Living Silver

January 15th, 8:34 am.

Since my cousin—who was still staying at our house due to the snow and their flight being cancelled—liked to make my life a living hell, my alarm had been turned off and I slept in for an extra hour and ended up missing my bus. I got a ride with my mom but I was definitely late for school and chances were, I was going to get my ass kicked for it later from my math teacher. I opened my locker and took of my coat and boots, grabbing my running shoes, binder and pencil case and straightening out my shirt. I was about to close the locker and rush into class, begging for forgiveness but something caught my eye.

A silver pearl.

I squinted at it and bent down to pick it up.

“What the hell,” I whispered to myself. Either someone was using us as some sort of garbage spot for the exact same thing, we had a broken necklace somewhere we didn’t know, or one of us had an admirer but since neither of us even owned pearls, the second option was out. I shook my head and closed the locker, sneaking into class unnoticed since my teacher was out in the hall talking with another teacher. I sat down next to Aimee and put the pearl on her desk.

“Did you put that in the locker?” I asked and she shook her head.

“I haven’t been to the locker yet,” she said and I saw that she was wearing all of her winter clothing. “I’ve got a cold, so I’m freaking freezing,” she said through a stuffed nose.

“So this isn’t yours?”

“Nope. And it’s not yours?”

“No. I love pearls but I never seem to have the money around to actually get one. They’re pretty expensive,” I replied, slouching down in my chair. “So if it’s not mine and it’s not yours, who the hell keeps putting pearls in our locker?”



“Tough day?” Gage asked, smiling when I walked into the kennel and threw my bag down behind the counter with a heavy sigh. “You don’t look so good.”

“I’m very tired,” I answered, and I was still pulling honey-covered nuts out of my teeth because in the process of waking up late and rushing to catch the bus that drove away without me anyway, I had forgotten my lunch and I had to turn to Karlee for her granola bar. To say the least, I was a little stressed. In addition, we had to take a surprise math quiz to see how much we remembered from grade nine on the unit we were about to learn, and Ms. Aldrin made us run twenty laps backwards around the gym and then forward for Phys. Ed, so I had a limp when I walked now.

“Well then I guess this isn’t your day,” Gage said, holding out three leashes to me. Laurie, a one year old golden retriever, Reba, a full-grown pit bull and Spike, a chocolate lab puppy. Gage looked at me apologetically. “Do you want me to cover for you? I could handle this and we’ll switch. You can man the counter.”

I shook my head. “It’s okay. I’ll take these three,” I said, tying my hair up in a high pony tail and taking the leashes from him. He leaned against the counter with his arms crossed.

“Hot date tonight or something?” he asked and when I raised an eyebrow, confused, he nodded to my clothes. “You look nice today.”

“What a charmer,” I joked and he smirked.

“You interested?”

I laughed. “Don’t hold your breath,” I said and walked out the back door. In two weeks time, I had become less nervous around Gage. The difference between him and I was that he was a major flirt, whereas I had absolutely no idea how to do it. That didn’t really matter to me though, because I had at least gotten the courage to maintain a conversation with him for over ten minutes within the first day, he had asked for my phone number. I was excited to work there for more than one reason now.

The shelter had a forest behind it where the employees were required to take the dogs out for walks and to do their business just so that they wouldn’t be cooped up inside all day. It got constant customers; some making donations but most looking to adopt. We also got people that were giving pets over because of abuse, age or the owner’s inability to take on an animal in their home. If age was the problem, they were asked to be put down but since the owners never came back to check of them, Meredith refused to do that. She was the manager and even if it was proper protocol with shelters, she believed that every living thing—human or animal—deserved to live as long as it could. That was one of the things I admired most about her. Another thing was how she didn’t give up a fight and how strong she was. A week ago, a man had come in and requested to see the dog he had pretty much condemned to death with all of the abuse it had put up with but Meredith didn’t let him. Then, when he forced to call her lawyer, she went ape-shit on his ass and he left with any threats dropped because she had scared him so bad.

The biggest issue I had with the dogs was Reba. She had a continuous need to sniff every dog’s butt and when I got fed up and took her back inside because she refused to do anything, she ended up peeing in her cage and then whining about it. That was why I hated taking her outside with other dogs but when I took her out by herself, she would try to sniff my butt. Those were the times I needed Gage to take over, because she had no problem with him.

I could see through the window that Gage was on the phone with someone. The person on the other line said something to him and he laughed, tilting his head back as he did so. I didn’t think it was possible for someone to be so gorgeous but he certainly pulled it off. The naturally straight blond hair complimented his facial structure, long neck and broad shoulders. It was no surprise that when girls by any age came in, they swooned over him. I didn’t blame them; I swooned over him myself and he was one of those guys that had a constant effect on you, no matter how long you’ve known him. Then again, it had only been two weeks but I had a very strong attraction to him because he was good-looking, sweet and actually genuine about it, and older. I always found older boys to be more striking than just someone my age. Luckily, he didn’t tower over me since I was a fairly reasonable height but he was still ridiculously tall.

Meredith’s fifteen year old son, Cody, stepped outside with a pair of shiatsu’s attached to his hips, barking and howling like wolves under a full moon. Since he had heart for animals as big as his mom, she gave him the job regardless of his age. What was neat was that both Gage and Cody went to my school, but I couldn’t understand how I had never seen them around before.

“Hey,” Cody said with a smile, putting the dogs on the ground. They began to run away but he held the leashes tighter to stop them. “I thought you had the day off today.”

“Lauren needed to switch. She’s going to dinner with her boyfriend so I offered to take her schedule today and she would cover for me on Friday,” I replied. “Don’t you have a date tonight?”

“Nah, she dumped me,” he replied with a shrug. “She’s allergic to dogs and since I spend pretty much every day with them, I make her sneeze whenever I get close.”

I laughed, despite my best efforts to keep it inside. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t laugh.”

“Doesn’t matter to me. I did when she told me,” he said. “I felt awful after though.”

“Jesus, Reba!” I exclaimed when she started to chase Spike around me so she could sniff his butt. “All right, I have to go before she puts her face somewhere else.”

Cody smirked. “Your work is cut out for you,” he joked. “You like a challenge, right?”

“This isn’t a challenge,” I mumbled. “It’s a freaking monstrosity.”



December 25th, 12:52 am.

“So let me get this straight,” Pax said, pushing himself out of the chair. He began to pace the room with one hand on his hip and the other stroking his chin as he tried to figure out what to say next. “You’re really using what happened between you and Gage as an excuse not to give us a shot?”

I frowned. “I think you’re jealous of your brother,” I said. He stopped where he was and cocked a brow, curious. “Well, it’s Christmas and he’s got himself a girlfriend who happens to be his best friend and they’re perfect for each other. Meanwhile, you’re with your best friend but it’s never really resorted to anything and you don’t have a date tonight either.”

“So you’re saying I’m lonely,” he said, a scowl beginning to form. “You know me better than that, and that’s low. Even for you, Andy. I don’t think you can say that nothing has happened between us. Summer is the perfect example.”

“It was one time, Pax,” I argued. “You know I don’t want a relationship and it’s obvious you don’t want one either. You see people but you’ve never actually dated anyone and you know that’s true so don’t try and prove me wrong when I’m right.”

He stared at me for a long moment, then looked at his shoes and chuckled. “Touché.” He sat down again with a long sigh. “So then what do you want to do? Would it really be all that horrible to just see how it went? What reasons do you have not to try?”

“I have plenty of reasons,” I said. “Come on, Pax. Can you honestly look me in the eyes and say you’ve liked me before?”

“Yeah,” he said with a shrug.

I sat up straighter, surprised. Being friends with Pax for so long, I had learned that he had never seriously liked someone before. He was that guy that hooked up with people but didn’t let it turn into a relationship because it wasn’t something he was looking for. Of course, he was good with his words and somehow, he managed to turn an “I’ll call you” into “I’m not interested” but still maintain his good status. That was another thing that made him stand out from Trey. Trey actually wanted to be with someone.

“Then let’s talk about it,” I said, crossing my arms. “What happened that summer was nothing more than comfort. You made me feel better about Gage and I was there for you as a special kind of friend. You told me yourself that you didn’t want anything more and I believed you because I felt the exact same way. So when did you like me?”

“If I didn’t feel something for you now, why would I bother to ask you if you ever thought about us?”

“That doesn’t count,” I said. “Before. When was it?”

But he didn’t answer.



February 12th, 7:59 am.

“I hate Valentine’s Day,” Karlee groaned. “If you’re single, it’s the worst. Couples know how to rub it in your face without even doing it directly.”

I looked across the hall at Roxanne Porter and Dalton Tanner. He had his arm around her shoulder and his face was hovering close to hers as he whispered something with a tempting smile on his face, which made her giggle.

“I know what you mean,” I said, working on the lock. “Luckily we’re not actually at school on the day.”

“It still counts,” she pointed out, crossing her arms and leaning against the locker next to mine. “Trey and I are hanging out on Sunday. Sort of a ‘single people’ thing so that we don’t have to feel so depressed about it. Do you want to come with us? If you do, I’m sure Pax will tag along.”

I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. “Are you hinting at something?”

She put up her hands. “Not at all. It’s just that you two are close like Trey and I are. You’re practically glued at the hip, you know? Wherever you go, he goes and vice versa.”

“Not necessarily,” I replied, pulling the locker opened. My eyes went wide when I saw another small silver pearl at the bottom of it. I picked it up and examined it. “Okay, what the hell? This is just getting ridiculous.”

“What is?” Karlee asked, moving to see what was in my hand. “Wow, that’s really pretty. Wait . . . do you not like pearls or something?”

“I love pearls, but this is the third one and I think someone’s just trying to screw with Aimee and me now,” I replied. “Seriously, who leaves pearls in a person’s locker?”

“Probably someone with a crush on you,” Karlee said, giggling. When I shot her a glare, she shut her mouth immediately.

“Whatever. I bet it’s just a prank,” I said, grabbing my binder and sticking the pearl in my pocket. When she stared at me oddly, I said “I’m collecting them. So what? Don’t judge.”

“But you just said—”

“Shush!” I demanded. An arm wrapped around my shoulder and crushed me against the beholder’s side.

“Cranky?” Pax asked. “You look stressed.”

“Wafer-thin nerves,” I replied. “Someone keeps leaving pearls in my locker.”

He looked confused. “And that’s a bad thing?”

“I think it’s a joke,” I replied. “Not many people do that.”

“Maybe someone likes you and they just want to show it,” he said, shoving his hands in his pockets and shrugging. Karlee beamed at me, proud of herself and I flipped her the middle finger but she just laughed it off, unfazed. “You know, you should write a note,” Pax suggested. “Actually, can I do it?”

“What are you going to say?” I asked, but there was no stopping him because Karlee was already handing him a piece of paper from her notebook. He pulled a pen out of his back pocket and held the lip between his teeth. He pressed the paper against the locker as he wrote.

Dear Pearl-Deliverer, it said. We would appreciate it if you specified who you are interested in. Sincerely, the locker owners.

I shook my head. “He won’t like either of us after that,” I muttered, folding my arms over my chest. Pax ignored me and pulled out a piece of tape, sticking the paper to the locker. My eyebrows shot up in surprise. “What, are you producing school supplies now or something?”

He grinned and put the pen back in his pocket. “I’m just leaving a nice message for the guy,” he said. “If he’s going to leave pearls, he should at least specify who it’s for. Who has them?”

“I do.”

“So you like them but you complain about them,” he said, snickering. “That makes complete sense.”

“Nice note,” Trey said, staring at it with a stone-face. Then his lip twitched but he clearly didn’t want to admit that it amused him and he hid it well. Trey turned to Karlee. “Ready to go?” he asked her and she nodded.

“Where are you guys going?” I asked.

“Class?” he asked more than stated, pointing to the ceiling. “The bell just went. See you.” As they walked off, Pax clicked his tongue and shook his head, disappointed.

“He needs to tell her already,” he said.

“When do you think she’ll realize he’s crazy about her?” I asked, smiling as I watched them. They were so perfect for each other but Karlee was too oblivious to see. It made me want to slap her sometimes.

“Probably not for a while,” Pax replied. “Go to class. You’re going to get in trouble.”

I scoffed. “Oh, so now you care about if my teacher gives me hell or not.”

He just grinned and walked off. I started to step into the classroom but I heard my name being called from down the hall and turned around. Gage was coming toward me, his smile just as bright and inviting as always and a hand lifted in an almost imperceptible wave. “Hey,” he said, stopping once he was in front of me. “Are you doing anything after school today?”

“Uhm . . .” I thought about it. Trey and Karlee hung out every Friday night so they probably expected Pax and I to tag along, but they would understand if I cancelled for Gage. I had introduced him to Karlee, and she died a little inside because I got to spend basically every day with him and she didn’t. She was jealous, and I didn’t blame her; Gage was stunning. It may not have been considered a date to him, but I was saying it was just for the hell of it, and it would make me feel a lot better.

“No,” I finally said. “I’m not doing anything. Why?”

“I was wondering if you maybe wanted to go out for dinner,” he said, tilting his head to the side. His cheeks reddened a little and I could have dropped dead right then and there. I was making Gage blush. Gage! “You know, with me.”

“I’d love to,” I said with a smile.

His face lit up. “Awesome. Uhm, I’ll text you later and let you know where.”

I nodded. “Okay.”

He walked away then, glancing over his shoulder to shoot me one last grin before turning the corner. I felt like I was on Cloud Nine and I knew my day could have been the worst one in the history of the world but nothing could have brought me down now. I let out a tiny squeal of happiness and walked into math class, sitting down at my spot and trying to concentrate on the teacher when he started his lesson but I just couldn’t. Then guilt hit me fast and hard. I was ditching my friends tonight for a date. Even thought it was Gage, the twins wouldn’t understand and we had made a pact years ago that potential, current or future boyfriends and girlfriends would never come between us. Then again, that had more to do with our friendship than hanging out with each other.

We had excused Pax when he went on dates with girls and then never got back to them so it should be the same for me, just as it would be in Karlee’s or Trey’s situation. Plus, it pretty much counted as Valentine's Day. It was an excusable day for emergency dates, so they couldn't get mad at me for planning something. The guilt went away as fast as it came on. I wasn’t hurting anyone.

Going on a date with Gage wasn’t going to bother anybody.