Living Silver

April 19th, 4:58 pm.

“So.” I leaned forward on the counter at the kennel on my elbows. “You told me your sister wants to meet me. When’s that going to be?”

Gage checked his watch, and then smiled. “How about when we get off?” he suggested. “She should be home from soccer by then. I doubt she’ll be too busy to say hello. Unless she’s in the shower, and I really hope you don’t want to pop in when she’s there.”

“No, I do not,” I said with a cringe. “That’s nasty.” If Hailey had soccer, then chances were high that Karlee knew her as well. If I had more background information on the girl, I could have at least prepared a speech for if she was a nice person or a wretched one.

Gage laughed and pressed the palms of his hands against the counter, pushing himself back to a lean. “By the way.” Gage reached into his pocket and pulled out another pearl. “I found this rolling out from your backpack when you set it down. Mean anything to you?”

I took it from him, then looked at my bracelet. There were seven pearls still, so that meant this one was recent. I undid the band and slipped the pearl on, before tying it back up. Gage watched me, confused.

“Are you collecting them?” he asked. I nodded.

“I’ve been receiving them since we started back at school again. At first I thought it was a joke but now I know I’ve actually got an admirer,” I said shrugging.

“That’s creepy.”

I hit him in the arm. “I think it’s sweet. When do you get off?”

“In like a minute,” he answered, and grabbed his coat. “She won’t care. I’ve worked overtime. One minute isn’t going to cut it.”

“Where do you think you’re going?” Meredith asked, crossing her arms as she leaned against the doorjamb, staring at us with a cold glare that could have sent any man to his grave. Gage stopped with his coat half-on, looking like a dear in headlights. “You’re not off yet. You still have a minute.”

He sighed. “Come on, Mer. It’s just a minute.”

“Well lots of things could happen in one minute. Now you’re going to stay for another hour.” Both of our jaws dropped, and Meredith burst out laughing. “Wow, you two are gullible. I’m just kidding around. Go on, get out of here. It’s a kennel; nothing can happen in one minute.” She clapped her hands and wiped her eyes. “Man, the looks on your faces were priceless.”

Gage and I looked at each other, then at her but she was already walking back into her office and closing the door. Cody came out of the back room holding a Utonagan terrier puppy but when he spotted us, he stopped and smiled.

“You guys going home?” he asked.

“Yep.” Gage replied, then leaned forward and petted the dogs head. “Who’s this little guy?”

“Bailey. Her owners . . . well, they were heavy drinkers,” he replied, looking suddenly uncomfortable.

“Isn’t that confidential?” I asked, cocking a brow.

“It is but come on; we share everything we hear around here.” Cody glanced over his shoulder at Meredith’s door. “Don’t tell my mom.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a key, dangling it on his finger. I smirked.

“Did you steal the key?”

“Not the only key,” he said, and put it back in his jeans. “I made a copy. I like to know what happened to the dogs I’m treating. It’s not a crime and we’re not going around telling anyone so it isn’t that big of a deal.”

“Fair enough.”

“Anyway, I’ve got to go now before my mom screams at me for not doing any work. Have a good night guys,” he called, already walking away with a hand raised for a quick wave. We returned it and Gage turned to me, taking my hand.

“Ready to meet the family?” he joked and I sucked in a breath, nodding quickly.

“Let’s do it,” I said, and we stepped outside into the crisp, cool spring air.



“Hails?” Gage called, stepping into the house and pulling me behind him. “Hailey, we’re here!” he called again, and I heard footsteps on the staircase. An average-height girl with long blond hair came into view and my jaw nearly dropped opened. She was one of those girls that caused all heads to turn, regardless of gender. Gage’s parents must have been drop-dead sensations with their appearances to make kids that good looking.

“You couldn’t have given me a little warning?” she groaned, pulling her hair back into a pony tail. “I look disgusting. I haven’t even showered yet.” She looked far from disgusting. Her hair was damp from soccer practice and her face a little flushed, and she was wearing a pair of fresh jeans and a red shirt. She wasn’t exactly disproportionate, but it made my skin burn with jealousy because she was so tiny and still maintained giant bazoombas. And here I was, just plain old Andy with medium-sized breasts sitting at a boring height with a figure that didn’t really compliment anything.

“This is Andy,” Gage said, giving my hand a little squeeze. “Andy, this is my sister’s Hailey.”

“Hey!” she exclaimed enthusiastically, jumping off the remaining stairs and walking up to me. “It’s nice to meet you. Gage has told me a lot about you.”

I smiled. “Really?”

“Oh yeah,” she said, giving him an elbow in the side and a wink. “First girlfriend of his that I think I actually appreciate.” When I tilted my head to the side, she continued. “He told me you were alternative. Well . . . sort of. Apparently you like a bit of everything.” I had no idea what she was talking about, so I just nodded. “I’m totally half and half with that kind of stuff. I mean, I’m more of a party girl, so I’m hardly ever found in my room listening to depressing shit, you know?”

“Does anybody?” Gage laughed. “What the hell did you just say?”

“Shut up, you jerkwad,” she teased, poking him in the hip. He shifted away from her quickly. “Anyway, are you staying for dinner?”

“Uhm . . .” I looked up at Gage, who nodded. “I guess so.”

“Okay. Hopefully we don’t have another Molly incident,” Hailey said under her breath. I paused, and Gage visibly stiffened. He let go of my hand and rubbed his on the back of his thighs.

“Hailey . . .” he said hesitantly. “Not right now.”

“What?” Her mouth formed the shape of a perfect circle then. “Oh, you haven’t told her?”

“I was getting to it.”

“Who’s Molly?” I asked.

“Gage’s ex-girlfriend,” Hailey cut in quickly before he even had a chance to get a word in. “He was totally in love with her, but she broke his heart out of nowhere and he’s never gotten over it.” She put her hands on her hips and shrugged. “He says he is but, between you and me, I don’t believe him.”

Gage put his arms out. “Hailey, I’m right here.”

“I know.” She giggled and headed for the kitchen. “You’ve got some competition, Andy,” she called quickly over her shoulder. “The whole family loved Molly.”



“His sister is such a bitch,” I groaned, slamming my head on the table at the bowling alley the following Saturday night. “It was like she was trying to drive me away. What the hell is her problem? I don’t know the girl from Adam but she spent the entire night buttering Molly up like she was some sort of . . . British . . . tart.”

Karlee looked at me, confused. “That’s an interesting idiom,” she said, and turned to Trey beside her for some support. She didn’t know what to say, and from the silence that followed he obviously didn’t either. Karlee sighed and put a hand on the top of my head as I lied there, motionless on the table. “Look, if you let her know that she’s getting to you she’s just going to continue on. I’ve met Gage, and he seems like a real sweetheart but if he’s anything like Hailey sounds to be, I’d back out now before it gets really bad.”

Pax scoffed beside me and I lifted myself up to stare at him, confused. “What?”

“Nothing,” he said, putting his chin in his hand.

“No, seriously. What?” I repeated, hitting him in the shoulder. Trey got up and lifted the bottom of his pants over his bowling shoes before heading up to the lane to take his turn.

“I just . . . I don’t know. I don’t really like Gage,” he said. “He sounds like a real wank.” I cocked a brow, curious. “An idiot, Andy.”

“I know what it means.”

“I think you could do a lot better.” He looked away from me for a moment to steal a fry from the basket Karlee had bought.

“Well I like him,” I said, crossing my arms on the table. “Is there a reason you don’t?”

He locked eyes with me and I saw them crease at the sides, his eyebrows furrowing inward like he was concentrating hard. “No,” he finally said. “No reason. I just don’t.”

Karlee stared at us, confused. “You all right, Pax?” she asked. “You look a little pissed off.”

“I’m fine,” he said and stood up. Trey sat back down. “I just think that Andy attracts idiots.”

My jaw dropped, and all life seemed to stop at the table. Karlee and Trey gaped at him but he remained unfazed, and just walked up to the lane to bowl his turn. I pushed my chair back and tapped him on the shoulder when he was about to make his first run. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I demanded. “Are you saying I have a bad taste in guys or that I could only appeal to stupid ones?”

Pax opened his mouth, then closed it and looked back at Karlee and Trey. They sat like deer in headlights before Karlee grabbed his arm and yanked him out of his chair. She dragged him to the arcade area claiming that they were going to play a game of pool before returning while we talked things out.

“Andy, I was just kidding around.”

“You know, Hailey’s behavior does not, in any way, affect who Gage is. They’re two different people and frankly I think it is extremely rude, and very out of line to accuse me of being in the wrong here,” I snapped, poking him in the chest.

He took a step back. “Come on, you know that I didn’t mean anything by it—”

“They why did you say it?!”

Pax only watched me, surprise written all over his face. He finally let out a deep breath and shook his head, putting the bowling ball back on the rack. “Listen, I honestly didn’t mean it in a bad way. I’m sure Gage is a great guy. I was speaking out of context.” When I frowned at him, he tried laughing to lighten the mood. “Relax, Andy. I really think you and your boyfriend are a good match, okay? Hailey’s just a bitch with no self-awareness. I bet she’s one of those dumb blondes at our school that talk like they’re about to burst.”

“Yeah, well she sounded like one,” I mumbled, folding my arms over my chest.

He grinned. “There it is. You know I’d never insult you purposely right?” He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and headed back to the table. I tried to hold it back, but the smile itched onto my face anyway and I hit him lightly on the stomach.

“Yeah, I know,” I said.

He kissed the top of my head. “Exactly.”



May 2nd, 6:49 am.

My phone rang on my bedside table when I was getting ready for school and I quickly grabbed it, holding it up to my ear while trying to put on some mascara.

“Hello?” I asked.

“Your friend Pax is single right?” Gage asked.

I wasn’t entirely sure, because Pax had hooked up with a girl in the back of her car last night. But I was going to go with yes. “Yeah, he’s single. Why?” I asked.

“Well Hailey saw him after soccer practice when you guys were waiting for Karlee and she said that she thought he was attractive, so she just wanted to know if he was seeing anyone and, if it’s possible, if you could maybe get the two of them together,” he explained. I put my mascara down and frowned at myself in the mirror. Unless I wished unhappiness on Pax, I would never purposely unleash Hailey on him. She was one of those girls that was sneaky with her tactics to get into one social circle but could make it explode all the same. I knew how she worked the system, by befriending all of them secretly and then talking crap behind each of their backs to turn them on each other. And then she would just disappear like a phantom but that damage would have been done already, so her presence wasn’t really needed anyway.

She hadn’t done anything bad to me yet, but I was waiting for it and I knew what to expect. That was why I had warned Karlee, because the minute I heard Hailey had been chatting her up after soccer practice, I told her to be on guard and she hadn’t let it down since then. The way she talked, like she was about to blow up at me or anyone in a matter of minutes made it hard to trust her. And she always seemed to have a smirk on her face. It wasn’t a good sign.

Gage and I had been dating just about a month, and things still seemed to be going relatively well with him. But there was something wrong with Pax. I just couldn’t figure out what it was.

“So?” Gage asked. “Do you think there’s anything you can do?”

“I’ll check into it,” I said, but was cursing myself for it after. I had enough Hailey in my life; if she started dating Pax full time, then I would be seeing her more than I would like to, and if he just hooked up with her once and broke it off immediately afterwards, I knew she would go crying back to her brother and somehow, it would end up back at me. There was really no easy way around it, but I was going to have to do something. “I’ll have to ask Pax what he thinks and I’ll get back to you but I can’t promise anything. So please don’t get your sister’s hopes up.”

“Oh I won’t,” he laughed. “She’s hard enough to talk to as it is. I don’t need to hear about her boy obsessions.”

Hailey and Gage were oddly close to a point that it was almost uncomfortable to be around them both. She was nearly obsessed with him and would constantly be latched onto him whenever I was meeting up with him. If we planned a private date just the two of us, she would either tag along demanding the day with her brother or claiming her parents “wanted them to spend more quality time together”. And if we were getting even a little close to each other, she would somehow manage to ruin the moment. It was like she couldn’t bare the idea of anyone being with her brother because she wanted him all to herself. We had been watching a movie together at his house about a week ago and she came downstairs in nothing but shorts and a t-shirt, and plopped herself down on his lap. He looked less than contempt to have her there, but she was crafty. If he told her to get off, it would appear that he was a bad brother for wanting her to piss off, but if he just let her stay there, it would make me feel out of place. And it did.

Hailey was also making it clear that she wanted to practically run me out of town. Either she had a weird fixation on Gage’s ex-girlfriend Molly, or she brought her up in hopes that it would annoy me so much I would just call it quits and give up on the both of them. I was close until I remembered that it was only Hailey, and Gage really had nothing to do with it. He had told her off a couple times, which she overdramatized in order to make him seem like a bad guy and have him come apologize later on.

But I knew that if Gage and I were going to date through the summer, Hailey was definitely going to be our biggest obstacle.