ROGER

I was up early the next morning. I had the worst night of sleep. I adjusted myself to falling asleep, the lights on, guitar beside me and a single candle on the floor.

But I went to bed early. I tossed and turned all night long. I think I got a total of fifty minutes.

I got up and looked at the clock beside my bed. 8:05. I frowned and threw some clothes on. I left a note, telling the others I went for a walk. Not that they care or anything.

I left the house, my hands jammed in my pockets, looking around. The sun was sneaking up behind the houses. I continued walking in a complete daze. Then I felt something biting my leg.

"What the-"

I looked down and saw a dog, eating my pant leg. It was a small dog, one of those frou-frou dogs. I tried shaking it off, but it refused to let go.

"Oliver! Stop that!" I heard someone call. I assumed it was the owner of this damn dog. And boy, they were going to get a piece of my mind,

The dog let go of my pant leg and the owner of the dog was kneeling beside it.

I looked at the owner, prepared to chew them out. But, I was immediately stopped.

"Sorry 'bout that," she apologized. She had fire red hair that was cut around her chin. It was the frizziest and curly I've ever seen. Even more than Mimi's. Which, I never found. She had brown eyes and a wide mouth. Her face was round, and freckles everywhere. But her eyebrows had a nice arch to them. She smiled at me and stood up.

"Kyndal Casey."

"Roger Davis."

"Sorry, Oliver is still teething. He's…over-protective, I guess," she said.

"Uh…I noticed."

She was obviously nervous, or anxious to keep walking. "And he has a weird obsession with flannel pants."

I looked at the pants I was wearing. "Well, guilty of charges."

She smiled even wider. "I'm real sorry."

Oliver was occupied with some grass or something in the grass. The frog hopped out of the grass and away across the street. Oliver pulled on the leash, trying to chase after it. Kyndal yanked him. Oliver then found my flannel pants again. He looked at them as if God was giving him the Holy Grail and lunged forward me.

I jumped back, not in the mood to mess with this damn dog. I didn't want it to get any of my blood. Oh my god. That'd be horrible if it bit me and I bled. God, what if I gave her dog AIDS? If that was even possible?

I sat down all the sudden and pulled my pant up, looking at where the dog bit me. No blood. Thank god.

"Uh…you okay?" she asked me.

I jerked my head up. Uh…yeah." I didn't know how to explain it to her.

Um…I have AIDS and I want to make sure I didn't give it to your dog.
"What happened?"

"Uh…I tripped," I told her.

"Oh, you alright? Any scraps?" she asked me.

I shook my head, standing up. "Nope, none. I'm fine."

She looked at me.

"Okay."

I scratched my head and looked at her. We stood there for a few minutes looking at each other.

"ROGER!"

I was trying to block that shrill voice out of my mind but I knew I couldn't escape it. Kyndal seemed to be blocking it out. So I decided to try alongside with her.

"ROGER!"

I looked up and saw Maureen running towards me. She was obviously excited about something. She was wearing a jogging suit. She collided into me and laughed.

"Maureen, what the hell are you doing?" I asked her.

She laughed, tossing her head back. "Guess what?" she asked me.

I sighed.

"What?"

She laughed. "Joanne called!"

I looked at her. "Why would I want to know this?" I asked her.

"She found out we were well, you know, here. And she's going to come over sometime soon," Maureen said proudly. I looked at her.

"And how does Mark feel about this?" I asked her.

Maureen smiled. "He's fine with it. He won't admit it, but he likes Joanne," Maureen said. "Not…in the same way I did…but still!"

Maureen suddenly took notice in Kyndal, who was still standing there, trying to take everything in. Maureen smiled. "And, who is your friend Roger?" she asked me.

Shit.

"Uh, this is…Kyndal."

Maureen held her hand out to Kyndal. "I'm Maureen."

Kyndal smiled. "Kyndal. I'm sorry…"

"For what?" I asked her. She looked at Maureen then pack at me. "Oh my god. No, Maureen and I…are not…we aren't…" I looked at Maureen, who suddenly realized what was going on.

"Oh my god, no," she said.

Kyndal smiled.

"I'm sorry. Just, yeah. Don't know what to assume anymore."

Maureen smiled and laughed nervously.

"So…"

"Yeah…"

"Uh…"

"I know!" Maureen blurted out all of the sudden. "Kyndal, why don't you come to dinner sometime?" Maureen asked her.

Kyndal blinked and looked at her.

"Uh…alright, I guess so."

Maureen squealed and hit my arm. "Come on, Collins wants to head on over to the lawyers place."

Kyndal looked at us. "Wait…are you related to Ms. Mollie?" she asked us. We looked at each other.

"No, our friend is," I told her.

"Oh. She was such a good lady. I heard what happened to her poor great grandson. She couldn't stop talking about it. Poor boy, his future ruined."

Maureen was confused. "Wait…what exactly did you hear?" I asked her.

"Well, I'm not exactly sure, but I think he was gay…I think. Atheist and HIV+. Starving in New York with his artist friends. He was a professor and had great education. Poor guy…"

I looked at Maureen and shifted my feet. Growing uncomfortable. I hope she didn't catch on. Please don't catch on…

Even Maureen was uncomfortable. But she couldn't have been more uncomfortable than me.

Please don't catch on…

"What…did I offend you or something?" she asked me.

"Um…"

"We are his artist friends," Maureen said plainly. Like she wasn't ashamed that we were just hated.

Kyndal, frozen in her spot. "Wow…I feel…I'm going now."

I watched her walk off and Maureen nudged me in the side. "Come on."