Elec wasn’t making eye contact with me at the table. He’d just look down and twirl the pasta around his fork. At one point, I’d stared out the window to gaze at the neighbor’s laundry lined up and drying in the breeze. I could feel his eyes on me. It was as if he were waiting for me to turn away so that he could look at me when he thought I didn’t notice. Sure enough, when I turned toward him, his head moved downward again, and he was back to playing with his vermicelli.
Randy was in rare form that night, complaining that the plain dinner of pasta and red sauce did nothing to curb his appetite. He abruptly got up and walked over to the snack closet.
“Greta, what the hell are you doing stuffing all these underpants inside a can of Pringles?” he yelled.
My mouth hung open, and I looked over at Elec. We stared at each other for a good few seconds before Elec snorted and lost it. We both simultaneously burst into laughter. Neither of us could stop.
I loved the sound of his genuine laugh.
Looking over at Randy’s confused face made me crack up even harder.
When the laughter dissipated, Elec was still smiling at me and said low enough just for the two of us to hear, “I told you they weren’t in my room.”
Randy slammed the can on the table in front of me. I opened it and checked the inventory. “These aren’t all of them.”
Elec winked. “I kept a couple for me,” he said seductively.
I rolled my eyes and threw one at his face. He promptly put it on his head and wore it like a beanie. Only my stepbrother would look smoking hot with a pair of underwear on his head. He continued looking at me with the wicked grin I’d longed for. It felt good to have his attention again, albeit briefly.
That night, I was just getting into my pajamas when my phone buzzed.
Can you come in here for a minute?
My heart raced as I walked down the hall. When he opened the door, he looked so incredibly sexy.
His breath smelled like mint toothpaste. “Hey,” he said, flashing his beautiful white teeth, which contrasted perfectly with his tanned skin and black hair.
“Hi,” I stepped inside the room and took a deep breath, noticing that the clove cigarette smell was almost completely gone.
He was wearing a black hoodie with the sleeves rolled up. It was left open over his bare chest, and his hair was still drenched from the shower. I stared at his lips where the cut had long healed. The metal of his lip ring glistened, and I hadn’t ever yearned for anything more than to lick it, to feel his mouth and tongue against mine again.
Kissing me.
Licking me.
Biting me.
Change the subject.
“Why does it smell so fresh and clean in here?”
He lay back on the bed with his hands resting behind his head. I couldn’t help staring at the V just below his abs and wished I could lie on top of him against his skin.
“Are you saying my room normally smells like shit?”
“Did you quit smoking?”
“I’m trying.”
“Really?”
“Yeah…this weird girl who walks around commando once told me it was bad for me. So…I thought about that and finally listened.”
“I’m really proud of you.”
He sat up straight and looked at me. “Well, the truth is, you were right. That shit will kill me someday. A lot of aspects of my life may suck, but there are other things that make it worth living.”
Something in the air seemed to shift when he said it, and an awkward silence ensued.
I cleared my throat. “Why did you need me to come in here?”
He walked over to his closet to get something. Then, I realized it was his book. He handed me the binder. “I wanted to give you this. I want you to read it.”
“Seriously?”
“I don’t let anyone read my shit, Greta. This is a big step for me. Whatever you do, don’t show Randy. I don’t want him anywhere near it.”
“Okay. I promise. Thank you for trusting me with it.”
“Be honest, too. I can take it.”
“I will. I’ll take my time with it.”
***
I’d gone straight to my room that night and started reading. Minutes turned into hours. I’d told him I’d take my time with it, but the truth was, I couldn’t put it down and ended up staying up the entire night to finish it.
Even though the story was told in the third person, and the boy named Liam was supposedly only loosely based on Elec, it felt like I was getting a window into his mind and soul through Liam’s character.
There were too many similarities that I knew were derived from his life, particularly the fact that Liam’s father was verbally abusive. The beginning of the story before Lucky came into the picture was quite sad. At the same time, it would make me cry in one part and literally laugh in the next. There were actually lots of funny parts separate from the main plot.