AN: So... nothing much to say about this chapter. It's a little slow and so is the next. I absolutely love where I'm about to go with Angelica's character though, and the plot too. As always, thanks for the feedback! I love hearing from you all!
Kimi Finster
March 30th, 2010
"So... what the fuck happened?" Angelica is probably the 15th person today to ask me this question.
I guess in Angelica's defense... she hasn't been here for any of today. She even skipped out on the Java Lava hangout session, which was a good choice on her part since all we did was sit around a table and look at each other.
But at the same time, Angelica hasn't been around for a lot of things. I blame it on the drugs. Tommy blames it on her group of friends – all older dudes. So apparently, she doesn't have time to hang out with us. We're too young, he says. It's all excuses to me, like everything else he comes up with.
I look over at Angelica. "Manny didn't tell you what happened?" I ask while I watch her dig a cigarette out of the pack. Angelica with her shiny blonde hair and her light-blue eyes, and her bony wrists. She must weigh about 110 pounds even.
She takes in a generous inhale of the toxins and shrugs. "He didn't speak much about it. I'm not going to press him either. He was scared out of his mind. It's his sister for god's sakes."
"I guess I wasn't thinking like that." I mutter guiltily. I slowly start the story. "Well, Philip and I were upstairs..."
Angelica snorts and I can tell that I won't like whatever is about to come flying out of that big mouth of hers. She says, "And just what were you doing upstairs with Phil, Miss Holy Virgin?" I'm shocked. But honestly, I can't do anything but glare at the way she puts air-quotes around the word 'virgin'. "What, were you guys fucking again? Just like the first time?"
"God, Angelica, what's up your ass?" I snap and it almost surprises me but I hold my ground. "You get wind of my personal life one time and all of a sudden you think you can go around judging me?"
She actually laughs. "Kimi, here's the thing. I don't give a fuck about who you screw behind my cousin's back." My mouth falls open, but Angelica hardly bats an eyelash. "But don't go around trying to play innocent, alright? We've all got some dirt under the rug here. Get a fucking grip on reality."
I want to tell the rest of the story, but I can't. I'm frozen in a weird way. I don't really know what else to say to Angelica honestly. But I do say something else because I have to. I can't take what Angelica just said sitting down. "I'm not the only one playing innocent here and you know it." I mutter. She raises an eyebrow but doesn't flinch. I've got to admire her, being so fearless. But what does Angelica Pickles really have to fear, just like the rest of them? "How hard is it to be honest? For all of us to be honest?"
She smiles again, but this time it's not so menacing. It's sad. "It's harder than you think. Everybody thinks they want the truth, but they don't. In a perfect world, everyone would tell you the truth, but they can't. You're just gonna have to grow up and accept it." She spins the last bit of the cigarette between her fingers. "Just think about that girl up there. Look what happened when someone was finally truthful to her." Her eyes flick up to the guestroom window and suddenly I realize – Angelica's known what happened the whole time.
"Manny told you everything, didn't he?" I quip but I already know the answer.
She scoffs. "Of course he did. Texted me as soon as Carter told him." And I realize all she really wanted to know was the beginning – about Philip and I. "Now, about DeVille." She starts. "You need to stop leading him on. You've got too much heart to try and play with people's emotions, no matter how easy it is."
I smirk. "Yeah, I guess I'm nowhere near as experienced as you."
"Ha!" She tosses the butt of her cigarette and grins. "Exactly what I'm getting at! You ain't as dimwitted as I thought you were, Finster." We share a laugh together. "It takes a long time to get as good at this as I am."
Our laughter is tamed down to chuckles and then into silence. Angelica takes one last pull of smoke from the cigarette. It's burned down to almost completely to the filter. Finally, she flicks it out from between her fingers. And then she turns to me, her arms crossed in front of her chest. "Now, I understand that Tommy's done some shit to you. I get that. But I bet if you can just show him what it's like to be honest, he wouldn't be afraid to do the same." She looks off into the streetlights for a second, and then back at me. "You kids fucking love each other. Push the bullshit aside once and for all and start new. Give your relationship a chance to grow the fuck up."
And then Angelica does something really unexpected. She pulls me into a hug. It's quick. Only about 4 or 5 seconds. And then she turns and makes her way to the front of the house.
