A Place on My Pillow

Polly could tell something was wrong as soon as she walked in that night. Alex and Cady weren’t laughing or talking. They weren’t even looking at one another. They were just staring intently at the TV screen where some cop drama played, probably on the last leg of its all-day marathon. Polly set her bag down underneath the table in the entryway and went to change out of her work clothes. She prayed that they were just really interested in the show, but she knew better than that.

“Guys. What’s going on?” she asked, padding out of Cady’s room where her clothes were stored.

“Nothing,” they said simultaneously, not taking their eyes off the screen.

“I don’t like being lied to,” she replied.

“We’re just, not getting along today,” Alex answered, glancing for a second to his sister.

“Well, there’s only one way to fix that,” Polly replied and then she padded to the dining room. She moved some things around, looking for one box. Finally, she pulled it out of a crate and grinned. She hid it behind her back and walked out with it.

“One of you needs to call a friend.”

“What?” they asked, again simultaneously.

“Call. A. Friend.”

They looked at one another and Alex nodded to Cady.

“Sydney,” they said. It was getting freaky.

“Okay. Call her up. We’re playing Apples To Apples!” Polly said, whipping the box out from behind her. They both raised their eyebrows and glanced warily at one another.

“I’m serious,” Polly stated. Cady got up and walked past Polly to the entryway where the phone rested. Polly set the game down on the coffee table and stood over Alex, eyebrows raised.

“Well?” she asked.

“Well?” he repeated, confused.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” he lied.

“I don’t believe you.”

“It’s nothi-” he stopped and shook his head. “It’s not a big deal. It’s done.”

“I’m not accepting that.”

If there was something about Polly that Alex was learning was that she was stubborn. She wasn’t going to give up until things were fixed and she knew what happened. This scared him. He didn’t want her to know about his conversation with Cady earlier, or about how he’d cried over a girl that he hadn’t seen, let alone been with in over 3 years. What would she say? Would she be hurt that he would still go back to said girl, even though he clearly had strong feelings for the girl before him? He couldn’t say for sure, but he didn’t want to have to find out.

“This’ll be so much easier for both of us if you just tell me,” Polly stated simply.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” he said, staring at her.

It was hard to go against the will of those eyes, but Polly was sure she could manage.

“Sydney’s on her way,” Cady said, coming back over and sitting on the other couch. She glanced between Alex and Polly, still locked in a staring contest. “Oh, for heaven’s sake, not you too!”

She threw a pillow and it hit Alex, surprisingly him and knocking him off balance. Polly couldn’t stop the giggle that escaped her mouth.

“Oh, I see how it is. We’re gonna play that game, are we?”

She should’ve seen what was coming next.

He grabbed a pillow and jumped up. He started towards her and it dawned on her. She ran, Alex close on her heels. She skidded into the dining room and raced to the other side of the table. They stood at a standstill, waiting for the other to make a move. Alex headed down the right side of the table so Polly moved to her right, towards the kitchen. He stopped and started for the other end.

“I promise I won’t hurt you,” Alex cooed, mischief glinting in his eyes.

“Put the pillow down and I’ll believe you.”

“Come here and I’ll put the pillow down.”

“Wasn’t born yesterday.”

“I didn’t say you were,” he said with a quirky smile. She headed for the kitchen again, him following. She stopped and stared at him.

“Oh, look, Sydney’s here!” Polly pointed and just as Alex turned to look, she bolted out of the dining room. He chased after her, his legs moving faster. He caught her around the waist but their balance was off as he tried to stop. They ended up tumbling to the floor, Alex’s hand cradling Polly’s head so it didn’t smash against the hard floor.

“Owwwww,” she groaned anyway.

“See if I stop your head from cracking open again,” he huffed, not moving off her.

“It’s not that,” she said.

“What is it then?”

“Your knee’s in my stomach, asshole.”

He glanced down and apologized, shifting so they were more comfortable. Well, as comfortable as they could be as a tangled mess of limbs on the kitchen floor.

“Oh, my,” someone else said. Polly and Alex’s heads turned towards the voice, their eyes landing on a girl standing over them. “Who’s your friend, Alex?”

“Hello Sydney,” he said, standing up. He held his hand out to Polly who took it. He lifted her up off the floor. Their hands dropped away so they weren’t touching anymore. Sydney raised her eyebrows at the pair and then glanced at her best friend who sat in the living room, lounged on the couch.

“Polly, this is Sydney. Syd, this is Pollyanna.”

“Polly. That’s a cute name. Anyway, yeah, I’m Sydney. Sydney Tripp.”

The woman in front of her was tall for a female, 5’ 9” or so. She had rainbow colored hair, short so it lay straight around her face. She was a heavyset girl with curves and a baby face. She was gorgeous, in Polly’s opinion, with her 7 thousand piercings. Actually, she only had about 7, 9 if you counted the double earrings she had in one piercing. She was wearing a dark grey strapless dress that stopped just above her knees. It had two stripes of lighter grey fabric around the bottom of the skirt. She paired this with a pair of black flats.

“Ravi de vous rencontrer,” she said, holding out her hand. Polly stared but took her hand and they shook. Polly could see the tattoo on her wrist, a strip of black and grayscale film that wrapped completely around her wrist, twisting in a spot or two.

“Sorry, I don’t speak French, only Italian.”

“Oh, sorry. It means ‘nice to meet you.’ I forget sometimes.”

“Forget?” Polly asked.

“Well, I’m Canadian, whose mother really only ever spoke French. I grew up speaking it and when I came here with my mom and her boyfriend-thing, well, I forget.”

Polly nodded.

“You’re Cady’s best friend,” Polly said.

“Oui,” Sydney responded.

“Good to see she has someone as eccentric as she is,” Polly said with a sassy smirk.

“Aye! What’s that supposed to mean?” the brunette munchkin asked from the living room.

“Nothing, sweetheart, go back to bed,” Sydney said to her friend, as if she were a child who’d gotten out of bed for the thirtieth time.

“This is why I hate you, Syd. You treat me like a child,” Cady pouted.

“I do not treat you like a child,” Sydney retorted.

“How would you know? You hate children!”

“Not true!”

“Oh, yeah it is,” Alex snorted.

“You keep your mouth shut, Alessandro!”

Polly covered her mouth as to hide her giggles, but they didn’t go unnoticed. Sydney winked at her while Alex stared, an expression of fake hurt spread across his face.

“How dare you laugh?” he gasped.

“Oh, hush,” Polly said, bumping her hip against his. He stumbled and laughed, catching himself.

“Alright, why was I called here?”

“Apples to Apples!” Polly said excitedly, bouncing over to the coffee table.

“Oooookay. Where’d you find her anyway? She’s too, perky to be with Alex,” Sydney said, heading over to the living room, sitting with her best friend.

“That’s rude,” Alex replied, following.

“What? That Polly’s perky or that she’s too perky to be your girlfriend?” Sydney asked.

“Both!”

“You’re a child then,” Sydney said.

He stuck his tongue out at her, resulting in her sticking her pierced tongue out at him.

“You know, they would be perfect together,” Sydney finally stated. Both Polly and Alex turned to stare at her, eyes wide with alarm.

“What? No!” Polly stated.

“I’m not saying you should get married and have perfect little spazzy babies. I’m simply stating that you two would make a very cute couple, although your relationship would probably be short-lived. I can’t imagine that you would want to stick around Alex for too long, Polly.”

“Why do you say that?” Polly asked, glancing at Alex. He was staring very intently at Sydney.

“Well, I dated the boy and it wa-”

“Okay, no. No. That does not count! We were 14!” Alex defended.

“We went out!” Sydney shot back.

“For a week!”

“Until you dumped me, yeah.”

“No, you dumped me, Syd. You told me that you were gay and appreciated the relationship.”

“I did not.”

“Oh, yes, you did.”

They glared at one another, intense stares locked. Polly went back to setting up the game, shuffling the decks slowly one by one. She hummed under her breath as she set one deck on the table and then dealt the cards from the other to four separate but equal piles.

“You make me sound like this horrible person who was out to break your fragile heart,” Sydney finally said. Alex shook his head.

“I’m not. Maybe you were back then, but you’ve changed. You actually care about other people now. So simmer down, Sparky.”

They all settled down around the table where Polly had finished dealing cards. Polly’s question lay forgotten and so was the story Sydney had started. That didn’t matter now. Polly quickly overviewed the rules and then they were in the midst of a game, the world around them moving but not mattering. There was a girl screaming in the street at her wretched mother, but that didn’t matter. The phone was ringing as the Jackson twins’ mother called them, but that didn’t matter either. They were battling to be right, to get that card and to be the winner.