Dreamland City. Larina Lavergne
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suppress a laugh, get out and help her out of the car; she leans on my arm as I lead us back to my trailer. “Home sweet home,” I say mockingly as we go back in. The place is still like we left it fifteen minutes ago, but Tommy has graciously put most of the pieces of the broken lamp in the trash.
Reagan is leaning heavily on me and I bring her to my mother’s bedroom since it’s closer. I think that I should start calling it Beau’s bedroom.
“Smells nice here,” Reagan murmurs. Her eyes are half-closed, and an errant lock of her hair has fallen over her face. “What is that smell?”
It smells of Beau. I think Reagan smells a lot better.
I dump my new friend on the bed and she sighs heavily, her eyes closing completely. And then I crawl into bed next to her, and fall asleep.
9
When I wake up the next day, my head hurts and my mouth tastes like a ball of sour, gritty cotton. As I sit slowly, I look around for Reagan but she’s already gone. I vaguely remember—it seemed like a dream—her getting up at the crack of dawn and the sound of the door closing behind her.
When I stand up, my foot slides on a piece of cloth on the floor. I pick it up and stare stupidly at the frilly material before realizing that I’m holding a scarf. Dolce & Gabbana and I don’t have much of a relationship, so Reagan must have dropped it when she left. I can’t help myself from burying my face in it. She always smells so…clean.
+++
At school, I finally see Reagan Friday morning with a bunch of high-heeled short-skirted blond girls at Alpine Bagels on West Campus. She gives me a cool gaze as I get in line for coffee, then deliberately looks away. If she’s embarrassed by her behavior Sunday night with Tommy, she doesn’t show it. I consider giving her back her scarf—it’s been stuffed in the front pocket of my hoodie the entire week and the bulge is making me look like I’m pregnant—but the threatening trills of laughter emanating from that group scare me off. After grabbing my bagel and coffee, I hurry off.
I skip my Math lecture and noontime finds me sitting on the lawn directly in front of Blackwell Hall, Reagan’s (and my former) cheesy European themed dorm. I know I’m waiting for her, I just don’t know why. It’s a grim looking day, and heavy clouds are sinking low on the horizon as if they’re trying to kiss the damp ground. The warmth is making me sleepy. A light drizzle starts up but I don’t move. Instead, I lie back and close my eyes.
“Lily?”
When I open my eyes, the first thing that emerges out of the inky blurriness is a pair of clear blue eyes.
“Wha…”
“Were you really asleep?”
David Morgan squats down on his haunches next to me. There are flecks of moisture on his eyelashes and his hair is gaining a sheen from the drizzle. I blink, and he says again, “You were. Wow.”
“I can sleep through anything.”
“I believe it! Hey, so you live in Blackwell?”
I sit up. “I did for a little while.”
“Oh. Where do you live now?” He seems in no hurry to leave despite the drizzle, and as I scramble to get up, he offers me a hand, pulling me up easily.
I’m about to answer when I see a familiar white umbrella bobbing towards us.
It’s Reagan. When I don’t answer him, David turns to look too. We stand, frozen, as the white umbrella bobs closer.
“Oh. Hey!” She stands, her brows furrowed, her eyes traveling from me to him, then back again, as if she’s trying to compute her two worlds colliding.
“Hey,” David and I both blurt out at the same time.
Reagan doesn’t miss a beat.
“What’s up?” she asks.
“Not much,” David replies, a touch uncomfortably.
“I didn’t know you knew each other.” She’s peering closely at me as if she’s never seen me before, her eyes narrowed with flecks of gold dancing in the sea of hazel.
“We don’t,” I say, just as David says, “We met a while ago.”
There’s a long, awkward pause, then Reagan says smoothly, “Well, you guys want to hang out then?”
I stare at them both. Almost unconsciously, David has moved closer to Reagan.
Side by side, they are tall and beautiful, they make sense. David reaches for her umbrella and almost as if they’ve rehearsed this dance before, Reagan releases it to him so he is holding it to shield her from the rain. I feel smaller, angrier, and dirtier than ever.
“No. Here, this is yours. I’m not going to lab later.”
I shove her scarf at her and she accepts it automatically. I grab my backpack off the damp ground and walk rapidly away, not responding to David’s “Are you leaving?” When I look back, I see that they’ve turned away and are walking together toward her dorm entrance.
Inexplicably, I want to cry. I call Tommy instead.
+++
When Tommy arrives in his truck, I see Neil sitting next to him in his uniform that has a blotch on the front as if he got a pizza stain during lunch. “You need your baby brother to bring you to the police station, Neil?” I mock, climbing over him and grimacing when I touch too much of his hairy bare arms.
“I’m fucking off duty, bitch,” he grinds out in response.
“You OK?” Tommy asks, giving me a concerned look when I rest my head on his shoulder.
“Just drive,” I tell him.
Tommy starts driving and to distract me, begins chattering about his bike and how he’s saved up enough to put in a new engine while Neil scoffs.
During a lull in the conversation, Neil asks, turning to leer at me. “So, Lil, you datin’ anyone at your fancy school?”
I ignore him.
“I haven’t arrested anyone lately who goes there, but it’s only a matter of time. Let’s hope it ain’t you.”
It’s too bad he can’t look more like Tommy, but at least Skelly can rest assured he has at least one biological son.
“Yeah, sure I’m dating someone,” I say, just to irritate him. I light a cigarette and blow the smoke in his face. He snarls and swipes at my hand, and I laugh.
“Who’s that, now?” This time it’s from Tommy. He’s not jealous, just curious.
“The football quarterback,” I say with a straight face. “We like the same books and we’re going to European chocolate festivals.”
Neil snorts in disbelief, and Tommy laughs, reaching over to gently poke me in the ribs.
“Shit, you just saying that to get me all jealous.”
“Maybe.”
I lean into him and plant a kiss on Tommy’s cheek.
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