Harmonic Feedback (17 page)

“You should invite him tonight.”

“He’s got work.”

“At midnight? I highly doubt it. But maybe it’s past his bedtime—he does seem like he’s every mother’s dream.” She laughed and slapped more paint on the wall. “I bet he helps little old ladies cross the street in his spare time.”

“Why do you think that?”

“He just seems a little too nice, you know?”

“I don’t think he’s fake, if that’s what you mean.” Usually people smiled too much or asked pointless questions in a high voice when they were being fake. Justin never did that.

She grinned and flung paint at me. “You’re so hooked.”

I loved moments like this with Naomi. They felt close and warm. If I could put this moment between us in a box, I’d hide it under the bed and take it out whenever I could. And I’d throw out the incident at the mall and Scott. I wished this was enough for her. I wished
I
was enough for her.

We watched
Ferris Bueller
with achy arms and grumbling stomachs. Saturday night wasn’t the best night to have a pizza delivered quickly. Naomi’s blue floral couch smelled like cat pee, and Lizzie insisted on playing with my hair.

Naomi was laughing at a scene where this guy Cameron didn’t want to leave his dad’s Ferrari at a parking garage in downtown Chicago. He listed all the bad things that could happen to it, which made perfect sense. But his friend Ferris didn’t think it was a big deal, even though they took the car without permission.

“You remind me of Cameron,” Naomi said.

“Why?” I detached Lizzie’s claws from my hair.

“You freak out over little stuff.”

“I wouldn’t call getting caught stealing
little
.” I was happy when she’d taken the clothing and stuffed it in her dresser. Out of my sight.

“Uh, how about throwing the pipe at Roger because the bell rang?”

“I didn’t throw it at him. And I told you—I needed air.”

“Or how about freaking out over ice cream expiration dates? Plus, you’re pouty like Cameron is.”

“I don’t mean to be.” Lizzie made smacking sounds next to my ear. “Why is your cat eating my hair?”

Naomi hoisted the cat from her perch and kissed her head. “She likes you. Don’t you, Lizzie Wizzie?” Lizzie meowed in response, her dreamy green eyes blinking once.

Keys rattled in the front door lock. Lizzie scrambled out of Naomi’s lap and squeezed her chubby body under the couch.

“It’s just my dad. He went camping with some buddy of his.”

The door swung open and a tall man wearing a blue T-shirt and jeans walked in. He had sandy hair and thin arms—almost scarecrowlike.

I looked back at Naomi. She focused on the movie. Two parking attendants were stealing the red Ferrari.

“How are you, Kari?” Her father was peering at me from the dim entranceway.

“It’s Drea, Dad. Our new neighbor. I told you she’d be coming over.”

“Oh, right. Sorry.” His voice was almost too soft to hear. “Naomi, I’m taking…” The roar of the car on TV drowned out his words.

Naomi hit the mute button. “You can come in here, you know. I can’t hear you.”

Her father cleared his throat and inched into the living room, giving us a tight smile. “I have to cover for Brenda this week, but I’ve got the first two weeks of October off. We’ll car hunt then, okay?”

“Why not leave me a check and I’ll do it myself?”

“You said you wanted me to help you.”

“Yeah, but then Lisa might need to go on maternity leave. Or Vickie might get pneumonia. Or maybe you’ll decide to work those two weeks just because. I’ll need a car regardless.”

He glanced at me before shaking his head. His eyes were a mess of shadows. “I’m not going to do this in front of your friend. We’ll talk later.”

“Yep, it’s always later. What if you wake up and find there’s no tomorrow, Dad?”

He ignored her and climbed the steps with slumped shoulders.

“Sorry about that. He really pisses me off sometimes.” Naomi nibbled on her thumbnail.

“Where does he work?”

“He’s a flight attendant.”

“That seems like a cool job.”

“Sure, if you don’t mind never being home.” She shrugged. “I could scream in that man’s face for hours and he wouldn’t even flinch. He responds to my words, but he never actually
hears
me, you know?”

“Maybe he doesn’t understand what you’re saying.”

“No, he just doesn’t care. Anyway, enough about him.” She smiled, but her eyes looked darker than normal. “If the pizza doesn’t get here in the next five minutes, I’m going to eat the delivery person too.”

“I doubt that would taste very good.”

She laughed and paused the movie. “It’s nine thirty. I bet Justin is off work by now.”

“So?”

“You should call him.”

“No.”

“Fine, give me your phone. I’ll call him.”

“Use
your
phone.”

“It’s upstairs charging. Come on, fork it over.” She made a grabbing motion.

I opened my lunch box and fished my black cell out. “Don’t do anything embarrassing.”

Naomi batted her eyelashes, taking the phone from me. “Never.” She pressed speed dial and put the call on speaker. I sank into the couch.

It rang three times before he picked up. “Hello?”

“Hey, baby.” Naomi made her voice higher. More breathy. More like mine.

I tried to grab the phone from her. “Stop!”

She pulled away and ran into the bathroom, shutting the door. “I’ve been thinking about you all night.”

I pounded on the door. “That’s not me!”

“Oh, yeah?” Justin’s voice echoed inside the bathroom. “You’ve been on my mind a lot too.” His voice sounded different. Lower. It made me stop knocking.

“What are you wearing?” Naomi continued.

“A pair of tube socks. What about you?”

“Just some lacy nighty I found in a gutter somewhere.”

I slid against the door, putting my face in my hands. This was a nightmare. He’d never talk to me again.

“Wow,” he said. “That’s hot.”

“You should come over and check it out.”

“Sure—on one condition.”

“Anything.”

“You take me off speakerphone and give Drea her phone back.”

“You’re no fun,” Naomi said in her normal voice. “And that’s technically two conditions.” She opened the door.

“Sorry, Drea’s yelling in the background kind of gave you away. Plus, you’re a shitty impersonator.”

“Hey, I was the prank call queen in junior high. I could do anyone’s voice.”

“It was her idea to call you,” I said. “I didn’t want to bother you again.”

Naomi raised her eyebrows at me. “Again? Oh, my.”

“Did you finish watching your movie?” Justin asked.

“Not yet,” Naomi answered. “We’re getting antsy because our pizza hasn’t shown up yet. Seriously, you should come over. My boyfriend is taking us to a race tonight, and Drea needs a buddy.”

“I’m not going,” I said.

She rolled her eyes. “You’re going. Can’t punk out on me now.”

“A street race?” Justin asked.

“Yeah,” Naomi said.

“Where is it?” he asked.

“Why—you wanna race?”

“No, I just didn’t think it was possible to drive more than twenty-five miles an hour in this town.”

Naomi rolled her eyes. “Oh, I know—people are, like, allergic to their gas pedals here.”

Justin exhaled a laugh. “Anyway, can’t go. I’m babysitting my niece.”

She scrunched up her nose. “Sounds riveting. You going to bake cookies for your grandma too?”

“Probably.”

The doorbell rang, and Naomi’s eyes widened. She tossed the phone at me. “Pizza’s here!”

“Um, hi,” I said.

“You want to take me off speakerphone now?”

I pressed the speaker off button. “Sorry if we bothered you. It… it really wasn’t my idea to call.”

“I know.”

I pictured him with that half smile. “So—”

“Hey, if you don’t want to go tonight, don’t go.”

I watched Naomi take the pizza into the kitchen. “I don’t want to be stuck in a car with her boyfriend,” I whispered. “He’s a creep.”

“Is he a bigger tool than Roger?”

“Yeah.”

“She needs better taste in guys.”

“No kidding. Maybe
you
can ask her out.”

He chuckled. “Does that mean I have your seal of approval?”

“I like you. I mean—better than Scott.” I rolled my eyes. Why was this so hard?

“Don’t worry. You had me at
I like you
.”

Naomi poked her head out of the kitchen. “Say bye to Prince Charming. Pizza is getting cold.”

“Sounds like you need to go again.”

“Yeah.”

Naomi ran a hand through her hair, tilting her head back. “Oh, Justin! Your voice is so sexy.”

I covered the mouthpiece, heat creeping up my neck.

“Is she on something again?” he asked.

“I don’t think so.”

Naomi continued to moan his name and roll her eyes up to the ceiling like she was having a seizure.

“That girl’s a trip,” he said. A child’s voice rang out in the background. “I gotta go, but, hey, if you decide to go and her boyfriend gets weird, call me, okay? I’ll pick you guys up.”

The nausea eased some. I really didn’t want to go, but I didn’t want to let Naomi down, either. “I will. Thank you.”

“Anything for my new bandmates. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.” I flipped the phone shut and glared at Naomi. “Do you really need me to go?”

She swallowed a large bite of her pizza. “What else are you going to do tonight?”

“I don’t know.” There was a curious part of me that wanted to be wild and crazy with Naomi. Live the life I’d overheard so many people talk about. The parties, the hookups, the “you just had to be there” moments, and even the hangovers. But so far I’d spent more time being uncomfortable. “Don’t you want to be alone with Scott?”

“He’ll be busy prepping his car. I’ll make him take us home as soon as it’s over.” She stuck out her lower lip at me. “Please? It would mean a lot to me.”

“Fine, I guess.”

She did a corny dance and thrust a slice of pizza in my face. It smelled like cardboard. “Eat.”

The pizza was cold and slightly chewy, but Naomi’s smile made it taste better.

Scott showed up just as Naomi stuck the last pin in her hair. She smelled like a fruity flower, and her lips were the color of red wine.

“What’s up?” Scott said after she let him in. He reeked of cigarettes and aftershave. Naomi threw her arms around him, and he stared at me over her shoulder.

I looked at the stained green carpet.

“How’s it going, Drea?”

“Fine,” I said. My lips were sticky with the brownish muck Naomi claimed looked good with my red hair.

“I brought you a present,” he said in her ear.

“I’ve got something for you too,” she whispered before glancing over her shoulder. “We’re gonna go upstairs for a couple minutes.”

I nodded and sat on the couch. Their footsteps thudded up the stairs, and Naomi let out a squeal after they closed the door. More laughter followed. A few thumps. And then silence. It wasn’t too late for me to get up and go home. Especially if she was going to be girly with Scott all night.

But I was still sitting on the couch when they came down a decade of minutes later. Like a good friend.

“Sorry, we got a little detoured,” Naomi said. The hair she’d spent hours curling and pinning up was a limp mess around her shoulders, and her lipstick had been smeared to one side. I didn’t get it. Why spend two hours getting ready just so some guy can obliterate it all in five minutes?

“Okay,” I said, looking down at my black sneakers.

Naomi plopped next to me with a compact mirror. She wiped the remnants of lip color off with the back of her hand and redrew a line around her lips.

Scott ruffled her hair. “We don’t have time for that.”

“Hang on,” she said. Her hands shook as she applied the lipstick. I wondered if he made her nervous.

Scott nudged her head forward so she missed her mouth by an inch.

“Hey, jerk.” She looked over at me and grinned. Her eyes looked like black saucers.

“Let’s go!” Scott headed for the front door and yanked it open.

Naomi jumped up, smoothing out her rumpled denim skirt. “Okay, cranky bear.”

Cranky bear
didn’t even begin to cover Scott. I followed them out to the car, telling myself that it was good to be out on a Saturday instead of sitting at home online. Even so, I missed my computer, my pedals, and the berry candles I’d normally be burning.

Scott sped off with the same grace he had a couple weeks ago. The leather of the back seat gave me goose bumps. I should’ve brought a jacket.

We flew past the silhouettes of boats in Squalicum Harbor. They looked like rows of toothpicks under the full moon. Still and lifeless as if they’d been there forever. Railroad tracks ran parallel to us on the other side, disappearing into nothing but blackness.

At some point we merged onto the freeway, but we only drove a couple exits north before Scott got off and made a right. The streetlights evaporated, as did the stores and the gas stations. Scott floored the Mustang as soon as we hit a dark stretch of road, and the trees blurred into odd shapes and jagged edges.

“Is that all you’ve got?” Naomi asked him.

“Gotta save some energy.” He grinned at her, taking one hand off the wheel and resting it in her lap.

She tilted her head back and closed her eyes, laughing. “Come on, step on it.”

“You really want me to?”

We were already going so fast. Too fast. The white road bumps had become a solid line, curving into nothing ahead. “I think we should slow down,” I said.

But they didn’t hear me. Too much wind from the open windows. Too much drum and bass from Scott’s crappy speakers. I tapped Naomi on the shoulder.

“What?” Her eyes were sunken holes in her face, and the rest of her features were indistinguishable. She’d become nothing more than purple hair and pale skin.

“Make him slow down.”

“No way. Are you kidding?”

The tires skidded around a sharp curve. Trees swallowed the car, blocking out any remaining moonlight.

“Please,” I said. “I can’t see anything.”

“That’s because we’re in Hicksville. Only life around here is Farmer John and his harem of cows!” Naomi laughed again. It was too loud. Too out of control.