When the Sun Comes Up

Gabe rang the doorbell over and over until the door swung open revealing the back of Ryland’s head.

“For real?”

“Yah, the whole thing it was insane!”

Ryland finally turned to Gabe, shaking with laughter, “oh hey dude come in.”

Gabe wondered how Ryland had gotten here when he had taken the car today. He shrugged it off and stepped around him towards the living room.

Claudia looked up, “oh hey Gabe, you’re just in time we just started Gremlins”

“Is Kaitlin here?” He asked taking a seat beside Claudia.

She shook her head, “nah she came home changed and took off to pick up Vicky. I would have gone too but she was gonna hang out with some people I really don’t like.”

“I’m going to un-pause it” Ryland stated reaching across Gabe and snatching the remote out of Claudia’s hand.

Gabe frowned he hadn’t seen Kait much since last week’s kiss. Until now he’d assumed she was just busy, but now he was certain she was just avoiding him. He tried not to overthink it, “Have you been here long?”

Ryland shrugged, “I was bored and you took the car so I called everyone, Claud and Nate weren’t working today so they swung by. We got coffee and walked Giz for Victoria and then-”

Gabe cut Ryland off, “Pete’s fine with you hanging out with some guys all day?”

Ryland scoffed, “some guy, really? Besides Pete and Claudia-“

Claudia cut Ryland off, “yeah we had lunch with Pete. He Loves Ry, thinks he’s the funniest guy on the planet. Thinks Nate is pretty am-“

Ryland reached over Gabe and placed his hand over Claudia’s mouth, “so as I was saying we got lunch,” (Claudia swatted his arm away and mumbled ‘hands smell like fucking Doritos, gross’) Ryland chuckled, “yeah and then he had to leave for business or something. Then Claud Nate and I came back here, Nate left saying something about getting ready for a date. Then Kaitie came home asked us if we wanted to go out for drinks with her friends, Claud said no so I hung back with her, and then you got here yeah.”

Gabe nodded he didn’t really care about their day at all he just wanted to hear if Kait was coming home soon, but they obviously had no clue.

“Oh guys, we should totally go to a Jazz club! My friend Greta sings at this awesome one.”

“I’m down I just gotta change.”

Gabe tried to focus on the TV, Gremlins was undoubtedly one of his favorite movies. Besides he was tired and smelled like pizza he just wanted to have some quiet.

“Alright, lemme just text Greta it’s only worth the trip if she’s singing tonight. I swear she has the most amazing voice.”

“Is she hot?”

Claudia reached across Gabe and playfully swatted at Ryland’s head, “Like it matters besides she’s newly married. Gabe are you gonna come? You should She’s also in this amazing band, The Hush Sound. Her band mate Bob is great at booking gigs, I mean they just got signed and they’re gonna do their last show as an unsigned band soon, I bet if you talk to him he’ll let you guys open up.”

Gabe had been trying to tune them out but that last comment had caught his attention. He sat up straighter, “really? Alright let’s go meet him.”

Claudia glanced at her phone and sent back a quick reply, “It’s just Greta, but I can let her know you want to meet Bob when he gets back from Chicago.”

Gabe’s interest in the conversation was lost, “yeah alright I’ll wait till then.”

“Are you going home right now?” Ryland asked getting off the couch and stretching out.

Gabe shook his head and put his feet up on the coffee table, “I just got here, and I’m comfy,” he took the car keys and handed them to Ryland, “I’ll have Claud drop me off when she picks you up.”

Ryland took the keys and started heading towards the front door. “Alright, I guess I’ll see you guys in a bit.”

“Bye!” Claudia called before getting to her feet. She patted Gabe on the head before walking away.

“Don’t touch my head!”

She smiled at him from the foot of the stairs, “but your hair is so poufy, you know I love curly hair.”

He rolled his eyes, “whatever, so what was Ryland saying about you and Pete?”

She shook her head, “uh I gotta go do my hair.”

Gabe watched her rush up the stairs. He turned his attention back to the movie but couldn’t focus, he wanted to know what was up with Claudia, and he wanted to discuss why Kaitlin was avoiding him. He turned the TV off and walked up the stairs. He stood in the doorway to the bathroom and watched her sitting on the countertop placing rollers in her hair. “Hey.”

She glanced at him through the mirror, “hey, you just gonna stand there?”

He shrugged and walked inside, he weighed his options, the tub or the toilet. Finally he pulled
aside the pink polka dot curtain and took a seat inside the tub.

“So about this Pete thing. . .”

“ya basta Gabriel,” She turned her eyes back to the mirror and continued to place hot rollers in her hair, it reminded Gabe of when he was a kid watching his mom get ready for a date, and all the times he’d pretended to have a tummy ache so she wouldn’t leave. He was tempted to call his mom and apologize for being so selfish.

“Sorry,” he mumbled.

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know, for being nosey? I know you hate talking about your feelings.”

She placed the last one in her hair and unplugged the box thing where she heated up the rollers, Gabe tried to remember what his mom had said it was called but the memory was foggy.

Claudia turned and gave him a small smile, “I don’t know how you wear your heart on your sleeve, I hate letting people in and you’re just so willing to talk about yourself.”

He shrugged, “you just have to know who to trust.”

She shrugged, “I guess I don’t really trust anyone.” She then left the bathroom.

“You should try,” Gabe said getting out of the tub and following her to her room, “it’s not healthy to keep things bottled up.”

“Did you turn the light off? Oh and my shower curtain wasn’t pulled open.”

Gabe rolled his eyes and went back to pull the shower curtain back to its former position. Then he turned the light off and went back to the room. He found her digging through her closet. He sat on the edge of her bed. He tried to think of a way to ask about Kaitlin without sounding desperate.

“He’s great ya know,” she continued to rummage through her closet, “Pete that is.”

“So what’s up with you guys?”

She pulled out a dress and tossed it on the bed before returning to the closet, “He’s funny, he makes me laugh. He’s really smart, not as smart as Ryland is, but that’s a good thing I can actually have conversations with him, instead of just staring at him feeling like an idiot,” she laughed at her own comment. She then tossed another dress onto the bed.

“You are not an id-”

She cut him off, “He’s like a huge kid, and I never have to worry about hiding the fact that I’m pretty much an overgrown four year old.” A heavy sigh escaped her lips, “He even told me he loves me.”

She tossed another dress onto the bed, before dropping to her knees and going through her shoes.

Gabe smiled he seemed good for her, especially if she was willing to come out and actually say what she was feeling for once. “So what’s wrong?”

She didn’t answer instead she said, “what do you think, flats or heels?” She held up red heels and gold flats. She shook her head, “what am I thinking I have to see what it looks like with the dress.”

She got off the ground and carefully laid all three dresses out on the bed and tried to choose one, “well which do you like best?”

Gabe stared at the dresses; he knew nothing about women’s fashion. There was a navy blue dress with gold buttons down the front; it made him think of sailors. He then looked at the next dress, it was strange looking it was a white dress but had a weird amount of fabric swooping across the front, and the third was black and sequined. Lying flat on the bed he thought all three were ugly. He looked up at her expecting her to be waiting for his answer. Instead she continued to stare at the dresses.

“We had a fight, outside the restaurant but still Nate and Ryland obviously knew it was a fight when we came back in.” She picked up the white dress and put it back in the closet.

Gabe frowned this would explain why she’s trying to go out, she hates going out but if she’s upset about anything she tries to stay away from home. She’d been that was for as long as he’d known her so he didn’t question it.

“Was it because you were with Nate and Ry?”

She picked up another dress and hung it up, “I think I’ll go with the sequins, I bought it a while ago and have never worn it. But black shoes would probably look better.”

She turned back to the closet and went through her shoes. Gabe looked around Claudia’s room he’d been up here a few times but never been in here for very long. He noticed all the bright colors, and the occasional stuffed animal or doll. The wall behind her bed had a few band posters on them; the wall opposite the closet was covered in mismatching picture frames. He stood and walked to the wall.

“You know it wasn’t because of Ry and Nate, if anything it was about Alex.”

Gabe smiled at a picture of Claudia’s seventh birthday party he remembered that day, he and the rest of the class had been invited. Ryland was new to the school, so he didn’t know who to talk to. Claudia’s mom forced Gabe to let Ryland play with him and his group of friends. If it wasn’t for that he and Ryland probably would have never become best friends, because Ryland was just the annoying know it all; and Gabe was the hyper active kid that the teacher hated but the kids thought was funny.

He smiled at the memory, but then Claudia’s words sunk in, “wait what? Did you and Alex. . .”

“Oh God No!” she laughed; “besides he’s in love with someone.”

Gabe continued to look at the pictures; he noticed most of them were from her childhood, when her mom was still alive; and a lot of them were of her dad before he passed away.

“I guess it’ my fault though, I mean I never take what Alex says too seriously and for once I did, and well it fucked everything up.”

Gabe noticed a few pictures of Claud in a Taco bell uniform standing next to a tiny blonde, then another one where she and Kaitlin were dressed in Denny’s uniforms.

“What exactly did he say?” He asked clanking back at her.

She was focused on her reflection in the wall mirror while she adjusted her make up, “it’s just I don’t know I was telling him that from the very beginning Pete had said he fell in love fast. Alex said something about how people that do that aren’t really in love, so much as they need to be loved, and I don’t know it’s scary. How do I know if he means it or not? I don’t want to say it back and just get hurt you know. . .” she gave a small sigh, “I think I might actually, ugh I hate this phrase but I might be in love with him. Gah never mind can we not talk about this.”

Gabe gave a small shrug, “If you don’t want to we don’t have to. But let me just say that you can never be sure. Sometimes you just have to take a chance and hope it goes well if not you just get up and try again.”

He noticed a few recent pictures of her with Ryland, Nate, Alex, Vicky, and Kait. He noticed a few with the blonde from the taco bell picture in a wedding dress, he assumed she was Greta. He spotted a few old ones of him and Ryland, and a few old ones of her and Gabe and Gabe’s mom. He felt her eyes on him.

“That’s my good memories wall. I only have pictures of things that make me smile.”

He smiled, “it’s nice.”

“Thanks, so what exactly did you want to talk about?” She asked leaving the rom and heading back towards the bathroom.

“What do you mean?” He asked following her and standing in the door way as she took the rollers out slowly.

“Well you said you didn’t want to talk anymore.”

She rolled her eyes, “I don’t want to talk about me. But I’m willing to listen to you.”

He gave a small shrug, “Well last week Kaitlin and I spent the day together, and she kissed me.”

“Oh, this explains why she’s been taking on extra shifts and going out as soon as she gets home from work.”

Gabe scratched his chin and decided he needed a shave, “what do you mean?”

She glanced over at him and threw her arms up, “Ay dios mío! Gabriel, sometimes you can be so damn stupid.”

He ran a hand through his hair, “you know it might help if instead of calling me stupid you explained what the hell it is you’re talking about.”

She turned back to the mirror and continued to take out the last few rollers. “Think about it. She used to avoid talking directly to you, and being alone with you. I’m not sure if she didn’t like you or she didn’t want to like you. Either way, she avoided you and little by little you’ve grown on her and she’s starting to like you, and I mean she like likes you.”

Gabe smiled Claudia had known her longest, so she had to be right about this. Still, he was uncertain why she’d be avoiding him, “If she really does like me then why is she avoiding me?
She knows I’ve wanted to be with her since we met.”

Claudia shook her hair out and pushed it around while scrunching up her nose, he had no idea what she was doing but found it hilarious.

“Are you laughing at me?” Whatever, as for Kait I’d say she’s afraid of getting hurt but if she kissed you I’m assuming she was willing to take the chance.” She sprayed a generous amount of hairspray on her curls. She then gave a small nod and walked back into her room.

Gabe attempted to follow.

“Whoa, no you stay out here I’m going to change,” She said shutting the door.

Gabe sat with his back to the door, “I wish I knew what was up with her, maybe then I’d know how to talk to her.”

“Oh shit!”

Gabe heard a thud, “um are you okay in there?”

“Yeah I just tripped, tights are harder then they look.”

The seriousness in her tone made Gabe snort with laughter, “I guess being a girl is dangerous.”

She giggled too, “don’t you have anything better to do than make fun of me?”

“Even if I did, I’m never too busy to make fun of you.”

She mumbled something he didn’t understand.

“You said Alex was in love? I didn’t even know he was dating anyone”

“Oh he’s not. He doesn’t even realize he’s in love with her yet. I’m sure you’ll know when he does.”

Gabe rolled his eyes, “why bring it up if you won’t tell anyone?”

There was a long pause, “Shit! Gabe it’s my fault I am so sorry, no fue mi intención. Como pude hacer- ay pero que tonta soy, soy tan pinche mensa.”

Gabe knew when she switched to Spanish and wasn’t able to form coherent sentences something was up. “Calma te, pero que es lo que me estas queriendo decir?”

The door was pulled open so abruptly Gabe almost fell back. He got to his feet, “what are you talking about?”

She took a seat on her bed and closed her eyes, “okay well I know why she freaked out.”

Gabe followed her and sat beside her. He waited until she opened her eyes to give a small nod.

“Okay so I told Kait that Pete was kind of sort of interested in signing you guys, if you were willing to play a live show.”

Gabe smiled they were getting signed; his dream was finally coming true. His smile disappeared as soon as it had appeared, “She thinks I’m going to be like Ian?”

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t thinking about that when I told her. I was just excited for you, but I didn’t tell you because Pete wanted to tell you next time you were practicing here, and I-“

Gabe cut her off with a hug, “Thanks.”

“What do you even-“

“I just I don’t think I’ve said thank you for the things you’ve helped out with okay.”

She smiled, “I uh- okay.”