Cold as Ice

Lucille was living with us by the end of March, which was... a change. My brother completely gave up his bitter feelings toward her and started being pleasant, which was a nice change. My father wasn't on the road as much as he normally would have been, which was an excellent change. But the best change?

Johnny.

Thinking about him used to make me roll my eyes or want to throw a bunch of glass things at a brick wall. I used to link words like dick and arrogant and useless to his name. I used to hate him. But now I found myself smiling at the mention of his name. I found myself perking up when his name flashed across the bright screen of my cell phone.

There was a certain trust between us that I knew had always been there, but covered in a layer of dusty neglect. That Valentine's Day we'd spent together had blown the dust off of it, and for once, made both Johnny and I stare our feelings in the face and acknowledge that they were there.

Our relationship went without saying. I had never officially called him my boyfriend, and he the same with me. But it was understood between us that we were together. We didn't go about the whole business of making a show of it at school, either - but something told me that people just knew. Sometimes, girls would still approach me with jealousy gleaming in their eyes and demand to know if Johnny was mine. I told them all to figure it out on their own. Johnny was rubbing off on me.

Nobody really knew what to think of us, but Johnny and I were happy that way. We still picked on each other, got into fights - sometimes physical ones, and called each other names. But that was the way we were, and I was really growing to like it.

Cayden seethed with jealousy, and Johnny thought it was just delicious. Every so often, we would walk past Cayden and his slimy friends and catch them staring us down. Johnny thought it was highly amusing and would let loose a wild laugh and pull me closer to him. I had no complaints on the matter.

Spring Break rolled around, and it felt weird to call it Spring Break - because there was still a thick layer of snow over the whole town. None of us were complaining, though, because it was a two-week break from school and there were going to be parties coming at us from every direction.

But rather than heading to a massive house party on the first day off, the girls and I went to Bailey's for a sleepover.

Jen was sitting on the floor in front of Bailey, who was attempting to French braid Jen's thick, fiery red hair. I sat beside them in a pair of loose grey sweats and a black tank top that was just a tad too small. It was fine to wear around Bailey's house, since the only guys there were her Dad, and her eight-year-old brother, Ben.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose was playing on Bailey's TV, but the only one paying attention to it was Jen. Her innocent eyes were fixed intently on the screen and her lips were parted slightly in a mixture of fascination and horror.

"Do you really think this movie is based on a true story?" She asked, not taking her eyes from the screen for a single second.

"It probably is, but it's most likely been stripped down to the bare concept, written, re-written, and distorted until it became scary." I said, using air quotations with one hand and dropping a few M&M's into my mouth with the other.

"You just sounded exactly like Johnny." Bailey said with a laugh, and then frowned at the lopsided braid in her hands. She raked her fingers through Jen's hair, destroying her work. "I don't understand. I can curl, I can straighten, I can braid, I can tease and I can do up-dos, but I can't do a damn French braid!"

"Let me try." I scooted toward them and started a new braid.

"I hate you." Bailey told me, burying her hand in my bag of M&M's.

"I hate you more." I smiled widely at her. "Here, you finish the braid. It's easy from here out."

She shook her head and took Jen's hair from me. Eventually she got the hang of it. "So, any news on Johnny's parents? I heard they've been fighting a lot lately."

I nodded. "Liza isn't staying at home anymore - she's staying at her sister's house. I guess they started fighting more and more over money, and the fact that Victor is at work so much. Since he's a cop, she is really worried about him working the night shifts in case he gets hurt."

"God... that's rough." said Bailey.

"Aren't Lucille and your Dad having the same issue?" asked Jen.

"They are, actually. Lucille can't get a teaching job around here until September, so she got an office job instead. She's always stuck working late, and Dad's upset because he's finally his two months off of the roads, but she's never home." I said.

"How long have they been together?" asked Bailey.

"Uh..." I chewed my thumb nail. "I'm pretty sure they dated a little in high school - they met through Victor or something like that. They met up again in Florida and they've been dating for almost a year now. At least, I think that's the right story."

Bailey snorted. "It's none of my business, but I don't think she should've moved in so soon. I mean, you and Ash have only really known her for, what - three months?"

I shrugged. "Well, she makes my Dad happy and she's nice. I'm just glad she's not an evil stepmother or a gold digger."

"She is nice. Ash had me thinking that she was going to be some kind of horrible person - before I had even met the woman. But I like her." Jen said.

"I'm done!" exclaimed Bailey. "I did it!" She tied off Jen's French braid with an elastic and let it hang. "Oh... I'm so proud."

"You're welcome, Bay." I said.

"Shut up." She laughed and lay down on her stomach. "No, you know what? Don't shut up. Tell me about you and Johnny."

"Johnny and I?" I felt myself go red in the face.

"Yeah!" Jen said, turning to face me. "You haven't said a single thing about it."

"Well, we're obviously dating." I said.

"No shit, Sherlock," Bailey threw an M&M at me. "Tell us more."

"Okay, okay," I threw the M&M back at her. "There's not much to tell, really. It's basically the same old us, except we kiss frequently."

"Frequently?" Bailey's pierced eyebrow went up.

I grinned. "And he likes to snuggle."

"Aw," Jen cooed.

"He's good to you, right?" asked Bailey.

Nodding, I fiddled with the diamond pendant shaped like a lily that hung on my neck; the necklace Johnny had bought me for Christmas. "He is."

"He better be, or else I'll tear him a new ass hole." said Bailey.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about, Bailey." said Jen, as she rolled onto her back. "Ash would be the first in line to tear Johnny apart if he ever hurt Avery."

"We could ambush him."

I shook my head and settled down with my back against Bailey's bed. On the television screen, Emily Rose was convulsing and twitching and whispering something about demons. The whole room was flooded with darkness, and the three of us stared at the TV in silence.

Suddenly, Bailey's bedroom door flew open and Jen screamed, throwing herself into my lap, which made me scream. Bailey jumped to her feet as the light came on, and we all relaxed as we saw Ben standing in the doorway. He blinked his big blue eyes and slowly extended his arm to Bailey. "Uh... phone's for Avery."

"Jesus, Ben. You scared the shit of us." She growled, snatching the cordless phone from his hand. "Go away."

"Sorry," he murmured.

"Thanks, Ben." I said, waving politely to him.

He smiled at me and waved before exiting the room.

Bailey held the phone to her ear. "Hello?" She paused. "Oh... uh, sure, wait one second." Eyebrows raised, she handed the phone to me with her hand over the receiver. "It's Johnny, and he sounds freaked out."

I took it from her. "Johnny?"

"Hey," he said, definitely sounding freaked out. His voice was crackling, so I knew he was on his cell phone. "Uh, I have something strange to tell you."

"Go ahead." I said, and shrugged at Jen and Bailey, who were staring at me with odd expressions.

"You'll never guess who I just saw together." I heard the ticking of his turning signal, so I also knew he was in his car.

"Who?" I asked.

"My Dad and Lucille."

"So?"

"No, no. Avery, listen to me. I saw them together, as in, leaving my house laughing and holding hands and getting into my Dad's car."

My face went blank. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"I'm saying that I think that's why my Dad's always 'at work,' and Lucille, too."

Bailey mouthed the words: Is he breaking up with you?

I waved my hand at her. "Johnny, are you sure that's what you saw?"

"Avery, I'd bet my balls on it."

"What's going on?" Bailey whispered.

I waved at her again. "Did either of them see you?"

"No," said Johnny. "I was on the back road." He drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "What do we do?"

"I don't know." I said, shaking my head. "Come pick me up tomorrow, okay? We'll deal with it then. It's two in the morning."

"Okay. Where should I go? I don't want to go home. And I don't want to go to your house in case your Dad is there, because I'll probably end up saying something to him."

"Go to... Kyle's." I said.

Bailey nodded, not understanding exactly what was going on, and picked up her cell to notify Kyle.

Johnny sighed heavily. "Okay. I'm sorry if this ruined your night - but I just didn't know who to tell."

"It didn't, don't worry. Go to Kyle's and I'll see you tomorrow, all right?"

"Good night, Sugar." He said.

"Good night, Johnny." I hung up and dropped the phone onto the floor.

"What was all that about?" asked Jen.

"I think Johnny's Dad is cheating on Johnny's Mom... with Lucille." I said.

Bailey looked up. "Oh shit."