The Lunacy Fringe

Billie was lying on her stomach across my bed, and I was in front of her. Our homework was spread out between us, but she wasn't doing hers anymore.

"What kind of underwear do you think he wears?" she asked, fiddling with a bracelet I'd made.

"I dunno," I said, writing something down and actually trying to get work done.

"What kind does Quinn wear?" I looked up, disgusted.

"Did you really just ask me what kind of underwear my brother wears?"

"Well, yeah. Who else am I supposed to ask? You know him better than anyone else."

"You've known him longer than I have. I was in Detroit for fourteen years."

"Yeah, but you shared a womb with him."

"I don't know if you're aware, but he wasn't wearing underwear in the womb." She laughed.

"But you've seen his sleeping quarters."

"So have you."

"He always cleans up before I come over," she said with a shrug. "He makes me wait downstairs." I went back to organizing her messy notes.

"I've never looked for his underwear, Bill. Whenever I'm in his room, I'm just thinking about how nice it would be to breathe clean air again."

"His room isn't THAT bad."

"You literally just got done saying he cleans before he lets you in. And you like his smell because you're weird." She rolled her eyes dramatically.

"It's because he's my soulmate. I read about it in a magazine once."

"That too." I could see her smile even though I wasn't looking.

"Do me a favor and find out what kind of underwear he wears next time you're over there."

"I'll move that to number one on my to-do list." The door opened downstairs. We'd already called my dad to let him know Billie was there, and he said he'd get pizza.

"Girls, I'm home! I brought dinner!" he called up to us.

I didn't realize how badly Billie was deprived of pizza until she followed me down and screamed. "Pizza!" My dad handed us both plates, and we served ourselves. "We never get pizza at my house," she informed me.

"We have pizza like—at least once a week," I admitted.

"My mom is kind of a health nut."

"I never eat vegetables."

"Hey," my dad said as if I'd offended him. It wasn't true, of course. My dad just wasn't the best at cooking them. And whenever we did eat them, they were usually canned. "There are mushrooms on that pizza."

"That's true. Sometimes I eat mushrooms."

"I'm jealous," Billie whined.

When we finished, we took our plates to the kitchen to wash them. Well, Billie did since I couldn't get my cast wet. As I was putting them away, Billie suddenly gasped and grabbed my hand.

"Oh my god! I just remembered something!"

"What?" I asked.

"Homework. Important."

"Okay. It can wait, though. We have all weekend."

"No, it's super important, and it has to be now!"

"Alright. Okay." She pulled me out of the kitchen to the stairs. "I'll be right back, Dad." He was sitting in the chair, still eating pizza, wholly absorbed in the TV. He gave me a nod but didn't seem to notice otherwise as Billie dragged me back up to my room.

"What was so important?" I asked once she shut the door after us. I knew damn well she didn't care about homework. Sure enough, she crossed the room to the window and slid it open expertly. She even stuck a book there to stop it from lobbing our heads off.

"I saw the boys in the yard," she told me.

"We're not spying again, are we?" I went to her side and peeked out.

"Shh." Felix and Quinn were on the other side of the fence, talking in the yard. They were too far away to tell what they were saying. "Quinn looks cute, doesn't he?" Billie asked.

"Sure," I said. "Like a baby horse. Ninety percent legs. Ten percent awkward." She giggled.

"Do you think Felix looks cute?" I shifted on my feet. He looked dreamy, with the sun shining on his dark hair. He was too far away to make out any other details, but just the shape of him was perfect.

"He always does," I admitted. She giggled again. Louder this time. "Shush, they might hear you."

"Sorry." But she didn't stop.

"Hello, ladies," Quinn called up to us. Billie shrieked and hid behind the wall. The damage was already done, so hiding wasn't going to solve anything.

"How's it going?" I asked.

"What are you guys up to?"

"Spying."

"Want to come over and hang out?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Yes," Billie whispered. Then she shot up and stuck her head out of the window. "Yes!"

"We have pizza. Are you guys hungry?" I asked them.

"Yeah, that sounds cool," Quinn replied. Felix was standing behind him, smiling at us like we were the two biggest dorks he'd ever seen in his life.

"Be right over," I said. We stepped back and shut the window. Billie was still laughing. Cackling more like it. "You blew our cover. You'd make a terrible James Bond."

"I did it on purpose."

"Why?"

"Because I wanted to hang out with them."

"You could have just asked."

"Would James Bond have asked?"

"I don't know. I don't watch James Bond movies unless my dad does."

"Well, he wouldn't."

"Okay."

I was going to have to take her word for it. We headed back down the stairs to ask my dad if we could take the boys some pizza. He was sitting with his neck bent and his long legs stretched out over the coffee table.

"You guys do whatever you were so eager to do?" he asked, probably knowing we weren't going upstairs for important homework on a Friday. Actually, he'd probably heard us talking to the boys through the open kitchen door.

"Yeah," Billie said anyway, tossing her long brown hair over her shoulder.

"Can we take some pizza to Quinn and Felix?" I asked.

"Sure, take whatever you need."

We gathered up some food and drinks and headed next door. Billie had been to his house before. She said she housesat for them once when they went to visit family in Canada. I'd never been inside his house, and I didn't know if his mom would answer the door or not. But it was just Felix. He got the door opened and smiled out at me.

"We bring sustenance," I said, holding up the pizza.

He nodded a quick thanks and took the plates. Then he led us into the house. It was a lot nicer than mine. Probably because my dad had no real talent when it came to nice things and thought that sticking band posters in cheap frames counted as fancy artwork.

"Where's Quinn?" Billie asked as we followed him through the living room.

"Outside," he replied.

He led us through the kitchen and out to where Quinn was sitting on the back porch tossing toys to the dogs. Felix sat down, and they helped themselves. The dogs were surprisingly well-behaved, even though I'd once heard them crash into the kitchen pantry. Now they were just sitting still, watching us with open mouths and big goofy faces.

Felix's yard was different from this side of the fence. The jasmines were more prominent, and they had a lot of plants. I sat down on the steps beside a big tropical plant with vibrant orange flowers. There was a vegetable garden that I'd never seen from my side of the fence. There were even some residual orange trees from the old grove.

"So, what were you guys doing out here?" I asked after a few minutes of silently looking at the garden. Plus, the dogs only let me pet them because they thought I had food, and once they realized I wasn't giving them anything, they didn't care about me anymore. Quinn shrugged.

"Just hanging out," he said.

"You guys are boring," Billie sighed.

"Want to go inside?" Felix asked.

"Yeah, c'mon. It's hot as fuck out here," Quinn replied.

We stood up and went back into the house. The house was much newer than mine. It probably didn't get drafty, and the ceiling didn't leak. Billie pushed me down the hall to his bedroom, which was more cube-shaped and had newer carpets. His walls were almost completely covered in posters, and there was a dark sheet over the window. Quinn threw himself down on a bean bag. Billie seemed to calculate something from the remaining seating options and quickly snatched the only other chair.

Which left one spot left. On Felix's bed. Beside him. He noticed I was still standing and motioned for me to sit down. I glanced at Quinn as I took my seat, and he was looking at Felix like he was warning him not to make a move on me right there in front of my brother. Like a dumbass.

Even though Felix's room was dark, thanks to the sheet, it was much cooler than outside. We sat talking for a minute as Billie played with the dogs, and I tried not to make it so obvious I was looking at all of Felix's stuff. His room wasn't as messy as Quinn's. I could see the floor, and there were only a few piles of clothes beside an overflowing hamper. His closet door was open, and records were piled on the shelves. A keyboard tucked under his bed that was sticking out enough to trip over. But not gross or smelly. Like Quinn's room. Or maybe I was just biased.

I stayed quiet while they talked, and finally, Felix got up to put on some music. He went to leave the room but then stopped at the door and turned around.

"Hey, Detroit. Want to come with me?" he asked. I shot Quinn another glance, but he was busy ruffling a dog's head and didn't hear it. So I jumped up to follow Felix into the hallway.

He led me down the hall to another room. It looked like it was meant to be a guest room at some point. But it had sort of been taken over by boxes and crates full of even more records. There were bags and miscellaneous junk everywhere, including the bed. But also a few guitars lined up along the wall and yet another dusty keyboard. He stood back in front of one of the guitars and then looked at me.

"Can I touch?" I asked. He nodded, so I reached for the beat-up white one I'd seen him bring to school. I lifted it into my arms and plucked a few strings.

"Lucille," he said. "That's its name." I smiled and nodded.

"Oh, it's a girl guitar." He laughed.

"My mom named it. After Lucille Ball." He reached for the green one. We strummed them quietly for a few minutes before he spoke again. I was still thinking about that kiss and the fact that he hadn't talked to me since.

"Sorry for—earlier," he finally said. I looked up.

"For what exactly?" His green eyes widened like he didn't know why I'd ask.

"For kissing you—again." I shook my head once.

"Oh—I wasn't complaining this time. And I'm pretty sure I kissed you first. At least the last time." He smiled and went back to his guitar.

"I'm glad."

I watched him play for a moment. Maybe I just wished he would kiss me again. We were finally alone for the first time since lunch. But he was busy tuning his guitar strings, so I turned back to the white one and took a deep breath. My head was fuzzy. My breathing was off.

And then I felt his fingers on my cheek, and I turned back to him. His eyebrows were creased again, and I realized it was his nervous face. I wondered if it was because Quinn was in the other room and he so obviously didn't approve or if he had something else to be nervous about.

"Can I kiss you again?" he whispered. I nodded, and he leaned toward me. We came together hard for just a moment. Like we'd been desperate for this. But there was a rustling in the other room, and the dogs took off down the hall. The floor creaked in the hallway, and he shot away from me so quickly you'd think he burned himself. Quinn appeared in the doorway a second later.

"What are you guys up to?" he asked, Billie peeking in from behind him.

"I was showing her my guitars," Felix said, going back to tuning as if we hadn't just been lip to lip. I was blushing again, and I was pretty sure Billie could tell.

"Right, well. We were thinking of heading out. So…." He motioned toward us and walked off to the living room. Billie trotted along after him.

"I guess I should go then," I said. I pulled the strap off my shoulders and returned the guitar to its stand along the wall.

"Alright, I guess I'll talk to you later then," he replied, scratching his ear and watching me. I smiled and nodded awkwardly. Then I turned to leave the room. I felt his hand wrap around my wrist, and I turned back to face him. He put his hand on my cheek and pulled me to his lips. It was quick, soft, and just once on the lips, but my heart jumped back to life in my chest.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, pulling away. I nodded and stepped back, hoping I didn't trip and fall and embarrass myself. My mind was too fuzzy to form sentences.

"Yeah—see you," I managed to get out. Then I hurried to follow Quinn and Billie out.