Living Silver

May 12th, 6:35 pm.

“Thanks for the birthday dinner,” I said to Pax, wiping my hands off on my legs. He knew I didn’t like anything flashy, like a big dinner at a restaurant with a bunch of people screaming in my face “Happy Sweet Sixteen”, so that was why burgers right on the waterfront was so perfect for me. I wasn’t a material girl, and even though Trey had an unexpected swimming meet and Karlee had to prepare for the grade twelve’s prom, I was still having a great time. Pax was one of my best friends, so it meant so much more that I got to spend my birthday with him and no one else. Gage had offered to take me out, but Pax had reserved me since a month ago and I wasn’t going to bail on him for my boyfriend. Plus, Gage wanted to take me to a fancy bistro so that really showed how well he knew me compared to Pax. And even though I loved being with Gage, I wanted to do something I actually liked on my birthday.

And burgers on the beach followed by a trip through the city was exactly what I needed.

“You’re welcome,” Pax said, folding the plastic box into a square and tossing it into the garbage bin a far distance away. I cocked a brow, impressed and he smiled. “Basketball.”

“True.”

“So how many have you got to date?” he asked, nodding to my wrist.

“Ten now. I love them. They’re so pretty,” I gushed, admiring the pearls glimmering in the setting sunlight. “I can’t believe I’m the one getting them. I’m not even that stunning, and it’s not like I stand out in the crowd.”

“Yes you do.”

“I mean, you would expect someone like Karlee to get them, or Roxanne. I’ve never had a secret admirer before. This is, like . . . well it’s glamour!” I exclaimed.

“You’re living silver,” Pax laughed. “They’re really nice. This guy must like you a lot. You know, I still haven’t picked you up anything for your birthday.” I shrugged and crossed my arms on the table.

“That’s okay. I don’t need anything. This is good enough.”

“No. That won’t do,” he argued. “I’m getting you something.”

“Pax—”

“When we walk through town, if you see something and you like it, tell me and it’ll be your birthday present. Wouldn’t you rather have something you got to choose than something you didn’t?” He raised his eyebrows smartly.

“I really don’t need anything,” I laughed.

“Well suck it up, Princess,” he sang. “I’m getting you a present whether you like it or not. Now get up.” He offered me his hand but I glared at him. “What?”

“I will get up if you promise not to buy me anything,” I said. “Seriously, Pax. You know me better. I don’t want more than what I’m getting from you and having you take me out for my birthday was nice enough as it is. And technically, you can count my burger as my present because you paid for it.”

“You’re not going to let up are you?”

I shook my head.

He growled and came around the table, wrapping his arms around my waist from behind and hoisting me off the bench. I shrieked and began to pound mercilessly at his forearms.

“Put me down, you dick,” I laughed, despite my best efforts to remain stoic.

He scoffed. “Don’t call me a dick. I will dunk you in the water.” And he began to change his course from the sidewalk to the waves crashing against the sand.

“I will scream in your ear!”

“You already are,” he chuckled. “Now, ask nicely.”

I mumbled something I could barely understand myself, before saying “please put me down, Pax.”

“That’s better.” He set me on my feet again and smoothed down his shirt. “Was that so hard?”

I elbowed him in the stomach and headed for the sidewalk. My act of aggression didn’t do too much against him because he was practically a brick, standing super tall and built like a weight-lifter. Except he didn’t look like he had taken steroids, but he was definitely as muscular as a growing fifteen year old boy could be. Now I had something else to hold over his head, because I was sixteen and he was still waiting for that time and when it came, he would have to share the glory with his twin.

We walked through town window-shopping for about an hour before Pax called a cab and we took it back to his house to hang out for a bit and watch a movie. I hadn’t managed to find anything that really sparked my interest, but he promised to bring me back again just in case. But the minute I stepped in the doorway, lights and streamers and happy faces came into vision, all of which just screamed “Happy Sixteenth Birthday!”.

I looked at Pax, surprised and he grinned. “What, did you honestly think I wasn’t going to throw you a surprise party? It’s your sixteenth birthday.”

Trey and Karlee both walked up to hug me while the other thirty-or-so people behind stayed there, cheering and wishing me a good year. I looked at Pax over Trey’s shoulder when he was hugging me and whispered, “And you wanted to buy me another gift.” He just laughed.

Gage came up to me to give me a kiss and a hug, and wish me a happy birthday. And apparently it was his job to get turned down for asking me out to dinner, because he needed to surprise me. In addition to that, Karlee had finished prom setup a week ago and the swimming team never met on Friday nights, so I was unbelievably gullible for actually buying into it. When Gage leaned close to me to plant a gentle kiss on my cheek and whisper something in my ear, I saw the twins talking to each other by the staircase. Pax was staring directly at me while Trey was looking at him, trying to get his attention. But it wasn’t working and I was so mesmerized by the almost spiteful look in Pax’s eyes that I didn’t even hear what Gage had said to me. Pax walked away with a scowl, leaving me wondering what that was even about and when Gage pulled back to look me in the eyes and said “so?”, I didn’t want to tell him I had been ignoring him so I just nodded, not even a little clued in to what I was saying yes to.

I figured it wasn’t important since he didn’t bring it up for the rest of the night. A girl I didn’t know was invited but as I found out later, it was Trey’s new girlfriend Ruby. I immediately didn’t take a liking to her, because she wasn’t Karlee. When I went into the kitchen to put my cup in the dishwasher around ten and a few people were beginning to leave, I bashed right into a girl walking out while I was entering. She gasped a little and stepped back but the damage had been done; whatever she had been drinking was now spilled all the way down her shirt.

“Oh my God!” I exclaimed, putting my cup down on the table and grabbing a roll of paper towel. “I am so sorry! I didn’t see you there!”

She shook her head. “That’s okay,” she laughed. “It was just water. It’ll dry no problem.”

“Still, I’m really sorry,” I said, holding out the tissues to her. She smiled and took it from me, dabbing at her chest.

“Thanks,” she said. When she looked up, I realized I had never met her before, which then led me to wonder what she was doing at my house. She was a tall girl with long, shimmering red hair pinned back off her face with the exception of her swooping side bangs across her forehead. She could have stepped off the same runway as Hailey.

“Uhm, not to be rude but . . . do I know you?” I asked.

“Oh! Right.” She tossed the balled up paper towel in the garbage and rubbed her hands on her thighs before holding one out for me to shake. I took it hesitantly. “I’m sorry. I forgot to say hello. I’m Molly.” My hand went stiff in hers and she must have noticed because she let go and cleared her throat. “Sorry to intrude. I just . . . I got an email from someone that my ex-boyfriend was going to be here tonight and that he needed to talk to me, so I just kind of showed up. I thought it was important. Do you know Gage?”

“Yeah, I do,” I said, feeling my face turn red. “He’s my boyfriend.”

“Oh.” She swallowed hard. “Well, then this is uncomfortable.”

That was an understatement.

“Hey Andy? Karlee’s looking for you. She said that—” Gage stopped himself when he stepped into the kitchen and laid eyes on his current and ex-girlfriend engaged in conversation. His eyes went wide. “Molly?” he squeaked.

“Hey Gage,” she chuckled awkwardly.

“What are you doing here?” he asked, stepping closer and coming to a halt at my side.

“Oh, but I thought you—” She cut herself off and bit her lip. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “Hailey told me that you wanted to talk to me about something.”

“Hailey?” Gage blurted, surprised.

That bitch.

“So you don’t want to talk to me?” she stuttered, her voice cracking. “Oh, well . . . good. Great. I’ll uhm, I’ll just go. See you some other time, or not. I don’t know. Sorry to barge in like this, Andy. Have a good birthday.”

“Molly—” Gage started, looking over his shoulder at her but she quickly scurried out of the kitchen and left us there by ourselves. Gage sighed and ran a hand through his hair, then looked at me. My blood was boiling. I still didn’t have the whole story about Molly but if it wasn’t clear enough that there was still something between the two of them before this, it was crystal clear now.

And I had no idea how to handle that.



May 31st, 10:03 am.

“So we’re getting lunch at twelve and then the movie starts at half past one. Can you be ready for then?” Pax asked over the phone and I heard him shuffling around his bedroom to find something to wear. He, Karlee, Trey and I hadn’t hung out as a group for a while, so this was us getting back into the habit of seeing each other more often. And with Trey constantly bringing his girlfriend everywhere he went, it got kind of frustrating. Luckily, Ruby was out of town with her family for the weekend so we got him all to ourselves.

“I’ll be ready,” I said, fixing my mascara. My phone sat beside me on my dressing table on speakerphone so I could finish my makeup without having to lift my shoulder up to my ear and hold the phone in a less than comfortable position. “It’s like you think I take three hours to get ready.”

“Well you’re a girl. You take your time,” he laughed.

I scoffed. “I’m done now. Happy?”

“Nothing to prove right now. We’ve still got an hour,” Pax snorted. “So who was that girl at your birthday party that you were upset with? I forgot to ask you. You were angry basically the entire week, and then busy at the shelter. And when you weren’t, you were with your boyfriend—”

“That was Hailey,” I said, deciding to do a touchup of my lip gloss. “She’s the one that thinks you’re good looking.”

“Is that that hot chick?”

“That depends on who you’re talking about,” I said. “There were lots of hot chicks at my party.”

“The blond one. Soccer player, right?”

I frowned at myself in the mirror. “She’s the one that always comes up to say hello when I’m standing with you in the morning or between classes.”

“Oh, then it is that hot chick!”

I rolled my eyes. “Are you thinking of dating her or something?”

“No, not at all,” he said. “I would never do that.”

But knowing Pax, I had a good reason not to believe him.



June 29th, 10:23 am.

With my final exam over on Thursday afternoon, I just headed right over to the twins’ house. Karlee didn’t have to worry about going in early for her exam because that class didn’t set one for her, and she ended it with a giant project and an interview with the teacher. Trey and Pax didn’t either, because Trey had his gym class for that day and he had already finished his exam a week ago, whereas Pax already knew he was failing his Renaissance history class, so he just decided not to go. He said he would redo it in summer class, but the chances of that happening were slim.

Trey and Karlee were already hanging out together when I got there. They were sitting close together on the couch—unintentionally of course, but definitely to Trey’s satisfaction—and flipping through the television channels. But since it was approaching midday on a week day, the only shows on were baby-oriented, or something screening from another country. And neither Trey or Karlee understood Mandarin, but settled on watching some dramatic Asian show and filling in the lines by themselves to make it more enjoyable.

“Why are you guys up so early when you don’t even have to go to school?” I asked, slipping my shoes off and walking into the living room where they were seated.

“We’re excited for summer,” Trey said in monotone, not looking away from the television. “Oh no, my wig is about to fall off!”

“My acting is so bad, I fear I may cry,” Karlee laughed.

I rolled my eyes. “You guys are weird.” But my sentence was cut off when two scrawny arms wrapped around my waist and lifted me up into the air. I made a noise somewhere in between a laugh and a shriek, and requested the beholder to set me on my feet again. When I turned around, I came face to face with tall, black haired, David with his chest bare as ever and his face unshaven.

“You chose a bad day to come around,” he said, putting a hand over his face. “I look horrible.”

“Then why the hell are you downstairs?” Karlee asked, turning around on the couch to look at us.

“Because I wanted to say hello. Duh,” he said, flicking her on the forehead. “Hooked up with my cousin yet?” David ruffled Trey’s hair and received a scowl and both middle fingers. “You know, he used to have the biggest crush on you!”

Karlee laughed it off because she thought he was kidding, but he definitely wasn’t. Trey let out a loud growl and stood up. “Can we not tell stories right now?” he moaned solemnly, walking into the kitchen and away from David.

David put his arms out and followed him anyway, not getting the hint. “Why you gotta be like that?!” he cried, disappearing around the corner.

Karlee smiled and turned to me. “How did your exam go?” she asked, folding her arms on the top of the couch and putting her chin down on them.

I shrugged and put my hands in the back pockets of my jean shorts. “It was okay. Surprisingly easy considering it was English.”

“Do you think you aced it?”

“I’d say so. Is Pax here or is he sleeping?”

“Uhm . . .” Karlee hesitated, looking from me to the kitchen where Trey was, then back to me. “You might want to talk to his brother about that.”

“What do you mean?”

“What about his brother?” Trey asked, walking back to us with a water bottle in his hand.

“Is Pax upstairs?” I asked. I hadn’t just come around to hang out with the three of them, but there was a rumor going around that Hailey was hooking up with a certain black haired, green-eyed beauty on the football team. And Pax was the only guy with black hair on the football team after Trey had quit in April.

Trey’s face lost all colour. “Uh . . . no,” he blurted.

“Okay. I’m just going to check then,” I said, calling his bluff and heading for the stairs.

“No!” he yelped, grabbing my arms. “Believe me, you don’t want to go up there.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Why not?”

Trey opened and closed his mouth several times, trying to think of a good reason to keep me downstairs but after he couldn’t think of one—even looked to Karlee for help but didn’t get any because she didn’t have an excuse either—I shrugged my arms out of his grip and walked up the stairs confidently, about to have the talking of a lifetime.

I figured Pax was going to be speechless when I told him I knew about him hooking up with Hailey, and maybe even raise my voice enough to tell him how furious I was that he would lie to me about it. I just hadn’t expected to find him in a compromising position as to being right under her as she mauled his face with her lips. I had knocked once but his music blasting tuned me out so when I opened it, there they were with her ass in the air and her thong showing beneath her skirt.

“Whoa!” I yelled, covering my eyes.

“Andy!” Pax exclaimed, shocked to see me there. And his face showed it; his eyes were wide, his face red with embarrassment. But Hailey looked pleased as she hovered over him with a confident smirk on her face. But I couldn’t stand to look at them and quickly slammed the door.

The beginning of summer definitely started now.