The Poison in Your Blood

I wake up in the morning feeling sore all over my body. That isn’t that nice, but the things we did in order to get sore were pretty good. My new shoes are lying next to the bed looking rejected and I feel a little bad that they only made it through round one before I finally rid myself of them. But you know it’s hard to have sex with shoes on even though the girls in porn make it look so easy. Besides, who wants to change something happening to $1,300 shoes so you can look like a whore in them?

I look at the ring on my finger and I smile to myself. It’s so nice to be engaged even if we aren’t going to get married right away. We talked about it last night after we finished all the…celebratory activities…and we both agreed to let the engagement last at least a year. We both need to be sure of where everything is going and if we really will be compatible for eternity because in all honesty we’ve not known each other long.

I notice after a few minutes that I’m alone in bed and I don’t know if I like it. I kind of wanted him to be with me so that we could be together and cuddle and everything. I know we had a good day yesterday and I know we are going to spend the rest of (eternity) our lives together, but it would still be nice if he was here with me.

Then I remember that its Anna’s birthday and I sit up in bed. Shit I totally forgot about her. I get out of bed and pull on some shorts and a tank top and head out of the room in a hurry. I go to her room and knock on the door.

“What!” she calls.

I open the door and she’s still in bed, her hair a mess, and she sits up with her blankets pulled up over her chest. “Good morning,” I say cheerfully.

“Jesus, Lana, can I have a second of privacy?!” she snaps.

I glare at her and then it occurs to me somebody else is in bed with her. I feel myself praying it’s a girl friend, and yet I’m sure it isn’t. I take a breath and step out of the room and shut the door. Christ what is it with teenagers? And how is she already having sex when she’s only been in California for a month? Fred has only been dead a month. It took me a couple years to get over what happened to me with Fred before I could be with a man…and she’s already got a serious boyfriend.

I make it down the stairs then in a hurry and find Austin in the kitchen drinking a cup of coffee. I look at him with my mouth open, feeling weird and uncomfortable. “Annalise has a boy in her room,” I say.

“I know,” he says. “I could smell him.”

I frown. I hate that he always knows when there is other people in the house before me. It bugs me. It bugs me that he knows and smells everything going on before I even get out of bed in the morning. It isn’t fair.

“And you didn’t say anything!?”

“I told her she could have sex if she wanted to,” he says and shrugs.

I stare at him with widened eyes. How is he just okay with this?! She brought a strange boy into our house last night without even asking permission! “You don’t care?!”

“It was Valentine’s day,” he says and grins. “Shouldn’t everybody get laid on Valentine’s?”

“No!” I say with frustration.

He laughs at me. “Lana, it’s not a big deal.”

“It is a big deal! She’s only 15!”

“She’s 16 now,” he says.

I frown at his smartass remark. “Still too young to be having sex!”

“I had sex the first time when I was 15,” he says.

“You are a man!”

“So?”

Anna comes into the room then, her hair in slightly better condition, looking miserable. Austin gives her a big grin then and I can see already the amusement in his eyes. “So where is the lucky guy?” he asks.

She stares at him with wide horrified eyes and his grin only widens. She looks at me then. “You told him!”

“I didn’t tell him anything, he already knew,” I say and pour my own cup of coffee. I think I’ll go ahead and let Austin handle this. He’ll probably do a better job than I could anyways.

“I want to meet him, so I hope you didn’t shove him out the front door,” Austin says. “I’d hate to have to go out and catch him running down the street. That’s only more awkward for everybody.”

“You wouldn’t!” she cries with horror.

“Wanna bet? Bet I could beat you to the door too.”

“Oh my god!” she cries. “Fine! Josh! Come here!” she calls through the kitchen opening.

A boy comes in then, looking uncomfortable. He’s got his hands stuffed in his pockets, and his black hair is a mess around his head. He’s got a lip ring and his eyes are lined in last night’s smudged black liner. Well at least he looks like the kind of guy Annalise should be hooking up with. He’s every bit as creepy looking as she is.

“Sup,” he says.

Austin frowns. “No, let’s start that again,” he says.

Josh give Anna a look and she looked towards Austin with wide eyes.

“It’s not that hard. You say, ‘Hello, my name is…’” Austin says. “Maybe offer your hand? Don’t your parents teach you manners? You spent the night in my house; I expect more than a ‘sup.’”

“Is this your dad?” Josh asks Annalise.

“No…not really,” she says. “My dad is dead. My mom is in a coma, and this is my older sister and her boyfriend. I live with them.”

“Cool,” he says and looks at us.

Austin looks frustrated. “For the time being, I’m her dad,” he says. “I’m still waiting for an introduction.”

“Name’s Josh,” the kid says.

“Good catch here, Anna,” Austin says.

She covers her eyes in frustration. “Just be cooperative,” she says to her boyfriend.

Josh gives her a look and then he takes his hand out of the pocket of his black skinny jeans and offers it to Austin. Austin shakes his hand in a friendly way. “Hi, my name is Josh; I go to school with Annalise.”

“Obviously you do more than that with Annalise,” Austin says.

“You’re not going to flip out or anything are you?” Josh asks skeptically before shoving his hand back in his pocket.

“Depends on the answers you give me to the following questions,” Austin says.

Josh lets out a sigh and rolls his eyes.

Anna gives me a pleading look. She is obviously unhappy with this.

I shrug and take a sip of my coffee. She should have figured this kind of thing would happen if she brought a boy home. I mean after all, it’s not like we weren’t going to notice her in bed with a strange boy.

“You’re not gonna ask me my intentions, are you?”

“No,” Austin says. “I think you’re intentions are pretty clear. I was a 17 year old boy once too,” he says and grins.

“Then what kind of questions are you going to ask?”

“Are you on drugs?”

“No.”

“If I tested you would you come back positive?”

“No! I’m not on any drugs.”

“Fair enough. Did you buy her dinner?”

“We went to a party together.”

“Not what I asked you.”

“Yes,” Josh says with frustration. “I bought her dinner at Taco Bell.”

“Pretty cheap considering you got in her pants.”

“Hey! I’m in high school okay!” Josh says defensively.

“You have a driver’s license?”

“Yea,” Josh says. “But my car is in the shop.”

“You know how to use a condom?”

At this Josh’s eyes get wide and Anna looks like she might pass out. I put my coffee cup to my lips to hide my smile of amusement. I had a feeling he’d be able to handle this way better than I could have. I’d have freaked out and told Josh never to come back. Then I would have felt bad because Anna deserves a little bit of freedom.

“Are you going to answer me? I don’t know if Anna is on the pill, so you know, you want to make sure you’re protected. You think you are too poor to take your girlfriend to a real dinner on Valentine’s wait until you are buying diapers.”

“Yes, I know how to use a condom,” Josh says in a low voice, his cheeks burning red.

“As of this moment how many girls are you sleeping with?”

“What!?”

“I want to know how many girls you are sleeping with. Come on, you can tell me the truth,” Austin says.

“One,” Josh says. “I’m not that kind of guy.”

“How many girls have you slept with before?”

“What the fuck?”

“Answer the question.”

“One girl before Anna.”

“Oh, you’re a better kid than I was,” Austin says then with a wide smile.

“Is this over yet?”

“One more question,” I pipe in.

He looks at me with horror in his eyes. “Oh man, are you going to flip out?”

“No,” I say. “I wanted to know if you wanted to stay and have breakfast. I like you, Josh,” I say and smile.

“It is my birthday,” Anna says to him.

“Cool,” he says. “I could go for some food.”

“What do you want for breakfast, Annalise?” I ask.

“I don’t know, surprise me,” she says. “We are going to wait in the living room…” she gives Austin one more glare and pulls Josh out of the room.

I look at Austin and he smiles. “You’re such an ass,” I say.

“My dad did that to me when I was about, I don’t know, 16. I brought a girl home and you know, one thing led to another and before I knew it she ended up spending the night. My dad was waiting in the living room when we came down and went through the whole process of asking who she was if her parents knew she was out spending the night with boys, blah blah blah. Then he asked me all the questions about condoms and made sure both of us were good and embarrassed. I figure I’ll never have my own kids, might as well carry on the tradition with our surrogate kid.”

“But on her birthday and everything,” I say.

He shrugs and pours himself another cup of coffee.

I make breakfast and bring the kids to the kitchen table. Anna sits next to Josh and holds his hand under the table and I can’t help but think it’s cute that she has a boyfriend. It probably won’t be as cute in a couple months when he breaks her heart and whatever, but in the mean time it’s really cute.

We eat in mostly silence, only the occasional remark being said, for a long time. Then I can’t stand it anymore and I look down at my plate before opening my mouth. “So what are you looking to do, Josh?” I ask.

“I’m in a band,” he says. “I play guitar.”

Anna looks at him adoringly.

“Really? That’s wonderful. How is your band doing?”

“We’re just starting out, you know. But we’ve got some fans and stuff. We play club shows on weekends.”

“I know how that goes,” Austin says.

Josh gives him a look. “Oh! I knew you looked familiar, you were in that one band,” he says. “Bummer you stopped playing with them.”

“Yea, well, shit happens,” Austin says. “I’m doing alright on my own.”

“Good to hear,” Josh says.

Anna looks at me for a second and stands up. “I’m gonna clear up the plates.”

“I’ll help,” I say and get up. I pick up my plate and Austin’s and she picks up Josh’s and her own and we both head to the sink while the two of them talk about musician stuff. I think Austin is reliving his youth or something.

“So, Anna’s got a boyfriend,” I tease.

“Shut up!” she says and tries hard to hide the smile on her lips. “I met him at school…the very first day. He was nice to me,” she says.

“He seems like a good enough kid,” I say.

“He’s a little older than me, he’s 17 now. But he has always been nice since day one. He helped me find my classes, and let me have lunch with him and his friends. Then you know we just kind of started hanging out and whatever.”

“And now you are serious with him,” I say and bite my lip. “I wish you’d have come and talked to me though. I don’t like that you didn’t even tell me you were seeing somebody before you brought him home.”

“I wanted to tell you, but I’ve been busy with school and I’ve been at the hospital a lot with mom and you are busy with your relationship and I just never had the chance to tell you.”

“How long have you been sleeping with him?”

“Last night was the only time,” she says. “It wasn’t supposed to happen, but he brought me home from the party, and I saw the Vet was gone and I didn’t think it would be a big deal if he came in for a little while. I wanted to have some alone time, you know it’s weird to make out at a party. I guess not for everybody, since some of our friends were hooking up in the guest bedrooms.”

“Did you use protection?” I ask.

“Yes,” she says. “I’m not stupid, Lana. I don’t want babies.”

“Good girl,” I say. “Still want to get your nose pierced?”

“Yes!” she says. “Are you gonna let me!?”

“If you want. I figured we’d go and get it done. I think your…surrogate father out there wanted to do something to one of his tattoos.”

“He can still get tattoos?” she asks in a hushed voice.

“I guess,” I say and shrug. I never really thought about it. The tattoo artists might be a little weirded out when he doesn’t bleed but you know it’s whatever. I want to get a tattoo too, so we might make a family thing out of it. “Madison will probably come too.”

“Yay,” Annalise says. “She has the best make up I’ve ever bought.”

“In all your freaky colors and everything.”

Anna smiles a little bit. “Maybe she’ll bring me some pictures of my Zoe.” She misses Zoe a lot even though the dog has only been gone for a day and a half. Madison told her she’s free to come and visit the dog whenever she wants and gave her a key to her house so long as she promised not to do anything questionable in the house. Anna is a good kid though.

“You can invite Josh to dinner if you want. We are going to some steakhouse,” I say.

“I love steak,” she says.

“I figured you would, being as how you are Blair’s daughter.”

She laughs out loud then. “Mom loved meat. She used meat in everything. You know she would find vegan recipes on the internet and put meat in them.”

“I know, Blair was a carnivore,” I say and laugh with her.

Later that night we are at a tattoo shop not far from Austin’s place. He swears by it, and I guess the guy working there knows his details and is okay with them and isn’t freaked out by the fact that when he bleeds it comes out black and freaky. We walk in and the guy behind the counter stands up and slaps his hand into Austin’s and they do the bro hug.

“Well who is this?” the guy asks and looks at me.

I give him a smile and a small wave as Austin puts his arm around my shoulders.

“This is my fiancé,” he says.

“Well, well, well,” the guy says and takes my hand before kissing it dramatically. “My name is Doug, and not to brag, but I’m way better in the sack than this guy,” he says and jerks his thumb at Austin.

Austin laughs and playfully shoves Doug away from me. “Don’t pay attention to him, he lives with his mother,” he says.

“Hey! My mother is a bad ass!” Doug says in his defense.

I laugh.

Doug looks over the rest of the people in the group. Josh is with us and so is Madison, and Anna is hanging off Josh’s arm. Doug brightens up when he sees Madison and he slides over to her. “Well, looks like there is one lady here missing a date.”

She grins at him. “I think I might keep it that way for tonight,” she says.

Doug’s face drops in defeat but he seems to remain cheerful. Not gonna lie, he’s really that kind of gorgeous you don’t see very often. Dark curly hair, tall, full on tattoo sleeves, muscles. He’s got his ears pierced but he doesn’t have disgusting gages and he’s clean shaven and when he smiles you can see dimples shine through. If I wasn’t madly in love I’d go to bed with him.

“Well, since it doesn’t look like I’m getting any, what can I do for you lovely people this evening?” Doug asks. “Though I’m not giving up on the blond bombshell so easily.”

Madison gives him another grin.

“Tell me your name, at least,” he says with his dimples on full on display.

She laughs lightly. “Madison,” she says.

“I love that,” he says.

“Focus, man, focus,” Austin says.

Doug turns his attention back to us. “Right, right,” he says. “What can I do for you all?”

“My sister-in-law over here wants to get her nose pierced, it’s her birthday,” Austin says.

“I need parental consent for that, man,” Doug says.

“We are her legal guardians,” I say.

Doug thinks about it and then nods. “Cool, you’ll have to sign the release forms. What else we doing?”

“I’m looking to get a cover up,” Austin says. “Got a name on my wrist I’d like to get rid of.”

“I hear ya,” Doug says and laughs.

“And I’d like to get something,” I say.

“Oh so much business tonight! Pretty good for a Sunday,” he says.

I laugh.

He looks at Madison. “How about you, sweet pea? Need any ink?”

“I’ve already got some, babe,” she says with a sly grin.

“Can I see it?”

“Only the chosen ones get to see my ink,” she says.

I’m pretty sure I see Doug’s blood pressure rise at the tone of her voice and I can’t help but laugh.

“So you’ll never show it to me?” he asks.

“Maybe someday…if you’re good,” she says and winks.

I love my group of freaks.

“Alright, let’s set you up,” he says.

We sign all the release forms, Anna goes with the piercing guy, and Josh follows Anna. Madison hangs with me, and Austin goes with Doug. Doug seems to understand that not everybody in our group is aware of the…circumstances…and respects that we’d like to keep it that way. I secretly question how he found out.

We walk out a couple hundred dollars less than we went in, and I’ve got a cute little bat in a heart on my hip. I guess there aren’t a lot of people who understand this one, though when Doug came over to check it out he gave me a weird little understanding wink.

Annalise’s nose is swollen around the new loop that sticks out of it but she seems perfectly happy with the addition and that’s what important. She’s talking to Madison about Zoe when we get into Austin’s SUV to head to dinner, and Josh is slumped in his seat looking bored. I figure he’s a good boyfriend to come to her birthday dinner with her and her family even though she’s kind of ignoring him.

At dinner we laugh and talk about how our Valentine’s days went, and I end up talking to Madison about my ring. She’s kind of skeptical on the whole engagement deal and in a way I can’t way I blame her. Engagement is kind of a big step.

“We aren’t getting married tonight,” I say. “We agreed to wait out the engagement for a year just to be sure. But I don’t think we will change our minds. We just work together.”

“Well, as long as you don’t rush into it I’m really happy for you,” she says.

“I didn’t tell you about the shoes!” I say then. “He bought me a pair of Louboutin’s! They are fucking gorgeous!”

Her eyes widen a little and she looks at him over my shoulder. “I am so jealous,” she says then. “I need a man that buys me those kinds of shoes.”

I laugh.

We spend a little bit more time at the restaurant and we get Annalise a desert even though I have a cake for her at home, and we watch her blow out the candle. I think even though it was basically uneventful we had a really nice day. I love spending time with my group of freaks