Trailer Park Heart
Page 17
Just over the summer a meth lab had blown up about twenty miles outside of town. One guy had been killed inside and the other had been carted off to county, awaiting trial.
“I’m glad you came over,” she said seriously. “I was going to call you anyway.”
“About Ajax?”
She rolled her big brown eyes. “Obviously not about Ajax. He’s a loser. I’m glad you finally see it.”
“Hey!” I protested before licking brownie batter off the end of the spatula. “I distinctly remember you pushing me toward that loser and telling me to loosen up.”
She laughed. “Yeah, for one night! I didn’t think you’d become his booty call!”
“Wait just a second!” I glanced pointedly at Max. “I’m no one’s…” I mouthed booty call. “But, to be fair, we could say he was mine.”
She laughed and held her hands up. Thankfully, Max seemed super into the show he was watching. “Sorry.”
I just shook my head at her.
“Anyway, I was going to call you because guess who I ran into after my last class tonight? He was coming out of Pug’s, flanked by Finch and Mercer.”
“Oh, good grief. I don’t want to hear about the prodigal son’s return, okay? I’ve had enough of Levi Cole for a weekend.”
Her eyes lit up, just like every other female that had ever been introduced to the god among men that was Levi Cole. “Did you see him too?”
“He ate at Rosie’s on Friday. He hasn’t changed one bit.” Ha, take that, punk. Even though he couldn’t hear me or see me or have any way of knowing I’d just majorly dissed him.
She gave me a coy look. “I beg to differ.”
“Okay, he hasn’t changed in any of the ways that matter.” When she continued to blink at me, I explained, “He’s just as cocky and self-righteous as ever. I was around him for a total of five minutes and he happily reminded me of why I have never been able to stand him.”
“You mean, why you’ve always had the hots for him?”
I snorted. “Hardly.”
“Please,” she groaned. “He’s eye candy, Rubes. The best kind. You can hate him all you want, but you at least have to admit he’s pretty to look at.”
Laughing at her ridiculous yet fair assessment of Levi, I finally let out a pained, “Fine. He’s pretty. But only on the outside.”
“Does that mean you’re going to try to get out of Supper in the Square this weekend? Whenever someone’s in town that you don’t like, you always bail on me.”
“Ugh, I hadn’t even thought about Supper in the Square.” I slapped my hand over my forehead. “I told Rosie I would work it. May is out having her baby. And Jody is going up to see her parents.” The only other two servers at Rosie’s usually took over the Clark City tradition. Every fall, the restaurants around the middle of town would close and move their dining outside. The town would hire a band to play on the courthouse grass and every Saturday night from August through October, the whole town would come to the courthouse and have dinner outside under the stars. The last night was a big Halloween extravaganza—and this year, Halloween actually landed on the last Supper in the Square Saturday. Everyone came in costume; the kids trick or treated around the square and the food was supposed to be spooky-themed. The event was one of the highlights of Clark City. I avoided it like the plague.
But this Saturday, I was supposed to host for Rosie’s. Anybody and everybody would be out and about. Including, no doubt, Levi Cole. “What am I going to do? I’m going to have to call in sick. Do I look sick to you? I feel queasy for sure.”
A small smile tugged at Coco’s full lips. “It’ll be good for you, Debbie Downer. It’s about time you rejoined the land of the living.”
“I live in the land of the—”
She shivered, a look of disgust on her face. “Ajax doesn’t count.”
“But—”
“And neither does the school pickup line. Sorry, Ruby, now that I’m back in town, your days of hiding are over.”
I let out a sigh and couldn’t decide if I was happy about that or not. Coco had always been my link to humanity. When I’d rather sit on the sidelines, observing and judging, she dragged me into the center of the bar and forced me to dance with her. Granted for the last several years, she’d only made me get out of my house during her short holiday breaks. But now she lived here full time.
She was right. My days of being invisible were over.
And I wanted to believe it was only because of her. But Friday morning echoed in my head like a warning bell. Levi Cole had seen me too.
Whatever there was to say about him, he’d always seen me. Always. Granted, he was usually paying me negative attention, but it was attention all the same. In high school, he’d always felt like a giant spotlight following me around, lighting me up for everyone to see, shining light on all the pieces and parts of me I wanted to keep hidden.
He’d seen me. That was the only way I could express what it felt like to be noticed so completely by him. When all I’d wanted to do was blend in and stay invisible, he called me out and challenged me in a way no one else ever had.
It had done funny things to me back then and knowing I couldn’t risk feeling anything but animosity toward someone so much larger than life, I’d thrown my feelings at his nicer, safer, untouchable brother.
I’d fallen for Logan, so I could continue hating Levi.
When Levi left, I’d fiercely hoped to fade away into obscurity. The unplanned pregnancy had prevented that from happening, but the spotlight was dimmer than it ever had been with Levi. Even with the scandal of having Max, nobody had ever looked at me as keenly as Levi had. Nobody had ever noticed me in that all-seeing way he had. Nobody had ever made my nerves rattle and my insides fizz the way Levi had.
Not Ajax. Not even Logan. These fluttering and heart-flailing reactions belonged to Levi alone.
Thus, I’d been able to survive the last seven years in peace. But now he was back, and I’d already started to feel the effects of his return.
I ignored the uncomfortable flip of my stomach and turned back to my brownies. I didn’t even know if he would go to Supper in the Square anyway. He didn’t look happy to be back in town on Friday. Surely, he would deal with his farm business and then leave again.
Levi was maybe the one person in this town that wanted as little to do with this place as I did.
He’d just been smart enough to leave.
I was still working on that.
6
Square Hole, Round Peg
“Are you sure you can handle this?” Rosie asked for the umpteenth time.
No, I wasn’t. But not for the reasons she assumed. “Rosie, I know my way around an order pad, okay?” I frowned at her, something just occurring to me. “The only difference is that the tables are outside and not inside, right? They order the same, eat the same, pay the same?”
She plopped her hands on her hips. “Yes, of course. How many different ways are there to eat?”
A lot, I wanted to say, but I held back. “You’re making such a big deal about this. I just want to make sure the logistics are the same.”
“Yes, Ruby, everything is the same, we’ve just moved the tables outside.” She turned to Denise, the evening cook, and began a long list of instructions.
“I’m glad you came over,” she said seriously. “I was going to call you anyway.”
“About Ajax?”
She rolled her big brown eyes. “Obviously not about Ajax. He’s a loser. I’m glad you finally see it.”
“Hey!” I protested before licking brownie batter off the end of the spatula. “I distinctly remember you pushing me toward that loser and telling me to loosen up.”
She laughed. “Yeah, for one night! I didn’t think you’d become his booty call!”
“Wait just a second!” I glanced pointedly at Max. “I’m no one’s…” I mouthed booty call. “But, to be fair, we could say he was mine.”
She laughed and held her hands up. Thankfully, Max seemed super into the show he was watching. “Sorry.”
I just shook my head at her.
“Anyway, I was going to call you because guess who I ran into after my last class tonight? He was coming out of Pug’s, flanked by Finch and Mercer.”
“Oh, good grief. I don’t want to hear about the prodigal son’s return, okay? I’ve had enough of Levi Cole for a weekend.”
Her eyes lit up, just like every other female that had ever been introduced to the god among men that was Levi Cole. “Did you see him too?”
“He ate at Rosie’s on Friday. He hasn’t changed one bit.” Ha, take that, punk. Even though he couldn’t hear me or see me or have any way of knowing I’d just majorly dissed him.
She gave me a coy look. “I beg to differ.”
“Okay, he hasn’t changed in any of the ways that matter.” When she continued to blink at me, I explained, “He’s just as cocky and self-righteous as ever. I was around him for a total of five minutes and he happily reminded me of why I have never been able to stand him.”
“You mean, why you’ve always had the hots for him?”
I snorted. “Hardly.”
“Please,” she groaned. “He’s eye candy, Rubes. The best kind. You can hate him all you want, but you at least have to admit he’s pretty to look at.”
Laughing at her ridiculous yet fair assessment of Levi, I finally let out a pained, “Fine. He’s pretty. But only on the outside.”
“Does that mean you’re going to try to get out of Supper in the Square this weekend? Whenever someone’s in town that you don’t like, you always bail on me.”
“Ugh, I hadn’t even thought about Supper in the Square.” I slapped my hand over my forehead. “I told Rosie I would work it. May is out having her baby. And Jody is going up to see her parents.” The only other two servers at Rosie’s usually took over the Clark City tradition. Every fall, the restaurants around the middle of town would close and move their dining outside. The town would hire a band to play on the courthouse grass and every Saturday night from August through October, the whole town would come to the courthouse and have dinner outside under the stars. The last night was a big Halloween extravaganza—and this year, Halloween actually landed on the last Supper in the Square Saturday. Everyone came in costume; the kids trick or treated around the square and the food was supposed to be spooky-themed. The event was one of the highlights of Clark City. I avoided it like the plague.
But this Saturday, I was supposed to host for Rosie’s. Anybody and everybody would be out and about. Including, no doubt, Levi Cole. “What am I going to do? I’m going to have to call in sick. Do I look sick to you? I feel queasy for sure.”
A small smile tugged at Coco’s full lips. “It’ll be good for you, Debbie Downer. It’s about time you rejoined the land of the living.”
“I live in the land of the—”
She shivered, a look of disgust on her face. “Ajax doesn’t count.”
“But—”
“And neither does the school pickup line. Sorry, Ruby, now that I’m back in town, your days of hiding are over.”
I let out a sigh and couldn’t decide if I was happy about that or not. Coco had always been my link to humanity. When I’d rather sit on the sidelines, observing and judging, she dragged me into the center of the bar and forced me to dance with her. Granted for the last several years, she’d only made me get out of my house during her short holiday breaks. But now she lived here full time.
She was right. My days of being invisible were over.
And I wanted to believe it was only because of her. But Friday morning echoed in my head like a warning bell. Levi Cole had seen me too.
Whatever there was to say about him, he’d always seen me. Always. Granted, he was usually paying me negative attention, but it was attention all the same. In high school, he’d always felt like a giant spotlight following me around, lighting me up for everyone to see, shining light on all the pieces and parts of me I wanted to keep hidden.
He’d seen me. That was the only way I could express what it felt like to be noticed so completely by him. When all I’d wanted to do was blend in and stay invisible, he called me out and challenged me in a way no one else ever had.
It had done funny things to me back then and knowing I couldn’t risk feeling anything but animosity toward someone so much larger than life, I’d thrown my feelings at his nicer, safer, untouchable brother.
I’d fallen for Logan, so I could continue hating Levi.
When Levi left, I’d fiercely hoped to fade away into obscurity. The unplanned pregnancy had prevented that from happening, but the spotlight was dimmer than it ever had been with Levi. Even with the scandal of having Max, nobody had ever looked at me as keenly as Levi had. Nobody had ever noticed me in that all-seeing way he had. Nobody had ever made my nerves rattle and my insides fizz the way Levi had.
Not Ajax. Not even Logan. These fluttering and heart-flailing reactions belonged to Levi alone.
Thus, I’d been able to survive the last seven years in peace. But now he was back, and I’d already started to feel the effects of his return.
I ignored the uncomfortable flip of my stomach and turned back to my brownies. I didn’t even know if he would go to Supper in the Square anyway. He didn’t look happy to be back in town on Friday. Surely, he would deal with his farm business and then leave again.
Levi was maybe the one person in this town that wanted as little to do with this place as I did.
He’d just been smart enough to leave.
I was still working on that.
6
Square Hole, Round Peg
“Are you sure you can handle this?” Rosie asked for the umpteenth time.
No, I wasn’t. But not for the reasons she assumed. “Rosie, I know my way around an order pad, okay?” I frowned at her, something just occurring to me. “The only difference is that the tables are outside and not inside, right? They order the same, eat the same, pay the same?”
She plopped her hands on her hips. “Yes, of course. How many different ways are there to eat?”
A lot, I wanted to say, but I held back. “You’re making such a big deal about this. I just want to make sure the logistics are the same.”
“Yes, Ruby, everything is the same, we’ve just moved the tables outside.” She turned to Denise, the evening cook, and began a long list of instructions.
