Chapter One - Lark
Even when my heart was breaking, I smiled.
No matter if I was sad, angry, or scared, I had a smile plastered on my face.
My older sister Raven called it a coping mechanism. She heard the term on Oprah and it sounded right, but all I
knew was I smiled even when inappropriate.
My grandfather once slapped me for
smiling. At my little brother’s funeral, he hit me in front of everyone and said
it wasn’t the time for my silly smiles. Raven screamed at him and punched his
neck because she wasn’t tall enough to reach his face. She even tried climbing
on a chair to hit him. By then, people were freaking out. My mother was crying and
my grandmother ran off because she was afraid of my grandfather’s temper. The
preacher struggled to settle everyone down, but it was no use. The funeral was
ruined. Through the chaos and my tears, I kept smiling like I couldn’t stop
myself.
There were very few things capable of
making me genuinely smile since Raven ditched town six months earlier. Since
then, I’d made new friends like Bailey Johansson who was loud and rough like
Raven. I had also bonded with the Smith sisters. During Farah’s wedding, I
found something really worth smiling over.
His
name was Aaron.
While I never went as far as writing his
name on my folder in class, I did think about doing it. Ever since I met him at
the wedding rehearsal, I was forever wondering about Aaron. The first time he
walked into the room and I noticed the cobra tattoo up his neck, I was
fascinated. My interest only grew when I saw him smile and his blue eyes lit up
in the most beautiful way.
Over and over, I tried to talk to Aaron
at the rehearsal dinner. I planned to make another move at the wedding
reception, but he brought a date.
Hopes dashed, I returned to my dull life
in Ellsberg. My newest friends were living these wild lives with sexy men.
Well, not Bailey who couldn’t keep a man past a few hookups. Even with her
crappy romantic options, she was miles ahead of me in the exciting life
department.
All I did most days was work the morning
shift at Denny’s before hurrying to my two afternoon classes at Hampton College. I could only afford two because
I was paying my way through college. Despite my irritation at how long it would
take me to get a degree, I knew it could be worse.
No one in my family ever finished college
or even worked in an office. They were all waitresses or janitors. My mom did
marry a rich man with a business, but she had to give up a lot to keep him. I
didn’t plan to end up like her.
I wanted an office job and a man who
wouldn’t tell me what to eat and how to dress. I wanted to be strong and free.
Even if I ended up alone forever, this would be better than being someone’s
slave.
My sister refused to be a slave too, yet
she had horrible taste in men. So Raven bounced from one loser to the next.
Now, she was in California
with her latest turd. While I missed Raven more than I could express to her or
anyone else, I resented how she left Ellsberg. Most days, I blamed my stepdad
Larry. When I was honest, I blamed Raven for leaving me behind.
No longer alone, I had a chance at a new
direction in my life. Hopefully this new direction might one day include the
gorgeous and artistic Aaron Barnes.
The one downside to my friendships was
agreeing to activities I didn’t enjoy. Like bowling.
Bowling had always bored me. Raven and I
had been in a league for a while with the girls from our roller derby team. On
more than one occasion, I faked an illness to get out of it. I sucked at
bowling and didn’t find it the least bit entertaining. Yet, I readily agreed
when Farah invited me to join the crew at one of the local alleys.
Tucker Johansson called us the crew now.
Everyone was pairing up and he seemed relieved about this fact. Claimed it felt
good not to be the only whipped guy around. He made this announcement again
while rubbing his girl Maddy’s pregnant belly.
Nearby, Cooper refused to admit he was
whipped. However, he looked pretty domesticated with Farah on his lap feeding
him nachos. She even wiped his mouth like she was practicing for when they had
kids.
Judd and Tawny stumbled in late. With his
dark hair tussled and her cheeks flushed, I sensed they stopped on the way for
a quickie. Yep, everyone was in a state of bliss except for me. Oh, and Vaughn
who was the only one who really liked bowling.
Ignoring all the whispering couples
around him, Vaughn taught me to bowl while I faked like I cared. We were both
on the outs and I suspected he wanted to find a new buddy now that Judd was
attached to his angel. Every time Tawny laughed, Vaughn’s frown darkened.
“You should be happy for them,” I said as
he guided me towards the alley.
“I am. Fucking overwhelmed with
happiness. Now, pay attention.” When I flinched at his tone, Vaughn sighed. “It
gets boring when your best friend is busy mating like a rabbit.”
“My best friend ditched me too, so I
found new friends. Maybe you should too.”
“Crap no. Sounds like too much effort.”
I grinned. “You could play with Bailey.
Here, she comes.”
Vaughn didn’t even glance at the arriving
blonde who threw her hands in the air.
“I got dumped again! Men suck! I hate
them all!” she cried, enjoying a hug from Tawny. “Who wants to set me up now?”
“I thought you hated men,” Tucker mumbled
with his mouth full of a hot dog.
“I do, but one of them has got to work,
right? Everyone in the world gets someone good, but I get shit. It’s not fair.
I’m nicer than anyone ever.”
This comment elicited laughter from the
crew including Vaughn who took my bowling ball and rolled it for me.
“Look,” he said,” you got a strike. I’m
an excellent teacher.”
“Best ever.”
Vaughn and I eyed each other, thinking
the same thing. Could we make a go of it and become a couple like everyone around
us? We came to the same conclusion. Never
going to happen. While I thought Vaughn was gorgeous, I felt the same way about
the Johansson brothers and Judd. Besides gorgeous, they didn’t interest me. Only
Aaron interested me, but I couldn’t have a single conversation with him.
Vaughn glanced over at a happy Bailey who
loved all of the attention and pity she received after getting dumped. He was
thinking if he could make something with her. Based on his eye roll, she wasn’t
an option either.
Noticing Vaughn’s fresh tattoo on the
back of his forearm, I had an idea.
“Where did you get your tat?”
“Aaron’s shop. You want to get a tat?” he
asked, grinning as if this was hilarious.
“I have one,” I said, rolling the ball
into the gutter. “It’s not finished though.”
“How come?”
“My brother interrupted the tattoo and I
never had the money to get it done again.”
“No, I meant how come you’re such a bad
bowler? Is it genetic?” he asked. “Like do you come from a long line of people
who can’t make a ball roll in a straight line?”
“You’re hilarious.”
“I try, Pixie Dust.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“How come?” he said, grinning wider now.
“I’m not talking to you anymore.”
“Oh, don’t be like that. Chicks love when
I give them nicknames. One of them got a tattoo of the name I gave her. Do you
want to know where she put that tat?”
Laughing, I shook my head. “Is it
expensive to get a tat at Aaron’s shop? I hear he’s good and I’d like someone
to fix it that won’t make it worse.”
“Let me see your tat!” Bailey cried,
suddenly behind me. “Wait, it’s not on your ass, is it?”
“No.”
“Hooch?”
“No.”
“Titty tas?” Glaring at her, I waited
until her smile faded. “Are you really mad?” she asked, panicking now.
“No, I just wanted to mess with you.”
“Oh, well, thank you for that learning
experience.”
Vaughn and I laughed, but Bailey was busy
yanking at my shirt to look for the tattoo.
“It’s a tramp stamp,” I said to keep her
from pulling up my shirt in a public place.
“Oh, I have one of those. Mine is classy
though. It’s Hello Kitty.”
Instead of responding to her classy
comment, I prepared for the teasing as I lowered the back of my jeans just
enough to display my wingless butterfly.
“What a pretty worm,” Bailey said, doing
her fake nice thing again.
“My stepbrother showed up and made the
guy stop. My stepdad doesn’t like tats and told me I couldn’t get one.”
“Men suck,” Bailey said, nodding
supportively then frowning at Vaughn. “Why do you suck so much? Too much ball
toxins?”
“Sounds about right,” he muttered,
rolling another strike. “Girls get PMS. Guys get ball toxins. Common knowledge.
Are you two going to actually bowl? I’m the only one doing anything.”
Farah instantly rushed over and rolled a
ball into the gutter. “We’re participating. We like bowling.”
Bailey snorted. “Hell, I lie better than
that.”
Cooper joined Farah and glanced at the
alley. “I could bowl, if I wanted. I just don’t want to.”
“Liar!” Bailey cried and Cooper faked
like he might backhand her. She just rolled her eyes. “He sucks. Worse bowler
ever. Old people bowl better. No offense to old people,” she added, looking at
the nearby league of senior citizens.
Cooper ignored Bailey and wrapped an arm
around Farah. “This is fun. I’m glad we’ve made a habit out of it.”
Vaughn frowned and his blue eyes
darkened. “I’m not a charity case, so you don’t need to play with me once a
week to keep me from bawling myself to sleep.”
“Sure, champ,” Cooper said then looked at
me. “You have a tattoo of a worm?”
“It’s supposed to be a butterfly,” I said
as Bailey turned me so her brother could enjoy my lame tat.
Cooper reached for the tat as if to run a
finger over it. Before he touched me, Farah smacked his hand lightly.
“Don’t touch other women,” she growled.
Glancing back at them, I saw Cooper get
his horny expression. I was apparently in the middle of a game they played. Gross.
“Do you know how much it would cost to
get it fixed?” I asked as Cooper ran his finger over Farah’s pouting lips.
Without looking away for his wife’s face,
Cooper shook his head. “I’ll pay. Just tell Aaron I said what I said. He’ll be
cool.” As if a light bulb went off over his head, Cooper glanced at me. “You
should go soon. Very soon. Can’t leave it undone for much longer or it’ll get
weird. Yeah, go this week.”
Frowning, I noticed Bailey eyeing her
brother. Her blue eyes got wide and she nodded.
“Yes, soon. So soon. Well, maybe not too
soon. I don’t want to be alone.” When Tawny appeared next to her, Bailey decided
to be nice and said grudgingly. “Soon, I guess.”
“What are we talking about?” Tawny asked as
Judd rolled a ball, knocked over a few pins, then frowned like he might knock
the others over with his angry glare.
“Aaron’s going to fix her tat,” Bailey
explained while Cooper and Farah wandered off.
“He’s an artist,” Tawny cooed. “He made
this angel on Judd.”
After Tawny showed me Judd’s arm, she put
her hand back to where she had a gorgeous tattoo of a fallen angel.
“He’s very talented,” she added.
“I’m excited to get my butterfly
finished.”
“He’ll do a great job,” Bailey reassured,
taking a ball from Vaughn and rolling it into the wrong alley. “Oops.”
“Idiot.”
“Be nice or I won’t be nice,” Bailey
warned, glaring up at him.
“I love feisty women,” he said, smirking
down at her.
“Not interested. Blond men are usually
stupid. Just look at my brothers. Anyway, I don’t want a dumbass loser. I want
a smartass winner.”
“You deserve nothing less,” I said and
Bailey smiled at me like I was amazing.
I did feel amazing. Not only would my
tattoo get fixed, but I also had an excuse to talk to Aaron. I didn’t know if
Aaron would enjoy the conversation as much as I did, but fate was no longer
standing in my way.
