then turned to Josie, nodded and said, "That's a great idea. Why don't you call him?" Josie nodded excitedly and turned to her phone.

It had been a while since we had one of our friend parties. Since high school started, it was basically high school parties all the time. Which I could get seriously tired of. So much sex, drugs, alcohol and other people's sweat. Yeah, doesn't sound so fun in those terms.

Anyway, about ten minutes later, Kris, Alexandra, Jackson and Nicoletta showed up at the front door. I let them in and skipped back to the entertainment room. They followed, Nicoletta near in awe at my house. Jack, of course, had been here before. But not in a long while.

"Wow, McCartney, you're house is amazing! I've never been in an old-fashioned farm house before!" Nicole stated, looking around at everything like she were in some sort of museum. Or window shopping. Something along those lines.

"Thanks! So here's how this works. We are going to drink and have a damn good time. Get it, got it, good?" I quipped, glancing between them. They all stared for a moment, then nodded. "Ok then," I continued with a smile. I walked into the entertainment room where the others waited, grabbed my beer from the table and took a huge gulp. Then I turned to the others and nodded.

"Let's get this party started!"