Chapter Six

It started to feel a little surreal once the door closed behind us. Here I was with my sworn enemy, Chris Chambers, at Ace's place. The only person who hated Chris more than I had was Ace. Had I done the wrong thing by inviting him inside? It seemed like the right thing after he had stood between me and Stan and escorted me all the way out here but I was pretty sure Ace wouldn't see it that way.

Chris' eyes travelled over the bare furnishings, the rickety old bed, the lone chest of drawers and the shabby two seater sofa. His arms lingered on the old arm chair. and the tv set that sat on a crooked shelf. There were four wooden chairs pushed up against the far wall, there for when the Cobra's came around in full force.

"Homely," Chris commented, raising his eyebrows.

Maybe it was the warmth of the apartment or maybe it was the fact that I finally felt safe but my hands were starting to shake some.

"It's more than I got," I said as I dropped my bag by the door. "I wish I had my own place."

"Me too," Chris agreed. "At least you have your own room. I gotta share."

"With Eyeball?" I asked quizzically.

Chris nodded.

"And Joey and Becky and Lily."

I winced. Five kids in one room sounded pretty shitty. No wonder Chris spent so much time at Gordie's.

"That's rough," I agreed. "One day I'm gonna have all this. My own place, my own space, no one around to tell me what to do."

Chris gave me a long look.

"This would be okay for you right now," he said, 'but not in the long term. Not when you're Ace's age."

Ace was twenty years old. I didn't think he was doing too bad for himself. Granted, he wasn't rich but he was his own man.

"What's wrong with living here?" I asked him.

"Well…nothing. But…don't you want better?"

For the first time, I could see Chris was ambitious. Sure, I knew he worked hard in school but now looking at him I could see the determination burning in his eyes. All he wanted to do was get out of Castle Rock.

"You want a drink?" I changed the subject as I crossed the room towards the kitchenette.

"Sure," he answered.

I automatically reached for the left hand cupboard where Ace kept a bottle of whisky. It was habit for Ace to pour me a drink after a run in with Stan. I poured me and Chris both one, topped them up with coke from the small refrigerator and walked the drinks over to the sofa. Chris was already sat down in the armchair.

I passed him the drink and he took a big gulp before grimacing.

"Christ, Nina, it's still light outside."

"You want me to turn the lights out?" I giggled. "Who cares what time is it?"

I flopped down onto the sofa and took a big swig of my drink. Chris put his drink down beside his chair.

"I'm not really a big drinker."

"You don't seem like any kind of drinker," I answered.

"Well, I'm already in Ace's place with Ace's girl. I figure drinking his liquor on top is pretty much asking for him to reattach my balls."

"He ain't coming back tonight," I said, taking another gulp of my drink. I downed it in two more gulps then nodded at his drink. "Pass it over if you don't want it."

Chris looked at me hesitantly before scooting down to pass over the drink. As my hand met the glass he paused, not immediately letting go of it.

"You okay? Earlier must have been…hard."

My fingers closed around the glass and I withdrew with it, embarrassed.

"I'm fine," I said. I raised his glass to my lips and swallowed quickly.

"Really?" His blue eyes were boring into mine. "'Cause from what I know about you, you only really drink like this when you're…upset."

I couldn't believe he was calling me out on it and suddenly I missed Ace and his emotional retardedness. If he thought something was wrong with me he'd start interrogating. And if that didn't work, he'd start yelling. Which made it real easy to get in a fight and avoid the initial question.

"And what in the hell do you know about me?" I snapped. I felt angry but there were involuntary tears pricking the corner of my eyes. "You don't know me, Chambers. Don't start thinking you do!"

He gave me a sympathetic look that was bordering on pity.

"I know you've had a shitty day. I know you can't go home any time soon and your boyfriend, who should be here looking after you, is sitting in a jail cell."

"Screw you, Chambers!" I backed the rest of the whisky and coke and struggled to my feet to fetch the bottle. This time I didn't bother with the coke. I brought the bottle back to the sofa and filled a glass with the neat liquid. "You can leave now," I told him.

Instead of getting up, Chris leaned back in his seat and stretched his long legs out in front of him. I realised he was taller than Ace. He was a little leaner too but he had muscular arms and a well toned chest. His blue eyes sought mine out and then he rubbed a hand over his short blond hair and smiled gently.

"I'm torn between getting the hell out of here and following my instincts."

"Your instincts?"

"Yeah. My instincts tell me that your stinking attitude is just a defence mechanism and the reason you invited me inside is that you don't wanna be alone."

I glared at him but he was seeing beyond what I wanted to admit to myself.

I got up to switch on Ace's old tv set and plonked myself back down before downing the whisky.

"Don't let the door hit you on the way out."

"You hungry?" He responded in a calm voice "I probably got enough to spring for pizza."

"Nope," I said.

The Virginian was on television. I liked James Drury and so did Ace. It was one of the few shows that we actually both enjoyed. I hoped he was alright down at the cop station.

"Didn't figure you to be a Western fan," Chris commented.

"There's a lot you don't know about me," I said, refilling my empty glass. My head felt light and my stomach finally started to settle. "Being a serial womaniser doesn't mean you know me."

I kept my eyes on the television and he didn't answer for a while.

"I know you're changing the subject on purpose. You don't need to. We can just sit and not say nothing. I'll stay a while."

I didn't answer him, mostly because I didn't want to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right. But I did curl my feet up underneath me and rest my head on the arm of the sofa.

Chris stayed in the armchair, quiet and unmoving, watching the television. I didn't want to admit it out loud but I was glad he was there, glad I didn't have to be alone.

I wasn't sure when I drifted off but I remember my eyes feeling heavy as the credits of The Virginian rolled…

888

"Nina? Nina, wake up!" I felt a hand on my arm shake me roughly.

"Go away, Chris," I mumbled sleepily.

"What did you just call me?"

My eyes snapped open at the sound of Ace Merrill's voice.

"Huh?" The room spun slightly and I felt bile rose in my throat. Drinking whisky on an empty stomach had not been the brightest idea.

"It sounded like you just called me Chris." Ace was sat on the edge of his bed fully dressed. His eyes were narrowed and his grip on my arm had tightened.

"You're home!" I sat up quickly and wrapped my arms round his neck but he prised me away roughly.

"Did you just call me Chris?"

"No!" I insisted. "I was half asleep, I drank too much last night."

"Here?" He demanded.

"Yeah, why?"

"There's no glasses in the sink. Not like you to wash up and put away when you're wasted." He had a suspicious mind at the best of times but this time his suspicions were spot on.

I sat up and rubbed my eyes, throwing a glance over the room. The last thing I remembered was being sleepy on the sofa. Chris had been sat in the arm chair and the whisky bottle and glasses were strewn at our feet.

He must have washed the glasses up and put them and the whisky bottle away. Maybe he'd even carried me to bed…I felt my cheeks grow hot.

I wondered if Eyeball had mentioned Chris had been with us yesterday. Ace would probably be a lot madder if he had, I decided, and Eyeball probably didn't want or need the hassle.

"I just didn't want you coming home to a mess," I lied. "Anyway, what happened?"

"Stan came down this morning and changed his story. Eyeball picked me up a while ago." Ace fished in his pocket for his cigarettes. He lit one up, kicked his boots off and slid into bed beside me.

"You got any aspirin?" I asked him, closing my eyes and laying my heavy head down on the pillow.

"In the kitchen." He nodded towards the kitchenette and when I opened one eye to look at him, he exploded.

"Are you shitting me, Nina? I've spent the night in a cell and you want me to be waiting on you 'cause you got wasted?"

"Wasn't me that got you arrested. I told you not to go over there! Stan's told me not to come back, I ain't exactly been enjoying myself!"

"You are so fucking ungrateful!" He growled. "I was looking at jail time for you! And you're here getting drunk, sleeping in, expecting me to play nurse-"

"Sleeping in?" I bolted upright. "What's the time, Ace?"

"What? I don't know!" He was irritable now. "I guess some time around eleven?"

"Eleven!" I leapt out of bed and then groaned at the weight of my head. "Jesus, I'm so late for school."

"What do you care? Your folks don't give a fucking shit, why should you?"

His words hit me like a sledge hammer. The hangover, the confrontation with Stan, Ace going to jail…it all crept up on me and I felt a sob well up in my throat.

"'Cause I'm the only one that does, Ace. Because if I flunk out, what the hell is going to happen to me? I'll be living in this shitty town, in a shitty apartment that I can't even afford!"

"Like me, you mean?" He fixed his eyes on mine, his mouth set in a grim line.

"No, I didn't mean-"

"You think anyone gives a shit about me? I was pulling A's in school till my old man went away but do you see me crying over it? People like us ain't meant to get out, Every town needs townies, Nina, and I'm one of 'em. You think you're better than that, go ahead, go to school."

"That's not fair," I cried. "Just because I want to finish high school doesn't mean I think I'm better than you!"

"Doesn't it?" He took a drag on his smoke and gave me a dull smile. "You know why your friend Lachance hates me? Because he thinks you're better than me."

"That's not true," I said softly.

It was kinda true. Gordie did think that but it wasn't the only reason he hated Ace. He hated him because Ace had made his life miserable as a kid, him and Chris'. I'll never forget the betrayed look in Gordie's eyes the first time he saw me with Ace. I had made Ace swear to leave Gordie alone and Ace had kept his word and not laid a finger on him since we'd started dating. But the memories for the both of them were still there.

"I'll stay home today," I said resignedly when Ace didn't answer. I trudged towards the kitchenette in search of some aspirin. Ace's voice stopped me when I was halfway across the floor.

"Would ya make me a sandwich? I'm half starved."

I sighed and made my way over to the refrigerator.

"Sure," I mumbled.

As I buttered his bread, I looked across the room at Ace's stocking feet propped up at the end of the bed. He had a hole in one sock. He was already snoring but as soon as he opened his eyes he'd wanna know where his sandwich was.

Chris' voice was echoing in my ears.

"Don't you want better?"

888