Nearing thecarriage house door, she stopped when she heard laughter and goodnatured banter coming from inside. She couldn’t help but frown.Now, how could that be? Weren’t they still mad at each other? Sherecognized each of their voices, Kelley’s, Dorian’s, and evenKeegan was in there laughing it up. Suddenly she was very annoyedthat while she was upstairs, worried about the welfare of herhousemates, they apparently were getting along just fine withouther.
With her ear tothe door, she didn’t hear Crispin’s approach. “Have we learnednothing about snooping, dormouse?” he asked, catching hereavesdropping.
“Huh… Crispin!” She startled, jumping at the unexpected soundof his voice. “I’m not snooping!” she claimed, turning beet red atbeing caught red-handed. Worse yet, she realized Crispin wasn’talone. There beside him was the very lovely Gracie, with asuspicious smirk on her face.
“More like spying,” Gracie said with a knowingsmile.
“It’s not like that,” Becky said, looking guiltily from Gracieto Crispin. How dare Gracie talk to her like that? It was badenough that the girl was lovely in that sophisticated Gothy kind ofway. With her glossy sable-black hair, framing her flawless face,Gracie was the type of female who by no fault of her own made Beckyfeel like a frumpy inexperienced schoolgirl.
“Right,” Gracie laughed out loud.
Effectivelyshamed, Becky turned her eyes to Crispin. But if Becky wasdelusional enough to believe that Crispin would take her side inthis, her misplaced hope only served to prove just how naive shewas.
“So, this is what all the fuss is about?” Gracie went on tosay, gesturing from Becky to Crispin. “I tell you, you guys arepathetic. Typical men, so predictable.” She gave Crispin a ruefulsmile.
“Yes, well, it’s not like I didn’t warn them,” Crispin said,affectionately wrapping his arms around Gracie. “Besides, I don’tthink of her in that way. I’ve only got eyes for you,sweetheart.”
Suddenlyfeeling quite uncomfortable in the enamoured couple’s presence,Becky looked around and wondered how rude it would be if she wereto simply disappear.
“Right…” Gracie said sarcastically, giving Crispin a playfulpunch in the chest. “You know I don’t care about all that. If youwant her, have her. When you’re ready for a proper romp, give me acall, stud.”
Stunned at theimplication of her words, Becky frowned, staring open-mouthed atthe odd couple for a sign that Gracie might be kidding. Yet for afraction of a second, she couldn’t have missed the flash of hurtreflected in Crispin’s eyes.
“Right, well, I’m going inside. You coming?” Crispin said,pulling away from her, indignantly brushing himself off.
“In a minute,” Gracie said, shrugging him off, digging in herpurse and pulling out a pack of cigarettes.
Without anotherword, Crispin brushed by Becky and entered the garage, letting thedoor slam on his way inside.
“Asshole,” Gracie huffed, lighting up her cigarette. “Tell me,Becky, why do guys always feel like they’ve got to own you?” sheasked, leaning up against the old picnic table.
Unsure of howto answer that question, Becky looked around nervously.
“Yeah, I’m talking to you. Do you see anyone else around?”Gracie smirked. “How the hell did a girl like you end up in a placelike this anyway?”
“I’m not exactly sure anymore,” Becky said, joining Gracie onthe picnic table.
Gracie took adeep drag of her cigarette and exhaled, careful to aim the smokeaway from Becky. She even made smoking look sophisticated.
“Well, you’ve certainly got them all bent out ofshape.”
“What do you mean by that?”
“Come on, do us all a favour and just fuck one of them. Putthem out of their misery once and for all,” Gracie said, lookingsideways at her, watching Becky’s jaw drop.
“Oh, please… get over yourself,” Gracie chuckled. “So you’re avirgin, so what? Yeah, Crispin told me everything. Don’t look soshocked. He wasn’t being mean about it, just honest. The dolt wasworried that I might get jealous and figured if he told me that youwere unavailable that I would feel better. As if I care about allthat.”
“Don’t you like him?” Becky asked, confused.
“Sure, I do. He’s amazing in the sack. In fact, you should givehim a go and see for yourself. I just don’t do the jealousy thing.I believe in open relationships. None of this boyfriend/girlfriendbusiness for me, thank you very much.”
“Crispin’s my friend,” Becky said, feeling not only indignantfor herself, but also for the prickly Goth.
“So much the better. Especially for your first time. He is abit of a freak in the sack, I’ll give you that. But he’d probablygo easy on you since you’re a virgin. Although from what I’m told,it’s Kell you want. Now I can understand your attraction to him. Heis quite the looker. But I’d still lean towards Crispin or evenDorian for that matter. I don’t know, Kell’s just so… oh, what’sthe word… uptight? Yeah, that’s it, uptight and serious all thetime. What a drag. No wonder most people avoid him. You know he’dbe quite popular with the girls if he would only crack a smileevery once in a while.”
Speechless,Becky could only stare off into the garage and wonder about allthis unsolicited information. After a while, she couldn’t keep fromlaughing. Gracie wasn’t exactly wrong, just brutally honest if notlacking in tact.
“You know what? Maybe Kell is the right choice for you. Maybeyou’re exactly what he needs, a good honest, no-nonsense roll inthe hay. Do us all a favour, Becky, and fuck him first. Fuck theliving daylights out of him. Yeah, and then just for shits andgiggles have a go at Crispin, and what the hell, take Dorian for aride. Think of it as research. Then you can keep the one you likethe best. Stay away from Keegan, though. That guy gives me thecreeps.”
“Gracie, you’re killing me,” Becky gasped, bent over laughingat the picture Gracie was painting in her head. “I couldn’t dothat!”
“Don’t laugh,” Gracie said, fighting a case of the gigglesherself. “It’s true, you know what I mean. In fact, take them allon at once, see how that goes.”
“Gracie!” Becky admonished, turning a deeper shade ofpurple.
“What? I’m serious. We’re modern women, aren’t we? The world isour
