Chapter Five
Noah
I text Lucy in the morning to make sure things are okay between us, assuming she's read the list that I planted for her to find, but she doesn't say much.
Just, "Sorry. Super busy with classes and my afternoon shift at the bakery. Will I see you tonight at Jake's?"
Which makes me doubt myself, entirely. What if she read the list and hated the idea of me being ridiculously in love with her? Maybe it freaked her out. Maybe she wants nothing to do with me.
I replied straight away with a yes and she gave me a thumbs up, so I don't get discouraged.
I know how Lucy is. She gets worked up when she's overwhelmed and maybe reading that list last night made her freak out.
Tonight I'll know for sure. But there's no way in hell I'm wearing that doctor costume for a few reasons.
It doesn't feel like us.
It feels like a letdown so I rack my brain to try and come up with something that signifies that Lucy is my best friend, my everything.
She's more than the girl next door, more than a sweetheart. She's my boo.
An idea comes to me, and as I rummage in my mom’s linen closet, I can’t help but grin. Lucy may not want to be my lover, but she is still my best friend. And I can’t let that list change everything.
As I dig in the closet, I know just what I'll wear. Knowing she'll understand. My mom asks what I’m doing, but when I explain she smiles. “It’s about time, Noah.”
In the afternoon I call Jake, asking if he needs any help for the party. He’s my next-door neighbor, and we’ve been buddies since we were in diapers. He recently bought the house he grew up in from his parents. That’s the thing about small towns — usually people stay put. Jake and the crew from school certainly have. And nothing is wrong with that… I just always knew I wanted something different. Nothing has changed, except one critical point. Lucy. And if I want a life with her, I’m gonna need to do the opposite of what my commanding officer suggested on the phone yesterday.
"Sure thing, man," Jake says. "Come over. I just picked up the keg. Can you grab some ice?"
"I'm on it," I tell him and I head to the grocery store. Once there, I grab the ice and a few extra bags of candy on my way to the checkout, figuring Jake may be good with providing the booze, but he might forget the necessities. And for a Halloween party, you've got to have candy.
When I get to his place, he asks how I'm doing.
I grin. "Honestly, I feel relieved."
"How so?" he asks.
I explain to him the phone call I had with my commanding officer last night and what that means for me.
"Shit," Jake says, "I'm glad to hear it. But uh, you’ve been talking about seeing the world, and getting away from here since grade school. You want to give that all up?”
“I have to.” But I don’t expound. I figure Jake knows me well enough to understand.
“Well good,” he says, "it's time you came back home, put down some roots. Besides, the rest of the gang is around. We miss you, man."
"I've missed you guys too."
"Heard you and Natalia had a falling out."
I shake my head as I shove bags of ice in a cooler outside on his back porch. "We were never really a thing."
"Just another fling?" he asks.
I nod. "Something like that. You know how she is."
Jake laughs, "Yeah, I do. Hell, I dated her before myself.”
"This town is too damn small," I say as he tests out the keg, pouring me a beer.
"Here you go, man," he says.
"Thanks."
We knock glasses and take drinks.
"This is good," I say.
He smiles. "Yeah. It's pumpkin ale."
Lucy will love it, I think as I help him unload the bottles of wine and hard alcohol. His girlfriend, Sandra, shows up and brings the party decorations. Betty is with her.
"Where's your costume?" she says. "You're coming as a sexy doctor, right?"
I shrug, not wanting to get into it with her.
"Well, Natalia is going to be here soon," she says.
Sandra frowns. "We have to finish setting up then. I don't want party guests to arrive before it's all ready."
I pitch in, asking her how I can help. She directs me to a pile of streamers and I get to work. Betty is blowing up black and orange helium balloons and Jack is securing cobwebs to the front porch along with a fog machine.
"It looks pretty damn good," I say, proud of us.
Sandra says she's got to go change and she drags Jake with her.
Standing alone with Betty, I wish like hell Lucy were here. The crew we grew up with is small and we all know each other, though these are my friends more than hers. Lucy's stuck around them for me. But I’m scared she's moving on. I just hope she's not moving on from me. Hell, I made a choice today that means I'm not going anywhere.
By the time people start showing up, I realize I ought to go get changed myself. I rummage through Jake’s drawers and find a pair of scissors. Grabbing my sheet, I head to a bedroom to change. It doesn't take much. I cut out some eye holes and I shrug off my flannel shirt and then I slip the sheet over my head. Not exactly a life-changing costume, but like I said, I'm aiming to get one point across and one point alone.
When I walk back out to the living room, there are at least thirty people here. Everybody's shown up to Jake's place and the music is pumping. The doorbell keeps ringing and little kids are screaming, “Trick or treat,” as someone dumps in a handful or two of candy into their open bags.
I scan the room looking for Lucy, but I can't see her anywhere.
Jake hands me another beer and I thank him. Someone drags me outside to play beer pong and I go along with it for a little while, but I'm getting antsy. Where is she? I check my phone, asking her just that.
She replies, telling me she's here.
I frown, finding someone to take my place at the beer pong table and head back inside.
"Have you seen Lucy?" I ask Sandra and she nods.
"Yeah. She just went to the bathroom a second ago."
"Thanks," I say, winding myself through the crowd, stopping in the kitchen.
Just then, the front door opens and I see Natalia walk in.
My stomach drops as I take her in. She’s wearing the exact same sexy nurse costume that Lucy bought.
Fuck.
Thankfully she doesn't notice me, probably because I have a giant sheet over my head and I’m hiding out in the kitchen.
Before I can continue my search for Lucy, a ghost enters the living room.
I'm not being figurative here — a ghost, or at least a petite person with a sheet over their head, enters the room. My heart sinks fast as I realize who it is.
It’s Lucy, it has to be.
And ghost-Lucy seems fixed on Natalia, marching over to her.
But she doesn't notice me. Instead she struts right over to Natalia, hands on her hips. It's like the Red Sea’s parted and everyone steps aside, ready for some throwdown, which I already know they're not going to get. That's not Lucy’s style.
She pointedly looks at Natalia and simply asks her, "Did you plan a couple’s costume with Noah?"