1In the Wrong Niche
Heath
"I didn't expect to see you so soon," my father said, without even looking up from his papers. I tried to relax, but I couldn't help myself. This is for Alex, I thought to myself, and sat in the leather chair in front of his desk. All around us were shelves filled with law books and case files. There were a few family pictures, but they didn't really fit in with the rest of the ominous décor. I used to think that this was the most amazing room in the whole house, and could spend hours sitting in the same leather chair and just drink in the room. Now, it was a just a boring office to which my father liked to retreat to when he was tired of looking at our faces.
"I need your help," I said. My father's pen came to a halt, and he looked up at me briefly.
"Are you in some sort of trouble?" He asked, and I was surprised that he didn't sound disappointed or scornful. Maybe he wanted to start of easy, take things slowly; maybe he didn't want me walking out of the house again. I wondered how much trouble he got in with Mom.
"No, I'm not," I answered, and he instantly resumed his writing. "But a friend of mine-"
"I'm not getting any of your friends out of jail time," he said, picking up several sheets of paper and stuffing them into a folder.
"It's not like that," I answered, gripping the handles of the chair.
"Then what is it?" he snapped impatiently. I swallowed a lump in my throat.
"Could you just listen, please?" I said weakly. Dad threw down his pen, took off his glasses, and ran a hand over his face. "It's a bit complicated."
He put his head on his palm, while his elbow rested on the desk. The expression on his face was already bored and that wasn't very encouraging.
"Fine," he said nonchalantly. "Go ahead, but I'm not promising you anything."
I took a deep breath and started, hoping for the best and expecting the worst. The many times I went over this story in my head, I could hardly believe myself. But I hoped since Dad was a lawyer, he'd have heard many crazy stories that turned out to be true and that he would actually believe me.
Alex
Heath was gone for nearly an hour. I was a little nervous. More excited though; possessed by that nervous energy that won't let you sit still, but won't allow you to do anything productive either. So, I was pacing behind the couch, biting my nails and twirling my hair into knots, trying to keep from running to the door every five seconds to see if Heath was coming back. Did Heath really need an hour to explain my story? His father probably didn't believe him and Heath was staying away on purpose.
"Would you sit down?" Lex said, looking over his shoulder. "You're distracting me."
I stopped walking, realized that my fingernail was now bleeding and tried to relax. Lex had been playing a video game, the same one Andrew had shown him all the cheats for. I felt a slight pain in my chest and started pacing again.
"Alex..." Lex started, but the front door opened and we heard footsteps. I instantly flew over the couch and grabbed one of the remotes so I could pretend to have been playing all along. Lex gave me a look and shook his head.
"Don't say anything," I snapped at him quickly. He rolled his eyes, but nodded. My heartbeat kept picking up speed, and my breathing started to get erratic. "What if his father said no..."
"Alex..."
"What if he tells the school..."
"Stop it," Lex snapped.
"Am I gonna get arrested?" I gasped, Lex flickered me in the forehead. I fell back, glaring at him and rubbing the spot where he hit. "Ow."
"Hey, guys," Heath walked into the room, and I sank my nails into Lex's forearm. He opened his mouth in a silent scream, before grabbing my arms and putting it back into my own lap. "Where are the girls?"
"Looking at fashion magazines," I heard myself say. Heath and I met eyes; he didn't look happy or upset, just neutral. My heart seemed to seize and for a moment I thought I was having a heart attack.
"Well?" Lex said, making Heath break off eye contact. The heart attack stopped and I started breathing again.
"Oh," that was not a good 'oh', but it didn't sound terrible either. "He wants to talk to you."
"Right now?" I gasped, sinking my nails into Lex's arm again.
"Ow! Would you stop that?" He snapped, rubbing the red marks I left on him. "Just relax, jeez, if he doesn't want to help you then we'll figure something else out."
"It's not that," Heath said quickly. "I think he does want to help, it's just that... well, he kind of got stuck on the fact that we're roommates and..."
Lex started laughing, while I felt my face melt in flames. I looked down, feeling extremely uneasy.
"He can't figure out how a girl managed to fool everyone," Heath said, his cheeks were red too. "But that's not what he wants to talk about either. He just, you know, needs to get his facts straight, and you're the best person for that."
"Right..." I muttered, feeling my muscles ease from the tension. I settled back into the couch, then realized something and sat back up."When?"
"Well... a little later, after dinner maybe," Heath said. "He needs to wrap his head around it."
"Right," I said, again settling back against the couch. "What do we do until then?"
"Enjoy the day," Lex said, then gave me a look. "And relax."
Heath came closer to us and sat on the opposite side of me, so now I was sandwiched between them.
"You really have nothing to worry about," Heath said. "My Dad might not act like the nicest guy all the time, but he's is nice... you know?"
"Aha," I muttered. I had no idea what he meant.
"Everything will be okay, you'll see," Heath said, taking my hand and giving it a slight squeeze.
"Thanks," I answered, smiling at him a little. I didn't look at him directly, because I was afraid my eyes would start to water. I had to tell my self to breathe and relax, feeling grateful that Heath kept holding my hand. Finally, I asked, "When is Paul coming back?"
"He's supposed to be here already," Lex said, talking and playing the game at the same time. "But his flight had been delayed several times because of the snow storms."
"Oh, that sucks," I muttered. I watched him progress in the game, and felt myself relax. "Bianca's been getting edgy about it."
"Is that why you're not looking at fashion magazines?" Heath laughed. I took my hand away from him and crossed my arms.
"He's all she talks about, it's awkward," I answered, not to mention the fact that she wants me to recount every single conversation I'd had with him. Paul was a great guy, but I didn't want to talk about him behind his back.
"Yeah, you better not tell them anything about us," Lex said, glaring at me for a second. "It's bad enough that you told them about that time in the locker room. Sheila won't stop teasing me about it."
"What? It's not like she'd never seen you naked," I said, snickering. Lex's face quickly started becoming red and travelled to his ear tips.
"Well... not really... it's usually kind of dark," he muttered under his breath, Heath and I started laughing uncontrollably. Lex just glared at the TV screen and said nothing.
"Don't worry Lexy-poo, you've got nothing to be ashamed of," I said, patting his head. His hair was getting kind of long, and stood out of his head like brush.
"Shut up," he snapped, but smiled a little more confidently. "And don't call me Lexy-poo."
"Okay, Lexy-poo," I answered.
"It's really not funny," he said. "What if I called you Alexy-poo."
"They kind of sound similar," Heath put in, snickering. "You two are pair, Lex and Alex."
"He's just jealous he's name doesn't match ours," Lex said, putting at arm around my shoulder and pulling me away from Heath.
"Aha," I said, nodding my head. Heath glared at us and pulled on my arm.
"It's a good name," Heath defended. "And unlike Lex and Alex, it's not ambiguous."
"Yeah, unless you're Heather," I answered, "And someone cuts the last two letters off."
Lex laughed and gave me a high five, Heath rolled his eyes. "I'm hungry, we should make some lunch."
We were in the middle of lunch when the doorbell rang. Since the servants were back from their days off, not one of my friends moved to go and get it. A second later Paul appeared in the doorway.
"Hey, guys," he said, smiling brightly. Bianca squealed louder than I thought was humanly possible and tackled him. Not being able to hold his balance, they both toppled over. I rolled my eyes, heard Sheila laughing after Lex muttered something. And suddenly I felt very alone. I wanted to look ever at Heath to see his reaction, but I didn't dare. So instead, I took another bite of my sandwich and chewed like nothing was wrong.
"How's was your vacation? Tell us everything," Bianca demanded, as they got off the floor. She pushed Paul into a chair, and sat on his lap. I fought hard to suppress a groan, but rolled my eyes instead. This cutesy stuff was bound to get out of hand soon.
After a very intense snowball war, frozen to the core, we got inside the house. My lungs were burning, my face was numb, and I couldn't feel either my hands or feet. We threw our clothes of in the parlor, during which one of the servants tried to keep it under control and another ushered us into the living room where blankets and hot chocolate was waiting for us. I decided I would have liked living like this. Servants at my beck and call, doing everything for me, without me having to even think about it.
"Dinner will be in an hour," said the butler, and ducked out of the room. Lex skipped over to the television, and turned on yet another Christmas special. A little earlier he demanded that we have a marathon of Christmas specials, no one bothered to argue.
"Are you nervous?" Bianca suddenly whispered in my ear. I shied away from her cold nose, and wondered why she was snuggling up to me instead of Paul.
"Don't remind me, or I'm going to have a breakdown," I muttered, sipping my hot chocolate. Bianca held me a little tighter and put her head on my shoulder.
"You'll be okay," she said.
"Thank you," I said, gratitude threatening to turn into tears. I had no idea what I did to deserve such great friends, but I didn't know how I ever managed without them.
I blacked out. Once we reached Heath's house, I just went on the automatic. I remember walking into the house, even commenting on how nice everything looked. Heath kept giving me a funny look and asked if I was okay. I think I laughed in response.
I remember seeing his father, and thinking about how much he resembled Heath. Just a slightly taller, older version of him. His father had seemed surprised, but he was nice. Not to the point of seeming like he was being nice just because I was his son's friend, it wasn't forced. And then he started asking me questions. I tried to be my suave, intelligent self, but I kept uh-ing and eh-ing. I felt like a total moron.
Not to mention the fact that I could hear my heartbeat racing like it was doing a hundred on a treadmill. My face felt like it was going to burn off and my hands felt numb and my fingers broken.
He asked me about the past; my foster families, my brother, my education, how I got into Stonewall. And most importantly, how I managed to fool into thinking I was guy. He said I was too pretty. I answered every question as truthfully as I could. But then he got to asking about the guys and Heath. Not only did I feel like an idiot, I felt like a pervert too. The worst kind. Still, I tried to be diplomatic, answer truthfully. As truthfully as I could without making it seem like Heath and I had something going on, or any of the guys for that matter. I focused on Bianca. She was the one who found out first.
He smiled, and I knew that he knew that I was avoiding the topic. I didn't feel embarrassed, well, I did want to fall through the ground and die, but... I mean, it's not like there was anything between Heath and I.
Then he asked me what I wanted to do. About the school, where I wanted to go, where I could go. I stared at him and told him honestly that I had no idea. I would most likely be placed in another foster family and I would most likely be in a school of their district.
He stared at me, hand on his chin, and told me what I wanted to be. Then I realized my dilemma. I always bragged about wanting to be a lawyer, but I felt like if I told them him that I'd look like a kiss-up. So, I told him I was going to be a social worker. Helping kids like my brother and me.
"Heath told me you wanted to go to Harvard," he said slowly. I felt my shoulders slump.
"I don't think that's an option anymore," I said, and only then realized it was true. It was never going to happen now. I blinked fast to avoid the sudden flood of emotion. He told me I could leave.
I walked like a robot out of his study. I was trying hard not to cry. Trying to justify my decision that being a social worker would do more good than being a lawyer anyway. Sure, it wouldn't be as lucrative, and I'd never be able to get Andrew back, but I would still be able to help others. I wasn't giving up, I was going with a different option. And I refused to believe that was lie.
"You okay?" Heath asked, placing a hand on my shoulder.
"Fine," I answered, as we walked together down the hall and down the stairs. I felt like I was in one of those movies.
"How did it go?" Heath asked.
"Well, I think," I answered, putting my hands in my pockets.
"Then why do you look like someone died?" He said.
I was about to tell him it was my dreams that died, but I didn't want to whine and complain anymore. It was Christmas for pit's sake. I was supposed to be happy.
"I was just thinking... for how long I've been dishonest not only with other people, but with myself as well," I said. We put on our coats and slowly walked outside. The sky was clear, navy blue, and the stars shinned like they've been polished. Our breaths rose in white wisps and I felt the inside of my nose start to freeze.
"It must feel nice," Heath said, slowly, "to finally tell the truth."
"No..." I whispered back. "I've been avoiding it for so long... it's kind of hard... to be confronted by it."
"What do you mean?" Heath asked, holding the gate open for me. Our feet crunched the snow, it was the only sound in the silence. The whole world seemed to be asleep. Maybe I was too.
"Oh, nothing," I said, realizing that I was about to start complaining. "I guess I'm just musing out loud."
We reached the house, and I was about to knock on the door, but Heath stopped my hand. "What did my father say?"
"About what?" I asked, shivering and kicking off the snow from my shoes.
"Is he going to help or not?"
"I don't know... I think he will, I think he likes me," I said, with a smile. Truthfully I had no idea. I didn't pay good attention to his reactions to what I was saying. And he didn't say anything when I was leaving.
Heath huffed, I realized that he sounded slightly annoyed, but he didn't say anything. Instead he knocked just on the door and we waited in silence for it to open.
My cell-phone was ringing. It took me a second to realize that it was Andrew's ring-tone. I had to set different one for different people so that I could avoid talking to Bianca when she decided to call in the middle of the night. I grabbed it off the nightstand, nearly falling out of bed.
"Yes?" I asked, then realized I knew who it was. "Andrew? Is something wrong?"
"Hello," I heard a tentative, feminine voice say. I sat up, feeling a hole sink my stomach. "This is Teresa Lindon, I'm going to be Andrew's adoptive mother. We haven't met, but Andrew's told us a lot about you."
"Is he okay?" I asked. I mean why else would she call other then to tell me something was wrong.
"Yes, everything is alright, I just wanted to speak with you," I sank against the pillows, glad that the need to throw up has passed.
"Ehm, okay," I said, glancing at the clock. It was eight in the morning. "How can I help you?"
"I was wondering if you wanted to join us for lunch today?" Teresa asked. "I mean, if you could meet us, say... Cheese Cake Factory? Or we could go somewhere else if you like."
"Is there... a reason..." I muttered, feeling uncomfortable.
"Oh, I just wanted to meet you, Phil too," she said quickly. "Andrew talks about you all the time, so we thought we'd get to meet you."
"Okay," I said, not sure if I was happy about that or not. "I suppose I could make it."
"Great, how about we meet there at noon? Is that a good time?" Teresa asked again. I realized how soft spoken she was, her voice soft and lilting.
"Yes," I answered.
"Alright, then I'll see you there," she said, sounding cheery. "We'll see you there."
I sat still, staring at the phone like it was an alien object for a moment. Then I jumped from the bed and ran to Heath's room. Without bothering to knock, I barged in, closed the door behind me and ran for the bed. He was sprawled on his stomach, breathing softly, but I had no time to be nice.
"Heath!" I got on the bed and shook him. "Heath, wake up!"
He instantly sat up, rubbing his face, looking at me through squinted eyes. "Is the house on fire?"
"No," I said, wondering why he looked so cute.
Heath glared at me, gathering the covers about him, "Then what the hell do you want?"
Cute? No, I forgot he was a tyrant in the morning.
"You'll never guess who just called me!" I said, but he ignored me and laid back down to sleep. "Heath!"
"Who called you?" He asked, sounding like he could care less. I whacked his shoulder. He sighed and sat up.
"It was Teresa Lindon, Andrew's future mother!" I said flailing and then putting my hand to my mouth. "She wants to meet me for lunch!"
Heath stared at me like I grew a second head. I stared back at him, unsure what else he wanted to hear.
"And?" He asked, sinking about his pillow. "Why am awake?"
"You have to drive me!" I said.
"Why can't Bianca do it?" He muttered, falling over to go back to sleep again.
"Because I'm not walking into that room," I snapped, pulling the covers away from him. He pulled a pillow over his head.
"She doesn't want you there now does she?" He asked, finally.
"Noon," I answered.
"It's only eight," he snapped. "Go back to bed."
"I'm not going to be able to fall asleep now," I muttered, settling in next to him and pulling the covers over my freezing feet. But Heath didn't answer, already asleep. I had half-a-mind to put my cold feet against his back, but I didn't want to die yet. Instead, I fell back against the pillows and stared at the ceiling.
And I fell asleep.
AN: Forgive me for taking so long, but I was going to submit this chapter earlier this week when I realized that something is wrong with fictionpress document manager. If the chapter comes out all weird forgive me because I have two lines worth of space to work in. I'm almost done with college, so updates should become more consistent. If not you are free to harrass me.