Never Too Late

Lucy's Point of View

“What do you think you’re doing?” Gerard asked the next afternoon. He was standing near the doorway, hands on his hips, looking annoyed. He looked so much like Mom in that moment it was freaky.

“Uh, going out?” I replied, tugging my Converse on as I sat on the staircase. Lacey was upstairs, finishing getting ready for hanging out with John and Mason.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” he questioned, tapping his foot impatiently.

I dug through my bag for a second and then snapped my fingers. “You’re right. Car keys.” I turned to grab them off the table in the kitchen.

“Care to guess again?” he said sassily. Clearly he and Mom were really related after all.

I patted my bag. “Phone, car keys, wallet…I don’t think I’m forgetting anything. Besides my sister anyway.” I turned away from him and called up the stairs. “Come on Lacey, let’s go! I’m hungry, Goddamnit.”

“Coming!” she yelled back, her door slamming behind her.

Gerard pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. “Permission, Lucy. You’re forgetting permission.”

“Oh.” Well, that was new. Since the Reign of the Wicked Stepmother began, permission was a thing of the past – no one paid enough attention to tell Lacey or me yes or no anyway. “Okay. Well, can Lacey and I go out with friends?”

“Which friends?” he asked.

“The same ones I went out with the other day,” I answered, and he waited for clarification. “John and Mason. We’ve all been friends forever.”

“Is John the one you drew that picture of?” he went on.

I frowned, hearing Lacey bound down the stairs behind me. I didn’t particularly want Lacey to know about that drawing; I had never confessed my love for John to Lacey, let alone out loud ever. “Yeah. That one. Can we go?”

“Will you be home for dinner?” What was this, the Grand Inquisition?

“No, we’re getting food at Denny’s.” I shook my head. “But we’re kind of running behind, so…”

“You can go, but be back by ten,” Gerard finally relented.

“I’m sure we’ll be earlier,” I assured him and started to drag Lacey outside with me. “See ya.”

We headed out to my car and we began the drive to Denny’s. Lacey and I didn’t say much to each other, mostly just singing along with some of the songs playing from my iPod. About half an hour later, I swung into our usual spot at Denny’s, arriving just moments before John and Mason. We waved as they pulled in and we all walked in together, getting our favorite corner booth.

Our usual waiter came to take our drink orders, though he showed up with my water sans lemon before he asked for anyone else’s order.

“The waiter’s got a thing for Lucy,” Mason teased after he walked away, kicking me under the table.

“No, he doesn’t,” I protested. “I just order the same thing all the time. He remembers. It’s good service.” I kicked him and John at the same time. “Plus I tip better than you fucks.”

“Ow!” John cried, bending down slightly to rub his shin. “Why must you be like this?”

Everyone ignored him and Mason continued pestering me. “He loves you. You’re gonna get married and have babies.”

“Stop,” I warned him, priming my foot to kick him again. “Don’t push your luck.” Our waiter was cute, though I felt guilty I could never remember his name (I made a mental note to check his name tag when he came back for our food orders). He was super tall, with disheveled sandy brown hair, but I only had eyes for John, not that that did me any good. “He’s giving good service. That’s all.”

“He thinks you’re so cute.”

“He does not.”

“He totally does. John, don’t you think Lucy’s cute?” Mason had been trying to push John and me together for years to no avail. I was silently thankful for it, though I’d always pretended to hate it.

“I guess,” John answered awkwardly, shifting uncomfortably.

“Gee, thanks,” I fake-laughed, shoving John. That had stung a little. “It’s not my fault that Lacey got all the good looks in our family.”

“I don’t want to be in on this!” Lacey protested and threw her hands up, blushing slightly. What was that about?

“Good, so we can drop this then,” I said, staring Mason down until he stopped snickering.

The rest of dinner was fairly uneventful, all four of us bullshitting together and John and Lacey surprisingly getting along. That was one for the damn books. We got our checks and paid for mine and Lacey’s up front while John and Mason finished their food. I noted the waiter’s name on top of the check was Zach (how the hell do you forget that name?), gave him a generous tip, and headed back to the table to finish my water.

As we were getting ready to leave, we decided to stop by the local Exchange to look for CDs. Mason requested to ride in my car, so I shrugged. “I mean, it’s not really a three person car, but Lacey wants to squeeze in between us, I guess it’s fine.”

Lacey, who had been checking her phone, looked up. “Actually, I think I’ll ride with John if that’s okay.”

I blinked at her, surprised that she actually wanted to spent time with him. “Yeah, that’s fine if it’s cool with John.”

John sighed like it was some big deal. “Sure, why not?”

We split up and I pulled out before John and Lacey, Mason playing with my iPod.

“Why do you feel like you get to touch that?” I asked him, smacking his hand away.

“I just wanted to see what you have on here, jeez,” he complained, setting it back down. An awkward silence passed and Mason stretched out in his seat. “So, what’s up with Lacey? Is she seeing anyone?”

“No,” I said. “Why, do you like her?”

“Yeah, I mean, she’s cute,” Mason commented as casually as possible.

Beautiful was probably a better word for Lacey, that was for sure. “I agree.”

“So…do I have your permission to go for it, or nah?” he asked, smiling slightly. “I figured I should ask you, or you might kick my ass.”

“It’s up to her,” I said. “But if you do anything to upset her or make her sad, I’ll most definitely shove my foot up your ass, you can count on that.”

“Don’t worry, I don’t plan on it,” Mason said, relaxing a little. “Thanks, Lucy.”

I smiled slightly. “Don’t thank me yet. The ball’s in Lacey’s court now.”