Anna Et Romy

My eyes snapped open, I was awake...right? My room was completely blue and my curtains fluttered with the breeze of the open window. I sat up, wiping the crust from my eyes and stretching stiffly. My feet were cold as I slid from the bed and into my robe.

Food. Food. Food. I thought trudging to my bathroom and switching on the light. As I brushed my teeth, I hashed in my mind what happened hours ago and I resolved to do better. To BE better.

Meeting Juliet in the kitchen, I could see for the first time that she didn't care what she looked like. Wearing sweatpants and minimal makeup she tossed a slice of bread into the toaster and pushed the button. I stood in my own pajamas one foot over the other waiting for her to notice me. It was then that I realized I had overslept for school. She had let me oversleep.

"You let me oversleep." I said partially shocked. She looked over her shoulder at me with sleep deprived eyes.

"Yeah." she croaked scratching her armpit. "I need you to walk with me to Vinnie's car repair. The bug is ready and you know how the guys hassle me sometimes." she said going back to her skilled task of watching bread dry. I was happy she was letting me skip school, but I was still wary of where we stood, relationship-wise. Maybe I could develop some photos before we left. And then I remembered the issue of how to drop the dinner news on my sister without her combusting.

I went over to Everest's cage and plucked him out, letting him sit on my shoulder. I made kissy sounds as he whispered nonsense in my ears in his bird language.

"Look." I told Julie, "I'm a pirate...arg." I tried joking. She cracked a smile and put jam on her toast.

"More like a girl who has a bird on her shoulder if you ask me." She stated licking the excess jelly from her finger.

After getting dressed and developing 3 photos of Romy, I was dragged out of the house by Juliet to Vinnie's car repair. Vinnie was an old Italian rocker has-been who opened up a car repair not far from where we lived. Since Juliet and I have lived here, we've gone to Vinnie for every car issue we've had, but, we've always had to deal with his hound dog repairmen.

We strolled into the freezing garage wearing matching blue scarves from H&M under our coats. Juliet went up to the counter, speaking with one of Vinnie's sons or nephews...whatever, about her car and they had her sign something. Then the pee yellow bug was ours once more. HUZZAH!

Mini Vinnie leaned on the counter casually speaking with Julie and believe it or not, she flirted back.

"Juliet! Where for art thou fair Juliet?" I heard Vinnie boom from behind me. The round man patted my shoulder and walked over kissing my sister on both cheeks.

"Ciao Vinnie!" my Americanized sister said waving me over. I waddled to her awkwardly, watching Mini Vinnie try and get a good look as my sisters butt as she picked up a receipt she dropped.

"Anna! Ciao Bella!" Vinnie said a smile permanently plastered on his round doughy face. I smiled waving. "I saw you! The other day!" he continued putting a hand on my shoulder. I felt the blood rush to my face. When? With who? It's funny, a while ago, this wouldn't have bothered me, seeing that I had no friends anyway. Now, I had a lot to be worried about, especially with my temperamental sister. She now looked down at me, a look of fake curiosity on her face.

"Oh? And where did you see her Vinnie?" She asked twirling her keys around one finger. He thought, putting a fat finger up.

"With a handsome son of a gun on 54th! I was going to pick up my Daniella from ballet at the Y." Julie smiled sweetly at me and took my wrist.

"Oh. I see." She said putting her other hand out to shake Vinnie's while I panicked thoroughly. "Thank you very much and have a good day." She said rushing me to her car. I almost screamed for help but decided that I might as well die at the hands of my sister than be molested at the hands of Vinnie's repairmen. We slid into the car in silence.

"Who is he?" She asked gripping the steering wheel. I covered my face with my hands. Should I lie? Or should I come clean? She started the bug and backed out, peeling around the corner, burning rubber.

"Romy Mitchell." I said wearily sitting back in my seat. My sister ran a red light .

"Shit!" She hissed. And then she was quiet.

"Why do you tell me these things too late?" She said worriedly checking her rearview mirror. I threw my hands up, hitting the ceiling light. Ouch.

"I didn't feel as if it were necessary to fill you in on my every movement!" I said as she parallel parked out front of our loft. Turning the car off and yanking at her scarf, she crossed her arms and pouted.

"From now on, I want to know everything." I rolled my eyes. She was SUCH a drama queen.

"Fine!" I said lightly. "He's the bassist from Wooden Animals. I've been hanging around him for almost 3 weeks now." I said defeatedly. Juliet pouted even more, sinking so low into her seat, I thought she would drown in the worn interior.

"And you never said anything." She repeated. I turned to her, pleading with my eyes.

"Juliet! I said I wouldn't lie anymore. From here on out we'll talk, I promise." She looked at me accursedly and opened her door getting out.

"I don't like the idea of you seeing some guy you only just met. And an artist at that? Oh god!" She said angrily stuffing her keys in her coat pocket as I scrambled out of the car to follow her into the building. "Who are Wooden Animals anyway?" She asked gruffly enclosing us into the industrial elevator.

"The band we went to see that one night Geoff..." I trailed off, not sure if my sister would now burst into tears at the sound of her ex (?) flame's name. She raised an eyebrow at me.

"See! We never talk! Geoff and I have been LOOOONG over. He said I was too complicated." She scoffed snorting and pulling the gate open at our level. I bit back a laugh.

"Shocking." I said shrugging out of my coat. By now it was about 2 and I needed to ask Julie about dinner tonight with Romy and his family. I was still glassesless and had to get my cheap spare pair out of my hiding place behind my bed and couldn't properly see the clock. It could actually be 5 already and I still wouldn't know! Following julie to the kitchen, I wiped my running nose and stopped her. She looked at me with narrowed brown eyes.

"Every time you follow me, you fess up to something. So what is it this time? Are you pregnant?" I was taken back as she wrangled around me and went to the stove to put a pot of tea on. I gasped.

"You would need to have sex in order to do that!" I said slapping my hands on the counter. Why was she so difficult??!! "And if you must know. Romy invited you and I to his house for dinner tonight." I finally admitted, feeling the large elephant of a task slide off of my back. She turned to me, searching my eyes incredulously.

"Absolutely not. It's out of the question." She said breathily. My jaw dropped.

"And why not?" I hollered swinging around the counter and coming face to face with her.

"Because!" She sputtered yanking two cups from the cabinet and staring me down. "You're a kid Anna! I have no desire to meet him! Their music isn't even that good!" I gritted my teeth.

"Will you for the love of God, PLEASE stop acting like my MOM!" I demanded pushing my glasses up my nose.

"I don't have to act like one Anna. I raised you. I AM your mother." She said coldly pouring steaming water into the two mugs. I looked at her disgustedly.

"You're only pushing me away Juliet. We can't fight like this everyday." I said softly. She opened her mouth as if she were trying to put up a fight, but slowly closed it. Squeezing her eyes shut, she nodded saying something, I was shocked to hear.

"You're right." She admitted sighing. "I hate to admit it, but you're right. I'm just scared you'll make the wrong decisions like I did." I took the warm mug and pressed it against my arm to warm me up.

"I won't because, you didn't." I said. My sister smiled distantly.

"What time?"
* * *
We showed up at Romy's house, promptly at 6 like he said and stood on his front stoop dressed to frill. My sister clutched an apple pie that we bought at the market. He told me not to bring anything, but my sister insisted. I rang the doorbell, expecting his mother to answer again, but to my surprise, Lux did. She wore a long sweaterdress and hair piled onto her head. I felt overdressed in my vest and dress slacks. I even made my sister wear a black lounge dress.

"Hola!" She gasped pulling me in for a tight hug. My sister was immediately pulled in as well, her hair falling from its clip as she stumbled back. "Come in come in!" she urged stepping aside and letting us through into the foyer. The whole house glowed in low light as we were led to the circular dining hall that Lux showed me to the other night.

"Have a seat, make yourself comfortable! Romy is just cleaning the pool outside and my parents will be down in a second." My sister pushed her hair behind her ear and smiled tightly as Lux whisked off to the kitchen. Turning to me, she bit her lip.

"They're rich." She panicked. I blinked still not able to see clearly but able to read the shock on her face, "We're so out of place. I don't like it." My sister hissed wringing her wrists. Lux came back in with her parents and Romy came in as well wearing a navy button up and khakis. I blushed, standing up with my sister and giving him a hug.

"Hi." I said waving. Romy's parents came over to me and individually shook my hand. Mr. Mitchell was a broad shouldered man with salt and peppered hair and barely any wrinkles on his youthful face.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Rick and this is my wife Bette if you haven't already met her." He said.

Of course, Mrs. Mitchell was just overjoyed to see me...noted sarcasm, as she stiffly shook my sister's hand. We all sat, I directly across from Romy, and my sister across from Lux.

"So," Rick started. "Are you in high school?" He asked me putting his glass out for Ella to pour Merlot into. I nodded sipping at my ice water.

"Yes, I attend Stuyvesant High." I said catching Romy's eye as he poured himself more water. Rick nodded looking at his wife and clearing his throat.

"Romy informed me that you both met at the YMCA." He said.

"You know Romy's out of high school right?" Bette blurted out to my sister. Lux watched the whole conversation with rapt interest and amusement. My sister scratched her neck and laughed nervously looking like a ship lost at sea.

"I actually don't know much about Romy unfortunately, my sister has been very secretive about this." I blushed, she may have been a lost ship, but I was a sinking one. Romy turned up a hearing aid in his ear, uncomfortably silent although he never talked anyway. Bette smiled grimly waving Ella in to bring the food. I welcomed the steaming plate of braised chicken and broccoli, thanking Ella as she distributed the rest of the plates.

"Well, Romy wants to be a doctor, isn't that right Romulus?" Bette chirped laying her napkin flat on her lap. I nearly choked on the water I had in my mouth as Romy's face turned about 16 shades of red.

"Romulus." I said putting a hand on my chest to hold back laughter. I felt my sister jab my side as Rick and Bette looked to me surprised.

"Yes. That was my great grandfather's name." Bette said eloquently as she pretty much stuck her nose up in the air. "What do YOU want to do with your life, Abby?" My blood now boiled as I gripped my fork with poised fingers.

"I...I'm a photographer." I said looking to Lux for help. Lux sat up in urgency coming to my rescue. Here come the life rafts.

"She really is talented. I've seen her work and it's like nothing I've seen before." She fumbled.

"Well, I like to have my son surrounded by talented people. Such as his bandmates. But is photography really an art that requires...'talent'?" His mother asked with quiet disregard. My throat closed up as my sister chimed in.

"Not everyone can make millions off of sitting around...can they?" She asked focusing on her food and bringing the fork to her lips. Bette raised an eyebrow.

"Some can. Depends on what they're sitting on."

Romy signed to his mom quickly and angrily and she blanched.

"Romulus, you know I don't like when you sign. Signing is not normal. SPEAKING is." My stomach churned as he glared at her and looked to his father. The doorbell interrupted the standoff. Romy of course didn't hear it but saw the guest that was brought in by Ella. It was Earl bearing a pie of some sort. I almost didn't recognize him in his sweater vest and dickies.

"My apologies for being late." He said looking around at all of us. His eyes landed on Juliet's and lingered for a moment. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell stood waving Earl to sit at the empty space beside Juliet leaving one other space across the table by Romy.

"We invited Romy's good friend Earl." Bette said once again as bright as before.

"We've met, thank you." Earl said handing the pie off to Ella to store in the kitchen. "But I haven't met..." He trailed off looking to my sister. She smiled bashfully. I had never seen her like this before. Usually when I see her in action, she's confident and bold. But now, she was...nervous? Huh?

"Juliet Franco." She said putting a manicured hand out. Earl smiled almost as shy as she was. By the time dinner was finished and dessert was cleared out, I realized that we had managed to get through 'okay' conversation with the help of Earl and Lux. Romy and I would share looks with each other from time to time, almost telepathically speaking. When we were all good and ready to go back to our lives, Ella came over with our coats around 9. Bette and Rick were still disapproving but kindly sent us on our way. Earl and Juliet stepped outside together as Romy and I were by the front door.

Helping me get my coat on, he searched me curiously. I giggled, hoping his parents wouldn't see him monkeying around with me.

'Where is camera?' He asked, a boyish grin on his face. And then I realized, for once, I didn't bring my camera. Shocked at the fact that I could live without it, I hugged Romy.

"Thanks Romulus." I whispered, though I knew he couldn't see me talking with my face buried in his chest. As if he weren't used to human contact, he stiffly brought his hands to my head and hugged me back. We stood like that until Juliet called for me from outside. I let him go and waved.

"Text me, okay?" I asked him. He nodded, standing as if he wouldn't move until I was completely out of sight while his mother came over and quickly shut the door behind me, a light going off in the hall.

In the car almost home, Juliet rested her chin on the wheel and sighed.

"Earl's nice." She stated dreamily breaking the silence. I nodded staring out the window at the cloudless night. Why didn't his parents like me? Was it because I looked childish? Because I wasn't...deaf? Why couldn't Romy sign? These questions haunted me for days after.

Was I not good enough?
* * *
I didn't hear from Romy or Lux for a week after.

I checked my phone periodically, waiting for a ping...a buzz...anything. But nothing came. I went to the Y occasionally for a swim, but the band wasn't there. Some nights, I felt as if it were all a dream. Like nothing really happened. I stayed away from my darkroom, holding Everest in my empty apartment and watching fall melt into the wet and dreary drudges of winter. It was fall break now and I was bored stiff.

Watching holiday movies on Lifetime, I heard the doorbell ring distantly, but was too out of it to even get up. It rang persistently finally urging me to get up. i went to the door opening it and growling at whoever was there.

"Uhm. Hi." Mia waved pulling her furry hat low over her ears. I crossed my arms over my disturbingly braless chest which was covered by Scooby Doo pi's. She stuck her lip out staring at the ceiling.

"Are you going to invite me in or just glare at me." She muttered tapping her foot. I moved aside letting her pass. Everest stood on my shoulder and squawked at her.

"i called you like 5 times." She said flopping on our red couch. I wordlessly sat beside her.

"Today?" I asked turning the volume down on the TV. She nodded letting Everest crawl onto her head.

"I've been holding your glasses for like a week and a half now." She rummaged in her messenger back and flung them at me. Like a starving animal, I grabbed at them and out them on my eyes relieved. Phew.

"How are you and Romy." She asked taking a candy from a glass jar on the coffee table. My eye twitched.

"He invited me to dinner and hasn't called me since that night." I told her the whole story, and for once she just listened...not talked. When I was finished, I was almost in tears.

"What happened? Why won't he talk to me?" I wailed as I ended. Mia tapped her chin.

"His parents. They don't like you. What if they're holding him as a prisoner?" She reasoned. I shrugged sniffing. A slow smile crawled over her face.

"If that's the case..." I looked at her, my eyes burning. "We'll have to free him..." She said yanking on my arm. "Get some clothes on, we're going on a manhunt."